Stack



2 February 2008
As you’ve likely gleaned at some point in this journalling, both my wife and I are readers. Some would say avid, I would say convenient…that is, I read whenever it’s convenient. I read in the morning, I read in the evening, I even read while sitting at stoplights in traffic. What do we read? Everything. From newspapers to magazines to books. This is a stack of consumed magazines: Magazine Stack
The magazine is, I believe, Design.
Cheers.

~KR (Written on 10 February 2008)

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.125 sec (1/8)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire




Red Reflections



Red Reflections

9 February 2008

I’m very disappointed in myself.  I spent most of my day at the Waxahachie Civic Center (a beautiful building), surrounded by people (interesting people), most of whom I love dearly.  And yet, somehow, at nearly midnight, sitting in bed reading, I realized I had taken absolutely no photographs all day long.

Now, how irresponsible is that?  Wouldn’t you think that after a year and three months, I’d be beyond the point of having a day like that?  Grrrr.

Of course, that’s the only thing about the day that wasn’t rather perfect.  I had a fabulously good time at orientation.  I met with all my folks, worked out some missing order details, set up appointments for fittings, took one totally new order, to help cover the one that had cancelled, and successfully collected enough money in deposits, to cover my February bills!  Woo hoo!

I can explain away the photographic irresponsibility.  First the drive: driving down to Waxa, I got very frustrated as I was stuck behind a funeral procession.  Now, I have no problem with being respectful of such things.  I expect to sit through green lights to let the land train pass.  I know to go out of my way not to get between vehicles with their headlights glowing.  On city streets, I have no problem with any of this.  It is common human courtesy, and I even get annoyed if I see others not showing such respect.  But, on a state highway, with multiple lanes of traffic, and a speed limit of 65 miles an hour, I do not think it is reasonable for the left lane to be kept to the thirty mile an hour speed the hearse is travelling.  For ten plus miles!  (I even called Kyle and had him google it, and he found that there is no law requiring one to not pass a funeral procession, even with a police escort.)  Needless to say, that nearly doubled my travel time to Waxahachie.  So, once I got there, I was later than I’d planned.  Then, I got annoyed at a display exhibited by one of the “approved” costumers for the faire.  So, I stewed on that for a while.  And almost immediately upon arriving, I had a line of folks waiting to talk to me.    So, there was never a dull moment when I could have thought, “Gee, what shall I do now . . . Oh, I know . . . I’ll use this minute to take my photo!”  I just never had that much freedom of thought.  I was constantly working, constantly focused on one person or another, right up until they were counting down the minutes until we all had to be out of the building, and I had a volunteer to help me carry things out, and I was gone!

So, I lost many fabulous opportunities to have fun photos of friends.  And then, Kyle and I spent the evening watching a little TV, playing with the dogs, and taking turns coughing.  We watched the movie, There’s Something About Mary, which neither of us had ever seen.  Amusing flick, by the way.  But the point is, I didn’t really mess with the computer much when I got home.  So, I didn’t have that reminder, either.  I just didn’t think about the camera.  <sigh> 

So, my little Valentine’s Day display with red lights red candles, red hearts, and silver beads was something I could shoot without turning house lights back on, and without thinking too much.  I knew Kyle had used it as a subject recently, so I wanted my photo to be totally different.  I took two or three, but this close-up was the most different, and I kind of like it.  So, here you go . . .

~MB




Valentine's Day Cross



7 February 2008
Stll sick. Sick enough in fact that I chose to not go to my soccer game tonight. I just don’t think I could have played with sufficient stamina to make it worth the journey. I also have no real desire to spread this joy to my teammates (work colleagues…that’s a different matter). At least Marita Beth is feeling better. She’s been sick for the better part of a week and has passed it back over to me. I hope we don’t continue this flip-flop routine, because frankly I’m tired of feeling poorly. Marita Beth did lots of cleaning & decorating around the house yesterday. Including this:
Candle and Cross
This is a small table under a mirror on the wall in the living room. She’s decorated the table with red candles and red string-lights, but she left the fabulous Celtic cross that we picked up at the Milwaukee Irish Festival some years back. The whole arrangement is very pretty.
Cheers.

~KR (Written on 8 February 2008)

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.05 sec (1/20)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire




Valentine’s Day Cross



7 February 2008
Stll sick. Sick enough in fact that I chose to not go to my soccer game tonight. I just don’t think I could have played with sufficient stamina to make it worth the journey. I also have no real desire to spread this joy to my teammates (work colleagues…that’s a different matter). At least Marita Beth is feeling better. She’s been sick for the better part of a week and has passed it back over to me. I hope we don’t continue this flip-flop routine, because frankly I’m tired of feeling poorly. Marita Beth did lots of cleaning & decorating around the house yesterday. Including this:
Candle and Cross
This is a small table under a mirror on the wall in the living room. She’s decorated the table with red candles and red string-lights, but she left the fabulous Celtic cross that we picked up at the Milwaukee Irish Festival some years back. The whole arrangement is very pretty.
Cheers.

