Clouds Were Perfect Today

Sixty-Four.

Three exciting things.

1.) BB is now 21. Happy Birthday!
2.) The McDougle/Gronli alliance loaned out our canopy again to the St. P family. We helped them set it up. On a day like today, coupled with their perfect grass, I couldn't resist taking this picture:

3.) Saw Inception again with my brother, and I am revising my interpretation of the ending.

I also started a new GTA file today.

Later,
~Pat

My New Haircut

Sixty-Three.

I got a haircut today. It was the most exciting thing I did all day. Well, maybe admiring my Grandma's gardens was exciting too. I bought college books for the second to last time (whoo!). I also played some Mario Party 8 and GTA: San Andreas. Overall, an uneventful day.

Later,
~Pat

P.S. A shout out to BB as it is his birthday today! Happy Birthday BB!!! I posted before I went to bed just for you.

Cats in Containers Vol. II

Sixty-Two.

I played a pretty sweet (and educational) flash game today. I beat it. After I finished it BB invited me to go see a children's community theatre show that LH had written and directed with her coworker. I brought my camera, but (stupidly) left the battery at home. >.< Afterwards BB came to my house for a while then we went over to his place to watch Donny Darko. I had never seen it, and enjoyed it. I love well done time travel movies! After the movie we amused ourselves with the cat again...here is a picture:

He loves his box.

On another note, HM (one of the directors at school) contacted me about a lighting and sound design opportunity for a show that he is doing at the Lowry Theater in St. Paul with grant money he received. I was hesitant, but I accepted. This will be my first lighting design, before I have ever done one with a mentor. Wish me luck.

Later,
~Pat

Cats in Containers Vol. I

Sixty-One.

Went over to TG's place today and played games and ate pizza with TG, JK->JG, SG, and IH. We played some Dominion and Alhambra. Like always, it was a good time. I took some pictures of their cat Mussolini (Moose for short) here is the best one:

On a related note, TG is starting up a blog where he will feature his artwork. I say to you my followers, go and follow him too...(TG's Blog).

Later,
~Pat

Caught Up!

Sixty.

I am finally caught up on my blog. When I am with Patty over the summer, I don't want to feel like I am wasting her time, so I kinda slowed down on the blogging front. Today mom, Phillip and I went to Fish Lake Park. It was relaxing to lay out on the beach and swim in the lake! We buried Phillip in the sand. I also biked through the bank drive-thru today and the lady told me that I can't do it anymore. I don't know why a bike is that different from a motorcycle...

Here is a picture of Phillip buried in sand:

I forgot to mention that they needed to run temporary power lines to our house:

Later,

~Pat

Most Uneventful College Visit Ever

Fifty-Nine.

One of Patty's reasons for coming to "the cities" was to visit the U of M for grad school. So we drove down to the east bank campus, and after almost turning the wrong way down a one way we arrived in the parking garage. We went to the grad school admissions office and the architecture building. Seeing the campus was good, but we didn't really attain any information. We walked up to dinkytown and went to Annie's Parlor for lunch and had burgers and shared a chocolate banana shake.

We left Minneapolis and went back to my house. After a brief nap, Patty had to leave. We said our goodbyes and she departed. There was a nice family dinner out on the deck. After that I went over to BB's house and I helped him with some networking problems he was having. Him and I were amused by his cat. It likes to tip over boxes.

Later,
~Pat

Note: Now that Patty is gone, I can be more consistent with my posts. :P

Streetcar

Fifty-Eight.

Mom made banana muffins, yum. We also visited the Amorphophallus titanum at Gustavus. It didn't smell as bad as I thought it was going to.

We then ate lunch at Arbys with DM. It was good to see his new beard in person. Then we drove back home and then went to the last Guthrie show of the season. We saw "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams. I am pretty sure he is one of my favorite playwrights. He uses symbolism as well as audio to enhance the theatrical experience. It was great despite the bad reviews.

Later,
~Pat

Holy Links Batman!

Fifty-Seven.

