bruised reed thoughts and musings

Long time no blog

2009-10-09T02:34:00.002+09:00

It has been far too long since I’ve posted a blog. My last post was way back in May. Well, there’s good reason for that. I moved back to the US, as you may already know. It’s been a busy few months to say the least. So, here’s a quick rambling recap: I finished teaching English in Japan in July. My last classes were in the first 2 weeks of July. That’s when summer vacation starts for

Structure - Act I

2009-05-29T17:17:00.000+09:00

I’m finally getting back into the revision of my first screenplay, “Sabbatical.” In a previous blog post, nearly a year ago, I wrote that the Script Revision Was Coming Along. Well, perhaps that wasn’t accurate. It was only getting started, and it’s been a very slow start. The truth is that it’s been mostly on the back burner for months. Around the time I wrote that post, I was also

A Friend Who Could Stand Still and Avoiding an Incident

2009-05-16T23:55:00.002+09:00

I had my first people photos accepted at a few stock photography sites. These are not the first people photos I’ve shot, but the first I’ve submitted as stock photography. A few weeks ago, I did this photo shoot with a friend of mine that agreed to be a model for my stock photography. The idea was for someone to look calm in the midst of a busy city at night. I was primarily thinking of a shot

Research, Tinkering, and Too Many Irons in the Fire (again)

2009-05-16T01:45:00.000+09:00

If you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself with too many irons in the fire. And at the same time, you’ll waste too much time tinkering or researching. My current pursuits include (but are not limited to): prayer (which should be first, but truthfully I don’t spend near enough time doing); spending time with my wife and baby daughter (This week I did mostly that!); revising my

And another, Canstockphoto.com

2009-05-07T19:10:00.000+09:00

In mid April, I signed up for yet another photo microstock agency. With Canstockphoto, I’m now set up on 8 microstock agencies. I wasn’t too interested in signing up with Canstockphoto previously. It didn’t look too promising, but it seems that, after a merger with fotosearch.com, it’s having a come back according to an article on microstockdiaries and one on the blog of the world’s

Crestock, finally

2009-04-09T18:05:00.001+09:00

Another microstock agency I’d been attempting is Crestock. I signed up in mid-October. I’ve been submitting photos since then and finally, on March 27th or 28th, one image was finally accepted. I’ll be honest here; it took nearly 90 rejections to finally have this image accepted:I had thought several times to just give up on Crestock. The images I submitted have been accepted by other

Teacher Shuffle

2009-04-07T18:35:00.000+09:00

As I mentioned in my Junior High School Graduation post, the school year in Japan ends in March and begins in April. And there is a short time in between. This year there were only 10 days. Besides having to wrap things up from the previous year and prepare for the next year, many teachers also have to change schools. Every year, teachers are shuffled around the school system in the

日本語勉強

2009-04-07T17:39:00.000+09:00

最近、日本語文法を勉強しています。私に取って文法は一番難しいと思います。12月、日本語能力試験を合格しました。三回目！2006、点数が34点でありました。2007、点数が57.8点でありました。この前の試験はやっと68点でありました。毎回、文法は一番下。漢字は大丈夫よ。マークシートだから！漢字を書くことは違うですね。私はしばしば漢字の意味分かりますけど、読めません。僕は日本語が上手になりたいです。日本では後四ヶ月くらい。だからこれから一生懸命日本語を勉強するつもりです。最初の日本語ブログを読んでいただいて有り難うございます。

Junior High School Graduation

2009-03-16T17:59:00.001+09:00

Today was the graduation ceremony for the 3rd year junior high school students. In Japan, the school year begins in April and ends in March. It was a bit sad for me, because these students were 1st year students when I began teaching. And it will be the last graduation ceremony at this school for me since I’ll return to America in about 5 months. A Japanese graduation ceremony

Yay Micro

2009-03-13T21:12:00.000+09:00

I’ve signed up with another microstock photography agency. This one is Yay Micro. It’s a fairly new agency. I had first read about it at Microstockdiaries (a very helpful blog about the microstock industry and various agencies) sometime last fall when I was starting out in microstock photography. I hadn’t really considered it until now. Today, my first five uploads were accepted. So, I now

Hosting Trouble

2009-02-21T17:33:00.002+09:00

I've been having trouble posting blogs during the past couple of weeks. I believe the problem lies with my hosting company, . I sent an e-mail to support nearly a week ago, and though they say they respond within 24 hours, I heard nothing. So, last night I called them. The guy, nice enough guy who lives in India I imagine, said that it seemed fine on their end. He says there's no problems

testing

2009-02-14T21:50:00.000+09:00

This blog post is just a test. I’m really getting tired of the hosting company for my site. Freeservers.com has given me a few headaches, and is continuing to do so.

