Most of you probably know that photography is a hobby for me, and perhaps you’ve noticed I’ve been a little quiet with posting photos.  I haven’t been taking too many photos lately, but I have been keeping busy with photography.    Over most of March I scanned slides for my grandma. (I only have one grandparent left and she’s especially dear to me (and to Meg as well.))  Before Christmas I decided I wanted to organize my photos and slides.  As I thought about what that would take I also thought it would be fun and helpful to help organize photos for other members of the family.  So I suggested to my parents and Meg’s mom, that we split the cost of a new photo scanner and I would start to scan slides and photos for family.  Both contributed funds for the project but as of yet have been behind on supplying the items to scan.

My grandma however was quick to offer up a number of slides.  I gladly accepted and waited for her to drop them off.  When I got them I realized several things.  1.  She had more than I anticipated and 2. They weren’t 35mm slides. The first just took a little getting used to, but was easily overcome.  The second had me a bit worried. The scanner I purchased had a guide that you put the slides in that positioned them for easy scanning.  These slides were mostly square images. Using the guide would have cut off part of the image.  So I simply laid the images on the glass as seen here

So this is the way I ended up scanning them.  20 slides at a time, for all 1447 slides.  Luckily for me of the 50 minutes per 20 slides I only needed to be active for about 10 and then I could walk away for 40.  I loved seeing the past of my family, and it didn’t really bother me that I was only in 20-some photos.  After they were all scanned into the computer, I used picassa to “edit” as much as I can.  I did my best with every photo.  I realize now that for some reason I didn’t remove the red-eye until probably about half way through the editing, I’m not sure why.  At some point I’ll go back and fix that.  I did spend a fair amount of time cropping / straightening / adjusting color correction /  making them lighter / adding contrast / and retouching any dust specs I missed in vital areas.  

All told from getting the slides to having them all uploaded to flickr, it took me about 100 hours.  Now all the slides are in boxes shown below and both the raw and edited photos are on a mini-hard drive.  Also all the edited photos are on Flickr. (let me know if you want the link.)  As the summer progresses I’m sure my grandma will get titles and names on the photos so we can share with the family better, but for now enjoy just a couple of my favorites.

Nora Charles: I suppose we ought to decide where we’re going.
Nick Charles: Why, do you care?
Nora Charles: No, but I haven’t any clothes.
Nick Charles: Well, what’s the difference? Saves you the trouble of packing. And I don’t need anything in the world, darling, but you… and a toothbrush.

We escaped to Duluth this past weekend. We probably could’ve used an escape to any locale as we just haven’t gotten out of town together in a while. We stayed in a lovely B&B, run by a charming couple, with delicious breakfasts, in a bed that was decidedly not queen-sized (maybe a full?). So we didn’t get the much needed sleep, but we agreed the breakfast made up for it. And we did get to eat well, see a movie, and visit a haunted mansion. They didn’t talk about the murders on the tour, but it was fun to visit Glensheen. And it is good to be home.

We said our final goodbyes to Arnt a year ago today.  He left behind a community of people who have been saddened with his departure.  I belong to that community along with Mary and Meg and all of his other family and friends.  I feel like a newer member of this group, but a member just the same.  During the memorial service held in Valparaiso, I felt a definite sense of loss, not just of this relatively new family member (Meg and I had only married 2 months earlier) but a future friend.  Arnt and I got along during the small amount of times we spent together and I believe we were beginning to understand each other better and better. I began to see past what most would describe as his prickly outer layer, and see what so many people described during the memorial.  A loving and dedicated man.  I wanted to recap some of the stories I had heard during the memorial (that increased my feeling of lost future experiences with Arnt,) but I realized that I certainly wouldn’t do them justice, but I can fill in a detail that few people know about Arnt.

Many of you have heard the story that Meg tells about my first meeting with Arnt. Later that night in the basement, while Arnt was showing me his impressive train layout, in addition to the trains, we discussed three main things,

1. My overuse of the word “sure”
2. My ability to provide for Meg and myself, and
3. The fact that if Meg was in love with me and wanted to marry me, that was enough for him.  He wanted her to be happy and taken care of.  That was the theme for most of the conversations the rest of the time I spent with the family that holiday.  Once I convinced Arnt that I would most certainly love and “take care” of Meg, we got along pretty darn well.

The world has been a different place for a lot of us, the past year.  I often find myself thinking, “it’s too bad Arnt couldn’t have seen that,” or “Arnt and I could have worked on something like that together”  We miss you Arnt.

I titled this post for a reason, since I feel like Arnt left this world just a little too soon.

While I was thinking about what to say in the post, I was reminded of people in my family who also left too soon.  When I was 8 years old (thirty years ago,) my grandfather Leland died.  It was my first real experience with death.  Looking back it was a very surreal moment for our family, my grandfather died in his sleep overnight, and my cousin Mark (who had been fighting a number of ailments for many years) died later that day at age 15.  I think back of all the things I knew of both of them and I’m saddened that I didn’t know either of them well.  I believe that I would have gotten along well with both of them as I grew up and matured into the person I am today.  I do know that both of them did influence my life, and we miss them greatly too. Above you can see my Grandfather with his wife and mother, and my parents and my brother.  Below you can see a video of Mark with my brother and I.

“It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living.” -Eckhart Tolle (hat tip to tinybuddha.com for the quote)

I’m encountering that uncomfortable, messy part of life where you are planning something big and it isn’t falling into place the way you expect or plan.  I’m sure the outcome will be exactly what we want, but it is stressful and requires that ever elusive patience.

