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Name: Kevin
Interests: Photography, cycling, astronomy, discovering some good NYC eateries, finding picturesque autumn scenic sites, finding that far off destination for that quintessential long road trip, Japan, blah blah blah, etc. etc. and YOU.
Expertise: Waaaaay too many to list...but let's start with being able to tie my shoes, and being able to cook some good scrambled eggs =)
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
4/25/2005
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| www.kgwphotography.com
Been busy working on building a website to house my photo portfolio (click on above link to view). Can finally say that it's "done," in that everything seems to work across most browsers. There's definitely room for some modification and tweaking in the future, and from some initial feedback, I do plan on changing some things to make it more "user friendly", but I think it'll have to do for now. It's my first step in trying to get some freelance work, so check it out, tell me what you think, and spread the word if you like it :). It's a beautiful day today, so I'm out to go shoot. Ciao! | | |
| Ok, so I've been a little lax about posting stuff, so I'll start with some pics taken back on Halloween. The "annual pumpkin carving affair" 2006 @ Cheri's. Pumpkins provided courtesy of Tim and Cheri.
From Top to Bottom: "War of the Worlds" by Orson Welles, I mean me :) ; "The Hangman" by Tim; "Haunted House" by Cheri; "Stack of Jacks" by Camille
Group shot 1
Group shot 2
So I'd definitely say that my carving this year was much more successful than last year's (some weird hummingbird/fireworks/starburst that resulted from a failed "skinning" technique gone terribly wrong). Went for the minimalist/simple/safe route instead and finished my carving I'd say in about half an hour (including design sketch time - yea, no stencil for me! HA!) =P Maybe I'll try to go for a more complex design again next year.
Let's see, after Halloween on Nov. 13, I went to watch my first NBA game at the Continental Airlines Arena. Nets vs. Sonics. Got hooked up with great tix through a friend of Cheri's...Row 18 and valued at $125. Don't know if I'd say it was worth $125, but the view was still pretty good and close enough to see all the action. First half of the game was pretty sloppy, with Seattle taking nearly a 30 pt lead. At the end, the Nets finally started a comeback but still lost, disappointingly 113-119. Ahh well, it was still cool to go to a pro game (tho it wasn't as well attended as I always thought the games would be based on seeing the games on TV).
Then just this past Sat I took the FRM (Financial Risk Manager) exam. It was administered in two sections (morning and afternoon) with a 1.5 hr break inbetween. Let's just say if the test had ended with the morning section, I might've walked away thinking I passed, but the second half was pretty killer for me. The easy Q's were easier than the practice ones, and the hard were a lot harder. Thought alot of them were more nuanced and the hypotheticals were pretty complex, so I ended up doing a lot of guesswork. Sigh, at least I'm done with that. Won't know my score (actually, they don't even let you know how well you did either as a raw score or a percentage apparently - they just tell you if you passed or failed) until mid Jan, but at least now I can think about other more "fun" things.
As far as my weekends, been going out and doing some shooting with Tim mostly. Went to Sourland Mtn Preserve in NJ, Hoboken, and Bushkill PA (that was 6 hrs worth of driving round trip that day!). Glad that Tim has his company cars usually and is willing to do the driving, that way I can save some on gas. Thanks! Hit rates in terms of the number of good pics per outing is still pretty low, but I'm getting back into shooting. And it provides me with enough new material to work on exploring new Photoshop editing techniques. Maybe I'll post some pics later. Also been going to a few museums/galleries. Most recently, just the other day I went to Gallery 14 in Hopewell, NJ. The gallery was located on the 2d Fl. of a small building. Formed by 13 amateur photographers (one pro), they were mostly landscape and photojournalistic shots. Two of the photographers were actually there (whose prints were being exhibited) and it was interesting talking to them. I wouldn't say I loved all the pictures, but it was surprising how good the quality was for some 16x20s printed off from slide film. And the matting/framing was pretty nice. Also went to go see the movie "Borat" with Cathy (yes, she actually came home and we met up!). It was a pretty funny movie, and just about as politically incorrect as you can get, but no asian jokes, so hey, I found everything funny ;) Anyways, must get to making some lunch. Now that I have a bit more time, I'll try to post more frequently.
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| Let me first thank those of you who helped me by contributing to this year's Multiple Sclerosis charity ride. The team I was riding for, Team Harman Becker (Tim's company), raised over $1500, exceeding our goal of $1000. In addition, the company I am told, will be matching those contributions. The ride was a lot of fun, and over 5000 people participated. Below is my mini journal describing the day's events along with some pics (click to view larger image).
