davegkugler

Marcus Eaton @ Crocodile

2007-01-27T16:57:00.000-08:00

070124 - Marcus, accompanied by Jon & Nate. Very cool show, the lighting was amazingly better at Crocodile than those I shot previously at Nectar. A couple of others on my Flickr, then check out Marcus's site for updates.

Manly Craft Project

2007-01-16T23:36:00.000-08:00

Topic: reupholstering dining table chairs
Tools needed: staple gun, philips screwdriver, foam, then [ahem] fabric

My living room chairs have been well worn for some time. I bought them at Dania over three years ago and they have lived up to great abuse (and my habit of leaning back in them). Time does take its toll, however, and they are due for some tender care and updating.

The frames remain in good condition on three chairs, but the padding is now mashed, misshapen and lumpy, and the fabric is food and / or paint-stained. Long story short, both are in need of replacing. The forth chair is in a slightly worse state of disrepair and has spent the past several months in my closet; it needs structural work and re-gluing before the new covering, which will be another project.

The most important part about recovering chairs -- plentiful stapling. Here's the overall process: remove seat (turn over, unscrew) > remove old fabric and foam (rip, tear, bite) > pull staples > cut foam to fit (i.e. template then add 1"+) > cut batting to be slightly larger than foam > start stapling (can't use too many) > use batting to hold foam tightly to seat > continue stapling > once finished with foam and batting repeat with fabric of choice > staple to completion > reattach seat to chair. Below is the visual version.

The featured, ahem, fabric of choice was a nice off-white microfiber. Only three more chairs to go.

Rosa Loves

2007-01-15T22:03:00.000-08:00

I was browsing Uncrate tonight looking at all the cool new products / clothes / toys they've reviewed in the past few days and found a link to an awesome shirt and an amazing story: Rosa Loves.

I'm a fan of this genre of giving (i.e. Extreme Home Makeover) or similar where a few to a lot of people come together to do something nice for people who really need the help. Rosa Loves is such a story. As Uncrate writes: they are real stories, and the money made from sales goes to help real people.

I bought two (1, 2) of their shirts. Read their respective stories here, and here. I was moved and now I feel good; time for bed.

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-25T16:30:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I wish everyone a very peaceful and relaxing Holiday, and the very best in the New Year! =]

Skiing, and ouch.

2006-12-24T09:38:00.000-08:00

I went night skiing Friday at Steven's Pass, and it was awesome. You pay a reduced fare ($30) and the mountain is mostly empty. Surprised to find out, my cell phone actually worked at the top, so I sent a few photos to my Flickr and chatted. It was kind of fun.

The 'ouch' part came right at the end, which was a good thing. My friend and I decided to go through the terrain park and play a bit more. Maybe that wasn't such a great idea, being that it was my first time up of the year [the last two]. I picked my jump, and hit it pretty hard b/c it looked like it needed to be big. Well, I went up about 8-10 feet and forward about 12-15, but ended up landing 2-3 feet shy of the slant and on a flat -- square. Ouch. I landed, went about 50 ft, then crumbled; my back gave out. It was a really strange and very uncomfortable feeling. I can only describe it as compression, and a lot of it. The landing knocked the wind out of me and I tried to roll first on my back, then on my stomach to try to breathe. The latter was better, albeit not by much. After a few minutes my friend came down and I stood up. Ski patrol apparently 'heard' the landing and skied over to see if I was alive or broke anything. They said to come in and get checked out if things felt worse. Well, we finished that run and took one more, and things felt worse. My back was spasming a bit and my quads started burning. My back was relatively stuck in an arched position (looked like I was trying to make my chest big and stick it out), I couldn't really lean forward, and I was walking at turtle pace. They checked my spine, head, vision, etc and confirmed that I had probably only injured soft tissue. The muscle that hurts the most is the one that you use when you do reverse crunches, and when it hurts continuously you can tell how much you do indeed use it.

Anyway, that was two days ago. I was better yesterday, and slightly worse than that today... but I should be good and ready for another trip later this week. I lucked out, and it was minor overall. I happened to have a few hydrocodone (vicodin) tablets remaining from my tonsil surgery -- one of those did the trick. =]

Happy Feet!

2006-12-17T19:43:00.000-08:00

Last night I saw Happy Feet. What a cool movie, I was giddy and smiling throughout the entire thing (there were witnesses). It should be known, I have a fairly established weakness for anything penguin.

The movie was more or less an animated musical, and it had a fairly wide variety of the stuff (imagine a penguin rapping... good visual isn't it?). The storyline followed Mambo in his adventure to figure out what was going on with his feet and their [the emperor penguins'] food supply. Even though it was lighthearted and fun, it still touched on some adult issues: global warming, over-fishing, and religion (ouch).

