Photo Friday . . . Don’t Fence Me Out!

See that fence above? When I’m told as a parent that I need to be outside the fence, I sometimes think it’s for the best. But not when I’m a photographer! I’m one of those “the rules apply to everyone but me” types anyway, but I especially feel that way when I have my big camera and my big lens in my hands. Those should be my passport onto the field of play every time.

But not this time. The school district’s police officer was kind but firm . . . only middle-school athletes and coaches allowed inside the fence. For almost every track meet last year when #2 son was a seventh-grader, there was no fence keeping us out of the field events area. So I was free to roam with my Nikon D300. But this high school had a fence designed to keep us out, so I simply either shot through the fence or through the opening where the athletes can walk onto the track.

A bigger problem, actually, was the lack of lights where the field events took place. The triple jump, #2 son’s field event, started late, and then #2 jumped late, because he had to run the 100 meters first. That 100 seemed to really fire him up, though, and not only did he make the 30-foot qualifying mark, he set a personal best at 32 feet 7 inches (his first two jumps were both 31-2). It was the top jump on his team; he was stoked! He finished up with the 200 meters. We don’t know his sprint times, but he ran the curve in the 200 like a little champ. Yay!!

Here are some photos from the meet. Our team is in the gold uniforms (Jaguars):

Is this a botched handoff or what?

The 1600 meters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Left) Just had to get a pole vault picture from behind. Sometimes it’s hard to tell which way the athlete is going to turn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long jump.

#2 running the 100 meters. The light was getting pretty low, so I switched from my Nikon 70-200mm lens to my Nikon 85mm.

This is what no lights at the end of a high school football stadium is like. The #2 son triple jumping in the gloaming!

“Lost” in Applecare

The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham

OMG! Another enjoyable, question-riddled episode with a few answers thrown in for good measure. As we watched, I jotted down notes on my MacBook. Here are some thoughts:

• It was no big surprise that John Locke was alive back on the island due to the previews from last week. It was kind of cool the way he “unveiled” himself, though.

• Great exchange between Charles Widmore and Locke:

Widmore: When you last saw me [in a flashback on the island], I was 17 years old. How long has it been since I last saw you?

Locke: Four days.

• The key question of the season: Who is good or bad? Charles Widmore? Ben Linus? The #1 son thinks they’re both bad, that they’re like Russia and Germany during World War II (guess what he’s studying in U.S. History right now). “Which one are you going to side with?” he asks. “It should be Russia.”

Okay, son, but then who is Russia, Widmore or Linus?

• Widmore says he was the leader on the island before Ben tricked him into leaving. Christian Shephard made it seem like Ben tricked Locke into believing that Ben had to be the one to turn the wheel to move the island.

• A good line by the #1 son after Widmore says to Locke, “Godspeed.” #1 son asked, “How fast does God speed?”

• Oh, oh . . . it’s Matthew Abaddon, that creepy orderly who told Locke to go on the walkabout in Australia. He tells Locke that his job is to help people get where they need to go. He works for Widmore. He tells Locke, “Your path leads back to the island.” Duh!

• Hey, it’s Walt! When I saw the name Malcolm David Kelley in the opening credits, I knew he’d be in the episode. He’s gotten so big and looks so much older. I’m glad Locke decided not to try to persuade him to go back to the island. I guess Walt never will know what happened to his dad, Michael. Tangent: Harold Perrineau, who played Michael, is part of the cast of the new ABC show “The Unusuals.” He sure was unusual on “Lost!”

• After Locke’s chat with Walt, Ben pops up looking so totally creepy! Just out shopping for souvenirs to bring home to the Others, Mr. Linus?

• Helen Norwood is dead . . . how sad for John, who seems to have really loved her.

• Ugh, what an ugly, shocking death for Abaddon.

• What’s “Lost” without a car crash? Gosh, who would expect Jack to be Locke’s doctor?!? Jack has that crazy beard; obviously it’s when Jack was sinking into his pill-riddled depression. Why isn’t Jack shocked to see John?

A line from the Mister about Jack, as he rages against Locke in the hospital: “Not a good bedside manner.”

• There’s a knock on the door as poor John is about to hang himself. Was his thought, “Room service now?!?” Nope, it’s just Ben.

• Ben admits that he killed Abaddon. Widmore said that Ben is bad. Ben does seem to be bad.

