This blog has moved to http://leounfinished.com

I can't get enough of Switchfoot's new single...check it out

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9lg7Utdnyk]

Posted in: on 9.21.2009 at at 15:21    

While reading about Bertrand Russell I read this self-assesment he wrote for his autobiography, it resonated so much with me that I truly hope I can say the same thing about myself when I reach old age:

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.
I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy—ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness—that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what—at last—I have found.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.
Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.
This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

What kind of self-assesment would you like to be able to write at then end of your days?

Posted in: on 9.18.2009 at at 15:46    

This gave me a good chuckle today!

[Via: Passive Aggressive Notes]

Posted in: on 9.08.2009 at at 11:57    

I woke up this morning and these were the three first things than ran through my mind:

1. Is it me or for every quiz result I hide in Facebook ten more new ones show  up?

2. I love coming home at the end of the day and hold my baby…to find out she has a poopy diaper :-|

3. What’s the point of ‘hiding’ people on Facebook if they still show up on the ‘Highlights’

Very sad when two out of your first three morning thoughts are about Facebook…and I don’t even like it. 

Posted in: on 9.02.2009 at at 07:41    

My bear picture is being featured on The Consumerist this week. I took this picture at The Lake Superior Zoo this past July (click picture to see original). Too bad I couldn’t get that close to the live bears without a thick glass in between :-)

I’m falling more in love with photography every time (can you tell by the previous posts on this blog?) if you are in the Twin Cities area and in need of some photography services let me know, I’m probably the cheapest photographer you can get.

To see some more of my pictures you can go here.

Thanks Consumerist for the love!

Posted in: on 8.22.2009 at at 11:41    

This past weekend we were able to escape to the awesome city of Duluth, MN and of course I was able to take some pictures. Now, most of the time I take some decent pictures and I feel pretty pleased with the results but sometimes there is that one picture that I just don’t know where it came from, is like BAM! a big slap on the face followed by a crotch kick, you get the point.

Honestly I think it’s all luck, like many awesome photos, it’s all about being in the right place at the right time and pressing that button on the right moment.

For a while I’ve been entertaining the idea of overexposed pictures, now, overexposure is not something you want in your pictures and to use it as a technique it’s a gamble, the picture will either turn out really good or just one big crap. By no means I think I’ve conquered the technique, I don’t think I’m able to pull it off at will but somehow the picture above turned out just the way I wanted with no intention whatsoever. A little tweak here and there…voila! my best picture ever.   

I also been playing with bokeh and out-of-focus pictures. Again, I’m pretty pleased with the results but nothing like that overexposed picture…not yet. Check out my best pictures of the month so far in the album below or visit my flickr page

View Full Album

Posted in: on 7.07.2009 at at 21:21    

Best Infomercial ever

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWRyj5cHIQA]

Posted in: on 6.29.2009 at at 16:11    

The best father’s day I’ve EVER had…. :-)

Posted in: on 6.21.2009 at at 13:36    

Yes, yes…that’s it…No, no, no…you are doing it wrong!

Why people who are in charge of the photoshoots do these things?

[Link]

Posted in: on 6.20.2009 at at 09:26    

It doesn't really sit very well with me the whole idea of having "followers" in Twitter, it sounds cultish, it sounds egocentric, it sounds center-of-the-universe-ish, whatever...you get the point. But if you are going to follow me, make sure you follow the right me.

Today I realized a friend of mine was following someone with my name thinking it was me, it was funny. It made me think though...back in my country both my first name and last name are not very popular, I actually used to get teased a lot growing up in school. Once in the US and with the birth of Google, whose mission is to control the world, I soon realized how common my last name was and even realized there were one or two other dudes with the same first name and last name as me. That doesn't include the illegal immigrant who stole my ID but that's another post.

So, if you are into Twitter and are going to follow me I'm not the one who describes himself as: "Just a crazy boy who should've been born a vampire."

Posted in: on 6.19.2009 at at 15:01    

Hmm…I wonder what would happen if I opened the bag a different way…

Posted in: on 6.11.2009 at at 08:51    

The other day someone told us: “Do you think you have enough photos of Jannike? :-) Just like new parents... just remember you have to do the same for all the rest to”

Being parents for the first time is funny business. You do things you probably won’t do again with the next kid, and the more kids you have the less they get from you…so younger siblings are definitely not raised the same way as the firstborn. This has its advantages and disadvantages, how do I know that? I’ve experienced it myself and I’ve seen it in other families too. Of course, this is a generalization but it is pretty common.

