Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Music stats 2009
Here are my music stats. in 2009 I listened to 5861 songs. The total length of those songs 47 Days 13 Hours 27 Minutes 26 Seconds or 28.01 GB I want to listen more different songs this year. I only listened to about 10% of my collection last year. I feel I need to open that up more. Here are my updated music collection stats: Number of Songs 1-Jan-04 --- 28206 1-Jan-05 --- 36026 1-Jan-06 --- 41585 1-Jan-07 --- 46470 1-Jan-10 --- 56853 Size in GB 1-Jan-04 --- 123.74 1-Jan-05 --- 158.99 1-Jan-06 --- 181.31 1-Jan-07 --- 203.95 1-Jan-10 --- 257.55 Size in time 1-Jan-04 --- 78:04:31:04 1-Jan-05 --- 99:01:07:31 1-Jan-06 --- 144:02:05:25 1-Jan-07 --- 156:19:33:52 1-Jan-10 --- 184:08:20:23 Day:Hour:Minute:Second Labels: mp3, music, self, stats
- Rich,
9:32 AM
Monday, January 04, 2010
Best Photos of 2009
According to Flickr, this is my most interesting photo of 2009  It is not hard to see why they say that. The most interesting non-comic con photo is this one  Also easy to see, but I do not think this is because of my photographic skill This photo might be because of my photographic skill.  I think this is my best photo of the year.  This is the photo I have on my iPod touch.  Labels: best of 2009, flickr, flickrpost, list, photo, photography, self
- Rich,
6:16 PM
Sunday, January 03, 2010
2010 Creative Project List
1. Photo a day Project: I know that I have tired this before, but I am trying it again. Hopefully I will get through it this year. I want to really do a good job. Last year I stopped in February. Yes, the wedding planning did me in. This year I hope to get it done. 2. Add people to all my Flickr Photos: A while ago Flickr added a people feature, so you can add other Flickr users to your photos. I wanted to make sure I did this for all my photos. I added the tag needsflickrpeople too all the photos I posted before this feature was added. At this moment I have 9,245 photos with this tag. I want to make that number zero by the end of the year. I know that is a lot of photos to review in the next year, but I think I can do it. 3. Get a total of 3,542,374 flickr views: To get this many views I need to average 2000 views a day for the whole year. There was a good four month period that I got over 2000 views every day. I know I have little control over this. I need to go to Comic Con to get this done. More costume photos might also be a good idea. I know that more promotion using Facebook and Flickr is important. We will see if I can do this. 4. Best songs of 2009 mix: I have been making these mixes for years this is not the year to stop. I hope to have this done by the end of the month. 5. Best albums of the 2000s list: I have been working lists for each year. I also want to make an overall list. I want to have this done by the end of the month, but the end of February seems real realistic. 6. New Movie Review Blog with Kate: I set up the blog, Movie Reviews with My Spouse. We watch a lot of movies together. This will mostly be movies from Netflix. I think this will be fun. If you have a suggestion for a better name, let me know. Labels: flickr, flickrpost, list, self
- Rich,
1:28 PM
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Happy New Years, 2010 the year that will be
 I feel like my life is pointing the right direction. I did a lot of work in 2009 on myself. I put into action a lot of plans that I have been working on. I think it is time to set some goals around this. Resolutions: Ride my bike more: I want to ride my bike at least 100 days this year. I was thinking at least 2 forty weeks this year. I will have to pick up the other 20 somewhere. I want to ride enough that I fell comfortable riding to other cities in Santa Clara County, that is without having to ride the Light Rail.
Exercise more: I want to accomplish 300 hours of moderate exercise. That is 6 hours a week for 50 weeks. I will give myself some time off for vacation. Even if it is just an hour of walking 6 days a week. I have started doing this, and it really helps.
Build my savings: I have a number in mind, but I am not going to share it with you.
Do more creative projects: I have a number of projects in mind that you will read about in another post. I want to accomplish more than half of them.
Read 12 books this year: I really do not read enough. I want to read more. 12 books is a modest number, it is a great increase over my last couple of years.
Make 100 Sad Salvation posts: I really do not want Sad Salvation to fade away. That is just too easy to do. It is simple to let Twitter and Facebook take over. I want my blog to last another year. Maybe it needs a redesign.
**** ** ******: ** **** ** ** **** * ***** * ****. (This has been redacted. Tell me if you have any guesses what it is)
Make more than $15 from Google AdSense: Yeah, I made a big $15 dollars from google this year. It was all in October on the Costume Checklist blog. I might need to start some more blogs to get it done, but I think it is doable. If you want to help me go click on some of the ads over there... If you want to find great places to find costumes.Labels: 2010, list, new years, New Years Resolution, self, tag overload
- Rich,
4:11 PM
Friday, January 01, 2010
Happy New Year, that was 2009
 Wow 2009 was a hell of a year. There is not much else I can say about it. It was just amazing. Everything went as planned, but it was so much better then I expected. The big point of the year was March, 21. My wedding day. The whole year up to that point seemed to be getting ready for the wedding. I will admit that getting ready for the wedding was stressful. I will say the first three months of the year was more stressful than the rest of the year combined. It was worth it. The rest of the year after that was about learning how to be a married man. Kate and I lived together for about 16 months before being married. Lots of people ask if being married was different than not being married, for me it is. Things between Kate and myself became intense. It was like the stakes are higher. If I did something wrong, I felt worse about it. It was like the reality of being married hit me. My God Father's Wife Janis gave us a piece of advice after the wedding. She told us that you need to work at you marriage everyday if you want it to be good. This seems true to me and I have been trying to live this idea. I try to work to be a better person for my wife. It is not always easy, but it is always worth it. This year Kate and I went to Portland, Sacramento, Monterey, Comic Con, Baseball Games, and all over San Jose. This year has been about the two of us. We have spent a lot of time together, even both did National Novel Writing Month this year. We stayed home this Christmas so we could have our own Christmas Tree, It was really cool. The best thing I did not related to getting married was getting my bike back on the road. I decided it was silly to drive to the gym, ride the bike at the gym to warm up, and drive back. That got my bike back into riding shape. It took a little more for me to get myself into riding shape. Being married has been really good to me. I am losing weight, getting more exercise, and feeling better. I really feel this has been one of the best years of my life. It was definitely the best year of my adult life. I am hoping the trend continues. I know that I need to work at my life to keep that trend alive. Below is my first photo from 2009  Labels: 2009, best of 2009, kate, marriage, self, wedding
- Rich,
6:01 PM
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
2009 Mayfly
Mayfly 2009I got married, yes that amazed me and it was cool. It still surprises me I am married. It defined my year. She's great. Past Mayflies 2008, Mayflys: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2002, 2001, Labels: 2009, kate, mayfly project, self, wedding, year in review
- Rich,
10:12 PM
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
After National Novel Writing Month
 I have done National Novel Writing Month for seven years now. Every year it seems to be a different experience. I think this happens for two reasons. The first is that doing it once a year is not enough so you really have a predictable experience. You are not doing it often enough to learn efficiencies that make it that much easier. I also think it happens because I am a different person every year. For example this is the first year I am doing NaNoWriMo as a married man. Yes being married makes it different then last year being engaged. This is the first year Kate did it with me. Yes she did complete 50,000 words also. I made a tweet this year when I wrote "For me nanowrimo Kinda like a rowing machine gets you in shape but does not actually take you anywhere." I still feel that it was true for me this year. I know the idea of NaNoWriMo is to finish and have a first draft of a novel. That was not my case this year. I realized this about two weeks into NaNoWriMo, but I still finished. I have not written any fiction since NaNoWriMo last year and any fiction writing I can do Is helpful. Some times you just need to write. Over the last week of so I thought about what I learned this year. I came up with a couple thinks I think I need to work on, after being on the rowing machine for a month. I Need to Write More Fiction. In the past year I have not taken much time to write. It seems like there is always something more important to do. I need to find the right way to carve out time to write. When I find that time I need to write and not spend my time messing around on the internet. It is just too easy to waste time. I Need to Write More Blog Entries. I have been lazy like lots of bloggers and let Twitter say everything for me. I know that writing blog entries really makes me think about my ideas and how to construct them on the page. I find that even helps when I am working on fiction. I Need to Read More Novels. I know I do not read enough. Lately I have not read much at all. Some of the problems I am having writing comes because I spend all my time reading websites. I know that I can get better at expressing my story ideas if I read more. I just need to make myself do it I Need to Read More Short Fiction. There is some short fiction, but I have to put a lot more effort into finding it. To become a better writer I think I need to work on writing shorter fiction. If I want to write it, I need to read it. It is a simple idea. I Need to Watch Lets TV. I love Television, but it is easy to let it suck away too much time. It is easy to watch television mindlessly. I need to turn off the TV if I want to spend time writing. I cannot write and keep the TV on. It just does not work. I Need to Manage My Internet Time Better. The internet is the greatest distraction in the world. I can sit down to write and find myself watching YouTube two hours later. This is a really easy thing to do. I know this is where a lot of my time goes. I Need to Set Creative Goals. I know the only way to measure myself is to set goals. Setting Goals includes thinking of creative projects, being clear about what I want to do, and setting aside to accomplishing the goal. Labels: goal, nanowrimo, self, writing
