Pat Glennon's Annoyingly Boring?

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?

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

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.

Project 365 // Day 136

Project 365 has been costing me about $10.00 in batteries per month. I usually try to have a spare handy, but got caught off guard today. So I snapped this one with my camera phone as I restocked. I should be good for about 45 days or so now.

Project 365 // Day 135

Before meeting his maker, as part of Fathers' Day Surf & Turf Pig-out Fest 2008, this lobster gets hypnotized and does a headstand.

Project 365 // Day 132

Been enjoying JPG Magazine's site in the last few days. It's a photography magazine where the content is all user generated. Great shots abound and I have uploaded some of my favorites to play along. One of the current "photo challenges" currently ongoing is "Spirals". I submitted this shot for that grouping. There are some amazing shots in the Spiral group, but I think mine measures up. Get it? 'Measures up.' Oh, I kill me.

Project 365 // Day 130

Day four, and supposedly the final day, of our heatwave. Was outside giving some of the plants drinks because they are all looking rather sad and just started fooling around with the hose. Didn't come up with anything else that was more intriguing today, so here it is.

Project 365 // Day 129

My birthday is on the 9th, in fact June 9th. On the 9th of each month as I go through this project 365 I will post a self portrait.

Despite the emptiness of the mailbox on this shot, there were some birthday cards in the mailbox today.

This shot was inspired by similar shots posted at jpgmag.com

It was a tough shot to get right and I reserve the right to try again later in the project!

Either way... here is this week's entry...

The #twit2fit activity on Twitter has slowed a bit after the initial buzz, but I am sticking with it and trying to post #twit2fit updates regularly.

This week I talk about my exercise regimen a bit. Most of this journey has been heavy on diet and light on exercise. Recent days have seen a reversal in that trend. I find myself being a bit lazy when it comes to food choices, but picking up the activity level. I have been on the treadmill more regularly, been working with dumbbells and my stability ball, and making sure my crunches and push ups are getting done. The result is pretty much the same in terms of weight loss (still hovering) but I am feeling some changes in my fitness so I don't feel too bad about that.

For what it's worth any loss/gain within a pound or two I don't consider statistically relevant.

 I answer a couple view mail questions and fulfill a request in some fashion. I will try to be more responsive in upcoming offerings in terms of working in comments/suggestions etc.

 As always don't forget to check out the other guys that I've been doing this with... Scott, Jim, Jeremy, & Nuke Dad. This week the music is not new.

While I usually try to pick something that has been released in the last few weeks or months, this week I set the way back machine to 1991 and dragged out Ned's Atomic Dustbin.