Heverin.com http://heverin.com/ All things Heverin en-us Stephen Heverin Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:28:36 GMT newtelligence dasBlog 2.3.9074.18820 stephen@heverin.com stephen@heverin.com http://heverin.com/Trackback.aspx?guid=a5a4eb39-7052-4f18-9d34-cf681c21018a http://heverin.com/pingback.aspx http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,a5a4eb39-7052-4f18-9d34-cf681c21018a.aspx Stephen http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,a5a4eb39-7052-4f18-9d34-cf681c21018a.aspx http://heverin.com/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=a5a4eb39-7052-4f18-9d34-cf681c21018a The biggest struggle in photo management is that most software created for managing your photos works against you instead of with you with organization. (The same is true for music management.) Whether you work on a MAC or a PC, the issues are the same. What I am outlining in this topic is how I have come to manage the photos my wife and I take, as well as photos (digital or physical) which we receive from others.

I will first outline the system I use to manage photos and then lastly cover the specific software I use currently to work with that process.  The keys to managing photos are convention, naming, centralization, tags and backup. Convention drives how you handle the other three keys, and you will see it is the the theme as I discuss these keys.

Convention

The best thing you can do to start managing photos is to rename the actual files as they come off your camera. All cameras name files such as "IMG_XXXX" or "DXXXX", where x is some random number. These names provide no help to the basic search services provided on Windows or OSX. At a minimum you should renamed these as soon as you pull them off your camera!

You can name the files whatever you want, but I have found this convention works best: <event><id>.<extension>. The key to file naming is the convention, pick a convention and stick to it. The only other rule is to avoid special characters and spaces. Keeping spaces and special characters out of the filenames makes it easier to reference the files. The only characters outside of text and numbers would either be underscores ("_") or dashes ("-"), which serve as a visual separator between the event name and the ID. Event names can be as simple as "DansBaptism" to "OurFirstAnnualCompanyParty". You could separate words using underscores or dashes to make it more readable, but ultimately you don't really need that as you will be working with these files in some type of photo management software.  Why bother renaming them? When you need to manage the files and move files around or check those files on the file system (say to make a CD or publish them) you can quickly and easily see by the file names in a list that you have what  you expect. Seeing something like "DansBaptism-01, DansBaptism-02, etc...." is much more meaningful then "IMG-21234, IMG-21235, etc...". Using camel case (as in the examples just presented) in the event name instead of dashes or underscores is quicker and easier when renaming files.



The ID itself can be any number, it simply serves to make sure the filename is unique. You can either sequentially number the files as you rename them, or you can keep the numerical number from the original file name. I have done both and converted to keeping the number created on the camera since my photo software support its. Simply renaming the files from your camera using this method even if you do nothing else with make managing your photos worlds easier!

Centralization & Organization

The next key to managing your photos is centralization. If you are the only one who handles the photos for editing and publishing, it is less of an issue, but like most you probably share the photos or need to share them with someone else for editing, printing, publishing, etc... There are several ways you could handle this, but you need to store your photos in one location. The best way to arrange the photos is in a single folder or share (typically named 'Photos') with a sub-folder for each major event, and then other folders for smaller categories or groups. I have created several folders of general subjects, one folder for myself and the wife, college, maps, and generic family and friends folders. For major events i have taken to grouping each event in its own folder. This format is simply <year>_<eventname>, with no spaces or special characters and typically only a single underscore to separate the year (4 digit year) from the event name.



This is done to make it easier for any photo software I have to catalog or add to its catalog new photos, but it also suites the way I look for and look at photographs. I am typically looking at the photos from a particular event and just that event. When I am looking for something, I am also looking for it within a particular time frame, so having the photos ordered in folders prefaced with a year, it makes it really easy to zero in on the photos I need. I do not nest events within folders underneath a folder for a year, as it is too much organization and doesn't let me quickly scroll to where I need, either in the file system or in whatever photo management software I am using.

The two exceptions to this are for the general folders I mentioned above and for large trips. In the case of general folders (Pets for example), I don't typically have an 'event' per se which I am taking photos of my pets, so putting them into a folder named "pets" is sufficient since I am typically look for all photos in that category. "Home" is another good category, where I am taking photos documenting different aspects of my home (either for inventory or for changes and work being done). Here a single folder to capture all of that is enough, with occasional sub-folders for specific work.

In the case of long trips, I will keep the <year>_<eventname>, such as '2009_RoadTrip', but I will have sub-folders underneath. Typically I have sub-folders for each day of the trip. This is essentially so that I can work with these groups of folders in easier chunks, as on long or big trips, I tend to take more photographs then normal events.



Tagging

Most photo software and even operating systems can at least read and understand the meta-data in JPEG files. Photos you take with your camera or phone contain way more information then just a picture. The standard JPEG file, and even the RAW format for DSLR cameras, has a standard which is followed by all camera manufacturers and most photo software. This information includes data about the camera which took the picture (type of camera, exposure, ISO, shutter speed, and other 'EXIF' data), GPS information (lat and long of where the picture was taken), and other meta-data such as title, description, caption, keywords, copyright, etc...

The camera information and generally the GPS information is added by the camera taking the picture. There are some applications which allow you to write the GPS data after the fact. The key fields you want are Title (or Caption), Description, and Keywords. Optionally you can access the Copyright field, but only a few applications provide this to you. The two main fields which you should always fill out are the title and the keywords associated with a photograph. Online services also know how to read this information and display it automatically as needed.

In both cases, the idea behind tagging is to keep it simple! Titles don't all have to to be witty or clever, a simple short title about the photo is enough, "Me and Friends having a drink", "Family Picnic", etc... The main reason for filling out the title is that when you post these photos on various online services, you know what the photo is about, but the people viewing those photos may not know what it is about.

Keywords are not for everyone else, but for you to be able to find, sort and group photos. The idea here is to provide enough tags which appropriately cover the photo so you can find photos when you need photos on a specific topic. You don't need to go nuts, and you don't need to recreate the wheel, Items such as camera information or date (Year, Month, day) don't need keywords as that information is already captured and can be searched from the other meta data. Keywords I typically use are: Travel, Event, Family, Friends, Food, Birthday, Holiday, Christmas, Winter, Spring, Work, Pets, Animals, Zoo, etc... You could record peoples names as keywords, I personally have not found that useful. I do tag some photos with names, but not all photos. The rule of thumb I use for recording names is pretty much either how frequently I need pictures of that person(s), such as myself and my wife, or if it is someone who I might need to or want to remember who that was down the line.

Outside of that most of the time, the keywords I listed above along with a time period are enough to get to the photos or groupings of photos I need.

Backup

Though this section is last, it is ultimately the most important! With your photos being digital it is even easier to be able to backup those photos then it was with physical photographs you wanted to make sure are not lost. While computer systems are much less prone to failure then in the past, they can still fail. If you only store your photos on your computer or on a single external disk drive you can end up losing a lifetime of photos.

Two main options, and depending on your situation you can adopt either. If you work out of one main location (e.g. your home) as your central place for storing and editing photos, I would recommend getting a Windows Home Server (WHS), or some other type of NAS, to store your photos. WHS allows you to not only store your photos in a central location so that anyone at home can access them, you can also attach a drive to your WHS and backup all of your photos at once, rather then having to scour all your computers to get those photos. WHS also has the benefit of centralizing your data, it also backs up all the computers (including MACs) on your network, so you can restore from just about any disaster.

If you can't use something like that, then I would recommend an online service which specializes in backing up your data to backup your photos on all of your machines to this service. The fee is typically a nominal annual fee which is more then worth it to backup all of these photos which you are collecting. If you have an issue with the price, ask yourself "how would I feel if I lost all of these photos and could not access them in 5, 10, 15, 20 years?" Think about how many times you have said, "oh, I wish I had that photo from when I was little or from when my son was born!" about a photograph from the pre-digital age.

