Fun with Cameras and Fire!

Okay, so I happen to think that cameras are nearly always fun (though some around me don't agree, most either agree or have learned to grin and bear it). Tonight I decided to spare others and take some pictures of myself, with the benefit of a small tripod and time delay. I sent the camera for a longer exposure, relying on the campfire to illuminate the scene. I took a whole series, but I think this one turned out the best. And you have to admit, adding cameras and fire together (so long as no cameras are being destroyed) is guaranteed to be fun! :-)

~Matt

Dollywood

Today we're going to Dollywood. I'm not sure exactly what to expect, but from what I've head it should be a fun day. I am continuing my pattern of getting into places for free though. When I went to Chicago last I got into the three museums I visited for free (Field Museum, Adler Planetarium, and the Museum of Science and Industry) because of my work at the Cincinnati Museum Center. The Museum Center gives each employee a complimentary membership, and the membership is reciprocal with ASTC and a network of children's museums around the country. I also got into Columbus' COSI when I visited there for my birthday this year.

This trip will be my first time getting into some place because of my work at the Creation Museum. The Creation Museum and Dollywood have a reciprocal arrangement with employees for admission.

It should be a fun day. Sadly on my last trip to Kings Island I discovered that while I really enjoyed roller coasters my inner ear does not. I loved the thrill, but became nauseous after a couple of rides, :(. I wish that I hated the rides or that I could handle them...but no, I get the worst case scenario, wanting to go, but being unable if I want to enjoy the rest of the day. With that in mind I doubt I'll go on any of the actual roller coasters today (my dad has much the same reaction as I do, without the enjoyment, so we wouldn't all be going regardless), but some of the other rides look interesting.

Ah, working for museums is not only very enjoyable, but has great benefits as well! :-)

~Matt

Cades Cove

We spent most of the day inside the park again. We drove through Townsend, TN to get to Cades Cove, which houses many well preserved buildings from the days when park land was privately owned. The first picture is from lunch, at a picnic area just outside the entrance to Cades Cove.






Sadly Bob had visited nearly all (if not all) of the buildings that we saw today. Most of the free surfaces were covered with graffiti. I understand when settlers carved their names into Chimney Rock, and those carvings are now historic. But carving your name into a historic building in a National Park is simply childish and disrespectful...it also ruins some good pictures!












I'll leave some nice scenery shots without too much commentary. I'll hopefully post more pictures later on Facebook or via Picasa where I can tie comments directly to them.

~Matt

Vacation in the Smokies

I'm currently on vacation in the Smokies with my parents. We are in a campground just outside Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Today we drove into Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We drove to Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the park and my dad and I hiked up to the summit. Sadly it was cloudy up there so I didn't get any good distance shots, but here are some of my favourites from the day. We did make it into North Carolina for part of the day, which was cool because I'd never been in that state before. Now I think there are only 13 states I haven't visited. Alaska and Hawaii. Louisana (the only one of the lower 48 west of the Mississippi I haven't been to), New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut), Delaware, and the South-east (South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida). Wait, that is 14, :(.

~Matt

I have gotten several good panoramics so far, including a couple of vertical shots. Here is one of the forest and one showing the twists on one of the roads (and in the background you can see some beautiful clouds).


I love the shots that show the trademark clouds and "smoke" of the Smokies... I loved the scenes from the Last of the Mohicans that were filmed here...

Organization

I really need to organize my pictures. I use Picasa to view them, so I suppose I should use it to tag and organize them as well. I have some pictures of the Creation Museum grounds like this one that I'd like to organize with other similar ones. And now that it is earnestly spring I'd like to take even more pictures of the grounds.

~Matt

Sleep? What's that?

Well I'm certainly going to get more sleep tonight than I did two nights ago.  I was working an Overnight at the Creation Museum (our first such one actually) and I ended up not sleeping at all.  Instead I spent much of the night getting work done.  It was a great time, even if I was up for more than twenty four hours.  If you'd like to read more check out the Creation Museum blog (which I wrote) or even Ken Ham's blog.

~Matt

Melancholy?

melancholy, n.
3. [Rare.] Pensive contemplation; serious and sober reflection...Syn.: see grief

pensive
1. Engaged in or addicted to serious or quiet reflection; musing: thoughtful...

------------
Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary of the English Language, 1939


I don't know if this exactly describes my mood, but sometimes I think that it does.  Don't ask me exactly why (1. I don't completely know, and 2. What I may know I don't always want to discuss)...but suffice to say while I may always be one for quiet reflection I do not want to be forever characterized as melancholic.  But how long will it last?  I can say that God only knows and mean it, and I do.  That should help my peace of mind, and in one sense it does because I ultimately trust that God will provide and care for me.  But sometimes in the immediate sense I still worry, I still ponder, I still wonder, I still contemplate...pensively...  I ask "why?" and I do not have an answer currently.  I pray that God will give me the patience to endure until there is an answer I understand...