• Ben says, “John, you have no idea how important you are.” Will we ever find out Locke’s importance?

• Did Ben lie about Jack booking a flight to Sydney?? John sure is a weeper; he should be on “The Biggest Loser!” Ben finds out Jin is alive from John. 

The #1 son says, “Ben is secretly caring. Or is he?” Sounds so Miles!

• Check out Ben’s facial reaction when John says “Eloise Hawking.” He just snaps! OMG—Ben is strangling poor John! OMG! Was Ben being mean, like with Martin Keamy, or was it because he knows Locke has to be dead in a casket to help duplicate the original events of Oceanic 815 on the Ajira Airways plane?

• Great shadow effect of Locke hanging. And Ben gets Jin’s wedding ring to cap it off.

• Ben CANNOT be a good guy! Ben: “I’ll miss you, John. I really will.” There’s just not a Hallmark card made for this situation!

• John is walking fine when he’s back on the island with no sign of his compound fracture. Is it the island’s healing powers again?

• Ilana and Caesar are the new characters; what will be their importance? 

• Lapidus, the pilot, and a woman took one of the boats on the island. Which woman, Sun or the flight attendant? If Sun disappeared during the flash on the plane, it probably was the flight attendant. Who is she?

• So the plane did land on the island. It looks like it’s intact.

• A great line by Locke when he sees the injured Ben in the makeshift emergency room on the island.

Caesar: “Do you know him?”

Locke: “Yes, he’s the man who killed me.” Chilling!

A great episode to analyze! Can’t wait until the next one!!

Applecare adventures

Looks like we’re done with Applecare. The good news is that we know why GarageBand ’09 won’t play the GB ’08 songs; the bad news is that it can’t be fixed.

An Applecare genius named “Seven” (yep, his real name, and he’s too old for his parents to have been influenced by the 1996 “Seinfeld” episode) went the extra mile trying to help us for about an hour. He concluded that there are certain loops used in earlier GB versions that can’t be accessed by ’09. He suggested we open the songs in ’08 and lock the tracks; then they’ll play in ’09 (but can’t be modified).

At least that was one mystery able to be solved. If it had been on “Lost,” I might not have gotten the answer until sometime next season!

Get ’er dones

Besides finally finishing up my scout Photoshop work, tonight is the middle school’s first track meet. #2 son will be triple jumping and running the 100 and 200 meters, which means we’ll have to stay for almost the entire meet (field events are early, the 200 is the last individual event before the relays). I’ll be taking photos until it gets too dark. I’ll tote my Nikon D300 along with my Nikon 70-200mm, 85mm, and 50mm lenses and my Nikon 1.4x teleconverter. It’ll be great to shoot outside once again!

Tasty Tuesday’s Aftermath

Wowzer! I’m thrilled to report that the chicken baked using the Dijon honey mustard Flavor Magic Portion Control Sheets was a huge hit with the boys! They said it was the best chicken I had ever made (and, believe it or not, they sometimes actually like the chicken I’ve cooked for them). The entire process was easy, peasy, lemon-squeezy. Here’s how it worked:

First, you cut the chicken to size (I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts, because I’m lazy, of course), dampen it, and lay it on one of the sheets (above left). Then you put plastic wrap over it and pop it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cook for about 30 minutes. Then be prepared to bask in the praise and glory of your ever-indebted family who have crowned you the Cooking Queen . . . as if!

I especially liked that there was almost no mess with the sheets, so cleanup was a snap. I’ll keep using the Dijon honey mustard sheets, as well as the Rivieria tomato and basil sheets, with chicken, pork, and fish. I might even try the Rivieria sheet with tofu, since it’s vegan!

Speaking of vegan

Double-wowzer! While the boys were scarfing down their chicken, I was enjoying my red pepper and spinach hashed browns. They were really good! The recipe was a natural for my limited cooking abilities: It didn’t have a lot of ingredients (red pepper, onion, garlic, potatoes, and spinach), it didn’t take long to prepare and cook, and it wasn’t too messy. I definitely would make it again.

The only problem with the recipe was chopping the onions. I try to chop as fast as I can, but I can’t stand how much the little buggers sting my eyes. If I had only checked out the National Onion Association‘s website! Guess I should’ve figured that the little buggers would have their own site. The NOA recommends chilling the onion before cutting and trimming off the root end last for reducing the tears. Me? I reasoned if the irritant can’t get into my eyes, it wouldn’t affect me. So I grabbed some handy swim goggles . . . and it worked! And it made the #1 son laugh! I did learn that it’s pretty hard to take a quick photo of yourself, so this was the best I could do.