- Rich,
9:22 PM
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Views on Flickr 2009: Five view photo
 I think it is easy to see why this photo only has five views. I do not think it is very interesting. I could see this photo topping out at 25 views, but it will take a long time. Uploaded on April 15, 2008 Taken on April 14, 2008 Viewed 5 times Labels: armslength photo, flickr, flickrpost, self, views
- Rich,
3:36 PM
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Taking the summer off
I feel like I have no good ideas to write about this summer. I have been spending my time working on other projects. I have been working on Jeremy's Aught Music Blog, My Costume Checklist blog, and my Twitter feed. For now that is all I got. I think I am going to take the summer off Sad Salvation. Maybe I will be ready to write come September. Labels: Aught Music, blog, Costume Checklist, sadsalvation, self, Twitter
- Rich,
6:06 PM
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Pulled away fro a while
...or So much has happened, I have not had the time to blogSometimes your life just has too many things going on. I got married in March. That pretty much took me away from my blog for a month. I did not have the time or the mental space to sit down and blog. I was either too busy, too tired, too stressed, too focused, or too distracted to just sit at my computer and type. When I did use my computer I was either working on wedding things or vegging out. I seemed to have no mental space to work on my blog. Now that I am married I have to find a new approach to work on my blog. I need to come up with the time to work on it and the will to not screw around on the web when I find that time. When I started this blog I had all the time in the world to work on it. I would often spend four nights a week doing nothing but my blog. Now I have to be more selective. I see and hear lots of things that I want to blog about. The problem is that I do not have the time to work my thoughts into something that I can easily post on a blog. Of course there are other ways I can get things out. While I have been working on this post I have sent three tweets and posted three links to del.icio.us. If you like you can follow all that on Friends Feed. PostdatingI am going to do some postdating of blog posts. There are notes that I took during the week before I was married so I would remember things. I know that I am using my blog as a journal trying to keep track of things, but deal with it. It is my blog and I don't really care Labels: blog, sadsalvation, self, wedding
- Rich,
7:34 PM
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The Vows
Here are the wedding Vows that Kate and I said to each other. We decided really early that we were going to write our own vows. It just seemed like the right think to do. People at the wedding told us they liked them. Maybe they were just being polite. I hope that people like them. Kate: Love of mine, you are one of the most beautiful of God's creatures. It is my good fortune to have you in my life I am better for knowing you. I pledge everyday to seek your gentle smile. Looking inside my heart only finding you. Give you comfort and rest I pledge to be present in our life together. To be careful with you. To be vulnerable I pledge to also be strong and patient To compromise with you To nurture the good in our relationship I will not try to fix things but just to listen To be honest with you as well as trust you To bend but not to break Along the road I may disappoint, anger, or make you sad. Know the mistakes I make are only my own frustration No matter what it looks like all I bring you is love. Rich: My love, from the first time I kissed your lips, I knew we had a bond The days since that first kiss, my love for you has grown and flowered I pledge you my hands That they work hard to support you and be there for you when you need them to be ready to act when times get hard I pledge you my mind That it will find the word to bring you a smile and think through every challenge life brings us you will never be far from my thoughts I pledge you my heart With every ounce of love I can muster I will let you into my heart making our lives a place where we can always find joy I will be present, patient and loving Thanking God for everyday we have together As we build a family and a life together Labels: kate, self, vow, wedding
- Rich,
4:17 PM
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Is Blogging Over?
 I know that I have been falling down lately when it comes to writing in this blog. I do not have the time and I cannot seem to make the time either. I sit down to write and my mind draws a blank. I am not reading my friends blogs all that often either. I read some blogs, but it is not important to me. I am keeping my twitter account up to date. I can always find a few minutes to use twitter and read other twitter posts. Twitter is where I go to find out what is happening. During the election I used it all the time to find the latest news. I rarely found news by reading blogs. I have some blogs I read in Google Reader, but most of them are Professional blogs like Gizmodo, or Engadget. Those are not really tools of the masses. Blogs have good from tools of the masses where anyone can be heard to the domain of professional writers and journalists. I think this is a big shift. The web is a weird place. There is this constant battle between communities of users and monetizing the web. In 2002 I felt like blogs were giving the internet back to the people after the dot.com boom gave it to companies. Now user content has gone away from blogs and has gone to Twitter and Facebook. I enjoyed when Blogs where king. I remember when I went to my first blog meeting in 2002 people were asking of blogs where dead or not. That was before most Americans had even heard about blogs. Maybe I am asking the wrong question. Blogs will not go away, they are just being knocked off the top of the internet food chain. Twitter, Facebook, and other mobile apps will be taking over. That is what people will be looking at first. Blogs will just be coming after that. Who knows where technology will take us after that. Blogging must be dead. I cannot pay attention long enough to make this post make the point. 140 characters would have been better. Labels: blog, engadget, factbook, Gizmodo, self, Twitter
- Rich,
6:51 PM
Saturday, February 14, 2009
State of my Heart Address 2009
 I started to write the state of my heart address in 1994 as an indulgence. It was a way for me to wallow in the way I was feeling. It was a way for me to be a depressed 20 nothing being in touch with his emotions. All those years later I am happy I started this tradition. I am happy that I have been writing about my love life in this kind of specific way. It gives me something to look back at and see the way I have grown and changed. I has spent the past year with Kate. In that time not only has she been my lover, but also my best friend, confidant, cheerleader, and companion. We got engaged last March. By the next time I write a State of My Heart Address she will be my wife. This makes me happy. I enjoy seeing Kate as the woman who will be my wife. I will be even happier when she is my wife. In the past year I have learned and grown more than I ever expected. I have learned about myself and about Kate. I feel like I am not the same person I was a year ago and that is a good thing. I have more patience, more love, and more understanding, but not just for kate, but lots of things. I know I feel different now than I did a year ago. A year ago I still had the rose colored glasses of a love that was new. Now I have the warm and deep feeling of a love that has grown. I think it is harder to describe, but much more rewarding. I remember hearing a wine critic one say that a good bottle of wine should not show you everything in the first taste. There should be more that you keep discovering and learning. I am finding that love is the same way. Every day we grow a little more and as we grow there is more to learn. For the first time in a very long time, I can see myself in the future. I can foresee what my life might be like. I can see the road I am on and imagine where it might take me. I know that life changes those things, but it is nice to have some idea where I would like to be. It is good to have an idea what I want the future to bring me. The state of my heart is good and It will get better god willing. Labels: 2009, kate, self, State of my Heart Address
- Rich,
12:23 PM
Friday, January 16, 2009
Best Photo of 2008
 Above is the best photograph I took in 2008. I do not think I have done my best photography in 2008. I think I took better photographs in 2007. I had things other that photography to focus on. I like photography, I think it keeps me looking at the world. It keeps me thinking about what I am seeing. I have noticed that Taking pictures can take me out of the moment sometimes. It pulls me away from the people in the moment to take the photo. The challenge is for me to take good photos without derailing everything else to do it. Below is what the runner up for the best photo of the year. Here are the photos I think are my best 48 of the year.  Labels: best of 2008, digital photography, flickrpost, photography, self
- Rich,
10:40 PM
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
2008 Mayfly
The idea of a Mayfly is to summarize your year in 24 words. I will tell you it makes you think about what is important. Mayfly 2008I asked with a picture she said yes with a smile knowledge increases love grows Lost job New job Looking forward to the Wedding Past Mayflies Mayflys: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2002, 2001, Labels: 2008, kate, mayfly project, self, wedding, year in review
- Rich,
11:39 AM
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Nano Idea for 2009
I have an idea of how to change the National Novel Writing challenge for next year. It took me about 70 hours to write 50000 words. I am thinking next year to try to take the first few days off from work. The idea would me to spend every waking hour working on my novel until it is finished. I think this would be a wild challenge. I am not sure it would make for a good novel. It would be something interesting to do. Labels: flickr, nanowrimo, self
- Rich,
5:43 PM
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Another year, another "Novel" and I do mean "Novel"
 This is the sixth year I have completed the challenge that is National Novel Writing Month. I have a hard time saying what I wrote is a novel. I am not sure there is enough conflict or dynamic characters for this to be a novel. I know that I did not finish the story. I wrote 50,000 words, but I would not inflict it on another human being. I know that Kate wants to read it, but I am not sure I want to be that mean to her.  I love doing National Novel Writing Month. In the past six year I have written some interesting scenes, but nothing that could really be the foundation of a novel. From writing I can see how far away from actually being able to write a novel. To become a better writer I would need to read more and to write on a more consistent basis. Both of those things end up being low on my priority list. Writing a novel becomes something different for me. My goal is not to write something other people can read, but to explore my own imagination. As an adult is is hard to run around the play yard pretending you are a superhero. It is much more socially acceptable to write about having super power. I am going to keep doing NaNoWriMo as long as I can. This time next year I will be married. Who knows if I will have time to do NaNoWriMo or not. I do want to do it. Some where in my head I tell myself I am going to pre-plan my novel and write something good. That is less likely.  Labels: nanowrimo, self, writing
