I went with my wife, Keziah, today to the Rochester Public Market. It was the first time I had ever been, though I’ve lived in Rochester for just under 10 years.
It’s pretty late so I’m heading to bed, but I wanted to share some photos from today’s trip. 🙂
Quick post, as I’m rushing through the day, but I received my final grades for the spring semester and I’m proud to report I’ve received A’s in both my BUS110 and my BUS104 classes!
So, the 4.0 is maintained for yet another semester! 🙂
Ok, folks here’s the deal on this one. I get a lot of rib-poking for arriving late at numerous functions. My daily commute takes about 13 minutes, which, if I’m running late results in about a 13 minute tardy to the workplace.
My thought: What if there was a way to speed up the commute process – compress it, if you will. What would a 13-minute commute look, feel, and sound like – if we were able to squeeze it into 60 seconds.
This video is a close approximation by most accounts. 🙂
[flv width=”320″ height=”260″]http://video.ryantcollier.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/workcommute.flv[/flv]
You might recognize this song, it’s from the summer advertising campaign of Old Navy. Check it out!
Lights – The Last Thing On Your Mind
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s in the world!
I wrapped up a fairly productive weekend with a freshly made pizza for Sunday dinner. To begin, I started with a whole-wheat crust and pizza sauce, then chopped up fresh basil and combined 2 coursely chopped garlic cloves and spread over the pasta sauce. Next, I spread mozzarella cheese over the sauce and topped with some diced vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced black olives, tangy red-pepper pepperoni, and finally some more of the basil-garlic blend.
12 minutes at 450, then another 2 minutes under the broiler and I ended up with a delicious Sunday-dinner treat!
My last business class test is this week. I can take it online anytime between Monday and Wednesday – though I’d much rather take it sooner rather than later. There’s a good chance this will be busy week for me and the days are already flying by! I can’t believe it’s almost the middle of May already! Nuts!
I’ve achieved a great deal on my board of “Things To Do,” including a complete re-design of my photography site Ryan T. Collier Photography and performing some long-overdue maintenance on the site as well. There are other items that I can’t disclose right now, but I will talk about them very soon! 🙂
Overall, a really great, relaxing weekend catching up on Lost, yard work, and taking care of my wife (who recently had her 2nd foot surgery and is recovering nicely). The next few months are exciting times, and I look forward to writing and sharing them with all the guests who drop by to read up on my daily musings! 🙂
Cheers!
Howdy folks, it’s been about a week and the blog is way overdue for an update. Hopefully you’ll all forgive me after I fill you in on the last week. 🙂
I finished my last 4 papers for the two business classes I was taking during the spring semester, last weekend. I have only a test for my BUS-104 class that I’ll take on May 12. I ended up with a 123% in my Entrepreneurial Studies class – though there might be a glitch with the online system the school is using. If not, kudos to me!
Other exciting news: I filed my Articles of Organization for my limited liability company which effectively made my photography a legitament business on May 5, 2008. Not exciting for most, but quite exciting to me, as I begin to implement my business plan and start marketing my photography business.
Finally, I wrote a few months ago about submitting an application to be on the show, “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” well kiddies – today my application is going in the mail! I’m not sure how long it will take to receive a response, but I’d guess that I’ll hear something within a few weeks. 🙂 Keep your prayers coming!
With school done, for now, I hope to have a little more time to keep up the posts on the blog for everyone. Keep your feedback coming too!
So, I decided to take a break from writing my last BUS104 class paper and go on a date with Keziah to the opening night of the Rochester International Film Festival. I’m actually blogging from inside the theatre while we wait for the film to start – very exciting.
I’m not certain I can include pictures in my remote blog posts but I’ll try if I have time. The film we’re seeing is Helen Hunt’s directorial debut, “Then She Found Me.” I know the film screened at Sundance earlier this year but I never heard if it. Should be interesting!
Here we go!!
I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, but I looked at the forecast this morning and it’s going to be a great week weather-wise – at least in terms of “Rochester weather.”
Now, backing up somewhat, allow me to give a brief update on the past few weeks. For the past 20 days or so, maybe longer I forget, I’ve been working steadfast on a business plan for my event photography venture. I can’t tell you how happy I was when I finished my plan on Saturday. Actually, it was a little bittersweet. When you work on a project, any project, for an extended period of time it starts to become a part of your daily routine. Once you’ve completed that project that’s been such a large part of you for the better part of a month, you’re a bit out of sorts when you no longer have to work on it.