Tonight’s TV watch

It’s an embarrassment of riches on the tube tonight! There’s the second half of “The Biggest Loser” along with “American Idol” and “Lost.”  Whew!

Speaking of “TBL,” there was sooo much crying, especially by my third husband, trainer Bob, on last night’s show. You would’ve thought Bob’s former trainees were moving to Siberia! Man up, Bob!

Get ’er dones

I’ll be spending more time on the phone talking to Applecare. Yesterday they advised uninstalling and reinstalling iLife ’09 to try to solve the GarageBand ’09 problem of not opening GB ’08 songs, but that didn’t work. I remain suspicious of the install disc.

Of course, it’s Kitchen Wednesday, so I’ll at least open mail and shred. There’s always so much more to do with so little energy in the afternoon.

Finally, there will be dinner and TV. How did John Locke die? I think we finally get that question answered on “Lost.” One answer down, 533 more to go!

Tasty Tuesday, Omni- and Vegan-Style

The Ice Bowl

The ironically named (for Houston) Ice Bowl Saturday was warmer than the evening’s scouts shooting gig, although a front passing through did dip the temps 10 degrees (from 71 to 61) along with a short shower. The Mister and the boys played in this 18-hole disc golf tournament that benefitted the Houston Food Bank, one of my favorite causes. I tagged along to click some pix and take some video for the blog.

#2 son is the best player among the three (disc golf is his passion), so he, of course, posted the best score, followed by his Pops. But #1 son in only his second tournament did really well and only whined when he wanted the drink that he had left in the car. I went to get it, and, of course, missed #2 son’s drive that landed a few feet from the basket on the first hole, which eventually won him his first-ever CTP (closest to the pin) prize of a natty Ice Bowl knit beanie (he loves those).

I only took a few pix before the rain came. But I got some pretty good video with the Flip Mino. I really like this little camcorder; it’s so handy and easy to carry. I haven’t tried making a movie using the Flip’s software yet because I’m used to iMovie, but it looks pretty straightforward. The music, by the way, is part of iMovie. It’s easy to use and handy but almost impossible to tweak by a couple seconds, which is why it sounds a little short. One of these days I’d like #1 son to teach me how to compose in GarageBand, so I can be more exact with the music. That’s a way-in-the-future get ’er done!

Tasty Tuesday

In our quest for healthier eating while watching “The Biggest Loser” (an hour tonight and tomorrow, for a change, because of the presidential address), I’m going to try something new for the guys: Flavor Magic Portion Control Sheets. Basically, they are easy seasoning sheets that marinate meat and fish in one simple step. I’ve never gotten the hang of seasoning food, so I’m taking the easy way out. I’m going to use the dijon honey mustard sheets with boneless, skinless chicken breasts tonight and will have my human taste testers report back.

Meanwhile, I’m going to try a new vegan recipe: Red pepper and spinach hashed browns that I saw on Jenn’s Hello Veggie blog. As you may recall, this is where I found the marinara squash recipe; I’m hoping that this attempt will turn out better.

Even though I’m not much of an experimenter when it comes to cooking (which usually is an experiment for me anyway), I have a box of Mori-Nu Extra Firm Silken Tofu that needs to be used this week that I might add to the recipe. Or I just might wait until Wednesday or Thursday to use it. Wow, two new recipes for me in one week?!? Did anyone else feel the earth shift on its axis?!?

Get ’er dones

I’m still working on the scout photos, of course. Those are top priority today. I also need to call Applecare to see why GarageBand 09 won’t play most of #1 son’s GB 08 songs. If I have a chance, I might Ten-Minute Task a certain family room chair that still isn’t done.

Fired Up!

What a flash in the pan!

Brrrrrr-acing! That’s a nice way to say what the weather was like during Saturday night’s Arrow of Light ceremony that I was supposed to be photographing but wasn’t. With a temperature in the mid-50s and a wind chill that knocked that down about 10 degrees, I put on three jackets and walked up to my friend Karen E., who was talking to the head scoutmasters about the upcoming festivities. They blah-blah-blahed for awhile, and then said those words that photographers hate to hear, sending even more chills down my already-cold spine: No flash photography until after the ceremony. Say what?

