shrouded.net - cynical idealism.

Last week I picked up a Canon SD1000 point & shoot camera. I'm still learning about the capabilities a custom firmware called CHDK unlocks, but most importantly I'm trying to take pictures more often.

Last Saturday Robin and I stumbled across the annual event at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens where they unleash a torrent of butetrflies in a greenhouse, which proved to be perfect fodder for playing with the camera. I grabbed a ton of awful shots, but got a few decent ones too.

Someone reminded me this weekend that I had promised to post pictures of our tattoos from early February, but I had never got around to it. Better late than never, here they are in all their glory. These images are from around 2/1/08, within minutes of their completion. I'm glad to say everything has healed beautifully, and they look great and vibrant. I couldn't be happier with mine, and I think Robin feels the same about hers.

We just sat there; Lizzie at Passage Tattoo in Toronto did the hard part. It took me years to decide to have this done and settle on an image, so I don't expect to have another one soon... but if I do I'd be happy to work with Lizze again.

Rob's mobiusRobin's mobius

Robin & Lizzie

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankfully that we can see the floor that was so recently obscured by cardboard boxes and foam peanuts.

Unpacking is fun!

We have a long way to go, but we are slowly digging our way through the mess and making this space look more like home. In the meantime the daylight exposes how far we have to go, but evening hides the mess and shows the great view outside.

Rainy, reflective night

Follow along after the jump for more pictures of our mess.

It is official; we have signed paperwork and will soon be moving out of Addison and into downtown Fort Worth. We drove over and took another look today, and are more excited about the new place every time we see it. Exactly how we will squeeze ourselves into a 1300 square foot floorplan is still a mystery to me, but the prospect of having a simpler space without all of the flotsam we've accumulated over the years is exciting.

main room - from kitchen

kitchen & hall - from main roombedroom - left side: lorem ipsumbedroom - right side

For a while now I've had a banged-up Ibanez RG220B sitting around the house, that I picked up at Music-Go-Round because I liked the idea of having a project. It didn't have a trem arm, and the edges on trem (an Ibanez-made Floyd Rose) were worn enough to be rounded.

Now, thanks to a new Floyd Rose from GuitarFetish.com, a bit of elbow grease, and a dremel, it has a new trem. I had to widen the cavity slightly, but it seems to feel good installed and stays in tune very well. Best of all, I now have some confidence for bigger projects.

Body - old trem

New trem and cavity route

For about 5 years I had a cheap guitar and amp sitting in the corner, gathering dust. Every now and then I would make an earnest effort to learn to play, but after a short time they all fizzled out. My work schedule made it seem impossible to schedule lessons. Lessons in books left too questions unanswered. I had a good excuse every time I put the guitar down, but in the end each time the result was the same.