Some things weren't entirely accurate (if you've watched March of the Penguins, or know anything about penguins you will notice), but I didn't care. Still a few others on the list to see, but happy I saw this one. Check out the trailer at Apple.

The Holiday

2006-12-17T18:04:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I saw The Holiday with a few friends. The movie follows two women who, after being in failed / complicated relationships, decide they just want to get away for Christmas; they meet online, house swap, and the movie details their adventures.

There was some really good acting by Kate Winslet, and it was enjoyable by Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, and Jack Black. The story actually wasn't too predictable, which was nice. There were also some great tributes to classic comedy and film.

Probably not the best movie to see after being dumped, but still a good one. It inspires one to realize the holidays are about being with family and those we love, which I plan to. Check out the trailer at Apple. I could have waited for the video, but it was the kind of movie I like to see around this time of year.

Beautiful Sunset

2006-12-17T21:00:00.000-08:00

The motivation has returned! Not sure what sparked it, probably the desire to stay as busy as I can. Anyway, last night it was relatively overcast but I thought there was some potential for color. I checked a sunset / sunrise timetable and headed to Kerry Park. I got there about 20 minutes prior to sunset and started snapping. Man I missed this stuff. Expect more [photography] soon.

Bodies Exhibit

2006-12-17T18:33:00.000-08:00

This was awesome! I have (really) wanted to see this exhibit for some time now; it has been in Seattle since the end of September.

For those who haven't heard about it, the exhibit features actual humans cadavers and highlights all of our anatomy, section by section. It proceeds through skeletal, muscular, digestive, cardiovascular, nervous, and reproductive systems. Then, throughout, the exhibit show some of the common malignancies within each (i.e. cancers, developmental abnormalities, etc). The whole experience was amazingly informative. I can't remember the last time I took an anatomy course. But, I learned a great deal while I was there, and the level of exposure and detail should be something we all see. It took about 3.5 hours to go through the full thing, and was worth the almost $30 admission fee.

Buy tickets or learn more info here, while it is still in the area!

What the hell happened...? Part II.

2006-12-15T20:23:00.000-08:00

I had a few more thoughts, many are restated:

I recently stumbled upon an interesting article posted at CNN online, entitled "What the hell happened to Christianity." It was interesting in that I didn’t expect to be so engaged by the subject, enough to write and or formulate my thoughts on it. I find myself inundated with questions about my beliefs and faith, my intentions, my morals, and the roots of my motivation. My ambition in life is to become a physician -- to take on the privilege and responsibility of helping others in their health. What captured my attention in the article were the contrasting themes of what the fundamentals of Christianity are, and how they are perceived today. Has any of my motivation in life, and what I want to do with it, come from my exposure to religion? What are the major themes of religion, and not just Christianity? In general, because of recent and numerous world events, my personal beliefs and feelings towards religion have been conflicted.

I was born and raised Lutheran. Maybe there were specific religious ideologies that accompanied those traditions and sculpted my world view; more likely is the influence of my parents and their interactions with each other, and everyone else. Regardless of causation, the result is that I feel stubbornly imbued with themes of neighborly-love and helping those in need -- social responsibility, with the goal of never-ending compassion for suffering. From this perspective, it has been difficult for me to reconcile my perception of what Christianity is or has become; or if nothing else, the direction and motivations of its bedfellows. My basis for understanding many religions of the world is very limited, but I naively ask the same questions: have they changed, or are contemporary tenants consistent with history? Thematically, I feel that many of the conflicts and arguments of today seem, in one way or another, rooted in religion. Specific examples could include the debate over stem-cell research and abortion in the United States, or even in some ways the civil war in Iraq.

Since early in my college career I have been trained as a scientist, and for the past three years I have been one in practice. Evidence from direct observation has become my basis for belief. The CNN article used discreet words that well-documented my observations of Christianity today: judgment, hypocrisy, hate, condemnation, and spewed. I would expand this list to include perversion, abuse, misrepresentation, and a condescending use of dogma to exploit both faith and reason. The sad thing is that all of these perceptions appear to originate from the use of Christianity and religion for personal and political gain. This is not attractive, and as the CNN article also stated: "Why would I want to be a part of that?" After additional consideration, however, I will admit that these critiques are a little harsh. They stereotype and as a result implicate large populations of people in a way that is inherently overstated. The actions of a minority, despite their influence, do not necessarily represent the whole.

To append these thoughts, I must clarify my personal definition. Christianity to me has always been about helping those in need, and accepting others as they are. It is the process of utilizing strength from faith, belief, and hope to show compassion. In this regard, religion has played a role in my life, regardless of whether or not someone, or even I myself, may still consider myself Christian. Inevitably that label may not be important.

