What I wouldn't do for you

I don't pay much attention to blog stats.  I just chug along daily and give few fucks.  Once in awhile, I click a link or two, more interested in seeing where people are going to and coming from, the latter often times providing me with future blog fodder.

Surprisingly, yesterday's post became the most read (in 24 hours) pile of word shit I've ever written here. 

Surprisingly?

Yes.  I almost didn't bother to write it at all.  I was inspired by all the recent goings on with the 2014 SSWC and the Dirt Rag cover that I doctored with MS Paint (terrible) while between runs at work... and before I forget to mention, it got shared just the right amount on Facebook to be far enough removed from the source that people thought it was a real cover.

Sometimes the best part of creating is the reaction to the creation itself.

But yeah, I almost didn't write it because although the idea had been swimming in my head for over a week, I knew I had no actual point to get across to the audience.  Just a limitless bunch of random thoughts and analogies that I could blather on about until I ran outta time and had to hit the "publish" button before heading out the door to work.  Even though I ended on a "can't we all just get along" high point, I prefer things stay the same in order to make life more interesting.  Please continue to argue about wheel sizes (width and circumference), roadies, cars, gears, single speeds, races, events, crabon fibre, expensive clothing manufacturers (some people want riding scarves), opinionated bloggers, industry insider douchebags... all of it.

From chaos, entertainment.

And for even more quality viewing pleasure here, I have invested deeply (relatively speaking) in new technology.

Not my photo, but I was too lazy to grab a camera to take a picture of a camera.

I have to admit, I didn't know what to buy.  I took a photography class in college... all the way back in the summer of 1990.  Although I got an A in the class using a camera with a broken light meter, I remember so little information about how to use a camera to its full potential.  I asked my FaceFriends which camera I should get for $250 or less, and the answers I got were so varied that I felt like I got nowhere.

The planets aligned and fortunately with some winking and nudging and exchanging of cash, I was able to get a camera that was suggested by Photo John of MTBR and Photographyreview.com fame.

Looks like a man who knows a thing or two about cameras and PVC construction.

I really want to take better pictures than the ones I normally put on here.  Not so much for your enjoyment, but to save time and effort.  I waste so much of both trying to snap an image in my dungeon of a bike room or out on the trail only to be disappointed with the results... which I sometimes end up using anyways.

I took the camera to work yesterday and played with it.

Sorry.  The art student in me was always amazed by textures.  My final project had lots of closeups of motorcycle seats, sewer drains and all manner of mundane subjects.

I swung by the CMA (Charlotte Messenger Association) for their approval of the device.

That image was snapped using my iPhone as a remote.. because it can do that.  Big Worm knows a thing or two about cameras.  The Wonderboy knows a thing or two about bringing the sizzlin' sexy.

This camera has more nifty features than I'll ever use. I apologize for the abuse of the fish eye lens, but I don't plan on carrying it while I ride, so I'm trying to get it out of my system.

Part of the reason I rarely used my old camera (or my iPhone for that matter) to take more pictures out on the trail was because I would have to take it out of my Fonbag, power it up, do whatever it takes to get the camera going... all to take a shitty/blurry image that even I wouldn't end up using on the blog.

The TG3 is waterproof, so no more Fonbag.  As Mitch Hedberg would say, "I don't need another step between me and toast."

I'm aware of the fact that some people can take incredible photos using nothing but their iPhone.  Either I don't know what I'm doing (likely) or my coffee/beer levels are never quite in the right state of equilibrium that keeps hand shake to a minimum.  I never mastered the art of iPhone photography.  Now I won't have to.

I hope things become more visually stimulating here.  I'll do my best to take the camera with me when I head out on rides and whatnot.  Although it has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, I swear I can type a thousand words in the time that it takes to pull up an image from the SD card, resize it and load it here. 

We shall see if that math is correct as my time gets eaten up with more photos and less wordage.

Hopefully a few more unremarkable posts like this so the looky loos will go away.  Then it can just be the three of us again.