- Rich,
5:06 PM
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Fictions and Truths
A friend from high school sent me this story about how a student was arrested for writing a zombie story about his high school. The reason he sent this to me is because he and I wrote a zombie story when we were in high school. We wrote Adventures of Joe Flamehead, which took place in our high school. In the story the school had a nuclear reactor that melted down and made the school a wasteland. I am sure if it was 2008 and not 1988 we would have been arrested and sent to jail for the story. There are a lot of problems here. When I was in high school, I was one of the misfits. We did a lot of story notebooks where two or three people would pass a story between them. Lots of those stories had characters who were students in the schools. The students were both the heroes and villains in these stories. It was a way for us to relate who we were and who everyone else was. It was a way for us not to be the popular kids and still have a good time. Feel sure of ourselves. It you were a real fan of zombie fiction, writing a story that took place in your school and turn people you knew into zombies. That is a good way to learn how to write one of these stories. It is good to start with people you know so you can tweek the characters. Of course most current zombie fiction is violent. If you look at video games it can be seen that shotgunning zombies is seen as acceptability violence. I would not think a story like this is a threat. It is sad that we cannot look at things like this in a case by case basis. Labels: boing boing, high school, joe flame head, law, self, story, zombie
- Rich,
4:09 PM
Friday, October 17, 2008
I've been missing
The blog has been a little dark lately. Between planning the wedding and starting a new job, I have not had time to sit in front of the computer and blog. You might want to check out my twitter feed to see what is happening in my life. After second thought that might not be so great of an idea. It might not tell you that much about my life. With Nano coming soon, I am not sure I will be back to the blog all that soon. One day Sad Salvation will be updated regularly again. Labels: blog, sadsalvation, self
- Rich,
6:34 PM
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Photo A Day Project Failed
 For the third year in a row, my photo a day project failed. I have sent out to take a photo every day of the year and have not been able to keep it up. I have a hard time with this for two reasons. I have a hard time finding the artistic drive that the project needs. I start to run out of themes quickly into the year. After a while I started to get lazy. It would have taken a lot of effort to take photos that are new. Part of the problem is that I have some 8000+ photos on flickr. There are lots of things subjects in this area which I have already shot. It was also hard to find the time. It was not at the front of my thoughts everyday. Here are a few things I can try next year to make it work better. 1. Pre-plan more photos - Try to have my next week of photos figured out before I get there. This will help me figure out when I need to go out of my way to get a photo. 2. Let myself take photos I have taken before. If I need to take a photo of City Hall or the Mary Statue it is okay. 3. Do not go to the same well too many times. I got bored because I took too many photos of myself in the same way. This got really boring after a while. 4. Put time aside to take pictures. It is hard to find time some days. It might be easier to find the time if I put it on my calendar. Let me know if you have any hints about doing a 365 photo project. Labels: flickrpost, photo365, photography, self
- Rich,
4:44 PM
Thursday, June 05, 2008
36 Years
 Today is my 36th birthday. Last year at my birthday I was working a different job and single. Now I have been at my current job for 10 months and I am engaged now. It has been a year of big change of me. By the time I turn 37 I will be married. The year has moved very quickly. Being 34 really sucked. It was one of the worst years of my life. Being 35 was great. It was a year that really did a lot to redefine my life. It is odd to think there is this person in my life, who I love and cannot imagine being without now. A year ago I did not know her. This year has been about getting to know her and getting to know myself. I made a list of highlights of my life, but I realized something making this list. The really good parts of this year came in between the highlights. They came in the everyday points of my life. Going to watch Eagles Games in the local Eagles Bar, going to giants games with Kate sitting out in the bleachers, going to lunch with friends, and meeting people in coffeehouses are the moments I am really going to cherish from this year. When I look back on being 35 I will smile. Being 34 kicked my ass so much, I guess I deserved a good year. I am not sure what 36 will bring me. I know some things I am planning, but there are always surprises. Highlights of 35Comic Con Started New Job Meeting Kate Christmas in Salinas Taking Kate to Meet My Parents New Years in Pennsylvania Visiting Portland Getting engaged Planning the wedding Labels: birthday, self, year in review
- Rich,
1:27 PM
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Moving to Mass Transit
There is an article in today's New York Times about how the rise in gas prices are causing more people to ride mass transit. A few weeks ago I tried to figure this out for myself. The break even point for me is for gas to be $5.25 or 5.75 a for it to be worth me taking the light rail to work. The big problem is that I would not give up my car if I started to take the light rail. I would still have pay for auto insurance for my car. If I got rid of my car, it would be easy to switch to taking mass transit to work, but it would be harder to do everything else in my life. Gas has to be very high before it is cause effective. This might be because I live close to work, I drive a car with good gas mileage, or that the price of mass transit is rather high. Right now cost is the number one reason for me to switch. I like the idea of mass transit. I think it would be great for me to take the light rail to work. The biggest problem is time. The light rail or the bus takes much longer to get to work. Driving takes me 15 to 30 minutes while the light rail takes me 45 minutes to an hour to get to work. Time is important to me. I guess if the price gets high enough price will get less important. Labels: gas, mass transit, New York Times, self
- Rich,
2:29 PM
Monday, May 05, 2008
Date it forward
Blogger is finally adding a feature that I have been wanting for year now. I now can schedule future posts. This means I can write a post on Sunday to have it appear on Monday. This feature makes me so happy. Why would I want this feature. Right now I am working on a daily series about flickr views. Before I had to go back every day and post if I get the post done early. Now I can set it and forget it. I am very happy with this. Note: This was my test post to make sure it works correctly. Labels: blog, blogger, sadsalvation, self
- Rich,
5:23 PM
Monday, April 14, 2008
Save Polariod, Save Yourself
 A few days before I got my Polaroid it was announced that it was going to stop making instant film. The business has been hit hard by the digital explosion. I cannot think of very many professional uses for polaroids anymore. I cannot see how they make enough money to make Polaroid film worth making. Today a friend sent me a link to a Save polaroid website. We had a Polaroid when I was growing up. I remember one of my siblings getting a new Polaroid, taking pictures in the front year, and placing the yet to be exposed photos on the bush next to our front door. I remember watching the image expose right before my eyes. I was amazed at what was happening. I am sad to hear that Polaroid is going away. I think it is a cool technology. It is the everyday world looking like magic. The world will be a little bit more sad without instant cameras. All that said I will not be able to buy enough Polaroid film for a company to make a business off it. I will not spend the money on a pack of Polaroid film for it to be a specialty item. I think it is fun, I would like it to be around forever, but I cannot say that I will vote with my wallet. I just cannot stand up and say that this is important enough for me to help save it. Some one else will have to save it.  Labels: business, polaroid, self
- Rich,
9:17 PM
Thursday, February 14, 2008
State of my Heart Address 2008
 I am love. I am not sure how I can say it any plainer or clearer. That is not the best part. The best part is that the woman I am in love with loves me back. Maybe that is not the best part. Maybe the best part is that I have never felt this way about someone before. I do not know what to say about my love life. I spent my 20s being alone. I did not have a meaningful romantic relationship from the age of 19 to the age of 30. When I turned 30 a friend told me that it was about to change. Guys like us look better in our 30s than in our 20s. I guess he was right. I am not upset at not having relationships in my 20s. I think it has helped mold me into the person I am right now. I think I am a good person now, ready to love. I am doing my best to use my past to my advantage. I cannot put into words how I feel right now. I have deleted this paragraph four or five times. Every way I try to describe Kate seems to fall short. The worlds do not seem to live up to the task of conveying the truth. I cannot find words that show what is really in my heart. She is so much more to me than I ever expected. I have seen Kate very day in the last four months. I cannot not imagine not seeing her everyday. I cannot imagine seeing her more than I see anyone else. I cannot imagine her not being this close to her. I cannot imagine being without her touch, her sent, her voice, or her close to me. I want to spend the rest of my life being close to her. The state of my heart is very good right now. I am amazed at everything that has happened in the past few months. I was not expecting it to happen. I was not looking when it happened. I was opened to the idea that it could happen. When it happened, I was not afraid of what could happen. Labels: 2008, flickrpost, girlfriend, kate, self, State of my Heart Address
- Rich,
7:01 AM
Sunday, February 10, 2008
I feel like a bull, mostly.