One last and important comment to make is that the writer of the CNN article was a minister. I appreciate this, and in some ways feel like I can relate more to Christianity and that part of my upbringing than I have been able to for some time. My overall premise is that people are innately good, and religion, be it Christianity or any other, is entwined with themes that are innately good. What I seek in my life, and hope for in the lives of others, is a continuation of the motivation to do good and help others -- wherever the inspiration may come from.

Shrek the third

2006-12-15T13:37:00.000-08:00

The new preview is out as of recently or today, via Digg. This is going to be a good one, I like the little kitty: Shrek the Third trailer.

Photoshop CS3 Beta tomorrow!

2006-12-14T20:30:00.000-08:00

I was reading Wired news this evening, and they have an article on Photoshop CS3 announcing that the beta will be available for download tomorrow. Guess I will be making a visit to the Adobe Labs. Quite excited for a universal build, and to see what the thing can do on a MBP. Photoshop junkie indeed; I'm salivating already!

The coolest wrapping paper, ever.

2006-12-14T07:59:00.000-08:00

I'll translate: "Dear Santa, If you and the reindeer happen to be flying over our house on Dec 24 around 12 AM and you have an extra puppy or kitty that needs a lot of love, please put them under our tree or in our stockings. Love little boy and girl."

What the hell happened to Christianity?

2006-12-14T07:40:00.000-08:00

This morning I found an interesting article on CNN. It is interesting in that I didn’t expect to be writing about religion when I woke up this morning. My personal beliefs and feelings lately have been -- you could say -- conflicted.

I was born and raised Lutheran. Maybe it was the religion specifically, or more-so how my parents nurtured me, but I was imbued with themes of love and helping those in need -- social responsibility you might say, with never-ending compassion for suffering. With this moral background, however, it has been hard for me to relate to my perception of what Christianity has become. I feel this article sums it up well when it uses the words: judgment, hypocrisy, hate, condemnation, and spewed. I am a scientist, and evidence from observation does more to convince me than other motivations. My observations of modern Christianity, at least those I garner from many leaders of Christianity who are in highly public positions (as well as those who claim to be such), are perversion and abuse – misrepresentation, and a condescending use of dogma to exploit both faith and reason. My perception is that this exploitation has been purely for personal and political gain. This is not attractive, and as the CNN article states: "Why would I want to be a part of that?"

The article goes on to talk about abortion and gay marriage... sure these are issues that have, and seem like they will forever, polarize the United States. They are important questions, but the only reason I can see that we are currently talking about them is because politicians have brought them up to galvanize their respective base; they made a bet, as these strategies have paid off for them in the past. I don’t think these questions are important to the debate of Christianity. Specifically, I do not feel one can define him or herself as Christian or not based on the answer to either of those two questions. What I feel is more important for Christianity is to figure out whether it wants to continue to define itself in such black and white terms… or give the impression that it does so. Something for me to continue to think about at least, and maybe others are having similar quandaries.

In other, but related, news on CNN, Harvard dropped their religion course requirement. In ulterior ways this also interests me today and I find it a little sad. At Albertson College, my undergraduate alma mater, I was required to take religion. It is a liberal arts college, and I was required to take a lot of things I might not have otherwise chosen to. Looking back, I have no regrets and I actually feel fortunate to have taken so many diverse classes. I felt studying religion (the course I took briefly covered Christian religion, but mostly other religions of the world) helps me to relate more to people and appreciate our differences. In brief: strange about Harvard, what a strange day in general.

Spendy Pants

2006-12-12T22:25:00.000-08:00

What I learned how to make today: paper-mache pants out of dollar bills. =]

Cell Phones + H20 = Doh

2006-12-11T15:20:00.000-08:00

So I currently have no phone. More specifically, I do not have a working phone. If you have tried to call or text in the last 24+ hours I am sorry but I have missed it. It has been a rough few weeks, and my nerves have been on edge. The lack of sleep and overload on coffee probably do not help... but yesterday I did a brilliant thing. Well, a thing at least. Somehow I managed to drop my cell phone into a glass of water.

There really isn't all that much more to the story. I can attest that this is not a good thing to do, and will say thank you in advance to whomever wants to mention the obvious: cell phones do not like water.

I am glad at least to shift the theme on my blog. No blogging > blogging about crappy and sad things > blogging about funny things. We'll see where it goes from here. Take a look at the photo, if you ever see a red dot in either of the two locations there are below... then I feel for you.

Aperture Arrives

2006-12-11T15:15:00.000-08:00

I've had a demo copy installed since I purchased the new MBP... but I figured it was about time to buy the full version. Proof Dave buys software.

