Gannon Burgett

Little in this world is as refreshing as beachside autumns in northwest Michigan.

Well, that’s one way to spell faucet.

You know you’ve hit peak parenthood when you can tell what Hot Wheels car you’ve stepped on by the feeling of the metal and plastic bits that dig into the bottom of your feet.

Little victories

After self-publishing her first poetry book and debating whether or not to do the same for her second—which is about 80% complete—my wife informed me today she sent off her first proposal to a publisher. As so many are, this particular publisher severely backlogged, but it’s a reason for celebration regardless of the outcome. I couldn’t be more proud of her and the effort she’s put into this second book.

Until I take the time to build a proper little station for my Prusa Mini+ 3D printer rig, it’s current spot is next to my desk atop an IKEA Alex drawer on wheels. I also have a Eufy home security camera recording through a magnified ring light so I can keep tabs while I’m away.

Spent some time this past week shooting an assignment for the Michigan Department of Education. The farm tour proved to be a great location for testing out the iPhone 13 Pro review unit I have on loan from Apple for DPReview. Lovely morning light.

After years of successfully ignoring my itch to purchase a 3D printer, I finally caved to my geeky desires and purchased a Prusa Mini+ a few weeks ago. I’m a bit late to the 3D printing party, but after making a handful of prints and even dabbling in a smidge of CAD, I can’t help but be amazed at the potential of additive manufacturing technology, particularly at-home methods, going forward.

Many of the first items I printed are novel designs made for the hell of it to calibrate your printer and ensure everything is up and running smoothly. But after those, I started getting into more functional designs, such as planters, desk organizers, and even a working carabiner that can hold ~30lbs. One of my most recent prints was a four-inch drain cap for a French drain our home’s previous owners put in place and failed to cover appropriately. Sure, I had to wait four hours for the piece to be made, but for $1.55 worth of filament and a bit of time I was doing other work, I was able to make an on-demand piece that would’ve cost twice as much at the home supply store and taken up even more resources in the form of gasoline and emissions.

One thing I don’t necessarily appreciate about 3D printing is that it’s only further contributing to the issue of plastics and micro-plastics. But, one of the most common and easy-to-print filament types is PLA (Polylactic acid), which is made from renewable resources and biodegradable in commercial facilities. As it stands, I’m using mostly PolyTerra PLA filament from PolyMaker, which is both biodegradeable and comes rolled on a cardboard tube (most other filament comes rolled on 200g spools).

I still have plenty to learn, but the possibilities are exciting. Thingiverse, Cults, and other websites with slicer-ready files make it incredibly easy to get started, but I can’t help but feel the real magic in 3D printing lies in being able to make your own 3D models to print.

It’s been a while, Micro.blog. After nearly two years away I’m hoping to get back to posting here. It’s been too long since I’ve had a consistent personal place to share life’s journey that isn’t Twitter.

I’m always a fan of trying to streamline my workflow; particularly my editorial workflow. But one thing I’ve come to realize over the years is the more means of automation I come up with, be it with text shortcuts or various actions in particular programs, the more often I make mistakes.

It seems some things should be done slowly and less efficiently. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out what’s worth streamlining and what should be kept a more manual, time-intensive process.

There’s still progress to be made (I’ll probably need another one of these organizers specifically for photo-related gear), but I think I’ve finally found a solution for all of my cables and tidbits that usually sit in a drawer.

The organizers are from Iris, made in the United States, and are incredibly well-built despite being plastic (usually stray away from plastic where possible). This particular one is the 44-drawer white organizer. It’s also worth noting that the labels, which are written with a silver Sharpie on 1-inch Gaffer tape, are easier to read in real life than the below image suggests.

This weekend turned out to be an unforgettable one in the worst of ways. I’ll (likely) elaborate at a later time, but for the time being I’ll simply say it’s good to know everyone in our little family is on the mend and feeling better again.

It’s been a little more quiet here than I would’ve liked to start off the new year. No matter how much preparation you think you’ve done for the arrival, nothing prepares you for having your 18 month old come down with a cold the week you bring your newborn home, only to recover for a week before coming down with a stomach bug the following week. The volume and diversity of bodily fluids that have been flowing about our apartment is…disturbing.

The good news it looks like everyone is on the mend and it can only get better from here.

[frantically searching for any wood to knock on]

What’s the point of getting new tech if you don’t push it to the limits, eh? This monstrosity is a Canon EOS R with a Contax 645 Zeiss 80mm F2 lens attached via two adapters (RF>EF>Contax), all on top of a DJI Ronin-SC. Pretty? no. Functional? Mostly.

As I started reviewing my self-employed P/L statements for 2019, I realized it probably wouldn’t hurt to invest a little for future projects by spending a little more on gear before the end of the year.

As a result, I’ve finally taken the dive into the world of video gear and picked up a few goodies to pair with my Canon EOS R. I’ve always wanted to dabble in the world of video, and have even considered making my own content to share online, but the reality is this gear will more than likely be limited to personal use, capturing life’s moments with my family. One day that might change, but for now I’ll embrace the newness of it all and revel in keeping it to myself (and family).

Today, Friday the 13th, is the day we’ll meet our baby girl. On the way to the hospital, we were greeted with a beautiful sunrise. Upon finding our spot in the parking garage, we noticed the odometer in our vehicle was 131313. Furthermore, once we were settled in the labor and delivery room, we discovered our two nurses for the day were both named Samantha (my wife’s name is Samantha).

There’s some interesting stuff happening here in Lansing.