Chuck Grimmett

Archives

Tag: Project 365

  • Day 234 – Ashland / Palm Pre

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    Ashland University

    This morning/early afternoon, I went to Ashland with HankD and Jackie to go to Fin Feather Fir Outfitters. While in Ashland, we stopped at Ashland University, where Jackie went to college. Above is a photo of one of the buildings on campus.

    A note on my Palm Pre: I found out today that it is possible to put the phone into developer mode and install third party apps. My Pre just got 20x better! This is wonderful, as the Palm App Catalog is still in beta form, and has very few apps. Visit PreCentral.netArchived Link to see how to do it.

    As of right now, I have a Google Voice app, a better Twitter client, a DOF calculator, a tip calculator, a scientific calculator, a unit converter, a Google Mobile web apps launcher, an iTunes remote, an IP address revealer, a flashlight app, and a quick dial application installed.

  • Day 233 – Motivational Speaker / Pepsi Natural

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    Motivational speaker and football champ Joel Penton spoke to the incoming freshman at Amherst High School today.

    Impulse buy of the day: Pepsi Natural.

    My Mom and I went to Target to pick up a few things, and I saw Pepsi Natural sitting on the shelf. I’ve heard of the Pepsi Throwback and the Mountain Dew Throwback (which was excellent, and I heard it is coming back for 8 weeks in December!), but this was the first I’ve heard of Pepsi Natural. I decided to buy a pack of four bottles. The minimalist label instantly pulled me in, then the ingredients set the hook: all natural cola made with sparkling water, natural sugar, and kola nut extract. Also, it is in a glass bottle! I am a sucker for things like this. I am normally not a big Pepsi fan (besides for the occasional Mountain Dew and Sierra Mist Ruby Splash), but I decided to give this a try.

    The taste test: It is a lot smoother than regular Pepsi–no bite like the regular variety. The color is a lot lighter, too, so there is less carmel coloring. In fact, there is apple extract and carmel for coloring instead of just carmel. If someone put Pepsi Natural in a glass and asked me to identify what major soft drink it is a variety of, I definitely would not pick Pepsi. It actually reminds me a lot of a diluted Coca-Cola Blāk, Coca-Cola’s coffee flavored cola. Pepsi Natural has hints of coffee and a slight nutty flavor mixed with other spices, which I can’t put my finger on. It is pretty good, though.

    According to Pepsi, it is only available in ten regional markets: Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas and New York. If you want to try some, order it online, or take a road trip!

  • Day 232 – Bottling Wine

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    I spent the evening at my Aunt and Uncle’s house tonight where my Dad and Uncle bottled some wine that my Uncle made. Here are some photos:

    The clean bottles:

    Clean Bottles

    Corks soaking:

    corks soaking

    The wine:

    the wine

    Adding sweetening and flavoring:

    Adding sweetening and flavoring

    The bottling bucket:

    bottling

    Bottling:

    bottling

    And finally, corking:

    Corking

  • Day 231 – Girls Soccer Seniors

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    I’ve been taking sports team photos for Amherst Steele High School this week. In the middle of taking headshots of the seniors on the girls soccer team, the four seniors wanted me to take a quick shot of them together. (I made sure they were okay with me posting this after I took it.)

    Girls Soccer Seniors

  • Day 229 – Candle Photos

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    I was in the picture taking mood tonight, so I decided to take some photos of a candle that is part of the centerpiece on our kitchen table. Which one do you like best? What could I do better? Click on the photos to view them at a larger size.

    Flash, off-camera left
    Flash, off-camera left
    Flash, off-camera left

  • Day 228 – Hanging out a the Pool

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    Today, my Dad’s side of the family had a party at my Grandma’s house. Amanda joined us! Here are a few quick shots:

    My Dad:

    pool party

    Some of the family:

    pool party

  • Day 227 – Amanda’s Post

    Hello everyone! As you have probably deduced from the title, this is not CAG posting, but his girlfriend. I would first like to apologize to Emily Fisher and all of Chuck’s other avid readers for posting after 12:00 AM. We just returned from swimming with Sean Nelson, Lydia Witte, Nick Bonominio, and Erica Gigliotti in Grandma Grimmett’s pool. We finished swimming about an hour ago and were sitting by the pool talking when Chuck realized that he would not return in time to update the “CAG Blag.” He had a few ideas in mind for tonight’s post but was concerned about sacrificing quality for immediacy and decided to allow me to post in his stead. I have been teasing Chuck for quite some time about letting me write a guest post, so I am excited to finally take my place amongst the prestigious ranks of Cag Blag Guest Posters.

