NXNC

Goodbye!

2011-09-28T19:42:00.002-04:00

I'm sure that this will not effect anyone in the least, but I am shutting down this blog. I'll continue to keep it up, but I won't be posting anything else here. This blog has served several purposes, but I no longer have any use for it and upkeep has been (obviously) a bit of a problem for me.

But fear not! I'm easy to find, and if you're interested in my opinions and the photos that I occasionally take, you can find me in the following places:
Twitter! (@nthw)
Flickr!
Tumblr!
Facebook!

And, for a deeper look inside my angry, twisted soul, you can read my other blog, DYFL.

Cozy Whippet

2011-09-28T06:27:00.001-04:00

Beetle

2011-09-25T15:00:00.001-04:00

Manhattan

2011-05-29T21:15:00.001-04:00

Rye whiskey is my new favorite spirit.

Ira loves the sun

2011-03-17T18:16:00.001-04:00

Ira assumes that something is about to happen

2011-02-24T19:18:00.001-05:00

The Day After Christmas

2010-12-26T11:08:00.000-05:00

Ira's so cute!

2010-11-23T15:08:00.000-05:00

Eno River

2010-11-23T15:07:00.000-05:00

Ira looking down the road

2010-11-15T16:28:00.001-05:00

Backstage after the midterm elections

2010-11-03T11:03:00.001-04:00

I'm sure I'll have more to say on my other blog, but for now please enjoy a picture about nothing

Two sides of a pumpkin patch

2010-10-22T21:54:00.001-04:00

In which I have fun with my tilt-shift feature

What a dummy

2010-10-22T20:55:00.001-04:00

The Eye of Nero D'Avola

2010-10-19T22:50:00.001-04:00

Beach House

2010-10-17T19:37:00.001-04:00

Puppy with a blanket

2010-10-14T19:12:00.001-04:00

The alley inside Slim's

2010-10-09T00:09:00.001-04:00

It's scarier than it looks.

Anagram

2010-09-25T12:30:00.001-04:00

Lux with bandage

2010-09-24T09:08:00.001-04:00

Lux went to the vet this morning for her annual checkup, and even though she didn't really enjoy it, she's a healthy little dog who needs to brush her teeth more regularly. It's important to instill good oral hygiene habits in dogs when they are young.

Some chalk art from SparkCon

2010-09-18T19:00:00.001-04:00

DragonCon pictures: the Marriott

2010-09-12T13:46:00.000-04:00

The Marriott Marquis was an absolutely amazing hotel. We were lucky to get a room there this year, and I don't hope to rely on such luck next year: we'll make reservations as soon as we can! We expected to have a ton of fun at DragonCon and ended up enjoying it far more than we could have hoped. I'm looking forward to going back next year!

The view from the 48th floor

The Pulse bar. Pretty cool, but expensive.
Note for next year: bring our own!

Thanks for looking at our pictures.

Me and H.E.L.P.eR

DragonCon pictures: Saturday Night

2010-09-12T13:27:00.000-04:00

This is the day that we dressed up in costume. I didn't realize quite how sticky the fake blood would be. I had to throw all my clothes away (but we kept the masks, of course!). I had so much fun dressing up that I'm already thinking about my costume for next year.

If you don't recognize our costumes, we're Splicers from the video game BioShock. Splicers are citizens of an underwater city who are addicted to genetic modification drugs.

Bronwen is disturbingly
good at grotesque makeup

Ready to fuck shit up!

Nathaniel covered in sticky, corn
syrupy gore

More gore

The camera flash leeched a lot of the
cool detail from her mask. Trust me though,
it looks really, really good.

DragonCon pictures: Friday Night

2010-09-12T13:07:00.000-04:00

So obviously we're back from DragonCon by now, and of course there are the usual apologies for the delay, not to mention the usual excuses. With that out of the way, I will try to walk you through some of the more exciting elements of the trip.

So after waiting in line for four hours for our tickets, Thursday was pretty much over. The Con actually started on Friday anyway, so we were ready to hit the ground running. There are people in costume pretty much all day long, but the good ones seem to come out at night. That said, one of the things I feel that I learned this time through is when to bring my camera. Next year I'll take a few hundred more pictures, and more during the day when the photo quality will be better.

Even princesses have to wait
in line at Starbucks

Green Man!

Joan Holloway

A fantastic Mars Attacks! costume.

Bronwen in her awesome silver dress

Bronwen with Jeff Lewis (Vork)

The Hyatt - It's a cool hotel, but not
nearly as cool as the Marriott.

