Welcome 2@@7

Lab with SAD...

These short days seem to make 'Tucker' more melancholy than usual. I am wondering if dogs can get Seasonal Affective Disorder. His face has been getting a little droopier everyday. Maybe he is just upset that the holidays are nearly over?

Foggy Morning Walk

Happy Holidays

Built in 1795, by Reveloutionary War veteran Jacob Shook, the Shook House lies close to the Pigeon River in Clyde. It is one of the oldest if not the oldest house standing in Haywood County. Francis Asbury, famous traveling preacher who helped establish Methodism in the United States, stayed in the house in 1810. Revival meets were held in the attic and camp meetings were held on bottom land adjacent to the house. The original part of the house is of post and beam construction.

The horticulture students where I work decorated the home for the holidays. I thought it looked very festive.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS
& A GREAT NEW YEAR!!!

Happy Birthday

all the best for the rest of your life!

G - UNIT 4 EVA

This will be meaningful for a few colleagues. T-shirt available soon :-)

Studying makes all the difference!

Two-wheeled ornaments

There is a theme here.

FilmLoop

Great weekend here. Weather is simply fantastic. I miss the cross-country skiing in Vermont, but it is warm enough to run in shorts by the late afternoon here...for the time being anyway. I am also testing out free photo loop programs. I really liked the ease and flexibility of FilmLoop.

Industrial Blues

Lots of old sawmills around Western North Carolina. This one happens to be very near to where I teach. These abandoned underutilized spaces inspired me to produce some spartan graphics.
Maybe I am just already anxious for spring.

Misty Morning

Another great view off the back of the deck. The fog was really dense this morning and after walking the 'boys' I snapped this shot. There is something new to see everyday.

Rad Santa

Old Bullbunky posted an ornament photo and associated history. In stealing his idea (imitation is the sincerest...and laziest form of flattery), I thought I would post an image of one of my favorite holiday tree ornaments . This is an ornament that my mother got for me from Hallmark a few years ago. It is a fit Santa riding a mountain bike. Of course I took it into Photoshop and played for a while...until something kind of comic book like appeared.

New Snow and Something Grows

Well it started off to be a beautiful morning and as the day progressed a front moved in. When I left work it was windy and snowing. It had snowed almost 1/2 inch by the time I left work and they canceled evening classes. I picked up Mexican food for dinner and by the time I arrived back on Sesame Street there was almost an inch on the ground. They have already delayed the opening of the college tomorrow until 10:00 a.m. It is clear that we are no longer in Vermont !!! An inch of snow...please :-)
The baby is growing and Christine is glowing and barely sleeping since our addition seems to be kicking, grabbing, and moving all the time.

Not quite winter sunrise.

Walking the dogs this morning was a visual treat. Usually we can't quite see to the real Smoky's, but this morning you could.

Odds-and-Ends

It had been a few days since I posted anything, so I thought I would put up a couple of experimental shots that have been highly adjusted in Photoshop. Truth be told someone who knows what they are doing can probably accomplish this stuff with two clicks of a mouse, but I dilly and dally taking the long way home.
I also have been meaning to post two books that I highly recommend. Of course one has been out forever and I just got to it in my stack. The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas Friedman. He made a strong case for what needs to happen for companies to be competitive in the global economy. I really enjoyed the case studies and personally I learned a lot about the computer industry and the ever flattening world. Not that I agree with it 100%, but I think it should almost be required reading for anyone studying management today.

The second book I just finished is Naked Conversations: how blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel. Some of you may already be familiar with Scoble's efforts at Microsoft. I have a personal fascination with blogs and we have decided to make a blog the Internet "Front Door" in my Division at work...so I wanted to do some background reading. The book was actually developed using a blog and they make a strong case for positive results (most of the time) that the two-way conversation a blog can allow can bring to a business...especially a small business, but good examples of the impact of blogging at large corporations is also provided.