~Matt

Sunset

This evening I stopped by Best Buy to pick up a new memory card (sadly I found out my camera is just a bit too old to handle an HD card, so I could only get a new high-speed 2GB card, :( ). Once I got out to my car I looked up to see this beautiful sunset. I had to grab my camera and take a few shots. I've learned before that if I take only one it will often turn out blurry, or something else will be wrong with it. So now I always take several shots of something like this that isn't repeatable.

Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name

This morning during the sermon I looked down at a verse in Psalms that the pastor was reading, and I flipped over to the next Psalm: Psalm 29.  I haven't read it in a while, but it was so refreshing to read that I thought I'd share it here.

Psalm 29 (NKJV, from Bible Gateway)

A Psalm of David.

        Give unto the LORD, O you mighty ones,
            Give unto the LORD glory and strength.
        Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name;
            Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
         
        The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
            The God of glory thunders;
            The LORD is over many waters.
        The voice of the LORD is powerful;
            The voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
         
        The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars,
            Yes, the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon.
        He makes them also skip like a calf,
            Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox.
        The voice of the LORD divides the flames of fire.
         
        The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
            The LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.
        The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth,
            And strips the forests bare;
            And in His temple everyone says, "Glory!"
         
        The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood,
            And the LORD sits as King forever.
      The LORD will give strength to His people;
            The LORD will bless His people with peace.

God is amazing.  The point of this morning's sermon was that no matter how long we study God we cannot simply compartmentalize him or fit our knowledge of him in a box.  Even in Eternity we will still have created, finite minds and we will never be done with the study of learning more about God!

~Matt

Tea Party!

I attended a tea party today. No, I didn't drink tea. This was a political rally, a grass-roots organized event (started by a Community Organizer, Mike Wilson, ;-)) intended to be in the spirit of the original Boston Tea Party. Many of these "Tea Parties" have sprung up across the country. The largest I've heard of was in Fullerton, CA with estimates that range from 8-15 thousand. The best numbers I heard today were 3,500-5,000 packing out Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. I was at the front of the crowd and didn't move around to get a good vantage point, so I'm sure others got better pictures of the whole crowd (or as much as they could capture via camera). I mainly concentrated on a few panoramic crowd shots and then shots of the speakers and as many signs as I could get. Here are a few relevant links:

Cincinnati Tea Party

Michelle Malkin's post on the event
Here is a picture from her website that I tweaked:


My Picasa Web Album of pictures


~Matt

Mini-reunion in Nashville

I got up extra early this morning (4:30) so that I could leave to head down to Nashville to visit my parents (and my grandma who is visiting with them). I was over at my sister's house just after five, and she had said that she would be ready to go at 5:30, but it was just after 5:50 by the time my car pulled away. *sigh*

It was a good drive down, one of my nephews came along, and we picked up my nephew Chris and his girlfriend in Louisville. Partway down Chase fell asleep, so I handed my camera to my sister and asked her to snap this shot, I thought that it was too good not to post.

What I didn't realize until I got here was that another nephew was flying in, and one of my aunts was in town, so she came over--and my brother lives here in Nashville, so we have a good number of family around this weekend (but only a small fraction of the total). It should be a good weekend, though I am still reading e-mails from work, ;-).

~Matt

Lights in the Sky

I am out at the front desk (the GSIC or Guest Services Information Center) at the Creation Museum this morning. One of my coworkers just walked in and said "look at the sunset." I said, "sunrise?" ;-), but I quickly pulled out my camera and grabbed a couple shots. I had to focus on a lighter patch of sky, otherwise the light was too washed out for a good shot, but I think it turned out okay. We had more snow last night, so the grounds look beautiful under a fresh white blanket.

~Matt

Mysterious tracks

This is the lake at the Creation Museum, frozen over and covered with a bit of snow.  Nobody was completely sure what these mysterious tracks were across the ice.  One popular theory was that they were left by security guards tobogganing across the ice at night after all the rest of the staff were gone.

~Matt

Indy Children's Museum

Recently I had an opportunity to take a trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. Two managers from our department at the Creation Museum were taking a trip to the museum to talk to their Visitor Services department, and I had the chance to tag along. It was a great day (I took about 300 pictures, ;-)), but one of the best parts were the construction pictures. All of the construction signage used LEGO designs! They are going to have a LEGO exhibit soon (I'm planning on going back to see it) and so while they're also building an addition to the building they themed all of their signage!

~Matt