Aspect ratios, Golden Arches, golden ratios

In my early years of photo journaling I used a wide 12:5 ratio for images with the enormous resolution of 600×250 pixels (examples). I mostly did that because displays were 640×480 and I wanted a bit of image, title and text visible on screen “above the fold” and still have room for scroll bars and whatnot.

As screens got larger I retired the format because it was difficult. Now I vacillate willy-nilly to suit each image.

But lately I’ve been sticking with a 16:9 ratio for no good reason. In fact, it’s the opposite direction that screens are moving as most folks access the internet on their mobile devices.

This vexes me / feels like an opportunity. One idea is to play around with images in a tall format. So I fired up a profile on PixelFed to explore this idea (and the platform currently free from leadership with bad ideologies).

Maybe I should just use the golden ratio and call it a day.

Update: Just read Instgram updated user profile grid aspect ratios from the classic 1:1 square layout to a tall 4:5 version this week. (Shrug)

Poor composition of train in snow with McDonald's arches in the background with a Fibonacci spiral overlay

The Big Boy Graveyard

Outside Frisch’s corporate office in Walnut Hills is a fenced off area known on Google Maps as the Big Boy Graveyard. I went there today to pay homage to these souls in limbo.

My hometown of New Richmond only had a Frisch’s and a Larosa’s Pizza, so both hold a special place in the part of my brain that mixes nostalgia, food and family.

Our original Frisch’s location was a drive-in where you parked and they brought the food out (they also had a dining room). We didn’t go often, so every visit was terribly exciting.

I continue to hope this food joint pulls through, because I still get a little excited when I go to one of their dwindling locations.

Related in lament, a tip of the hat to David Lynch who passed today.

I put The Straight Story on my list of favorites back in the day with the mini review “This is probably one of the most human and powerful things ever captured on film. Mighty powerful.”

A bunch of Big Boy statues fenced off with razor wire
A bunch of Big Boy statues fenced off with razor wire

Deathcicle

This is why gutters should be cleaned or leaf guards installed. Otherwise these dangerous icicles form when arctic weather hangs around.

I don’t know how this even happens. I fathom snow heats up on shingles and voila — potential horrors emerge.

I’ve been keeping a wide berth of this icicle’s trajectory moving about the driveway.

It’s unnerving.

I left the house

Drove over to the studio to make sure the plants were doing okay, but also? I needed to leave the small radius I’ve occupied since the last two big snows.

The sun was shining, plants doing well and the world generally still exists, but sections of sidewalk remain treacherous.

I’ve visions of getting a nice snowblower and becoming a sidewalk clearing vigilante.

Taking Sunday extremely easy

I’m on the backside of a lingering cold. I’ve been able to operate somewhat normally, but not super well rested as symptoms flare up in the wee hours.

I decided on taking this Sunday extremely easy to dedicate resources to what I hope is the final stretch of mending.

Loaded a slow cooker with Cream Cheese and Chicken Chili for dinner. (Tasty and easy)

Played God of War Ragnarök on the PlayStation. (A fine grind that might have a good storyline about loss)

Let Edie lay on me for warmth throughout the day. I feel it is my duty to support her needs.

Started a draft reply for this Blog Questions Challenge that Scott Boms put out there.

Dusted off the car collection and rearranged vehicles by size. (See above)

Closed out the night one of the last episodes of Somebody Somewhere. I’ll miss that show, but hope to follow all the folks that made it special in new endeavors.

Snowpal

After family and friends shared their freshly constructed snowmen in group texts, I could no longer refrain from participation.

I’d visions how to go about it… using three sizes of bowls, pack with snow, flip over and stack an inverse on top.

It didn’t work out that way — this snow was too fluffy, which is a wonderful problem if you’re shoveling paths.

Related tangent: I looked up different words for snow and this is what I believe the Inuit would call muruaneq or “a soft deep snow.” (More here: Counting Eskimo/Inuit Words for Snow)

Today’s soundtrack is the latest by Cindy Lee, which you won’t find on Spotify. Searching RSS subscriptions for attribution I found ‘Diamond Jubilee’ had 34 posts from folks. The consensus? This album is a vibe.

A little snow person on the steps of a porch

Two to one

New computer days are momentous. It happens rarely and only after a thorough chunk of research. Are the advancements significant? What’s the trade-in value on the current rig? And most importantly, is it necessary?

