karl.tsakos.us/blog

So, some updates.

My whole running plan which I talked about at the beginning of the year sort of fell by the wayside. It wasn’t for lack of trying. I was running and I was on track. Then, I came down with one of the worst colds I ‘ve ever had. It lasted for about three weeks. I coughed for threes weeks. It was pretty miserable. But then I got over it. I started running, picking up where I left off. That lasted a week. Then I got my second chest cold of the year. That lasted about two weeks.

I decided that I was pushing it with the cold, dry air. Now that I’m feeling better I’m taking a new tact to get the cardio going again. I cleared a space in the spare room (which is still box storage for items I haven’t unpacked) and setup my road bike on a stand. I’ve started riding again while watching Futurama on my laptop. So far, so good.

What else? The house. Winter time; not much to be done during this season. I’m planning several projects though and will see how much I can do myself. I’m planning a vegetable garden based on the French kitchen garden concpt. Inside, there’s rewiring the upstairs so the majority of the house isn’t on one circuit. Then, I want to insulate the attic. I’m planning a new layout for the kitchen which will most likely require tearing down the walls to the studs and the moving of a door. Then there’s the worlds smallest bathroom. Oh, and the drainage problem with the plumbing.

I just made myself sad. No, overwhelmed.

Then, there’s the band with no name. We’re finishing up recording an album and writing stuff to follow it up. But that’s all I’m going to say about it so as not to upset Dave by talking about the band.

Finally, I’ve been thinking of reviving the Hudson Highlander. I’m thinking of getting a smaller HD camera which I hope will be more convenient to use (and less bulky) than my current camera. I did recently get a gorilla pod which will be great to use in the field. I’m also thinking of breaking the show out from just hiking. I may do a five borough bike ride with my brother and niece. It might make for a fun episode.

Well, that’s it for now.

Yes, I did it. Something for which I know some will look down upon me and for which I make no apologies. I went to the 2009 New York Comicon at the Jacob Javits convention center in Manhattan. An event which in four short years has grown to become the second largest comic convention after San Diego. And, a large convention it was. I have been to Jacob Javits before to attend other conventions including Mac World (while they were still held in New York). This convention was as large as I recall Mac World being. For comparison, at the same time as Comicon, the New York Times Travel Show was being held in a hall almost half the size as the Comicon’s.

The Comicon is a place first and for most for comic book collectors and fans. It is an opportunity to meet some of their favorite authors and writers from the genre. From the elderly statesmen who helped mold comics into the widely appreciated art form it has become to the independent writers and publishers of today. There is a giant section of the hall dedicated to the artists where the loyal can try to commission drawings of their favorite characters from their favorite artists. I would have said, “where they can commission,” but due to the sheer number of attendees, the artists were backlogged by the second day. That didn’t stop them from chatting with their fans or autographing a drawing or book.

Among my favorite autographs was one my friend Jim received. Jim brought the cover from the DVD for the movie Mystery Men based on the comic by Bob Burden. Even though the movie was live action, Bob signed the front cover. He then proceeded to flip the paper over and, while balancing the paper on the edge of a box, drew the head of Casanova Frankenstein, the villain from the books and movie. He then handed it back to Jim saying, “secret drawing,” because of course you’ll never see it unless you take the cover out of the DVD’s case.

Other attractions included acre upon acre of comic book sellers where you could buy everything from one dollar back issues of your favorite series to tens of thousands of dollar collectables. They also sold paraphernalia including figurines, games, and costumes.

There were other attractions such as the video game companies which occupied almost half the floor. I didn’t really spend much time in that area. There were also celebrities from the television and film industries. Although I didn’t see him, Joss Whedon was there. I did see Lou Ferrigno and Marina Sirtis who were there to sign autographs.

Other then meeting your comic and occasional film idols, the draw was the community. As with any gathering of fans, you had a great sense of fellowship despite the thousands of people on hand. You could stop anyone and strike up a conversation and have a common background from which to proceed.

That wasn’t the case for me. To be honest, I’ve never been a very big comic book fan. I’ve read a few in my time and enjoyed them. My friends often will recommend something I should read and I do and I enjoy it. But, I never seem to go and seek out new material on my own. I could name maybe four or five comic artists or authors and that’s it. More exposure than many, much less than the real fans.

So why did I go? Three reasons really. First, Jim invited me. Second, Having never been to such a convention I thought it would be fun. And third, and most importantly, for the fans. And what I mean by that is the fans who like to go dressed in costume.

It’s not like you think. These people aren’t crazy. These people are showing their devotion to their favorite pastime. They are sharing their favorite fantasies with the other attendees. There is a knowledge of what they are doing and that it’s silly and funny at times. Ultimately, they are doing it because it’s fun.

I thought it would be a great photographic opportunity to go and get some shots of people in costume and I wasn’t mistaken. There was everything from the serious, to the ridiculous, to the sexy. You can see the photos I took at the convention and see what I mean. Enjoy.

Just a few last minute items to wrap up 2008. An overall good year. As with all years, it has had its ups and downs. I won’t dwell on the downs, at least I won’t air them publicly. But there have been some pretty good ups as well. I purchased my first house in 2008. And the good news, no buyer’s remorse. It needed work when I got it and I knew that going in. Actually, it’s better then I had expected.