Three years ago when I photographed the Arrow of Light ceremony, I flashed away at will (no, not that kind of flashing!). No one said anything about not using a flash, even though these guys claimed the no-flash policy has existed for years and years. I had brought my Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens just in case, so I replaced the Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 lens with it and hoped for the best. It wasn’t going to happen. The ceremony took place in front of a small fire and between two lamp posts—two very different sources of weak light. Worse, it was after 7 p.m., so it was too dark even for a decent shutter speed with 1600 ISO. About the best I could do was take photos of the fire.

Funny thing about that fire . . . the wind was whipping from behind the flames, which were sending tons of sparks right at me. But it was warm, so I didn’t want to move!

Once all was said and done (and way too much was said given the dropping temps), I was free to take photos. I used the CB Junior and didn’t have one hint of red-eye. I took two shots of each scout with his parents and several shots of the three dens with their leaders. The whole time the three “warrior” Boy Scouts dressed in their costumes had to stand unsmiling above on the bridge as I blinded them. Sorry, guys!

One of the big problems I had editing the photos in Photoshop CS3 was closed eyes by the warriors; I spent a lot of time “opening” eyes by copying and pasting them from other photos. Good thing they were small, so they didn’t look too Frankensteinish. I also had a problem with the background, which I couldn’t blur, because I had to make sure everyone was in focus (thus I couldn’t use a wide-open aperture of f/2.8, instead opting for f/11). I fixed that in Photoshop by turning the entire background black via copy and pasting the already-black elements. Time-consuming, yes, but I think it made for better photos.

Of course, I had to have the obligatory photo where you can’t see the subject’s face. I should have shifted to a different chair, but that would’ve taken me away from all those sparks flying from the fire and warming me up. Wasn’t going to happen. This photo of the chief was snapped with natural light (read: virtually no light). Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8, 1/30, +0.67, 1600 ISO (I had changed lenses in anticipation of the end of the ceremony).

Today’s  get ’er dones are to finish Photoshopping the scout photos and to edit the disc golf video I took Saturday, so I can post it to the blog tomorrow. Such anticipation! Will you be able to sleep tonight?

“I’d like to thank the blogcademy . . . .”

This was one of those years where I saw none of the movies nominated for Best Picture (but I did see “Wall-E,” which won for best-animated film). I really liked the show, especially how they presented the Oscars for best supporting actor and actress and best actor and actress by using previous winners; you could tell the nominees were very touched by having such great talent saying nice things about them.

Among the several awkward moments during the show (Jack Black, Steve Martin, and Ben Stiller—funny guys who weren’t funny as presenters, because they tried too hard), the most-embarrassing to me was when Jennifer Aniston presented with Jack Black. The camera kept showing her and Brangelina; the producers did not have to go there! I liked Hugh Jackman as the host (although no one can top Bob Hope or Johnny Carson), and I especially loved the bit during the opening that he did with Anne Hathaway, who has an amazing voice (who knew?).

I do want to see some, if not all, of the top movies. A friend recommended that we just rent “Benjamin Button,” mostly due to its length (best to have bathrooms handy, apparently). What are your opinions about the five nominees for best picture (“BB,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “The Reader,” “Frost/Nixon,” and “Milk”); should we see all, some, or none?

Photo Friday

I’ve got photography on my mind today, because I actually have a paying gig tomorrow night! My usual modus operandi  is to shoot photos, Photoshop and post them to my Smugmug website, and hope someone will buy them. Not the best of business models for making money, that’s for sure.

But this time my friend Karen called asking if I would take photos of her younger son and the other Cub Scouts who are bridging into the Boy Scouts during their Arrow of Light ceremony, which I did three years ago for her older son. There are 23 scouts from three dens; that’s a bunch. Karen said they didn’t want parents taking photos because of time constraints; that definitely would be better for my sales. I asked her to poll the parents to see how many would be interested in buying pictures, and she reported that the majority would.

I know from taking youth sports photos for the last five years or so that some parents think you’re a great photographer only if you’re giving them free pictures of their kids; otherwise, they’re not about to pay you for your time, effort, expertise, and equipment, no matter how good your photos are. Some will argue, “But photos only cost 20 cents to print at Sam’s Club, CVS, or wherever.” They don’t seem to appreciate all that goes into producing a wonderful memory of their child. Kind of like how some people don’t appreciate how hard teachers work. Funny thing . . . one of my friends, who happens to be an excellent teacher and whose sons I’ve taken many photos of, matter-of-factly told me she preferred another parent’s pix over mine simply because they were free. They weren’t better, but they were cheaper. Really hurt my feelings. But that’s what can happen when you give away your photos at first.