Self explanatory

A stormtrooper poses with some
kind of woodland creature.

Dragon*Con Continues, but Photos will come out later

2010-09-04T20:41:00.000-04:00

Sorry I failed to post anything yesterday, but things ended up getting kind of drunk here in Atlanta. Even at nearly $9 a drink I managed to consume an irresponsible, if not completely unsafe amount of alcohol. I was in no shape at all to go online.
The Marriott does not provide complementary Wi-Fi, and although I may be willing to throw money at the bar, I am not too keen on the idea of spending money on internet. My phone does provide Wi-Fi tethering, which is what I am using now. This, however, is not a very robust connection and uploading dozens of pictures will take far too long.

I am taking hundreds - literally hundreds - of pictures and I will upload a great many as soon as we return to Raleigh.

DragonCon first day

2010-09-03T05:33:00.001-04:00

Today was spent waiting in line for our registration passes, so there aren't any good pictures yet. Our hotel is incredible though

Pajwgppwj

2010-08-21T12:26:00.000-04:00

Car show

2010-08-20T11:46:00.001-04:00

Some cars I passed on my way to lunch

Big bug!

2010-08-16T22:40:00.001-04:00

Just sitting on our front porch

Lux & Ira

2010-08-10T21:17:00.001-04:00

The forces of good

2010-08-10T21:16:00.001-04:00

Lux deals with the storm

2010-08-05T19:50:00.001-04:00

11:57

2010-07-29T12:01:00.001-04:00

Ira

2010-07-28T21:54:00.000-04:00

Well, as you can see we have adopted another Greyhound.

His name is Ira. He is absolutely beautiful.

He is not a replacement for Julian. Nothing could replace Julian. But we have the resources for another dog, and specifically for another Greyhound. We have cold-weather jackets specifically made for Greyhounds, we have way too many pillows for a single dog, and the house feels empty without a Greyhound sleeping in it.

He gets along really well with Lux. They have the same manic energy and interest in the outside world. And although both dogs are fantastic, individual beings, Ira and Julian could not be more different.

I hope everyone has an opportunity to meet our new lovely boy!

Meet Ira!

2010-07-28T16:13:00.001-04:00

More pictures and information coming soon

Star Wars in Concert begins!

2010-07-18T20:23:00.001-04:00

Star Wars in Concert

2010-07-18T19:09:00.000-04:00

Before the show

Storm clouds over the bell tower

2010-07-17T18:26:00.001-04:00

Stuck in traffic

2010-07-14T23:02:00.001-04:00

Construction

2010-07-13T13:13:00.001-04:00

Duck Parade

2010-07-11T19:56:00.001-04:00

Floor-eye- view

2010-07-11T11:03:00.001-04:00

Tinted plates

2010-07-09T13:32:00.001-04:00

No, no, no! Do it like this!

2010-07-08T16:45:00.001-04:00

Julian

2010-07-07T22:21:00.000-04:00

Julian died today. I will never forget how beautiful and gentle and sincere he was. He was one of my best friends and I will miss him dearly.

For more of the story, feel free to read here.

Highlights from the NC Museum of Art

2010-06-16T21:29:00.000-04:00

Some highlights from the NC Museum of Art. We finally visited and saw the entire museum. It is an absolutely beautiful building and is filled with world-class art.
The restaurant is fantastic as well, although reservations are highly recommended.

I have no idea what's going on here.

2010-06-12T19:13:00.001-04:00

Some kind of video shoot, I suppose.

It's that time of year again!

2010-06-06T09:08:00.000-04:00

Even Sir Walter joins in the search for a cure

Blount & Hargett

2010-06-04T22:40:00.001-04:00

Traffic cops

2010-06-04T22:39:00.001-04:00

Police are just adorable when they direct traffic!

Downtown Raleigh

2010-06-04T16:27:00.002-04:00

A beautiful hot summer day, right about lunchtime.

Whipped whippet

2010-05-30T13:58:00.002-04:00

When Lux is hot and tired she likes to worm her way under pillows. It's pretty adorable.

ArtSplosion!!!

2010-05-13T12:19:00.003-04:00

It isn't a real word, but these aren't real buildings. If I have time I might just take the $5 tour.
http://www.architects-of-air.com/

The Matador!

2010-05-12T22:36:00.000-04:00

One of our prized chalkware Marwal busts. He's pretty great.

Sleepy time

2010-05-12T07:41:00.001-04:00

Lux and Julian relaxing at the end of the day. Poor Julian had a stressful visit to the vet today.

