I use Google Analytics to track usage of this site. In particular, I’m interested in number of visits, but they give you so many other cool statistics. What countries traffic comes from, bounceback rate, top pages, and my favorite: kewords searched for in Google that led people to this site. Thus, I present a list of some of the best (and oddest).
1. “Squaw Peak” Provo Sex
2. amanda schultz nightlife
3. andrew meadow
4. bank teller flirting
5. going nude at branched oak lake
6. quickie candid
Have you noticed the latest additions to AbsolutelyAndrew-Endorsed blogs? Down, to the right. Lower…Lower…there it is! Right under “Links”. If you’re on that list, it means you’re well on your way to celebrity blogger status! This site averages 300 page views a month. 300! (at least 25% of that is not from the creator’s wife) And some of that traffic could come to you…
Be proud. It’s a good day to be a blogger.
Tara and I traveled up Millcreek canyon on a Sunday afternoon so she could have a change of scenery while she studied for her board exam. Meanwhile, I entertained myself down at the stream. I had trouble picking the best photo, though. I was ready to say the first is the best, but Tara insisted the second is better. I’ll let you decide.
60mm F29 2 sec ISO 100
35mm F22 2 sec ISO 100
A few months ago, thanks to the National Geographic Photo of the Day RSS feed, my mind was opened up to a whole new realm of photography: Light Painting. Sure, I was always well aware of the concept—nightime city shots with streaked headlights or the incredible all-night exposure of the starry sky, but I had never realized just how much could be accomplished. I have been determined ever since to try some of my own.
This past Saturday, while Tara was studying, I dug out my long neglected nerdery, that is, prized electrical components that I’ve pillaged throughout the years, and mimicking a project from Make Magazine, I built a couple light orbs. The first one is a bunch of red LED’s soldered together and a few pennies and a dead AA battery for weight powered by a 9V battery cased in an Altoids box. The second is a strip of tiny neon lights that I procured years ago from a dangerous corner of the web for electronics nerds: The Electronic Goldmine.
My 2 Light Painting tools: the Orb, and the Lightsaber
Once the nerdery was complete, I shut myself in the darkened bathroom to try them out. The results were interesting…
Attempt 1 with the orb. The exposure was a bit long. Also, I did not expect that I would be that visible.
Freaky…
Attempt 1 with the Lightsaber.
I then tried a few abstract self portraits… 
And now for something completely different…
This one I took after a hike. It was a 15 second exposure, timed such that a car would be headed down the road (the red). However, a cop pulled up in the final seconds and stopped to yell at some kids to put out their fire (the bright white). Thus, the end result looks like a friggin’ laser!
This past Sunday, Tara and I celebrated our very 1st anniversary. I should use the term “celebrated” loosely, however, as the celebrations consisted of flying back from KC, eating thawed cake, and going to bed early thanks to a horrendous headache. Sound romantic?
Actually, it was pretty amazing. Negatives aside, here’s a list of the things that made our first anniversary so special. (I’m in a listing mood).
1. Spending the weekend with some of our closest friends. The ones that got us together to begin with 3 and a half years ago, the ones that stood by our side and supported us as we made the most important commitment of our lives, and the ones that selflessly remembered that it was our anniversary, and let us have the guest bedroom in the lake house.
2. Enjoying year old cake (actually still quite good), and sipping decaf coffee (a tradition started on our honeymoon—the coffee, that is, not the year-old cake) on our china, and reminiscing about the challenges, triumphs, and joys of the first year.
3. Getting to rest my throbbing head while my gracious wife cleaned the dishes.
The best part is, the festivities are not over! There’s still plenty of cake to be eaten, and we are still planning a little weekend getaway, postponed due to our trip to the Ozarks. The perks of such plans is twofold: first, we get to spread out the fun, and second, if anniversary gifts were not procured in time for the actual day, technically any time between then and the getaway is perfectly acceptable!
And now I present another list of just a few of the things that made this first year of marriage such a blast for me. The perks of this list is also twofold: First, it may work as an aphrodisiac, and second, in a pinch, I could almost call it part of my gift for Tara.
1. Taking turns being strong when the other needed a shoulder to lean on during difficult times such as moving, unemployment, and pregnancy scares.
2. Her being endlessly supportive of me, even when I had to call her on a nasty snowy morning to confess to her that I had lost my job.
3. Her feeding me cookies while I do the dishes after dinner.
4. Countless tickle fights started after I started recording video on my phone and then telling her that the phone was for her.
5. All the backpacking trips—each one finding us better prepared and more efficient.
6. Sharing equally bad cases of gas after eating a just-add-water backpacking meal called “Chicken Stew”
7. The beginnings of so many traditions.
