garyfong1's Xanga

Monday, May 12, 2008

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:56:02 GMT

au revoir, ohio

We are heading back home to Seattle tomorrow. It has been a really great trip despite the circumstances. Missy's grandmother died, and in an instant we had to jump on a plane and head back here to be with the family for the funeral. The thing about funerals is that it is of course a time for healing, and this was a very bonding time for the Carl family. Simple little get-togethers became rich with memories.

I don't know if I've talked about it a ton, but my efforts these days are directed whole-heartedly towards writing. I can't explain the excitement I get from writing - it just pushes all of my buttons. Mind you, I have no specific goal in mind with my writing - I'm just letting the words fall out and learning (with the help of great editors) the craft along the way.

Having said that, it was a great opportunity to spend quality time with the person I trust with my international reseller relationships, Tiffany Yoder. Brian Fry takes care of the operations at GFI, from managing our suppliers and distribution, as well as customer service. Tif minds the register, so to speak.

Tiffany is truly a deeply wonderful person to the core. Everybody who knows her knows that she is not only sweet, sincere and really loyal and caring as a friend, but I have known her to have a work ethic that is purposeful and dedicated. I know that she gets this from her really awesome parents, who I am proud to call my friends.

Bob and Cheryl Yoder are such super people. So when we got into town and setup shop, I made sure that we could somehow get together with Tif's fiancee John and her parents. We had a wonderful time catching up on things, but Tif got caught up on presents from our birthdays.

She got us the most hilarious presents. She got Missy a card with a Giraffe in a living room. It was hilarious! It reminded me of the super-giant horse at our Ranch, RJ, and inside the card said, "to the weirdest person I know". She is a contender against Janey for clever, funny gifts.

And for me, OMG I laughed so loud when I opened it. Let's just show you the picture and share with you that 1) I intend to use it and 2) I love it.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Sun, 11 May 2008 16:31:37 GMT

absolutely great books I recommend

I've had a voracious appetite for books lately. The more I read the more I want to read, and it's addicting. I'm reading about 2-3 books a week in the midst of writing my 3rd and editing my first (Snaps).

The third book is called, "Church Of The Happy Sky" and it is absolutely writing itself. It addresses my self-discovery of a spiritual world that is transparent and undeniable. It bounces off of "Snaps" because in "Snaps" there are stories where I allow the advice of others to cloud my judgement, and the fallout that ensued. In "COTS", I discuss how dogmatic religion, it its different forms, led me down confusing paths that conflicted with my own, strong inner voice.

In business, love and spirituality, I'm all about listening to my own instincts. Got a good history so far at halftime.

Having said all that, these two books are delightful. Der Patterson's for his delicious prose, and Eat/Pray/Love for her refreshing candor in matters common to us all. Gilbert's book is more of a chick book, but it's really hilarious.

Congrats Dane!

Sun, 11 May 2008 14:39:01 GMT

Congrats Dane! pDNA is available now!

My buddy Dane Sanders is always coming up with superior creative solutions for the photography industry, especially when it comes to compelling ideas for success. So I've been hearing behind the scenes plans of his new "pDNA" idea.

So many of my photographer friends have no idea what they want to do with their business. The amount of time they spend thinking about business goals is limited to two things: 1) copy ideas from other websites and 2) copy their price lists, less a hundred bucks. Not always but this is usually the case.

So Dane gives you this e-harmony (haha) style questionnaire that (if you answer truthfully) will help you design a business that suits your natural style. He's also written a companion book on how to fast-track your business success, and it is way more in-depth than just going to some seminars and copying (or mimicking) websites. Give it a good look by clicking on the link below!

Click to Play

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Sun, 11 May 2008 11:29:33 GMT

i love this photo of my wife (Canon 5d - 70-200mm f2.8L)

Anybody who knows her knows that she is a very sentimental person who loves to reminisce. Today we drove out to her childhood home, where she introduced herself to the new owners of the property. They welcomed us to walk around memory lane.

One of the first things she squealed at was that the barn smells exactly the same! And she also commented that everything seemed 1/3 the size (to which I reminded her that as a child she was 1/3 the size and therefore...)