 Because of past projects like the Mayfly project, Lisa told me about the Six Word Memoir project. It is an interesting question. Can you tell your story in Six words? Memoir literally means "My Story". My six word memoir is: I feel like a bull, mostly. What would your Six Word Memoir be? Labels: mayfly project, memoir, self, six word Memoir, story
- Rich,
4:50 PM
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Christmas is Coming
Christmas is coming and I am still not ready. I am off work from not until after the new year. I need to make the most of my time off. Labels: Christmas, flickrpost, self
- Rich,
5:04 PM
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Mayfly
Welcome to the Mayfly Project. Time once again to sum up my year in 24 words. First half sucked second half great Romance sucked Job sucked life looked bad Went to Comic Con New Job New Love future is bright Past Mayflies Mayflys 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2002, 2001In case you were wondering, this year's fit as a twitter messageYou should make a mayfly and let me know. Labels: 2007, mayfly project, self
- Rich,
8:06 PM
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Blogging goals
I am trying to figure out what realistic blogging goals for 2008 would be. I know that I will not be able to find the time to blog everyday. Between work and relationships, it is just not a good goal to set. I would fall behind and just about give up. That is not really what I want to do. Should my goal to be to make three posts a week? Should I be looking for posts that will really be worth my time. I should be making posts that say something I want to say. I will have to figure this one out. I would like to make a goal and meet it for at least 40 weeks next year. Labels: 2008, blog, goal, sadsalvation, self
- Rich,
8:47 PM
Monday, December 17, 2007
Googling Me
There was a story in the press that 47% of all internet users have searched for them self on google. How is that number not 100%? I guess people are not telling the truth. Ego Surfing is so 2002 When I heard about this story I searched for myself again. I found out I have lost my number one search result status for Rich Thomas. Damn. I am not sure how I can climb back up to Number one. I was number one for years. I have to find a new way to get up there. Labels: ego surfing, google, search, self
- Rich,
9:42 PM
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Sliding
Some days my life totally feels like this sign. Labels: flickrpost, self, sign
- Rich,
9:32 PM
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Christmas In the Park: Snowmen
I keep on saying that this year does not feel like Christmas. That might be because I do not take the time to do anything that is really Christmas themed. I might go to a party or two, but I do not take the time to find my Christmas spirit. I might need to engage Christmas more for San Jose to have the Christmas feeling for me. Labels: Christmas, San Jose, self
- Rich,
9:26 PM
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The Hair
My girlfriend wants me to get my hair cut before Christmas. She is worry about what my Dad will say when he sees my hair this long. She also does not want me to cut my hair this short. She says that she does not like me with really short hair. I just want to let my hair get longer. If I get it cut it will have to be soon. Labels: dad, flickrpost, girlfriend, hair, haircut, self
- Rich,
8:58 PM
Friday, December 07, 2007
Rasputin
I see this phone now and I wish I did a better job. I wish this was a better photographic. I wonder what I will find if I look back at the photos from this day. I need to look at more of my old photos in 2008. I need to put time aside to look at what I did before I had Flickr. Labels: 2008, flickr, photography, self
- Rich,
7:50 PM
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Open Road
I am going on a vacation soon, but it will not be a roadtrip. I will have to wait a while until I get to take a roadtrip. The road has been calling my name lately. I have really wanted to see other places lately. I have wanted to get away from here. It will have to wait a few more months. For now my next chance to get away from here will have to be enough. Labels: flickrpost, road trip, self, vacation
- Rich,
7:06 PM
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
junk
The hardest thing for me is making it so my life so it is not about what I own. This is a hard thing because owning is such an important idea. Even if I am okay with what I own, other people have something to say about it. At some point it becomes about if I own a house or not. I want to own less, but I am not sure I can. Labels: flickrpost, ownership, self, stuff
- Rich,
6:43 PM
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Artist Tree
Christmas is coming and I have not done a thing yet. Labels: Christmas, self
- Rich,
1:34 PM
Friday, November 30, 2007
Portland: Burnside
I do not know when I will get to Portland next, but it has been calling me. Next year I think I will be there. I have visited Portland every even year since I left there. I am looking forward to going again. I know I was not there long, but it still has some of my heart. Labels: flickrpost, Portland, self, travel
- Rich,
9:09 PM
Saturday, November 24, 2007
back of the hand
Some days I feel this blog is nothing more than me looking at the back of my hand. I must admit that is what Twitter feels to me. Most of the Twitter messages I get are people saying, "Look How Cool I Am." I like some of them, but if you are twittering more than once hour every day you might want to rethink your twitter policy. Labels: blog, flickrpost, sadsalvation, self, Twitter
- Rich,
3:20 PM
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The Old Wall
The lesson I learn all the time is that time does not wait for anyone. Time is a steamroller. If you try to hold it back you will just get ground to bits. Well, you will get ground to bits no matter what you do. You need to know that time go by so quickly. That is the only chance you have to make good use of your time. That is the only change you get not to waste time. It is so hard to know this when you are young. At a certain point in life, all young people have is time. When I was 15 I had all the time in the world. Life was just screeched out in front of me. Twenty years later I feel like I never have enough time to do what I want to do. It is an odd thing to need to fight against. Labels: flickrpost, self, time
- Rich,
3:33 PM
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Christmas cookies
Christmas is not far away. I never feel ready for Christmas. I am not ready so I never do anything special. I never send out Christmas cards. I rarely decorate for Christmas. I could do more, but I don't. I wonder why that is. Labels: Christmas, flickrpost, self
- Rich,
10:59 PM
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Our Lady Of Peace:
This photo is another example of how I lack the photographic skill to get the photo I want. I also lack the Photoshop skill to turn it into the photo I want. Labels: flickrpost, photography, photoshop, self
- Rich,
2:00 PM
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Close up
Is my blog a reflection of me? If so, what is it saying about me? Is it something I should be proud about? What should my blog say about me? Labels: blog, flickrpost, question, sadsalvation, self
- Rich,
8:57 PM
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Eric
I miss seeing Eric everyday. Even when we were both having bad days he could put a smile on my face. Chatting with him over IM every once and a while is not the same as seeing him face to face all the time. Labels: Eric Laine, self
- Rich,
8:06 PM
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
The Hook Up
Note to self, I am the happiest when I find the beauty and humor of the everyday world. Life is not about saving things up for the next trip or the next vacation or even the next weekend. Life it about living it everyday. Labels: flickrpost, life, self
- Rich,
8:47 PM
Friday, October 26, 2007
Giants v. Phillies: Gate
The gate is closed on baseball season once again. It is going to be hard to wait for next season. Kate is a baseball fan. I want to take her to games. I guess all I have to do is wait. Labels: baseball, flickrpost, self
- Rich,
9:46 PM
Thursday, October 25, 2007
bikes in the rain
This was once the middle of my flickr views Is no longer is. I would like to see it get more views. I am not sure how to get people to look at this photo. Some days I totally feel like this. Some days I am a bicycle in the rain. Labels: flickrpost, rain, self
- Rich,
8:15 PM
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Desk
I am slowly letting go of some parts of the past. It is not always easy, but it needs to be done. Labels: flickrpost, past, self, time
- Rich,
1:58 PM
Monday, October 22, 2007
June 16: Lou's Living Dounut Museum
Looking back at 1997 a friend of mine said that time flies like an arrow. I do not think this is quite true. The expression to fly like an arrow means you fly straight and true. It is true that we cannot see the bend of time. It is it measured by us, time always moves at the same speed, but this does not feel true to me. I have always seen time as a steamroller. It keeps on going no matter what you put in front of it. You cannot hold it back. Time is time. I also do not think time Flies like and arrow. If time flies, it moves like a bumber bee on the wind. Sometimes it moves quickly and other times it moves slowly. It curves around things, but us never stopped. That is how time flies for me. Labels: flickrpost, self, time
