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Camera geekery
So, I have entered in to the ever expensive hobby of cameras. I've picked up a Nikon D40 starter kit that includes the 18-55mm lens, a camera bag and some memory cards (SD). The expensive part is beyond the camera and lens, because of all the different and fun looking toys you can get for such equipment. At a surface glance, I could get:

Nikon SB-400 AF Speedlight (This would be a spiffy toy)
Nikon EN-EL9 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery (this would be a spare)
Tamrac 5549 Adventure 9 Photo & Computer Backpack + Accessory Kit (This is a must, because I'd like a carrying case that holds a lappy too)
Tiffen 52mm UV Protection Filter (This is a must, as it's cheap glass to protect the expensive glass)
Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens (If I get more glass, this would likely be the next piece.)
Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (From reviews, a good book on some basics)

Now this is just a starter list... And I know there's some shutterbugs out there, but what are some good ways to start out? Most of this isn't even needed, and would just be ways to spend more and more money. But the way I prefer to learn is to start out with a minimum and build up my technique from there before I get additional tools that will help me get better. Expensive toys does not make a good photographer. They are only an expanded tool set that you can use after you've got the basics down pat.

Are there any other books or tools that are reccomended? I think before I get more glass and after I get a better carrying case, I plan on getting a good tripod. One where the mount for the camera is detachable from the tripod, as that is less restrictive for how I utilize the camera.

Anyways, what are your opinions?

Overdue
Okay, I know that I'm overdue here...

So some updates. Life got real interesting. I ended up working in the position that I was hired for, so that means go server geekdom! I then met my cow-orkers who stressed me out. That was unpleasant. After talking through life with some rather good friends, I got back on track including dealing with new medication for my headaches, and had been enjoying a relatively quiet neighbor time. Until recently that is. Seems someone decided to piss them off, so they decided to give us a plethora of unpleasant tidings.

And there was a lunar eclipse last night! It was neat! It was swell! My cell camera sucks balls! I got a new Nikon D40 camera! It sucks balls trying to take night pictures with a camera you're unfamiliar with at night with no tripod!

But that is my life summed up.

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Noisy noisy AC unit

Funfire!
Sooooo, since I had already been calling it such on IRC, and since someone had made mention of what I call it, however inadvertantly...

Well, because I'm a sick and twisted man, I've been hearing funfire lately. No, my neighbors hadn't been playing that dastardly newfangled rock & roll of theirs with their loud percussive instruments that are so noisy they make me go horizontal. That's not fun. Nor is it really fire. That's just annoying.

And yes, I'm still here, still learning many things, and still in the habit of abusing computers until they obey my wishes. And I gots SOCKS now!

Lots and lots of lovely little socks. Sometime I shall take pictures of them. As well as of the sunrise.

But I'm still around.

It's time to go OMGWHEEEEE!
Okay, so yes, I've moved. Yes, I'm in Iraq.

The pay is great, over double what I was getting over in .kg, and what I was getting in the form of snipes, drama and politics? I get in the form of the occasional rocket/mortar attack and I get to sleep to a nice background of gunfire. All in all, not really that bad of a trade. I know that I promised a mailing address for myself, and the following post shall have one. It shall be future dated as the last one was.

Another note is that whatever pictures I do have of whatever alleged damage or what not... I really can't share. It's that horrid opsec thing, and I do need to make sure that the insurgants have as little information as possible. I can say that I'm in Camp Victory, happily working as a system administrator in a very safe location (respectively), and things are looking up.

So.... How ya'll dooin?

Yes, I'm alive.
Just to let ya'll know this isn't abandoned, I'm still here.

And I'm moving again.

New contact info to follow.

Current Mood: exhausted

Illness and such.
So, I recently got over a super-flu/cold. Within 12 hours of initial symptoms of a light non-productive cough, I was hacking my lungs out, coughing up greenish brown mucous, had a high fever with associated hallucinations. Whee. A run of antibiotics and many narcotics later and i'm doing much better.

Either way, getting that sick in a foreign location does make life interesting. Also that was more than a week ago, so I'm recovering nicely. Work is still work, and it's nice to make significant headway on existing debt.

That's all for now.

A rather unique way to get in touch with me...
So I got a Wii. Appearantly the base exchange store had several sitting on the shelves for several days before I snatched one up.

My console's Wii Number is 2563 9568 7590 7057

See you around.

PS Sinuses were god's first (failed) attempt at making a glue factory.

Current Mood: sick

Attention: The intarweb is back up.

And a little of the bad.
Human meatses do not make for a good tendorizable surface. Nosireebob. That is all.

Good times, good food.
Well, I just got back from one of the best dinners I've had in recent, or possibly any memory. I was with my roomies, and we went to quite possibly the most upscale seafood restaurant and GREATLY enjoyed ourselves, from the production that was the proper preparation of absinthe, to the sushi with freshly made wasabi (NOT from powder), to the delectable soup at the end. This was a wonderful way to enjoy myself, and I have two wonderful people to thank for either accompaning myself or inviting me along.

