I love new music. Vertical Horizon is a band I discovered many years ago while restoring my house in Lubbock. I listened to the radio quite a lot while cleaning up the house for sale.
Everything You Want was quite popular during that time. I found the song interesting and picked up a couple of the group’s recordings. They are quite good. A few days ago I was working through my music collection and realized there are a couple more recordings by Vertical Horizon that are not in my collection. I found them via Amazon and picked up some of them used and a couple of them new.
This is good music and I’m enjoying it. The CDs are ripped to flac and MP3 and are now in my iPod. Music is good for me. This is good stuff.
A few days ago, for whatever reason, I took the notion to look at a Nexus 7 (2013). I love my iPad, but it’s big and I find it not very comfortable to hold for long periods of time. It’s a great netbook replacement, especially with an add-on Bluetooth keyboard. But I find it a bit much to use as a handheld device.
I thought about the iPad mini as an alternative, but it doesn’t yet have the Retina display and I’m not going back. So, when I read the announcement for the new Nexus 7, I thought “Why not? I haven’t tried an Android device and I might as well learn something about the iOS alternative.”
I didn’t think Best Buy (my favorite big-box store) would ever get a 32GB unit in. I’m not that enthralled with an Asus unit either (Asus has a bit of a bad reputation). But, BB finally took delivery of a 32GB unit and I have a 45-day return period. So, I took a new Nexus 7 home to play with.
My initial impression is pretty good. The build quality (at least external build quality) seems fine. The device has a nice heft without feeling bulky. It’s a bit wide, but definitely holdable in one hand. It’s wide screen is eminently viewable and the resolution is wonderful.
I don’t see any color issues with the screen, but then I haven’t really compared it to anything else. It’s plenty good enough for a tablet.
The device is very quick. Applications load quickly. I’m not a gamer, so that’s irrelevant to me. But I suspect it will be be a fine gaming platform if that is your, um, game.
I did find one issue to date. The GPSr was not working in my device. A quick search of the interwebs revealed this is a common problem. On a whim, I elected to power down the device and retart it from cold.
After I did that, the GPSr worked right away and I got a satellite lock with any issue.
Android is an interesting operating system. It’s far more configurable than iOS (which is one reason my iOS devices are all jailbroken). The application store had all the tools I’m used to using (WordPress interface, Dropbox, Evernote, and a few others).
This is interesting and I’m enjoying working with the new device. I’ll know more after a week or so. I might have to do a more complete review then.
While listening to Jimmy and his friend reminisce about old times, I noticed this young man a few chairs away. He was engrossed in whatever he was doing and made a nice subject.
Last Saturday the Girl and I went to Reno again. Although we didn’t make the Hot August Nights event, I still enjoyed my time with Jimmy and made a few decent captures.
Just before I ran of our gas, this pair of dancers came on-stage to do their thing. I gave up on the 55-210 zoom and put the Sony 50/1.8 prime on the camera. It doesn’t give me to close-in frame that I like, but it was what I had and I used it.
As Saturday evening wore on (and grew darker), the fire dancers came out. This was really fun, although the crowd made it more difficult to get good images. Also, I found the limit of my Sony 55-210 zoom. It doesn’t do so well as the light fades. Still, I managed a few good frames.
A couple of Saturdays ago, I was in Reno to spend time with a friend. That evening I found myself at the Controlled Burn. The shows were wonderful and this image captured this beautiful young dancer who favors the Hula Hoop. She is a professional by any standard.
The Girl and I got out fairly early this morning for a geocaching run. August is the “31 Days of Geocaching” event and the objective is to get a 31-day string of finds. This sounds like fun to me and I can do some easy finds during the work week and then work a little harder on the weekends. So, I picked out three geocaches I’ve been meaning to find for a while and loaded them into the GPSr for a morning run. We stopped at McD’s so I could get a biscuit and some coffee… and, well, three oatmeal cookies. I ate my biscuit outbound and then we paused at the staging area for me to finish my coffee and share my cookies.
Then I let the Girl out and I grabbed my gear. My gear comprises a Maxpedition Jumbo Versipack in which I carry my geocaching stuff and my small camera slingpack. I carry a quart of water as well. It’s a pretty good load, but manageable.
We humped it south 500 feet to get the first geocache, a Baily’s hide (always a challenge), found it, then turned around and headed north up the hill to the second geocache, then some more to get the third. I paused a few times on the climbout because the frickin’ road was steep. I can do it, I just have to give my legs a few minutes to dissipate the accumulated lactic acid.