    Chuck returned from his annual trip to Lake Chautauqua at 1:30 this afternoon and stopped by to visit me for an hour or so. I was sitting outside reading while my family’s dog, Otto, patrolled the front yard and chased away squirrels. Otto is easily excitable and has not done well with Chuck in the past; he jumped, slobbered, and mouthed his way onto Chuck’s bad side. Chuck was always very patient and tried to pet or play with Otto to calm him down but it never seemed to work. Today, however, we decided to take a different approach and follow the advice of dog behaviorist, Cesar Milan. Chuck was instructed not to “look, talk, or touch” until Otto was in a calm/submissive state. Once Otto calmed down Chuck fed him Cherrios to build his trust. This worked wonders and I am happy to say that Chuck and Otto are finally on good terms. In fact, Otto became so comfortable with him that he decided to lay down at his feet. It will be interesting to see how he reacts the next time Chuck comes to visit.

  • Day 226 – Three Lessons of Freedom

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    In this interview with Reason.tv, the Foundation for Economic Education’s President, Larry Reed, gave three lessons of freedom we are in danger of forgetting:

    1. Government can provide you with absolutely nothing except that which it has first taken from somebody else.

    2. A government big enough to give you want you want, is big enough to take everything you have.

    3. A free people are not economically equal, and an economically equal people are not free.

    On an unrelated note, I saw a young eagle today, perching in a tree outside of the Akin family’s house. Here is a quick shot I took right before it flew off:

    Young Eagle

  • Day 224 – Miller Bell Tower

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    Here are a few shots of the Miller Bell Tower at the Chautauqua Institution. The lake was pretty rough today, so I only took a few shots, then Brad and I brought the boat back to the dock.

    Miller Bell Tower
    Miller Bell Tower

  • Day 223 – Beautiful Sunset

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    Today was a beautiful day! Here are two shots of the lake as the sun was going down:

    Beautiful Sunset
    Beautiful Sunset

    Here is a shot of me riding the jetski:

    Jetskiing

  • Day 222 – More Thunderstorms

    The weather has been pretty unpredictable these past few days.

    While Brad and I were out on the boat this afternoon, and the sky and radar was clear when we went out. We ate lunch out on the lake (some sandwiches we picked up earlier) and all was well. We were a good distance away from the dock, and we kept traveling farther away. All of a sudden, one of us looked back, and the sky behind us was very dark and ominous-looking. Not wanting to get soaked, we decided to make haste back to the dock and try to beat the storm. We had to head into it, but we hoped we could go fast enough to get through it before the rain started coming down.

    As we went into the dark clouds, I think we went through the actual front. As soon as we went into area covered by dark clouds, the air was instantly cooler and the wind hit us. Within a few minutes, the rain started to pour. Then it started to pour really hard. That would have been fine with us for the rest of the trip back to the dock, but lightning was coming down pretty close around us. Close enough that the thunder was shaking us. Luckily, there was a restaurant on the lake with docks we could tie to and get away from the lightning as quickly as possible.

    We ended up ordering a few appetizers so we weren’t just using the restaurant as refuge. Luckily, the storm passed as quickly as it came. I checked the radar, and another line of storms was on its way, so we hightailed it to the boat and motored back to the dock. Just as we got back, the second line of rain came in, so we made it back just in time.

    For the rest of the week, we will be a little more attentive to what is happening with the weather. Hopefully I will have some more photos tomorrow!

  • Day 221 – Lightning on Chautauqua Lake

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    There was major lightning before the full-blown thunderstorm rolled in tonight, so I hurried out and took a few rough shots:

    Lightning on Chautauqua Lake
    Lightning on Chautauqua Lake
    Lightning on Chautauqua Lake

  • Day 220 – Philosophical vs Utilitarian Arguments

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    Brad and I drove up to his house on Chautauqua Lake this morning. On the way, we discussed some of the recent health care issues taking place in this country. (We also discussed various other things, but that is not the topic of this post.) While discussing the arguments against the health care reforms and how effective these arguments are, I was reminded of the importance of using philosophical arguments to win these types of battles.