The best option is the one which you don't need to think about, where your photos are automatically backed-up automatically. Regardless, you should regularly check and make sure you are able to get to those files and restore them. A bi-annual check of the files should happen. The complete system loss or failure is not as common (but it still happens), but you also need to guard against the partial loss of data. A scenario here is where you have some sort of disk corruption, specifically corruption which isn't caught until your computer comes up to tell you the system is corrupt and it need to run a check to fix things. In this scenario you may find that in fixing the corruption on a disk there is some loss of data, though it may not be obvious to you. Having your photos backed up in a place where you can run a compare to find the photos which may have been corrupted or lost is invaluable.

Software

Finally, here is the software and equipment I use in my day to day management of photos. The one guideline for choosing your own software suite (and you will need more than one program, there is not one piece of software which does everything you need) should be that ALL of the meta-data should be written directly to the file it is associated with. If the software does not do that, I would not recommend using the application. The issue is that if you move that file or access that file from another computer, that meta-data won't follow the photo if it is not written to the photo itself. This can result in a loss of all the hard work and organization you put into your photo collection if you need to re-install your photo management software.

For photo organization I had been using Adobe Photoshop Elements on Windows, however on a MAC the same version contains no photo management (which I really don't get, and essentially makes it useless on a MAC, Adobe really seems to have begun to drop the ball on its consumer products).  The software I currently use is Adobe Lightroom, Picasa, and Gimp (alternativelyPaint.Net). I had been using Photoshop Elements but for the reason stated above I no longer use it.

For photo management and basic editing, tagging, organizing and exporting, Adobe Lightroom has become my primary tool. While more expensive then most photo management software, if you do any significant amount of photo handling it is a must have tool. It allows me to easily import photos and automatically tag and rename them. If you are on Windows and budget minded, Adobe Photoshop elements will work as well. Unfortunately on the MAC side of things, I have not found any other program which meets my photo management and tagging needs. I would recommend staying away from iPhoto, as it is pretty low end and really restricts being able to really easily manage photos.

I also utilize Picasa for organization, but mainly for being able to quick group photos for export or upload somewhere, or printing photographs. I try and stick with using just Lightroom for importing, tagging and organizing the photos. Lightroom, Picasa* and Photo Elements write the meta-data directly to the photos which is what you want.

There are add-ins for Lightroom and Picasa which provide support for automatically uploading photos to Facebook and Picasa. All of them support exporting to the file system or to a DVD or CD. For printing, Picasa stands out by far as the easiest to print out photos in whatever format you need. It also has some nice features for creating photo collages either for printing or for making desktop backgrounds.

For photo editing I will use either Lightroom or Gimp (Paint.Net is a good alternative to Gimp on the Windows platform), I will occasionally use Picasa for some edits, but for me the controls on enhancing photos are a little too basic.

- Stephen

*Caveat, Picasa seems to write its own Caption tag instead of using the JPEG standard title for tis captions. I have not check recently if this is still the case, but be aware you may not be able to read the title in other programs if you use Picasa to write the titles. It does seem to handle keyword data OK.

