Happy Halloween!

Dusty Whittlesea

On Tuesday there was a NPR story about the online world Second Life. I went and checked it out, and by Wednesday I was totally sucked in.

Here is my alter ego, Dusty Whittlesea, at the coffee shop.

At any given time, there are something like ten thousand people logged in to Second Life that you can interact with. Tomorrow I might check out a concert--as far as I can tell it's an actual concert that is webcast through Second Life.

The time-sucking black hole of Sims is nothing compared to Second Life! If you'd like to join me, the software is free. Look me up and I'll show you where the coffee is. I'll do my best to remain available in the actual world as well.

Wildlife

Behold, the Great Blue Heron!

I snapped this fuzzy picture with my camera phone near the 10th tee at Arrowhead golf course. Arrowhead is right next to Cicero swamp, so there are tons of frogs and birds and such.

Rae's Birthday!

Today is Rae's birthday! One of my lovely nerd-wife's favorite presents is the Cadillac of label makers, the Dymo LabelWriter 400 Turbo. For the record, I did not get her this. I was much more romantic (external hard drive).

It apparently can make some mad crazy labels, but for now we've only made this little tester.

Farm Work

Tiger Wins PGA Championship

Tiger is pumped, he won the PGA Championship (last major of the year).

And that's not even the half of it. He's won five tournaments in a row: the British Open, the Buick Open, the PGA Championship, the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, and the Deutsche Bank Championship. Totally ridiculous.

At the end of the 1999 season and beginning of the 2000 season, Tiger won six in a row. That tied Ben Hogan for the second-longest streak in history. The longest is held by Byron Nelson, who won eleven straight in 1945.

Tiger knows how many five is.

Sectional Championship

Man, I wouldn't want to be that ball. Seriously. She is crushing that thing.

The miracle season of 2006 came to an end at the Sectional Tournament, where Rae's team faced district champions from as far away as Long Island and New Jersey. They put up a good fight though.

Congratulations to the Net Workers on a spectacular season!

There was a professional photographer there this time. He was, of course, naturally drawn to Rae and her mad skills. Here are a couple of shots which I lifted off his web site, Event Photographs. Notice how Rae doesn't actually touch the ground when she plays. The team photo is my work, as you may have guessed.

Rae's Team District Champs!

Okay, so this is kinda old news at this point, but I am determined to catch up with my blogging!

There they are, with the district trophies! This was a close one, it came down to the last game of the last doubles court, which of course went to a tie-breaker. I thought I was having a freaking heart attack.

Nothing soothes a near freaking heart attack like ice cream. Here's Rae with team captain Jenny at A-La-Mode. Check out those district-champ smiles!

Rae's Team Victorious in Binghamton

Following a dramatic victory in the final match of the regular season, Rae's tennis team pulled through to win the district championship. Hurrah for Rae! That's her with the champagne.

Despite being undefeated, they had been in second place most of the year. It took a win in their final match to secure a spot in the district championship. Everyone drove down to Binghamton on Saturday to watch them tough it out in the 90+ degree heat, and in the end, they won four out of five courts. On to the regional championship next weekend!

Camera Phone

I got my birthday present three days early, a spiffy Motorola Razr phone! Thanks Honey! It has a camera, so I feel very 2006 (2005?). Dusty thought it deserved a closer look. Should be very handy for unexpected blog-worthy events.