Started the day with a 11+ mile bike ride to my grandparent's house from Elm Creek Park Reserve (map). After a brief stop and light lunch at my Grandparent's house, we went back on the same trail for the 11+ mile ride back. We made a brief stop at my house to change clothes and we headed to St. Paul to watch some flugtag. It was hot and kind of far away, so Patty and I only watched like 6 flights (we didn't see the 207ft. world record flight). Then we went to go eat somewhere while some of the people in the city went away. (There was an estimated 90,000 people in the Harriet Island area). First we stopped at a Caribou, it was trashed and it turns out that they ran out of ice and couldn't make any cold drinks. So we went to a fancier restaurant (The Downtowner). We split a pizza (and a beer) it was a nice little date. We then went home and hung out with TA. We watched the twins game and went to Culver's for corn dogs and ice cream. It was a great day! Here is a picture of a failed flying machine:

Later,
~Pat

Driver

Fifty-Six.

Patty and I did laundry all day. Then we mowed a lawn. Then we embarked back toward my house. We stopped at a DQ and ate some chicken strips, they tasted like old oil. When we got home, there was a wedding shower in progress for JK->JG. Patty and I went on a bike ride around my neighborhood and came back and ate cake. I visited with some of the guests until they went home and finished the day with some Futurama. Today's picture is of some roses from the shower, as well as a floating gerber daisy:

Later,
~Pat

Happy Birthday Patty!

Fifty-Five.

Today is my girlfriend's birthday. HAPPY 21'st BIRTHDAY PATTY! We went to work. The sirens went off, we checked the weather. Tornadoes north of Madison. No rain at the office. To celebrate her 21 years, her whole family and I went to the Tornado Club. (Fitting huh?) Patty and I split a steak. The wait staff brought out her cake and the other customers in the room sang for her. Awesome. There was talk of plans and such, but the rain washed them away, and Patty and I drank wine in her living room while watching the last episodes of the Jersey Shore. I didn't get her anything (yet), because I haven't had time to go out and buy her anything (remember, I was stolen on Sunday).

Later,
~Pat

Beatles: In Concert

Fifty-Four.

Went to concerts on the square. Since the music was all Beatles' music, it was kinda packed. Patty and I wondered around instead of being crammed on the capitol lawn. Again, ended the day with more Jersey Shore.

This picture has an explanation. We were seeing what faces the camera would capture after the auto-timer was finished as we were rapidly changing our facial expressions. I think it turned out great!

Later,
~Pat

Patrick + Patty

Fifty-Three.

Watched some TV when everyone was at work. Mostly court shows. Did a little computering today while Patty and her mom were on another bike ride. They did 21 miles for Patty's 21st birthday. Afterwards we all went out for pizza at the Roman Candle. Great pizza. After that we went to the co-op to get groceries and we finished the day watching, you guessed it, Jersey Shore. I didn't have my camera at the Roman Candle, so I have a romantic picture instead:

Later,
~Pat

Kooking (Cooking with K)

Fifty-Two.

Went to work with Patty this morning. Picked her dad up from the car dealership (his car was getting serviced) and I started to do some basic web stuff for her dad. I chauffeured him around while Patty and her sister were at work.

After the work day, KO (Patty's sister) and I went to the grocery store because it was up to us to start dinner while Patty and her mom were out biking. We picked up the crucial ingredients and started to cook the Chinese recipes that KO had picked out. Then Patty came home and helped us finish everything. There was a step that involved adding rooster sauce to a hot skillet, lets just say it splatters and the smell it gives off makes your lungs want to fall out. Overall the dishes we made were really good considering I am a picky eater.

After cleaning up from dinner Patty and I embarked on the journey of watching "Jersey Shore". Quality television right there^ (from henceforth the "^" symbol will be used as a punctuation mark to denote sarcasm in prose) At about 10pm I had a craving for ice cream, but there was none in the house, so me and Patty decided to drive to Walgreens. We later learned there are no Walgreens open after 10 after visiting 3 closed ones. We ended up getting ice cream from McDonalds so it was all good.

The pic for today is me wearing a pair of athletic shorts from Patty's wardrobe. (Remember I left MN with nothing) So I am wearing these (short) shorts while my jean shorts (jorts) are being washed.

Later,
~Pat

Spontaneous Stowaway

Fifty-One.

