My dear friends Kenny and Kate tied the knot in November. As part of my Christmas gift to them, we went for a walk in City Forest over break and shot a few portraits. Click on the photo to see my favorites.

My dear friends Kenny and Kate tied the knot in November. As part of my Christmas gift to them, we went for a walk in City Forest over break and shot a few portraits. Click on the photo to see my favorites.

Prepare yourselves for the adorableness. Christmas portraits of Jillian and Lucas are ready for your holiday enjoyment!

Prepare yourselves for the adorableness.

Christmas portraits of Jillian and Lucas are ready for your holiday enjoyment!

A Parkdale Elementary student gives Superintendent Carl Ellinger a sign of approval during a school-wide assembly for mentioning his role in declaring a snow day early last week. Ellinger was at Parkdale to help present one of the district’s annual Distinguished Service Awards to Laura Peterson, pictured in the background.

A Parkdale Elementary student gives Superintendent Carl Ellinger a sign of approval during a school-wide assembly for mentioning his role in declaring a snow day early last week. Ellinger was at Parkdale to help present one of the district’s annual Distinguished Service Awards to Laura Peterson, pictured in the background.

Chris Leigeb reacts to an overzealous cheer from a colleague after realizing she was being surprised with a distinguished service award. Leigeb is Northeast Middle School’s lead administrative assistant. The students and staff used their VIP assembly as a cover for the surprise award. The district honors four support staff members every year. Described as “the heart of Northeast” Leigeb was the first staff member presented with the award this year.

Chris Leigeb reacts to an overzealous cheer from a colleague after realizing she was being surprised with a distinguished service award.

Leigeb is Northeast Middle School’s lead administrative assistant. The students and staff used their VIP assembly as a cover for the surprise award. The district honors four support staff members every year. Described as “the heart of Northeast” Leigeb was the first staff member presented with the award this year.

The first of several portraits I’ll be sharing on kishba.com this season :)

The first of several portraits I’ll be sharing on kishba.com this season :)

I went to my friend Kate’s bridal shower this weekend to take photos. Although there are many good reasons guys should not go to bridal showers, I’ll admit it was fun to photograph.

I went to my friend Kate’s bridal shower this weekend to take photos. Although there are many good reasons guys should not go to bridal showers, I’ll admit it was fun to photograph.

From my Flickr stream: Dr. Jason Ohler presents to a gymnasium filled with Midland County teachers at the October 9 professional development day. Ohler’s keynote emphasized the importance of storytelling in education and encouraged teachers to “take the next step” with technology. After the keynote, teachers had the opportunity to attend smaller, hands-on sessions about different technology topics. Click on the photo to see a few other snapshots from the keynote. I helped teach the other sessions, so I only have photos from the opening keynote. It’s worth mentioning that I helped organize this ambitious event. We had technical difficulties with the opening keynote (poor acoustics and overwhelming traffic on the Northwood campus), but the rest of the day went well. I helped teach a beginning and an advanced Moodle session, and I hosted a Moodle Q&A session in the afternoon. I hope we’ll get to plan another event next year.

From my Flickr stream:

Dr. Jason Ohler presents to a gymnasium filled with Midland County teachers at the October 9 professional development day. Ohler’s keynote emphasized the importance of storytelling in education and encouraged teachers to “take the next step” with technology.

After the keynote, teachers had the opportunity to attend smaller, hands-on sessions about different technology topics.

Click on the photo to see a few other snapshots from the keynote. I helped teach the other sessions, so I only have photos from the opening keynote.

It’s worth mentioning that I helped organize this ambitious event. We had technical difficulties with the opening keynote (poor acoustics and overwhelming traffic on the Northwood campus), but the rest of the day went well. I helped teach a beginning and an advanced Moodle session, and I hosted a Moodle Q&A session in the afternoon.

I hope we’ll get to plan another event next year.

“
You see, our predecessors understood that government could not, and should not, solve every problem. They understood that there are instances when the gains in security from government action are not worth the added constraints on our freedom. But they also understood that the danger of too much government is matched by the perils of too little; that without the leavening hand of wise policy, markets can crash, monopolies can stifle competition, the vulnerable can be exploited. And they knew that when any government measure, no matter how carefully crafted or beneficial, is subject to scorn; when any efforts to help people in need are attacked as un-American; when facts and reason are thrown overboard and only timidity passes for wisdom, and we can no longer even engage in a civil conversation with each other over the things that truly matter — that at that point we don’t merely lose our capacity to solve big challenges. We lose something essential about ourselves.

President Barack Obama, addressing a special joint session of Congress last night.

I think this quote should be included in every government textbook. It’s practical, realistic, and reaffirms my belief that I voted for the right candidate in November.

That being said, I enjoyed seeing John McCain in the audience. He makes incredible contributions to our nation’s legislature and I recognize he’s of a caliber and time similar to Ted Kennedy. Our current politicians should take note.

The most interesting part of the transcript on the White House web site, is that they included the shouting of Congressman of Joe Wilson:

AUDIENCE MEMBER: You lie! (Boos.)

John Gruber posted a nice screenshot of Congressman Wilson’s Wikipedia page soon after the President’s speech.

One of the most superfluous UI changes in Leopard is rounded corners. They look okay on system menus, but they look very awkward for menus that appear under round buttons. I hope Apple changes this behavior.

One of the most superfluous UI changes in Leopard is rounded corners. They look okay on system menus, but they look very awkward for menus that appear under round buttons. I hope Apple changes this behavior.

Stacks are growing on me. They’re handy. Except for long folder names. Just like in the Finder, long file/folder names are truncated in the middle. This makes distinguishing Adobe applications *impossible* By the way, why can’t Adobe just call Photoshop Photoshop? I hate having it in a folder called “Adobe Photoshop CS3.” It messes up sorting. Just make it a package, Adobe.

Stacks are growing on me. They’re handy. Except for long folder names. Just like in the Finder, long file/folder names are truncated in the middle. This makes distinguishing Adobe applications *impossible*

By the way, why can’t Adobe just call Photoshop Photoshop? I hate having it in a folder called “Adobe Photoshop CS3.” It messes up sorting. Just make it a package, Adobe.