oopshaha!

Completely missed out on the month of September! Another year older, not necessarily wiser. Nothing spectacular happened, that warranted a blog entry, and I haven't worked on any fractals recently either. However, Apophysis 2.08 beta 2 was quietly released, so I will be playing with that to see what I can come up with.

I added a link to my favorites (Check It Out) list, for Lunch In A Box, an absolutely wonderful blog/site written by a SF Bay area mom. It's all about bentos, as well as preparations and recipes. I've always loved bentos, but despite the fact that mom was Japanese, I never had them prepared for me as a child. Growing up in Hawaii, I did buy the occasional Zippy's Zip Pac...and even had the opportunity to have authentic bentos while traveling through Japan in the early 80s. Thanks to Biggie at Lunch In A Box, I've decided to get into making bentos. Of course this means being stocked with proper supplies! mwaahaha! I love shopping so... I've already found some great bento boxes and supplies during my trip to Hawaii, and more recently on my trip to Beaverton's Uwajimaya asian market. Because of my odd-ball rotating shift work schedule, I probably won't be taking a bento lunch to every shift, but it will be a (good) challenge to keep on it as often as possible. Plus the portion control will be a tremendous help...health-wise as well as financially. :)

Fractal Zoom

Apophysis flame fractal...zoomed in a bit.

Another vacation

Went to Hawaii again, same time as last year, but for a shorter time. It's getting crazy expensive to travel these days, although I would love to make it an annual occurrence. As expected, I had a great time visiting with my good friends Cynthia, Mariellen & Andrew, and Jessie. We managed to get in touch with Audri, and she joined us for some of the fun. yay!

We did the usual Made In Hawaii Festival and the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet....I was in shopping heaven! We also had fun at Krazy Karaoke in Pearl City! It never fails, we go to karaoke to sing, and end up spending half the time laughing till our stomachs hurt! While we were roaming the MIH show, I bumped into a long-time friend, Gail. It was awesome seeing her again, it had been so long since the last time. She had worked for Aloha Airlines for almost 30 years, and unfortunately, the airline recently went under. All those years, and no retirement. :o(

The weather was totally awesome! The food was excellent! It was a very short 5 days (4 not counting travel) that went by so quickly. I was exhausted by the time I got back home, needed an extra day to recover! I also managed to snag a good deal on upgrading to first class on both flights to and from Honolulu! woot! It helped tremendously to be able to stretch out a little. :o)

Thanks, once again, to my friends, for making my visit a memorable one! Here's to many more visits! Love you guys!!

Mini Vacation

I just finished working six 9-hour days, and yesterday would have made 7 days. I opted to take one day of leave and tack it onto my regularly scheduled 4 days off...so, five days off will do the trick I think! Not doing much during this mini vacation...although I would love to head to Portland for a day, gas prices won't let me do it for now. I may try in a few months. So just sticking close to home, running errands and doing house chores...how fun.

Summer

I have finally updated Firefox to version 3, and all add-ons are current and work with this version. My fave skins, macfox and macfox II, have yet to be updated. I'm not alone in hoping the author is actually working on it, as there are a lot of comments asking for an update since 3 was released. Fingers crossed. Now I can blissfully use both IE7 and FF3, about half and half between the two.

It's been either hot or very warm, and on top of that very smokey and/or just hazy. I don't mind the heat, in fact I don't mind working out in the field in this heat. I just don't like battling with the wasps and yellow jackets, ugh! Been pretty busy at work, ever since Jim left. Sometimes I feel like I'm climbing that giant sand dune...keep sliding back down. I'm hoping they hurry and select someone for the HMT vacancy, especially with Co-op experience, major plus!

Going to Hawaii again next month! woohoo! It won't be for as long as last year's trip, just couldn't get myself to fork out the extra bucks this time. Prices have gone up across the board...airfare, hotel, rental/gas. :o/ I'm looking forward to seeing Cyn, Mariellen, Jess, and the rest of the gang! I'm also looking forward to checking out the Made In Hawaii (MIH) Festival and the Aloha Stadium Swapmeet. :oD Oh, mental note...gotta remember to hit the Costco while I'm there, lots of local goodies and great prices. Oh darn, forgot that the airlines are charging for checked baggage, and overweight baggage. I'll probably mail stuff to myself again.

