stevemullis[dot]net

For the family in Florida to see. Enjoy.

My new workspace. Han Solo continues his vigiliance.

So I bought a new phone last week, because why the hell not. It’s a super-duper smart phone of the Google Android persuasion. Even though I’m an Internet guy, I’ve refrained from getting a smart phone simply because I feel I didn’t need it. I probably still don’t. But damn look, I can snazzy pictures of my snow-covered walk to work.

Totally worth it!

Yeah, yeah, it’s been ages since I updated this. But this is what New Year’s looks like in Minnesota. Life has been busy, but very awesome. Be safe out there.

“Rahm, for the last time, we aren’t putting a stripper pole in the Oval Office.”

More interesting White House in October photos at TPM.

I put it together by myself and I was not nearly as upset as the little IKEA guy.

I was waiting for a delivery from IKEA, and when the guys came to deliver this small but funny interaction took place:

IKEA guy (attempting to make small talk): So what’s up, you’re not watching the game?

I have no TV right now.

Me: Nope

Delivery guy looks over at computer and sees World of Warcraft on the screen, and the other two computers I have on the desk.

IKEA guy: Oh.

Goes back to dropping off boxes.

I wanted to explain that I’m not a total non-sports person, but by then they were gone. That gave me a chuckle though.

And with that, the time of snow and ice is officially here. I for one welcome our new snowy overlord and look forward to trying to make the best of it this year. However, I am getting a little bummed at the realization that it will be a long while before I can ride my bike comfortable again. I mean, I can ride right now but it’s more of a battle than simply enjoying the freedom of the bike. This week should be interesting re-acclimating myself to snow and getting my penguin walk back.

Been slacking again on the posting, meh…so sue me. I have been re-igniting a nerdy side project of mine and getting out and about to enjoy the last throes of warm weather. The snow will be here soon enough, however I vow to do more wintry activities this year. That means sliding down a hill on something, try ice skating, cross-country skiing and/or build a snowman.

Some other things:

• Went to Sandstone with some good people on Sunday for what we thought was an OktoberFest. It was more of an October Fest–in September. However it was fun to see some small-town Minnesota-style fun.
• Looking forward to going to Florida for both Thanksgiving and a good friend’s wedding. I got lucky on the ticket and it isn’t costing me an arm nor a leg.
• Another area of slacking has been the cooking. Not that I haven’t been cooking mind you, but I haven’t been adventurous and made anything new or risky. However I am excited about what will be my winter experiment (*drumroll*)……BEER! Considering Northern Brewer is right up the street from my house, it only makes sense. I’ve been saving bottles for a while so I have enough to fill, though if someone were to see it in my apartment it would look like I’m a wicked drunk. I assure you, it’s almost a year of bottles.
• In a month I’ll be 30 years old. It doesn’t have the impact on me that it does some people, but it does feel a little weird to think about. I’ll reflect on that fence when I tumble over it though.

That is all, carry on.

Really busy weekend of good stuff. Worked on Saturday when Obama came to town for a health care speech. Rode the bike to Minneapolis and worked out of the bureau there. Did some downtown riding during the event, running pictures back and forth which was fun. So yeah, I got paid to ride my bike for a bit. The event brought the usual suspects on both the support and opposition side. And thanks to my boss I found a new route between Minneapolis and St. Paul, sweet.

Next week, Stillwater along the Gateway Trail.

Sunday was good times. There was a free concert in Mears park so I rode down to check it out and was joined by some good company for a lunch (Bulldog veggie burger, nom!) and some park chillaxin’. The day couldn’t have been any more perfect for hanging out outside. My only regret is that I didn’t get to as many of these sorts of free, outdoor music shows this summer. There’s always next time.

Time for work, here’s to hoping the week goes by fast and smooth.

So with President Obama’s visit to Minneapolis this Saturday my 4-day week has been nixed. However, tomorrow should be an interesting day as I’ll be on my bike running between the Target Center, the Minneapolis bureau and getting any newsworthy pictures along the way. We’ve got some professional freelance photographers for the inside, so there’s no pressure to get the only photos of the event. Good thing too, because I don’t have the gear for something like this.

Today is the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. I’m certainly not going to get into all of the remembrance blubbering, I’ll leave that up to the professionals. What now? What comes next?

*It’s from a movie, don’t get the wrong idea.

Been really slacking here, but man what a busy week it’s been.

Work
Friday at the Minnesota State Fair we did MPR’s first ever Photo Scavenger Hunt (the results of which are here). Considering that there were some technical issues, I would say it was pretty successful. The best part about it is that it was an idea my colleague Than and I conceived, executed and saw through to the end. I think it was probably a decent personal success for both of us.

I also had my review, I think I gets to keep my job. The upcoming year will be a year to learn more multimedia skills, possibly even doing some workshops and/or a community college class. We’ll see.

Cooking
Kind of been slacking on cooking new stuff, though this Saturday I tried my hand at my mom’s vegetable curry recipe.

Ingredients:

• Coconut milk
• Red curry paste
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Fake chicken
• Soy sauce

Cooked it all together, served over rice. Slap it in the “win” column, it was delicious and super easy. No food pictures, as it wasn’t very photogenic.

Biking
Did a long ride on Labor Day, in fact I think I overdid it. Went from St. Paul out past St. Louis Park, milled about some trails and then made my way back. I was so out of gas on the last leg home on thought I’d have to push the damn bike home. Next week I think I’ll head east and try and find my way to Stillwater, I hear it’s nice. I really want to upgrade the bike or trade up and get a road bike. It just makes sense for the type of riding I’m doing. If anything, I’m going to switch out the handlebars, the straight bar is simply not comfortable on long rides.

That is all.

Yeah, the above photo pretty much sums up our State Fair here in Minnesota. It’s actually a lot of fun, despite some of the more nausea-inducing food choices that exist. And, full disclosure, I ate some things there that I said I would never eat and aren’t a part of my normal diet. However, as one of our producers found out, it’s not all that bad.

Kind of been slacking on the writing, and the cooking, oh and the picture taking. Work has just been busy with vacations, etc. This Friday is our big MPR Day out at the fair and my colleague and I are the overseers of the Photo Scavenger Hunt. Hopefully it goes well and we get some kudos for it. I have confidence that it will be successful enough to do next year.

I know it is the “hot topic” these days, but I’m really sick of hearing/reading/discussing health care. That’s all I really have to say about that.

More later, breakfast now.

Slowly I am porting my book collection from Florida, and by slowly I mean I’m at about 20/300+. This might take a while.

First week back at work was very busy: organizing special projects, MN State Fair stuff, breaking news, Bret Favre, tornadoes, oh my. The good thing is I’ve been feeling much more confident in my work, especially this week. I’m still finding it hard to dedicate time to some side projects, but that will iron out soon enough.

The weather has not been cooperative with my desire to ride my bike. This makes me angry. A co-worker says the whole El Nino business should keep the snow off the ground until later than usual. I aim to ride, even if cold, until I can’t ride anymore. This weekend I’m going to shop for some cooler weather riding clothes.

Vacation tapped me out a little, so it’s back to being frugal for a bit. I still need to save for the new camera, pocket video camera and some other vanity items. Plus, I plan on trying to make it back down to Florida for a wedding in November. The timing will make the flight rather expensive.

Enough random, carry on.