Lets Play Catch-up

Despite my seeming intent at killing this blog, it has yet to happen; in fact the number of visitors that still come is quite amazing to me — thank you.

As you no doubt notice, this blog looks a little different. Unfortunately, due to a stunning number of bad coincidences (two dead hard drives in the space of 6 weeks… mirrored raid ftl) I lost several months of posts — although, thanks to Helgi Þormar Þorbjörnsson I was able to recover the majority of my posts, excepting the ends of those truncated by Planet PHP — and I also made the transition to WordPress, which I must say I’m enjoying far more than Serendipity (sorry guys, but WP 2.6 was good, 2.7 is great).

So what the hell have I been doing for the last year or so? Mostly… nothing. At least, not till about  4 months ago when at a party for my sister-in-law, I met a wonderful girl who has forced me to pretend I have a life. (oh no, twist my arm so hard… not)

I have, in the last year, garnered a new love for typography, reading The Non-Designer’s Type Book taught me enough to truly appreciate just what it is that Chris Shiflett and Jon Tan find so beautiful in “simple” words.

I’ve also thrown myself into twitter and mobile web 2.0 thanks to my iPhone and Tweetie. As well as into photography with my [not quite so stellar anymore but it does the job] Canon PowerShot S2 IS that I thoroughly love, and even after 3 years am still learning the ins-and-outs of.

It’s thanks to this camera that I have been able to capture so many wonderful moments in the last 4 months, and hopefully soon I’ll be able to trade it in for a Canon PowerShot SX1 IS or a Nikon DSLR of some kind (though my wallet shudders at the thought of it being possible to replace the lens on my camera…)

In the last 4 months, we have been to every Disney (Florida) Theme Park; We started with Epcot because I had never been there before… or at least, I thought not — the day before I went, I called my mum to let her know and she told me I had been when I came in 1996… oops. Still, I couldn’t remember it obviously, so, feeling like a kid in a candy store I explored Future World, the World Showcase (during the Food & Wine Festival no less!) and all the wonders that only Disney can bring together in one place… or 5 or 6 places as the case is.

Spaceship Earth (The Ball) Spaceship Earth (The Ball) Spaceship Earth (The Ball) Closeup Mission: Space Paris! France French Chair Acrobat Japan Japan Italy Italy Italy Spaceship Earth (The Ball) at Night Spaceship Earth (The Ball) At Night Spaceship Earth (The Ball) At Night The Moon The Moon

Shortly after this, I was treated to dinner at the T-Rex Cafe soft launch in Downtown Disney

T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe T-Rex Cafe
[note: the second image is actually a video of the very neat meteor shower than occurs on the ceiling every 30 minutes or so]

Then in November we made it to Disneys Animal Kingdom, then we spent a night at the wonderful Disney Beach Club Villas [where we got to see the Epcot fireworks display, Illuminations, from the balcony!], followed by a day at SeaWorld:

Animal Kingdom Animal Kingdom Christmas Tree The Tree of Life The Tree of Life Finding Nemo the Musical IMG_4418 Mallard Duck White Stork White Stork Parrots Mallard Duck African Drummers African Drummers African Drummers Crocodile Ant Hill Giraffe Elephant Baby Elephant Baby Elephants Baby Elephant Baby Elephant Baby Elephant Flamingos Hidden Cheetah Hidden Cheetah Hidden Cheetah Hidden Cheetah Hidden Cheetah Pride Rock The Safari The Rhino that stopped the safari Lion Roaring Lion King Louis & Baloo Minnie Mouse Minnie Mouse Goofy Terk Timon Timon Donald Duck Donald Duck Pluto Stitch Mickey Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse Choose to reuse Animal Kingdom Christmas Tree Animal Kingdom Christmas Tree

Gingerbread Merry-go-round Gingerbread Horse Gingerbread Merry-go-round ingredients The beach view Playing in the sand Playing in the sand Playing in the sand Blue Dress Poolside Poolside Poolside Crescent Lake Crescent Lake Crescent Lake Crescent Lake Crescent Lake The Boardwalk The Boardwalk (Sepia) The Boardwalk The Boardwalk Disney's Beach Club Villa Resort Disney's Beach Club Villa Resort Disney's Beach Club Resort Villa Disney's Beach Club Villa Resort The Yacht Club boat landing The Yacht Club boat landing The Boardwalk The Boardwalk Crescent Lake at night Epcot Fireworks from the balcony Epcot Fireworks from the balcony Epcot Fireworks from the balcony  

Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Believe Dancing with 'Mu Dancing with 'Mu Dancing with 'Mu Believe Dancing with 'Mu Dancing with 'Mu Believe Believe Believe SPLASH ZONE! Believe SPLASH ZONE! SPLASH ZONE! Believe SPLASH ZONE! Believe SPLASH ZONE! SPLASH ZONE! Believe Believe Blue Horizons Blue Horizons Blue Horizons Blue Horizons Blue Horizons Blue Horizons Blue Horizons Blue Horizons Feeding Time Feeding Time Christmas Miracles Christmas Miracles Christmas Miracles Christmas Miracles

Somewhere in there, we also got to visit Busch Gardens, our local theme park, Disney’s Magic Kingdom, Disney Hollywood Studios (formerly known as MGM Studios) and Disney Quest, Disney’s take on an arcade, with everything from bumper cars with cannons to classics like the original Pong!

In addition to all of this, we’ve been to nightclubs (OK, one), painted my bedroom (work in progess!) and much much more.

The latest thing has been attending the Alafia River Rendezvous Pre-1840 re-enactment, which was tremendous fun!

The Dust Cloud Entering Alafia Camping in Style... Everybody has to shop... Blacksmith Anvil & Hammer Blacksmithing Bellows & Equipment Blacksmithing Bellows ( Blacksmithing Bellows & Equipment Boys will be boys... Tending the Fire Teepee Teepee Re-enacters Teepee Native American Art The Camp Re-enacter The Camp The Camp Re-enactors as Native Americans Teepee Teepee Teepee Entering the Teepee Teepee Teepee Teepee Native American Art Native American Art Native American Art Native American Re-enacter Native American Re-enacter Tending the Fire Tending the Fire Tending the Fire Tending the Fire Tending the Fire Trio of Muscians Whittling Whittling Whittling The Welsh Flag Flies! Thunder Mama

As you can no-doubt tell I’ve had quite the whirlwind time lately, and it doesn’t stop; this weekend we’re planning to go Swing Dancing, which while I am sure I won’t be any good, promises to be tons of fun :)

I hope to start blogging on a more regular basis, I have a custom design with some neat features coming soon, and I will definitely stick to mostly technical topics [and photography], after all, if you want my personal life blow-by-blows, you can follow me on twitter  ;)

- Davey

P.S.

Don’t miss my pictures of the lunar perigee:

IMG_5718 IMG_5720 IMG_5721 IMG_5722 IMG_5723 IMG_5724 IMG_5727

Comments are closed.

Twitter

Also: it's Friday? >.<

@dshafik [2 hours ago]

OK, who's preordered my iPad for me? :D

@dshafik [2 hours ago]

@janinaz I checked out your IMDB, very cool that you got into an episode of Dollhouse :)

@dshafik [15 hours ago]

@ejacqui You mean the PSPs retarded little brother?

@dshafik [15 hours ago]

Books & Things