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Archive: March, 2007

----- 03.25.2007 --------
First things first... I finished putting together my 3rd assignment. Part of it is shooting the pictures (AKA "making" the photographs), and the other part is assembling a site to view them in. Similar to the work from the intro to digital imaging class I had where I displayed my photoshop work up here on my site as if they were hung on my fridge, I am doing the same with my photographs. However, I need to post them anyway to submit them (or burn them to CD or use flickr.com and email my prof the link). I decided I'd group them into galleries instead of simply posting them on the front of my page like I did with the other course. What I really should do is go back through the pics from the other course and assemble everything that was posted straight to the home page (also available via the January 2007 & February 2007 archive pages). Another day... it's just about bed time! Without further delay, here is assignment #3 that's due this week:

PHOT9037 - Assignment #3

Also, while I'm hear, I'll give you a quick update on my weekend. Today was the 2nd half of the Learning Annex's "Wealth & Real Estate Expo". It was great! Almost as good as yesterday! And this time I brought an MP3 player to record it all ;) Although not terribly clear, it seemed to do the trick. I saw Richard Branson (via satellite link), James Ray (from "The Secret"), Raymond Aaron (how to be a millionaire), Robert Bach (automatic wealth), and the man himself, Donald Trump! I don't know what I expected from Trump, but I enjoyed his session way more then I anticipated! That guy knows how to capture an audience! With possibly 30,000 in the room, he had us captivated! And also very impressive, although not live in the room, was Richard Bransen. I'm very impressed with how he's using his wealth in an effort to look after the world. Who am I kidding? James Ray was really awesome too!!! It's great hearing some of the world's most influencial people!!! OK... I'm tired... and have to "work" in the morning, so good night for now. Hope you're all doing well! Cheers!

----- 03.24.2007 --------

Today Jen & I went to the Weatlh & Real Estate Expo at the convention center. I won't kid you... I wasn't there to get rich. I was only there to see Tony Robbins, one of my most inspirational influences. In fact, he's my "Life Coach" in many ways. I listen to and read a lot of his material (Get the Edge, Personal Power, Lessons in Mastery, Live with Passion, Awaken the Giant within, Unlimited Power.... and the list goes on) and now, I finally had a chance to see him live. Although it was "only" 3 hours... it was great and energizing! He has 3 tours this year... New York, which is next week (and too late to go to), as well as Atlanta & Los Angeles later this year. I'm really thinking of attending one of these and doing the famed "firewalk" that he's always talking about. What can I say... this guy gets me pumped! And more important then that... he gives me the tools to get myself pumped. After a year or two of really listening and embracing his ideas, I am seeing a lot of improvements in many areas of my life. If you ever get a chance to see him... go for it! So tomorrow the Real Estate expo continues on, and although I got what I wanted from the price of admission, I'll be back again tomorrow morning with my buddy Steve. Not really sure what I'm looking for, but it seems that this expo may have it for me. More to follow in this area I guess... check back in a few years... lol. K, that's all for now. I have to work on my 3rd assignment for class (digital photography). I went out and took a lot of specific pictures... I'll post them up hear when I'm done arranging them. Oh... and if you're wondering why my pic of Tony is so blurred... I was using my small point-n-shoot (as opposed to my DSLR) and I had to do it stealthy (thus the shake).

----- 03.17.2007 --------
I'll keep this fairly short because I feel time-pressed and busy today. I just finished Assignment 2, which is the first assignment that we actually use our cameras for. I needed to take various pictures changing the shutter speed and aperature. The idea is to let the identical amount of light in, but control aspects such as motion blur & focal distance. In order to submit my assignment, I thought I would just post it here for my prof, as well as share my progress with the world as I go along. For exact details on the assignment, I`ve linked a word doc at the bottom of the thumbnail gallery page. Here is the link to my Assignment #2 photos. If you're into photography as well, email me or MSN me (robgirard@hotmail.com - for use on MSN only... I don't check it for email). I'm always trying to surround myself with like-minded people.

This exercise reminds me of some photos I took during the blackout of 2003. I was using exposure to show just how dark the city was. Here is a link to various pics from the 2003 blackout in Toronto. In retrospect, I'm really glad I got my camera out that day!!! I never realized at the time what a rare opportunity it was to get some photos. I need to keep this in mind and take pictures more often. You never know when that rare moment will present itself. Anyway, I'm just about to play some computer games. I picked up a new one: Supreme Commander. It looks freakin' sweet! Enough posting for me, more installing/playing. Later! And remember... if you're celebrating St. Paddy's Day.... don't drive!

One last quick thing - I am patch-free now! 10 weeks of wearing the patch are over and I am a full-fledged non-smoker again. Not even a drag since January 3rd... and no more going forward!!! I fell back on the butts WAY easier then I would have expected to! It really took me by surprise!

----- 03.10.2007 --------
Are you ready for the daylight savings time change? This year we're changing 3 weeks earlier then usual. I know this. You know this. But do our computers? And our other appliances? Some do with patches, and others are simply unpatchable. No biggie I guess... but it did mean a lot of extra work for those in IT... like me ;) There were quite a few patches to deploy across my company and tomorrow I'll have to go in to see if I can spot anything that didn't automatically cut over. If there are problems, I think it will mainly be calendar items between those who patched and those who didn't. I guess this week should be interesting... and if it's really busy, we can expect it to continue for a total of 3 more weeks. And those who don't patch but manually change the time can get thrown off when their computers do automatically change over 3 weeks from now. Fun, fun! :) And November? Rinse & repeat :)

Tonight Jen, my cousin (80K) & I drove up to my Aunt & Uncles' place in Newmarket for dinner. My other cousin Scott, his wife Lynn and 2 daughters Caitlyn & Emily went as well. It's been too long since we've all gotten together over a few drinks and a nice dinner! It was a fun time and I really want to thank my Aunt Linda & Uncle Ian for thinking of tonight and having us over. We had a great time! Well... things are pretty much the norm for 2007... very busy with work, the gym, and the homelife. And I'm excited that I'm almost off the patch! For those of you who didn't know, I had started smoking again near the end of the summer up until January. After 3 years of not smoking, I don't even know how it happened! Anyway, that's done and I no longer smoke. Once I get through these last few days of the lowest level of "the patch", I'll be done with nicotine for good! No more tricking myself into thinking I can smoke on a vacation and then quitting once I get back into the city. I've learned it doesn't quite work that way! Anyway... I've rambled on long enough... in short: All's well over @ robgirard.com :) Cheers everyone!

----- 03.03.2007 --------
Today Jen & I drove out to Dundas (near Hamilton) to visit Shannon & Rich, some friends from Jen's dog rescue. The pups are now 3 weeks old and they are so cute! I took a ton more pics! But this time I went just post one or two teasers.... I found some time today to work on putting together an album. So, I've included some pics from when the pups were 4 days old, and some pics from today, at 3 weeks old. I believe the exact day they were born on was Feb 8th, 2007. Anyway, Click here for the pics and I hope you enjoy! Cheers!

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Archive: March, 2007

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