Pat Glennon's Annoyingly Boring?

Project 365 // Day 245

My sister, the Ordinary Hero, is a big Red Sox fan. So it wasn't all that surprising that she entered the lottery for the chance to buy Red Sox playoff tickets.

And she was lucky enough to get chosen.

Her only problem was that she's living and working in South America right now.

So, once again cementing her spot as my favorite sister, she offered the tickets to me and my wife. Payment for me helping her clear out of her third floor walk-up perhaps. Picked them tix up today.

Sunday night we will be standing somewhere inside the friendly confines of Fenway Park enjoying Game 3 of the ALDS.

Go Sox!

Project 365 // Day 244

Inspired by Brian at the Blog Without A Name. Box 244 is actually just out of frame.

So, I took another

It's not my PO Box, I don't even have a PO Box. It just seemed that today was the day to shoot the PO Boxes at my Post Office.

While shooting I was approached by a postal employee asking what I was doing and making sure I wasn't up to no good. I must be getting better at explaining my site etc since I think he didn't make me out to be a total loon. I helps that I now carry my Moo mini-cards with my for my site.

originally posted at my blog home: Annoyingly Boring?

Tomorrow morning I will be doing something that I haven't done in 18 years. Not since high school have I been part of a group having a scholarly discussion of the Bible.

Though not super religious, I am a Christian. I attend services regularly. I take part in church functions (I was even spinning cotton candy at the church picnic a couple weeks ago). I have served on the Board of Christian Education.

But lately I have been thinking I need more, there's got to be more. My faith journey hasn't been very journey-ish recently. There wasn't much going on inside me.

It's as though I hopped into the back of a cab ages ago where Jesus is the cabbie. He's ready to step on it. But I haven't told him where to. Cab rides don't work too well unless you tell the driver where you need to go. We've just been sitting there at the curb still waiting for me to do something. The meter's running.

Well, I was sitting in church this past Sunday and an announcement detailing a Bible study of the Book of Psalms caught my attention. The series started last week, but new members are always welcome. I just knew it was what I should do. So I picked up my reference material after services and went out this week and got a new Bible. All the Bibles in the house were different translations and I though it best to get on the same page with the reference material. I have a sitter lined up to take the baby and it's off to church I go tomorrow.

Odds are I will bring the average age of the group down substantially when I walk through the door. But that is alright. I am sure adding some generational diversity to the group will be valuable to myself and others. Plus, another thing I don't do well is mingle at church anywhere. I see the same people week after week at services and functions and don't know most of them, especially those who aren't in my relative age bracket.

I'm not entirely sure what to expect. I go with an open mind and an open heart though. I'm not expecting life changing events, but it will be nice to do something, it will be nice to take a more active role in my faith journey. Maybe the cab will start moving, even if it's just that I just tell cabbie Jesus, "Drive, I'll figure out where we are headed soon enough."

Originally Posted at my blog Annoyingly Boring?

Project 365 // Day 241

We have yet to have a successful try, but try we do. The fact that she is so interested in trying bodes well.

Annoyingly Boring?

I enjoy pizza.

I really enjoy a good pizza.

Last night we had Domino's.

I enjoyed it.

Usually we order Domino's only when the kids' school has a "dough raiser" night. Our local Domino's donates 20% of that night's sales to our kids' school. Aside from dough raisers, Domino's is typically a fair bit down the list of pizza options. I placed the order online (I'm like that) and once the order was placed was greeted by a confirmation page displaying the "Pizza Tracker".

The kids (and I) got a big kick out of watching the progress of our pizza in real time. From receipt of the order, to prep, to baking, to box, to delivery you can watch the progress. Well, you can watch a progress meter. It's not as though you can watch the pie go in the oven. The tracker not only tells you when things are happening, but who is working on your order. Yesterday, Jenn put our pizza in the oven at 4:40pm. At 4:59 Ryan left the store with our pizzas. The kids got a big kick of greeting Ryan at the door by name when he came. I don't think Ryan had been indoctrinated regarding the Pizza Tracker, he seemed rather surprised that my 10, 8 and 6 year old all 'knew' him. Had I not been trying to do four things at once I would have taken a photo of Ryan for my Project 365.

