Lots of Fall Color

Mostly really busy right now, that's the reason for my lack of kayaking and blogging. I have been able to get away for a couple of hours here and there, and usually just take my camera. This photo was taken on a Photowalk in Northville Michigan on the 28th of October. I met up with five other hobbyist photographers and we walked around a little historical museum, village type of park, taking pictures of whatever we liked. You can see more of those pictures here and here.

Long Overdue Update

Short list:
New baby on the way.
Just got back from vacation.
Photography is not a substitute for kayaking.
Zooomr rocks.

Details:
Yep, we have a new baby on the way. Due in January.
More details to follow as they become available. I know it is quick after the last baby, but we aren't getting any younger, we want two kids only, and might as well get through the diaper changing stage as quick as possible.

Vacation was a learning experience. We chose to rent a cottage for a week, only a couple of hours drive away, to make it as easy as possible with a little one. The cottage was a quaint little affair.Clean with lots of great amenities, short walk to the beach, access to an association swimming pool, what more could you ask for? How about air conditioning on the hottest week of the year. Temps every day were in the low 90F. This made for a very cranky baby. She did better than we expected at the pool. She didn't freak out, but was still only good for about twenty minutes tops. Probably just as well, we wouldn't want to have to deal with her getting sun-burnt.


I just got a new super-wide lens for my Canon 10D. A Sigma 10-20mm. I have been learning how to take some wide angle shots, and finding it to be a real challenge sometimes.


I did get out an paddle a little bit on vacation as well.


I think that I have made up my mind on the Zooomr vs Flickr debate. I like Zooomr a lot. I have formed a large group of contacts and some of my photos have found a little notoriety.

On My Desk

I found a blog (via boing boing) where creative people submit photos of their workspaces. It's kind of funny to see what kind of stuff other people collect. All three of these are of my desk at work. Clearly we creative people function best in a slightly cluttered environment.

Small World

It seems that videos of kayak rolling are in high demand. Here is a video of Alex Pak, I believe, unless I am mistaken, from across the Atlantic. I have found that the Internet is very useful for someone like myself who only reads, writes, and speaks a single language. So long as there is an online translator, I can read blogs from all over the world. It is continuing to become smaller and smaller every day. Here is the translated "kayak of sea: The kayak-blog of Oli". Here is the translated "The Life is to Whistle" blog of Carlos. Each of these blogs are viewed better in their native language, as the pictures, the grammar, and the page formats are much more pleasing to the eye. I only use the translator after I have viewed the pics first. Here are the links to the blogs in there native languages: kayak de mer: Le kayak-blog d'Oli and La vida es silbar.

Going...Going...Gone.

Hey go check out Kayak Place. It won't be around for very much longer. My friend Wes is going to let the lease run out on the site. Makes me kinda sad.

www.kajak.nu

I like looking a pictures. I understand pictures better than words. www.kajak.nu is a great website for looking at pictures. Good for me, because I can't read any of the words. I'm not even sure what language. They have some of the best kayak related photos I have seen though. The banner at the top of the page is random, and is worth refreshing several times just to view. Don't stop there though, go to the blog and scroll down and check out all of the photos.

Two Minutes

Wenley has a nice post about an interview with Douglas Wilcox. Whenever I read interviews, I can't help but try and answer the questions as if I were the one being interviewed. It is a way to see how well I stack up against the expert. Usually I fall way short. As I was reading this one, I was wondering how Wenley might answer these questions, or Derrick, or Bonnie, or anyone else for that matter. I think it would be as interesting to hear how others would answer these questions as well. So here is my meager list of questions and answers:

1. How did you get into paddling? I read an article in Sports Afield, when they were trying to increase their readership by branching out into “extreme sports”. They have since bowed to pressure from their tried and true readers, and reverted back to hunting and fishing, but I brought from it an interest in kayaking.

2. What type of kayak do you paddle? A Current Designs Gulfstream.

3. What is your favourite paddling area? This question implies that I have already paddled there. It would have to be Drummond Island, with the Au Sable River a close second. I keep dreaming of places that I have not been yet.

4. What is your day job? Sr. Product Designer for a plastic container manufacturer.

5. Who would you say has had the most influence on your paddling development? Ron Smith, because I was really impressed by his abilities when I took my first formal kayaking class. And Derrick Mayoleth, because I like reading his blog, I have learned a lot from him, just by reading.

6. Who do you think has done the most to develop modern sea kayaking? Justine Curgenven. Her videos show a completely different view of sea kayaking from what most people think sea kayaking is.

7. If you were paddling a double sea kayak, who would you want in the front seat and why? My dog, because I can smack him out of frustration, and he won’t tell anyone. - Just Joking.

8. What is the best or most memorable paddle that you have undertaken? Drummond Island with my paddling friends from Indiana: Barry, Joel, Tim, Tom, and Wes.

9. What is your favourite stroke? Uh…forward? I'm still learning it. It’s the one that’ll get me somewhere the quickest. I have not learned a bunch of fancy strokes yet.

10. If you were to offer one piece of advice to newcomers to the sport what would it be? Buy a boat that is designed for more performance than you think you will need. A little longer than you think, a little narrower than you think, and a little tighter than you think. You won’t regret it.

11. How do you see the sport developing in the next 10 years? A lot more people getting into the sport, with a lot more mass-produced kayaks to choose from.

12. What is your major frustration with the sport? Finding paddlers to paddle with, that have similar abilities, and schedules.

13. What music would be the soundtrack to your paddling life? Margaritaville

14. Do you belong to a Club and what is your involvement? A member of West Michigan Coastal Kayaking Association, and ACA.

15. Have you ever had an embarrassing moment? Something afterwards that you can smile about but wished hadn’t happened. As a student in a class at WMCKA symposium with Simon Osborne instructing, he told us to edge the boat and paddle forward, and don’t worry about where you are going, just keep it on edge, so I was edging on the left side and sweeping on the right, and fighting the boat the wrong way around the turn, but not worrying about it, until I looked behind me and saw everyone else following and watching me. Oops, sorry Simon. Poor Simon spent the next 30 minutes de-programming the whole class on which way the boat is supposed to turn when on edge.

16. Do you have any regrets – something that you had wished you had done but now can’t see yourself doing? I should have started paddling long before I was 30, and I should have tried to learn how to roll before I was 38. I’m not dead yet, I’m going to keep trying to push my abilities.

17. Why do you think we are interviewing you today? Because I thought it would make a better meme. Ok, now its everyone else’ turn. Bonnie, Derrick, Wenley, Alex, FH2O,anyone who wants to.