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Day 165 – Weekend Recap

Life, Project 365

Jun 14

First of all, thank you Joe Teets (nonarchist) for doing my updates for the past two days on such short notice. I flew home from New York on Friday, come home for 20 minutes to repack, then drove south to Ohio University for the weekend for my cousin’s graduation. We stayed in a cabin, which I assumed was going to have internet access. On the way down, I found out it was not going to, so I called Joe and asked him if he could do two guest updates while I was gone. Thanks, Joe!

Anyway, the graduation ceremonies at OU were nice, including an excellent speaker, renowned photographer Herman Leonard, who delivered an impromptu speech. The ceremony was a little strange, however; nearly all of the lights were off! All of the lights were on when people were filing in, but as soon as commencement started, they were all turned off, and spotlights were used to direct attention to certain areas. Here is a shot I took while the graduates were filing in:

Also, here is a candid shot I took of my wonderful Grandma while we were taking family photos outside with the graduate:

As always, click on the photos to view them at a larger size.

To finish off my weekend, I went to Amanda’s graduation party, then went to see the new Star Trek movie with Amanda and her best friend Amanda. Tomorrow, I have a dentist appointment at 10:30 a.m., then I am spending the day around the house getting some work done.
Day 164 – Another Guest Post

Project 365

Jun 13

Hey, it’s Joe again posting in the place of Chuck, who is out of town probably shoving his camera in the faces of unsuspecting strangers. Thanks again for letting me post the last 2 days, thereby making my contribution .547945% of Project 365!

I saw The Hangover last night (overrated in my opinion), so that got me thinking about summer blockbusters in general. So I decided to look up what other summer movies we can look forward to, since the ones so far haven’t been all that great (I guess Star Trek was pretty good). The remaining ones I am looking forward to are:
Year One (June 19)
Public Enemies (July 1)
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (July 15)

Those are the only ones I can think of that I might see. I know I left out Transformers 2, but I think Robot Chicken summed up every Michael Bay movie quite nicely. What other good summer ’09 films am I forgetting?
Day 163 – Guest Post

Project 365

Jun 12

Unfortunately, Chuck is MIA today, so the Nonarchist will be filling in for him today and tomorrow in order to keep Project 365 alive.

I have posted some comments here on the CAG Blog in the past, always signing as the Nonarchist, but I figure in the interest of full disclosure, I will reveal myself (don’t cover your eyes, I didn’t mean it like that). My name is Joe, and I have been a friend of Chuck’s for 4+ years now as a former coworker and fellow freedom lover. Chuck and I have had many a discussion on the vast benefits of a free society, and I hope we have many more in the years to come.

My life isn’t nearly as interesting as Chuck’s, so I will leave it at that for now. One more post from me tomorrow, and you will be back to your regularly scheduled programming on Sunday. Thanks for reading.

Joe
Day 162 – A Contest

Project 365

Jun 11

Yesterday during one of the question and answer sessions at FEE, one of the professors, Gene Callahan, brought up this hypothetical situation for the students to think about and attempt to answer, then he revealed the actual answer to us. So, since I occasionally ask questions on here for people to answer, I am going to post this one. Also, I will make it a contest. The first person to post the correct answer and valid explanation will receive a copy of Gene Callahan’s Economics for Real People.

Post your answers in the comments on this post. I will leave the contest open until 12:00 a.m. EST June 20, unless someone gets the answer correct before then. If someone gets the answer correct, I will post it in my update for that day, as well as notify the winner and post a comment stating that the contest is closed. One entry per person.

Please note: Attendees of the FEE seminar this week are excluded from winning, since you heard this from Callahan during the session. I will notify the winner and mail him or her a copy of the book.

So, here is the question:

Let’s say that Pink Floyd’s 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon sold 5 times as many copies than their 1971 album Meddle. Does this mean that consumers valued Dark Side of the Moon 5 times greater than Meddle?

(Note: These might not be actual sales numbers; this is a hypothetical question.)