- Rich,
5:41 PM
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Too Much Stuff
I have too much stuff. I like stuff too much. I always want more stuff. Stuff seems to be one of the central themes of our lives. I have a lot of stuff, but I still want to buy more stuff. I want to get camera stuff, computer stuff, electronic stuff, house stuff. It just matters that it is more. I want more and I want it all. That is the hard part. I have to find a way to what less. I do this from time to time, but I always swing back to wanting more. I have to find a way to fix this. Labels: consumerism, flickrpost, self, stuff
- Rich,
9:21 PM
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Back dating the Clock
If you have been playing attention to my blog, you will notice I have been backdating for a while now. You will notice that most of my post are photo posts with very little content. I will admit to this. I have been backdating. I see nothing wrong with backdating. This is my place and I get to make up the rules. I know some people see this as dishonest, but I do not really care. I am only a K-list blogger and this is all about me. To be honest, I have been very wrapped up in living my life. Finding things to actually write about would be very hard. I just do not have that much to say right now. Everything is about my job or my relationship. I really do not want to blog either of those things here. For right now I will be backdating. The pain here is that my archive system is broken. Things do not show up there correctly. This change happened when Blogger added labels. I could ask Jeremy to try to fix it, but something tells me my $60 did not cover this. Labels: back dating, blog, flickrpost, sadsalvation, self
- Rich,
9:09 PM
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Meeting my parents in Mesa: The three of us
I went to Arizona to meet my parents. My parents no longer make it all the way out to California. Since they will not come to me, I went to them. I do not get to see them all that often. It was great to just hang out with them. I miss seeing them. I have been out here long that I am ready to move back. I am not sure what their health will be like when I am ready to move back. For now I have to take any change I get to see them. Labels: flickrpost, parents, self, travel
- Rich,
8:54 AM
Monday, October 08, 2007
Rocks on a beach
Sometimes I forget how close I live to the ocean. I need to get to the coast more often. It is something I need more of in my life. Labels: beach, ocean, self
- Rich,
9:47 PM
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Hotel Desk
I look at this picture and it feels like a million years ago. It was only taken back in May. I was in Denver for a business trip. I had a really good trip for the most part. I think about where my life was when I took this photo. It feels like more than months has past. I know the past is always far away. I am glad this feels like a long time ago. Labels: flickrpost, past, self
- Rich,
8:58 PM
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Rooftop garden
I know that the good parts of this world are made up of sercret places. they are made up of place you cannot see from the street, places that are not easy to find. Places that people want to keep to themselves. That is what I know of the world at this age. Labels: flickrpost, secret, self
- Rich,
8:38 PM
Thursday, September 27, 2007
SV Flickr Meetup: B&W
Some days I do not feel in focus. Labels: flickrpost, self
- Rich,
8:56 PM
Sunday, September 23, 2007
SV Flickr Meetup: women
Whenever I see this picture I have to remember they were looking at me as I took the photo. Now it feels like they are seeing something in me that I am not seeing in myself. It is that feeling that they are seeing right through me. It is a strange feeling to get from looking at a photo I took. Labels: feeling, flickrpost, photo, self
- Rich,
9:27 PM
Monday, September 17, 2007
Self
We take pictures of ourselves all the time. I think it is to answer the question "who am I." The funny thing is I do not think one photo of me has ever answered this question. I do think many photos of myself have answered this question. Labels: flickrpost, photo, self
- Rich,
1:44 PM
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Nano is coming
I am looking forward to doing national novel writing month this year. I have not clue what I will write. I am working at a start up and will have little time to write. I have just started a relationship and will have to pay some attention to someone other than myself. It should still be fun. I am looking forward to taking on the challenge. Labels: flickrpost, nanowrimo, self
- Rich,
10:30 PM
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Flags
It has been six years since 9/11/01. It might be the biggest thing that has happened yet this decade. I have lived in San Jose eight years tomorrow. Six of those eight years have been since 9/11. That event set the stage for my life here. One of the things I remember about that day was how quite the streets of San Jose were. I walked around the streets after dark and there was no one around. I remember how the whole city felt empty. That is one of the feels that stuck with me. My life in California has been mostly post 9/11. For most of 2001 I wanted to move back to Philadelphia. It was not until after 9/11 that I really came into my own in California. I know that day change my life. I know that approached my life in a different way after 9/11. I tried harder to be more engaged in what was happening around me. I am not sure how big of an impact 9/11 really had on the world. Would George W. Bush found another way to invade Iraq without 9/11, maybe. Would have something else happened if 9/11 did not, maybe. Is 9/11 really that important in the history of the world, it is hard to say now, give it time. I can say that my life is different because of 9/11. That is what I will remember. Labels: 091101, 9/11, San Jose, self
- Rich,
11:13 PM
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Looking At Myself
Someone I meet recently just looked through all of my flickr photos. I always think someone could learn who I am if they looked at my photos. She took me up on this offer. She said that she learned three things about my from looking at my flickr photos. 1) I love people 2) I love color 3) The little things are important to me I did not expect her to notice these things. They are all true about me and my photography. Even though I told her that she would learn about me from looking at my photos, I was not sure what she would learn. I think my photostream holds truths, but not truths I could figure out. I am just thinking about how I took the photos and want I am going to post. Tell me what you see in my photostreamLabels: flickr, flickrpost, photo, photography, self
- Rich,
9:08 PM
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Vacations
My blog is really falling behind right now. I spent a week on vacation with my sister Kathy. We spent a week kicking around anywhere from Point Reyes to Lone Cypress. It included lots of baseball and lot of driving. It was a fun week, but I did not get much blogging done that week. I have spent much of this week recovering from my vacation. Attending to all those things you cannot attend to while you have a house guest. On top of that I have to catch up at the office. Neither of those things put me in the mood to blog. Of course in my wisdom I have plans for vacation next week also. That will give me another week where I have much better things to do that blog. I might be able to get an entry or two done, but it is not the kind of vacation that will give me much time to rest. I guess I am just giving my readers a the reasons my blog is a little under published this month. I hope not to many people will care. Labels: family, self, travel, vacation
- Rich,
7:11 PM
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Turning 35
I turned 35 today. It really does not feel any different that 34. That is one of the advantages of a June birthday. I get a few months to get used to the idea of my age changing. As soon as the new year start I think about the change. I am not sure what 35 means. I had dinner with a friend again. Said that we will never be 28 years old again. I understand what she means, but I would not want to go back anyway. I always see that as arrested development. I already have enough problems with arrested development. I am 35 years old, but I do not always feel like an adult. There is no one who depends on me. I have no wife or children. My apartment looks like it is lived in my a frat boy. I have not found a reason not to live that way so far. It makes me wonder how long I can live this way. I was listening to the Neil Young song Tell Me Why. I first heard this song when I was 15 years old. I borrowed a copy of After the Gold Rush from Jeremy's Dad. It was one of those albums that really changed the way I looked at music. The music and the lyrics really impacted me. There is a line in Tell Me Why that has always spoke to me.