I haven’t forgotten about my goal from my last entry, to run in a 5 K race around the time of my birthday. I looked around a little on the interweb and can’t find anything that month in the area. Still, I’m looking and will be consulting with some runner’s I know to see if they can help me find something. In the mean time, I continue to run to reach my goal of being able to run a 5 K by early February. Today I ran in the snow, the only one out there, which is unusual. I quite enjoyed parts of running in the snow. There were parts I didn’t like, such as the icy snow blowing in my eyes. Still, it was an overall enjoyable experience. Also, I changed up my running as I said I would. Five minutes walking, twelve minutes running, three minutes walking, twelve minutes running, then walk home from wherever I am (approximately five minutes).

I also continued with my goal of taking advantage of the proximity of Manhattan and went in last Monday to see some exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I went in with Jim and Danielle who then took me to a restaurant they like followed by a visit to the NBA Store. Not only is Manhattan busy and crowded at this time of year, but the mid-town stores are doubly so. After that, we walked to Rockefeller Center to see the christmas decorations.

I was amazed by the sheer number of people who were there. I figured a few days after Christmas and the crowds would have diminished. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Before even entering the walkway to the skating rink the sidewalk was too crowded to move. I took two minutes to cross from one side of the sidewalk to the other if you were going against the flow of people. It was astounding. Of course, while the decorations were smaller then they appeared when I was a child, they were still impressive and really shouted out, “Christmas!”

I was there for two reasons, on was just to see the display and enjoy the season. The other was to take some photos. You can see the results in the photo section of this website. It was a bit challenging to get a good shot for several reasons. First, it was night and everything was lit by flood lights. Second, the large numbers of people meant you were often getting jostled. That combined with reason three, there was no way to position yourself to take any of the iconic shots of the center. I found myself taking advantage of my stabilizing lens (purchased this year) and ability to review the shots I just took thanks to my camera being a digital SLR. Many of the shots I took were taken blind with me holding the camera at full arms length above my head and snapping away. Don’t get me wrong, I’m quite pleased with the results and you will be too.

That’s it for now. Here’s wishing you a very happy and healthy New Year.

So much to do. Prepping the house to move in. That’s one thing. But then there is the start of the school year and the usual, “Uh oh, all those things I tested suddenly decided not to work on the computers when people choose to use them.” The one thing is interfering with the other thing. No, I’m not talking about the computers, I’m talking about my life.

I have a job so I can afford a house. But, I can’t work on the house because I have so much going on at work that I’m worn out when I get home. Today there was a long day at work followed by a short bit of work on the house (with the help of Jim $). It was off to work early to finish configuring servers for the work the lab aides needed to do following the district wide assembly. Then it was trouble shooting and followup e-mailing until I was the last one out of the office at the end of the day.

Then Jim and I swung by the house to move the laundry machine out of the entry way to the Kitchen, and push the fridge to the side a bit too. Why you ask? Well to put the piano in the kitchen of course. No really. I’m having the wood floors in the dining room and the living room refinished. Since the piano can’t go up or down stairs (it’s a very heavy piano) it had to go in the only other room on the floor. Now, the clothes washer is moved too, and will be moving out when I have the chance. I don’t really want a washer in my kitchen.

The next move with the living and dining rooms will be to pull up the old carpet which literally tears with the slightest provocation such as pushing a whopping great upright piano across it. I also have to tear it up on the stairs and in the upstairs hall. And, by tear it up, I of course mean to dance. Which will of course be followed by the removing of the carpet.

But before any tearing commences, it’s another day at work trying to figure out what I thought I already figured out, only now it doesn’t want to behave the way it behaved when I was trying it before. Stupid computers. Stupid carpets.

As Dave would say (I think dave would say; Dave would you say?), I got me a bunch of first world problems.

That’s an excellent question. I have been mum recently. Well, I have been embarking on one of the biggest undertakings I have ever undertooken. That would be the purchasing of my first home.

For the past 12 to 15 years (I have a bad memory for dates) I have been renting the same apartment. It has been great in many ways. I have had freedom here to make noise as you only have in the middle of a town or the middle of nowhere. I’ve had several bands which practiced here and I even shot part of my movie here (perhaps I tell you more about this some day).

However, in the past few years, the town has been getting louder then me. I’m also tired of giving someone else my money every year and having no control over my environment. It is well time for a change. Thus, I began looking earnestly for a house this summer. My searching paid off. I was fortunate enough to find a house I could afford in a neighborhood I never thought I could. Afford. Good price and excellent taxes (for the area).

Of course, such a deal does have it drawbacks. For one, the house is in the need of some work. By some work, I of course mean a lot of work. The work began in earnest today as I convened a work party. You see, While I have lived in the same place for many years, my friends have not. I have always been willing to help when they wanted with their moves. It turns out, they too are happy to help out when asked. And what they did was prep the walls fixing cracks in the plaster and painting the dining and living rooms. It’s amazing how quickly such work gets done when everyone pitches in. But of course, there will be lots to do beyond just those two rooms.

But there is good news on that front as well. Several of us have a lot of house work to do for various reasons. What we discovered was working together was not only efficient but fun. We are considering having smaller, weekly work parties changing houses each week. Knowing someone is coming over to help out will make me focus on what needs to be done and to focus on preparing. Of course, with everything prepped and started, there is no excuse to not continue the work on my own.

Anyhow, that’s where I’ve been. Buying and now prepping my new home. Yep, I’m now a homeowner.