Again, post your answer as a comment on this post. Answers must provide a valid explanation to go along with the “yes” or “no”.
Day 161 – Manhattan Adventure

Project 365

Jun 10

The lectures and discussions at FEE ended a little earlier than normal today (we did not have any lectures or discussion after dinner), so 5 of us decided to take the train up to NYC for the evening. We wandered all around Manhattan and had a lot of fun. We didn’t know each other before Monday, so it was nice to get to know each other.

Here is what we did: We took the train from Irvington to Grand Central, then walked 30 blocks from Grand Central to the huge Strand book store (42nd to 12th, but probably a few more since we had to go over a few blocks, too). Books there were well-priced, so I bought 3 that I found: two books on various an-cap topics, and a book on faith. We then walked up by NYU, then found a pizza place and ate some really good New York style pizza. This was around 10:30. We walked around the NYU area a little more, then found a subway and took it to Times Square, where we walked around for a while, then make our way back to Grand Central in order to catch the last train back to Irvington.

I left my SLR camera at home, but I borrowed Dad’s point and shoot for the trip, so I took some photos during the adventure. View the gallery. (I appreciate you letting me borrow your camera, Dad!) Here is a quick shot I took at Times Square:

Don’t forget to check out the photo gallery!
Day 160 – FEE, Second Day

Life, Project 365

Jun 9

Today was my second day at FEE (but the first full day). The seminars have been great so far! A few of my friends from Hillsdale are here, so I have enjoyed catching up with them in between seminars. Here is a shot from the room that the seminars are in:
Day 159 – Arrival at FEE

Life, Project 365

Jun 8

Today, Brad Akin and I made our way up to Irvington, NY for a week of lectures at the Foundation for Economic Education. After a short flight, two taxis, a train, and some lunch, we crashed in the hotel room for a few hours, then went to the first two lectures at FEE. I will post some more photos tomorrow.
Day 158 – ASHS Graduation

Project 365

Jun 7

I took photos at Amherst Marion L. Steele High School’s graduation ceremony tonight. Here is a shot of graduate Josh Gonzalez shaking the Superintendent’s hand after receiving his diploma. View the Steele HS website for three more photos.

I apologize that this post is short today. I got back from the graduation pretty late (I hung out with Amanda and her friends afterwards), and I still have to finish packing. I leave for the airport at 6:30 a.m. Ahh! So much to do before then!
Day 157 – Hammock

Life, Project 365

Jun 6

This is what I like to do in the summer–lay in my hammock. I frequently substitute a book for my laptop, though. (By the way, I am posting this while I am out in my hammock.) Other things I like to do: take photos, shoot trap/skeet/sporting clays, read, and spend time with family and friends.

People are coming over at 6 p.m. for a birthday party, so I might take some photos if the light is as nice as it is while I am writing this.
Day 156 – Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Project 365, Thoughts

Jun 5

I thought a little bit this evening about how much Hillsdale has challenged and changed my ideas, just over the last year. What started this tonight was that I read a note from my friend Matt Stone, who is interning in DC this summer. He went to a lecture hosted by the Leadership Institute, and the speaker, Ian Ivey, stated that Bastiat’s The Law was the greatest book written in the history of mankind. When I read this, I immediately thought, “how absurd!”. I like The Law, but is it the greatest book in the history of mankind? Of course not!

Anyway, before I went to Hillsdale last fall, I would have agreed with Ian Ivey. In fact, I think I did agree with him even though he did not make that statement yet. I was also a big fan of Ayn Rand–a position which I have also rethought and dropped since going to Hillsdale, reading some of the Great Books, and beginning my study of the permanent things. These are just a few of many of my ideas that have changed. I now frequently find myself debating my friends about things I did not think about, or that I would have agreed with them on a year ago. Thank you Hillsdale, Dr. Birzer, Prof. Siegel, Dr. Jackson, Dr. Freeh, Matt Stone, David Wagner, the honors program, and all of my friends, for starting me on the path to becoming more humane.

Oh, and Matt: I think I am coming around like you hoped. I may not be a history major, but I am coming around. Keep pushing me. I think it is working.