I don’t know if I will have more kids or not, but if I do, I do know that future kids will not be raised the same way as our firstborn. You see, as first time parents we do so many things first time parents do, even though we try not to it is almost impossible not to. Tonight we are taking our 7 months old daughter to swimming lessons, yes I know…that’s a very first time parent thing to do. Can a 7 months old really learn how to swim? I don’t think so. However we want Jannike not to be afraid of the water when we go to the beaches in Venezuela, so this is more about exposure and less about hoping she’d learn how to swim. But again, I’m pretty sure we’ll do many more things like this…music, gymnastics, ballet, languages, art, singing, etc…

Posted in: on 6.10.2009 at at 10:51    

Once again Jon over at Stuff Christians Like brought the word and said it way better that I could ever had. This is a must read, not only this post in specific but his blog as a whole. Enjoy.

"...My guess is she thought having kids would make me more wise, more mature, more patient… more something. She had an expectation about what parenthood would change about life. A lot of Christians do too. And it’s not insignificant:

We think the birth of our children will reveal to us the very face of God.

While you might not use those exact words, at some point, someone in your Christian circle of friends has said one of the following things to you:

“I really didn’t know God until I had kids.”

“When I became a father, I finally understood how hard it was for God to send Christ to the cross.”..."

Read more: Asking our kids to be mini jesus [Stuff Christians Like]

Posted in: on 6.09.2009 at at 08:46    

My wife bought a new swing set for daycare and this thing was just insane to put together. According to the instructions they said it would take 2 people 8 hours to put together...dang! That means it would have taken me like 2 weeks to do it by myself. So, she requested the help of some daycare parents and these guys in their awesomeness volunteered to put this together for their kids. On the other hand I always wanted to make a timelapse video, but never really had the opportunity or the time to do it, so this was a perfect chance. I personally think I could do a much better timelapse than this, but since this was my first time I just wanted to keep it simple and see how it worked. So you are watching over 6 hours of video compressed down to a little over 4 minutes. Ah!...Enjoy the music courtesy of http://freemusicarchive.org/

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.831844&w=425&h=350&fv=]

Posted in: on 5.31.2009 at at 22:41    

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Uz-dPANDY&feature=player_embedded]

Posted in: on 5.25.2009 at at 10:22    

Americans are always wondering why other countries hate them. After living here for so many years I’ve learned to see why other countries feel the way they do. However it is unfair to judge a whole country because of the bad example of a few or the stupidity of its government…but still…we should do a better job at NOT doing the things expressed in these lists.

• The Real Top Eight Reasons Others Hate America
• Top 10 Excuses People Use To Hate America

Posted in: on 5.20.2009 at at 20:26    

30-something african-american bro’ driving a small black 99' saturn with a cocker spaniel riding on the back seat parks in front of my house. He is being followed by a +50 white guy with gray hair riding a bicycle holding in one hand a liquor bottle inside a brown paper bag. African-american bro' looks both ways and pops the trunk open and gets out of the car while the cocker spaniel stays inside watching the zone. The white guy gets really excited when he sees the bro' and a huge smiles appears in his face. African-american bro' looks at me through my window, I freeze. After looking both ways he reaches inside the trunk and produces a clear sandwich-size ziploc bag with what appears to be "herbs" in it. He looks at me again, I'm still frozen. He rolls the bag while looking both ways and hands it over to the +50 white guy, who still has a big smile across his face and hasn't realized I'm watching.

Thoughts start running through my head “what should I do?”, it’s like an bad car crash, it’s ugly but I can’t stop watching. “Will the police do something?” by the time I dial the number they will be gone. “Should I get up and get the car license?” Again, will the police do something?.

In the meantime, +50 white guy after quickly examining the contents of the bag, still smiling, hands the bro' a small roll of what appears to be cash. Turns his bike around and rides away into the sunset. African-american bro’ takes one last look at me and hops into his black saturn and drives away. All I can think is “I should definitely tweet this and blog about it!”

Posted in: on at at 20:06    

I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason, took my order first. 'I'll have the strip steak, medium rare, please.'

He said, 'Aren't you worried about the mad cow?'

'Nah, she can order for herself.' I replied.

And that's when the fight started...

Posted in: on 3.23.2009 at at 10:06