←June 2007 | Main | August 2007→
July 31, 2007
Job Hunt Status
*sigh*
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (4)
July 27, 2007
Friday Feathers - I See You, Too
Photographing birds is a challenge. First you have to find them, then you sit and pray the bird will stay in one place long enough to capture its image. Then you have to hope that the image is a decent one. If you want a certain type of shot, say, with the bird looking directly into the camera, well... I think that's pure luck. In all my forays into the woods and elsewhere, it's been a rare occurrence that the bird is looking in my direction. They're usually looking everywhere else but directly at the camera. When it happens and I manage to get the shot, the result always includes the inevitable out-of-focus beak or eyes.
Sometimes I'm lucky and the dead-on shots aren't so bad. Eyes are in focus and clear, and the out-of-focus beak isn't an issue. (I'm sure there's a way around this, I just haven't learned it yet.) Here are some of my favorites. AKA, the "I See You" set.
The American Robin in the photo above has a bit of a sinister look to it (they sing beautifully but always look angry or frantic), the Great Egret next to it looks as though it's making goofy faces on purpose and the Brown-headed Cowbird looks like Darth Vader.
The European Starling looks like a rock star, the Canadian Goose looks intense and the rooster doesn't look like it's ready for another cockadoodledoo (maybe a nap instead.)
I often wonder what the bird sees when it looks my way. I'm sure they're looking at the lens of my camera, perhaps they think it's the branch of a tree. I've read some stories where birds have actually perched on zoom lenses, so it wouldn't surprise me if a bird lands on mine one day. If one does, of course it will screw up the shot. :-)
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (8)
July 26, 2007
Just Curious
Are you using a Mac or Windows PC?
If you use an aggregator (Bloglines, Netvibes, Newsgator, Google Feedfetcher, etc.), which one?
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (11)
Quote
"Laughing at our mistakes can lengthen our own life. Laughing at someone else's can shorten it." - Cullen Hightower
Posted by me, of course!
July 23, 2007
Today's Quote
"Work wise, I'm preparing a multi-server, high redundancy web platform to go into production (near three months solid work on a serious amount of new hardware), only to find out the web application won't actually work on it. Much amusement (and forehead slapping by the developers) was had by all."
That was part of a catch-up email from a geek friend of mine who knows I love the techy stuff. Go figure. I must have been a geek in a previous life. I'm convinced of it. :-)
Posted by me, of course!
That'll be 9 cents more, says Starbucks
You know how much I love Starbucks (NOT.) I'm posting this for the benefit of my friends who are Starbucks junkies.
Starbucks Corp. said it was raising prices for its coffee and other freshly made drinks in most of its U.S. stores by 9 cents this month, citing rising costs, including dairy products, energy and fuel. Starbucks said the price hike will take effect July 31, bumping the cost of most drinks by about 3 percent.
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (4)
July 20, 2007
Friday Feathers - No longer stumped
Updated 7/26
The Yellow-Crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) is a medium-sized, stocky heron with gray body and brown-and-white mottled wings. Face is black and white; crown is pale yellow and sweeps back as a plume. Eyes are large and red. Bill is heavy and black. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has white-spotted brown upperparts and brown-streaked white underparts.
Food consists primarily of crustaceans, but also eats small fish, reptiles, amphibians, eels, insects, and mollusks; forages in open water, mud flats, and in partially submerged vegetation. - What Bird
I find myself in unfamiliar territory for this week's Friday Feathers entry; I can't identify this bird.
I have two books that I use for bird identification: Birds of New York and Field Guide to Eastern Birds. If that doesn't work I turn to the Web and try to find the bird using Whatbird.com or the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds guide.
A lot of variables go into the search. The bird's head and eye color, beak size, body shape, location, family and wing span. This bird looks like some type of heron, perhaps a juvenile, but I didn't find anything remotely similar to it.
What's throwing me off here is the black head and the white streak under its eye. I know I've seen that before as this particular bird looks very familiar, yet I've no clue what it is. Any idea?
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (8)
July 13, 2007
The Scribbler's Eight
I'm thrilled that Dale Keiger agreed to post 8 random things about himself. Some folks may roll their eyes at being tagged, but Dale's list is a great example of why these things make for a terrific read. Here's a snippet:
In the course of my days I have played with the Cincinnati Symphony, sung back-up with Dave Barry’s Rock Bottom Remainders, broken six bones, hitchhiked in Israel, eaten raw wriggling shrimp, been attacked by a wild turkey in Canada, shaken Warren Zevon’s hand, been told “you are just gay enough,” levered a car out of a rut by hand using the jack, eaten reindeer in Finland, shot crossbow in Switzerland, been called “cutie” by a $1,000-a-night call girl, been told by police who had their guns drawn “if he comes this way, you grab him,” and watched a stripper do something unmentionable with a ping-pong ball in Bangkok.