She showed me where she had her little campouts (named "Camp Giddyap" and "Camp Whoa"). Walking around the grounds of her place, I could understand why a childhood in the country is way more fun than mine growing up in suburban Los Angeles. The more I am out in the country, the more I become attached to it.

It's funny, I never really saw the appeal in having a lot of land to spread out. I grew up in apartments or condos, or houses that were boxed in by other houses. In Los Angeles, there's no such thing as "acreage" for 99% of the population. So I never knew why it was nice to have land. But I do understand it now, and it is peaceful.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Sat, 10 May 2008 23:20:20 GMT

sarah marshall - hilarious movie!

It was so good I would've made a u-turn to see it again. There are times I laughed so loud people in the theater jumped. The script was great, the acting was great. I really really liked it.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Sat, 10 May 2008 01:46:35 GMT

this camera is really great!

I know a camera is good when it's the only one I carry for many things. Previously, I liked the Nikon little point and shoot because of the 28mm wide angle and the AA batteries. But what I didn't like about it was the image quality.

Nikons have always had issues with blowing out colors in different ways. They have the narrow dynamic range for blowing out whites. They also have a peculiar "orange" skin color which comes from having blooming in the red/yellow channels (color clipping). And they are very very sensitive and unforgiving to changes in white balance. (i.e. when shooting in open shade, everything is very blue).

Canon is better for sensors, and Fuji is the best. But Fuji doesn't have a p/s that has a wide angle yet, so until that moment comes, the Canon Powershot SD870IS is the coolest. Here's what I like about it:

1) wide angle
2) great image quality
3) zooms when in video
4) captures videos in 320x240 "youtube" size for faster web publishing
5) big LCD screen - it's very nice
6) fantastic panorama photo stitching mode
7) awesome "time lapse" mode (requires tripod with "police line - do not cross" tape

Only thing is it only goes to ISO1600, and at that it's very grainy. So is ISO800, but remember I am only using this thing for Facebook and this blog. If I were taking travel photos, anything where I wanted the ultimate image quality, I would take the Fuji S5 for the wide stuff, or the Fuji S20 (antique by now) for the regular beautiful stuff.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Thu, 08 May 2008 22:23:18 GMT

here in ohio

Papa John's pizza had a special 23 cent offer. Something about Lebron James. Anyway, a pizza with one topping was 23 cents. So throughout the day, there were news reports with helicopter videos showing that the lines are like a half mile long.

For the 23 cent pizza. And the people who were standing in line? They brought their own lunch. Many of them did.

My question is this. OK so the pizza is 23 cents. But if you wait six hours to get it, (and some took off work to stand in line) - I mean, is it just me or is this... I don't even know what my question is. I don't know what to say, what to ask. I'm speechless.

Watch this video

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Thu, 08 May 2008 21:08:46 GMT

oh.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Thu, 08 May 2008 18:00:54 GMT

hitting it hard in ohio

Tiffany is getting ready to do a retailer tour to different cities to deepen relationships with our many new retail outlets. We're growing a lot, particularly internationally with the new weakness of the U.S. Dollar.

Of all things, we just welcomed a new, large distributor in Russia. So when I got into town, Tif got an office together on the dining room table. She bought a printer, a lot of paper, and a powered USB hub so we could make an instant office. In about half an hour, we were as set up as a productive two-person office.

So we've setup a mobile office here at the Glenmoor Country Club. GFI runs on laptops, with everybody in different cities, even though the distribution center is in Wisconsin. (I've never been there, Brian set it up). When I do get a chance to sit down with Tif, we get a ton done. She is awesome at coordinating the sales and marketing of GFI products.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Thu, 08 May 2008 02:02:09 GMT

the credit crisis hits everybody

Well I just got a call the other day from my personal docent at American Express Centurion, the makers of that ever-elusive Black Card. They said that Amex is tightening up, and that even though my spending limit was supposedly limitless (they would for sure tell the vendor to hang on a second if I tried to buy a jet with it) they didn't have written limits on the black card.

Until now. Amex is a victim of the credit squeeze and therefore informed me that my card is limited to $250,000 of use per month. I'm sure if they are doing it at this level, then other cards will be following suit, giving people new balances in order to stem off the collision course with the credit markets drying up.