Canon 500D

Turning thirty three years of age of recent, we piled up our doubloons and purchased a new digital camera. We went with a Canon 500D: the Digital Rebel EOS T1i. I've been hoping to get a digital SLR for the last decade, so it's exciting to get a camera with lots of possibility. Let's hope it doesn't go in the lake, like our last Canon camera. :D

Texts and Tomes 2-8-2010

     About a month ago, I read Ender's Game by  Orson Scott Card.  A fun science fiction read.  It seemed a little one dimensional on the characters, but the science fiction aspects and plot turns made for a decent book.
     I finally finished the novel Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley.  Written about 150 years ago, it details the adventures of the English battling with the Spanish and their exploits in the New World.  Interesting subject matter, but the book drags on in parts, and I'm not a particular fan of the ending.
     Currently reading Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card.  It's part of the Ender corpus, which is fairly muddled as far as which book fits where in chronological progression.  Maybe that's part of the Science Fiction aspect.

McCall Winter Carnival & Snow Skiing

 Went up to the McCall Winter Carnival last weekend.  It was a fun time.  They have a Mardi Gras parade every year; where people on floats throw bead necklaces.  Helped build a large ski jump for sledding.  Participated in rolling a ten foot snowman.  We even saw a moose snowmobiling.
Also, we've been skiing alot up at Bogus Basin with out season passes.  Though we've taken a small break as Melissa twisted her knee a few weeks back.

New Compy/Water Tower Hybrid

I've constructed a new computer.  It's a watercooling setup, which seems a little counter-intuitive for electronic equipment.  It's been a fun project, and I've been enjoying learning more about water cooling.  While I did construct a mostly new computer, I didn't upgrade the videocard, yet.  I'm thinking about waiting until Starcraft 2 comes out, and upgrading around then.

Torchlight

I've recently been playing Torchlight.  It's a classic dungeon runner, made by ex-blizzard employees.  It's like a cross between Nethack and Warcraft 3 and Diablo II.  Though it is funny to say, unlike online multi-player games, you can pause or stop playing the game whenever you like.  This has really been the defacto for computer games since quite some time, but seems to be changing with MMORPGs and online FPS games.

Bear Valley, Burgdorf, Goldfork

     In the past few weeks, we've visited Bear Valley Hot Springs, Burgdorf, and Goldfork.  As the weather cools down, visiting the different springs becomes a great outdoor experience.

     Burgdorf Hot Springs is under new management, they have added a septic system, and electric solar panels to heat the the changing rooms and provide electric lighting.  As well, they've put some paving stones around the edges of the pool.
     Goldfork was a relaxing visit.  One of the lower pools has a sandy bottom and a waterfall from the upperpool, that made for a perfectly relaxing enviroment.
     My first trip to Bear Valley hot springs was probably one of the last trips to bbe made to the hotsprings without the aid of snowshoes or crosscountry skis.  The walk was a little treacherous, as we didn't take the footbridge the first time, and ended up fording the river a few extra times.  But it was a worthwhile trip and the springs there are gorgeous.

Books and things

I've recently finished the Great Book of Amber, by Roger Zelazny.  The Great Book of Amber is great because it is 10 books combined into one.  Zelazny crafted a fantastical universe where the powers of order are pitted against the forces of chaos, and all the above are continually plotting intrigues.  The book is written in a first person perspective, which sometimes leans into stream of consciousness styling.  A fun read and an interesting universe.