I've been spending a lot of time on this blogging deal, and actually having some fun with it. I love that you can do all the basic stuff so easily, but it's also easy to start playing aroung. You won't usually notice it, but I'm doing something new every week.
As good as the on line tools are, it's still a lot of work. It's hard enough to write the blog, but when you add the time it takes to get your HTML, CSS, and JS just right, selecting and croppoing pictures, and uploading to Flickr (I insist on not hosting them on Blogger because they compress and reduce quality. You can't notice it, but they do it. And I can't make up my mind on the BEST way to work with Flickr. There are just so many! This condition is commonly called OCD) it's a real weekend killer. As if it wasn't complicated enough already, I just got a Flickr pro account and started organizing everything in sets, and I just started to seriously work on putting some of our videos on the net. It took me weeks of work to decide on Flickr as my image hosting service, and video is SO much more complex. I've spent about two hours today messing with Windows Movie Maker and Vimeo, and I'm nearly shocked at how close they are to doing everything I need. Let's see how good they are at what I want. Speaking of Internet tools, big shoutout to my homies at Writely. Y'all was gonna change the net all over again, and then Google bought you, and they already changed the net, so you sorta lost that. But I still love you and use you all the time.
Anyway.
Between my hernia and Marina's studies, we've had very little time for traveling lately, and work effectively killed what was left. Almost eight months after the last time we spent a night away from home, we finally traveled outside the bay area again. To the same place we went last time - Tahoe.
Our previous trip was a camping trip last August. Lake Tahoe is so high up the mountains that the camping sites are only open three months a year, so you have to reserve months in advance. We did. After the Shasta fiasco (I really should put that stuff on blog. Some day...), we weren't sure what to expect in term of weather and activities. Renting a boat again is a bit boring, jet skis are so expensive that it takes the fun out of it, and the lake water is freezing even in August.
So we just relaxed and took it very very easy for three days, and the weather was just perfect, and even the water was bearable for a few minutes at a time.
We got there around midnight and started setting up our brand new tent. Our little blue $24.99 tent has served long and well, and is a pleasure to set up in total darkness. But this is America, and I'm making all these piles of money*, and everything is so cheap here*, and I figured that I deserve a tent that's actually longer than I am. So we went all out and spend 40 whole bucks on a bigger, fancier, not quite so easy to assemble in darkness, tent.
There was a great meteor shower that night. Here's a picture I took of the sky.
Apparently, I need to improve my equipment a bit.
Morning came, and we started to work on breakfast. Note that every site gets its own picnic table, bear-proof locker, wooden shelves, and camp stove. America.
And the awesome new tent.
The camp chef made some omelets.
And the neighbors came to sample the leftovers.
Later we hung out on the beach below our campground.
Chipmunks were everywhere.
We drove up above Emerald Bay.
Looking at these views, I think this summer I'll post pictures from down below, from the boat I am going to rent after all.
Evening descended...
And the camp chef started to work on dinner.
It took me over an hour to get the fire started, because I forgot you need to wave. I'm an embarrassment to Israelis everywhere.
Day two: More of that hanging out on the beach stuff.
I know, I know. We need to get out in the sun more often. STFU.
OK, enough with the pretty lake. Time to go home.
We've never had really good luck with Tahoe weather, so of course it started raining. In mid-fucking-August! Just like it did in 98!
Apaprently, Writely doesn't let me embed flash in the document. So I'll just put links to Vimeo. Like this.
Like most of our videos, this one ends with Marina asking how to turn the recorder off.
A while later, the rain stopped, and we saw the wind turbines at Altamont Pass for the first time. Thousands of them!
I was quite excited and took a million pictures. Video.
Sunset. Video.
Crossing the the bay on the San Mateo bridge. Look how close we are to the water!
* not really
As good as the on line tools are, it's still a lot of work. It's hard enough to write the blog, but when you add the time it takes to get your HTML, CSS, and JS just right, selecting and croppoing pictures, and uploading to Flickr (I insist on not hosting them on Blogger because they compress and reduce quality. You can't notice it, but they do it. And I can't make up my mind on the BEST way to work with Flickr. There are just so many! This condition is commonly called OCD) it's a real weekend killer. As if it wasn't complicated enough already, I just got a Flickr pro account and started organizing everything in sets, and I just started to seriously work on putting some of our videos on the net. It took me weeks of work to decide on Flickr as my image hosting service, and video is SO much more complex. I've spent about two hours today messing with Windows Movie Maker and Vimeo, and I'm nearly shocked at how close they are to doing everything I need. Let's see how good they are at what I want. Speaking of Internet tools, big shoutout to my homies at Writely. Y'all was gonna change the net all over again, and then Google bought you, and they already changed the net, so you sorta lost that. But I still love you and use you all the time.
Anyway.
Between my hernia and Marina's studies, we've had very little time for traveling lately, and work effectively killed what was left. Almost eight months after the last time we spent a night away from home, we finally traveled outside the bay area again. To the same place we went last time - Tahoe.
Our previous trip was a camping trip last August. Lake Tahoe is so high up the mountains that the camping sites are only open three months a year, so you have to reserve months in advance. We did. After the Shasta fiasco (I really should put that stuff on blog. Some day...), we weren't sure what to expect in term of weather and activities. Renting a boat again is a bit boring, jet skis are so expensive that it takes the fun out of it, and the lake water is freezing even in August.
So we just relaxed and took it very very easy for three days, and the weather was just perfect, and even the water was bearable for a few minutes at a time.
We got there around midnight and started setting up our brand new tent. Our little blue $24.99 tent has served long and well, and is a pleasure to set up in total darkness. But this is America, and I'm making all these piles of money*, and everything is so cheap here*, and I figured that I deserve a tent that's actually longer than I am. So we went all out and spend 40 whole bucks on a bigger, fancier, not quite so easy to assemble in darkness, tent.
There was a great meteor shower that night. Here's a picture I took of the sky.
Apparently, I need to improve my equipment a bit.
Morning came, and we started to work on breakfast. Note that every site gets its own picnic table, bear-proof locker, wooden shelves, and camp stove. America.
And the awesome new tent.
The camp chef made some omelets.
And the neighbors came to sample the leftovers.
Later we hung out on the beach below our campground.
Chipmunks were everywhere.
We drove up above Emerald Bay.
Looking at these views, I think this summer I'll post pictures from down below, from the boat I am going to rent after all.
Evening descended...
And the camp chef started to work on dinner.
It took me over an hour to get the fire started, because I forgot you need to wave. I'm an embarrassment to Israelis everywhere.
Day two: More of that hanging out on the beach stuff.
I know, I know. We need to get out in the sun more often. STFU.
OK, enough with the pretty lake. Time to go home.
We've never had really good luck with Tahoe weather, so of course it started raining. In mid-fucking-August! Just like it did in 98!
Apaprently, Writely doesn't let me embed flash in the document. So I'll just put links to Vimeo. Like this.
Like most of our videos, this one ends with Marina asking how to turn the recorder off.
A while later, the rain stopped, and we saw the wind turbines at Altamont Pass for the first time. Thousands of them!
I was quite excited and took a million pictures. Video.
Sunset. Video.
Crossing the the bay on the San Mateo bridge. Look how close we are to the water!
* not really
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