just beathe.

It’s as if Alprazolam was developed for me, specifically. And for that, I’m thankful.

25,000!

Holy crap…I’ve hit 25 THOUSAND photos on Flickr. I’d say I have a problem.

*Note:You’ll have to squint…but that 25,335 items includes 335 videos….so…yeah.

book readin’

What are you currently reading? Me? I read books like I attack my dinner plate: a taste from this dish, a bite from another. Bit-by-bit I work my way through the meal. As such, I’m never really reading only ONE thing. That said, there never seems to be enough time for reading. For that, I blame Walker.

• 11/22/63 - Stephen King

• Truck – Michael Perry

• Skeleton Crew – Stephen King

• A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again – David Foster Wallace

Top SIX Albums of 2011

I cannot stop myself. I MUST build these lists. Call it habit, call it time wasted, call it closure. Whatever it is, it’s fun. I use these lists like a photograph taken to remind me of what once was and what I can no longer recall.

6. The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?

5. Beirut – The Rip Tide

4. The Strokes - Angles

3. Grouplove - Never Trust A Happy Song

2. The Black Keys – El Camino

1. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

Honorable mentions:

Real Estate – Days

M83 – Hurry Up We’re Dreaming

Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation

The Decemberists – The King Is Dead

Bonus bests of 2011:
The David Mayfield Parade opening for The Avett Brothers on 11/18 at the Riverside in Milwaukee.

Modern Family & Win Win & Rango & The Tree of Life’s universe sequence…

“out with the old, in with spicy chili” or “Top Five Moments of 2011″

What a year. No, really. One for the books. T’was one of the most difficult for me, yet quite possibly the most rewarding. Sort of makes me view 2011 as perhaps my favorite.year.so.far. Talk to me five months ago and I would have been singing a different tune, though…most certainly.

#5. Anxiety

2011 came in with a whisper. Lizz and I were in bed sleeping moments before the CST Ball Drop on repeat hit the local airwaves. We awoke long enough to kiss, flash each other a smile, and cozy back up with our respective pillows. How was I to know that this whisper would build to a scream; my old friend anxiety working it’s way into every morning shower and every dinner, every ride in the car and trip to the store? My panic attacks have come and gone throughout the years but 2011 saw them move all their shit right onto my front lawn. This petulant friend would bring me to my knees and make me wonder if I’d even be able to maintain as a functioning member of society or if I’d simply devolve into some crazy old shut-in cat-lady. All this shit peaked in August and i.was.a.fucking.mess.

I call this a top moment because this was the year I decided to accept my panic disorder and welcome the anxiety into my life. One of the best decisions I have EVER made. No more self medication, no more hiding, no more denial. It’s as much a part of me as my addiction to the internet. To anxiety, I saw WELCOME.

#4: Auf Wiedersehen to Binge Drinking

Over the past 15 years my friends and I have spent the better half of our sociable waking hours buried in some type of well lubricated ecstasy; this sometimes for the better, sometimes not. Upon reflection I typically tend to focus on the not.

Hangovers. Regret. Stupidity. Stagnancy. I am done.

In any other non-birth year this move might have taken top-spot on this list. This decision excites me more than when I quit smoking cigarettes. It tastes better than the BEST after-bar mac-n-cheese I ever had. It feels like I’ve found Jesus, but without all the guilt, Bible-study circles or bumper stickers.

#3: I’m alright, ‘Cause I got a degree!

You know, a lot of successful people go to college for seven years.

Can’t believe I’m actually done (for now). My plans and program may have changed a few times over the years, but I finally settled in with something that I’ll enjoy for a while. I’m working in my chosen field and LOVING it thanks to MATC and years of hard work that culminated with a cap & gown ceremony in May that I did not attend. I’m sure it was nice.

#2: We Bought a Home
Yep, we finally did it. In between panic attacks at the first showing, first offer signing AND the closing, we filed enough paper-work and gathered enough dough to lock into 30 years of debt and maintenance expense. Pretty fuckin awesome, really.

#1: Henry Benjamin Wisniewski

My THREE sons. Awesome³. On December 10th we welcomed another beautiful baby boy into the Wisniewski family and Lizz, Oliver, Elliot and I could NOT be more thrilled. He’s adorable and funny, typically cranky and always sleeping, pooping, crying or sucking on a boob. Reminds me of church camp.

