I Love Verdi

By candlelight

2008-07-20T19:32:00.004-04:00

Many thanks, Kirk! This will be made into the new banner for my website soon.

We're definitely saving this for a special occasion. Like, camping, for instance.

I go for a kayak

2008-07-20T13:30:00.006-04:00

Headed out on the white river yesterday in Jayne's excellent kayak.

Kayaking is fun, except when you are trying to take pictures. Then it floats too much, and you have to beach yourself to get that shot you want.

Then, of course, getting free again can be a problem, especially when you have a camera around your neck that you're trying to avoid exposing to any moisture.

Being out on the river is quite relaxing. Especially drifting, while you listen to the birds and the reeds and the water.

Drifting from ILoveVerdi on Vimeo.

In the end I was forced to exit the kayak and drag it back through the 5 inch deep water. Still, quite fun.

Natural habitat

2008-07-19T08:31:00.003-04:00

Erin decided that Clapton really needed a kiddie pool to wade in while he was outside. I had to capture the moment in video:

Don't Pee In It from ILoveVerdi on Vimeo.

Edit: This is post #200!

The new hip thing

2008-07-18T23:17:00.002-04:00

While uploading on vimeo:

Herpes?

Tweeters unite!

2008-07-18T21:15:00.006-04:00

Yesterday, Twitter users from around the Grand Rapids area met up at Hop Cat for some drinks and a chance to joke about the fail whale.

It turns out twitter users aren't so dorky after all.

A few more photos are here. Welcome to device notification: phone, all of you! You should feel honored.

Rambo

2008-07-16T20:53:00.001-04:00

John Rambo: Why'd you come back?
Sarah: Waiting for you.
John Rambo: I told you before, I can't help you.
Sarah: Well we need to go and help these people, we're here to make a difference, we believe all lives are special.
John Rambo: Some lives, some not.
Sarah: Really? If everyone thought like you, nothing would ever change.
John Rambo: Nothing does change.
Sarah: Of course it does! Nothing stays the same.
John Rambo: Live your life cause you've got a good one.
Sarah: It's what I'm trying to do!
John Rambo: No, what you're trying to do is change what is.
Sarah: And what is?
John Rambo: Go home.

Brilliant.

Time for law school

2008-07-14T09:33:00.005-04:00

My man Brandon turned 25 yesterday, and since he's leaving for Duke Law School in August, his friend Janelle organized a surprise party for him. Erin and Jaclyn and I drove over from GR, Tres flew in from New York, and there were a ton of people representing the Detroit/Ann Arbor area.

I decided to capture the first raw moment of surprise on video:

The Surprise Effect from ILoveVerdi on Vimeo.

I took a few more pictures which are up here on Picasa. Best of luck to Brandon, and god help him he's going to be working hard very soon now.

Flickr

2008-07-13T12:52:00.002-04:00

I've decided to use my flickr account to display some of my better-composed photographs. Picasa will still be up for large albums grouped by event, but check out my flickr stream for some photos you might not see here or there.

Weigh in and july goal

2008-07-10T10:27:00.003-04:00

I weighed in heavy today- 194. I think it's a bit higher than my actual weight, but it's still kind of depressing. Next week is the last week for weight wars, and I'd like end on a good note.

This brings me to my July goal. I've pretty successfully transformed my exercise, breakfast, lunch, and snacking habits. The two things I've had trouble with are dinner and beer. So my goal for July is to work on those two things. I will live like a monk in the evenings!

I have a week left to kick up the exercise and focus on my evening discipline before weight wars is concluded, so wish me luck.

Vimeo rocks!

2008-07-08T13:23:00.002-04:00

Tried to upload the same video to youtube, and it failed. Today I gave Vimeo a shot and was quite impressed.

Maverick Eating Rocks from Jared Lynem on Vimeo.

Our first vegetable

2008-07-07T14:34:00.003-04:00

From birth:

To death:

Oh! Delicious zucchini!

I'm on friendfeed

2008-07-07T14:22:00.004-04:00

Check out FriendFeed. It's a very very easy to use website that collects all of your published content (facebook, blogs, bookmarks, diggs, twitter, youtube videos, flickr photos, and tons more) and allows your friends to hook up to that- a single feed for everything you do online. And you can link to your friends who are on the service to get their single feed. As of yet I only know two people using it, but check it out and let me know if you are using it.

As of yet I don't understand how people think it will replace Twitter. Rooms is kind of nice but I think it misses the point of Twitter to say that this feature is enough to take over the market.

Happy 60th birthday!