But I digress . . . . I told Karen she had several choices. I would take the photos, but I would have to be paid for my time and gave her what I thought was a reasonable price. In return, I would burn every parent all the photos on CDs, and they could print out their own photos. I also will consider making 8 x 10 collages that I will sell through Smugmug; just depends on how the pix look and how motivated I am. Second, she could find another photographer to do the job. Third, she could have a savvy parent with a good camera take the pictures and give everyone copies. I told her that even though I felt my price was fair, there would be a handful of parents who would object, and that it wouldn’t bother me at all if I wasn’t hired.

As expected, a couple didn’t want to go along, apparently, but enough did for the scouts to decide to hire me. Because the ceremony is at 6:30 p.m. outside, I bought the CB Junior flash bracket (shown above) to help cut down on red-eye and shadows caused by the flash when the camera is oriented vertically. I’ve used the Stroboframe bracket before with my Nikon D200, but I’ve had trouble with its bulk and the way the handle won’t stay upright. The CB Junior seems to be a better bet. I should have a full report Monday.

So my main get ’er done for today is to learn how to use the bracket and try it out with some probably unwilling young, male models from my household. Here’s the line I’m going with:

“Want Pei-Wei for dinner? Stand over there and smile!” I’ve used the boys before for photo practice, and it’s never pretty. They hate it.

Another “Survivor” blindside

Wow! Two weeks into the new “Survivor: Tocantins” season there have been two tribal councils and two blindsides. Love it! This time it was Candace, who’s an attorney by trade but didn’t learn that trust is everything when it comes to advancing in the game. Here’s a clue for future “Survivor” contestants: The minute you think you’re safe and get all smug about it, you can count on one thing—being voted out and heading down the walk of shame.

Look at this photo of Candace: Think she’s been enhanced in any way (and I’m not talking about HDTV!)?

And a shout-out to Taj: Why in the world would you tell your tribe that you’re married to former pro football player Eddie George? Don’t you watch the show? If the other players think you don’t need the money, you’re also going to be taking that long, lonely walk from tribal council. Better hope you find that hidden immunity idol.

Oh, oh!

I had forgotten that “American Idol” will have the judges pick three wild cards for the final 12. That could mean that Tatiannoying could continue to plague us. Noooooo!

Weaving a “Lost” Web

I like how intricate a web “Lost” is weaving to suck us into the story line and keep us captive. Last night’s episode was great! I loved how the opening harkened back to season one’s first episode with Jack’s eyeball. Classic!

As usual, I recommend that true “Losties” go to Entertainment Weekly and Nik at Nite for more in-depth analysis and great comments. Here’s my take on “316”:

• Poor Desmond . . . the island isn’t done with him. I was amazed that the pendulum didn’t clock him.

• Eloise Hawking said they had to recreate circumstances of the original plane crash as much as possible, hence the guitar case that Hurley carried (was it Charlie’s?), Locke in the coffin with something belonging to Christian Shephard (who originally was in a coffin when he was on Oceanic 815), and the handcuffs (Sayid this time instead of Kate, but why is Sayid in handcuffs?).

• It was sweet of Hurley to buy up all the empty seats so more people wouldn’t be killed if the plane crashed. Did Charlie tell him about the flight? Did Charlie get him out of jail?

• Where the heck is Aaron? Did the ghostly Claire take him back? Remember she had told Kate not to bring him back to the island. Or did Kate give him to Claire’s mother?

• Ben says he needs to make good on a promise he made to an old friend before he goes to the airport. It better not be to kill Penny! I really like her character and the love story between her and Desmond. But that would be one way to get Desmond back to the island . . . to seek revenge.

• Was Ben so bloody because of that promise? He sure is a cold, callous SOB.

• Possible best line was said by Frank Lapidus (pictured above with Jack): “We’re not going to Guam, are we?” Definitely a rhetorical question! I loved that he was the pilot.

• Why would Jack wear a suit on the plane? Does he have a business meeting on the island to attend?

• Anyone else yelling at the TV, “Just read the note, Jack!”? Geesh, what does it take?