On a different topic, I spent the day taking photos at different schools around the Amherst school district, at the request of one of the administrators. View the full 154-photo gallery at the Amherst site. The photos are entirely unedited, so many of them may be a little dark or have a bad crop. I think they are pretty good for being straight out of the camera, though.

Plans for tomorrow: I am going either trap or sporting clays shooting in the morning, then hanging around the house in the afternoon, preparing for a birthday party we are having here for one of my cousins.
Day 155 – Urban Photos

Project 365

Jun 4

I am pretty drawn to urban photos, which puzzles me because I get bored of urban areas after a few days. My fascination with urban photography can probably be explained by the fact that the photos usually only capture the beauty of the city, not the immense amount of people, noise, and (usually) garbage that big cities have. I took the above photo around the Atlanta Underground a few weeks ago.

Today was a pretty good day. I took the day off of work, slept in, ran errands for my mom, did all of my laundry, and went on a bike ride with my parents. This evening I am continuing work on a website and reading. Around 1 a.m. last night, I started rereading Tolkein’s The Hobbit. Since it was so late, I only read for about an hour. I will probably read for about an hour tonight, too, since I have to go around to all the different schools in the Amherst school district to take photos to stockpile, incase they need them this summer. Since I need to go to all of the buildings, I am going to start early so I can be finished by the end of the school day. By the way, WWDC is next week! I can’t wait to hear Apple’s new announcements.

Oh, and here is an odd bit of info about me: My favorite food right now is sausage. I have eaten 5 different types of sausage in just the last 3 days.
Day 154 – Fat Fish Blue/HOB

Life, Project 365

Jun 3

Tonight, Amanda and I ate at Fat Fish Blue Archived Link in downtown Cleveland, and then went to the concert at the House of Blues that I won tickets for. (Pete Yorn and Ryan Humbert) The music was alright, but not something I would have paid for. Amanda liked it a lot, though, so that was good. Fat Fish Blue was definitely the best part of the evening. Our food was excellent, and we actually left the concert a little early so we could go back to FFB for dessert before it closed. We ate the famous Carpetbagger for dessert. For those who don’t know what it is, here is the description on the menu: “the amazing chocolate sack, loaded with sponge cake, fresh fruit and Godiva white chocolate mousse.” Excellent. Since I did not take my SLR with me, here is a shot of FFB from their website:

The rest of my day was enjoyable as well. I only worked until 11, then I met David Wagner (a friend from Hillsdale) for lunch, and hung out for the rest of the afternoon. David is an excellent baker, so we made a batch of really tasty cookies while catching up on each others’ summer so far.
Day 153 – Hillsdale in WSJ / Birzer Pre-Order

Project 365

Jun 2

Hillsdale was in the Wall Street Journal today! Read the article.

Also, Dr. Birzer, one of my history professors at Hillsdale, has a book coming out next February, and Amazon has it available for pre-order. Here is the cover:

Dr. Birzer has authored and co-authored many other books. I suggest checking them out.

One more thing to check out: I took photos of a preschool party that one of the classes at Steele put on today. Check out the gallery. A few photos towards the bottom are not mine, but most of them are. The rest of my day went just fine. I worked until 4:30, then went out to dinner at Famous Dave’s with my parents, then worked on a website for the rest of the evening. I am off to the House of Blues tomorrow evening, and I will probably eat at Fat Fish Blue beforehand, which should be pretty good!

Also: Props to Jacob Shalkhauser for informing me of typos on my post yesterday. I do not always carefully read what I post, so make sure to call me out on any errors you find.
Day 152 – Update on Life

Life, Project 365

Jun 1

I have been posting lots of photos and thoughts lately, and I have neglected to post about what is going on in my life, so I will do that today.

First of all, I would like to thank those of you who emailed, called, or talked in person to me about what I posted yesterday. I greatly appreciate it.