What I do for photo management http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,a5a4eb39-7052-4f18-9d34-cf681c21018a.aspx http://heverin.com/2010/03/03/What+I+Do+For+Photo+Management.aspx Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:28:36 GMT The biggest struggle in photo management is that most software created for managing your photos works against you instead of with you with organization. (<i>The same is true for music management</i>.) Whether you work on a MAC or a PC, the issues are the same. What I am outlining in this topic is how I have come to manage the photos my wife and I take, as well as photos (<i>digital or physical</i>) which we receive from others.<br> <br> I will first outline the system I use to manage photos and then lastly cover the specific software I use currently to work with that process.&nbsp; The keys to managing photos are convention, naming, centralization, tags and backup. Convention drives how you handle the other three keys, and you will see it is the the theme as I discuss these keys.<br> <br> <b>Convention</b> <br> <br> The best thing you can do to start managing photos is to rename the actual files as they come off your camera. All cameras name files such as "IMG_XXXX" or "DXXXX", where x is some random number. These names provide no help to the basic search services provided on Windows or OSX. At a minimum you should renamed these as soon as you pull them off your camera!<br> <br> You can name the files whatever you want, but I have found this convention works best: &lt;event&gt;&lt;id&gt;.&lt;extension&gt;. The key to file naming is the convention, pick a convention and stick to it. The only other rule is to avoid special characters and spaces. Keeping spaces and special characters out of the filenames makes it easier to reference the files. The only characters outside of text and numbers would either be underscores ("_") or dashes ("-"), which serve as a visual separator between the event name and the ID. Event names can be as simple as "DansBaptism" to "OurFirstAnnualCompanyParty". You could separate words using underscores or dashes to make it more readable, but ultimately you don't really need that as you will be working with these files in some type of photo management software.&nbsp; Why bother renaming them? When you need to manage the files and move files around or check those files on the file system (say to make a CD or publish them) you can quickly and easily see by the file names in a list that you have what&nbsp; you expect. Seeing something like "DansBaptism-01, DansBaptism-02, etc...." is much more meaningful then "IMG-21234, IMG-21235, etc...". Using camel case (as in the examples just presented) in the event name instead of dashes or underscores is quicker and easier when renaming files.<br> <br> <div align="center"><img src="/images/folderlist02.png"> <br> </div> <br> The ID itself can be any number, it simply serves to make sure the filename is unique. You can either sequentially number the files as you rename them, or you can keep the numerical number from the original file name. I have done both and converted to keeping the number created on the camera since my photo software support its. Simply renaming the files from your camera using this method even if you do nothing else with make managing your photos worlds easier!<br> <br> <b>Centralization &amp; Organization</b> <br> <br> The next key to managing your photos is centralization. If you are the only one who handles the photos for editing and publishing, it is less of an issue, but like most you probably share the photos or need to share them with someone else for editing, printing, publishing, etc... There are several ways you could handle this, but you need to store your photos in one location. The best way to arrange the photos is in a single folder or share (typically named 'Photos') with a sub-folder for each major event, and then other folders for smaller categories or groups. I have created several folders of general subjects, one folder for myself and the wife, college, maps, and generic family and friends folders. For major events i have taken to grouping each event in its own folder. This format is simply &lt;year&gt;_&lt;eventname&gt;, with no spaces or special characters and typically only a single underscore to separate the year (4 digit year) from the event name.<br> <br> <div align="center"><img src="/images/folderlist01.png"> <br> </div> <br> This is done to make it easier for any photo software I have to catalog or add to its catalog new photos, but it also suites the way I look for and look at photographs. I am typically looking at the photos from a particular event and just that event. When I am looking for something, I am also looking for it within a particular time frame, so having the photos ordered in folders prefaced with a year, it makes it really easy to zero in on the photos I need. I do not nest events within folders underneath a folder for a year, as it is too much organization and doesn't let me quickly scroll to where I need, either in the file system or in whatever photo management software I am using.<br> <br> The two exceptions to this are for the general folders I mentioned above and for large trips. In the case of general folders (Pets for example), I don't typically have an 'event' per se which I am taking photos of my pets, so putting them into a folder named "pets" is sufficient since I am typically look for all photos in that category. "Home" is another good category, where I am taking photos documenting different aspects of my home (either for inventory or for changes and work being done). Here a single folder to capture all of that is enough, with occasional sub-folders for specific work.<br> <br> In the case of long trips, I will keep the &lt;year&gt;_&lt;eventname&gt;, such as '2009_RoadTrip', but I will have sub-folders underneath. Typically I have sub-folders for each day of the trip. This is essentially so that I can work with these groups of folders in easier chunks, as on long or big trips, I tend to take more photographs then normal events.<br> <br> <div align="center"><img src="/images/folderlist03.png"> <br> </div> <br> <b>Tagging</b> <br> <br> Most photo software and even operating systems can at least read and understand the meta-data in JPEG files. Photos you take with your camera or phone contain way more information then just a picture. The standard JPEG file, and even the RAW format for DSLR cameras, has a standard which is followed by all camera manufacturers and most photo software. This information includes data about the camera which took the picture (type of camera, exposure, ISO, shutter speed, and other 'EXIF' data), GPS information (lat and long of where the picture was taken), and other meta-data such as title, description, caption, keywords, copyright, etc... <br> <br> The camera information and generally the GPS information is added by the camera taking the picture. There are some applications which allow you to write the GPS data after the fact. The key fields you want are Title (or Caption), Description, and Keywords. Optionally you can access the Copyright field, but only a few applications provide this to you. The two main fields which you should always fill out are the title and the keywords associated with a photograph. Online services also know how to read this information and display it automatically as needed.<br> <br> In both cases, the idea behind tagging is to keep it simple! Titles don't all have to to be witty or clever, a simple short title about the photo is enough, "Me and Friends having a drink", "Family Picnic", etc... The main reason for filling out the title is that when you post these photos on various online services, you know what the photo is about, but the people viewing those photos may not know what it is about.<br> <br> Keywords are not for everyone else, but for you to be able to find, sort and group photos. The idea here is to provide enough tags which appropriately cover the photo so you can find photos when you need photos on a specific topic. You don't need to go nuts, and you don't need to recreate the wheel, Items such as camera information or date (Year, Month, day) don't need keywords as that information is already captured and can be searched from the other meta data. Keywords I typically use are: Travel, Event, Family, Friends, Food, Birthday, Holiday, Christmas, Winter, Spring, Work, Pets, Animals, Zoo, etc... You could record peoples names as keywords, I personally have not found that useful. I do tag some photos with names, but not all photos. The rule of thumb I use for recording names is pretty much either how frequently I need pictures of that person(s), such as myself and my wife, or if it is someone who I might need to or want to remember who that was down the line.<br> <br> Outside of that most of the time, the keywords I listed above along with a time period are enough to get to the photos or groupings of photos I need.<br> <br> <b>Backup</b> <br> <br> Though this section is last, it is ultimately the most important! With your photos being digital it is even easier to be able to backup those photos then it was with physical photographs you wanted to make sure are not lost. While computer systems are much less prone to failure then in the past, they can still fail. If you only store your photos on your computer or on a single external disk drive you can end up losing a lifetime of photos.<br> <br> Two main options, and depending on your situation you can adopt either. If you work out of one main location (e.g. your home) as your central place for storing and editing photos, I would recommend getting a Windows Home Server (WHS), or some other type of NAS, to store your photos. WHS allows you to not only store your photos in a central location so that anyone at home can access them, you can also attach a drive to your WHS and backup all of your photos at once, rather then having to scour all your computers to get those photos. WHS also has the benefit of centralizing your data, it also backs up all the computers (including MACs) on your network, so you can restore from just about any disaster.<br> <br> If you can't use something like that, then I would recommend an online service which specializes in backing up your data to backup your photos on all of your machines to this service. The fee is typically a nominal annual fee which is more then worth it to backup all of these photos which you are collecting. If you have an issue with the price, ask yourself "how would I feel if I lost all of these photos and could not access them in 5, 10, 15, 20 years?" Think about how many times you have said, "oh, I wish I had that photo from when I was little or from when my son was born!" about a photograph from the pre-digital age.<br> <br> The best option is the one which you don't need to think about, where your photos are automatically backed-up automatically. Regardless, you should regularly check and make sure you are able to get to those files and restore them. A bi-annual check of the files should happen. The complete system loss or failure is not as common (but it still happens), but you also need to guard against the partial loss of data. A scenario here is where you have some sort of disk corruption, specifically corruption which isn't caught until your computer comes up to tell you the system is corrupt and it need to run a check to fix things. In this scenario you may find that in fixing the corruption on a disk there is some loss of data, though it may not be obvious to you. Having your photos backed up in a place where you can run a compare to find the photos which may have been corrupted or lost is invaluable.<br> <br> <b>Software</b> <br> <br> Finally, here is the software and equipment I use in my day to day management of photos. The one guideline for choosing your own software suite (and you will need more than one program, there is not one piece of software which does everything you need) should be that ALL of the meta-data should be written directly to the file it is associated with. If the software does not do that, I would not recommend using the application. The issue is that if you move that file or access that file from another computer, that meta-data won't follow the photo if it is not written to the photo itself. This can result in a loss of all the hard work and organization you put into your photo collection if you need to re-install your photo management software.<br> <br> For photo organization I had been using <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/psprelements/">Adobe Photoshop Elements</a> on Windows, however on a MAC the same version contains no photo management (<i>which I really don't get, and essentially makes it useless on a MAC, Adobe really seems to have begun to drop the ball on its consumer products</i>).&nbsp; The software I currently use is <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/">Adobe Lightroom</a>, <a href="http://picasa.google.com">Picasa</a>, and <a href="http://www.gimp.org/">Gimp</a> (<i>alternatively</i> <a href="http://www.getpaint.net/">Paint.Net</a>). I had been using Photoshop Elements but for the reason stated above I no longer use it. <br> <br> For photo management and basic editing, tagging, organizing and exporting, <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/">Adobe Lightroom</a> has become my primary tool. While more expensive then most photo management software, if you do any significant amount of photo handling it is a must have tool. It allows me to easily import photos and automatically tag and rename them. If you are on Windows and budget minded, Adobe Photoshop elements will work as well. Unfortunately on the MAC side of things, I have not found any other program which meets my photo management and tagging needs. I would recommend staying away from iPhoto, as it is pretty low end and really restricts being able to really easily manage photos. <br> <br> I also utilize <a href="http://picasa.google.com">Picasa</a> for organization, but mainly for being able to quick group photos for export or upload somewhere, or printing photographs. I try and stick with using just Lightroom for importing, tagging and organizing the photos. Lightroom, <a href="http://picasa.google.com">Picasa</a><i><b>*</b></i> and Photo Elements write the meta-data directly to the photos which is what you want.<br> <br> There are add-ins for Lightroom and <a href="http://picasa.google.com">Picasa</a> which provide support for automatically uploading photos to Facebook and Picasa. All of them support exporting to the file system or to a DVD or CD. For printing, <a href="http://picasa.google.com">Picasa</a> stands out by far as the easiest to print out photos in whatever format you need. It also has some nice features for creating photo collages either for printing or for making desktop backgrounds.<br> <br> For photo editing I will use either Lightroom or Gimp (<a href="http://www.getpaint.net/">Paint.Net</a> is a good alternative to Gimp on the Windows platform), I will occasionally use Picasa for some edits, but for me the controls on enhancing photos are a little too basic.<br> <br> - Stephen<br> <br> *<font size="1"><i>Caveat, Picasa seems to write its own Caption tag instead of using the JPEG standard title for tis captions. I have not check recently if this is still the case, but be aware you may not be able to read the title in other programs if you use Picasa to write the titles. It does seem to handle keyword data OK.</i></font> <p> </p> <img width="0" height="0" src="http://heverin.com/aggbug.ashx?id=a5a4eb39-7052-4f18-9d34-cf681c21018a" /> http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,a5a4eb39-7052-4f18-9d34-cf681c21018a.aspx Photos Software http://heverin.com/Trackback.aspx?guid=c327ab58-901f-4d0f-acf3-c753da0d8b16 http://heverin.com/pingback.aspx http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,c327ab58-901f-4d0f-acf3-c753da0d8b16.aspx Stephen http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,c327ab58-901f-4d0f-acf3-c753da0d8b16.aspx http://heverin.com/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=c327ab58-901f-4d0f-acf3-c753da0d8b16 A few weeks ago a colleague and I were having a conversation and it turned to a discussion of ADHD. During the conversation, my colleague had no idea I was ADHD, but he noted how I referred to it. I stated "I am ADHD", not "I have ADHD". This is something I had not even occured to me or really thought about. It is a big distinction between the two statements, even though they only differ by one word.

 The 'have' denotes a condition, something which does not define me, but is rather like a cold or a cut or bruise. It is something which says it is temporary or at least something which can go away. For me, the "I am ADHD" has always been more appropriated. It denotes something which defines me as a person, as part of who I am and not some outside force acting on me like an illness.This simple observation in the words I used, turned the conversation from being about ADHD and instead about how I handle this aspect of my life.