Sorry for the constant stream of dog pictures. I promise I do see other things throughout the day, but the dogs are adorable and I just love taking (and posting) pictures!

State capital building

2010-05-08T10:47:00.002-04:00

The NC state capital building is pretty amazing. I recommended a visit if you've never been.

Also, I may be done playing with my tilt-shift filter. That's pretty distracting and I apologize for the overuse.

Fallout shelters

2010-05-08T10:43:00.001-04:00

Apparently there are more of these around Raleigh but these are the only two I found today.

Our neighbors' roses

2010-05-07T09:38:00.001-04:00

One of the benefits of neighbors with nice yards is that we can enjoy their greenery at no cost.

Poppies!

2010-05-04T20:23:00.001-04:00

The new and improved NC Museum of Art

2010-04-30T23:17:00.001-04:00

After an amazing dinner we didn't have much time to explore the new building, but what we did see was fantastic. You are all jealous of our new museum!

What time is it?

2010-04-26T17:49:00.001-04:00

Time for me to show off my new watch!

Grasshopper

2010-04-25T15:47:00.001-04:00

Enjoying the warm sun.

Our living room

2010-04-22T08:34:00.001-04:00

Just playing around with my tilt-shift filter. Looks pretty good for a $5 app.

To the moon!

2010-04-20T16:31:00.001-04:00

a fantastic Soviet lamp that Bronwen found

a poor choice of words

2010-04-17T13:21:00.001-04:00

perhaps it should have said "guaranteed not to bleed any more"

sir Victor from Romania

2010-04-17T12:43:00.001-04:00

killer of many children!

dogs!

2010-04-17T12:33:00.001-04:00

our favorite part of the Renaissance fair(e)

the inherent silliness of the Renaissance fair

2010-04-17T11:57:00.001-04:00

Bedtime

2010-04-14T21:32:00.001-04:00

Manhattan

2010-04-10T23:16:00.001-04:00

salty & sweet

Saturday morning

2010-04-10T11:31:00.001-04:00

Brunch on the NoFo patio

Evening on the front porch

2010-04-07T18:31:00.003-04:00

I love warm evenings

Lux at the window

2010-04-07T18:31:00.001-04:00

poor Lux wants to come outside

Pollen

2010-04-06T20:34:00.001-04:00

That yellow madness is EVERYWHERE!

Demon dog 2

2010-04-04T20:35:00.001-04:00

Julian searches for a soul to steal

Light dinner on the front porch

2010-04-04T20:06:00.001-04:00

It's been absolutely beautiful all day today!

Andrew Johnson's birthplace

2010-04-04T08:39:00.001-04:00

Our 17th president and one of the worst.

Beatles

2010-04-04T00:23:00.001-04:00

Charlotte says "fuck you!"

Red jacket

2010-04-03T19:31:00.001-04:00

Bronwen models her new jacket

demon dog!

2010-04-03T01:36:00.001-04:00

(Julian mid-yawn and upside down)

wow!

2010-04-02T19:57:00.003-04:00

Lilly's Pizza is the best!

pepper flakes

2010-04-02T19:57:00.001-04:00

I don't know how I went for thirty years without them.

Downtown Raleigh post office

2010-04-02T13:59:00.003-04:00

Street vendors for a special event

2010-04-02T13:59:00.001-04:00

Lux relaxing

2010-04-01T18:28:00.001-04:00

Just playing with my new photo effect app

finally a beautiful Spring day

2010-04-01T18:03:00.001-04:00

Lux at the window

2010-03-31T16:32:00.001-04:00

A windy day downtown

2010-03-31T12:26:00.001-04:00

Pounce!

2010-03-30T16:57:00.002-04:00

Lux enjoying the beautiful weather

Raleigh convention center

2010-03-30T14:43:00.001-04:00

I am not above posting touched-up photos

Art installation on Fayetteville St

2010-03-30T13:24:00.001-04:00

Test post 1

2010-03-30T10:31:00.001-04:00

The new format.

2010-03-30T10:29:00.000-04:00

I know that I haven't posted here in a long time. I'm not even going to apologize for that. I toyed with the idea of taking it down completely, but I never did. In the meantime I got a Nexus One smartphone. I can take reasonably good pictures and post them immediately. So now NXNC is being re-purposed as a daily photo blog. There will be changes to the look and format, and there will be very little - if any - text here. I'll be posting occasional photos from around Raleigh. Look for lots of pictures of Lux and Julian.

Please feel free to comment but don't feel obligated. I hope you enjoy this peek into our beautiful city!

Register

2010-03-30T10:18:00.001-04:00

Julian

2010-03-29T20:24:00.001-04:00

More pictures

2009-08-10T17:21:00.001-04:00

The 'W' stands for...

Here are some more pictures of our new house. I'll put up one more set when we've moved in more completely and have pictures on the wall. We have a lot of pictures to hang, a fact that I am reminded of every time we move. We have so many pictures that my beloved posters (remember, I was once a college student) have no home. I keep them, and will likely continue to keep them for the rest of my life, rolled up safely in a series of cardboard tubes. On the off-chance that we will one day live in a house so big that we can have a 'poster room.' Unlikely, I know.

That was quite a digression, but it seemed appropriate. I discover many, many pounds of things that have been kept in boxes for years, from one move to the next. We did a fantastically good job of shedding much of our excess weight when we moved to North Carolina last year. But we didn't get rid of everything, and we didn't even git rid of the inessentials, the vestigal remnants of our past lives and fascinations.

As far as I can tell, the dogs love the new place. They have a yard to run around in (finally) and now that the large-scale moving has finished, Julian has relaxed a bit as well. He hates large, unfamiliar things (like packing boxes) and was very much on edge for much of last week. I felt really bad for him and am glad that he is now sleeping peacefully on the couch, leaving behind a large, contented drool stain.

We live here now!

2009-08-03T22:37:00.000-04:00

I tried to put this up last night, but our stolen Wi-Fi isn't too stable, and it gave out before I could actually post these last night. We will be getting our very own internet (and cable!) connection this Thursday. More pictures to come as the house takes shape.

Yesterday was a crazy, long day. We hired movers to get most of our stuff out of The Mill - the spiral staircase made this an impossible proposition for just us. But we couldn't get everything in the truck in one trip and the movers' time was up, so we had to go back for a second trip ourselves. What would have taken the movers about five minutes to pack up took us nearly two hours. If you are ever moving, do yourself a favor and hire some professionals. Sure, the $200 - $300 price tag might look unappealing a week ahead of time, but by the middle of Moving Day, it sounds like a bargain.

We painted some rooms over the weekend, and those who have seen our previous homes will surely recognize the colors: turquoise bedroom, green living room, yellow dining room. It feels really great to be living in the midst of those colors again.

The first time, the last time

2009-07-29T07:56:00.000-04:00

I am obsessed with finality and unique events. I find myself taking note of the first time I do anything special or last time I do something banal. This happens especially when I am on the verge of moving. Last night, for example, we went shopping for our last few meals in The Mill, and we shopped at our Target - the Target that has been our primary shopping source since we moved here - for what will probably be the last time.

I don't know why I do this so compulsively. I just know that I'll continue to catalog events: the last shower, the last morning, the last time down the stairs, the last time entering the door code, the last time driving out to The Mill, the last time turning left out of The Mill. It's a real problem!

On out trip to DC last month I noticed that the traffic we hit coming out of DC and into Northern Virginia was the first real rush-hour traffic that we have driven through since leaving Orlando - that's a pretty impressive statistic, actually. When visiting historic structures, I love to think that I am walking on the same stones that people walked two hundred years ago. This is partly why I love boulders and rocks - their age amazes me. At the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences there is a hunk of a meteorite that is as old as the universe. It is an interactive exhibit and you are allowed to touch it - it is my favorite part of the museum. I choose to ignore the decades of germs and bacteria that are no doubt lingering there from the slimy, snotty fingers of thousands of children and focus on the rock itself. It makes me feel connected with the universe in a way that nothing else really does.

I think the same must be true for my other time/event-related obsessions. I am aware of my surroundings when there is a limited and known amount of interaction left. Despite the frustration and wasted time, I will miss the route I currently take to drive home. I won't miss it enough to take a memorial trip, but I will miss it enough to take note of the last time I drive it.

One week left!

2009-07-25T10:50:00.000-04:00

Well, preparations for the move are picking up steam. The keys at the end of the tunnel are closer than ever - only one short week away now (!) - and the current structure of our home is disintegrating rapidly. Boxes are piling up, pictures are coming down off of the walls, shelves are emptying, and the refrigerator is emptier. And it is becoming practical to make actual plans now - on Monday I have to set up the utilities and arrange for a moving van and moving labor, and I've already changed the address on our magazine subscriptions, and we've even selected some paint colors.

Sorry posting has dwindled to a drip, but I promise that more will come out when we move, including pictures.

Impatience is a Waste of Time

2009-07-09T22:06:00.000-04:00

We are on the verge of moving closer into town. You may have heard about it. I may have said something. We are obsessed. I can't think of anything else. It's a month away and we've already started packing. We've already picked out our paint colors - we want to be prepared, you know!

But there's only so much that can be done ahead of time. After a while, planning and preparation turn into academic exercises and, no matter how excited and motivated I may be, I really just have to wait. And that has become a bit of a problem, because it has left me feeling empty, impotent and frustrated. That, in turn, has caused a little bit of angst and a little bit of depression.

What I realized, however, is that I am living in the future. I spend every day fantasizing about how great the new living situation is going to be. Sometimes I find myself holdingunrealistically rosy views of things and I am reminded of a song from An American Tail, "There are no Cats in America." But the new house will be great - I don't even think that I'm being unrealistic about it.

The problem is that my life isn't terrible now. It's pretty great, actually, and when I focus on the future, I am missing - completely missing - what's happening right now! I don't want to miss the entire month of July just because I live in Wake Forest instead of Raleigh. And that's what I aim to do now. Forget the future. Forget the new house. Forget packing. Forget how much shorter my drive to work will be (2 miles down from 15!) and how much closer we will be to the things we love to do (our friends, Lilly's Pizza, Remedy Diner, the Rialto, the Farmer's Market, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's - coming soon!) and how great the house is going to be (fenced yard for the dogs, neighborhood dog park, screened front porch with a swing, a basement for me to brew beer). Instead I should focus on the things that are slipping by me.

Time is precious. I hope to live to the age of 60 - if I'm lucky I'll live to 75. Any way you cut it, I'm almost halfway done. This is by no means a mid-life crisis happening, but I am aware that my hours are limited. They are ticking down even now, each hour lost forever. And to spend even a minute waiting for the next one is to waste a very precious and limited resource.

Washington, DC: Metro Edition

2009-07-01T21:12:00.000-04:00

I know that I've been obnoxiously slow getting pictures and stories up here. I'm kind of beyond apology by this point, so I won't even bother. But before I finish up with our last day of photos, I want to be sure to acknowledge one of my favorite aspects of the entire trip, which was the Metro. I wish Raleigh had a Metro system. I wish Orlando had one - if they had I might have never left. It does not take long to get used to the quick, inexpensive, convenient and (historically) safe subway system of Washington, DC. After one trip, we pretty much knew how to use it, although I had to constantly refer to my (now very worn) Metro map to verify my lines and stops. Between the two of us, for four days in the city, we spent $40 on the Metro and still have a few dollars left over. It may seem like a lot, but we really rode the Metro a lot, and all over the city. It was wonderful to essentially not have to worry about what the cost might be. Whenever we went anywhere, we pulled out the map and looked to see if there was a Metro station between us and our destination that might make the trip shorter, even if only a single block.

After all is said and done, I think that the Metro was probably my favorite single thing about DC. I loved every part of it, from the above-mentioned convenience and economy, to the design. I don't know when my fascination with architecture and building design was started; I do believe it to be a relatively recent development, but I might have always had it. Regardless of when my love buildings and structures manifested, it was in full swing in the DC Metro. The stations are amazing. I'm sure that they are absolutely nothing to those who are used to them, but to me they nearly blew my mind. I could not believe that such amazing structures were public use and I was using them! Since they are primarily made of poured concrete, they had a kind of permanent quality, as though they had always been there. Beyond the concrete, there were few embellishments - maps, signposts and some dim lighting were about it.

Absolutely amazing.

I would have taken some more pictures, but I didn't want to look like a tourist. At least, I didn't want to look like too much of one. Besides, there are implicit rules about privacy and eye contact on the Metro, and taking photos felt like a little bit of a violation. I took these photos in a relatively quiet station late in the day.

At the other end of the transit spectrum, I want to mention how much fun it was to travel with our TomTom. It isn't a perfect piece of technology by any means, but I can't even imagine a trip through a city like DC without something like this. Isn't it funny how a brand-new piece of technology can so insinuate itself into our lives that we can't even imagine how to manage without it. There were times when we were walking around the city and I wished I had access to the internet. The old-fashioned paper maps just weren't cutting it for me and we wanted to find a restaurant - not a particular restaurant, but a good one. And we were hungry and tired and didn't want to just trust to walking and stumble across someplace. Which is what we ended up doing on our first night out and it was kind of a disappointment. We learned our lesson and that night in the hotel, we made sure to find places to eat lunch and dinner for the rest of the trip.

If the Mark of the Beast comes with a GPS and Wi-Fi internet connection, the apocalypse can't come soon enough!