~KR (Written on 8 February 2008)

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.05 sec (1/20)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire




The Pincushion



6 February 2008
I seem to have gotten back whatever it is I gave Marita Beth. I’m hacking and coughing & wheezing up a storm. Not pleasant, not fun. It also interferes with the ability or desire to take photos. So, this is what we get today:
Pin Cushion
This is one of the many pin cushions you can find littered throughout our house. My wife being a seamstress, pin cushions are part of the trade. But, this one lives in the living room and is more decorational than functional. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the darling girl use it. It sits on top of an antique sewing machine, so may be an antique in itself. (Update:  it is an antique!) However, whatever, it’s one of those many knick-knacky things in the house that make some people say, “Your house is so cool…it’s like a museum.” (ohh, and I edited it with Picnik – that’s a cool tool)
Cheers.

~KR (Written on: 7 February 2008)

Listening to:
Finnegan by Kila
from Mind the Gap

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 1 sec (1)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire




7 the Hard Way



5 February 2008
It's that time of year again when my thoughts start to turn toward faire and the task of running my store at Scarborough Faire. East Wind Games has done well the past two years there, and I look forward to what this year might bring – along with all attendant challenges that are bound to surface. So, with East Wind Games on the mind, I took this photo of a pair of dice that I happened to have at the office with me:
7 - The Hard Way
Cheers.

~KR (Written on 7 February 2008)

Listening to:
This Town's Disaster by Blackpool Lights

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.1 sec (1/10)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire




CD Backup



4 February 2008
I was going to post this one into the Mini-Challenge: Mundane Tasks for what could be more mundane than putting in a CD for a daily/weekly/monthly backup?
The CD
But, I eventually chose the Apple bin shot instead. Not that this isn't freakin' mundane, but I like the other shot better. And, the whole thing is moot now anyway as the challenge ended yesterday.
Cheers.

~KR (Written on: 7 February 2008)

Listening to:
I'll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms) by Elvis Presley
from Elvis By The Presleys

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.3 sec (3/10)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire




Greenman in the End



3 February 2008
The wife is sick, so the Super Bowl was watched from home. But, you know, that wasn’t so bad. I got to spend all day with her which is so very rare. I did have to run out at one point to get my number from a squares pool in which I participated. My numbers were 9 for the Giants and 0 for the Patriots. If the Patriots had kicked a field goal rather than trying for a touchdown on 4th and 13, I’d be a $100 richer. Oh well. I took this photo while driving back from NFG (that’s where the squares pool was).
Greenman
It’s a closeup of the end of a knife I own. The handle and end are bone and hand-carved with the end being a Greenman head. The blade is Damascus-like, but I’m not enough of an expert to know for sure. I took it out of my backpack when I recently took a trip and it’s lived in the car ever since.
Cheers.

~KR (Written on 5 February 2008)

Listening to:
Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepplin
from Led Zeppelin IV (aka ZOSO)

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire




Decadent Dessert



Dessert Trifle

8 February 2008

After a week of what was practically solitary confinement due to illness, I finally did something social today!  I had lunch with girlfriends Sherrie and Becky at a great little Arlington restaurant called Olen Jack’s.  After a delicious meal, we opted to share a decadent Chocolate Raspberry Trifle!  My photo was snapped after we’d already each attacked it once with a spoon, but it was still awfully pretty!  Even after dessert, we sat and chatted for so long, we finally realized they were seating folks for dinner!

That was about the only real highlight of the day.  Work and housework filled the other hours.  <sigh>

~MB




Cold Water Wash



Cold Water Wash

7 February 2008

Happy Chinese New Year!  Welcome to the Year of the Rat!

Did you happen to see the Google front page, today?  Honestly, I think it’s becoming one of my favourite aspects of any given holiday—-what cute thing have the Google folks come up with, this time?

We didn’t plan our Mah Jong party for tonight like we sometimes do . . . with dear friends getting married on Sunday, it didn’t seem prudent to try to gather folks tonight.  And, it’s a good thing, too, considering how Kyle and I have both been feeling all week.  I am much better, but still dealing with a horrible, dry, unproductive and painful cough.  <sigh>

So, I jumped right from Mardi Gras to Valentine’s Day decorations, today.  I left the house only to go pay the rent on my storage unit, and outside of five loads of laundry, cleaning off the front porch,  dealing with a U-Verse repair guy, working on sketches for my Scarborough folks, and toward getting my workshop ready for some heavy duty work next week . . . I guess I didn’t do much today.

I thought of Kyle’s recent challenge-mundane tasks—-as I snapped a few photos of our washing machine as it prepares for a rinse cycle.

~MB