    Though utilitarian arguments are useful for certain situations, I think individuals defending liberty ought to seldom use them. Most utilitarian arguments are single-use, since they are special tailored to each situation. If you are going for a one time, quick win, utilitarian arguments can be very useful and the statistical evidence can be easily shown to everyone. Defenders of liberty, however, need to focus their arguments a little more long-term. The downside to using utilitarian arguments is that, because they are tailored to each situation, one might need many additional arguments in the future for all the new situations that arise. “You’ve won the battle, but not the war” seems to fit this–a utilitarian argument shows why one should support/oppose X but usually says little to nothing about all situations similar to X but with different particulars.

    Philosophical arguments, on the other hand, strike at the root of the issue. If one can convince others that X is wrong on philosophical grounds, other arguments in the future on issues with similar foundations can be avoided. Instead of convincing people that your position on a single issue is correct, you can convince them that your philosophical outlook is correct and it will cover a whole range of issues.

    As for arguing against the proposed healthcare reform, instead of attacking it as costly and poorly designed, defenders of liberty should try to convince people using one of these arguments or something similar:

    Using coercion to justify and fulfill one’s preferences is wrong.
    Stealing money from individuals to support other individuals is wrong.

    Of course, there are many other ways to argue against the proposed health care reform. Here is a good article I recently read from the Center for a Stateless Society on a market anarchist approach to health care.

  • Day 218 – Google Voice

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    My Google Voice account got activated! (If you do not know what a Google Voice account is, visit http://voice.google.com/.)

    My number is: (440) 941-7247

    Call, text, or leave me voicemails!

  • Day 217 – A Beaver on the Vermilion River

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    I went kayaking on the Vermilion River after dinner today (or should I say half-kayaking and half-hiking?). The Vermilion River is too shallow, at least right now on the part I went on, to easily navigate with a kayak. I had to climb out and carry it around trees and across shallow areas countless times. I am not going back on that river unless we get a lot of rain!

    Anyway, while I was at a fairly deep bend in the river, I spotted a large brown animal on the east bank in front of me. As I got a little closer and saw its tail, I realized it was a beaver! I was delighted to see one, as I heard they were making a natural comeback in the area. I had my Dad’s camera in the dry bag, so I quickly got it out, but the beaver saw me and slipped into the water before I could take a photo. I did see its handy-work on a couple trees right next to where I spotted it, so here is a shot of a tree gnawed by the beaver:

    A tree gnawed on by a beaver

  • Day 216 – Long Exposure Art

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    If you ever wondered how the long exposure art (a.k.a. light graffiti) shown below is created, Sean and I put together a short guide about it. Everything below was created in camera, not effects put in with a photo editor afterwards. Download the PDF to see how it is done! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at cagrimmett@gmail.com

  • Day 215 – Wedding Part 3

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    More photos from the Ferber wedding:

    St. Joseph Church in Avon Lake:

    St. Joseph Church, Avon Lake

    Angie & Bill:

    Bill & Angie

    The happy couple cutting the cake:

    The happy couple cutting the cake

  • Day 214 – Ferber Wedding Cont.

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    As promised, here are more wedding photos. Some info: the ceremony was at St. Joseph’s Church in Avon Lake, then we took photos by the lake in Avon Lake and at a formal garden in Birmingham. The reception was at the Ferber house.

    Below are some photos of the bride & groom and the wedding party. Bill & Angie wanted the photos to be a little laid back, so I did not pose the groups very much (note the guys with their hands in their pockets and the bouquets at the girls’ sides). Click on the photos to view them at a larger size.

    Bill & Angie Ferber
    Bill & Angie Ferber
    Ferber Wedding Party

  • Day 213 – Ferber Wedding

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    Today my first hired wedding photography gig! It was Bill and Angie Ferber’s wedding. I just got home and I have over 1900 photos to edit, but here are a few of the reception hall. I will post some more once I edit them. Tomorrow will be a solid day of editing for me!

    Ferber Wedding Reception
    Ferber Wedding Reception
    Ferber Wedding Reception

  • Day 212 – Trout

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    I took this photo outside the Castalia Fish Hatchery on the Cold Creek in Castalia, Ohio. The hatchery raises rainbow trout, and these guys are the ones that got out. They live freely outside of the hatchery where people like me can come and take photos of them. Click on the photo to view it at a larger size.

    Rainbow Trout in Cold Creek

    A little bit of an update on my schedule: the professor I had for my constitution class went on sabbatical all of a sudden, so I got an email from the registrar telling me I have to pick a new class. I decided to opt for the honors section of constitution at 9am MWF with Dr. Portteus.