On the way down from geocache White Tiger 3, the Girl and I paused for a few minutes under a tall old pine tree. I wanted a break before heading down the long hill and I wanted time to make a few images.
So, she did doggie things while I spent a few minutes with the water bottle, my thoughts, and my camera. It couldn’t be a much better day. It was warm in the sun, but the air temperature was only about 70F and there was a bit of a breeze at 6,000 ft. The shade of the pine was welcome.
The Girl jumped a lizard as we rounded the tree. I love it! She posed for me while I made the image. Then she gave up and wandered off looking for another lizard to chase.
I rested for a few minutes before we headed off down the hill. The climb pretty well blew my quads and I hate the idea of slipping on the gravel. So we took it easy, pausing a couple of times for other tail users. I like to make the Girl sit and wait for them to pass. Some folks are spooky about dogs.
I wasn’t ready, but a pretty young woman was jogging up the hill. She looked fit and strong and greeted us as she passed. She even spoke to the Girl, who’s ears perked when spoken to. I should have had the camera out and ready to go. It was a missed opportunity. Oh well…
We paused at Kings Canyon Creek so the Girl could get a drink. I had picked up an empty water bottle someone discarded along the trail. The top was already cut out, so I filled it and gave her a drink. She drank two bottles full.
The view of the old Borda Ranch was also interesting. It was a big sheep ranch at one time. I drove through that field a few weeks ago on my way down the hill from the other side. I could see the trail I used from the path.
Anyway, we gathered three geocaches this morning. I got a great workout. The Girl got a good run and lots of mental stimulation. It was a good morning.
Last Saturday we wandered around the Controlled Burn event. The early part of the show featured a group of dancers working with hula-hoops. They made for some interesting images. I think the light was good enough that I was working within the sweet spot of the Sony 55-210mm zoom I had mounted on the NEX-5N. The images are decent, although not as sharp as I’d like. Still, it was a fun event and I’m glad I was there to witness it.
I’m happy it’s Friday. I will finish something I’ve been working on most of the week today. I will end my week on a good thing. I like tidy.
I woke early this morning, as seems to be a habit now. I took my morning medications (really supplements) and a couple of acetaminophen for my teeth. I probably haven’t written about my dental work, but I lost my first adult tooth a few weeks ago and am in the middle of the crown process for a couple of adjacent teeth, which will culminate with a bridge to replace the lost tooth. I think I’m putting pressure on the temporary appliance and that’s causing me some discomfort. It will be something I discuss with my dentist next week when he finalizes the preparations.
While waiting for my analgesic to work, I read a little on the ‘net. One of the articles I read was about happiness and health. The article was just OK, probably written well enough but I thought some editing could tighten up the language quite a lot. Regardless, there were a couple of points that caught my intellectual interest. In particular, the distinction between hedonism and eudaimonism is articulated (to some degree) as being detectable in gene-expression tests.
I am at a point in life where I can have just about any thing [sic] I want. However, there are not a lot of things I want. What I really want I cannot have. So, as one of my favorite David Wilcox songs says, You can get what’s second best // but it’s hard to get enough. At this time, I don’t even know what second-best might be. For the protagonist of the song, it was velocity. In the end, that proved fatal… although I doubt the protagonist really cared given her state of mind.
But I digress… The string of words in the referenced article that caught my attention was associated with eudaimonism. It resonated with something else I read a few days ago about purpose. As a new widower, my purpose in life (or at least my perceived purpose) is turned upside down. As a husband and father, the husbandry of my family has been a driving purpose most of my life. I’ve been the principal provider and leader for about 40 years.
My wife is gone. My children are mostly independent, or will be soon. I’m in the process of being released from the role that’s been mine for the bulk of my adult life. This is an uncomfortable place to be. It means that I’m in the middle of a compass-reset.
So, as I ruminated on the words from the article (and for once the discussion contained some interesting words), I enumerated a few things that are meaningful to me. They are:
Music, both listening and making,
Photography, both observing images and making them,
Teaching (and learning), and
Helping others in a variety of ways.
The list is not complete. It will require a bit more work to ferret out some of the other things from deep inside. I’m OK with that and don’t mind doing the work. I especially don’t mind doing the work if it results in the compass-reset I’m looking for. This list is a start and I have to start somewhere.
One thing I know. I am not a hedonist, at least not in the pure sense of the word. I won’t find fulfillment in the pursuit of pleasure.
I love new music. Vertical Horizon is a band I discovered many years ago while restoring my house in Lubbock. I listened to the radio quite a lot while cleaning up the house for sale. 