Sometimes life sucks

2006-12-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

This is difficult to write, and I won’t be able to say much: a few chosen words to describe recent events. Life has been hard lately, really hard.

My girlfriend of more than two years broke up with me; she did so the week of my birthday and Thanksgiving. Emotions that can help form resolution after such experiences, like anger, have been hard to muster. Indeed, they would be misdirected. She was beautiful, intelligent, talented and caring – and she ended things in a respectful and honest way. It still hurts, a lot. I am miserable and my heart is broken. Every day is dimmer, and I fight a resolute emptiness in my stomach. She deserves the best, and I hope she finds it elsewhere if she didn’t in me.

I have wanted to be a physician my entire life. It has been my determination and utmost will. This year I applied to several schools, all of which I would be delighted to attend. This week I received a rejection letter from my first choice, UW. I made it through the secondary process, but was not granted an interview. This is challenging to cope with, as I feel an interview would give me the opportunity to express and convey my passion for medicine. Given that opportunity, I would be very convincing. Sadly, my passion for medicine seems destined to not be developed at UW. It is trying, but I maintain hope for the remaining applications.

These past two days I have been at home. Usually this would have been a relaxing and enjoyable break from work, from a busy schedule, from life. The past two days I have been throwing up, with accompanied stomach pain, headache, and fever. I suffered with suspected Norwalk virus. It was a very unpleasant experience.

Tonight I feel better. Even if only slightly, and physically. Sometimes life sucks, and the events that cause it to be so hard always seem to get piled on contiguously. Not all suffering is equal, but all implies terrible pain.

Updated site in a bit

2006-12-07T22:07:00.000-08:00

It seemw like as good of a time as any; an updated version of davegkugler.com will be arriving hopefully by the new year. Be patient, good things will come.

Washington DC

2006-11-07T20:14:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I was able to attend an Inflammation Research Association (IRA, not like the Irish Army) conference in Maryland. It was fantastic, and I definitely would like to try to attend the next -- they hold them every couple of years. The conference was from the 14th to the 19th of October. Since I was already on the East Coast and I don't make it over there very often, I decided to take a day and head into Washington DC. I haven't been to DC in years, and it was really quite cool to visit our Nation's capital. I took a few photos, not many, and they are below. I didn't have a chance to visit all of the museums, which I would have liked to had I have stayed longer, but I did get to visit most of the notable memorials and monuments. I also had lunch in the Supreme Court cafe, which was kind of cool. Subsidized, I must say. I paid $4-5 for a soda and five or six chicken strips. What an interesting city, very beautiful, and had it not been for the wind a perfect day.

Good for you Brit.

2006-11-07T19:11:00.000-08:00

This is as good of news as any to blog about.... Britney Spears is reported to have filed for divorce from her husband (and loser) Kevin Federline.

Better blogs coming soon, but I couldn't resist on this one.

Annoying Text Messages.

2006-11-01T06:34:00.000-08:00

A few of days ago I started receiving text messages from 676800000000 that were news and / or weather updates. It started with one per day, then the past two days it has been four or five. This annoyed me, and I called Verizon to help identify the source.

Being that the weather updates were from Caldwell, ID, I assumed that it was some IM program I had not used since college that automatically signed me up for weather and news alerts. While on hold with Verizon customer service, I did some investigating of my own. Via Google, I learned that 6768xxxxxxxx messages were from MSN Alerts and could be turned off with a quick visit to that site. When the Verizon representative returned I informed him of the source, and told him I had it fixed. Indeed, that was all it took. Not sure why or how I was signed up, but glad to have them stop.

2 for the road!

2006-10-24T16:16:00.000-07:00

Yippie!!! Just what I was waiting for.
Count me in as an Apple user:

MacBook PRO 15/2.33 CTO
Part Number: Z0DQ
2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM-2x1GB
160GB Serial ATA Drive@5400rpm
SuperDrive 6X
15" Widescreen Display
BkLit Keyboard/Mac OS

Estimated ship: 3-5 business days
Delivered within 2-3 business days after shipping

Tom & Connie

2006-09-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

I just finished editing photos from Tom & Connie's wedding the other day (9/16/06). Photos are online pending their approval, but here are some teasers. The service was in Ballard, and then the reception in Fremont. Here are a select few. It was a great time, and a beautiful wedding!

Google Transit.

2006-09-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

This morning there was an article in the Seattle PI about the recently-updated Google Transit (it now includes King County).

Google Transit is not unlike King Country's Transit Website, although it is a nicer interface. Try it in Seattle, Tampa, Eugene or Portland, Pittsburgh, or Honolulu. =]

My bus commute: