Awhile back (read this as years ago) I decided to learn how to program in Windows so I wrote a Windows Uptime Utility called WinUp. I intend to work on it some more, but just haven’t been in the programming mood.
I heard about a glamour photography workshop that was being held in Dayton, OH by PGLAM and the model was adult film star Jenna Haze! I’ve seen my share of glamour photo galleries on line and once I heard about this I just had to go. At the workshop I learned a few things about studio flash and how to work with a live model. All of this could be picked up by reading some glamour photography books, but learning it in person at a workshop was much more fun. At first I was a little nervous about taking photos of a live model, especially one that would be nude towards the end of the photo shoot, but Jenna was great to learn from. She was very funny and open, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering her line of work. I doubt I will be getting any studio flash equipment since photography is just a hobby for me, but it was a great experience and the knowledge I received will improve my posed photos.
Over the next few weeks I will be posting some of the photos from the workshop. There will be three separate galleries, the clothed photos, the topless photos and the nude photos. The last two will probably be password protected though. Not some crazy password, but something to make it harder to enter the gallery since I don’t think the gallery software I use has an age verification system.
We went to the Red Sox vs. Yankees game at Fenway Park on Friday night, unfortunately they lost. I haven’t been to a Red Sox game that they’ve won yet, although it was only the second game I’ve ever been too. I have tickets to a Tampa Bay Devil Rays game expecting the Sox to beat them.
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During February vacation Rebecca and I went to Clearwater, FL to visit my parents for a couple days. Then we headed over to Orlando. We went to Universal Studios for a couple days and had a great time riding the Fire and Ice roller coaster multiple times. We also went to Disney’s Epcot where we rode Mission Space more times than I can remember. On the way into Mission Space you would be asked if you want spinning or no spinning. My answer was always “Spinnnning”. Before going to Epcot we went to the Magic Kingdom so we could ride Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, and my favorite Space Mountain. It’s a tame coaster, but in the dark. The next day we went to Hollywood Studios, we rode Tower of Terror a few times, but the first time was the best… the surprise was gone after that. We also rode the Rockin Roller Coaster which was awesome. Another Disney coaster in the dark, but not as tame as Space Mountain. It had such a long wait we used the Fast Pass system, so we only rode it once. The next day we went to Animal Kingdom and it was a rainy day. This actually worked out since the animals tend to be out more during the rain. The hard part was eating lunch outside with our ponchos on in the rain. The first thing we did was the Kilimanjaro Safari. You rode through the habitat without fences. There were lions on a large rock formation near us, rhinos walking up the road and we just waited for them to move. Later we rode the Expedition Everest coaster which was good. Disney’s coasters are tame and both of us like the Superman coaster at Six Flags New England.
Each day we would park at Epcot and take the tram or bus to the park we were going to visit. When we finished the other park we would come back to Epcot and eat at one of the countries in the World Showcase. Rebecca seemed to like Canada…. That’s all I can say though. 
The last day in Florida we packed for the flight, but took a ride over to Safety Harbor and were able to see a manatee.
The first day started off pretty good. It was a small class, less then 10 of us and no one under 30. We introduced ourselves and then started going through the BRC training book. Then we took a break for lunch and met at the riding course. The riding course was at the end of one of the runways at Orange airport, right near Jumptown. 
We all got to pick out the bike we wanted to use. I chose a blue Suzuki GS250. Then we all got used to sitting on the bike and feeling it’s weight. Then while sitting we walked it over and got in line next to each other. We would walk the bike slowly releasing the clutch to the opposite side and back again. As we got comfortable we would lift our feet off the ground, continue to release the clutch and coast while balancing the bike. I picked up pretty quickly, even one of the instructors asked if I had rode a bike before, which I haven’t. The exercises progressed as we rode in a big circle getting used to riding more. Then we would ride from one spot to another and stop. Now you really should use both brakes, I know this, I’ve read it plenty of times during my week of studying. So I’m riding towards the rider coach and for some reason I panicked and squeezed the front brake and locked it up which caused me to fall off the bike. Landing on my right hand, shoulder and head. Thankfully I was wearing gloves, a jacket and a helmet. I scrapped up the gloves and my jacket, but mostly felt bad/stupid for falling off. They were super cool about it and had me take a break. My crash broke the front fender off which they gave me to take home as a souvenir. After I had a break it was back on the bike and ride some more. I was now very good at using both brakes. They even pointed that out the next day. That night when I got home I was wiped out and laid on the couch and went to bed. My wrist was killing me since that was what I landed on first.
The next day I went back and my wrist was killing me, I wondered how I was going to ride the bike for five hours and pass the test. When I went into the class one of the other students thanked me for being the first one to fall, he thought he would be the first. The class started and we finished going through the workbook and then took the test. After turning in the test I grabbed some food and headed over to the riding course where we all waited to hear what the results were. If you didn’t pass the written test then there was no point in continuing. They showed up and told us that everyone had passed and one person got a 100%, ME. It made me feel good since I had studied the workbook (that you can get online) during the week before the class started. In the end I was the one who crashed though. You may know to use both brakes and can answer that on a test, but the real test is when you are on the bike. There isn’t as much time to consider your options. Now it’s time to ride some more. We do some more tricky riding exercises including the figure eight within a relatively small rectangle. We also ride down a straight line, shifting up and the rider coach is in front of us and tells us which direction to turn, we put our blinker on and turn in that direction, but with the speed we are up to you don’t just turn the wheel, you use countersteering. Sounds kind of weird, but it works. After we finish the exercises we have a break then line up for the testing. One guy, the one that said he was glad I crashed first decided to leave the course early. He wasn’t ready and he was smart enough to do the right thing. After we finish our testing they told us that we all passed and gave us our certificates. Yeah! I passed! Time to go home and give my wrist a break.
