Art With Heart / Walnut Point State Park

Something I should have blogged about days ago but didn't for the simple fact that I have much on my plate lately is that tonight I will be participating in a local benefit called Art With Heart. It is an opportunity for artists and creative professionals to donate their wares so to be bid on via silent auction with 100% of the proceeds benefiting cancer patients and their families who are struggling financially. Without getting too personal other than to acknowledge that losing my parents to this disease has affected me greatly, I am donating a stack of matted photography prints to hopefully aid others who understand the hardship. Click the above link to learn more.

As for the second part of this blog, on Wednesday I took my nephew to Walnut Point State Park located in Douglas County IL. He is on break so it worked out perfectly in being able to visit a destination that is new for the both of us. Enjoyable as the outing was for having ideal weather, it also proved to be a good educational opportunity for him as well as I.

















Embarrass River


Got him hopping up...


and back down!






Leaving out


Heading back we stopped by Kaskaskia River State Fish and Wildlife Area located SE of Sullivan IL which is another new one for us and a location we intend to explore again.

Lightning at Bloomington IL

A little after midnight or so, a cluster of robust storms fired along a boundary dropping through the region. At their closest pass over the city of Bloomington IL which is about an hour N of my location, I managed to pick out detail with the 300mm. Clear skies and a bright moon hovering to the S definitely helped the situation. To have been up in the next county and out in the country would have been ideal. Just like trying to finagle annoying power lines into an aesthetic composition, sometimes you just have to make due.

Cool Clouds

Interesting textures out ahead of showers lifting from the SW this morning.

Thursday at Rock Springs

With a high of 75 observed out at the Decatur Airport, it's no surprise that we took the opportunity to get out for some fresh air. Rock Springs is nothing new for this blog but the Bluestem Theatre was running for a change so we watched a few of the short presentations. I was surprised to see my daughter actually sit still for the whole of three minutes that was the first one.



We then spent a good amount of time in the children's educational room which is her favorite and where there are numerous live displays including this one.


And finally, a walk around one of the ponds.

Dean Hills Nature Preserve

Google Maps is one of the coolest inventions ever. Panning around the state with it has opened up me up to parks and destinations I did not know existed. Yesterday I decided to head down to Fayette county to try and find and one such place. With the iPhone mapping and GPS services, I found myself literally out in the middle of nowhere. I would accidentally bypass the nature preserve's entrance to end up at a washed out bridge along a creek. Fortunately a local resident who was naturally curious as to who would be out there came by to see what I was doing. Upon explanation he showed me the right way and told me more about the area including the presence of wild turkey. After he pulled away and while I was cleaning off for the area is extremely muddy, I heard a flock of turkey in the distance across a corn field.



Every building tells a story, this was on the preserve boundary and important for later.


The preserve is a giant Kame consisting of steep sand, gravel and silt mounds deposited during the ice age glacial retreat. Though I barely entered the area and did not climb to see, I would estimate the hills to be around 3-4 stories in height. The following is an edited phone pic. I was so preoccupied in looking for flora and fauna that I neglected to take general landscape shots. No worries, shooting conditions were less than ideal and the mission was merely to find the location.










Remember the old building? This guy showed up as I was leaving.




Having given my card to the gentleman who aided me, he sent me a message informing that there were some ducks as well as an eagle to my immediate S in a flooded field. Following his instruction and crossing the flooded Kaskaskia river, I found the location but did not see any eagles. I did see the ducks however, but they were at a great distance. With the window mount tripod I recently picked up, I was still able to make the best of the situation. All in all, a very productive time and I hope to return in the future. Many thanks to Steve for his help.

iPhone 4

Since 2008 I had been using a Verizon broadband card primarily for the purpose of obtaining mobile weather information. Useful as it was, it didn't get used nearly as much as it should so to justify the monthly expense. Upon completion of my contract back in June 2010, I became eligible for an upgrade to a different device however, I held out in my decision making. Initially I figured I would get a DROID for tethering capability via the PdaNet app. I was on the fence though as I liked the convenience of a built in radar app like that which already existed for the iPhone. When I learned that Verizon was getting the iPhone, I waited till it became available and picked the brains of (very patient) friends who own both devices so to get their opinions. Research paid off and I decided to go with the iPhone 4 so to be able to purchase the popular RadarScope app that is produced by Base Velocity. Nothing against the DROID but this app is what sealed the deal for me.

I'm not real tech when it comes to dissecting devices however, I went with the 16GB model as the upgrade plan fit my budget and space needs. I can say that now after having loaded 14 apps, over 840 images, 36 videos and 3.7 days worth of music, I still have over 3 GB's of space remaining. Since I am one to dive right in on working devices to the extreme, I have been very pleased with the multitasking capability of this phone when it comes to juggling text, email, internet and entertainment. Battery life was a concern in the beginning but not now after having pushed it in this regard as well. Though I have not drained it to the point of empty, I have let it go for over 8 hours at a time. When simply using text, internet and phone over this duration, the charge has only dropped down to about 50% or higher. Running the camera in video mode or iPod naturally use more power but again, I'm not too worried should I ever forget the cord. Now for some screen shots...