My setup has been a Mac Studio (M1) — which has been solid, but I sure can make the rainbow wheel spin. I also have a low spec MacBook Air (M2) for travel that’s served me well and been quite impressive — in many ways it’s been snappier than the desktop.

In my new blended work approach, splitting time between these two machines has introduced oodles of font issues, file access conundrums (I use selective sync on Dropbox to mitigate drive sizes), and problems with third party tools (mostly in After Effects) that have inspired many stressful moments.

I’ve really appreciated having a desktop machine to ‘contain’ work, but this new paradigm warranted new approaches. It was time to consolidate.

So I pulled the trigger on a MacBook Pro with an M4 processor, trading in the Studio for a fair price.

Note: I worked with an Apple salesperson and spec’d things through the Apple Store in a desktop browser, but the Apple Store App on my phone (which knew my machine without entering specs) gave me a FAR BETTER trade-in value ($1270) than those other channels ($825). Curious.

The machine was due to arrive in a week but got a notification that it was ready to pick up today, right before another round of snow was due to descend upon Cincinnati.

I only got to the “hello” screen today as I’d work to do (and needed to research what was the best way to move forward — migrate from a previous rig or start from scratch?) I’d eventually choose the former route. The migration tools worked incredibly well.

More after I kick the tires.

A deep love for the work itself

I’m fiddling with the dials of social networking… uninstalling apps, retiring accounts, setting strict limits — that sorta thing. I’m bumping into glorious walls of opportunity while breaking habits.

One intended upside is to tackle piles of books. Tonight I broke into the chonky first tome of Calvin and Hobbes. I didn’t realize Bill Watterson had a brief failed stint at the Cincinnati Post.

“To persist in the face of continual rejection requires a deep love of the work itself.” he said of the time period.

I very much get that, from many time periods!

Related tangent: I once did a daily comic strip for the student paper at OSU that was 1000% influenced by Watterson and Berkley Breathed’s Bloom County.

My comic featured a dog called Potbelly that didn’t talk but held up signs.

I posted a strip a few years back and intend to scan in more someday, but the reality is they weren’t very good. I still had a deep love for the work, but writing a daily comic strip requires special talent.

Comic strip featuring a dog that holds up a sign to talk.

Sidewalk conditions varied wildly

Virtual meetings wrapped for the day, it was 25° outside and not getting any warmer — oh, and the sun was shining. (Also? Tonight’s low is 7°!)

I’d just read Rachel Kwon’s appraisal of Wintering Better and decided a walk could be good.

Said trudge lasted 17 minutes as sidewalk conditions varied wildly.

I should’ve gone to a gym or made a snowman. And I most definitely should have used one of these sleds to try out that ramp.

Two leds on a sidewalk with a ramp of snow

Today’s song thanks to Brian Feeney’s ’24 roundup.

A couch moment

I’d a vision of making a small snowman and that would’ve been today’s photo. But seeing the driveway covered in deep snow dashed those hopes. It was only going to get crustier and more annoying to clear. The time was now.

I employed a relaxed pace and lower release arc when dumping each shovelful. This proved to be choice… way less taxing than my frenzied approach on the sidewalks.

It was still exhausting.

I’m now having a couch moment with Edie and a blanket to recuperate. I put one of her favorite videos on the television: Playful Birds and Squirrels on the Grass (YouTube).

She’s rapt.

Snow shoveling can be hazardous to your heart

I was going to measure snowfall but all I could find was a metal ruler with a cork backing which felt inappropriate for the task. (I spaced on all the tape measures we have tucked around.) I think we got 14 inches!

After morning meetings and a carb heavy lunch I felt fueled to tackle some shoveling. I cleared all the front sidewalks and legit came inside and thought I was on the verge of a cardiac event. After zooming with Heather afterward she asserted I should not, as a man over 50, go that hard again.

It’s apparently, a thing (Snow shoveling can be hazardous to your heart – American Heart Association).

Noted!

Anyway, all my work was covered by a thin layer of snow by late afternoon so I went out for a touch up, but kept it leisurely and carefree.

We so seldom get snow like this. It’s legit snow-from-the-70s snow.

I might make a snowman tomorrow, but I will take my sweet time — and it will be tiny.

Today’s song thanks to Bill Hader’s What’s In My Bag for Amoeba Records, that he asked to be on!