What intrigued my colleague was not so much the outward appearance of ADHD behavior, but how did it affect me internally and what in essence was going on in my head. This is something I had never really had to describe to anyone (no one ever asked). I instead would get "Man, your a pain in the ass!". For me ADHD is something I am always working with and against. The majority of the time I am fine, I am able to function and act normally. However, when my ADHD is acting up, I really have to fight to focus and to keep a single train of thought.  

During the day, I can at least have something to help me get that single train of thought, even though I may have to repeatidly go over the same ground in my mind. Whether it is work, reading. Sometimes the more rote or monotonous the task, the easier it is for me to help reign in my brain. If I am at home, its video games.

At night it is a different story. If my ADHD is acting up, my mind simply cannot turn off. I am trying to go to sleep and my brain wants to continue going 100 MPH in all directions.  For me, on these nights any type of stimulus (TV to a simple noise outside)  just keeps my brain going. I can toss and turn for hours on end.

The things I learned about being organized and focusing help me during the day, but I still struggle to find a solution at night. Recently using mediation has helped me a bit to turn off or calm down my brain at night. Though I still have a long way to do.

I have never been formally diagnosed as ADHD, nor have I ever been on medication for it. Growing up, I was just a kid who was rather hyperactive as a child and tended to get distracted. This was most evident in school. My parents chose to deal with this by getting me help in learning how to study, how to focus and how organize myself to help me be better equipped to learn.  I don't think the thought of going to the doctor to get a drug ever entered their minds. This has lead to a profound affect on how my personality and outlook on things have been shaped growing up.

I look in comparison to another colleague who also has ADHD (not formally diagnosed either) and how he deals with it, not having the same background as I did in study and organization classes I did in growing up. I also look at friends and family I know growing up now and seeing some of them who were diagnosed as ADHD and the medication that they are on affects their behavior and personality.

I also have seen friends in college who like me were not diagnosed with it as a child, but they do have it. Since they didn't get anything more then just being considered a 'trouble-maker' or 'hyperactive child', they developed their own tools to cope - such as drugs and alcohol.

I have never thought of going to a doctor to get medication, to me it seems to be an admission of defeat, that somehow I was not strong enough to deal with this on my own. I am not knocking anyone who is on medication, though I think ADHD medications are over prescribed. I don't think families are taking enough time to look at the slightly harder road, but one which I think would help kids learn to handle the condition more then just popping a pill.

I have definitely seen individuals who need the medication, they have such a severe case of ADHD which they really need more then lessons on how to focus. They have it much worse then I do and even with medication life can be a struggle. But those with moderate or mild forms of ADHD should look at trying to manage the problem without drugs first.

I 'have' vs. I 'am' http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,c327ab58-901f-4d0f-acf3-c753da0d8b16.aspx http://heverin.com/2010/02/14/I+Have+Vs+I+Am.aspx Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:18:36 GMT A few weeks ago a colleague and I were having a conversation and it turned to a discussion of ADHD. During the conversation, my colleague had no idea I was ADHD, but he noted how I referred to it. I stated "I am ADHD", not "I have ADHD". This is something I had not even occured to me or really thought about. It is a big distinction between the two statements, even though they only differ by one word.<br> <br> &nbsp;The 'have' denotes a condition, something which does not define me, but is rather like a cold or a cut or bruise. It is something which says it is temporary or at least something which can go away. For me, the "I am ADHD" has always been more appropriated. It denotes something which defines me as a person, as part of who I am and not some outside force acting on me like an illness.This simple observation in the words I used, turned the conversation from being about ADHD and instead about how I handle this aspect of my life.<br> <br> What intrigued my colleague was not so much the outward appearance of ADHD behavior, but how did it affect me internally and what in essence was going on in my head. This is something I had never really had to describe to anyone (no one ever asked). I instead would get "Man, your a pain in the ass!". For me ADHD is something I am always working with and against. The majority of the time I am fine, I am able to function and act normally. However, when my ADHD is acting up, I really have to fight to focus and to keep a single train of thought. &nbsp;<br> <br> During the day, I can at least have something to help me get that single train of thought, even though I may have to repeatidly go over the same ground in my mind. Whether it is work, reading. Sometimes the more rote or monotonous the task, the easier it is for me to help reign in my brain. If I am at home, its video games.<br> <br> At night it is a different story. If my ADHD is acting up, my mind simply cannot turn off. I am trying to go to sleep and my brain wants to continue going 100 MPH in all directions.&nbsp; For me, on these nights any type of stimulus (<i>TV to a simple noise outside</i>)&nbsp; just keeps my brain going. I can toss and turn for hours on end.<br> <br> The things I learned about being organized and focusing help me during the day, but I still struggle to find a solution at night. Recently using mediation has helped me a bit to turn off or calm down my brain at night. Though I still have a long way to do.<br> <br> I have never been formally diagnosed as ADHD, nor have I ever been on medication for it. Growing up, I was just a kid who was rather hyperactive as a child and tended to get distracted. This was most evident in school. My parents chose to deal with this by getting me help in learning how to study, how to focus and how organize myself to help me be better equipped to learn.&nbsp; I don't think the thought of going to the doctor to get a drug ever entered their minds. This has lead to a profound affect on how my personality and outlook on things have been shaped growing up.<br> <br> I look in comparison to another colleague who also has ADHD (<i>not formally diagnosed either</i>) and how he deals with it, not having the same background as I did in study and organization classes I did in growing up. I also look at friends and family I know growing up now and seeing some of them who were diagnosed as ADHD and the medication that they are on affects their behavior and personality.<br> <br> I also have seen friends in college who like me were not diagnosed with it as a child, but they do have it. Since they didn't get anything more then just being considered a 'trouble-maker' or 'hyperactive child', they developed their own tools to cope - such as drugs and alcohol.<br> <br> I have never thought of going to a doctor to get medication, to me it seems to be an admission of defeat, that somehow I was not strong enough to deal with this on my own. I am not knocking anyone who is on medication, though I think ADHD medications are over prescribed. I don't think families are taking enough time to look at the slightly harder road, but one which I think would help kids learn to handle the condition more then just popping a pill.<br> <br> I have definitely seen individuals who need the medication, they have such a severe case of ADHD which they really need more then lessons on how to focus. They have it much worse then I do and even with medication life can be a struggle. But those with moderate or mild forms of ADHD should look at trying to manage the problem without drugs first.<p> </p> <img width="0" height="0" src="http://heverin.com/aggbug.ashx?id=c327ab58-901f-4d0f-acf3-c753da0d8b16" /> http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,c327ab58-901f-4d0f-acf3-c753da0d8b16.aspx Personal http://heverin.com/Trackback.aspx?guid=b58ddfc6-32aa-4e5b-98aa-ddd601d04952 http://heverin.com/pingback.aspx http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,b58ddfc6-32aa-4e5b-98aa-ddd601d04952.aspx Stephen http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,b58ddfc6-32aa-4e5b-98aa-ddd601d04952.aspx http://heverin.com/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=b58ddfc6-32aa-4e5b-98aa-ddd601d04952

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today launched its pet health and safety widget for consumers as part of an ongoing effort to provide timely, user-friendly, public health information.

Pet Health and Safety Widget


Pet Health and Safety Widget. Flash Player 9 is required.
Pet Health and Safety Widget.
Flash Player 9 is required.