Read the rest of his 8 random details here. Thanks Dale!
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (1)
Friday Feathers
A medium-sized tern with pale gray upperparts, black cap, and white underparts, the Forster's Tern has an orange bill with black tip. Wings are pale gray with paler primaries. Tail is pale gray and deeply forked with dark inner edge and white outer edge. Legs and feet are orange.
Sexes are similar. Winter adult lacks black cap but has distinctive black eye patch, gray streaks on head, dark bill, and dull orange legs and feet. Juvnile resembles winter adult but has brown markings on back, nape, head, and upperwings that fade and orange-based black bill that darkens by end of summer.
Diet consists mostly of fish, but also eats insects, small crustaceans, mollusks, frogs, and tadpoles. Catches fish at surface or by plunge diving into water from a perch or a hover; catches insects on the wing or on the water surface; reportedly eats dead fish and frogs exposed by receding ice; occasionally eats bird eggs.
Posted by me, of course!
July 12, 2007
Mrs. Lonely
A recent visit to a marine nature study area afforded me the pleasure of photographing the waterfowl and seabirds that were around. It was also a terrific place to meditate and dust my brain. :-)
The bird above is an Egret, and since its feet aren't visible I can't tell if it's a Great or Snowy Egret. It doesn't matter. I decided it was a female and nicknamed her Mrs. Lonely -- she was all by her lonesome self in the shallow water, busily fishing for goodies. This particular photograph is a favorite from my visit.
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (5)
July 11, 2007
Photographing Fireworks
The Digital Photography School blog recently had a terrific piece about How to Photograph Fireworks. I knew that a fireworks show was scheduled to take place this past Saturday evening. Instead of going to the show with all my equipment, I opted to stay put knowing that I'd be able to see the fireworks exploding above the trees from the backyard. I struggled to recall what I'd read about the technique/camera settings/what-have-you prior to the event. Sifting through my manuals for both my cameras (a Nikon D50 and Nikon D200) I found a lot of information but eventually just decided to wing it.
I should have had the camera on a tripod but wanted to see what would happen if I hand-held the camera. I wasn't aiming for stereotypical fireworks shots.
Groovy
The results were somewhat surprising and left me thinking oooh, groovy -- a psychedelic spray of light and squiggles and a random item found in one of the images.
Spaghetti
Alien punctuation with UFO
UFO: What IS that!?
Let's put it this way: I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing even though I knew enough to shoot shutter priority and disable the flash. Not bad for a first try and if you're into psychedelic art. :-) I'll know better next time!
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (3)
The Random 8
I've been tagged by Jim Thompson to cough up 8 random things about myself. Here goes!
- My childhood dream was to become an artist. This goal did not sit well with my parents. In an absolute temper tantrum at 18 after learning I'd not be attending art school, I tossed a decade's worth of paintings and other art-related projects into a trash bin. I wouldn't pick up a paintbrush again until many years later. My paintbrush has since morphed into a camera. :-)
- I was held up at gunpoint. While browsing in an Upper East Side store with a friend, the perpetrator entered and waved his gun at us. In a very soft-spoken voice, he instructed us (me, my friend and the two salespeople) to go to the back room of the store, sit on the floor and give him whatever cash we had, all the while waving his gun or shoving it into someone's back. He then told us not to move and closed the door of the room. After sitting on that floor for about 10 minutes, the salesperson peeked out the door and decided to go out into the store, grab the phone and call the police. The cops finally showed up, and I was amazed at the differing descriptions of the guy each of us gave to the police officer. Once all the pertinent information was delivered, we were free to go and I proceeded to laugh non-stop for the next two hours until my friend told me that if I didn't stop she was going to punch me. I didn't laugh because I thought it was funny. I suppose it was a nervous reaction to an unbelievably frightening experience.
- When I was in high school, my mom was constantly called to the school because I'd always suffer some injury while doing gymnastics or some other sport. Each visit to the doctor brought the same diagnosis: severely bruised. As an adult, I've walked into a building support, the glass pane of a store window and have fallen down stairs a few times. (This brings new meaning to the word clumsy.) Regardless of all those mishaps, I've never had a broken bone.