I’m looking forward to implementing my photography plan now; I feel I have a very comprehensive plan and I’ve done my research. Unfortunately, I still have a few more weeks of school left and another large project for another one of my business classes. That will cut into the time I want to be focused on marketing my photography business. While I’m torn, I also recognize the need to prioritize – right now, I have to do the things I need to do, in order to do the things I want to do. Such is life.
So, what’s next? What lies ahead?
First off is my shadowing project where I interviewed a friend of mine about his wedding photography company and analyzed his business afterward. I have already started transcribing the first part of the recorded interview, and I have about another hour or so left to do. I’ll need to spend the next 2 weeks diligently working on this to finish it by April 27 – God, help me! 😀
Concurrent with that project is my regular class workload in which I have papers due on April 27 for my intro course. The following week in May, I have another “career” paper due for the intro course. I swear, I’m beginning to feel like a ping-pong ball bouncing between classes and college papers!
That’s all the school work I need to concern myself with for now, but I have a few other pokers in my project fire. There just isn’t enough time in the day! I’d love to take a month sabbatical just to finish up these projects I’ve been developing for the past few months.
One of the most purposeful projects I’m involved in is developing a scholarship in the name of a high school friend, Lindsay Graygo, who was murdered February 19, 2008 in Ypsilanti Township in Michigan. A group of friends from high school and I are organizing efforts to raise money for the Lindsay Graygo Empowerment Scholarship. That project is the one I’m most excited about and feel the best working on. I’ve been experiencing a bit of cognitive dissonance lately though, as I’ve been unable to really focus on bringing those efforts to fruition as quickly as I’d like. But, I also have the peace of mind knowing things progress organically and at a pace they were meant to progress at. 🙂
The last cluster of projects are a potpourri of things I’ve started over the past 6 months but have put on the back burner as I’ve shifted my focus to returning to school – prioritizing schoolwork over recreational projects. Once the semester is over, I hope to reprioritize some of my “hanging chads.” 😀
When the weather gets warmer, I’ll be able to finish the remaining baseboard trim for the master bedroom – a project started back over the Christmas break! I also really, really, really, really, really want to start maintaining a more active, healthy lifestyle. With all these school projects and papers plus working full-time, it’s really difficult to not only start going to the gym, but to maintain going on a regular, semi-daily basis. I know, I know, excuses, excuses. :p
Well, there you have it. Probably one of the longest posts since my initial post back on January 1, 2008, but a post that needed to be written. When I set out on my blogging, I knew it would be difficult maintaining writing every day. What I didn’t know was just how difficult it would be to maintain every day.
The single largest obstacle: time. Also, another overlooked factor is mental freshness. Honestly, there are days when my brain is completely tapped. I’m out of words. All I want is to not think, type, or be on the computer at all. Other days, I feel I could write until my fingers cramp up. Ever feel like that? Let me know so I don’t feel like I’m the only one!
So, here’s to a great week ahead, a fantastic look back on past weeks, and looking forward to an amazing, productive summer! 😀
After encountering sluggish response times from both my blog and my photography web site, I’ve decided to switch web hosting providers.
Hopefully, the transition will go smoothly and there won’t be any interruptions stemming from the move; however, I can’t anticipate every little thing that could go wrong. So, bare with me as I make these improvements.
My goal is to make your visits as enjoyable as possible. If pages or images still take a long time to load, please e-mail me and let me know so I can let my hosting provider know! 🙂
I took a break yesterday and spent an hour or two walking alongside the canal in Fairport and taking some photographs. The weather was gorgeous here in Upstate, New York – about 60ºF which was very welcome. Spring seems to have definitely sprung!! 😀
Today is my 6 month wedding anniversary!! Time has really flown by, I can’t believe it – 6 months already! There have been ups, there have been downs, but I would do it all over again, including the grueling amount of time spent planning the wedding and visiting caterers. Seriously, we must have looked at 12 different caterers before finally finding the perfect one. I suppose that’s what’s most important, looking around and trying out different options before finally choosing on the one that best compliments one’s individual tastes.
For me, a girl I like to refer to as, “Momma Bird,” was my perfect fit. And, today marks 6 months since we decided to share our lives together for eternity. 😀
Enjoy the photographs from the canal in Fairport, NY.