I'm tempted to get absinthe from whatever source the restaurant uses, because I learned that when you do a good job preparing the absinthe, I learned that the objective is to burn off the alcohol before you decant? it in to the water or other fluid of choice. I also learned that Red Bull actually works deliciously for this effort. This honestly made my night ever so wonderful, and I think that given the chance, I'm going to repeat it in the near future. It's quite impressive to watch an emerald flow of flaming yumminess flow in to the beverage of choice and watch it still fizz (even in water, which was the first glass), as you finish off the drink.

All in all, the job is tolerable, the living conditions acceptable, and some of the best and food service for the dollar I've ever seen.

Current Mood: ecstatic

I just flew in and boy are my arms tired.
Well, I just got done with the roughly 36 hours of airports, planes, delays and layovers.

But at least I've arrived safe and sound.

And I called my parents to letthem know that I'm alright.

Current Mood: exhausted

Moving
To those of you who know I'm moving, I've made a friends locked post with my new contact info. If you're not on my friends list, please comment and I'll consider adding you to that list.

Current Mood: anxious

Homeward bound
For anyone that is wondering, I am currently at the Lake Forest Oasis, and am on my way home. I will be making it to the milwaukee koffee event, and by the looks of it, I'm going to be spending most of this coming weekend packing up all of my worldly possessions and obsessions. To anyone who is going, I'll see you there.

Current Mood: energetic

Bukkake from the gods
I *was* going to put up my con report, but it seems there's something more recent to put up. Yesterday, starting in the ugly AM's, the skies opened up and proceeded to bukkake my area. Why is this important? I'll get to that.

Thursday evening, I went to the normal coffee event we have here in my area. Fine and dandy. Around 1 am is when I left, and several others left, including

razorfoot.

So on Friday morning, right around 1:30 AM, I got a call from

razorfoot. He had an accident. He told me he was in an accident. I asked how he was and how his car was. I got some vague details, and insisted on more. Finally I got info that his car only had side impacts, that the car was off the roadway, in the ditch, and that he couldn't get out on his own. Further details I got was that he didn't have roadside assistance. Since I've got AAA Gold, and I hardly ever use it, I told him I'll get him out, for him to call 911, and to stay in the car to stay warm.

That's when I left a message on IRC of "shit. Gotta go. Friend in car accident. BBL." Yeah, I could have left a more detailed message, but it was more important to get going. Fast forward to 2 AM. I already contacted AAA, but could have an active call until I was within 15 minutes of the scene. Fast forward more. 2:15, driving down the interstate. Now most of the time people go 80 MPH down the highway. (It's 65) This time, due to blinding snow conditions and worsening roads, the most people were doing was 50.

Fast forward even more. 2:35. I'm approaching the accident site, AAA is on the way, and there's a cop where my friend was. He's sideways pointing nose down in the ditch with his lights on. This is where I pull up, assess the situation, tell my friend to stop his car, leave the lights on and get in mine. This is also the reason why I carry a minimum of 8 road flares in my car, as I left the first one out, waited until it burned out, tried a second one... That got blown out by the wind. And a third one... Blown out by the wind. Finally, as I was lighting the fourth one (and using it to light the previous two), it stayed lit. And a second cop showed up. As the second cop was there, tow truck shows up and after some time and one slip, the car is winched out. Tow truck driver starts heading out, and I get the griffy back in my car.

That's when a small adventure of tracking down the tow truck driver occurs, because visibility of flashing lights is under 400 feet, and I only know which road he turned on. After 10 minutes and several false alarms, we catch sight of the truck, and follow to the destination. The thought of putting the spare tire was raised upon which I nixed it, it being nearly 4 AM. So the more pressing thought of food was raised. After going 5 miles in the wrong direction we headed back, because I was hungering for FOOOD, and I knew there was a White Castle nearby. Well, I never found that White Castle, but we found a 24 hour Arbys. Good `nuff. Following that, I dropped him off at his place in Milwaukee, and I headed back to my place. By the way, his version of the events can be found Here.

After that, I headed back home, and upon hitting this location (opens maps.google.com), I found people going 10 MPH and STILL sliding sideways. The location is the interstate, headed west, just before it splits off. That's how bad the roads were. I willingly pulled in to the shoulder and started helping other people out of the shoulder and back on to the road. *sigh* You'd think they would buy snow tires and remember their snow skills. But this storm caught everyone by surprise. Sadly, I was the only one who got in the shoulder and could get out on his own. I got home, napped a few hours, tried to go to work... And found the snow was so high that when I backed up, it lifted the back end of my car off the ground.

But I still got to work, however late.

Current Mood: exhausted

Announcement of sorts.
Yes, it's that time of year again. I'm on my man perio--err, I mean, it's my birthday. For those of you who were looking for an appropriate time and place, you can either hunt me down at MFF, *OR*, the actual celebration (if you're local), is going to be during Thanksgiving weekend.

Just a heads up. And a bit of a respite for those still hunting.