Once you have gotten your pies and chowed down, there is a place on the tracker to rate the experience, from ordering to delivery, to taste. 1-5 stars for each aspect, and a final text box for a brief message on the experience. Online gimmick? You betcha. Novelty? Sure. Still a good idea. I applaud Domino's for the offering. It's not going to make me order from them more often, but if they use it correctly the feedback they capture could be put to good use. Oh, the pizza was good enough for me to stuff my face with left overs when I got home from work last night and again for breakfast this morning. So I guess it's really not bad.

originally posted at Annoyingly Boring?, my blog home.

It's been a while since I updated my myfox blog.  I have been posting away at my blog, but gotten lazy about cross posting. 

Project 365, for the uninitiated, is when you post a new photo taken that day every day for a whole year (calendar year or just 365 days straight). 

I am no professional photographer, in fact I hesitate to even call myself an amateur photographer.  "Photographer" implies a certain level of skill, and while I have taken some shots that I have been fairly proud of there are days where my offering doesn't rise above snapshot level. 

That's OK though.  The goal here is to get better with the camera (I shoot with a nice point and shoot), and to chronicle the year.

Recently I was subject of a profile in the Patriot Ledger.  I was able to sit for a video interview and have some of my photos presented in an online slide show.  Great fun.  Check it out.

I am now up to day 234 on the Project and I haven't posted a 365 photo here since Day 198, so let me hit you with a few of my favorites from the last month or so....

Block Island, RI


Hanover Street, Boston, MA


Sometimes I have to challenge myself not to shoot my daughter every day.


Old South Union Church, South Weymouth, MA


Hingham harbor, Hingham, MA


On the 9th of each month I post a self portrait.  This one captured my mood this day


My oldest son left his baseball cleats on the stoop.  I hadn't captured anything yet that day so....


A-4 Skyhawk Memorial Jet, former South Weymouth NAS, South Weymouth, MA


A toothache had me reaching for the tylenol before bed one night.


I'll try to keep up better here at myfox, but if I don't know that you can always find me at Annoyingly Boring? or you can always subscribe to my feed.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Have you ever thought about starting a Project 365?  Have you already done one, doing one?  I'd love to see your Project.

-Pat

Project 365 // Day 198

Can you guess what we did Sunday afternoon?

Project 365 // Day 197

Saw that the moon was full last night and wanted to try this shot then, but it was too overcast and I already had a good 365 shot anyway.

Tried tonight. Man, it was a tough shot. Holding the camera steady with one hand and getting the exposure correct was hard!

Project 365 // Day 179

I was at my parent's Tuesday afternoon so the way to work was not my typical route. It took me by the Fore River Shipyard. I posted about the Goliath Crane a while back. This might wind up being the last time I laid eyes on it. Little did I know as I drove across the temporary Fore River bridge last night but the dismantling of the crane has actually just gotten underway.

I swear I was driving carefully. And no, I don't make it a habit of taking photographs while driving.

Project 365 // Day 176

Took the kids to Nantasket Beach this afternoon/evening. Played in the ocean for a while then enjoyed some mini-golf, a ride on the Paragon Carousel and some ice cream. Perfect end to a summer day.

I grew up on the ocean, still live nearby. I should do a better job getting the kids to the ocean. The ocean rocks.

If you frequent my site, you know that I take photographs, lots of photographs.

I started my project 365 back in February, but even before that I would often be shooting the world around me. Just a guy taking photos. Pushing them out to you, nobody outside my small band of readers taking much note. And I am cool with that.

But, wait. There's more. I got an email last week from babble.com asking if I would allow them to use a photo I took on the first day of school 2007 as part of a feature article regarding No Child Left Behind.

My first impression was, "Huh? Who's photo?"

If you don't know, Babble is an online parenting magazine. You might remember them because a couple years ago they were part of a dust-up over.... well... photo usage and permission. Oh well, clearly they asked for permission in this case.

They sent me a copy of the article to look over to make sure it was something that I would be alright having my photo associated with, and while it might not be the most balanced piece ever written I agree with the article for the most part. So I told Babble to run with it.

I don't get a dime from the usage, but that's alright. It is exciting just to see my photo on a quality site like Babble. The image is right at the top of the article with the little "Photo: Pat Glennon" on it and there's a link to this site on the last page of the article. How cool is that?

