WordPress is a fantastic blog platform. It is very easy to use, so easy that it inspires people to start a blog practically on a whim. This leads to blogs that are started and then not maintained. Unfortunately my blog has fallen into that category. My last post was in August. That is completely a slacker attitude. I am driving a three week road trip starting tomorrow (Sunday November 29th). I vow to write a daily blog of the trip starting with an overview to follow this post. I will toss in some stories from this wonderful summer to boot.

Mark Miner

After the longest stretch of time off island that I have had since first visiting in 2006, I am back. My longing for the beautiful weather, turqouise water, and laid-back atmosphere has been growing over the whole summer. This last six weeks I have found myself re-editing my HD video from the islands over and over again. It was time to come back.

This time around, things are a little different. No longer employed, I could not justify the expense of a rental car. I have always told people that you can make it fine on the island without one, but I have never actually tried it. The grocery store is about a mile away, and I can catch rides with my friends when it is time to stock up. Not having a car will also have the benefit of forcing me to eat more meals at home.

I will have plenty to keep me busy. The beach and pool are right outside my door and I have ten books that I would like to get through on this trip. First up on the book list will be “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White. This book was recommended in Stephen King’s book “On Writing” as a great refresher of good use of the English language in writing.

George, Hurricane Hole, Key West, Florida!

I finally got through the pictures from the trip. There are pictures from Wichita Falls TX, New Orleans LA, Key West FL, South Beach FL, Washington D.C., Cleveland OH, Chicago IL, and Des Moines IA! Enjoy!

Pictures from the Trip!

Beach Crowd lit up by Fourth of July Fireworks, Key West

Everyone gets fireworks pics. This picture is of the crowd on the beach in Key West for the Fourth of July.

Next stop on the trip was Key West.  We actually took off from New Orleans and drove though to Key West without stopping in Gainsville, we drove all through the night and pulled into Key West at 6am.  We slept in the car in the Days Inn there and then called my friend at 7:30.   My friend has a vacation house in Key West which we were able to use.   The house was beautiful and had it’s own pool.  The original plan was two days here but the house beckoned us to stay a couple more days.  Key West is certainly a different animal.  It reminds me a lot of St Thomas.  There is a culture there that is laid-back-sunny-wonderful.  We spent the fourth of July swimming in my friends pool and drinking.  That evening the fireworks were fantastic and I got some great pictures.   I took pictures of the crowd lit up by the display, a few photos are excellent and I will post them soon.  Key West was so wonderful that I want to go back and stay two weeks, maybe do some fishing….

The drive after Key West was a short, beautiful one, that landed us in Miami Beach.  Our couchsurf deal fell through at the last minute so we stayed in a kick ass art deco hotel on South Beach.  Cost was $48.  We spent the next two days drinking, hitting South Beach and crashing the hotel pools of the properties around us.  I can’t speak of Miami proper, but Miami Beach would be a GREAT PLACE TO LIVE for a while.    Again, pictures will follow,  it is too dificult to do them justice editing them on the laptop.

From Key West we drove to Washington D.C. and visited a good friend that I have not seen for five years.  She had a wonderful condo in a building with a pool on the roof.  We hit the Air and Space Smithsonian during the day and then the White House, Vietnam Memorial and Lincoln Memorial at night.  It gave me chills to see these things in person.  D.C. is another place that will require a couple weeks visit for a proper treatment.

Today we got up early and got back on the road to Des Moines, about 1100 miles, but home is fantastic too…………

Update…   Home safe and sound and editing pictures from the trip!

I am currently two days into a two and a half week tour of the southeast US. The plan is to hit Wichita Falls TX, New Orleans, Gainsville, Key West, Miami Beach, Myrtle Beach, Virginia Beach, Washington D.C., Louisville and then home!

I spent the first night in Wichita Falls, went out with some old friends, met some new ones. Got drunk in a place where they serve you alcohol in the parking lot and you drink it in your car….

On Sunday we drove from Wichita Falls to New Orleans, Louisiana, parked in the French Quarter and got soaked to the bone in a drving rain that did not let up for 20 minutes. We hit the Quarter for a few hours and then met our host for some beers. Patrick (our host) has been coming back and forth to New Orleans for years. He lives here permanently now and really knows the area. The bar that we met up was in the northeast end of the FQ in an area that is mostly locals. The bars were more friendly, the drinks were cheaper and better endowed and it was a great atmosphere. We sucked up some booze and live music and crashed at Patrick’s comfortable place in Uptown.