After church Dad, Mom, and I went to Cafe Latte with Patty, her mom, and sister. It was great. At the cafe me and Patty came up with the genius plan that I could go with her to Madison and be back on Friday. So I got in their car instead of my parents car and left for Madison with only the clothes on my back. Hooray spontaneity! Since I didn't have anything, this is my new toothbrush:

Patty and I also went on a walk/jog on the Madison streets, stopping to go down the slides at a few playgrounds. :)

Later,
~Pat

Sorry this is late, I am dealing with technology that isn't mine and had to figure out how to use iPhoto.

Fifty is Nifty.

Fifty.

Had a great day today! Since Patty's sister needs housing for next year, Patty came to town with her mom and sister. I stole her from them at about 3:30 in downtown Saint Paul at their hotel and took her to a restaurant on Grand Ave. called Wild Onion. After that we went to my grandparents house and chatted with them a bit, and we finished the evening off with BB, LH, and TA. It was a great movie with great friends. I just got back from taking Patty back to the hotel (2:45am), and have to go to church in the morning, so I am gonna wrap this one up with two pictures (my insane, but lovely girlfriend, and a skillet brownie):

Later,
~Pat

Wedding Prep

Forty-Nine.

TG and JK (soon to be JG [countdown on the right]) came over today to work on a photo book for their upcoming wedding. JK and mom did most of the work and left simple binary choices to TG and I. While they were working hard, we were hardly working. Look what we did with some extra letters:

The book turned out really cool, and will be even more awesome when all the wedding guests write in it! I am off to bed now, because I have an action packed day planned with my GF Patty!!!

Later,
~Pat

MG Days

Forty-Eight.

Helped mom around the house a little today (cleaned out the wood pile / started power washing the deck). The neighbor girl MM came over and we played with some old stuffed animals and faux food. She and I made sure the customers were happy! Then my family went to the MG Days parade. There were a disappointing number of bands there (4). I obviously took a ton of pictures, here is one of an Osseo colorguard member ER, I loved the texture in the waving flag!

The Osseo Cheerleaders were in the parade too, so I took a picture of their lift:

I had a good time wandering around, eating candy, and talking photography with other enthusiasts.

Later,
~Pat

Standing In The Middle Of The Freeway

Forty-Seven.

Woke up late today, worked on media for church (communion = lots of songs to type). Went to BB's house again to play some COD4:MW2 with LH and my brother. On the way to BB's house though, me and my bro decided to go (trespass?) onto the construction site of the 610 extension. (map) It was cool knowing that were we were standing, soon will be a freeway.

Later,
~Pat

Lighting?

Forty-Six.

Cooked with mom today, we made some stew. It was good. I played a ton of facebook poker and watched some more of the U.K. Office. I also called the Guthrie to see if our season tickets went through yet. They did, but they were wrong, but they are fixed now. Ultimate was canceled because not enough people showed up, and is cancelled on Thursday because of the MG parade. I guess no exercise for me this week. So, the photo of the day should have been me cooking with my mom, but my hindsight is better than my foresight. Today you get a picture of my mug. I was playing around in the living room with different lighting stuff as well as the settings in my Nikon software. Kinda odd, but neat.

Later,
~Pat

P.S. Another small batch of people I know got blogs too, check them out from my profile over there ---->

Torches

Forty-Five.

Watched the U.K. Office today, I don't know how to feel about it. I think I like the American one better. I also found some more blogs written by friends of mine. Check my profile to see the blogs I am following. I ate dinner on the deck with the rest of my family, and decided to take some photos of the torches. I had to use flash because fire is so bright.

Later,
~Pat

Double Duty

Forty-Four.

Had to wake up early for church. Ran media at 9 and since they were short on people this week, I had to run sound and media for the 10:30 service. It was a slight pain in the neck having to move the keyboard and monitor, but whatever. I watched the final game of the world cup (or most of it, I dozed through some of the second half). Spain won 0-1. Later in the evening mom made rice-crispy bars, I love them:

Later,
~Pat

Jonny Lang!

Forty-Three.

I went to the (FREE!) Lakefront Jazz and Blues Festival today with the fam. Hung out, listened to some awesome music and stood in the front row for Jonny Lang. It was so cool! I got a ton of blurry pictures of Jonny, he doesn't stop moving. You can tell he is playing his music from his soul because his face gets really contorted when he plays guitar. Here are a couple of my favorite shots from the festival:

Later,
~Pat

Video Game Controller Series: Part 2

Forty-Two.

