linkerjpatrick

In case you haven’t noticed yet I am shifting things around a bit.  I removed some blog categories and for the time being have reverted to a simplier theme and also removed a few posts.  I may revert back to the theme I had been using after a few days but I want to make some adjustments. I definitely want to use this “personal blog” to share more of my “personal life” but I seriously leaning towards my passions of still photography, audio recording and video as ways share time with family, friends, explorations, business and creative ideas.

It’s my desire the use the “linker” part of my “name” as a way to show how we can preserve memories and make stronger connections in the present day with photography, audio and video.  Still fine tuning things but I think I have a firmer grasp on how to give this blog a better niche.

Quick and dirty video from my the hike to Travelers Rest, SC from my house in the Berea area of Greenville, SC. About 5 minutes in you will see a groundhog. Interesting I saw it on the first day of summer.

Tags: hiking, trail, walk, wildlife

In the mid 90’s I began my Internet career, not an official company mind you but began my journey of design web sites and related services for friends and family before going setting up a full-fledged business. Some of the early challenges involved not having all the technology needed to photography and other items. They were digital cameras at the time but nothing like what we have today. At that time I didn’t have a way of getting images into my home computer. I didn’t have a scanner or digital camera and had to resort finding free images or umm what I thought were freely available on the Internet and make enough edits to make them my own so to speak.

Times have changed and I not only have a good digital SLR but also an older digital camera, an iPhone which has a digital camera on it, my laptop has a digital camera built in as well as having a scanner and access to official freely or fairly inexpensive digital content online.

Where does this lead? I have set up a collection on my Flickr account called, Past Fulfillments. In this collection I will feature images I wish I could have photographed digitally before I had access to the technology and who knows I may actually bring back the projects they were intended for in one way or the other.

Tags: ideas, photography

As I write this I am in the waiting room at Greenville Memorial Hospital. I’m not online as I don’t have an Internet connection but I am creating this post in a desktop blogging software called, Ecto which allows me to write offline and also save posts on my own computer.

My father in-law is currently undergoing a second surgery this month to remove a tumor. Afterwards he will need to undergo additional therapy for the foreseeable future. So far I have listened or watched the following podcasts on my iPhone this morning;

• Mac OS Ken
• Grammar Girl
• GSPN’s Weekly Lost Podcast
• Geek Brief TV
• Mahalo Daily
• and the last part of Podcast Answer Man that I started listening to yesterday

I’m also listening to CocoaCast, a podcast about Macintosh OSX program and the current episode is about the iPhone and Aperture software development kits.

I’m waiting (or would have waited by the time you read this) with my wife, her mother and sister while her dad undergoes surgery. I hope this surgery will get the remainder of the tumor which came upon very suddenly in the past couple of months. Well her mother and sister just returned from the cafeteria and we are headed down for breakfast. Don’t be surprised if you see a lot of blog posts flowing in later today and over the weekend as I plan on doing a lot of writing today. Earlier this week I was focused on my still photography and video.

Tags: family, hospital, photography, podcasts, technology, wife

The video I mentioned I was putting together from my staff reunion is finished, well at least the first draft anyway. I may do a “special edition” later.

I had a great weekend at the Camp Old Indian Staff Reunion. I had actually been looking forward to this reunion for two years since the last reunion around the last part of March in 2006. We had a rather small and informal gathering during a Wed. during summer camp of of 2007 but in a lot of ways this years was better than the 2006 in a lot of ways; the weather was warmer, some people showed up who did not show at at the original one and the group of attendees stayed together in groups more to share stories, etc. I like to compare it the the original Star Wars trilogy in that nothing can surpass the experience of seeing the first Star Wars movie but the Empire Strikes Back was better in it’s story depth, effects and characters.

I was better prepared for this particular reunion was I was able to take better photos and made a point to compose them better than the previous time. Another project I attempted was to photograph the staff leathers in the dinning hall as a photographic attempt as preservation. I also took my video camera and I’m currently in the process of putting together a short video. I’m having fun with that but it may still be several days before it’s ready to be shared.