Current Mood: complacent

Life with migraines
Well, I had another migraine today. I found that having a migraine plus being hungry can be a very bad thing. It brings out *serious* road rage feelings. Either way, I am now re-certified for CPR, now I just need to take the EMT-B refresher. Yay for manditory training.

Oh, some details on my migraines. Yes, when I get them, they suck. That's a given. And they hurt. Another given. No, this case I'm going to cover the side effects of the drugs that make them go away. I take Zomig, AKA Zolmatriptan. It is a member of the triptan class of drugs, (as indicated by the drug name). Triptans for some reason make migraines go away. Migraines are an inperfect science that they don't know the causes, or really what makes them go away. I was discussing this with my neurologist, and it's funny, because one school of thought is that the blood vessles constrict in your brain causing the pain. I asked why caffeine makes the pain go away. He then said another school of thought is that it's because your blood vessles are inflamed and swollen wide open.... The exact opposite. Gotta love it.

Either way, on to drugs. When I take zomig, I get a heat and pins/needles sensation over my scalp, neck and back. That sucks if I take a shower. I still have the migraine effect of wanting quiet & dark, only then it's amplified a bit before it makes the pain go away. It also has the side effect of making anxious and a bit hyper. That I have to suppress to maintain quiet & dark. And it gives me a few muscle aches, but that could be the aftereffects of migraines. Oh, and when I close my eyes, I see flickering lights, like if there was a strobe light a ways off. And it makes me utterly exhausted, which is why I normally take it and go straight to sleep. And the after effects of a migraine is exhaustion and what I like to call the 'slow motion Furp' effect. It's like I have to push my thoughts through paste.

*edit* Tried to post this last night. LJ imploded?

Current Mood: exhausted

Migraines suck!
Well, an update of sorts. My burn is healing nicely, I'm still employed and reaching the one year mark, and my migraines were hellish this summer. I believe they're linked to air pressure changes of approaching storms. I had one within the past few weeks, and I found that I become somewhat of a tormented artist when they strike. When I say that, I mean that I found that sobbing in to my pillow was good, because it distracted me from the pain for a moment, and I become rather poetic and eloquent when they strike.

( Kids, don't try this at home. )

Continuing on, I'm going to recert my CPR on Friday, and I have my EMT refresher in February. Yay me. I also got my A+ and MCP certifications during the summer, and am now working on my Net+, Security+, MCSA and CCNA. Yay for alphabet soup!

Oh, and I'm getting a year older shortly.

Current Mood: reflective

Life, mortality and family.
First off, for those who've been keeping up to date, my leg no longer needs bandages. Of course, the pictures have been updated, and are all still at http://pics.livejournal.com/evil_dwagon/gallery/00002a8f and for those of you who have taken one glance and decided it's not your thing, you can skip to the absolute last picture here: http://pics.livejournal.com/evil_dwagon/pic/0002089k/g2 (Well, actually last three pictures. Just click 'next picture' from there until you hit the last one. The pictures in question are 56, 57 and 58 being how much better it looks).

As for details on how I got the burn? I did make it vague earlier. ( Here's how. )

I got sidetracked there a bit, but that goes on to another thing important to me, being my mother. She has had 4 or 5 of her cervical vertebrae fused. Those of you who know the importance of the C-Spine, and that there are only 7 vertebrae in the cervical portion should understand the significance. In this case, I'm glad that I'm living at home, that way I can help keep an eye on her. Heh. It's depressingly amusing to think that having become an EMT is important to me for taking care of my family too.

And on to life. I'm in a number of communities. Some of which I'm active, others I'm not. Some that I'm only in just enough to spout off, others long enough to put my foot in my mouf, whereupon I go in to a self-imposed silence. It's only times like this (where I suffer from insomnia, which leads to this state of mind), which causes me to wonder even why I stay in X group or Y community, and go in to a nice spiral of self-doubt. Yeah, I'm a nice and cheery person when I haven't had sleep. What makes it so much more fun is that this usually goes on at 5 or 6 in the morning, when no-one else I know and trust are available to talk to with ease.

So with that, I'll go take the big ball of cheeriness that I am and head to work and try to be productive.

But, at least I saw Man Day III and that was good.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Deafening roar of my computer fans

When it rains...
Well, my mom is in for surgery. Spine surgery on her neck. It was supposed to be in a week and a half, but bad things happened. :/

Current Mood: sad

amazing reactions to pain
Welll, today was the day I got to go back to the nurse who was ever so nice to me. This time she sprayed wound cleaner on my leg, which caused a large amount of pain. Such a large amount of pain that I actually went in to psychogenic shock. Before you look that up, first look up 'vagal vasal responce'. So while sweating sheets of sweat, feeling dizzy and light headed, I finally puked in to the bucket she ever so kindly provided me, upon which I started to feel better... Well, better for someone who just was in worlds of hurt. And from that point, I went back to work, slumped in my chair, ran a few installs and was essentially braindead from that point on. Yay.

But beyond that, I got switched from the gel sheets over to a different silver based bandage called 'ACTICOAT'. Pics to follow.

Current Mood: exhausted