Monday we hooked up with Daniel in the French Quarter. He is a very organized host and takes it seriously. He has a wonderul place that is cool, comfortable and well furnished. He showed us around some of the local spots and we hit good waffles in the morning at a diner. It is stifling hot in New Orleans right now.  And we spent a good part of the early afternoon just chillin in Dan’s nice house. I called the Royal Sonesta hotel.  They are located in the middle of the quarter in a beautiful location on Bourbon St. I told them that I stay there every year for Mardi Gras (which I do) and that I was just in New Orleans visiting some friends. I asked if we could use the pool. The manager said they don’t have a particular way that it is done like that, but if we walked into the hotel and to the pool and did not cause any trouble, they probably would not even notice. The next five hours was spent in the pool and drinking beers. By the end of the day the burning sun had fought back and forth with pouring rain on several occasions, both were very welcome.  Today we head out for Gainsville Fl it is about 600 miles of driving with the stop we are making in Panama City to drop off a fellow couchsurfer………

Couchsurfing AT the campout!

Recently I had the chance to meet up with about 300 other couchsurfers at the first annual campout just south of Denver in South Park, Colorado. It was four days of drinking, camping, drinking, hiking and drinking. I hiked into the mountains a couple of days up to 12,200 feet and got some great photos at the snowline. I drank way too much, froze my f@#king ass off, and took a lot of photos! I met so many wonderful people saw and did things that will be with me forever.

Mark Miner

180 Pictures from the campout! if you want to download any of the pictures, highlight it and then hit the download button!

My couchsurfing profile!!! <- Click here to see it.

Amy IS salsa!

First of all, let me say. I think they really got something right with this couchsurfing….

Recently I had the chance to visit Chicago CS style. I packed up some road food, (tortillas, peanut butter, honey and chips) loaded up my audio book and set out for Chicago from Des Moines. First stop was the wonderful condo very near downtown of Daryl, a 30yr old OR nurse who has been with couchsurfing since 2007. He showed me his place, gave me a set of keys to the very secure building and then he left for work. The place was great, had a spare bedroom and bathroom, and was in a wonderful location. I made a tortilla with PB and honey and headed out to Chicago on the EL train. Ten minutes later I was downtown. Over the next two days a fellow couchsurfer, Zac arrived and we hit a number of museums. (I have a membership to the Sci center of Des Moines, this got us into the field museum, The Chicago science center and the Adler planetarium all at NO charge.) Daryl had to work days so he caught up with us nights and showed us around Chicago including the best place to take a skyline picture!

We were having a wonderful time in Chicago and no place yet to stay on Friday. (Daryl had other surfers coming in) We went to the Chicago couchsurfing event on Thursday night. I met a bunch of cool couchsurfers including Amy and Greg. Greg said we could crash wherever he was crashing on Friday night. Amy was having a salsa party fundraiser on Friday night and she invited Zac and I to go. When we arrived we could hear the salsa music from a block away. It was great fun, there were many interesting people there. We met Amy’s roomates and all of us went out for drinks afterward. Everybody was very nice. We ended up staying at Amy’s place which was just a short walk from the bar. She had a great place, a comfy couch and a great shower! I left for home on Saturday morning. Viva la couchsurfing!!!

Mark

Random pics from this trip!

Ok, everyone who knows me knows that I love movies. I just finished a movie an hour ago that was great! “In Bruges” This movie is in my new top ten movies of all time.

Basically the plot is this. A pair of hitmen ‘f’ up a hit with a collateral kill that had not been intended. The boss that ordered the hit tells them to cool their heals in Bruges, Belgium while things blow over. Colin Farrell is one of the hitmen and he is too hip to be stuck in “f’n Bruges.” He gets himself in some major trouble instead of ‘laying low’. The movie is funny as hell, dark and just plain great! Below is a link to the trailer.

Watch this movie and then leave me a comment about what you thought of it!