I was also happy to see two of my best friends and cabin mates from my days of working on camp staff and finally I got to see a waterfall that of course had always been there but during my time of going to summer camp and working on camp staff I never saw it because there was not good trail access as it was on the backside of an old lake which for all practical purposes is a swamp. right before I left I took a photo of the camp as the sun was setting and the day was coming to an end. I great weekend for connecting with friends and for perfecting my photography and video skills.

Tags: Carolina, friendship, mountains, photography, projects

This weekend I will be attended the second official Camp Old Indian Staff Reunion. The last large scale reunion was two years ago and was attended by people who worked at Camp Old Indian from the late 1960’s to the present day.

I worked on the staff of Camp Old Indian, a Boy Scout camp in Northern Greenville County, SC near the North Carolina border between 1983 and 1989 during my high school and college years.

I am looking forward to reconnecting with former co-workers, writing some drafts for my Camp Old Indian blog and doing a lot of photography, maybe some video as well as posting an audio to this blog via Utterz.

Tags: Camp Old Indian, friendship, mountains, photography

We have all heard the term or question, “What makes you tick?”  I know at times I can be a mystery to a lot of people. If you think you know me by the computer I use, church I go to, house I live or business I run you may know a little bit about me but I’m unsure if any of those give a full picture of my personality, what I value and what interests me.  I think about this “ticking” thing a lot because I do wonder how I come across but maybe this list will help out and also inspire me to write some future posts as well;

• I’m an “information hound” - I love keeping up with current events by reading the news, I listen to talk radio (both conservative talk and NPR - take that demographic people), podcasts and reading blogs
• I love to be organized even though I don’t always put it in practice
• I love photography and strive to perfect it as an art
• I go to a traditional, reformed, Presbyterian church but deep down I am more contemporary
• I prefer the music I listen to have soul, no matter the genre. I don’t care much of anything from the 90’s, 80’s were fun, like 70’s rock, 60’s Motown, big band, Classical, Bluegrass
• I like to know where I am in the process, I hate working on a project with blinders on.
• I love animals, especially dogs - for example see my photos of my last pet Darby who died last year and our current dog, Abby.
• I hate the “party system” of government. Ideally I’m more libertarian, generally vote conservative and get extremely frustrated when my views on government and the rest of my life conflict.
• I love Apple computers but my “standards” are more Internet based. I think all file formats, etc. should be open to the greatest audience possible.
• I prefer long walk in the mountains as opposed to long walks on the beach because I like the diversity in views and elevation.
• A lot of my favorite shows or movies are in the sci-fi genre but it’s not the whiz bang effects that attract me. It always how well a story is told in a clever way.
• I am sentimental to the extreme, be it my first computer experiences, when I first got our dog, or memories of family and friends.
• I find the oddest things funny.  If you want me to laugh do a clever twist on language and say something unexpected.  Good examples include Steven Wright and Jack Handy.
• I love spicy food. Salsa, Tobasco Sauce, Hot Chinese Food and I go crazy with a pepper grinder on my food
• I love coffee but it has to be freshly ground from the beans, both black and green tea
• Favorite food include Salmon, broccoli, Krispy Kreme Donuts, Lemon Pepper Chicken, good bar-b-que, pizza, water with lemon and ice cream.
• Technology in general - I love gadgets, computers and reading about the latest programming languages, etc.
• I’m oddly ambidextrous.  I can only write with my left hand and can only throw or carry a lot of stuff with my right hand.
• I hate think about house work and yard work I need to do but strangely I have a hard time stopping once I start!
• I’m really reserved when you first meet me. You might even think I’m being stand offish but really once you do get to know me we can develop a deep friendship.

So, did anything I said surprise you? If you know me is it pretty much what you expect? Do some things I mentioned not fit into a box you like?

Tags: ambidextrous, animals, apple, coffee, dogs, food, friendship, information, mountains, music, news, photography, process, projects, sentimental, spicy, standards, tea, technology