Congratulations Deezle on the Grammy Awards

2009-02-11T22:40:00.003+09:00

Here’s to my friend Darius Deezle Harrison for taking home two Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 8, 2009. He was nominated for three and won two, as a songwriter and producer for:Best Rap Song - “Lollipop“ by Lil Wayne (featuring Static Major)Best Rap Album - ”Tha Carter III“ by Lil Wayne (Cash Money / Universal Motown)See the list of nominations and winners here: Grammy Awards Winners List -

Joining the Revolution (finally)

2009-01-27T22:33:00.001+09:00

About 2 weeks ago, I finally joined the digital photography revolution. I’ve been a film hold out, waiting for the right balance of price and quality in a DSLR. Finally, the time came to sign up for the revolution. My weapon of choice in this revolution is a Canon EOS 450D. My version, here in Japan, is called the Canon Kiss X2. In North America, it is known as the Digital

MeTube

2009-01-12T15:22:00.000+09:00

Well, I’ve finally set up a YouTube channel. I’m not sure why I’ve never set it up before, but alas, I’ve done it. I only have the two short films you’ve probably already seen. But someday, there will be more. Someday...Until then, enjoy those two films, over and over and over again. Or share them with your friends.Oh, and I’m also now on Facebook and LinkedIn. And of course, there’s always

More RF Stock photography!

2008-12-13T00:22:00.000+09:00

I now have royalty free stock photography available here:Reed Daigle at Snapvillage

Round 3

2008-12-01T21:44:00.000+09:00

Ladies and gentlemen. The moment you’ve all been waiting for. The ultimate championship rematch between Reed Daigle and the JLPT Level 3! That’s right folks. It was 2 years ago that JLPT 3 wiped the floor with Reed’s face. But Reed Daigle, aka Bruised Reed, would not be broken! He came back last year for a close match, but didn’t have quite enough strength to beat back ‘ol JLPT 3.And so it

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T22:35:00.000+09:00

I sure wish I were back home in Louisiana for it. Instead, I had to work and eat Japanese school lunch. And Japanese school food is nothing like going to a sushi restaurant, trust me. However, I am thankful for being able to live in Japan. (And I did get to eat kimuchi nabe, which is quite tasty, for dinner. If you’re interested, I’ll explain what that is another time.) I’m especially

Go Vote!

2008-11-04T23:02:00.000+09:00

Go make your voice heard, my few faithful readers! I’ve already made mine heard, absentee style. Oh, and don’t forget that there are more than 2 candidates running.

Stock Photography Now Available at 123RF.com

2008-10-24T21:44:00.001+09:00

A New Direction for Salary-man Manga

2008-10-23T09:40:00.000+09:00

A man, forty-something, stares at his reflection in a mirror. “Something’s missing,” he says to his reflection. He tightens his tie. His hands rest a moment on the knot. He picks up his briefcase on his way to the door. With his hand on the knob, the man takes a good look at his house. The man stands on the platform of the bullet train. The man’s

ONLINE PHOTO STORE OPEN FOR BUSINESS

2008-10-16T22:06:00.000+09:00

http://reeddaigle.smugmug.com/ I have set up my online photo store at the above link. You can order prints in many sizes in matte, glossy, luster, or metallic finish. You can even get them printed on canvas. Besides prints, there are T-shirts, mugs, mouse pads, and miscellaneous others. And you can also download photos in digital format in 1MP size or 4MP size. (Sorry, but the images are

Ron Paul is on the ballot in Louisiana

2008-10-05T22:13:00.000+09:00

I received my absentee ballot in the mail last week. I was quite surprised to see that Ron Paul was on it. The Louisiana Taxpayers Party formed to put him on the ballot. So, I actually have the choice I wanted on the ballot. Yes, I do realize that he’s unlikely to win, but his voice needs to be heard. And the Libertarian Party’s candidate, Bob Barr, who I’m not particularly excited about,

It's a girl!

2008-09-26T20:32:00.000+09:00

On Thursday, September 11, 2008, my first child was born. We had a girl. Her name is Masayo Sofie. And I was there for the whole process. It’s quite an amazing thing to see a child born, especially when it’s your own. It was also interesting to have experienced it here in Japan. Women in Japan normally go to their home towns to have babies. That’s what my wife did, and that home town is

Royalty free stock photography

2008-09-06T00:00:00.001+09:00

I now have royalty stock photography for sale at:DreamstimeI am submitting to a couple of other sites, too. When I have photos available on those sites, I’ll let you know.