Author: mullaney
I’m really starting to despise winter
If you enjoy living in the northern part of the country where winters are long and cold, I do not suggest spending a winter in Arizona like I did. After a year in Arizona, I’ve been ruined for winter. This will be my second winter back in Illinois and I really hate it.
Part of me thinks it would be nice to live in Chicago again. It has a great theatre scene, but I’m not sure how I could stand the winters. Perhaps I need to be a snowbird, spending my winters in Arizona or Southern California and the rest of the year in a city like Chicago or New York.
Mondays are hair days
Nearly every Monday, we go to the hairdresser. Mom has been going to Cindy for her hair for something like 15 years.
High School Friends Having Babies
Last night, I had a mini reunion last night with some people that I went to high school with. And then today I went to a baptism for one of their kids. I took about 70 pictures today with my new camera. Here are a couple of my favorites.
Yes, he’s a cute one, but it wasn’t his baptism.
Again, not the one getting baptized.
Richard and walking
Yesterday, my Uncle Richard visited.
He comes by for a visit every week or two. He usually brings photographs, or books or other things that my Mom might find stimulating. He used to work in China and has visited it many times since he retired. So often he brings pictures of people he met or places he visited.
In the back, you can see a walker. We never did use that walker much. About a year ago, my mother’s gait began to disintegrate. In the beginning, her walk would sometimes become a stuttering step where she would end up kind of marching in place. It was as if her brain had forgotten some key step in the complicated process which is walking.
Thanksgiving Day
A few photos from Thanksgiving, 2008. This first one is of my father peeling potatoes. We agreed to have dinner over here. Dad decided to pitch in by making mashed potatoes. He claimed he had never made them before, ever.
My nieces were home from college and I managed to get a couple shots of them as well.
Another photo
I’m a big fan of using the available light when you can and also taking photos when your subject isn’t thinking about you taking a photo. I wonder what the instinct to smile for the camera is all about. It must be a learned thing because in older photographs you don’t see as much smiling. There is also something about black and white images that are particularly nice. For instance, this is one of my friend Galen.
She came to an event for a Peoria singles club that I run.
Photos of Mom
How to pump up your FICO score
A few months ago, I read a blog post about how to improve your FICO score. Of course there was a lot of the usual advice like always pay your bills on time, especially any loans or credit cards. But there was one thing I hadn’t really considered before that I decided to try. They suggested, going to your local bank and taking out a small installment loan and repaying that over a few months.
So back in August, I went to my local bank and applied for a loan of $1000. I asked for a secured loan which meant that I’d need to maintain at least $1000 in my checking account until I paid off the loan. This was no problem since I simply took their check and deposited it right back into my checking account. Lastly, I set up automatic payments where my loan would be paid from my checking account, so I wouldn’t mess it up and forget a payment. I decided to pay it off in just four months. So, I’m coming up on my last payment in December.
A New Improv Wiki
Wiki’s and improvisation go together like peanut butter and jelly. When wikis work, it is the definition of “yes and” on a huge scale. It’s time we have a large, comprehensive wiki for the improv world.