Wow, somehow we are rolling into February 2010 already.  I am behind on my photo project, yet I kind of suspected that would happen.  I have been focusing on things over at Epic Plains and that is going pretty well actually.  I have been doing a lot of book reviews and am managing about twice as many as I have planned on.  Which there is some good and bad to that.

The bad part being I am also behind my schedule for editing and expanding my novel and the photo project.  Yet there are some good things with that too.  I just have a big stack of really good books I have wanted to get through.  As a result I have also gotten a few advance reader copies to read/review for authors.  That has been fun.  One of those down and a couple of more in the mail actually.  (One book, Riddle of Berlin the author is sending a signed hardcover for me to review and a signed paperback to host a giveaway.) I hadn’t planned on doing quite so many book reviews, but it has been fun to do more of them.  Also, I am trying to also review books that I am not the biggest fan of along with the ones I really like.  It has been an extra little challenge for myself.

Sorting and re-shelving my book collection was a bit of a time consuming project as well.  That and working on grant paperwork for the fire department.  All in all it has been a busy start to the year, yet fun.  Swing on over to my other site.  I have done plenty of reviews this month, so you might find a book you want to pick up!

Well I have been managing to keep busy, though haven’t been posting as much on this site. I have been focusing more on building up Epic Plains, though have been working on the 52 Photo Project. (Finally got my picture for the week posted, but might try to get some more tonight!)

Epic Plains is going rather well actually. I have been posting a number of book reviews along with other content. The readership has built up enough that I am actually splitting it off from my regular account. (You will notice this if you follow my facebook statuses.) I was having the feeds post a link to my Olorinpc Twitter account, but I have ended up starting an EP Facebook page and an EP Twitter account.

I am also going to work on the site theme a bit more over there. I have found a template that I think I will like better, once I heavily customize it of course. So that will take some work in the next week or so. Between that and getting a jump on my “To-Read” pile, been rather busy. I also sometime plan on cataloging my book collection into a database. (My collection has grown to the point I think it’s needed. I believe on rough count I have now passed the 500 book mark.) Also, sometime in the next month or so, need to run down and pick up that bookshelf from MN.

February is shaping up to be a busy month as well. My weekends are pretty much booked from the 19th on. JRFD Fishing Derby, State Fireschool + Humane Society Fundraiser, followed by Team State Darts. So should be a marathon 3 weekends in a row, but good stuff all.  I think there might be something else in there that I am forgetting – but no matter, should be plenty to keep me busy!

The light snow and fog added up to a pretty drive to work this morning.

Ok, so this information is all but impossible to find online.  After a lot of searching I was finally able to turn up the current flier for the State Dart Tournament in Jamestown, ND in March 2010.

http://www.valleyvideogames.com/images/2010%20ndsda%20doubles%20state%20dart%20tournament.pdf

http://www.valleyvideogames.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=41

I know a few friends will be happy to see those – so enjoy!  (Yes I plan on playing at least one event in state this year!)

I had another plan for a picture.  However at drill we ended up having a firecall, so snapped a couple of quick pictures on my phone while we were out on the call.  Grain Dryer fire.  I think we were on scene around three hours.

Fortunately it wasn’t as cold as it has been the past couple of weeks or it could have been really nasty.

I got the idea from FireMom over at Stop, Drop, and Blog.  She is participating in Project 365 again this year.  Project 365 has the goal of a photo every single day of the year.  A little bit less intensive version of that is a “52 Project.“  Or a photo every week of the year.

My goal of using my Nikon D60 DSLR Camera a bit more, plus actually publishing the photos I do take, is one of those goals that I can incorporate into this blog.  However, I decided that for my first post, I will actually use a picture that I took on my blackberry.

In the picture is my new bandsaw that my parents got me for Christmas.  I actually need to still mount it to the workbench, but it is set up and tested in the picture.  This will help a lot with projects offline.  (Such as finally redoing the trim in the entryway, model train work, etc.)

Now of course, this removes another excuse from actually doing the trim pieces.  The proof is in the pic so to speak.  So now I just need to run to the hardware store sometime and get those trim pieces…

Wow – how things change.  9 years ago today I first registered olorinpc.com 1/1/2001.  This site has undergone quite a few transformations over the years.  From a hand-coded in html site to a full blog running the latest version of wordpress.

My old logo:

A few different versions from mid-2001 till last year when I went to the current theme.  Not all of the versions I tried out, but this is a good selection.

The site has undergone a few different hosts as well.  Originally hosted off a server in my dorm room my freshmen year of college, then off my student webspace, a server my dad provided, blogger, godaddy, and now as of a couple of years ago 1and1.  In some ways, I miss running off of my own server, but there is a whole lot less word to having someone else host.

Merged the site with comp.cx for a while.  (Which is now gone.)

Scripts didn’t pick up well in the archive site….

Migrated to blogger for a while when I started updating more regularly, though we had a newsfeed on comp.cx.

First version of this site when I moved it to wordpress.  It was actually a sub-site of supergeekblog.com for a while till I moved it to it’s own host.

Well the long and the short of it is, for almost a decade olorinpc.com has been around in one form or another.  Before that I had a freeservers site, a geocities site for a bit, etc.  So I have been doing websites in one form or another for over a decade.  As we start 2010 it is kind of crazy to think about.  On the other hand, makes me wonder what the next changes to olorinpc.com will bring!

Christmas was a bit different this year.  Originally we had planned on heading down to the Twin Cities to visit family.  However with the blizzard rolling in, we made the call to stay here in Jamestown.  Shane and his family made the same call, so we had a Christmas event here.  It was rather fun, though with the volume of snow that fell, we ended up all being trapped for three days.

The Ede kids looking cute:

The Ede Family Photo:

The Barnard Family Photo:

Last but not least, ThatEdeGuy and me, with Lightning and Sparky:

So all in all – we had a fun Christmas!

Hope everyone else did too   Have a fun and save New Years tonight.

Now I have been feeling a bit of the BSG shakes lately.  You know, Friday night withdrawal.  (Still hoping to get my hands on the BSG Box Set with all seasons.)

Caprica is coming out soon and the Extended Pilot Episode is available on Syfy.com and is actually worth watching.  I am still not convinced the show will be as good as BSG, but the pilot  was enough to make me give it a chance.  However, if you too are missing BSG, the vid linked on Geeks are Sexy today should bring a smile to your face.  Take a look:

Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.

Safe travels to all of those moving about the country.