2008-07-06T21:46:00.007-04:00

Today is my dad's 60th birthday. He didn't want too much attention, so we threw him a surprise birthday party with all of his siblings yesterday. After months of planning, fake stories, and discreet phone calls, we pulled off a complete shock:

We had a sizable group, plenty of gag gifts, and a ton of traditional Lynem joking and ribbing.

It was the closest thing to a family reunion we've had in years. It's great to see everyone together again, and I sincerely appreciate all the effort everyone put in to make my dad's birthday so special.

UPDATE: I put up all of the pictures online in a Picasa photo album.

This week's weigh in

2008-07-01T18:31:00.003-04:00

191.2 pounds is a good weight because it is 17.8 pounds less than 209 pounds. My goal for weight wars was 185, so I'm gaining on that quite well, though I might not make it (it was a stretch- 24 lbs in 12 weeks is 2 lbs per week, which implies a net expenditure of 1000 calories a day over what I consume). My end goal is probably around 180; once I determine how easy it is to maintain that, I might start adding some weight lifting to my routine to build muscle mass.

I'm doing a lot of exercise this week: yesterday I ran 6 miles and did 40 wii fit minutes (lots of push-ups, sit-ups, and stretching); today I did 30 minutes on the erg machine, 40 more wii fit minutes, and took the dog for a nice long walk. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get in two 30 minute cardio sessions and 40 more minutes of wii fit.

Ok, time to go make some dinner for my lovely wife, who is expected home in about an hour. More posts later to catch up on some minor yet fun events over the last couple of days.

Stuff i found on the beach

2008-06-28T11:59:00.005-04:00

Lake Erie, Cleveland, Ohio. Curtis, Cassie, and Nancy.

A box of fireworks, mostly spent.

An American flag.

A brick.

My dream house.

Nemastil family photos

2008-06-28T11:51:00.005-04:00

Late night in Gates Mills. This is the house the 7 Nemastils grew up in, and this is the woman who raised them.

I think uncle Hiram looks like Brando.

Maggie has anger management issues.

And so ended the Day of Too Much Beer.

Wisconsin, you should be outraged

2008-06-25T16:35:00.001-04:00

This is one of the most insane things I've ever seen in politics. I'm borrowing this graphic which sums things up succinctly.

50 work units!

2008-06-24T19:58:00.003-04:00

I have completed 50 work units for the Stanford Folding@Home project!

Ok, so it says 49, but the certificate is actually behind for some reason. Either way, Folding@Home is something you should look into. It uses your computer's spare processing power to calculate the complex folding equations of proteins; the knowledge gained is used to combat diseases and to develop a more comprehensive knowledge of protein folding in general. Thousands of people around the world participate by donating their computing cycles; the program has a nifty screen saver that shows you the work it's doing; and the program is set by default to consume resources so that it is essentially unnoticed by you (less while you are working, more while you are idle). Check it out if you think your CPU can handle it.

Gluing captions to your pets

2008-06-23T11:50:00.001-04:00

I made this, in reference to this news article:

Bowling, finally

2008-06-23T10:48:00.006-04:00

Ok, so it took a little while to continue the photos from the Cleveland trip, but here we go. I'm uploading photos from our visit here, though at the moment there are only photos from bowling. Most of them look exactly like these, so take a look if you want to see ones of you. For Lou and Erin, I have videos of you bowling that I'm going to try to figure out how to get online somewhere.

Drinking

2008-06-21T00:16:00.003-04:00

The drug of our species; a cultural tradition in every culture that has ever developed; and so eloquently expressed over a thousand years ago:

(translated from the original latin)

we do not think how we will go to dust,
but we hurry to gamble,
which always makes us sweat.
What happens in the tavern,
where money is host,
you may well ask,
and hear what I say.

Some gamble, some drink,
some behave loosely.
But of those who gamble,
some are stripped bare,
some win their clothes here,
some are dressed in sacks.
Here no-one fears death,
but they throw the dice in the name of Bacchus.

First of all it is to the wine-merchant
the the libertines drink,
one for the prisoners,
three for the living,
four for all Christians,
five for the faithful dead,
six for the loose sisters,
seven for the footpads in the wood,

Eight for the errant brethren,
nine for the dispersed monks,
ten for the seamen,
eleven for the squabblers,
twelve for the penitent,
thirteen for the wayfarers.
To the Pope as to the king
they all drink without restraint.

The mistress drinks, the master drinks,
the soldier drinks, the priest drinks,
the man drinks, the woman drinks,
the servant drinks with the maid,
the swift man drinks, the lazy man drinks,
the white man drinks, the black man drinks,
the settled man drinks, the wanderer drinks,
the stupid man drinks, the wise man drinks,

The poor man drinks, the sick man drinks,
the exile drinks, and the stranger,
the boy drinks, the old man drinks,
the bishop drinks, and the deacon,
the sister drinks, the brother drinks,
the old lady drinks, the mother drinks,
this man drinks, that man drinks,
a hundred drink, a thousand drink.