Haven't had a chance to play with Apophysis lately, but I did manage to render one from my June parameters...

linear variation

Taken from a random batch using linear variation, and tweaked to bring out details and clarity. Not sure what to name this...maybe something like "Thatched". :)

Tiled flame

Added a few more flames to my Picasa album, mainly traditional spirals. This one is a tiled flame...

been busy

Work has been sort of getting in the way of my off time, so I haven't made very many new fractals. Taking projects home to work on was bad enough, but now my most favorite OPL is leaving at the end of April. :o( I've worked for/with Jim ever since I got here, 12 years! He has always been a fountain of knowledge, a great manager, and a friend. Mixed emotions here, as I am so happy for him and Lisa...they'll be going to the east coast close to family, and he's getting a promotion out of this! But at the same time, it's going to tough to get used to him not being there. Needless to say, we are scrambling to get whatever he can pass to us (info-wise) before he leaves. He tells me I should bid on his position. :o dunno.

Anyhoo, here is another flame fractal
(btw there are more in my Picasa albums) ...

Winter Gradient

A nice mix of deep hues make this a winter-time flame fractal. I think I'm ready for spring though. :)

More script goodness

Same script, used on a different flame, and tweaked to bring out the woven basket-like frame. Script provided by Daniel Eaton.

It's a new year

As I look back on 2007, it all seems to be a blur already. Not sure if it is because I'm getting old(er) or perhaps I'm just focusing on what's ahead. Here's to the possibilities and probabilities that may, and will, unfold in the bright days ahead. :o)

A new flame fractal...somewhat fitting for the new year. Dreamcatcher.

Merry Christmas!

Busy Time

Haven't posted in a while...and haven't been doing fractals in a while either. Just been busy with work, travel, and now all the frenzy normally associated with the holidays.

Simple flame fractal, containing mostly linear variation transforms.

In Memory

Michael, the troubles and tears of this world are behind you. Look not at what was, but ahead of you, what will be. May your journey be of quiet peacefulness. You will be missed.

In memory of Michael Pintoff

Nov 1955 - Oct 2007

Mahalo to my friends

Well thankfully Hurricane Flossie decided to spare the islands from a potentially messy situation, and afforded me nothing but beautiful weather during my entire visit. I had a wonderful time! Being back home, and seeing my friends again, is one of my favorite things. It's funny...no matter how long I'm away from the islands, when I'm back it's like I've never left! When I meet up with up with my friends, we always have a great time...lots of fun, reminiscing, and of course lots of laughing. The spirit of Aloha really does go much deeper than just the greeting itself. It is the very essence of the islands, it's in the people. I am so looking forward to the next time I can visit! Mahalo to Cyn, Mariellen and Andrew, Jess, and Patty! I miss you guys already!

wavy flame

Started in Gimp, imported to Apophysis, and tweaked and re-colored. One of my favorites...

Vacation in paradise?

Look out Hawaii, here I come!! I've been counting down the days until my trip back home, for the past six months or so! Now it's almost here, yay!!








what the...






...guess I'd better pack my raincoat

Satellite radio

I have decided to finally hop onto the satellite radio bandwagon. We have one at work, thanks to a generous co-worker, and I am liking the idea of less commercials and more music. So, I've been doing some research and shopping around. Looks like I will go with XM service, but still looking for a radio...mainly for my car, and of course I will probably use the online radio as well. There are lots of radios to choose from, but not an overwhelming choice. Hopefully I will have one by next post.

Strands

More catching up, as work gets in the way. Going on a day-trip in a couple of days...taking my friend Patty to Portland for a trip to our favorite asian grocery "superstore", Uwajimaya...then to a nearby Trader Joe's! Shopping bliss here we come!

Classic Spiral

I've always had an affinity for the classic spiral fractal, and flame spirals are no exception. I find them to be light, refreshing, and comforting. This flame was the result of some transform and gradient tweaking from Liz's Perfect Spiral script.