FDA Launches new Pet Health and Safty Widget http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,b58ddfc6-32aa-4e5b-98aa-ddd601d04952.aspx http://heverin.com/2009/12/22/FDA+Launches+New+Pet+Health+And+Safty+Widget.aspx Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:30:35 GMT <p> The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today launched its pet health and safety widget for consumers as part of an ongoing effort to provide timely, user-friendly, public health information. </p> <div> <h3 id="start-widget-focus"><a href="http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ContactFDA/StayInformed/RSSFeeds/PetHealth/rss.xml">Pet Health and Safety Widget</a> </h3> <p> <br> <!--[if!IE]><!--> <object tabindex="0" id="widgetID" data="http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/widgets/pethealth/PetHealth.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" title="Pet Health and Safety Widget" height="345" width="170"> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="FlashVars" value="bg=ffffff"> <param name="pluginurl" value="http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/"> <div style="width: auto;"><img src="http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/widgets/pethealth/PetHealth.jpg" alt="Pet Health and Safety Widget. Flash Player 9 is required." height="345" width="170"> <br> Pet Health and Safety Widget. <br> <a href="http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/">Flash Player 9 is required.</a> </div> </object> <!----> <!--[endif]--> <!--[if IE]><object tabindex="0" id="widgetID" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" width="170" height="345" title="widgetTitle"><param name="movie" value="http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/widgets/pethealth/PetHealth.swf"/><param name="quality" value="high"/><param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="FlashVars" value="bg=ffffff"/><div style="width:auto"><img src="http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/widgets/pethealth/PetHealth.jpg" width="170" height="345" alt="Pet Health and Safety Widget. Flash Player 9 is required."/><br />Pet Health and Safety Widget. <br /><a href="http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/">Flash Player 9 is required.</a></div></object><![endif]--> <a id="end-widget-focus"></a> </p> </div> <p> </p> <img width="0" height="0" src="http://heverin.com/aggbug.ashx?id=b58ddfc6-32aa-4e5b-98aa-ddd601d04952" /> http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,b58ddfc6-32aa-4e5b-98aa-ddd601d04952.aspx Animals pets health http://heverin.com/Trackback.aspx?guid=8d33c73a-4074-4a7d-b3d3-6fe71d5e4aa2 http://heverin.com/pingback.aspx http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,8d33c73a-4074-4a7d-b3d3-6fe71d5e4aa2.aspx Stephen http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,8d33c73a-4074-4a7d-b3d3-6fe71d5e4aa2.aspx http://heverin.com/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=8d33c73a-4074-4a7d-b3d3-6fe71d5e4aa2 We recently switched to iPhones and I have used it long enough now to offer up a review in comparison to what I looked at for alternatives in getting a new cell phone and our experience with our previous cell phones. And now I have purchased a MAC for her and for my father as replacement computers. My workstation at home is "adequate" for now, so I have not gotten one for myself yet, though when I do replace it, it will be a MAC. In this first part I will cover the conversion to the iPhone.

Now here is the thing, it has nothing to do with the operating system. It is the hardware platform. Starting out at the phones, Erica had a Motorola Krazr with a proprietary carrier OS, and I had a Windows mobile Pantech duo. My wife began to have problems with her phone over time, and trying to keep her contacts and calendar synced with Motorola's proprietary software was just horrendous. My phone running Windows mobile just worked. It synced w/o issue using Active Sync. The only issue I had over time was that the phone would reboot itself. Which was tied to a design flaw in the hardware of the Pantech Duo. Basically the sliding of the keyboard would cause it to reboot. It really became annoying. The other downside was I had a proprietary connector, so if I was out somewhere and needed a charge, I was SOL since it didn't have a standard USB mini adapter. Motorola at least had a standard USB mini so chances were always good you could bum a charge off someone.

Over time we have had various iPod incarnations and I had a 1st gen iTouch. I had seen and played with the iPhone a bit from colleagues.

So when we were due for new phones. I looked into all the phone available with our carrier and narrowed it down to either the iPhone or a Windows mobile device. Additionally for the Windows mobile it needed to use a standard USB mini connector, non of that proprietary connector crap. Given our travel, the phone needed to support international travel. If it had Wi-fi, that was a bonus but not a requirement. The iPhone is a proprietary connector, it has enough share such in the music player and phone market, that it really is a "standard".

I was very happy with Windows Mobile software, in that it just worked. My big concern with the iPhone was that Apple's delivery system for it, iTunes, is a piece of crap. It bricked my iTouch on many occasions. And I was not eager to see my phone get bricked and leave me high and dry before a trip the way my iTouch bricked itself just prior to us leaving for our two week road trip. Windows mobile never did that, it synced contacts, calendar and music w/o a issue. The applications on the iPhone/iTouch were compelling, but I could live without it.

In looking at all the phones given the criteria, the iPhone really stood out. I went and checked out all of the Windows mobile devices that fit into the criteria: HTC Fuze, Samsung Propel, LG INCITE and the Nokia E71x. The last device in the list, the Nokia wasn't windows mobile, but the design intrigued me. I went to an AT&T store to try out all the devices. Basically, all the devices, except the iPhone failed. Why? Simple, they were "clunky" and very difficult to use. It felt almost painful with some to use it. And not just in non-phone applications, but the phone applications as well. They were not simple, elegant or easy to use. The best of the pack was the Nokia, however I could not bring myself to like it because it was proprietary operating system. The foremost the feature after usability as a phone, is that had to be dead simple syncing of contacts and calendar items to the phone. Of those phones, the ones that had "touch-screen" capability felt wrong. They felt cheap and like they were not solid devices. Given that all of them were around the same price as an iPhone 3GS 16GB phone, that was not acceptable.

I brought Erica in later in the week to have her try out phones from the list of candidates I put together so we could make sure she got a phone that works for her. Hands down without blinking she picked the iPhone after looking at them all.

We have had the phones for several weeks now and they have been working great. We both love the over the air connectivity of the applications - maps, weather and web browsing mostly. It really makes it easy when you are somewhere without Wi-Fi and can still look something up. The ability to be able to check traffic as you are walking out the door, or look up something is tremendous. My concerns about using it as a phone and music player have been appeased. Despite my issues with the iTunes software, the device itself has worked great. The reason it works, and the iPod works, is that it is just a very natural and intuitive to interact with the device. Anyone can pick it up and within a few minutes get where things are and how to use them. Even as a technologist I struggled to figure out how to use the other phones. Their interfaces were severely lacking in ease of use when stood up next to an iPhone. And these were phones that are supposed to be in the same class and price range as an iPhone.