Two major events today.

One. I got accepted into the model mayhem community with my LH pictures. (Profile)

Two. I went over to BB's house to play some Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2. After playing for a while, we invited LH over as well, and the three of us played some more. BB kicked our butts, but it was fun anyway.

Here is part two of my series on video game controllers:

Later,
~Pat

P.S. A shout out to my girl Patty who is coming here in two weeks! Love ya!

Ants

Forty-One.

So, with summer comes a few things. Road construction, barbecues, heat, crappy tv, and ANTS. Those little buggers are everywhere. They are also in the one place they shouldn't be, our house. So the battle has begun. I want them out so they don't crawl on my food or on me, but I think one of the biggest reasons I want them out of the house, is because every time I go near the ant poison one of my parents, without fail, must remind me not to step on it. Weird blog today, oh well.

Later,
~Pat

P.S. I went to ultimate today and seem to be getting better at defense. : )

Modeling Photography Take 1

Forty.

BB asked me a while back about doing a photo shoot with LH, I accepted. I have never done portrait style photography before, and so I was not sure how I was going to do. The photo shoot day has now come and gone. I learned quite a bit today here are some of the things:

1.) LH does a very good job being a model. She self poses and doesn't mind hopping in a fountain : )
2.) Flash can be used outside to alleviate some weird shadows that can occur.
3.) The sculpture garden is a great place to take photos.
4.) Trial and error is great.

Anyway here are a couple of my favorites (already post-processed):

Later,
~Pat

40GB

Thirty-Nine.

I decided to cannibalize the server in my basement and steal the hard drive for the old computer. Since mom got a new camera a while ago, the pictures are larger (in file size) and the old computer doesn't have the room for them. Since my server was dead anyway, I took it's hard drive and installed it. 40GB more space! The best thing is that I got to pick a drive letter for it. I chose P for photos (clever, I know). I also went to ultimate today and played surprisingly well. I made some catches that I would never expect myself to make (I also dropped catches that I expected myself to catch). Tomorrow I get to shoot LH in Minneapolis, should be fun...I have never shot people (for semi-professional purposes).

Later,
~Pat

Lazy Day

Thirty-Eight.

Lazy day today. I chatted with people online (RA and GS) and ate pie and oreos. I cleaned out the old desktop computer and found some old nostalgic stuff. There are some videos on it that I want to put on YouTube because they are so awesome. There is a brief mustache documentary created by KT in Junior High. Good times. I didn't snap a single picture today, so here is another firework picture from yesterday (I don't think this breaks any rules) If it does I am sure LG will let me know:

Later,
~Pat

Happy Birthday America!

Thirty-Seven.

Went to bed way too late last night and woke up way too early. Lets just say I took a 3 hour nap. Church today was frustrating because it was July 4th and for whatever reason, the church likes to get all patriotic. Now, I am not necessarily against patriotism. But in church??? There is one reason for going to church and that is to learn about and praise Jesus Christ, anything more gives me a weird feeling. Went to fireworks in Coon Rapids, MN after picking up Grandma. Here is one of my favorites:

Happy Birthday America,
~Pat

BTW: You should watch this video.

June Birthdays

Thirty-Six.

Went to the Grandparents' house to celebrate all of the end-of-June Birthdays (SG and mom). Beanbag toss, ice-cream cake, cousins, Dominion. What a great day!

Happy 4th,
~Pat

Outdoor Baseball

Thirty-Five.

Went to Target Field for the 1st time today! The twins won 2-1 vs the Tampa Bay Rays. I saw my roommate for next year there (AB-G). He was working, but we got to have a brief chat. There were fireworks after the game too, which were awesome! I am glad my parents took all of us out to the ball game! Four picture set today in honor of the new ball park:

Later,
~Pat

Ultimate

Thirty-Four.

Played ultimate and Mario Party 8 today. Had an ok ultimate day, caught a few, dropped a few... I hope to go more often. Didn't do much else today. I didn't have a picture again (I promise a decent/exciting one for tomorrow), so I took a picture of the lamp in the living room:

Later,
~Pat