I am staying in Amherst for the majority of the summer. I can not go to San Francisco to work, as I thought I was going to do. Financially, I couldn’t swing it. Long story. So, I am working for the Amherst school district again, as well as doing photography and websites on the side.

Next week, I am off to the Foundation for Economic Education in New York with my friend Bradley for a seminar on Austrian Economics. I am pretty excited about that. I will be gone from June 8-12. Then, as soon as I come back, I am driving down to Ohio University to see my cousin Lindsay graduate. I should be back some time on the 14th. I have a few other things planned for later this summer, but I will mention them as they grow closer.

I have enjoyed my time being home so far. I have had lots of time to relax, hang out with friends, read, and think. It is nice not to have to write papers constantly, but that will come soon enough. (One of my friends mentioned that I have to go back to Hillsdale in only 13 weeks! I am sure that will go very quickly.) I hung a 3’x4′ dry erase board on the wall right next to my bed so I can sketch out ideas and leave myself reminders, etc. It has only been up for two days, but I have enjoyed it so far. It is close enough that I can sit on the edge of my bed and reach the entire thing. I love dry erase boards!

–I think the government controlling 60% of GM is utter nonsense.–

I won a pair of tickets today to see Pete Yorn and Ryan Humbert at the House of Blues in Cleveland on Wednesday night. I was listening to 88.3 (The Sting out of BW), and I called at the spur of the moment when I heard the giveaway. It turns out that I was caller number 3, and I won the tickets! So, Amanda and I are going to the House of Blues on Wednesday. That should be fun! Wednesday should be a good day. I am only working in the morning, and I am meeting David Wagner for lunch in Vermilion to catch up on each others’ summers thus far.

Anyway, that is a quick update on what is going on in my life right now. I am currently working on a website for someone right now, so I am going to get back to working on that. I will have another post tomorrow!
Day 151 – I Would Like Advice, Please

Life, Project 365

May 31

I have been struggling with this question for quite some time, and it came up tonight, which rekindled my thinking on it:
How do you ask a man behind the counter for a soda when you don’t think there is a man there?

You could use Pascal’s wager on this and say that you can only gain by acting as though the man behind the counter exists. For example, if you act as though he exists, you have four possible outcomes: 1) he exists and you get a soda, 2) he does not exist and you get no soda. In either case, you either win (get a soda) or stay neutral. If you act as though he does not exist, however, you also have two outcomes: 1) he does exist, and you get no soda because you acted as though he does not, or 2) he does not exist, and therefor no soda, but you expected this. In this second situation, you either lose (not getting a soda when all you had to do was believe the man was there and ask) and stay neutral. Pascal would argue that I should act as though there is a man behind the counter and ask for the soda, because that situation is the only one where there is a positive outcome. He is exactly correct. (Plot it out on a matrix if you are having trouble understanding.)

There is a problem, however, if the man behind the counter can tell whether you actually believed he was there or not, and used that knowledge to determine when to give you a soda or not. In this case, he only gives soda to people who actually believe he is there and ask for the soda. So people who come up to the counter using Pascal’s wager (acting as though they believe and thus asking for a soda, but not truly believing) can never win. Either way they act, they lose–if the man behind the counter is there, that is (if he is not, people who do not believe he is there are no better or worse off).

You are probably wondering where I am going with this. I am going to be honest–I have been struggling to figure out what I believe, especially about God. I am unsure whether I believe in God or not, and I have been thinking about it A LOT lately. I have talked to many people about this, and a few have told me that I should ask God to help me, for faith is a gift that God gives you. One even cited Pascal’s wager (kind of as a joke, but he turned out to be serious) as to why I should ask God for help.

Well, apply what I wrote above to me asking God for guidance in sorting out my beliefs. In this case, from what I understand from listening to other people’s beliefs, motivation matters to God. So, if I were using Pascal’s wager, God would be like the man behind the counter who only gives you soda if you truly believe he is there, not if you are just using Pascal’s wager and do not believe. Therein lies my problem; I am still trying to figure it out, so I cannot definitively say that I believe. In fact, since I am trying to figure it out, one would have to say that I do not believe. Since I do not believe, I would only be using some sort of Pascal’s wager if I asked for guidance. Let’s say that God does exist. As far as I can gather from what people believe, my motivation for asking for guidance from him would be off. Since I have the wrong motivation in that situation, where would that get me? Most likely nowhere. If God does exist, would He want me to lie to myself and falsely address him when I do not believe? Would it not be better to be honest with myself?

