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Keen no more

Keen Boston shoes in trash can

This photo taken at 10:12am in Milan, Italy on April 23, 2013 represents the precise point in time when I vowed never to buy another pair of Keen shoes. That’s my 3rd pair of Keen Boston shoes in the trash can in my hotel room. The first pair of Bostons I bought in 2005 and wore all over the World. I loved the quirky asymmetrical raised center seam and the go anywhere, do anything styling that could easily dress down with jeans and dress up with khakis. Their all day, any weather comfort made them my go-to shoes for tradeshows and other travel as well as regular wear at the office. After seven years of hard use the soles were worn slick and the leather was so rumpled and creased that they had begun garnering disapproving glances from my office mates.

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Epic Olympus E-M5 OM-D User Review

OM-D kit

I’m not technically a professional photographer. Yet, I take pictures daily as part of my job and occasionally sell my personal images on SmugMug and Getty Images. Over the past 10 years I have progressed from point-n-shoots to professional-level DSLRs- all in a never-ending quest for better image quality and greater creative freedom. Back in January, after a rather exhaustive decision making process detailed here, I decided to throw all caution to the wind, and give the hottest new Micro Four Thirds camera a try to see if it could replace my full-sized Canon pro gear. Following is my detailed user review of the Olympus E-M5 OM-D camera system.

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OM-D OMG!!!

OM-D kit

Back in July of 2010 I unloaded my entire Pentax K10D kit and purchased a then state-of-the-art Olympus E-P1 PEN camera with a 14-42mm kit lens and a Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens. I was looking for an improved photographic experience. What I found was a bit of a mixed bag. The PEN opened up new creative avenues for me but was often very frustrating to use. The poor ergonomics got in the way, the fixed LCD limited the usefulness of shooting with an LCD, and the poor high ISO performance greatly limited when and where I could shoot. I did capture some wonderful images with the PEN, some of which can be seen here. More »

Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic

Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic watch

Continuing my quest for fewer but finer things, I received this Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic watch for my birthday this week. It’s a wonderful modern interpretation of a classic watch design that should be a perfect fit with my casual-outdoorsy-look. More »

Wise investment

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I have incredibly annoyingly thick and wavy hair. Most of my life I have fought a losing battle with cow licks, hat hair, bed head, frizzies, etc. For Millenium New Year I decided to solve the problem by having my hair clipper cut short. After Anna Kate got over the initial shock she decided she liked my new low maintenance ‘do and offered to cut it for me. We bought a set of Wahl Senior Model 8500 professional clippers and a 1/4″ guard from our local Sally Beauty Supply. That was 12 years ago and Anna Kate just used them to cut my hair again this afternoon.

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