• Wow, Dharma Jin! What a great ending! The Oceanic 5 (no Aaron) obviously have gone back in time, because the VW bus looks newer and runs well. Great-looking Dharma jumpsuit on Jin!

Lots to think about and analyze. Can’t wait until next week!

First “American Idol” picks

A quick comment: Thank goodness Tatiana didn’t make it into the final 12! Good voice, too melodramatic. Three solid picks in Alexis, Danny, and Michael from this first round of 12.

Funny line from Frank Nicotero, who hosts the very humorous “Primetime in No Time” on Yahoo TV: He calls her “Tatiannoying.” So true, Frank!

Get ’er dones

We’ve just about got all the iMac problems fixed. Now I know that when the Apple store wipes the hard drive and reinstalls the system, the system administrator’s password is gone and left blank. Logical duh! The mailboxes are working properly now that they’ve been removed and added again. iLife ’09 is installed with one glitch—it won’t play some of #1 son’s songs that he wrote in the old GarageBand. Have to figure that one out.

I’m just about ready for the cleaning crew (today’s #1 get ’er done). The job was made much easier by me doing more around the house yesterday. Lunch at Chipotle beckons, as does grocery shopping. Finally, there’s the mental preparation for watching “Survivor” tonight. Looks like a fun afternoon!

Squashing My Enthusiasm

Was it hard to sleep last night, wondering how Tasty Tuesday turned out? The wait is finally over! Here’s the 411:

Possibly the hardest part of making the marinara squash was, no surprise, cutting the squash in half. That sucker was rock solid! I almost succumbed to running next door and pleading with JJ, the organizational wiz and accomplished chef, to help with the unyielding vegetable, but instead I just pierced its skin and microwaved it for a few minutes. That helped immensely. As is par for the course for me, I put the halves fleshy part down on the baking pan, popped it in the oven, and then read the rest of the instructions. Duh! Will I ever learn? So I had to pull the pan out of the oven, season the squash skin as instructed, and push it back in for 30 minutes.

When I looked at the baked spaghetti squash, I was naturally dismayed: There seemed to be a lot of work ahead. This is why I’m usually the simplest of vegans: I can live on salads, which are easy to make, and fruit. Or I can live at Chipotle and let them cook for me. Either way, I’m a happy camper.

But I digress . . . I sat down at the kitchen table to deseed the squash while watching “American Idol” (which we never did finish; got to catch up tonight). It was a long, torturous job, with many seeds hiding everywhere. After a long sigh, it was time to rake the spaghetti-like strands with a fork. Raking = gardening = too much work! But I really wanted to eat dinner, so rake away I did. I finally got a bowl full, added the marinara sauce, nixed the chives (too much added work), and sat down for a taste test while watching the lovefest on “The Biggest Loser.” 

The verdict: The best part probably was the marinara sauce. Otherwise, I think spaghetti squash is too bland for my tastes and much too much work for me to ever make it again. I’m glad I tried it, though; now I can cross it off my veggie bucket list. Oh, and #2 son’s comment was, “That doesn’t look at all like spaghetti.” Doesn’t taste like it either, son.

Ten-Minute Tasks

The NuShield is on the MacBook! It actually only took about five minutes to apply. You can see the edges of it, but it’s not too noticeable. The $64,000 question, though, is how does it handle the glare? Quite nicely, I’m happy to report. I think it cuts the glare a good 75-80 percent, making it a worthwhile acquisition for those glossy laptop screens. Recommended!

The iMac’s TMT is stretching for much longer than 10 minutes, unfortunately. The good news was that the Apple store geniuses put the data back on the computer. But there have been some glitches: First, the system administrator password doesn’t work anymore, which means I can’t install new software or certain downloads. That has to be reset via the install disks (hassle!). Second, Mac Mail isn’t working properly. I can set up the boys’ mailboxes and mail comes in but doesn’t go out. Grrrr! Finally, not only did the so-called geniuses not install iLife ’09 like they said they would, they didn’t reinstall iLife ’08, which came with the iMac! Major grrrrr!!

So along with Kitchen Wednesday, today I will be solving the above iMac problems, hopefully, satisfactorily. Maybe I’ll also solve a few of the “Lost” mysteries in anticipation of tonight’s episode!

Tasty Tuesday (I Hope!)