Is it hard to make arrangements with yourself,
When your old enough to repay but young enough to sell?From age 15 to 35 I have always seen myself as the age Neil Young sings about in the song. I always feel that I am old enough to repay but young enough to sell. I am not even sure what it means. It has to mean something different to me in 2007 than 1987, but I am not sure I can explain it. I guess this is because I feel that I am in the part of my life where I am not a kid, but I have never become an adult. My guess is that I might always feel this way. At least the Baby Boomers have done a good job getting the world ready for kids that never need to become adults. Labels: age, Neil Young, self
- Rich,
10:07 PM
Monday, May 21, 2007
Brand v. Self
The other night I watched an episode of Frontline about advertisement titled, The Persuaders. The episode really got me thinking about brand. Which brands are important to and which brands are not. There are brands I prefer, but I do not think they are core to my purchase decisions. There are brands I prefer, but I do not see myself a fan of that company. The show is all about how companies get people to buy their products. I would like to say that I always buy the best product for me. I would like to say that advertisements never change my ideas. I know that is not true. I know that I see ads and want the product in the ad. I see ads and decide what I am going to have for dinner. After seeing the episode of Frontline I thought of the idea of the tag cloud of my brands. Seeing which brands are in my life. It is not only the brands I know I like, but the brand I use begrudgingly. I know that the tag cloud below is not accurate, but it is a start. I think it could be an interesting art project. Labels: advertisement, brand, frontline, PBS, self, tag cloud, tags
- Rich,
11:22 PM
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Nothing to post
I have not taken any really good photos lately. There has been nothing that stands out and cries to be posted. I am keeping up my 365 project for this year, but I feel rather uninspired when it comes to photography. I just cannot find anything to geek about. I will have to think about this. Labels: flickrpost, photography, self
- Rich,
6:47 PM
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Flickr, eye and I
I think flickr is changing the way my brain works. I know this sound extreme, but I think it is true. I think that using flickr all the time is changing the way I see the world and the way my brain processes visual information. I am not sure if this change is a good thing or not. I have not always been the most visual person in my life. I am usually a word person. I think about the words that I hear and I have a running dialog going in my head. I am a person who thinks about the world by thinking about how I would describe it. I have been that way as long as I could remember. Using flickr has changed that. More often I am thinking about the world in the ways I would take pictures of the world. When I see something I am thinking about the pictures I might be able to take. I think about something I have seen on Flickr or how another photographer would take the picture. Flickr is changing the way I see the world. I do not know where the limit of that change is. I am not sure if I should just let it go where it will or try to push for the change. Labels: flickr, flickrpost, self
- Rich,
3:54 PM
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Mad Pirate games
When I am asked here "where did you good to college?" I get a lot of head scratch when I say Millersville University. Unless someone is from Pennsylvania or Maryland there is a good chance they have never heard of it. The bay area is full of people from elite schools. Now when I am asked I can say it is the school that did not give a 27 year old grad student a teaching degree because of a Myspace photo titles Drunken Pirate. I really wish I was kidding, but I am not. I cannot tell you how out of line I think this is. She is over 21. She is a grad student. You cannot even tell if she is drinking beer in the photo. It is not like she is clearly on campus. The school is way out of line on this one. I hope she wins her lawsuit. Labels: drinking, Millersville, myspace, photo, self
- Rich,
3:04 PM
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Yesterday Memes
I was sure when I first took this picture and started the whole pose with your toaster movement I would be come some level of internet famous for it. The internet fame never came. I never got interviewed by any one about how it came up. I never got to tell my story about how unexpected it all way. Now I am not even sure people would get the gag. That is what happens when you try to make fun of an advertisement. The joke only lasts as long as the ad stays in rotation. All I have now is just this picture to look at. Maybe it is for the best. Labels: flickrpost, meme, photo, pose with your toaster, self, toaster
- Rich,
10:13 PM
Thursday, April 19, 2007
The Past
This is one of my favorite photos of city hall under construction. There is just something about the frame work that appeals to me. Maybe I like it because it is no longer there. I know that I cannot take this picture again. I think that is important to remember. No matter how much you like something from the past, you need to be able to see when it is no longer part of your present. Labels: flickrpost, past, San Jose, self
- Rich,
10:57 PM
Monday, April 09, 2007
Get Viewing
One of my goals for 2007 is to get 200,000 views for my flickr photostream. I know that is a kind of sad goal, but I am obsessed with flickr. Part of that obsession is how many views my photos get and how many views my photostream gets. I just figured out that I need to average 350 views per day to get to 200,000 by the end of the year. I know that this is not about averages. Events like Maker Faire and Comic Con spike my views. I need to get as many views out of those events as I can. As long as I can find cool photos, the pub about those events do the rest. This feels strange because I feel that I can do very little about getting more views for my photostream. I know what having my photos in groups get more views for my photos in general, but I cannot predict how a specific photo will do in a specific group. It is the same thing with blogging a photo. I can never predict how blogging a photo will effect the view count. All that being said, go look at my Photostream. Labels: 2007, flickr, flickrpost, self, web
- Rich,
1:44 AM
Thursday, March 22, 2007
The Year of the D50
As of March 22nd, I have had my Nikon D50 for one year. Flickr has was the main driver for me to get the D50. In that year I have been obsessed with flickr and taking photos to put on flickr. Many times If I know I will not be able to put the photos on flickr, I will not bother taking them. A year later, I still really like my camera. It is not perfect, but it has served me well. It might be the most useful piece of consumer electronics I have ever purchased. I know that I had a camera before my D50, but it did not inspire me the way my D50 has. It did not make me think about photography or take chances with photography the way my D50 has. There is still a lot I have to learn about photography. I know that I do my best learning when I go out and take pictures. My Nikon D50 makes me want to go out and take pictures. That is a good thing. Is there anything I should try taking a picture of in the next year? Labels: D50, flickr, flickrpost, nikon, photography, self
- Rich,
2:27 PM
Monday, February 19, 2007
Leaving Seattle
I have been to Seattle a half Dozen times or so now. My experience of Seattle is one of being alone. I have never come here with someone else. I have never explored the city with anyone else. I have been on my own every time I have come here. I am not sure what that say about Seattle or about me. I like Seattle. I feel there is something that draws me here. Every time I go there I try to figure out how I can move there. It is hard to travel on your own. It is hard to go sight seeing and not share it with anyone. It is hard to motivate myself to keep on going when I get tired. I usually see less when I am alone. I face these things all the time. It is rare for me to travel with someone else. I left Seattle early today because the weather was rough and I was out of ideas of things to do. Now it is onto the business part of this trip. Labels: alone, Seattle, self, travel
- Rich,
7:36 PM
Friday, February 09, 2007
Top Dog
This might be the best picture taken of me so far this year. I told Elea that I would use this photo on dating sites if she took it. It is already my LJ icon and MySpace profile photo. Peter told me that he finds this photo to be both endearing and disturbing in equal amounts. I am not sure I agree with him. Should I put this photo up on my Yahoo Personals Profile? I would think it would weed out a lot of people who would not understand me. Labels: candy heart, flickrpost, livejournal, myspace, petersconrad, self
- Rich,
7:50 PM
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Wiki Famous
Are you famous enough to be on Wikipedia? I know I am not. As of right now, there is no one named Rich Thomas famous enough to have a Wikipedia entry. There are a handful of people named Richard Thomas that have entries. I know that I am not one of them. I wonder who the least famous living person with a Wikipedia entry it. There are rules about who can have a page and who cannot. I cannot put up an entry for myself and I cannot put up an entry for my next door neighbor. I know that fame is a hard thing to measure. Someone has to be the least famous. I just wonder who that person is. I also wonder if I know anyone famous enough to have a Wikipedia entry. Let me know if you have an entry. Labels: fame, self, Wikipedia
- Rich,
8:54 PM
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Emmy
 Emmy
Originally uploaded by earthdog. I just wanted to remind everyone that my company one an Emmy this year. Labels: emmy, flickrpost, self, work
- Rich,
1:55 PM
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
The Emmy
 The Emmy
Originally uploaded by earthdog. TiVo won an Emmy for television technology. It is the second time we won one. This time the statutettes were brought into the office so everyone could get their picture with them. The leadership of the company wanted to make it clear that it was everyone's Emmy.
I know that this is not a big deal for some people. I still think it is pretty cool. September 15 will mark 7 years at TiVo. I feel that working here has been great for me. I feel like I have been part of something much bigger than myself. Labels: emmy, flickrpost, self, work
- Rich,
7:31 PM
Monday, September 04, 2006
The Summer Is Ending
It is Labor Day and I am trying to figure out where my summer went. As an adult summer is more elusive that it was as a kid. When you are in school summer is different that being in school. You know you have to make the most out of summer. You can see the days count away. Most of the time I was happy for school to start up again. As an adult summer is no different than the rest of the year. I can take my vacation any time. Summer is just a time where I am worried about how hot my apartment gets. I get to go to baseball games in the summer, but sports go year round and I can always go to a game. I will admit that I will be glad to see this summer come to a close. It has not been the greatest summer for me. The three markers of this summer for me have been my ex-girlfriend breaking up with me, Comic Con, and Labor day. The summer broke perfectly into two halves. Now that the summer is over I am not sure how my life will be different. Labels: 2006, Abigail, comic con, Labor Day, self, summer
- Rich,
6:13 PM
Friday, August 25, 2006
Summer is drawing to a close
It is Labor Day and I am trying to figure out where my summer went. As an adult summer is more elusive that it was as a kid. When you are in school summer is different that being in school. You know you have to make the most out of summer. You can see the days count away. Most of the time I was happy for school to start up again. As an adult summer is no different than the rest of the year. I can take my vacation any time. Summer is just a time where I am worried about how hot my apartment gets. I get to go to baseball games in the summer, but sports go year round and I can always go to a game. I will admit that I will be glad to see this summer come to a close. It has not been the greatest summer for me. The three markers of this summer for me have been my ex-girlfriend breaking up with me, Comic Con, and Labor day. The summer broke perfectly into two halves. Now that the summer is over I am not sure how my life will be different. Labels: Abigail, Labor Day, personal history, self, summer
- Rich,
6:52 PM
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
The Summer of 06
When I am asked what I remember about the Summer of 2006, my answer might be "Listening to the Shins - Chutes Too Narrow a lot." Labels: 2006, music, self, The Shins
- Rich,
10:07 PM
Sunday, August 20, 2006
What is your life about?