I have another issue here: I cannot bring myself to earnestly talk to someone or something that I am unsure is there or not. It does not make sense to me. Let’s say there is a curtain that is in front of me, and I am unsure whether someone is behind it or not. I cannot move this curtain–all I can do is ask whether there is someone there or not. I would prefer to be able to ask and either 1) get a response, in which case I would know there is someone there, or 2) get no response and be able to know there is no one there. I tried this with God and got no response. One of my friends told me, however, that God does not work that way. He might not give an answer. My friend said that no answer did not mean that God was not there, and I had to have faith.

You could say I am pretty lacking in the faith-area. I guess I do not have it. If in fact it is a gift, it looks like I have not received it. (By the way, I think there is a difference in faith in God and faith that someone else will pay you back when you lend to them. In the second case, you most likely base that “faith” in how that person has acted in the past. If it is someone you have never met before, I would say that you probably don’t care whether that person pays you back or not. You probably take a quick guess on whether that person will pay you back or not if it is a large sum of money given their appearances and how sincere they seem. That was probably a bad example, but anyway, I think there is a difference between faith in God and other types of “faith”.)

What do I do? Does anyone have advice for me? Has anyone gone through something similar? I am struggling with this, and it is bothering me. If you do not want to leave your advice in the comments, email me. I will keep it confidential.
Day 150 – Portraits, Portraits, Portraits

Photography, Project 365

May 30

I took portraits all day today, starting with my cousin and her daughter in the early afternoon, and Michelle in the late afternoon/evening. I learned a great deal about how to use off-camera strobes and different outcomes from different setups. Please check out the galleries and let me know what you think.

View the gallery of Michelle’s portraits.

View the gallery of Kristi and Madi’s portraits.

Here are a few samples from the galleries:
Michelle:

Kristi and Madi:

Don’t forget to view the galleries! Michelle – Kristi & Madi
Day 149 – Spider Holster

Photography, Project 365

May 29

Today, my cousin sent me a message about something new to carry your camera: the Spider Holster. View the press release. I am going to get one as soon as it comes out!

Note: This image is a screen shot from spiderholster.com.

Tonight I went to see Angels and Demons with Amanda. It was a pretty good movie, but I did not know how long it was! It started at 9:35 and let out at midnight! So, I know what most of you are thinking right now. Yes, this post is retro-dated. I posted it after midnight, after I took Amanda safely home after the long movie. I will try to be more aware next time.

Photography side note: I took photos of a class playing with rockets today at the high school. You can see the photos at the Amherst School District’s website.
Day 148 – Scenes Around Steele

Amherst, Project 365

May 28

I spent part of the day taking photos around Steele High School. Here are a few shots of the Senior Steak Fry and some students in the TV studio:
Day 147 – Analytics Report

Project 365

May 27

Download the 13 page analytics report for cagrimmett.com. The report shows stats since I started the project 365 on January 1. It has some pretty neat data in it, so check it out!

The weather was rainy most of the day here, so I did not take track photos as I expected to. I am hoping to get out and take some photos tomorrow afternoon.

Oh, and I am addicted to the iPhone/iPod Touch word puzzle application TextTwist Turbo. It is a must-download for anyone with an iPhone or iPod Touch. Props to Sean Nelson for introducing it to me.

In other news, if you like party mash-ups, check out Mash-Up Your Bootz. They make wonderful mash-ups, and provide them to the public as a free download on their site. I have been listening to their stuff all evening. Props to HankD for telling me about Mash-Up. Girl Talk is also really good.
Day 146 – More Smoky Mountains

Project 365

May 26

As promised, I posted more photos from GSM National Park above. They are best viewed large, so click on them!