- Stephen
Converting to MACs - Part one, the phone. http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,8d33c73a-4074-4a7d-b3d3-6fe71d5e4aa2.aspx http://heverin.com/2009/08/02/Converting+To+MACs+Part+One+The+Phone.aspx Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:56:35 GMT We recently switched to iPhones and I have used it long enough now to offer up a review in comparison to what I looked at for alternatives in getting a new cell phone and our experience with our previous cell phones. And now I have purchased a MAC for her and for my father as replacement computers. My workstation at home is "adequate" for now, so I have not gotten one for myself yet, though when I do replace it, it will be a MAC. In this first part I will cover the conversion to the iPhone.<br> <br> Now here is the thing, it has nothing to do with the operating system. It is the hardware platform. Starting out at the phones, Erica had a Motorola Krazr with a proprietary carrier OS, and I had a Windows mobile Pantech duo. My wife began to have problems with her phone over time, and trying to keep her contacts and calendar synced with Motorola's proprietary software was just horrendous. My phone running Windows mobile just worked. It synced w/o issue using Active Sync. The only issue I had over time was that the phone would reboot itself. Which was tied to a design flaw in the hardware of the Pantech Duo. Basically the sliding of the keyboard would cause it to reboot. It really became annoying. The other downside was I had a proprietary connector, so if I was out somewhere and needed a charge, I was SOL since it didn't have a standard USB mini adapter. Motorola at least had a standard USB mini so chances were always good you could bum a charge off someone.<br> <br> Over time we have had various iPod incarnations and I had a 1st gen iTouch. I had seen and played with the iPhone a bit from colleagues.<br> <br> So when we were due for new phones. I looked into all the phone available with our carrier and narrowed it down to either the iPhone or a Windows mobile device. Additionally for the Windows mobile it needed to use a standard USB mini connector, non of that proprietary connector crap. Given our travel, the phone needed to support international travel. If it had Wi-fi, that was a bonus but not a requirement. The iPhone is a proprietary connector, it has enough share such in the music player and phone market, that it really is a "standard".<br> <br> I was very happy with Windows Mobile software, in that it just worked. My big concern with the iPhone was that Apple's delivery system for it, iTunes, is a piece of crap. It bricked my iTouch on many occasions. And I was not eager to see my phone get bricked and leave me high and dry before a trip the way my iTouch bricked itself just prior to us leaving for our two week road trip. Windows mobile never did that, it synced contacts, calendar and music w/o a issue. The applications on the iPhone/iTouch were compelling, but I could live without it.<br> <br> In looking at all the phones given the criteria, the iPhone really stood out. I went and checked out all of the Windows mobile devices that fit into the criteria: HTC Fuze, Samsung Propel, LG INCITE and the Nokia E71x. The last device in the list, the Nokia wasn't windows mobile, but the design intrigued me. I went to an AT&amp;T store to try out all the devices. Basically, all the devices, except the iPhone failed. Why? Simple, they were "clunky" and very difficult to use. It felt almost painful with some to use it. And not just in non-phone applications, but the phone applications as well. They were not simple, elegant or easy to use. The best of the pack was the Nokia, however I could not bring myself to like it because it was proprietary operating system. The foremost the feature after usability as a phone, is that had to be dead simple syncing of contacts and calendar items to the phone. Of those phones, the ones that had "touch-screen" capability felt wrong. They felt cheap and like they were not solid devices. Given that all of them were around the same price as an iPhone 3GS 16GB phone, that was not acceptable.<br> <br> I brought Erica in later in the week to have her try out phones from the list of candidates I put together so we could make sure she got a phone that works for her. Hands down without blinking she picked the iPhone after looking at them all.<br> <br> We have had the phones for several weeks now and they have been working great. We both love the over the air connectivity of the applications - maps, weather and web browsing mostly. It really makes it easy when you are somewhere without Wi-Fi and can still look something up. The ability to be able to check traffic as you are walking out the door, or look up something is tremendous. My concerns about using it as a phone and music player have been appeased. Despite my issues with the iTunes software, the device itself has worked great. The reason it works, and the iPod works, is that it is just a very natural and intuitive to interact with the device. Anyone can pick it up and within a few minutes get where things are and how to use them. Even as a technologist I struggled to figure out how to use the other phones. Their interfaces were severely lacking in ease of use when stood up next to an iPhone. And these were phones that are supposed to be in the same class and price range as an iPhone.<br> <br> - Stephen<br> <img width="0" height="0" src="http://heverin.com/aggbug.ashx?id=8d33c73a-4074-4a7d-b3d3-6fe71d5e4aa2" /> http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,8d33c73a-4074-4a7d-b3d3-6fe71d5e4aa2.aspx Review Technology Phone http://heverin.com/Trackback.aspx?guid=918f2d18-16be-4cf1-93d8-53baaea294c7 http://heverin.com/pingback.aspx http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,918f2d18-16be-4cf1-93d8-53baaea294c7.aspx Stephen http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,918f2d18-16be-4cf1-93d8-53baaea294c7.aspx http://heverin.com/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=918f2d18-16be-4cf1-93d8-53baaea294c7 Address:
     901 West Butler Pike
     Ambler PA 19002
     (215) 643-6300
Web:http://broadaxetavern.com/
Cuisine: American/Modern
Service:
Food: 
Atmosphere:
Cost:
Overall rating:

We went to the newly opened and renovated Broad Axe tavern Friday night for dinner. The outside and the inside have been completely renovated. The interior is nothing like it used to look, it has been completely re-done. The cuisine is what I would call "American modern", it has a slightly upscale bar/restaurant fare with some international influence.

They have a tremendous beer selection, on draft and bottled. They have the standards on tap such as Guinness and Yuengling, part of their "Starting Eight", but they also have a rotation of other beers that called the "Changing Eight". They not only have a selection of wine, and other cocktails (quite a nice list of custom martini's and mojitos), but their focus on beer selection is great. Too few restaurants treat their beer selection as an after thought.

Erica and I split an appetizer of fried calamari which was good. Nothing over the top about it, a pretty standard dish. I had the Grilled Ahi tun and baby bok choy in a dashi broth. Erica had one of the specials, a scallop noodle bowl. For desert Erica had the Tripple chocolate brownie (OK, I had some too :).

The meal was pretty good. The seared tuna I had was well done, and had a nice flavor to it. The bok choy it sat on top of in the dashi broth was a bit bland. There just needed to be something more in the broth to stand out more in comparison to the tuna. I really like bok choy and it can have a great flavor to it. Unfortunately the dashi broth seemed to wash it out.

The service was great from when you walk in, through the entire meal. Our waitress made sure to check up on us regularly, and Eric the host even came by at the end of the meal to see how things went. It was a really nice experience and we look forward to going back there again.

- Stephen

Broad Axe Tavern http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,918f2d18-16be-4cf1-93d8-53baaea294c7.aspx http://heverin.com/2009/07/14/Broad+Axe+Tavern.aspx Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:41:09 GMT <b>Address:</b> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 901 West Butler Pike<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ambler PA 19002<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (215) 643-6300<br> <b>Web:</b> <a href="http://broadaxetavern.com/">http://broadaxetavern.com/</a> <br> <b>Cuisine:</b> American/Modern<br> <b>Service:</b> <img src="/images/stars-blue-4-0.gif"> <br> <b>Food:&nbsp;</b> <img src="/images/stars-blue-3-0.gif"> <br> <b>Atmosphere:</b> <img src="/images/stars-blue-4-0.gif"> <br> <b>Cost: <img src="/images/dollarsign.jpg"><img src="/images/dollarsign.jpg"></b> <br> <b>Overall rating:</b> <img src="/images/stars-blue-3-0.gif"> <br> <br> We went to the newly opened and renovated Broad Axe tavern Friday night for dinner. The outside and the inside have been completely renovated. The interior is nothing like it used to look, it has been completely re-done. The cuisine is what I would call "American modern", it has a slightly upscale bar/restaurant fare with some international influence.<br> <br> <img src="/images/photos/broadaxe.jpg" width="265" align="right" height="266">They have a tremendous beer selection, on draft and bottled. They have the standards on tap such as Guinness and Yuengling, part of their "Starting Eight", but they also have a rotation of other beers that called the "Changing Eight". They not only have a selection of wine, and other cocktails (quite a nice list of custom martini's and mojitos), but their focus on beer selection is great. Too few restaurants treat their beer selection as an after thought.<br> <br> Erica and I split an appetizer of fried calamari which was good. Nothing over the top about it, a pretty standard dish. I had the Grilled Ahi tun and baby bok choy in a dashi broth. Erica had one of the specials, a scallop noodle bowl. For desert Erica had the Tripple chocolate brownie (OK, I had some too :).<br> <br> The meal was pretty good. The seared tuna I had was well done, and had a nice flavor to it. The bok choy it sat on top of in the dashi broth was a bit bland. There just needed to be something more in the broth to stand out more in comparison to the tuna. I really like bok choy and it can have a great flavor to it. Unfortunately the dashi broth seemed to wash it out.<br> <br> The service was great from when you walk in, through the entire meal. Our waitress made sure to check up on us regularly, and Eric the host even came by at the end of the meal to see how things went. It was a really nice experience and we look forward to going back there again.<br> <br> - Stephen<br> <p> </p> <img width="0" height="0" src="http://heverin.com/aggbug.ashx?id=918f2d18-16be-4cf1-93d8-53baaea294c7" /> http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,918f2d18-16be-4cf1-93d8-53baaea294c7.aspx Food Resaurant Review http://heverin.com/Trackback.aspx?guid=d760e9b6-13bd-44e9-b625-31205bb63ad6 http://heverin.com/pingback.aspx http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,d760e9b6-13bd-44e9-b625-31205bb63ad6.aspx Stephen http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,d760e9b6-13bd-44e9-b625-31205bb63ad6.aspx http://heverin.com/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=d760e9b6-13bd-44e9-b625-31205bb63ad6 Last night while sitting on my back porch enjoying the thunderstorm, I had a visitor join me. This frog came along on the porch heading towards the back door, or just wanting to get out of the wet weather. I have never seen a frog anywhere near our yard before.

 

You can see more pics on my Facebook album, or my Picasa album.