Oct. 14, 2006. Saturday afternoon I drive up to Bloomfield with Tim and arrive at his apartment to meet up with my friend Mara, who drove down from Boston to ride with us. Sorry we were late Mara! Got a little bit of a late start and then ran into some traffic. Cheri arrived shortly after (actually pretty much the same time we did), and after packing some of the bike gear in preparation of the next day's ride, we set off for the grocery store to get some supplies for dinner. On the menu: lasagna with sausage bread and brownies and ice cream for dessert. We were all starving by the time we got done shopping, but with the four of us working on preparing the meal, we made fast work of it and got the food on the table in a jiff.
   
OK, so Tim isn't in any of the shots but he was helping out.
Umm, or so we think =P
Food was very tasty - lasagna wasn't runny, cheese was melted, and the sausage bread looked like it came straight out of a brick fired oven (not that that's not a biased opinion or anything)...
We were too full for dessert when all was said and done, so we decided to get ready for bed, but not until we got in a movie. Had to make use of Tim's state-of-the-art sound system, and with a projector and "big screen" on loan from Tony, as tired as we were, how could we pass up such an opportunity? So we set up to watch a bootlegged copy of "Over the Hedge" - got through the intro clip and nearly bust a gut it was that funny. Too bad that's all we could actually get through - had a system failure and the movie kept on locking up after showing the intro clip. Talk about a teaser. Anyways, we had a backup plan and threw in "V for Vendetta" (not a bootleg - we actually had a legit copy) which turned out to be an awesome movie. Definitely one of the top movies on my lists. If you don't believe me, here's one of the opening lines:
"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as
both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no
mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant,
vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands
vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin
vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious
violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held
as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one
day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise
of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very
good honor to meet you and you may call me V."
See? Told you it was good =) Now, anyone have a dictionary on hand?
Alright, enough of the pre-party stuff. On to the actual ride.
Oct. 15, 2006. Sunday morning. EARLY morning. As in 4:30AM early. Wake up (or rather stumble out of my sleeping bag into the shower). Get dressed in my under armour, throw on the team Becker jersey, and new bib tights (yea, full body spandex!) As Paris would say, "that's hot"...or maybe not. Hey, at least I was warm! Ride into the city was quick and easy, with no traffic as expected. Check in time was 6:30 at Chelsea Pier 94. We were supposed to bring some forms already filled out to expedite the check-in process, but those that forgot their forms could go to another line to check-in. Well, though most of us remembered, we were debating whether to throw ours out just to get into the MUCH shorter line for those that had forgotten. In any case, at least it was indoors (oh, precious warmth) and we munched on our bagels as we waited. So many people there. Lining up for the start of the ride, there were some interesting characters: one guy was on a unicycle (wonder how many miles he was planning on riding), a lady with a toy dog strapped in a baby carrier to the front of her chest (poor dog must've been freezing...but at least he was dressed in a sweater), and a really young girl on a hot pink bike that just took off at the start. Really should've snapped a few shots, but oh well. Here's the team at the start:
From L-R: Me, Mara, Jen (Jaime's gf), Jaime (Tim's boss), Cheri, Tim.
Don't have many pics of us actually riding, but the route we rode ended up being 66 miles as opposed to the originally stated 60 mi (since the start/end location was changed). Made our way up the FDR and down the West Side Hwy, and then crossed over into NJ via the Lincoln Tunnel. That was really cool since they closed off traffic, and all the riders had free reign inside the tunnel. Everyone was whooping and shouting and having fun with the reverberating echoes as they rode through (and going downhill at the start of the tunnel, it was easy to hit 30+ mph without even pedaling...road was surprisingly smooth too, tho I can't say much about the air quality...definitely no fans running to get some air circulation). Here's some pics of us after exiting on the NJ side.
 
Yea, sorry Tim, really should've zoomed in some more. Think I might have gotten a more cropped in shot on your camera.
After entering NJ, we rode up the Palisades Park Dr...very nice scenic route, but riddled with hills. Happy to report that of everyone else around us who was riding, our team was pretty much the only ones who were actually RIDING up the hills rather than walking them. Definitely needed a breather at the top of each one, but they were doable. The last one was killer tho - very gradual incline, and at each slight plateauing I thought it would be the top of the climb, but no, there would be a bend in the road and it'd keep going up...and up...and...up. We made it though. Crossed back over to the NY side via the GWB. These pics are when we were still on the NJ side.
 
Little tricky getting off the GWB since it was tight quarters to maneuver the bike, and lots of pedestrians and other cyclists to avoid. At this point, my legs were definitely getting tight, and the "rolling hills" of Riverside Dr. didn't help the matter. But we eventually made it back to Pier 94 at around 3:30 PM. Including rest stop breaks, we were in the saddle and on the road for about 7.5 hours. Actual riding time, I'd say we covered the route in about 5 hrs at around a 12.5 mph pace. Not too shabby considering the hills. Here's us, our tired and sore bodies at the finish line (Jaime and Jen actually made it to the finish a bit before us). And I don't know what's up with my hair...