My front page is where I keep the features I access most. Sliding to reveal a second page is where I keep Ava's games and lesser used apps. Never in a million years did I think that a smartphone would make for a parent/child bonding opportunity. She's only five and works it like a pro.


Games were never my thing and those shown are what I added for Ava although the Words With Friends that can be seen in the background is highly addicting. Best described as a digital version of Scrabble and fun as it is, I completely suck and have yet to win against my opponent lol. You can also see the utilities folder in the background which is where I crammed all the miscellaneous factory apps. Highly useful nonetheless, included is a nice calculator, compass and notepad to name a few.


Photos are of course very important for me and being able to separate my work into respective folders turns the iPhone into a pocket portfolio. The Portraits folder screenshot below best illustrates this aspect. It should be noted that to conserve space, I resized all images to the standard Facebook size I had been using which is 600 pixels wide on the longest side. The image quality when viewed on the phone is phenomenal despite being such a small resolution. Any picture on your phone can also be easily shared via email or text messaging. Keeping lots of phone generated pictures and video in the main "Camera Roll" album eats away at overall device space so it is good habit to occasionally dump this folder and back the material up to disc via pc. The Camera Roll album works just like an external storage and does not require iTunes to access.






The camera was the least of my concerns when it came to choosing this phone because phone pics simply do not interest me or so I thought. Weighing in at 5 megapixels, I was stunned by the image quality so I decided to go one step further and pick up a tripod adapter shown below. Not that I intend to become a phone photographer but if you are going to do anything, might as well try to do it right. The pics below are tripoded, uncropped and the 2" hair clip is with the built in zoom. As for video, though I have fooled with it some, I don't really have anything worth posting. The device captures in Quicktime format which I don't like but not everything can be perfect :) The videos that I do have loaded on the phone are personal projects converted to mp4 format with Sony Vegas Movie Studio 8.0. I'll write more on that in the future.




As said before, RadarScope is what did it for me when choosing this phone because having mobile radar access is critical. After way too many close calls with my laptop getting rained on or jarred around, I also wanted to find an information alternative and especially since I don't stream. Recent weather events both here and around the country have provided the opportunity to learn the ropes when it comes to this app. Like a watered down miniature version of GR3, this app paid for itself the other week when during an overnight outbreak of severe weather, I was able to identify an ominous return and contact a friend in the path of a tornado warned storm at Olney IL shortly before the warning was even issued. Fortunately nothing materialized but the power in being able to advise someone nearly half a state away all from the palm of my hand was mind blowing. I have nothing but good things to say about RadarScope however I did notice that in the event of signal interruption and especially non-wifi, the app will kick out an error that it is unable to retrieve data. This message does not go away despite retry and in order to reset the app I have to power the device down and back up again. Not that this is a big deal but merely an observation.




Of all the things I was able to do, the one thing I was not was to produce this blog from the device itself. With the Safari browser you can do just about everything except view certain types of flash based video as well as upload images via form method. If there is a work around, I am not aware but again, no complaints. While on the subject of the Safari browser, I do recommend the following bookmark for obtaining real time weather information and text products specifically tailored to the Midwest c/o Stan Olson.

The link to add to your bookmarks http://stansweather.net/iphone



There is of course still much to learn but in the meantime, I have to laugh because prior to this highly sophisticated device, I was content to use a lowly $10 Virgin Mobile prepay phone that I hardly kept minutes on but made for a darn good alarm clock. More to come :P

In Like a Lamb...

Welcome to March, my favorite month. Ever since deactivating my Facebook account last week, things have been very quiet. The catalyst for doing so stemmed from a private misunderstanding however, the timing was such that it coincided with Lent so I decided also to make it that which I would abstain from for the duration. I had been contemplating deactivation for some time now as I have been spending entirely way too much time with Facebook and almost instantly, have found myself productive again. Inability to conveniently see what is going in other people's lives and especially those who are known for producing is difficult but the lack of notice by nearly 100% of my contacts since disappearing has been sobering. Maybe I will be back, maybe I won't but in the meantime I am just glad to be knocking out various small projects and feeling a slight sense of accomplishment.

Hard to believe we are almost halfway through the month yet there really hasn't been much to write about. I had hoped for a few photographic opportunities by now which hasn't quite panned out. Yesterday was of course the anniversary of the Six State Supercell and one of the biggest events I have ever witnessed. March 12, 2011 on the other hand is a far cry from how that day unfolded. Since yesterday's weather was mild, I took the chance to get out for a walk. As much as I have been looking forward to a day like this one, I wasn't quite feeling it. Thoughts about bills, repairs, money, etc. and trying to sort it all out has clouded my recent train of thought. As result, I wasn't much into photography and it shows.











As I think about my problems, I also think about and try empathize with what others are struggling with. This underlying train of thought is the reasoning to why I publish as I do so as to hopefully be a positive distraction for others who might be in the same boat. In spite of this and due to events that have eroded my spirit over the past several years, I'm definitely not the happy go lucky guy who started this pawleewurx nonsense a little over 10 years ago. Though I do plan to continue taking pictures or making things, I have a feeling this will be the year for prioritizing and not spending so much time doing life the way I have been. Who knows, but for now, the reset button is being pushed and it is kind of nice.