It might’ve bugged me a bit less if it was a photo I’d uploaded to my myspace account, but it isn’t–it’s straight from my Flickr account. And while above the image, the text reads “Featured Myspace profile”, the link led to a website for that beer daredevil character–I think it’s for Bud Lite.

I’m fairly new to Flickr (less than a year) and I’m learning more everyday. This is the first time I’ve seen one of my own photos used w/out permission, though I’ve read about it happening to many others. I’m wondering if this is something worth pursuing, or if it’s one of those facts of flickr life.

edit: Sent an email off to Myspace Customer Service yesterday. I received an auto-response stating that I would receive an email shortly.

I’m still waiting…

By this time tomorrow, Ren and I will be, if not home already, on our way. It’s kinda weird; I feel like we’ve had a pretty full handful of days here; and while the time to leave seems to have suddenly come upon us, I don’t have that feeling of, “Hey, where did the time go?” Maybe I’m ready to be home, too; or maybe it’s just that I can’t wait to share some 15 year old scotch with some friends!

August 2005, originally uploaded by ebilflindas.

Tonight–or rather, early, in the wee, small hours of tomorrow morning, Ren and I will embark on our first big road trip together! We will be spending the Thxgiving Holiday with my brother, Chris, up in San Francisco.

I can’t wait. It’s been almost six years (since before Ren was born) since I’ve been up there.

He’s already been twice.

If I’m unable to blog on the trip, I’m sure I’ll at least have pictures posted on flickr as we go along, or at least from my cellphone.

Pictures are up (104!) from the SDCCS (Ren’s school) Jog-a-thon. It was a blast–the kids really got into it. Of course, they were part of the first group to go, so they had all their energy to burn off still. Regardless, it was awesome to see all these kids running and having fun–not like when I drive by some public schools and see kids just kinda draggin’ their feet around the track.

Come check out the photo set at flickr.

You can also click here to view the slideshow.

You might not know this, but I’m an ordained minister. Sure, it was a mail-order kind of deal. Well, actually, I don’t know if the word “order” is appropriate. I simply sent a postcard to the Univeral Life Church stating that I would like to be ordained, and they made it so.

Although I did it on a lark, my intent wasn’t to demean the honor and prestige of the position. In fact, I’ve had the honor of officiating wedding ceremonies for two good friends. And they were beautiful ceremonies, if I may say so. I did my best to arrange each one to be uniquely suited to each couple.

And while I know that the marriages themselves are no reflection of my service as the matrimonial officiant, there is a part of me that is disappointed that only one of those unions is still intact. Questionable, yes, but intact nevertheless.

So I decided that I would no longer offer my services as an officer of matrimony. I did not want anymore to put two people together who would only either split up or live unhappily ever after. I once even stood by this decision when another friend asked this service of me. While I did not enjoy telling him no–that since I had only met his fiancee once and otherwise don’t know a thing about her, I did not feel comfortable doing that for him–I was proud of myself for holding to my principles on the matter.

He said he understood, but I haven’t heard from him since. I wonder how they’re doing…

Anyway, so when I happened upon this seemingly mismatched couple, you would think that I wouldn’t have even had to think about not putting them together. And you’d be right. The thought of not joining these two never crossed my mind.

In my silly, mildly-twisted mind, I thought, how better to enjoy an ice-cold Pepsi than in a sensuously curvaceous Coca-Cola glass?

Of course the partnership didn’t last very long. Shortly after they’d been made one, the Pepsi ran off–with me, in fact–leaving the poor glass empty, cold, and alone.

I must confess, though. I’d do all over again.

(click image to see the whole sequence)

Testing the F470′s digital zoom and continuous shooting function. This guy was about 50 yards from the shore. Not too bad, considering I wasn’t using a tripod and I had Ren running around me, splashing through the water.

Sundown over the the pier, originally uploaded by ebilflindas.

…the Bug and I spent our 4ourth of July in Ocean Beach, with some friends. We got there nice and early, to enjoy hassle free parking and a couple hours of a relatively sparse beach crowd. At one point, there was nary a clear pathway from the sand to the water’s edge. I had to remind Ren more than a couple times to not step on blankets and towels, as initially, he would simply beeline directly to or from the water, veering only to avoid a prone or supine sunbather.

After 15 hours of revelry (well, perhaps it was more like 30% revelry/70% keeping an eye on Ren) we called it a day. Had we made it, say, 17 hours, we probably would’ve had a shorter drive home. Still, it wasn’t that bad, and even if it had only taken us 15 minutes, Ren still wouldn’t have been conscious when we hit the driveway. We slept the kind of sleep that only comes after a day of walking in the Sun and sand and splashing in the waves.

Speaking of which, the Bug seems to have made friends with the waves. By the end of the day, he was leaping off mounds of seaweed into the knee-deep froth of smaller waves. Even when he’d get a faceful of ocean, he’d pop up sputtering, but smiling.

mr_fusion, originally uploaded by superstyleychick.

This is Kit.

He’s a blogger and a podcaster.

I “know” Kit from a community of podcasters/listeners that hangs out in a chat room known among members as “The Neverending Story”. It’s called that because there’s always someone online, and one only has to say a word, and the story continues. Members of this chat span the country, from Southern California to New England, but between the highly lively chat, the various podcasts produced, and social websites like myspace and flickr, the chat has become another hub of human contact in every member’s day. Not to sound overly-cliche, it’s something of a virtual water-cooler where everyone meets to hang-out for a minute, tell some jokes, bitch about work, share links to flickr pages or the latest find on break.com, and otherwise to just get to know one another. Several of the members have actually met in person, a lot of them met at last year’s Podcast Expo, and this further strengthens the camaraderie and overall connection between the members.

I just met Kit for the first time on Friday. I met him in the Medical Intensive Care Unit of Scripps/Mercy Hospital.

He was found (where, I don’t know) by passersby lying in the road near his motorcycle. He was unconscious and not breathing. They called 911 and performed CPR.

The three closest chat-members (nlinus, Kat, and me) met for dinner, as visiting hours had closed for the afternoon, and we had to wait until 8 pm for the evening visiting hours. When Kat and I made our way to the hospital, nlinus, whose wife and four year-old son had joined us for dinner, offered to have my four y.o. son hang out with them while I went to visit Kit. nlinus rocks in many ways.

Anyway, so I come to the point that this whole ramble was about. I got to meet someone whom I’ve only known as a person at the other end of a computer connection, except that meeting was at his MICU bedside, with him in a coma, and me trying not to feel awkward as I introduced myself and delivered greetings and words of love from the neverending chat.

If you’ve got any good thoughts to spare,  Kit could sure use some

Wet feet, originally uploaded by ebilflindas.

So, for some reason this photo has gotten a few compliments. I simply took this shot for the flickr group, ► Where I Stand…, which is just what it sounds like: a collection of photos of where [you] stand. I snapped this one off just to have a submission to offer the group, so when I receive comments of appreciation for it, I'm taken by surprise.

When I take a moment to look at this photo, though, and try to take myself out of it, it really opens up to me. It's kind of a visual koan, an exercise in detachment, to look at a picture of your own feet, but to not see them as your own.