  
Overall, it was a great day. Definitely warmed up after the first couple hours, and it was nice to have the sun shining. Even better to be able to go out for a ride with a bunch of friends. We even got medals and rode into the finish with a cheering crowd! Maybe this will become an annual thing =) | | |
| Only four months this time - I'm getting better. Four months...1/3 of a year...a lot happens in four months. So I guess I'll start with the most recent and work my way backwards until my memory fails me.
Yesterday, I was able to fill my day with a lil bit of happiness in getting the opportunity to take a seat behind the wheel of my (near) dream car and throw it around the rain-slicked Englishtown racetrack. The event: Mazda's Zoom-zoom Live; the people: me, my bud Tim, and my dad; the car: the very nice RX-8 (ok, so it's not an RX-7, but still). Yea, we drove some other cars on some coned courses (the MazdaSpeed 6 wasn't half bad mind you =P), but nothing compared to the 56 s of pure joy driving the 8 on an actual racetrack. Oh so nimble and agile, the beautifully short throws of the stick, the solid handling around those turns, and so damn sexy (even with the mud splattering)! Good thing Tim came along so he could push the envelope and test out the FULL capabilities of the car. And I'll never look at my dad the same way again...20+ odd years of not having driven a stick, put the man behind a wheel, encourage him to have some fun and let the cars loose, and boy did the spirit of youth come rearin out...he was tearing up the tracks!
Followed that up with a platterfull of sushi/sashimi from Tomo's in Princeton, steak for dinner, what more could you ask for right? Well, Tim tells me he has something to show me...in the trunk of the S-class...something personalized just for me...something I'd like. Oh yea, the intrigue is killing me. So what is it? I think I'll leave you hanging since I can't show you anyways (too bad, cuz you'd probably like it too, if you were a guy). Let's just say I definitely liked it  Many thanks to Tim, Tony, Joli, and Mpix!
Ahh, so much more stuff to talk about, but this is long enough for now. And why not end on a high note, eh?
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| I finally come back to this blog. So much for keeping up to date with things. Ahh well, I don't suppose there are many readers out there anyhow, but looking over some old posts, maybe I should try to pick it up again. It'd be nice for me to at least keep track of what I've done (or haven't done). In any case, I'll give the short summary of notable happenings (and not so notable)/interesting observations for now (not in any chronological order):
-Only ONE MORE WEEK of classes until I'm DONE with my 1L year!
-I apparently know a little of contracts, yet still have no clue about civpro and conlaw
-I've been to the NH Sup. Ct., NH, Merrimack County Superior Ct., and the NH District Ct.
-I've gone candlestick bowling (New England's idea of what bowling should be - you should try this the next time you're up here Tim)
-Been to the Common Man 2x (pass on the ribs, highly recommend the pork tenderloin...and the desserts are huge!)
-Got a (slight) dent in my baby's hood, had to replace a cracked windshield, and on top of all that, had to replace the rear bumper (all of which had nothing to do with my driving!)
-Racked up just about 10k mi in under a year
-Have had company over for dinner only once the entire year (I blame it on lack of kitchen space)
-Gave a pretty decent oral argument, which has now made me set my sights on moot court
-Discovered that my contracts prof's daughter is graduating from Cornell this year
-My landlords always leave me some form of chocolates for any major/minor holiday: Thanksgiving, Christmas, St. Patty's Day, Easter...
-Winter road clearance in NH pales in comparison to Ithaca (those people know how to do it right)
-I can drive straight from NH to NJ without having to fill up the tank (the fumes can take me the last few miles to the nearest station)
-Been skiing 3x at Mt. Sunappee (nice wide, long trails, but let's try a different mountain next year shall we?)
-5k Fun Run for Justice nearly killed me, and then again on the 2nd day after the fact
-When doing any legal citations, it's 2d, NOT 2nd!
-These people don't joke around about formatting - if it's over the page limit, they won't read it; if you cheat on the margins/font size, they'll make you resubmit it; if you turn it in late, you get that rubber stamp forever preserving your tardiness...oh how I've sufferred
-I've been successfully been able to "borrow" wireless from my neighbor for the entire year
-I've managed not to destroy my laptop due to frustration (it seems to be killing itself on its own just fine)
-Have had food poisoning which had me hugging the can for an entire morning...and afternoon...and night (I think the count was more than a dozen times, no joke)
-Surprisingly found a somewhat decent Japanese restaurant in Concord...who would've thought?
-Went to the Barrister's Ball
-Finally got around to reading The DaVinci Code and found that it lived up to all the praise people have given it (now let's see about that movie)
-Next on the list is The Iliad
-I think I may be hooked on anime - have seen some Bleach, Kenshin, MaiHime, Elfin Lied, Evangelion, and currently watching Tsubasa Chronicles
-Been playing around with photoshop a bit more and have edited a whopping total of 9? photos?
-I've got more (ok, so maybe this wasn't the "short" list, but I've got to get to some work) - will fill in the rest and some details later.
Ciao
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