The Illusionist

Woke up. Looked at the clock.

4:33. Again.

This happens far too often.

I'm awake. No good reason. Crap dreams, not quite nightmares. I do much better awake.

Ever have one of those days?

I was just reading an article in MAKE magazine (cool as hell, thanks stark0228!) on aerial photography using kites, and I carried this to the idea of using a camcorder instead of a still camera, and using helium balloons instead of a kite. Tethered and controlled, this would make for some amazing really expensive looking crane/helicopter shots.

Then I found out this was actually one of the ways that early Hollywood did those crane/helicopter shots. Bigger scale: think hot-air balloon, but the idea is the same.

Of course, now I want to make a lightweight camera head that uses R/C servos for control...

Well, hell.

I didn't realize that Barb was coming to the house today.

I think I'll go to Menards.

60 concrete blocks. 36 lbs. each. 2160 lbs. Plus 5 60-lb. sacks of mortar mix. Almost 2500 lbs.

Hey, it's cheaper than a gym membership.

So I was gonna cook up the nice ultra-lean ground sirloin that I had in the 'fridge and make up some sloppy joes.

It was spoiled.

So I broke down and went to Milio's. Picked up a long skinny Godfather with hots. Yummy.

Sadie is sad since Barb left. She was happy to see her, but since Barb was only here for half the day, it wasn't enough for Sadie to get used to her, so it's an up-and-down.

For my part, I went to Menards. Moving a ton of bricks in 90-degree heat seemed preferable. I know I'll pay for it tomorrow, but I did drink a bunch of water so I wouldn't get dehydrated. And I certainly did sweat.

And a surprise phone call from theatre_nerd was a nice capper. Sounds like she had a good time at Demicon, even though it was in Des Moines.

I'm going to go hide now. Curl up in bed and watch Underworld and laugh at Kate Beckinsale, who is much prettier than a turnip, and spend some time comforting my sad, sad dog.