Mike and Ploy

“Cleanliness is next to Godliness”

That quote was by the sink at my mom’s house.  Whenever I was assigned the dreadful chore of washing dishes – a daily assignment I might add,  I would read that quote and wonder why the cartoon in the picture was so happy dancing around this kitchen with a mop in his hands.   I never did that.  Have you ever tried to dance while mopping? Besides getting the muddy water everywhere (gross….), the pure friction of a mop on vinyl floor prohibits any quick movements, let alone reenacting a triple-toe, double axle combo.  You’re more likely to slip on the wet floor and bang your head on the kitchen counter, resulting in a concussion. (continue reading…)

Everyone loves saving money – that’s why we love sales.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to pay less for something that you were going to buy anyway?  The issue arises, however, when you purchase more than you originally planned or budgeted for. (continue reading…)

It’s frustrating when you think about all the things that could have been in your life. At times you wish that you could be a different person, someone else, somewhere else altogether. At other moments, you can relax and be grateful for all that you have and what has been given to you as a gift. Yet, still in moments of deep thought you are left to wonder what might be the purpose of what goes on in your life – why you have to deal with issues that are redundant and never-ending, why you must face the things you don’t want to face, and why on earth are you persuaded to be somewhere that just makes frustrated over and over again?

I guess the answer isn’t easily found, for if it was, most people would probably be free from the feelings and thoughts I am failing to explain in this one-dimensional page we call a “blog.” It’s far more interesting to ignore the problems you face and to look at the same problems from an outsider’s perspective when it happens to someone else. Yet, how is that any good to yourself?

Sometimes, the answer to your problem can only be envisioned by you and everyone else may deem you crazy. Other times, the answer is one that everyone else sees and you refuse to except. No matter the question, or the answer for that matter of fact, you may find yourself lost in a world that revolves into the same thing over and over again. Day after day, nothing seems to change, and one day you find yourself sitting in front of a computer not knowing where to go next.

It’s kind of pathetic if you think about it. The way you have to fully except that nothing is actually in your own hands – although everything you do is a “choice” that can lead to consequences, who actually knows what those consequences are until they happen? What signs do we actually get about how to live this so-called existence of a life? But most importantly, what madness drives us to do what we do? What are our reasons, what are we called into, what are we envisioning as we take a leap of faith?

Just something to contemplate over before the new dawn breaks. Maybe the choices we make seal our fate into something we can’t control – but is it fair to render ourselves responsible for something that we have no control over the outcome? No control over what others may do? For even though we can chose reactions for ourselves, we cannot predict or control the actions of those around us. We cannot count on their thoughts to be similar to our, we cannot rely on their feelings to experience our happiness or pain, we cannot contemplate the actions their choices will lead to.

The conclusion to this conundrum is not set in stone, and probably will never be. The only thing we can wish for is to be the most that we can be for what we believe in. Be something we are happy to face in the mirror everyday – because if you can’t wake up and look at yourself in the mirror, who will be able to do it for you?!

So, while perusing the great interweb, I found a little gem for beginning photographers: http://www.berniecode.com/writing/photography/beginners/

Covers all of the good stuff – Shutter Speed, Focal Length, Aperture, ISO settings and the always cool “bokeh”.  Just trying saying that word 5 times dramatically……….bo–keh……bo-keh, bo-keh…….bo…..keh  Woohoo.  Even has sections for accessories, like making the case for a tripod and filters.

Other stuff – signed up for new car insurance.  By the way……Don’t ever let me say that my wife isn’t gracious.  Because she is – and she puts up with me.  That is all.

One month from now will mark the 3-year date for the start of my Northern California journey – which officially started at Stanford on Pearl’s Birthday (August 10, 2007), if you don’t count the weekend trips to scope out living situations, interviews, etc. It’s quite amazing how fast the time flies – I’ve come from living in a 1-room in-law, to renting a house, to moving back into a 2-room in-law!

I’ve also realized that, with my bumbling brain trying to find vast ways of escape, blogging would be a very healthy remedy for the time being (on top of getting my thoughts across to my newest “housemate” that happens to be the mister in my life)!

In any case, for those who have been out of the loop for a while, after working at Stanford for a year, I moved to UCSF for 6 months, laid-off for 6 months, got proposed to somewhere in between all that nonsense, got married 6 months later, and started working at Alma Heights Christian (and have now been at it for 1 year)!!! Not to mention, hubby getting a new job in the middle of it all, moving a couple of times (getting family moved up here), health issues, and still trying to keep sane in my marriage – which has lasted 1 year, 3.25 months and counting… Oh, did I mention, I’m doing my MA at the same time and trying to pick up new hobbies while volunteering, trying to connect with old friends (all while making new ones), and trying to spend time with our church folks?!

Okay… no wonder I’m slightly delusional!! Yet, overall, I’m finally content (kind of… getting there) and feels like I’m being “placed” where I belong (again, still getting there). I have to admit that it’s hard at times to be displaced from somewhere you considered “home” your whole life, leave friends and family behind, and start over again. Yes, yes… many of you may think it’s been three whole years almost, so get over it… but three years is nothing compared the realities of your whole life (just think of your college years, or high school years… doesn’t seem all that significant in terms of time does it?)…

I guess the funny part of it all is the realization that everything changes, and with it, we all change to some degree as well…

July 3 – Dear Diary,

Today the unthinkable happened.  In an instant – cut down in half by chance.  Damaged & wounded beyond repair, I thought this would bring an end to all…..but it was not meant to be.

The sharp drop to the floor left a gash across your emanating visage, distorted by colors that should not be shown, and a pale white where once was life.  You still contained vital information though, so a suitable substitute was made – the little EEPC performed duties in your stead in the coming day while Master scoured the expanse known as “Craig’s List” searching for a solution. (continue reading…)

Just a few edits.  The engagement and honeymoon albums are back online – they’re at the gallery!

The wedding slideshow is back online!!!  http://wedding.mikeandploy.com/slideshow

Other than that….more stuff is coming.

A few short updates today.   First – the wedding page went back up.  It’s visible here as a reminder of where this started such a short time ago.  Unfortunately, I don’t have the wiki or the admin side of our sites, but that’s ok.  Not everything has to be archived.  It’s probably better that way.

Working on the gallery too.  Kimber and Anthony’s wedding is up.  Still figuring out the differences or tweaks of the system.  It seems like whenever I upload a picture, the converter takes up 100% of the CPU and slows everything down.  I’ll have to look into this a little more – maybe JW’s limited me?

Then there’s the issue with the DNS.  Hrm..  every so often, from home or from work, one of the subdomains will go down.  It’s still active on the server, but for some reason, I won’t be able to get to the address, or ping it.  It won’t even resolve.  I tried changing the timings – we’ll see what happens.