I’ve made a few updates to this here blog & thought a few of you might be interested.

I’ll list the updates from least interesting to most (well… In my opinion anyways.)

I rewrote the  About Me / this blog page. It was a poor placeholder for something more interesting and I think I sucessfully rewrote the page without making it the least bit more interesting. eh…

I added a program to the Programs page. I’ve been working on some home automation software. This first program (the last one listed on the Programs page) is just a simple app to do 1 thing (and so far it’s doing it well). I’m sure it’s been done before, but this was my stab at making something usefull.

I also have a new blog where I plan to collect all of my techie related things. You probably won’t see too many of those types of posts showing up here very often, but you’re welcome to check out what I’ve got over at tech (at) tmasman.com.

That’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by! (or feed-reading through???)

I’ve had a general idea of what caused the current credit disaster we’re in, but I didn’t really know too much about the details, or how things really played out.

I knew it was basically all tied to Sub-Prime mortgages, and all the people defaulting on their payments, but I didn’t realize all the other details about how this particular trend (these types of mortgages being handed out left & right) came about.

I came across this video & it spells things out pretty plainly (& visually).

Enjoy!

On my way to church this morning (I’m running the media for this morning’s services) I was stopping to get a drink at a gas station & witnessed something rather odd.

I was on Mustang Drive in Grapevine turning left into a gas station when I notied a car driving a bit too fast passing by. As I turned into the parking lot I looked back and saw that car smash straight into the traffic light pole going near full speed. I imediately veared toward that intersection to go & see if everyone was OK. Then I saw the driver get out of the car and take off running down the street! I was already in the process of calling 911 to report the accident, but now was starting to follow the man at a distance (still in my truck mind you… I wasn’t about to go chasing him down on foot).

The adrenaline was pumping so fast I couldn’t speak straight to the operator and she had to tell me to ake a breath & calm down. Anyhow, the guy ran off into the woods so I was unable to follow him any longer & returned back the the parking lot near the wrecked car. The police finally arrived & I was still thinking they may be interested in chasing the guy down, but they instead told me to calm down (again…).

I gave my witness of the events & they sent me on my way.

This was abouy 4 hours ago, and I’m starting to crash from the let down of adrenaline… Maybe I should have eaten something this morning.

I’m still thinking I should have followed him on foot (from a distance), but I didn’t. Maybe it’s best I didn’t, there’s no telling why he was running or if he was “dangerous”.

I know… I’m an attention whore. (Maybe whore is too harsh a word…)

Anyhow, I had a great night hanging out with friends and playing games. A little Wii Frisbee Golf & Skiing, and some XBox360 Halo 3. And, of course, some Khet. Sadly, I let Joe beat me after I had him cowarding in a corner… Bah!

Anyhow, That was my present from Melisa… The planning, the food & the freedom to hang with the guys.

I loved it!

I also got a cake & short b-day song @ work today. That was more awkward that fun though. I don’t like the place or most of the people and yet I had to “make nice” with them in an enclosed area while they pretended to care about me and make jokes about 30 being the start of the downward slope of “the hill”.

Anyhow, I’m 30 & I don’t feel any different than I did 3 years ago. Except, of course, I now have 2 kids, an older house, a job I like less, and a wife I love more (you know… When you love some one more & more every day, it’s always going to be greater tomorrow than it is today). So I guess Age doesn’t really have anything to do with how I feel. It’s just a number.

Ooh! Speaking of numbers! Today (well, last night) at 5:31:30PM we passed the time 1234567890 (seconds since the Unix Epoch)! To those of you who “speak *nix” that makes some since. To the rest of you, just know it’s a means of keeping time starting from 12:00:00AM Jan 1st 1970 by counting the number of seconds that have passed since then.

So, Happy 1234567890 Day!

Otherwise, have a good night & enjoy your Valentine’s day.

I’m plugged into a bunch of artistic & DIY (Do It Yourself) sites & every now & then I come across a concept I just have to try or take on as a new style for myself.

Anyhow, I came across a graphic artist’s conecpt that I loved from the get-go. He even posted a tutorial online showing how he does it. The concept was easy enough & I have all the tools, so I decided to give it a try.

I’m liking the results so far & I’m definately going to work on this method & see what else I can do with it.

When you just don't feel present.

I hope he doesn’t mind, but I also did one for a friend. He’s got a black & white theme on his blog & I thought it would fit in, so I these together.

My 2nd attempt...

A little depth

I’ll get around to a few more eventually. I have plans to do some family ones, but those will take a lot longer than these did.

So, what do you think?

Edit: Here’s how I did it (as per my comment below)

How to do a cool sketch.