- Stephen

Frog on the porch http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,d760e9b6-13bd-44e9-b625-31205bb63ad6.aspx http://heverin.com/2009/07/12/Frog+On+The+Porch.aspx Sun, 12 Jul 2009 17:46:29 GMT Last night while sitting on my back porch enjoying the thunderstorm, I had a visitor join me. This frog came along on the porch heading towards the back door, or just wanting to get out of the wet weather. I have never seen a frog anywhere near our yard before.<br> <br> <img src="/images/photos/FrogOnBackPorch-1_edited-1.jpg" width="355" height="236">&nbsp; <img src="/images/photos/FrogOnBackPorch-5_edited-1.jpg" width="354" height="236"> <br> <br> You can see more pics on my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=93081&amp;id=561623095&amp;l=7dd8873cef">Facebook album</a>, or my <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/sbobcat/FrogOnTheBackPorch#">Picasa album</a>.<br> <br> - Stephen<br> <p> </p> <img width="0" height="0" src="http://heverin.com/aggbug.ashx?id=d760e9b6-13bd-44e9-b625-31205bb63ad6" /> http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,d760e9b6-13bd-44e9-b625-31205bb63ad6.aspx Animals Home http://heverin.com/Trackback.aspx?guid=dd9b31e1-72f1-4bc1-8ec1-9a294854c570 http://heverin.com/pingback.aspx http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,dd9b31e1-72f1-4bc1-8ec1-9a294854c570.aspx Stephen http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,dd9b31e1-72f1-4bc1-8ec1-9a294854c570.aspx http://heverin.com/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=dd9b31e1-72f1-4bc1-8ec1-9a294854c570 We spent the 4th of July at my Uncle Jerry's for his birthday and 4th of July party. Quite a lot of family came out from all over on both sides for the festivities. It was a lot of fun meeting some new friends and re-connecting with some family we had not seen in a while.

    
   
We were introduced to the game of Stump. I can't believe that I have gone this long in my life and not come across this game before! Basically you stand around a stump and take turns attempting to hammer another persons nail into the stump fully. What makes the game hard is that you have to flip the hammer first and catch it before taking your turn and in one fluid motion, without readjusting your grip, you take a swing at one of the nails. (Preferably not your own.) It is actually quite a lot of fun. And of course I managed to find a site dedicated to the game: http://www.worldstump.com/china/chinapics.html.


Pictures from the party can be found in this Picasa album, or on my Facebook album. I kept the sizes large so that they would be printable.

- Stephen

4th of July http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,dd9b31e1-72f1-4bc1-8ec1-9a294854c570.aspx http://heverin.com/2009/07/05/4th+Of+July.aspx Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:15:36 GMT We spent the 4th of July at my Uncle Jerry's for his birthday and 4th of July party. Quite a lot of family came out from all over on both sides for the festivities. It was a lot of fun meeting some new friends and re-connecting with some family we had not seen in a while.<br> <br> <div align="center"><img src="/images/photos/jerrysjuly4th-27_edited-1.jpg" width="351" height="250">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="/images/photos/jerrysjuly4th-51_edited-1.jpg" width="352" height="251"> <br> </div> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br> We were introduced to the game of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stump_%28game%29">Stump</a>. I can't believe that I have gone this long in my life and not come across this game before! Basically you stand around a stump and take turns attempting to hammer another persons nail into the stump fully. What makes the game hard is that you have to flip the hammer first and catch it before taking your turn and in one fluid motion, without readjusting your grip, you take a swing at one of the nails. (Preferably not your own.) It is actually quite a lot of fun. And of course I managed to find a site dedicated to the game: <a href="http://www.worldstump.com/china/chinapics.html">http://www.worldstump.com/china/chinapics.html</a>.<br> <div align="center"><img src="/images/photos/jerrysjuly4th-11-1.jpg" width="266" height="190"> <br> </div> <br> Pictures from the party can be found in this <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/sbobcat/July4th#">Picasa album</a>, or on my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91420&amp;id=561623095&amp;l=4c0bd2b2f7">Facebook album</a>. I kept the sizes large so that they would be printable.<br> <br> - Stephen<br> <p> </p> <img width="0" height="0" src="http://heverin.com/aggbug.ashx?id=dd9b31e1-72f1-4bc1-8ec1-9a294854c570" /> http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,dd9b31e1-72f1-4bc1-8ec1-9a294854c570.aspx Birthday Family Holiday Party http://heverin.com/Trackback.aspx?guid=eac8c2f0-69a5-4b45-96e8-d680c6daf901 http://heverin.com/pingback.aspx http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,eac8c2f0-69a5-4b45-96e8-d680c6daf901.aspx Stephen http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,eac8c2f0-69a5-4b45-96e8-d680c6daf901.aspx http://heverin.com/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=eac8c2f0-69a5-4b45-96e8-d680c6daf901 Address:
         237 Saint James Place
         Philadelphia, PA 19106
         (215) 625.8800
Web:http://www.zahavrestaurant.com/
Cuisine:  Israeli/Middle eastern
Service:
Food:
Atmosphere:
Cost:
Overall rating:

Last night we we out to dinner with Wayne and Katherine. This place is the top rated places to eat in Philly and for good reason. Outside the building is pretty non-descript. Inside it is a completely different atmosphere. Everything is open, pretty much in two rooms. From anywhere in the place you have a view of the kitchen working on orders. It is warm and inviting.

Service is tapas style, basically small plates which are meant to be shared and should be. The recomended starter and speciality for the table is the Salatim & Hummus with Laffa. The Salatim is a selection of different dishes from chick peas to beats enjoyed with or without the laffa. Their hummus was some of the best I have ever had. As we went through and placed our orders, our waiter Eric asked us if we were sure we had not been there before. He said we were hitting all the best plates in our ordering.

I spotted the Jerusalem Grill, which was a mixed offal - "all the good stuff". I wasn't sure what it waas, but I from the vague description, I had a pretty good guess. Eric confirmed that it was heart, liver and testes from different animals. Mainly duck and lamb. I rouned my order out with Kibbe Naya (raw ground lamb) and The Jaffa (Branzino - a whitefish). Fried cauliflower, stuffed baby peppers, The Read Sea (seared tuna) The Turk (ground beef), The Farsi (lamb), The Galil (eggplant) and Fried Kibbe.

Nothing I had disappointed. The Jerusalem Grill was tremendous. It came with a side of a mustard like sauce, more sweet then spicy and laffa. The spice was only needed as an accent as the heart, liver and testes were extremely tasty on their own. I had not had raw lamb before, but it had a great flavor and texture to it, again the spices not overwhelming and letting the food stand on its own. Everyone really enjoyed their food and a good bit of sharing. The only off-note was in the Turk which Erica ordered. It was just too much spice for here and she felt was overwhelming. Not from a heat perspective, but just being too much seasoning.

For a drink, I tried their "Tel Aviv Black & Tan" which was a half and half of Goldstar Larger and Malt. I followed it up with just the Goldstar Malt as the meal progressed. Overall both were OK. There were good beers, but didn't really blow me away. They just seemed to be good middle of the road beer.

We finished up the meal with desrt. Erica and Wayne got the Roasted peach which was a cashew baklava, a peach and white chocolate panna cotta. Katherine tried their drink "The new milk and honey", which I had a taste of. It was really good, not overly sweet and I am sure could knock you back without realizing it. I had the Konafi which has a shredded, crunchy phyllo dough on top of ricotta, rose water and pstachios. It was deliciously sweet.

It was a great night overall and I look forward to going back there.