Six hundred pennies would hardly
suffice, if everyone
drinks immoderately and immeasurably.
However much they cheerfully drink
we are the ones whom everyone scolds,
and thus we are destitute.
May those who slander us be cursed
and may their names not be written in the
book of the righteous.

This poem is from Carmina Burana, profane poetry of the middle ages set to music by Carl Orff.

West side until i perish

2008-06-18T20:42:00.012-04:00

I am a big fan of public markets. Whether they be butchers, bakeries, food stands, farmers' markets, or art fairs, I love the concept of a small group of specialized artisans exhibiting their (sometimes remarkably tasty) wares. I must be white.

As you might hasten to tell me then, West Side Market in Cleveland is a location I should check out! Well thank you for suggesting it, but I've already had the pleasure.

It has some great art deco architecture, and a great open hall. They sell meat there.

Lots and lots of meat!

They also have a balcony, which offers a photo-op almost exactly the same as the one in the wikipedia article I linked to.

Erin got a crepe with bananas and peanut butter. They also have baked goods! Unfortunately some of the bakers are liars.

This guy was nice though. He sold me a scrumptious loaf of sesame semolina bread. I ate the whole thing by the time the trip was over.

This was a hunger-inducing experience. It reminds me of Quincy Market in Boston, except the food is not cooked. I wish we had a place like this near our home, so we could actually make use of all the great un-prepared stock on sale. As it is though, we had a great time, and I got some great pictures.

Tomorrow: Bowling!

Weigh in #6 and a disturbing self-photo

2008-06-18T15:19:00.003-04:00

This week I have rebounded! At 196.2, I have more than made up for last week's poor show- I am down 2.4 lbs from two weeks ago, and 12.8 now in total. Things are going swimmingly.

I had a long appointment this morning at the allergist in order to determine what exactly I am allergic to. It turns out everything, with the exception of mold. And really allergic to many common allergens. This was after the ten minute testing:

I will start shots in two weeks, which will hopefully help my symptoms after about 6 months.

Domicile of anthony and mary beth

2008-06-17T20:00:00.011-04:00

Cleveland this last weekend was a blast! I have dozens of photographs that I'm in the process of cleaning up and post-processing, so look for those all week, starting today.

First of all, many many thanks to Anthony and Mary Beth for welcoming us into their beautiful home and putting up with us stumbling back at all hours of the night (probably much noisier than we intended- more on that later). Just know that it was greatly appreciated, and if we ever get the chance to return the favor we won't hesitate!

We left on Friday with Cassie and Curtis after work, and arrived at the house in Euclid (half a block from Lake Erie) at around 11:30 PM. They have such a wonderful home!

It felt very much like the houses I'd known as a child in Rosedale Park, our neighborhood in Detroit. There is just something delightfully comfortable about it for me.

I actually caught Erin in a real smile! This is how she looks at me when I'm not upsetting her.

This looks like a Motto; Joseph Motto was a sculptor in the family during the art deco period. I love his work!

This is a dark photo, but I liked the mood. Exploring a new house at night is a more intimate experience than it is during the day.

One more image that I liked. Sorry for the high ISO, I was too tired to get out the tripod.

Tomorrow: West Side Market!

Obama on guantanamo

2008-06-13T10:47:00.003-04:00

Today's Supreme Court decision ensures that we can protect our nation and bring terrorists to justice, while also protecting our core values. The Court's decision is a rejection of the Bush Administration's attempt to create a legal black hole at Guantanamo - yet another failed policy supported by John McCain. This is an important step toward reestablishing our credibility as a nation committed to the rule of law, and rejecting a false choice between fighting terrorism and respecting habeas corpus. Our courts have employed habeas corpus with rigor and fairness for more than two centuries, and we must continue to do so as we defend the freedom that violent extremists seek to destroy. We cannot afford to lose any more valuable time in the fight against terrorism to a dangerously flawed legal approach. I voted against the Military Commissions Act because its sloppiness would inevitably lead to the Court, once again, rejecting the Administration's extreme legal position. The fact is, this Administration's position is not tough on terrorism, and it undermines the very values that we are fighting to defend. Bringing these detainees to justice is too important for us to rely on a flawed system that has failed to convict anyone of a terrorist act since the 9-11 attacks, and compromised our core values.

Congratulations: we still have a constitution, and a presidential candidate whose policies will adhere to it.