See that lone, naked spaghetti squash up there? I hope that at this time tomorrow I can regale you with tales of how tasty it was after it’s been cooked tonight!

I’m going to use a recipe that I found on Helloveggie.org for marinara squash. While it does have slightly more than three ingredients, one is the squash, another is marinara sauce (I just happen to have a jar of Whole Foods’ 365 Organic Pasta Sauce), and the others are olive oil, salt, pepper, and chives—I have everything! I’ve never eaten spaghetti squash before thought I’ve always wanted to, but I must admit that I was intimidated by the hard-shelled beast. But Helloveggie.org’s Jenn has me believing that I can successfully master the squash, so I’ll be tackling it tonight and, hopefully, enjoying it while I watch “The Biggest Loser.”

Oh, and yes, I photographed the squash on a very old Thomas the Tank Engine plate. And worse? We still use that plate (love that Thomas!).

 Ten-Minute Tasks

There are so many needy contenders in the house! I’ve decided to pick the NuShield, which came a couple days ago. It’s pictured above in the plastic bag it came in and on top of the MacBook (the white border is the adhesive). It looks like it might take a good 10 minutes to carefully adhere it to my MacBook screen (I’m usually terrible at tasks like this), after which I will test it to see if it really helps with the glare. I like the idea of a screen protector, of course, but I’d love to cut down on the MacBook’s glossy screen’s glare.

I’ll also be spending at least 10 minutes when I bring the boys’ iMac back home and set it up again. The Apple store geniuses think there was a problem with the operating system, so they wiped the internal hard drive and reinstalled Leopard as well as iLife ’09. We have everything backed up on an external hard drive via Time Machine, but the geniuses want us to move everything back manually in case the problem also was backed up. Naturally, #1 son is worried he’ll lose some of his iTunes songs, but I think all will be right with his world.

Those TMTs are today’s get ’er dones!

An Exhausting and Irritating Monday

Ever have one of those Mondays? I started out exhausted, because #2 son had trouble sleeping. He tried to bribe me with $500 cash (and he showed me the money!) to let him stay home from school, because he was so tired. But it was worth $500 from me to him for some alone time (not that I paid him, of course)! Then I made two trips to the Apple store, which was irritating. Remember how I thought I had fixed Apple iLife ’09 last week? Nope, it still wasn’t working right. So I made an early appointment with the so-called Apple geniuses and took the disc in, hoping it was just a bad install disc. But the genius said I had to bring in the iMac. Arrrrgh!

I brought in the iMac in the afternoon, glad that we had opted for Applecare. After spending an hour at the genius bar while the genius tried to install iLife first from my disc and then from the store’s external hard drive as he waited on several other people (maximum efficiency for the store, not for me), iLife still would install but not restart the iMac. They’re going to keep it (hopefully for a short time) and see what the problem is.

And the end result is that son #1, who thinks the iMac is all his, isn’t happy, and this blog post is late. And now I have to let son #1 use my iMac to work on his U.S. History project; good thing I have my trusty MacBook!

A heartfelt family disc golf outing

All was so much better on Valentine’s Day. #2 son decided that we all needed to show some disc golf love, so we signed up for a low-key doubles tournament in College Station. Fortunately, #2 chose me to be his partner. This was my first (and possibly last!) disc golf tournament, while he’s a hard-throwing, laser-putting semipro (even at 13 years old). Our strategy was that he would have great drives, while I would try to make as many putts as I could (the format was best shot; partners had to use at least one of each player’s throw). Usually I’m #2’s driver, but this time he was my driver! Meanwhile, the Mister and our #1 son partnered.

We had a blast! Neither team placed, but it was a great bonding experience deep in the heart of the Texas A&M campus (my first visit there). I brought along #1 son’s new Flip Mino to video some of the action, which you can see above. I’ve learned that I need to use steadier hands and not move so much while filming. I edited my little movie and added music in iMovie ’08; it was so easy!

Oh, and as you can tell by watching the video, #1 son did wear his cordless headphones the entire time he played. At least they were hooked up to his iPod Touch!

Get ’er dones

I’ve already done two of ’em: Dealt with the iLife problem and reserved a copy of Nintendo’s Pokémon Platinum for the #1 son. I’d still like to spend 10 minutes with the family room clutter chair, as well as continuing the excavation of the master bedroom (at least it’s finally at the top level now). I know after watching “The Big Bang Theory,” that everything will be much better tonight!