I was having a conversation with my friend Tara. I told her that I am thinking about what my life is about. I am not rushing out to find another girlfriend. I am feel that I have to think about what I want my life to be about. She asked me why does my life need to be about anything. Why can't I just live everyday like it will be last and enjoy it for what it is? I told her that I still think that is my life being about something. When I am talking about life being about something, I am not talking about figuring out what the total of my life. I am talking about my life is about right at this moment. I know that changes from time to time. My life is not about the same thing now that it was 10 years ago. That can only be expected. I think that everyone's life is about something. If you do not plan your life to be about something that might be what it becomes about. I worry my life will become about the wrong things if I let it happen on its own. I know that it is good to be engaged in life. I know that the meaning of my life can change at any moment. Most of the things that can change it are out of my control. I just want to understand my life a little more before I get into a relationship. I need a better understanding of the things I can control. Labels: relationship, self, Tara
- Rich,
4:11 PM
Friday, August 18, 2006
Hardest things to do
I was talking to my sister Ruth, mother of two, about relationships. She was on vacation when my ex-girl friend broke up with me. She wrote me a letter from the road. She found the letter going through her souvenirs. That prompted her to call me. We talked for about an hour and most of it was about relationships. We talked about her friends and what she has seen in the world. I told her that I know nothing about meeting women. Her friend Joe kept on coming up in conversation. He is well known for always having women hanging off his arm. He says his secret is to never stop trying. He has failed many more times than he has succeed. At this point she say that I have to be ready for meeting women to be the hardest thing I have ever done. At this point she says, "I think meeting the right person is harder than child birth." I was surprised to hear her say this. I thought women with children never said that something is hard then child birth. To be honest I am not expecting meeting a woman to be hard like that. She might be right, but I have never thought about it like that before. Labels: Abigail, break-up, relationship, Ruth, self
- Rich,
6:29 PM
What ever happened to Izzy Benzick
I went to college with a women named Izzy Benzick. Izzy was her nickname, but it is how I always think about her in my mind. I think her first name was really Isabella, but I cannot be sure. I cannot find her when I search on the web for her. I post this entry so that one day she will find it and get in touch with me. If you happen to know Izzy let her know that I am wondering how she is doing. Labels: college, Izzy Benzick, self
- Rich,
6:03 PM
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Pretty Nice Hair Cut
 Pretty Nice Hair Cut
Originally uploaded by earthdog.I got my hair cut yesterday. I have been putting it off for a while. My ex-girlfriend like my hair long, so I did not get it cut much over the last year. She liked running her fingers through my hair. I liked that she like my hair. It was a little too long for my job. I know I work in Silicon Valley, but as a manager now I need to look like I am coming to work.
Old haircut
I liked having long hair, but it was a pain. It was long enough that my baseball caps did not fit. It was a pain having my hair fall into my eyes. Now I will not have any problems taking photos. I made some mistakes on photos because my hair was in the way.
The haircut represents a break from the past. She liked it long. Whenever I talked about getting it cut she would protest. I will admit that cutting my hair is away to distance myself from the relationship. I know that distance is important.
I am not sure if women will like this haircut more or less that the last one. To be honest I really do not care. In the end it is just hair. Tell me what you think of the new haircut. Labels: Abigail, break-up, flickrpost, hair, haircut, self
- Rich,
5:28 PM
Saturday, July 15, 2006
The Oddest Thing
 Old Friend
Originally uploaded by earthdog. The oddest thing happened to me last night. A woman walked up to me and said she knew me. I looked at her and drew a total blank. She said that we went to Millersville University. together. At that point I totally remembered her. Ok, not totally, I drank way too much beer in college.
I never run into people I went to college with. Milliersville has about 7000 undergrad students, putting on the small side of medium. It is a state college and the type of place where you go to and come back to your hometown. You might end up in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, or Baltimore. It is news when someone ends up in NYC. The last time I saw an alumni map there were 50,000 alumni in Pennsylvania and Maryland combined, 47 in California.
We talked for a little while. She said that she grew up in the Bay Area and she knew she was going to live here again someday. She is working for atom films. When she sends me an e-mail I will update this entry. I can remember her name, but I cannot spell it.
Since I have moved out to San Jose she is only the fifth person I have seen from Millersville. I think I have only seen twice that number people from Millersville since I left school. I have never seen it as a place in my life that I need to keep connecting to. Being on the west coast makes that easy.
This week I will be seeing my first college roommate. I had three that lasted any length of time. We are still good friends. We will talk about college and the people he still keeps in touch with. I have a really bad memory about college. There are lots of stories that I do not remember at all. It will be good to see Jimmy, but I do not care all that much about reliving the past. Labels: California, college, flickrpost, Millersville, past, self
- Rich,
11:18 PM
Monday, June 26, 2006
Time For a Change
It is official, June is 'Change your relationship to Rich Thomas Month.' It is not just the break up, but there are a few more things that I cannot write about here. There is just a lot of change going on. I guess there is always change it is just more pronounced at sometimes. I know the month is almost over, but this is the time for change. I have decided to open it up for the rest of the month. If you too want to change your relationship with me now is the time. I will ask no questions and put up no fight. If you want to change your relationship with me, just tell me and I will be on board. If you want to go from a well wisher to a chum, now if your change. If you want to go from being a casual acquaintance to a hated arch rival, just let me know. I you want upgrade part-time friend to inter-circle tell me and I will find more time in my calendar for you. If you never want to see me again, I would be okay with that. All you need to do is let me know. Labels: 2006, change, relationship, self
- Rich,
5:37 PM
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Over here, yo.
 Over here, yo.
Originally uploaded by wirehead. This is the oddest way anyone has ever got my attention. Wirehead took this photo, uploaded it to Flickr, and sent me a message to me. Funny Labels: flickr, flickrpost, self
- Rich,
10:45 PM
Friday, June 23, 2006
Where does my life go now?
I feel that I should make some big change to my life. Now that I am single again I should do something big. I now do not have to worry about anyone else when making that change. It seems like the perfect time to re-write the rules I live by. I just don't know what that big thing is. I do not feel connected enough to myself to know what that thing is. Before I started dating I felt disconnected a lot. I felt like I was floating above the world without making a connection. I do not want to go back to that feeling. I feel that I have to change my life or I will go back to that feeling. I am just not sure how to change. Labels: change, self
- Rich,
8:42 PM
Monday, June 05, 2006
I am 34
 My birthday Photo
Originally uploaded by earthdog. Today is my birthday. I have been thinking about my birthday all day. I have been thinking about it for over a week now.
When I turned 33 I had not idea what the year had in store for me. I did not know that I would meet a wonderful woman and fall in love. I did not expect that I would get a promotion at work and so some of my best work ever. I did not expect that I would be so engaged in photography. I did not know where what about the year would be hard and what would be easy. Looking back at the year I am a bit surprised by those things.
It is odd for me to think that I did not know Dreamgirl this time last year. It was my birthday post that go our relationship started. I guess I will always see my birthday posts a little differently now. I am sad that she is not here on my birthday. I have been a little bumbed out that I do not get to see her more often. I wanted her to be here for my birthday.
The lesson from being 33 is that I should engage the things that are hard. In love, work, and life there are things that are hard, but that does not make those things less important. By engaging them and trying to find solutions I grew a lot. I learned things about myself that I did not know was true. I found things out that where only there because I was engaging life. That has made this one of the best years of my life.