Signed up for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s Basic Rider Course at SM Motorcycle School in Gardner, MA for this weekend. Five hours of classroom training and ten hours of riding time. The classroom training is in the morning and the riding is in the afternoon. I’ve been a passenger on a motorcycle, but never the driver. There is a written test you have to pass before you can take the riding test. Time to study.
After skydiving a couple times I decided that I wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle. So I went to the Registry of Motor Vehicles and picked up the motorcycle permit book. I studied that for a while then went back to take the permit test. The first few questions were on the Junior Operator License and I didn’t really study that stuff. I skipped the first question, then got the next 3 wrong. Not good, but I answered the remaining questions correctly and past! Now it’s time to sign up for the motorcycle training course.
We had the pleasure of attending Jen’s aunt Rosemary’s wedding to Joel and it was aboard the Ninth Wave sailboat. Jen was nervous about the whole motion sickness thing, but she did very well.
Well had so much fun skydiving the first time I just had to go again. Being my second time I actually felt a little nervous since I knew what was coming when I reached the open door. On the plane ride up my jumpmaster points out that I should have had gloves. Not a big deal he says if my hands feel cold to just pull them into my suit. Then he tells me a story about one of his students that after they jumped out of the plane and he gave the thumbs up signal that means everything is good, the student pulled the rip cord. You are supposed to wait until your jumpmaster waves his hand in front of your face then points down towards the rip cord. So they don’t get a long free fall, but a super long parachute ride down. So now it’s our turn to go out the door. We walk, which is more of a waddle, towards the door. We are going to do a sideways exit. We get to the door opening and we are facing forward looking at the wing. The he says Ready, Set, Arch and out the door we go. This time as we are falling I’m aware of my body position and get into the proper arch position. He gives the thumbs up and we freefall. This time without a photographer I can look down and all around as I please, no need to look at a photographer. As I look around I can see the Boston skyline in the distance, that was awesome. A little while later my jumpmaster waves his hand in front of my face and points. Now it feels like we just jumped out and I remember the story on the plane of the student that pulled the rip cord to soon, then I realize my hands are very cold and aren’t moving too quick. By this time my jumpmaster pulls the rip cord. You only have a couple seconds to do it until they just do it. As we parachute he explains how the toggles and steering lines work. As we are about to land he has me help although he really does the work since his hands are above mine in the toggles. Then we land. The ride is over…. until next year! Jennifer came with me to take pictures of my sky dive.
On our 17th anniversary we went to Jumptown in Orange, MA to watch Jen’s friend celebrate her 25th birthday by skydiving. I thought it would be cool to watch and take some pictures. When it was time for her friend to get her jump training we were asked if we wanted to go in with her. Couldn’t pass that up, so we watched her learn how to exit the airplane and how to arch her body during freefall. Cool stuff. Then it was time for her to get suited up and get in the plane. We went over to the spectators area and waited. After a while we could see tiny people falling in the sky, and then a little while later parachutes opening. Not knowing who is who I just took a bunch of pictures. Once she landed Jen said “we need to check into this.” So we head in to find out what the cost is and when they have openings. We figured it would be another week or so, sounds easy to say we’ll do it later. They told us they had two openings on the next flight and they would give us the group discount….. OK, so sign us up! We do our flight training class and then get suited up. After we hang out for a bit walking around with these straps between your legs, now if you’re a guy… well you probably get the picture. Once it’s time to board the plane you enter and and straddle a bench facing backwards. Not a problem, but different. As we’re gaining altitude Muppet, my jumpmaster (the person you are strapped to), explains some things and starts attaching your harness to his. A little later on someone slides open the door and you hear the noise from outside, just like the window is down in your car while you’re on the highway, but you are 13,000 feet above the ground. You slide forward on the bench as others are sliding forward. I saw Jen go out the doorway with her camera man and jumpmaster. See you on the ground! A couple others go, then it’s my turn. We walk toward the open door crouching while having someone strapped to my back. As we get to the door…. wow, that ground is way down there! Oh yeah, while we were sitting on the bench I asked Muppet how we actually go out the door. He says that we will say “Ready, Set, Arch” and out we go. I ask “am I stepping out the door or what?” He says “I’m pushing us out”. Ok so back to being at the open door 13,000 feet up. I look out and think it’s a good thing he’s going to push me. Ready, Set, Arch! and out we go, as we fall out the plane we do a flip and see the plane flying away as we fall on our back. That was so awesome! Then we turn around get in the arch position and freefall for around 30 seconds. Now this is very loud as you hear the air rushing by your ears at over 100mph, kind of like sticking your head out the window on the highway. Muppet pulls my head up so my camera man, Ben, can get video/photos of my face and not the top of my head. We were told about that in the training class, but when you are falling it’s so hard not to look at the ground. It’s mesmerizing. At 5,000+ feet Muppet moves his hand in front of my face and then points to the rip cord. I have a couple seconds to pull the rip cord or he will. I pull it and then feel a lot of pressure between my legs as we slow down from 130mph to 15mph and the parachute is open! Gotta love that. Now we can talk since we don’t have the noise of the air rushing past us. He does some tricks with canopy, pulling on one side causing us to spin fast. Then he shows how you can feel weightless, he pulls on one side then the other quickly. He then let’s me hold on and help steer while his hands are holding above mine. That was pretty cool. Time to practice lifting legs for the landing, you don’t want your feet/legs to hit the ground or you become a pivot point, not good unless you want to kiss the ground. We land smoothly and it’s over. I’m ready to go again. We get disconnected and I go over to see Jen and we they get a shot of us together.
I can’t wait to go again!
I posted the videos and pictures from both of our jumps in the Skydiving album.
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