So, go check it out. You can read the article, and more importantly, see my photo on the Babble site starting today! It's even on the front page (although not on the little scrolling image headline thingy. Hey Babble, let's get on that - my daughter is cuter than Lisa Loeb!)

The original image:

EDIT: It's now on the little scrolling image headline thingy!

Been lazy and haven't been sharing my stuff here on myfoxboston.com... But fear not good citizens I am still going strong in my Project 365.  I have been posting a new photo each day, taken that day, at http://annoyinglyboring.com

Here are some recent highlights.....

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Project 365 // Day 152

We went to the Roger Williams Park Zoo today in Rhode Island. Lots of cool stuff, but I was mesmerized by the shells (or carapaces) of the Radiated Tortoises.

I also submitted this to JPG magazine in the "Geometry" category If you have a JPG account I'd love a YEAH vote. If you don't, is it really too much to ask you to sign up and vote?

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Project 365 // Day 160

Well, technically the sun had already set. Another photo from my office looking northwest towards Boston. The two tallest buildings are the Prudential buliding and the John Hancock tower. They are repaving the expressway, normally there's not that much traffic heading into the city at 8:30pm. Took this photo as part of the Daddyshack Scavenger Hunt (don't know if I will use it though) looking for "Sunset or Sunrise"

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Project 365 // Day 166

Howsabout cookie in the sky?

We are into week four of the Daddyshack Scavenger Hunt. There's no competition, it's just for kicks.

This week we upped from six items to ten.

Puppet, Green, Old, Pair, Rocky, Miniature, Bird, Edible, Circle, Handmade

With this shot I pegged three right off the list. That's right it's an edible, handmade circle, known in some parts as a cookie.

Oh, and believe me.... It's edible!!

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Project 365 // Day 167

Another for the Daddyshack Scavenger Hunt. "Old" & "Green"

I played basketball at the South Shore Sports Center in Hingham, MA for years and years with the same group of guys. We were "The Bassmasters". Season after season we played, each season costing about $50.00 a guy to play. Usually 10 game seasons, refs, scorekeeper the whole deal.

We won a grand total of ONE title. The shirt was the Holy Grail.

Haven't played down there for over 10 years. The championship was closer to 15 years ago I'd guess. I will wear the shirt until it disintergrates. It cost me hundreds of dollars.

9:17pm Inbound



MBTA commuter rail train pulling into Abington.  Friday June 27, 2008

I was bouncing around my favorite social networking site the other day, when I was struck by the photo above. Birdie has it captioned with a famous movie quote... "...put your lips together - and blow.".

I immediately thought "Noooooo!" as of course that is how dandelion seeds are spread.

Who would knowingly want to spread dandelion seeds? Certainly not any fuddy duddy grown up who is responsible for the care of a lawn.

So that leaves babies, toddlers, kids of course. And damnit if kids aren't irresistibly adorable when they blow dandelions. They get all excited and squeal with delight. You can't very well stop them when they start puffing those little feathery seeds all over the back yard. And there's no way you can yell at them.

I think it's somehow related to they way babies are cute to charm us into taking care of them. Babies are a one way street of hard work, sleep deprivation and stress. Why do we jump through hoops for them? Why, they aren't even aren't able to show love back to us in the beginning. Kids own us.

It appears as though the dandelion has figured this out! As I commented to Birdie the other night, it's an amazing evolutionary movement. Smarty pants dandelions know that we can't stop kids from blowing seeds all over creation! How many other living things leverage the cuteness factor of our children to maximize their reproduction?

Seed dispersal by adorableness. Brilliant!

Sure dandelions would probably get by alright just waiting for a breeze come along, but then I wouldn't have a blog post here.

Ah the wonder of nature. So, go ahead put your lips together - and blow. Just not in my backyard.

originally posted @ Annoyingly Boring?

Originally posted this to Annoyingly Boring this past Saturday....

I take a bit of a break from the fitness/weight loss kick to beat the drum for the American Red Cross.

You can make a difference if you are eligible to donate blood. So, if you are eligible, get on it!

Music this week is Bread and Water from Ryan Bingham.