And so, here’s to another great year behind us and all of the unknowns that lie ahead in 2012. Tonight Lizz and I’ll put the boys to bed and settle in with big bowls of spicy chili, a Modern Family marathon and a glass of wine toasted as late as we can make it. To the two or three people that might read this…I hope 2011 was a great one and from the all of the Wisniewski’s to you…Happy New Year!

new years reflections and connections

I have this hypothesis I’ve been working on for the last five years or so. It’s subject: the coloration between the level of my New Years Eve drunkenness to the following year’s overall enjoyability.

It’s been pretty consistent thus far. The years where I’ve partied hard on the eve have been fun and exciting. Years where I have remained restrained have them, themselves, seemed restrained and less fruitful.

Last New Year’s Eve found us in bed before midnight for the first time in my adulthood. I set the alarm on my phone to wake us at midnight for a kiss and to say we hadn’t missed it. It worked. We didn’t miss it, we kissed, and slipped gently back into slumber.

For me, this year has been like any other Saturday morning for a partier where you decided to stay in on Friday night. Sure, it was productive. You got everything on your list accomplished and you feel pretty good about it. Alas, it also wasn’t as much fun – overall – as if you’d simply gone out for a little while, been good about it, returned home at a decent hour and, say…accomplished 50% of your Saturday task list.

We shall see where Next Year’s Eve takes things. I’m not really drinking now, so it looks like it’ll be another year of production and muted flamboyance. Not sure if that bothers me though. Sure beats getting plastered and beginning the weekend…and year…filled with regret.

my favorite flickr models…

Flickr is AWESOME. Piles and piles of amazing art…a never-ending jackpot of all things visual. Amazing landscapes, great moments in history, adorable families snapshots….and beautiful models.

Here are a couple of my favorites:
#4 – Guilia
Such a seemingly COOL model captured wonderfully by a talented photographer.

#3 – Imogen
WOW.

#2 – Sarah
Bein family certainly helps Sarah make the list…(she’s around a lot, so I get to photograph her often)…but that’s not the only reason; she’s also very pretty and puts up with my shit pretty damn well.

#1 – Elizabeth
best.model.ever. My muse. My love. My wife. My life.

never enough time

i miss writing.

Slverlight Telerik RadComboBox Hell

There’s really nothing very *rad* about the thing, is there? ComboBox-Binding can be VERY frustrating. Here’s hoping some poor soul out there finds this in his or her time of need.

Here’s one utilizing a virtual stackPanel to improve performance with large datasets. It also sets the width to avoid the ugly resizing that occurs when the control recalculates its size on the fly. For items that fall off the drop down’s map: a handy tool-tip.

This guy was tricky because you can’t simultaneously use an ItemTemplate (necessary for the tooltip) and the SelectedValuePath property (necessary to display your value).

ENJOY!

-Ryan

<DataTemplate x:Name="ownersComboBoxItemTemplate">
    <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=CompanyName}">
        <ToolTipService.ToolTip>
            <ToolTip Content="{Binding Path=CompanyName}" />
        </ToolTipService.ToolTip>
    </TextBlock>
</DataTemplate>

<telerik:RadComboBox x:Name="OwnerComboBox" ItemsSource="{Binding Owners}"
                        SelectedValue="{Binding SelectedOwner, Mode=TwoWay, ValidatesOnDataErrors=True, ValidatesOnExceptions=True}"
                        telerik:TextSearch.TextPath="CompanyName"
                        EmptyText="Select an owner..."
                        Style="{StaticResource RadComboBoxStyle}"
                        ItemTemplate="{StaticResource ownersComboBoxItemTemplate}"
                        ClearSelectionButtonContent="-- No Selection --"
                        ClearSelectionButtonVisibility="Visible">
    <telerik:RadComboBox.ItemsPanel>
        <ItemsPanelTemplate>
            <VirtualizingStackPanel Width="300" MaxWidth="300" ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" />
        </ItemsPanelTemplate>
    </telerik:RadComboBox.ItemsPanel>
</telerik:RadComboBox>

pants.

Email from Lizz:
“I love Oliver’s random observations. He just out of the blue says, ‘Dada has to put pants on to go to work. You wash Dada’s pants so he can go.’”

The boy speaks the truth.
Smart kid.