Trailer for the fab movie “In Bruges”

The Onion newspaper and website have been around for a while and they are a particulary good source for humorus material.
Here are a couple of particularly good videos linked directly from theonion.com

Anonymous Philanthropist Donates 200 Human Kidneys To Hospital

More American Workers Outsourcing Own Jobs Overseas

Victor Olivia's The Absinthe Drinker featuring the Green Goddess

Speaking of Lucid (NOT the dream state)

Absinthe, is a highly intoxicating spirit that has been vilified in the United States since 1915 when it was outlawed here. It is a very potent spirit traditionally made from an herb called wormwood. It is then distilled to a very high proof (~125 proof or 62 percent alcohol).

It is commonly served in a glass specialized for Absinthe drinking.

First pour a shot-or-so of Absinthe into a glass then place a spoon over the top and place a sugar cube on the spoon. Then pour ice cold water over the sugar cube and into the glass. The mixture forms a cloudy fluid as some of the herbs in the Absinthe come out of solution and form a Louche. The aroma and taste of Absinthe is very licorice like in its flavor and carries a huge punch.

Absinthe has been the subject of much lore and was greatly appreciated by 19th and early 20th century artists and writers.

Frequently refered to as the Green Goddess, Earnest Hemmingway, Pablo Picasso and Mark Twain were notable absinthe drinkers. Oscar Wilde went one step further and was reported to write several works while in an Absinthe induced drunken state.

In 2007 the United States lifted the ban on Absinthe and several distilleries started domestic production of this wonderful spirit. A widely available import, Lucid brand, is a very well crafted French Absinthe that is made in the traditional method and has no added artificial oils or flavors.

Mark

Zak Evans, Couchsurfer from UTAH!

Recently a friend of mine turned me on to a site called couchsurfing.com. The basic idea here is that you register your couch or spare bedroom as a place that fellow travelers can ‘crash’ when they are in your town. You register on the site and can immediately start searching for places to surf. To increase your chances of being accepted as a traveler you need to get verified (a painless one time procedure).

I used couchsurfing.com to arrange a place to stay in Indy on a recent trip. I located a place for the two nights I was going to be there, found a person to host us in a spare bedroom and was all set. At the last minute my stepfather decided to go on the trip as well and he got a hotel room instead and we all stayed there.

Last week I received a request for someone to surf my couch on Friday and Saturday in Des Moines. It was a 21 year old guy who is traveling all 50 states. He is about 6 weeks and 17 states into it at this point. He stayed Friday and Saturday and it was a blast. I learned so much more about couchsurfing, and he had a great time partyiing in Des Moines until 4am!

My plan is to do a bunch more couchsurfing this summer. It is very affordable (read –free–). Meeting new people and seeing a city through the eyes of a local is a great way to travel.

LINK TO PICTURES FROM THIS GREAT WEEKEND

Mark

Lucid dreaming is not hard to do. A few simple tricks and most people have a lucid dream within the first few days of trying. One of the best methods to induce lucid dreaming is the reality check. The link below is a well written page describing the reality check method of lucid dream induction. It describes techniques to help your mind actually realize that you are dreming while you are in the middle of it.

By the way, I described my lucid dream from three nights ago. I did NOT have a lucid dream the last two nights. 🙁

I am reading a very long biography of Benjamin Franklin. My next lucid dream I am going to talk to him. (obviously I will be talking to me, but talking to dead relatives or important people from history yields very surprising results.)

Lucid Dream Induction Tips

Good luck lucid dreaming, and write to me after your first dream!

Mark

Throughout my life I have had many dreams where I was conciously aware that I was dreaming.  In a very small number of these I was actually able to take control of the dream and do what I wanted.

These were very few in number and at random intervals. A couple of years ago I found some information on the internet with techniques for increasing the number of ‘lucid dreams’ that a person has. I played with it for about two weeks and actually had three lucid dreams in which I had control over the direction and characters in the dream. Busy life took over and I kind of let the subject fade.

 Fast forward a couple of years. I am at the Des Moines Public Library a few blocks from my apartment and there is a poster with an announcement of an ‘author’s talk’ coming next month. The author is Robert Waggoner, and his new book ‘Lucid Dreaming, Gateway to the Inner Self’ is being featured.

