just meeting the 1000 word minimum

Now tell me why .... is it I’m digging your scene? - Blow Monkeys, Digging Your Scene

Site Stuff
Do Mena and Ben rock or what? I haven’t even upgraded to the latest version yet (I’m still on 2.0) but I am still totally in love with Movable Type. Looks like I’m not the only one. Everyone is digging Movable Type right now. Long live the internet rockstars!

So I discovered today that my individual archive template was messed up. I fixed it but now it’s made me dissatisfied with this layout so it’s back to the drawing board for me. I’m not in a hurry though. I plan to work on it a little bit at a time until it’s done. I’ve realized when I work under the pressure of a deadline, I don’t do too well. I tend to rush through it and not work out all the kinks. I’m stretching this project out in hopes of preventing that. I need to learn to slow down. It’s a personal growth thing. You probably won’t understand.

I think I’d like to switch from individual archives to daily archives but I’m not sure yet. Damn Movable Type for making it easy to create so many different ways to present yourself online. I’m addicted. It’s hopeless.

Book Reviews
I am working on an actual review of “Jemima J”. Some of the themes in the book gave me points to ponder. I’m going to reread some parts this week. It was that good. After that I will start “Valley of the Dolls”.

In the meantime I enjoyed reading Anil’s review of “The Weblog Handbook”.

Picture Taking
I realized today that I haven’t actively gone after good shots with my digital camera since Mother’s Day of this year. I was in a slump. I admit it. I’m over it now. I didn’t realize how much I missed taking pictures. I felt even better when I came home and uploaded all the pictures that I took today because they were good. I actually went to Walgreens and had some of them printed out on Kodak Picture paper. I plan on having a few more printed out. I am happy I have a 64mb memory card. I can afford to leave some of the pictures on my camera and still have room to take even more pictures tomorrow.

I suppose today I should be grateful that I live in Las Vegas. if not for the freaky weather we were having this afternoon, I wouldn’t have been prompted to find shots.

Dust Storm
There was a dust storm during my evening commute. Apparently we got all the dust in the North East Part of town and everyone else got just the gusty winds. The first few intersections we passed through were horrific. The air was so thick with sand it was like trying to drive in fog. You could not see more than one car ahead of you. To top it off the power was out in some spots which meant there were no traffic signals. As much as I complain about Las Vegas drivers I have to say that today they did the right thing on the being cautious tip. Except at the intersection where Texaco meets Nevada State Bank, Raley’s Supermarket and Kentucky Fried Chicken. People were just jumping into the middle of what should have been a four-way stop. I’m glad I turn right on the corner and don’t have to cross over traffic. I was scared just watching the fools.

It wasn’t until we were almost home that I remembered I had a camera in the back seat of the car. I whipped it out and started snapping flicks of the insanity. No, my camera is not out of focus and the windshield is not dirty (much!). The dust causes the distortion in each picture. Clicking each image pops up a larger view.

I was the majority of the way home by the time I snapped this picture. This wasn’t even the worst of the dust. The intersections we passed prior to that were awful.

It was hard to see what was going on in the distance. You had to wait until you were right up on everything.

As we moved along, it was worse in some spots and better in others.

In this picture you can’t even see Sunrise Mountain. It made it very surreal for me because Sunrise Mountain is huge and it’s the mountain I drive towards to get home.

Another view of Sunrise Mountain from about a block east and 2 miles north. Not as much dust blocking the view in this picture.

Taking these pictures inspired me to find some shots in the desert landscape before the sun went down. I didn’t have to look too far for a subject. This is at the base of Sunrise Mountain facing west towards the direction from which we came.

Ok so the muse struck me while in the drive through line at the Walgreens Pharmacy. I decided to jump out of the car and take more ....

I couldn’t look through the lens to get this shot because I didn’t want the sun to burn a hole through my eye to my brain. I used the preview screen. The Walgreens pole got in the shot.

Not quite the angle that I was looking for, but still a good shot to me.

Usually from this vantage point you have a good view of the Statosphere Hotel/Tower and the rest of the strip. The reason you can’t see it in this picture is because it’s clouded with dust.

I think I was turning back towards the sun.

I am a true sun child. I love the sun.

Second verse, almost the same as the first.

Did I mention I love the sun?

Did I mention I need more prints?

Scenes I’m Digging (biting)
J-To’s song quotes at the beginning of posts.
Aaron’s uppity ass attitude.
George’s Bootylicious stance.
Anil’s homemade recording studio.
Stace’s Leave/Comeback steelo.

It’s Hot in Herre
So many people are bitching about the weather in their cities being hot. It was 108 here today. Deal.