Somehow it is different this time.

When I met Kevin, I had just stopped waiting to start living. I was awake and alert and excited about it. I loved being single, living in the city, creating a new and mysterious path. And that continued when I met Kevin. I didn’t need a mortgage to make a home. I didn’t need everything to be wrapped in a neat package before I started something new. I’m trying to hold on to this present. Today is a gift.

This weekend we ate beautiful food, looked at art, went to mass, and made stuff. I feel so lucky to live now.

In 2006 my brother paid to have all of the 8mm and Super 8 movies my dad had recorded converted to a digital format. They were converted to digital video tape and then my brother converted them to .AVI files. Over the years since Christmas 2006, the family has talked about finishing the project. The videos are in some order but not completely and there needed to be some editing of heads and tails on many videos. Recently I volunteered to push this project forward. I had hoped to have it completed by last Christmas (2011) only five years after we received the files, but I didn’t quite make it.

Since around Thanksgiving I have worked on them. We started out with 76 Files (after removing blanks and titles,) totaling just over 4 Hours. I’ve split all the multiple files and eliminated all the heads and tails on the videos, loosing about 5 minutes worth of movies. But now we’re up to 160 files.  However I’m taking a little break from this project for I’m not exactly sure how to proceed.  The videos are now all on YouTube. They still need titles and more information.  (Mainly dates so that they can be put in order, but also names of people and places.)  Lately I’ve been working to make family memories/archives more readily available / share-able but in the back of my head are personal privacy issues.  I don’t think the content of these videos would make or break anyone’s life, but I’m curious how people feel. I’m not sure how many of you family members visit here but if you have an opinion let me know.  Also I’d love it if you want to make comments on the videos (with any sort of info you have. I’ve restrained from putting names on them in case people don’t want these showing up in a google search, but if you’re okay with it, feel free to let me know and I’ll add the info eventually.)  Also as personal touch, above I’ve shared what is probably my first time on camera, circa 1974, I’m the one with the red hair and the diaper.

I have to admit that I believe that Valentine’s day is a holiday more for men that are courting than for people in a relationship. I prefer to celebrate other holidays (Christmas, birthdays, etc.) and celebrate our love everyday. So when Meg suggested we exchange small gifts and celebrate at home relatively simply, I agreed wholeheartedly. Meg was gone last weekend and I wanted to re-connect so we exchanged gifts early (ok I couldn’t wait – I thought my gifts for her were too awesome to wait.) We enjoyed a nice dinner at home tonight.

For the record, Meg gave me an awesome kitchen torch and vanilla beans for making creme brulee at home. and I gave her a number of fun pads from Knock, Knock. including the paper tweet.  I think we both hit home runs.

Now, if you’ll indulge me for a minute, let me gush about me wife.  Meg started a new job a few weeks ago.  She now works as the Community Manager for Hennepin County.  It’s been a lot of change (from weeks of waiting to tell people, to working both at the county and for the library, to now getting used to a new job and new coworkers, etc.) but she’s been a great trooper about it.  She always seems on top of it all, including keeping things running well at home.  (If it were me, we’d have run out of toilet paper or something else important by now.)  I’m really proud of her for taking this big step and trying something new.  The county is very excited to have her working there, and based on the large attendance at her going away party (you make a lot of friends in a 10 year tenure) they’re going to miss her tremendously at the library.  I think this is a beginning to a great new chapter in our lives.

1. he bakes bread… makes dough, and has fully embraced his role as family baker.

2. he sings- even if he only knows a couple of lines of the song.

3. he’d rather watch MegaMovers or Mythbusters, but he isn’t afraid of an episode of Downton Abbey

4. he is willing to change plans to be with me… for a doctor’s appointment, a work event or when I need a ride to work.

5. he’s game for window shopping, brunch, walks and naps.

Tomorrow, Meg and I will have been married for one year.  We started to celebrate today by presenting each other with presents made of paper.

The names of some anniversaries provide guidance for appropriate or traditional gifts for the spouses to give each other; if there is a party these can be brought by the guests or influence the theme or decoration. These gifts vary in different countries, but some years have well-established connections now common to most nations: 5th Wooden, 10th Tin, 15th Crystal, 20th China, 25th Silver, 35thPearl, 40th Ruby, 50th Golden, 60th Diamond. The tradition may have originated in medieval Germany where, if a married couple lived to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their wedding, the wife was presented by her friends and neighbours with a silver wreath to congratulate them for the good fortune that had prolonged the lives of the couple for so many years. On celebration of the 50th, the wife received a wreath of gold. Over time the number of symbols expanded and the German tradition came to assign gifts that had direct connections with each stage of married life. The symbols have changed over time.(via wikipedia)

Meg and I decided to go with the traditional gifts making this year’s gift paper (and we additionally decided that we would create them ourselves) They are shown below.

The holidays were a whirlwind. Lots of time in the car, a wedding, new beginnings and old traditions. Thank you to our friends for keeping us sane. I’m grateful for a new year. Our first anniversary is approaching and I’m looking forward to celebrating with Kevin.

Want to see more?

• Kevin’s photos of Thanksgiving in Boston
• Meg’s photos of Thanksgiving in Boston
• With John, Janet, and Steven: Christmas in Milwaukee
• Joseph and Shea’s Wedding on New Year’s Eve