I am not sure what the next year has instore for me. I look forward to it. I know that life is all about not knowing what is in front of you. Labels: Abigail, birthday, flickrpost, self
- Rich,
11:54 PM
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Bad Games
I think video games make me boring. I recently got my hands on a PSP. I am using it for work. I also had a friend lend me a game. I have been playing X-Men Legends 2 for the past couple of days. I am worried that the game is making me boring. That is sad because it is just a mediocre game. I am always someone who is extremely caught up in his own thoughts. Most of the time I try sharing my thoughts with other people. That is the way I get out of my own head. The problem with games is that I get very involved with the world in the game. It makes me think of just of the game world. All of my thoughts get stuck in that world. After playing a game for a few hours I end up having nothing to say to anyone. This really disturbs me. Whenever I get this feeling I try to stop playing games. That is why I only have a handful of games for my PS2. I think this is clear to me because Dreamgirl is in my life. I talk to her all the time. I feel bad if she has to do all the talking. Does anyone else feel this way if they play too many games? Labels: Abigail, boring, ex-girlfriend, PSP, self, video game, X Men, X-Men Legends 2
- Rich,
6:37 PM
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
missing it
I have had the feeling lately that there is something going out there and I am missing it. I am not sure what it is. I do not even know where there is. I just have a feeling that there is something bigger then me right now. It just bugs me that I am missing it. I am worried that I will look back later and see what I was missing. I am worried that it is something that is right in front of me. I have been feeling that I have not been using my time well. The world is just running by at blinding speed. People are accomplishing things and improving their lives. They are changing lives and worlds. I am sitting around and watching a lot of TV. They are making a mark in the world. I am just barely showing up for my own life. I know that I have to pay for some mistakes that I made before. I know that I do not have the resources to just do anything in any way I like. That said I am not very good at stretching what I have. I am not good at making the most of what they Lord has given me. I am good and keeping in close and not getting hurt. I hope this is just a feeling. I hope that I just feel this way because I am senselessly jealous of people. I do not see what they have to put up with. I do not see what they have to do to get what they have. I know that I am not good at working hard. I know that hard work is really what I need more of the time. Most of the time that I waste, I waste became I want to rest. I waste because I do not have anything in my head. I do not know where any of this is going. I do not know if I will ever find that thing that will make me proud. I wish I had an idea what that thing is. I worry if I knew, I still would not get off my ass and do it. Labels: missing, self, vague
- Rich,
11:21 PM
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Warminster and San Jose
I have been thinking about place a lot lately. On Saturday one of my sisters asked if I was ever planning to move back to the area. The first thing out of my Mother's mouth was "he does not want to live here." Up to this point of the day I had been talking to my mother about my life and my friends in San Jose. This must have been the impression she got from me. The conversation changed to another topic quickly, but that comment stuck in my head. Last night a friend asked me if I would move back. I know she wants me to move back. She said that when she got back to Philly, she missed some of her old friends. She keeps on telling me that she would love to see me move back to Philadelphia. I told here there are three things she could do to get me to move back to Philadelphia. 1. Find me a job that I cannot refuse. 2. Set me up a woman for me to fall in love with. 3. Give me the winning lottery numbers. There is a very high standard for number one. I really like my company. I worry that I would not be able to find a job I like in Philadelphia. I know that I never had a job as good as my job now when I lived back here. That was more then six years ago. I think that number 3 might be easier then number 2. My friend did not say that she would be up to any of the three. I am not holding my breath. I know I have lots of friends who have plans to escape Silicon Valley. They talk that they want to live someplace else. There are things about Silicon Valley, like the housing market, that drive my friends crazy. I have said for a long time that once my friends start leaving San Jose I might have to think about my plans. Right now I do not know what I feel about here v. there. There is something I just love about Philadelphia. My family is here, I still have friends here, and the area is special to me. The problem is that the area might be special because I do not live here all the time. On the other hand I like the life I have build for myself in San Jose. I work for a company I love. I have a nice circle of friends. I have met lots of new people out there. It might not be perfect, but it is something I build. That means something to me. I am not sure how these ideas change with my father being sick. I do not know how things change going forward with his recovery. I am not sure if the draw of my family will grow because of that. I guess I will find out as time passes. Labels: life, philadelphia, relationship, San Jose, self, tag overload, warminster PA, work
- Rich,
1:06 AM
Friday, October 29, 2004
Why Do NaNoWriMo?
People might as me why I am willing to do Nation Novel Writing Month. I think I have two reasons why I think NaNoWriMo is really important. The first has to do with an idea that Jeremy put into my head. It seems that we have left almost all art up to professionals. I think that is dangerous. In the end it will make all art entertainment. I think that art is more then just entertainment.
AmateurI know there are pros and would be pros out there doing this. I have nothing against them. I feel honored to be in a writing group with them. I want to stick up for us amateurs. For me it is the amateurs that make NaNoWriMo special. There are other reasons people do Nano then wanting to be a professional writer. I feel that if we leave art to professionals then it becomes entertainment. I want common people to take back art. We should be encouraging amateurism. The root of amateur comes from "lover of" . It is us amateur writers who want to read the stuff pros want to get paid for. It does not matter if it is not any good or not. I am doing this for truly selfish reasons. I am doing it because I get to meet cool people, sit around in coffee shops and write, push myself to do something I would otherwise never do. I write so my head does not explode. I write because if I did not, I would drown in my own thoughts. I write because it makes me who I am. For these reasons and any others they can come up with, people should do Nano. He might be right, many good writers might never be able to turn a Nano novel into a publishable novel. I do not agree that they should not do it at all. The more you write the better writer you become. Even if you write things that will never see the light of day, it still adds to your experiences writing. I do not see that as a bad thing. Labels: Amateur, nanowrimo, self, writers, writing
- Rich,
10:10 PM
Saturday, August 07, 2004
Living in a new place
I while ago Silvia posted a comment about an old German saying, Nur wo man hinggeht ist man gewesen. It roughly means If you haven't walked there you haven't been there. I have been thinking about this a lot since I moved into my new apartment. I have been living here about two months now. I am been trying to walk around so I can get to know the area. I only live four blocks west and six blocks north of my old apartment. Downtown San Jose is so small that it seems like I am in a whole different city. I need to do more working so I can learn this place better. Labels: apartment, living, San Jose, self, walking
- Rich,
3:17 PM
Monday, November 17, 2003
Nothing in my Head
I fell like I have nothing to write. I fell like every extra word I have is going into my novel. I guess I only have so many words in my head to write. Labels: nothing, self, writers block
- Rich,
4:37 PM
Monday, July 14, 2003
Change
Tara and I broke up yesterday. There are a lot of little reasons revolving around a big reason. We were moving at different speeds. She had good ideas what she wanted out of life. My ideas where much less clear. I had the feeling for a few days that this might happen. I had the feeling that this was already on Tara's mind. When I said something, I could tell it was already on her mind. For a few days before I left I could tell that there were misfires between us. The little things that were not happening did not seem to be getting better. Most of those issues were mine failings. I decided what I was visiting my family that breaking up was the right move. I feel like we did the right thing. We got along with each other really well, but that is not enough. This has been a good experience. I had a good time dating Tara. I learned things about myself and what I want. Tara asked if she would get a good reference from me. I told her that I would give her a great one. I am sorry for any level of heartbreak or pain I brought Tara. She is one of the best people I have met in a long time. I know that I can be careless with people's feelings. Especially with the feelings of people who are closest to me. Labels: ex-girlfriend, relationship, self, Tara
- Rich,
11:41 PM
Friday, June 27, 2003
Hot
It has been hot around here for the past couple of days. The funny thing is how everyone reacts to it. It is not as hot as it gets back in Philadelphia. I have not seen news stories yet about how we should check on our old neighbors. I wonder if I am becoming a weather wimp. I wonder if I will ever have a problem living someplace with hot summers. There is a certain aspect of the warm weather I used to enjoy. There is something great about a really cold drink on a hot day. I have to remember those pleasures. Update: This post had a newspaper link that is no longer live. Labels: broken link, hot, self, weather
- Rich,
7:19 PM
Sunday, June 08, 2003
Back
My back has been turned on my blog for too long. I have been thinking about other things. I have not been taking the time to ground myself here. I have been missing something important in my life. It is time to turn it back around. I need to reconnect with what I love about writing. I have to put aside the barriers I construct. I want to find a way to put aside the things that get be away from here. I am sorry if you have come here for the last couple of weeks to find nothing. I have rededicated myself to writing. I will write for at least 260 hours between now and the end of the year. I am sorry if you feel that you have missed anything. I will backdate some entries and I will bring some old stories up to today. I think I will cover most of the important things. Labels: blog, pledge, Resolution, sadsalvation, self
- Rich,
11:25 PM
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Motivation and me
When I was out of town I was motivated to join a gym. I was motivated to start working out. I have been thinking about starting a workout program all year. I think I have a real reason to start working out. It is starting to get warm and it is a good time to workout. I even know what gym I want to join. Now that I here and can take action, I am less motivated. I cannot seem to find the time to think about this. I keep on finding reasons to put it off. I am going out of town next week, so I will not think about it until I get back. Once I get back from vacation I will find another reason to put it off. After that I will find another reason to put it off. My life has always been this way. I am only motivated when I cannot do anything. Labels: gym, Modivation, self
- Rich,
5:03 PM
Friday, April 25, 2003
I will shout until they know what I mean
This is currently one of my favorite musical quotes. It is from a Neutral Milk Hotel song The King of Carrot Flowers Part 3. I want to link this quote to Sad Salvation. I want this to be the attitude that I take with Sad Salvation. I do not think I am doing this right now. I do not think I am shouting loud enough. I do not think I am trying to be understood. Maybe I need to make myself understand first. Labels: blog, music, Neutral Milk Hotel, quote, sadsalvation, self
- Rich,
5:25 PM
Thursday, April 24, 2003
Coffee House
Coffee House I am currently sitting in the Mission City Coffee Roasting Co. I am here for the free wireless internet access. I have net access at my apartment. I have everything I need at my apartment, but I am still here. I am here because I seem to get more done here. I seem to be able to write here. I seem to be able to get things done here. I have too many distractions at my apartment. It is a wonderland of geek toys. I have at least 10 or 20 ways to waste time. I could spend days at a time watching DVDs, or TV, or listening to music. I need to be able to focus more when I am at my apartment. Labels: Coffee house, internet, self
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