- Stephen

Review: Zahav http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,eac8c2f0-69a5-4b45-96e8-d680c6daf901.aspx http://heverin.com/2009/06/29/Review+Zahav.aspx Mon, 29 Jun 2009 03:47:16 GMT <b>Address: </b> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 237 Saint James Place<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Philadelphia, PA 19106<br> &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; (215) 625.8800<br> <b>Web:</b> <a href="http://www.zahavrestaurant.com/">http://www.zahavrestaurant.com/</a> <br> <b>Cuisine:&nbsp;</b> Israeli/Middle eastern<br> <b>Service: </b><b><img src="/images/stars-blue-4-0.gif"></b> <br> <b>Food: </b><b><img src="/images/stars-blue-5-0.gif"></b> <br> <b>Atmosphere: </b><b><img src="/images/stars-blue-4-0.gif"></b> <br> <b>Cost: <img src="/images/dollarsign.jpg"></b><b><img src="/images/dollarsign.jpg"></b><b><img src="/images/dollarsign.jpg"></b> <br> <b>Overall rating:</b> <b><img src="/images/stars-blue-4-0.gif"></b> <br> <br> Last night we we out to dinner with Wayne and Katherine. This place is the top rated places to eat in Philly and for good reason. Outside the building is pretty non-descript. Inside it is a completely different atmosphere. Everything is open, pretty much in two rooms. From anywhere in the place you have a view of the kitchen working on orders. It is warm and inviting. <br> <br> Service is tapas style, basically small plates which are meant to be shared and should be. The recomended starter and speciality for the table is the Salatim &amp; Hummus with Laffa. The Salatim is a selection of different dishes from chick peas to beats enjoyed with or without the laffa. Their hummus was some of the best I have ever had. As we went through and placed our orders, our waiter Eric asked us if we were sure we had not been there before. He said we were hitting all the best plates in our ordering.<br> <br> I spotted the Jerusalem Grill, which was a mixed offal - "all the good stuff". I wasn't sure what it waas, but I from the vague description, I had a pretty good guess. Eric confirmed that it was heart, liver and testes from different animals. Mainly duck and lamb. I rouned my order out with Kibbe Naya (raw ground lamb) and The Jaffa (Branzino - a whitefish). Fried cauliflower, stuffed baby peppers, The Read Sea (seared tuna) The Turk (ground beef), The Farsi (lamb), The Galil (eggplant) and Fried Kibbe.<br> <br> Nothing I had disappointed. The Jerusalem Grill was tremendous. It came with a side of a mustard like sauce, more sweet then spicy and laffa. The spice was only needed as an accent as the heart, liver and testes were extremely tasty on their own. I had not had raw lamb before, but it had a great flavor and texture to it, again the spices not overwhelming and letting the food stand on its own. Everyone really enjoyed their food and a good bit of sharing. The only off-note was in the Turk which Erica ordered. It was just too much spice for here and she felt was overwhelming. Not from a heat perspective, but just being too much seasoning. <br> <br> For a drink, I tried their "Tel Aviv Black &amp; Tan" which was a half and half of Goldstar Larger and Malt. I followed it up with just the Goldstar Malt as the meal progressed. Overall both were OK. There were good beers, but didn't really blow me away. They just seemed to be good middle of the road beer.<br> <br> We finished up the meal with desrt. Erica and Wayne got the Roasted peach which was a cashew baklava, a peach and white chocolate panna cotta. Katherine tried their drink "The new milk and honey", which I had a taste of. It was really good, not overly sweet and I am sure could knock you back without realizing it. I had the Konafi which has a shredded, crunchy phyllo dough on top of ricotta, rose water and pstachios. It was deliciously sweet.<br> <br> It was a great night overall and I look forward to going back there.<br> <br> - Stephen<br> <p> </p> <img width="0" height="0" src="http://heverin.com/aggbug.ashx?id=eac8c2f0-69a5-4b45-96e8-d680c6daf901" /> http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,eac8c2f0-69a5-4b45-96e8-d680c6daf901.aspx Resaurant Review http://heverin.com/Trackback.aspx?guid=38516e44-f13b-4f90-8faf-bcbf8be3ae17 http://heverin.com/pingback.aspx http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,38516e44-f13b-4f90-8faf-bcbf8be3ae17.aspx Stephen http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,38516e44-f13b-4f90-8faf-bcbf8be3ae17.aspx http://heverin.com/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=38516e44-f13b-4f90-8faf-bcbf8be3ae17 Today we started off by visiting Erica's grandfather in the morning. And then we  met up with my parents, Thomas, Veronica, Miquel and Nina at Oreland Pizza for lunch. From there we headed down to the Philly zoo for the afternoon.

    

The morning was overcast and rainy, but by the time we hit the zoo it was warm and sunny. As it turns out, they were also taping an episode of "Dinner Impossible" with Robert Irvine at the zoo. They were doing a dinner for local armed forces, police and fireman at the zoo.



We came across where they were filming and hung out for a while watching what they were doing. It was pretty interesting to see that what you see from Chef Irvine on the show was actually going on in person. We managed to get some good shots of him in action.

The menu apparently was inspired by different animal groups - reptiles, primates, big cats, and birds. And apparently on the menu under reptiles were chocolate covered crickets!

Everyone had a great time at the zoo. Afterwards we headed up to Giuseppi's near Oreland for dinner before everyone headed home.

More pictures can be found on Facebook, or my Picasa page.

- Stephen

Father's Day http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,38516e44-f13b-4f90-8faf-bcbf8be3ae17.aspx http://heverin.com/2009/06/22/Fathers+Day.aspx Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:19:33 GMT Today we started off by visiting Erica's grandfather in the morning. And then we&nbsp; met up with my parents, Thomas, Veronica, Miquel and Nina at Oreland Pizza for lunch. From there we headed down to the Philly zoo for the afternoon.<br> <br> <div align="center"><img src="/images/photos/ZooFathersDay2009-5_edited-1.jpg" width="190" height="266">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="/images/photos/ZooFathersDay2009-86_edited-1.jpg" width="374" height="267"> <br> </div> <br> The morning was overcast and rainy, but by the time we hit the zoo it was warm and sunny. As it turns out, they were also taping an episode of "<a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/dinner-impossible/index.html">Dinner Impossible</a>" with Robert Irvine at the zoo. They were doing a dinner for local armed forces, police and fireman at the zoo.<br> <br> <div align="center"><img src="/images/photos/ZooFathersDay2009-122_edited-1.jpg" width="478" height="342"> <br> </div> <br> We came across where they were filming and hung out for a while watching what they were doing. It was pretty interesting to see that what you see from Chef Irvine on the show was actually going on in person. We managed to get some good shots of him in action.<br> <br> The menu apparently was inspired by different animal groups - reptiles, primates, big cats, and birds. And apparently on the menu under reptiles were chocolate covered crickets!<br> <br> Everyone had a great time at the zoo. Afterwards we headed up to Giuseppi's near Oreland for dinner before everyone headed home.<br> <br> More pictures can be found on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=88774&amp;id=561623095&amp;l=a050c1bcf8">Facebook</a>, or my <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/sbobcat/FatherSDay2009#">Picasa </a>page.<br> <br> - Stephen<br> <p> </p> <img width="0" height="0" src="http://heverin.com/aggbug.ashx?id=38516e44-f13b-4f90-8faf-bcbf8be3ae17" /> http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,38516e44-f13b-4f90-8faf-bcbf8be3ae17.aspx Family Holiday Zoo http://heverin.com/Trackback.aspx?guid=e52b365c-04af-46f1-9ee1-d306a81e91fe http://heverin.com/pingback.aspx http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,e52b365c-04af-46f1-9ee1-d306a81e91fe.aspx Stephen http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,e52b365c-04af-46f1-9ee1-d306a81e91fe.aspx http://heverin.com/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=e52b365c-04af-46f1-9ee1-d306a81e91fe This site is wonderful! http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com

It has a lot of gems like this:


Awkward Family Photos http://heverin.com/PermaLink,guid,e52b365c-04af-46f1-9ee1-d306a81e91fe.aspx http://heverin.com/2009/06/19/Awkward+Family+Photos.aspx Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:26:50 GMT This site is wonderful! <a href="http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/page/17/">http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com</a> <br> <br> It has a lot of gems like this:<br> <br> <div align="center"><img src="http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/mommy-the-pooh-lr.jpg"> <br> </div> <p> </p> <img width="0" height="0" src="http://heverin.com/aggbug.ashx?id=e52b365c-04af-46f1-9ee1-d306a81e91fe" /> http://heverin.com/CommentView,guid,e52b365c-04af-46f1-9ee1-d306a81e91fe.aspx Photos Family Websites