Dinner in my backyard??

A month or so ago, I had this big plant growning in my backyard. Looked like a weed to me. When the guys that cut my grass came by, I told them to be sure to yank out that big weed in the backyard. One of them asked, "Are you sure? You don't want to eat that?"





What???!!! Ricardo does not eat anything growing in his backyard! That includes the grapes that grow from the vines on my pergola. Although I suppose they're all edible, I'm just not that type of person. That just ain't me... :)



Anyway, he went on to explain that what was apparently growing wild in my backyard was a plant called "poke" that some folks eat like greens! He yanked it out and said he was considering taking it to his uncle to have him boil it. I thought that was pretty weird, but I just now looked it up, and wouldn't you know he was right! :)

I still ain't eating it, tho..... :)

Landscape lighting

Tried to take some shots of my landscape lighting at night with the digital SLR and the tripod. The shots below were taken with no flash.

Man, I wish I knew how to do this photography stuff! I'm sure a professional photographer could've gotten a much nicer-looking shot than what I did. This one seems too dark in the dark spots and too bright in the bright spots:

On this one, the camera somehow found way more light than was even there in real life! Amazing! And yet, not the look I was going for:

I thought maybe Photoshop could help me tweak them to make them look more like real life, but alas I don't really know what I'm doing in that realm either. :)

The real issues...

from www.blacknews.com

I just had to post this...

Just saw this quote, and i had to post it...

"The war on drugs targets poor people experimenting with street level drugs,but is funded by rich people addicted to pharmaceuticals..."

-anonymous ?

Dim light shots

Well, I got myself a tripod so I could test out some of the non-flash or low-light capabilities of my camera. And Kwali as always was ready to help out. He’s such a good model! :-) He sat almost perfectly still while I took a no-flash shot with the lights on:

As well as one with the lights off:

I think the lights-off one looks a little more artistic with the light coming in from the other room. Way to go Kwali! :-)

btw – I also took an outdoor shot. Every year I have this one rose bush that blooms, but usually only stays alive for about a week before falling over dead (is that my fault???) So I try to take pictures of it before that dreadful day:

Here’s the same pic, zoomed in – I love megapixels! :-)

New camera

A co-worker convinced me to buy a new camera. Now that I’ve got it, I guess digital photography will be my new hobby. In particular, I’m developing a weird obsession for taking extremely close-up pictures (I think they call this macro photography):

And of course Kwali has graciously volunteered to model for me. I’ve already taken about 200 useless pictures of him just this weekend alone! As you can see he’s very patient with me. :-)

Gas prices 2008

It's funny - it's been almost three years since I last felt the urge to post something about the high gas prices. In my old post I put a funny picture that told the story pretty well, too - but this one really speaks the truth...

New local magazine

Hey, my homie and fellow DJ has just started a new local magazine call "The Taste of Mt. Vernon". He's got a website, too. Be sure to subscribe!

10 years and counting

May 2008 marks the 10-year anniversary of the Afrikan Student Union sit-in at The Ohio StateUniversity, protesting changes to the Office of Minority Affairs. At that time, it was called the longest-running sit-in in OSU history - perhaps it still holds that record.

Anyway, I was a part of that effort. Now that the 10-year anniversary is here, I feel like we should do something to commemorate it. However, I'm busy, and everyone else I know who was involved is also busy. Being a grownup sucks. :)

Well, at least I mentioned it here. If I'm lucky, I'll find the time to blog on the experience sometime this month. Stay tuned.

King Kwali

When i'm walking Kwali thru the neighborhood, we always inevitably pass a house or yard with another dog in it. Whenever we pass by, those dogs always bark at Kwali. But every time, Kwali just quietly looks at them like they're crazy, or sometimes ignores them completely!

The other day, for example, I walk him down one of the neighborhood streets where there happens to be like 3 or 4 dogs all near each other. All of them saw Kwali, and all of them start barking. What does Kwali do? Head up, face forward. Keeps walking like he don't hear nuthin.

Then it dawns on me - Kwali must be the King Canine in the neighborhood! Those aren't barks of anger or intimidation from the other dogs - those dogs are calling out 'Big Ups!' and giving a respectful shout-out to the baddest mofo low down around this town - Kwali!

Could it be??? :)

--sent from mobile phone--

Still funny?

I just re-read the post i did about Jerry Seinfeld - his comment doesn't seem as funny to me now as it did then. Hmmm - go figure.

chillin

Kwali definitely knows how to chill. I was sitting on the couch talking on the phone and he just cozied up with me. He's probably wondering why i'm sitting on 'his' couch. :)

--sent from mobile phone--

Not funny

things that make you go hmmmm.....

• click here
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
• 
  
  
  
• 
  

• click here
  

Always funny

If you don't already know, I looooove the show "Seinfeld", and I think Jerry Seinfeld is hilarious.

So it was no surprise when he still made me laugh even during an article about a car accident he was recently in, in which the brakes on one of his vintage cars went out. He says,

“Because I know there are kids out there, I want to make sure they all know that driving without braking is not something I recommend, unless you have professional clown training or a comedy background, as I do,...”

LOL!

Chocolate Chip Wifey?

Had lunch with my wife today. Max & Erma's. Yes, we bought the cookies fa sho. Yes, we had some left over - boxed them bad boys up for later.

We walked back to the car holding hands. I then made a statement that made us both bust out laughing:

"...yep, that's all I need - my wife & my cookies!...."

we ain't got no sense....