.: blog :.

Reflection, originally uploaded by aawaken.

I was sitting at my dining room table doing some work and noticed a neat reflection in the glass tabletop and in the iPhone. I played around with the focus and thought this photo turned out well.

Well, Curious Ian is getting into all sorts of stuff now. One of his latest achievements has been to find, open, AND USE my wife’s lipstick out of her purse. I was surprised to find out that he had an idea of how to use it, as you can tell in the picture. But we’ll refrain from helping him refine his makeup skills.

My son enjoyed visiting the zoo for the first time. Now, he loves looking at our pictures of all the animals! You can see them on my Flickr page by clicking one of the thumbnails to the right.

Halloween, originally uploaded by aawaken.

My son’s Halloween costume was originally a cow. Until I informed my wife that it did look a bit like a cow, except that it was actually supposed to be a dog. So now a dog costume (dalmatian to be specific), we decided that I had to be a fireman so he could be my helper. I called him my little firedog. Our real dog didn’t seem to mind.

, originally uploaded by raehein.

It was a cold and rainy morning today in Pittsburgh. Alongside the sidewalk where I work are trees, some with red berries and others with yellow. I admired their color as it jumped out from the bare branches. But what caught my eye even more were the big raindrops hanging from the bottom of each bright berry, glistening in the morning’s muted light. The image stuck with me, and to my surprise someone on Flickr noticed the very same sight!

We had a fun visit to Idlewild amusement park’s Halloboo! last weekend.  It’s located along Lincoln Highway in western PA, which helps explain the second photo.  You can find more photos on our Flickr page.

In this interesting article, the author describes how “The human brain is almost infinitely malleable.”  The internet and other innovations have shaped the way our “very plastic” minds work.  Has technology in effect reduced our critical thinking?  Our contemplation?  Our deep insights?

And at the bleeding edge of the internet’s evolution and its transformation of our gray matter we find Google.

extreme kite flying, originally uploaded by lomokev.

What a fantastic photo. I’ll add some Flickr photos to my blog on occasion. I found this one inspirational… to have fun and to live with abandon.

What an occasion to celebrate! Ian didn’t know what was going on, but Erica and I, along with friends and family, enjoyed throwing Ian his first birthday party. Ian’s aunt flew in for the party, Erica’s parents drove in from across the state, neighbors stopped by, my parents Skyped in, and Ian’s uncle (who gave him a cool “Whiz Kid” t-shirt) gave him a call to wish him “Happy Birthday”. Enjoy some photos from his birthday weekend…! (see below)