More Willie.

Last night I was a bit bored after climbing and decided to go back through my older photos and see if I could bring any of them to life. As your photo and editing skills improve, it’s nice to go back and find magic in photos that were lacking before.

I discovered a few photos that I had just overlooked and re-edited some photos that I thought had more potential than they were showing. One of my favorites was “The Tourist.” Originally, I had overlooked this photo because I had a silhouette of the same subject and the focus wasn’t great, but after a bit of tweaking and adding some texture, I came up with something I was pretty satisfied with and I think it makes for an interesting composition.

Here is the progression.

For more rediscovered photos or re-edits check out my set on Flickr.

Willie :: Jan.03.2009 :: General :: 1 Comment »

I have been slacking big time over the holidays when it comes to blogging, but not without good reason. I was in Atlanta for 2 weeks for work and then I was in Virginia for another week for Christmas. At some point in between Atlanta and Virginia, I decided I was going to do a triathlon on January 4th, so add training to work, travel, family, and holidays and maybe you can understand my lack of free time.

I did get a chance to go hiking in Virginia with one of my best friends, Scott. We hikes up Devil’s Marbleyard and climbed the boulders from the bottom up to the top somewhere around 1,500 feet. It was a great hike and the rain held out until we were about a mile from the car. Got some great pictures from it and you can see all of them by clicking the Flickr link in the sidebar.

That’s it for now, it’s New Years so enjoy the last hours of the year and see everyone again in 2009!

Happy New Year!

Willie :: Dec.31.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

I decided I needed to clear my head today and get in a good bike ride. I had originally planned on going to Deerfield and back, but when I got to the 7-11 I kept pedaling and made it almost past Boca. I wanted to make it to 40 miles today, but I fell a few miles short (no bike computer with me). It was a good ride though. On the way back I got into a little race with a guy who was on his first leg and managed to fly by him and sprinted a good way back from Commercial to Sunrise. Good sun, and almost no wind today too. Awesome.

View Larger Map

Willie :: Dec.18.2008 :: General :: 3 Comments »

This might sound a bit backwards, but it has definitely helped out my running big time. I was at the point where I was running pretty decent (for me), but I wasn’t really improving.  My pace was around 10:30 min/mile for a 5K…not very great, but at least consistent.

I decided to start biking about a month ago and have worked my way up to riding about 30 miles now with a quick break in the middle. Since I got my bike I had not been running because, well, biking is more fun. But, I do like to mix things up so today after climbing I thought, it looks like a nice day for a run.

I started out and immediately it felt odd running instead of biking and I could tell right away my pace was going to be quicker. I thought maybe it would slow down as I went, but I was able to maintain a much quicker pace throughout the whole 5K. I ended with an average pace of 9:53 min/mile, a 37 second improvement!

I plan to keep cycling and running and see how much more my pace picks up in the next few months. I definitely recommend trying to work in some cycling in your routine if you’re a runner and feel like you’ve hit a bit of a wall.

Willie :: Dec.14.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

My site has been down a few days in case anyone noticed. Site5 was having problems with corrupted data on the server so they did a restore without thinking to let anyone know before hand. Anyways, things are running smoothly again it seems and I don’t think I lost anything.

Willie :: Nov.30.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

Cranberry and Fennel Salad with Toasted Pinenuts
Steamed Artichokes with a Lemon Garlic Dipping Sauce
Homemade Gnocchi with a Bacon, Chive Ragu
Roasted Cornish Game Hens with Stuffed Mushrooms
Baked Apples & Pumpkin Pie

It was delicious.

Willie :: Nov.30.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

No, I won’t be jumping on the bandwagon and updating my iPhone firmware right now. Do I not crave Google street view, the ability to download podcasts over the air, etc…? Yes I do, but those features aren’t even nearly worth me losing what I have with a jail broken iPhone.

I can tether it to my laptop very easily to use as a modem wherever and whenever.
My home button brings up an incredible Quicksilver-type application.
Only one page of applications thanks to folders.
Better battery charging information.
Customized and Unified UI.

Needless to say, I’ll be holding off until the iPhone Dev Team releases a new Pwnage tool. Should only be a matter of days anyway Google street view can wait.

Willie :: Nov.21.2008 :: General :: 1 Comment »

For someone who never enjoyed running, this is quite an accomplishment for me, running a 100 miles using on Nikeplus.com.

The only way I have been able to stay even remotely motivated to run is because I can track my progress after every run and see how far I’ve come…although it doesn’t hurt having a great area to run in everyday between the beach and Victoria Park.

Now for the next 100…let’s see if I can bump up that pace average distance…

Willie :: Nov.19.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

Willie :: Nov.13.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

Just hit a new distance best today, 4.62 miles, but maybe the longest 4+ miles ever. Ran the majority of the time against a headwind from the beach. Next time I’ll reverse it.

Route: East on Sunrise to A1A, South on A1A to Las Olas, West on Las Olas to the street past the 7-11, North to Broward, and finally East on Broward/Victoria Park Road back to my apartment.

Less than 3 miles before I hit the 100 mile mark!

Willie :: Nov.12.2008 :: General :: No Comments »