Today I worked for a while, then come home and cooked dinner for my parents (no big feat, because it was Zatarain’s Dirty Rice Mix, which you really only have to cook ground beef for, then let everything cook together, and how hard is that?). Then, I went to Crocker Park with Sean and Lydia, where we went to Borders, Barnes & Noble, the Apple Store, and then Aladdin’s for dessert. I bought two books: a Linear Algebra book to prepare myself for the course I am taking in the fall, and The Essential Lighting Manual for Photographers, which I am really looking forward to reading. It is well designed, and it has great examples and diagrams for all sorts of lighting scenarios. Hopefully soon I will post some test photos I take while going through the book.

If you are looking for something to read, Dr. Bob Murphy had a good post about Memorial Day over at his blog, Free Advice. In his post, he explains many of the same feelings I had when I attended the festivities in my town. I suggest reading it.

Oh, by the way, I miss Hillsdale. A lot.
Day 145 – Manuel & Cara

Photography, Project 365

May 25

This is another off-camera strobe test. The strobe was off to the right on the ground, and I fired it with my Canon ST-E2.

Manuel and Cara are a wonderful couple who I had the pleasure of meeting this year at Hillsdale. They both look tired because they just finished their last final exams of the semester about an hour before this photo was taken, and I don’t think Manuel slept the night before. They just happened to walk by while I was testing my skills with off-camera flash, so I persuaded them to model for me. I am pretty sure they both took naps right after this was taken.
Day 144 – Subjective Burger

Life, Project 365

May 24

I went and shot a round of trap and a round of skeet this morning. The people at the Gun & Reel club on Middle Ridge Road are very nice and super friendly! I like shooting there.

After I got home, I decided to make myself lunch (my parents are on a cruise, so I am on my own for the weekend). I looked through the fridge, and decided to make a burger.

I dubbed it “The Subjective Burger,” because there were no objective measurements involved in making it. I went on what I thought tasted good, how much spice looked like enough, and how long it cooked until it looked done.

Instructions:
Mix enough ground beef for a large burger with shredded cheese, black pepper, crushed red pepper, garlic powder, and Famous Dave’s Devil’s Spit bbq sauce. After it is well mixed, form it into whatever shape burger you want. Then, throw it on a hot grill. While it is cooking, grill some bacon and thick slices of bread (lightly butter the bread first). The bacon burns easily and quickly, so watch it closely. Cook the burger to your specifications (in my case, medium), making sure to put a mound of shredded cheese on top before you take it off. Yes, the cheese melts and drips all over the grill, but the taste is worth the cleanup afterwards. (If you don’t think so, add less cheese. Remember, this is the subjective burger!)

I do not care for vegetables on my burgers, so I ate just the burger with the bacon and ketchup on the grilled bread. I also ate Sunchips and pickles on the side, with lemonade to drink.

What a tasty lunch! If you want to try this, let me know how it turns out. Feel free to substitute or add anything you want. My subjective preferences are not your subjective preferences, so do not feel bound to what I mixed together.

Here are a few photos:
Day 143 – Chris Volante

Project 365

May 23

Here is another shot of Chris Volante from The Sharp Edges:

I had a nice day today. I slept in, got a haircut, then spent the day with HankD and Jackie. We went to the new Quaker Steak & Lube in Vermilion, then went putt-putting and got ice cream.
Day 142 – The Sharp Edges

Photography, Project 365

May 22

Tonight, my friends The Sharp Edges played at the Tower City Amphitheater. Here are some photos:
Day 141 – Another Collab Photo

Project 365

May 21

Here is another photo from the Night Lights & Illum collaboration. This one has our stencils in it!

In other news, I am safely home from my trip to the south. I had a lot of fun. See the last 8 days on here to see what I was up to.

Also, I now have an email address at the Seasteading Institute!
chuck@seasteading.org

I will still use my GMail account for all of my personal stuff, but I am excited to have a Seasteading email address!

Chuck Grimmett

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