I purchased a copy of Mr. Waggoner’s book on Amazon.com and I am currently reading it. I am only two days into the book and I made myself have a lucid dream last night. (I say ‘made myself’, but you can only suggest it, it may or may not happen). Lucid dreaming is just about the coolest thing that I have ever done. (and I have done some things that I think are cool). Last night I had a dream that I was in St Thomas, and in the middle of the dream I looked at my hands to see if it was a dream or not. ( A common technique for making you aware that you are in a dream while you are in the middle of it is to look at the palms of your hands. ) I looked at my palms and thought, wait a minute, I am not in St Thomas, this must be a dream! I was at some business in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. The business opened onto a dock on the water and there was a screen door from the business onto the dock. I decided I wanted a blonde woman to come into my dream. Oddly, the next women who walked throgh the screen door was a brunette who was not attractive. I asked her “why are you here” (a question that you are supposed to ask of people in your dreams) She did not answer me, she just looked at me funny and kept walking. Then I noticed a blond woman about 27 or 28 years old over in the corner of the dock next to the water. She was very seductive. I went over to talk to her. I asked her, ‘why are you here?’ She said that she had come to St Thomas with her boyfriend and that he was on the other side of the island. She stated that they fight a lot because “he is always looking at other women, like they were an anatomy lesson”. I asked her if she or her boyfriend came to the island first. She said that they came together. I then noticed that she was naked from the waist down. I took off her shirt and bra while kissing the back of her neck. We had crazy sex and then I woke up. (details omitted, have your own damn lucid dream!)

My plan for my first lucid dream in a while was to go in a sexual direction. I certainly did just that. I made that decision before I went to sleep. I also know that my next lucid dream will be different. Some of the things they recommend doing are flying, talking to dead relatives, talking to famous people from history and just generally exploring your dreamscape. You can also just fly around and see what your subconcious cooks up for you. You can direct the dream and will things out of thin air. It is very very real while you are doing it. I am excited to take my next lucid dream in a less hedonistic and more reflective direction.

TIP! Do a google search on lucid dreaming. There are many sites with great techniques for maximizing your lucid dreams.

Eugene, looking like the Nick Nolte Mug Shot

Eugene is a two-year-old Ragdoll cat with a wonderful personality. This photo makes him look like a bad-ass (he’s not). He is a very good cat who spends a good portion of his time hanging out on my computer desk while I edit photos and write.

This tree is from a single nef file. Photomatix one exposure HDR settings were used to make the image. This is also the first post using Blog Desk. The post was separately edited on my laptop and then uploaded as one file to make the post.

Mark

Pictures from a short Thursday night out in Des Moines. Is this great or what?
(by the way, total cost of tonight’s night out….. $6)

Zombies in Des Moines April 30th, 2009

Halloween in April, Des Moines Style.

Hott Ryan Hamm'n it up!

US bank does not live up to it's tellers!

Chicago is famous for many things, but it’s pizza has to be one of the best. Every trip I make to Chicago includes at least one visit to Giordano’s Pizza. They make a mean stuffed crust pizza that is good enough to drive all the way to Chicago for. Recently I stumbled upon a book, in the public library of all places, that shows you exactly how to make a wonderful Giordanos style stuffed pizza!

The pizza that you make looks and tastes like authentic chicago stuffed crust pizza, because it is!

The total prep time is about 15 minutes, not including the hour to let the dough rise. Making it is more fun than going out. I use a spring-form cheesecake pan to make the pizza. (The spring form pan has a snap on the side that releases the sides of the pan so that you can easily remove it from the pizza when it is done.)

There are many wonderful recipes in the book, but the crust recipe on page 78 and the sauce recipe on page 82 makes a stuffed crust pizza that will keep you from going out for pizza.

When it was time to return the book to the library, I went to Amazon.com and bought my very own copy of the cookbook. $16 delivered. (Cheaper than one pizza!)

My First Chicago Style!

Done properly, HDR is a combination of several bracketed exposures combined to make one GREAT exposure. It is an excellent tool.

Unfortunately, getting three exposures of people in a candid style is difficult at best. Most of the time, you can get one good exposure. With a little more effort, you can still make a good psuedo-hdr photo out of the single image. These are some samples of images that I have made HDR-like using a single raw image from the camera. Enjoy!

Mark

Note the difference between real HDR and Psuedo-HDR. See the post below

Ryan Carney 2009

Zach Miner 2009

Mardi Gras 2009

Mardi Gras 2009

Mardi Gras 2009