Author: robertjames1971

I'm wicked tall.

Morning Photo Nerd

I made two photo stops today. I tried for three, but all of the parking lots near the riverwalk behind the Tsongas Arena in Lowell were blocked off and I just gave up.

I stopped along the train tracks near the old duck pond in Andover. I took a couple of digital and a couple of black and white film pics.

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Photo a day 353/365
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Now that I have taken train track photos I feel like a real 21st century photography nerd. It’ll be more impressive when I get the film shots back, assuming they come out okay.

I was annoyed by my failure in Lowell so I took one of the Aiken Street bridge in auto mode while I was driving across. Take that, Lowell.

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Next stop was Riverside Park in Methuen. I was getting some Merrimack River shots today and there was nothing you could do about it, universe.

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There is a new little fishing dock at this park. It helped me get all artsy and nerdy. Blurry background, don’t you know.

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By this point both film cameras had run out of film. I now have three rolls ready for development. I will wait a few weeks before I send them out. I haven’t decided if I am bringing film to Disney World, but if I do I will bundle them all together. We’ll see what happens.

So… downtown Lowell tomorrow morning? Maybe.

Love

Daily writing prompt
What positive emotion do you feel most often?
View all responses

This one is super simple. The positive emotion I feel most often is love. Love for Jen, loved by Jen. It’s the same with my two step kids, of course. I just don’t get to see them every day the way I do my beloved bride.

I was alone for a very long time. All the way into my mid-30’s. I was convinced that I was never going to find anyone and I was never going to feel love the way other people did. Then I met Jen and everything changed for the better. Even after all these years together I still can’t quite get over how lucky I am to have met such a wonderful person who could let me into her family and share her life with me.

So there you go. No vague questions and no avoidance style answers. Just plain straight shooting today.

I love you, Jen.

Morning Plans?

The weather is supposed to be okay in the morning. Should I take the cameras out for a walk? I want to, but I also want to sleep late. If I do go out early I don’t want to go far. Maybe the park along the river in Methuen. Maybe the train tracks near Dascomb Road in Andover. Maybe the riverwalk behind the Tsongas Arena in Lowell. Some place close, but not the usual two or three stops in town. I don’t know. I guess it depends on what time I fall asleep tonight.

Harry and Jen are going out to run some errands in the late morning. Jen’s mom might be coming for a visit. I want to make some music. The fifty songs in 90 days thing has kinda gone down the crapper. I haven’t touched it in 18 days. More or less. I could still pull it off, but do I still have the motivation to try? I don’t know.

The weather looks decent on Sunday too. Maybe some sunrise at the ocean? We’re into the second half of August now. We’re running out of good weather days. I should do something while I still can. We’ll see.

First though, before I fall asleep, how about some Doctor Who. 2nd Doctor, season five, episodes 23-28, The Web of Fear. Sounds like a plan. Bring on the Yeti.

Daily (stupid) Haiku for You #2

Again with the rain
New England, the drowning land
My yard is a swamp

I used to throw random (stupid) haiku onto twitter. I don’t use twitter anymore because I am not a nazi. I guess I can throw random (stupid) haiku here now.

Enjoy.

Goals

Daily writing prompt
How do you plan your goals?
View all responses

Did ChatGPT write this question? It doesn’t really make sense. Do people plan to make goals? I don’t think so. It doesn’t feel that way to me. I don’t wake up and say to myself, “I am going to set a goal today.” No. The question should have been how do you plan to reach the goals you set for yourself. That’s a question worthy of some discussion.

Okay, let’s say there is a goal I want to reach. Run a 5k, or eat a couple of vegetarian meals each week. What do I do to help myself reach those goals? For me personally, I use the agile process.

Simply put, you take your large goal and break it down into smaller goals and make each smaller goal a milestone toward the main goal, dig it? If the goal is to run a 5k, the smaller goals could be find a training app, find a place to train, set a schedule for trainings, work through the training app one step at a time. When all of the smaller goals have been reached, boom. You’ve achieved the larger goal. Google veggie recipes, choose a few recipes and add them to your dinner schedule, take the list of ingredients to the grocery store and get whatever you need, on the appropriate day prepare the meal, eat it. Boom, you’ve achieved your veggie meal goal.

Pretty groovy, eh? Kinda makes you want to set a goal for yourself so that you can try it out, doesn’t it? Go for it!

This One is Going to be Gross

Spoiler alert, this post is going to be T.M.I. and it’s going to be really gross. You have been warned.

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Okay, so in the post Gastric Bypass Surgery world there are rules for how you eat. The big one is you eat your protein sources first, then when that’s all gone you eat everything else on your plate. Protein first, non-protein second.

Tonight I made tacos for me and Harry. Even before having my guts hacked to pieces, a taco for me consisted of taco meat and a taco shell and that’s it. Beef with some seasoning (sometimes chicken or turkey, but generally beef) and a taco shell. I used to put the beef into the shell and have a… ya know… taco-ish thing. Now I eat them separately. Beef first, then a shell. Tonight I had 3.2 ounces of beef and half a shell.

The 3.2 ounces of beef went down without issue. The half a shell did too, at first. I was going to have the other half of the shell too but my stomach started feeling a little off so I stopped.

15 minutes later the shit hit the fan. My stomach turned upside down and I had to make the mad dash to the bathroom before it all came up. Fucking taco shell.

My question then… I tracked how much protein was in the beef. How then do account for the small amount of beef that… came along for the ride when the taco shell came back for a second visit?

See? Told you it was going to be gross. I tried to be polite though and never used the word puke once. You’re welcome.

Random Thursday Thoughts

Just jotting down some smallish, random thoughts on a Thursday afternoon.

My stomach is being a jerk today. Gas. Bad gas. Lots of bad gas. My stomach is a bit upset. A little bit of pain. Nothing bad, just gassy. Super gassy. Pardon the T.M.I. of it all. I just felt the need to share.

In the interest of daily creative behavior like the photo a day challenge and my current 1400+ day posting streak on this little bloggie, I was wondering if I should post a daily haiku. What do you think?

One haiku each day
You know, to keep the brain loose
Could be worth a shot

I have watched a lot of Doctor Who today. Like, an alarming amount of Doctor Who. A frightening amount of Doctor Who. Both the original series and the new series. So much Doctor Who. I may have a Who problem.

We brought Harry’s car to the shop today. Here’s hoping they get the work finished before he has to go back to work next week. I may have to drive him back to Burlington after I finish work one night, and then turn around and drive home right away. That could be a long night. I will do it with a smile on my face, but… yeah, that would be a long night.

The cats have been super affectionate today. I am not sure why. It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but it is definitely a welcome development.