- I've actually considered the idea of working in the military -- but then that age limit got in the way. My feeling is that there are probably a lot of folks out there who WOULD want to serve their country but can't simply because they're considered too old. I certainly get the point of having the young and extremely fit on the front lines, but if you're working in an office I fail to see how that mandatory training is really necessary. I personally think that's a lot of valuable brain power going to waste, what with all those Baby Boomers not yet ready for retirement. I've also considered working in the police department -- but then that age limit got in the way.
- My dad was a paratrooper in the U.S. Army. For some strange reason the idea of jumping out of a plane doesn't phase me, and one day I'll do just that.
- I am seriously considering returning to school to further my education. The problem is that I'm having a hard time limiting my educational leanings to one area. To date subjects of extreme interest for me include Computer Science, International Relations and of course, Photography AND marine biology or ecology, research, and wildlife conservation. :-)
- The very first Web site I built ('93) was titled Wild, Wild West and had a bunch of links to Web sites about cowboys and indians on it. The next one was titled "Off the Beaten Path." It garnered some press. In Web years, I'm an old fart.
- In 2003 I turned my one-page Web site into a full-blown weblog. The idea that I was more out in the open on the Web prairie (sort of like moving from behind the curtain to the stage) had an adverse effect on my writing. Even though I had my 15 minutes of fame back in the '90s, my ISP had changed and since I didn't have my own domain name at the time, I subsequently lost my readership. Being under the radar was fine by me, but for whatever reason, I couldn't escape the feeling that I was somehow back on stage in primetime. Of course I realize this was my own perception rather than a marked reality, but my writing suffered as a result. I was suddenly self-conscious and cautious about what I wrote, constantly editing my thoughts and rewriting or deleting on a regular basis. I regret having changed my single page to a full-blown blog, and often find myself pining for that writing voice that escaped me 4 years ago.
Consider yourself tagged:
Pat @ The Gray Monk :|: Loup @ Because I Said So :|: Dale @ Scribble, Scribble, Scribble
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (3)
July 10, 2007
Half a Yay
Longtime pal Al has returned to cyberspace @ 420 Summit. I'm giving his return only half a "YAY!" since I know Al. There's always the chance that he'll (once again) decide to NOT blog and then trash his hard work.
Catch it while you can. Here's hoping he sticks it out. (geez, why did that suddenly sound obscene?)
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (2)
Aussie Condom Testers Wanted
Australian condom-maker Durex is recruiting 200 adults as product testers. Both male and female Australians are invited to apply for the positions. Their applications are to include an explanation of why they would make an "expert" condom tester. Each member of its condom panel will receive a pack of Durex sex products and a chance to win 1,000 Australian dollars.
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (1)
Sniffle
Weather 'round these parts has been oppressive with a capital "O" -- temperatures hit 95 degrees and combined with humidity the "feels like" was 98. Either the poor quality of the air and/or the in/out of air conditioning has left my sinuses running a marathon. Sinus meds don't help so I'll just have to sit it out in a pool of... well, you know. ;-) Then again, it could be a summer cold.
*sniffle*
Posted by me, of course!
Tea, Sugar and Data Recovery
... "We thought it was glue on the disk. We were having no luck but the last technique we tried was to remove the platters from the hard drive. Right underneath the bottom platter there was the tea and sugar mix. We cleaned the platter and then reassembled the hard drive and recovered the data." - Testing the limits of hard disk recovery (BBC News)Who knew that data recovery folks could clean a hard drive of tea and sugar and rescue the data? This information comes a month late for me, since I ripped the hard drive out of my tea and sugar-infused Titanium laptop. Once I got it out I proceeded to whack the drive a few hundred times with a hammer. I'll bet that if I handed that drive over to the experts they'd still be able to get the data off, but that isn't an investment I want/need to make. Oh well.
(Thanks for the info, "George.")
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (3)
July 6, 2007
Friday Feathers - Bath Time!
Don't forget your underarms! :-)
This Scarlet Tanager was perched on a tree branch that hung just above a water sprinkler.
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (3)
July 5, 2007
Fun, Fun, Fun
It's been a whirlwind of activity in my neck o' the woods lately. Actually I'd go so far as to state for the record that it's been more like a tornado, but I'm trying to remain somewhat sane in the meantime.
Stress Puppy
What have I been doing? Well for starters, I'm probably on revision #163 of my resume (aka CV), which never seems to get any better. When you're looking for a full-time position, I've discovered that asking friends and colleagues to review what you've done soon turns into a free-for-all. Advice streams in from everywhere, suggestions abound (go work at Mickey D's) and I've all but pulled out most of my hair in utter frustration. I'm not saying I don't appreciate the help/advice; I do. It's just that some of it has been beyond my comprehension. I'm no closer to finding a full-time gig and things have become a bit stressful. *sigh*
Slobbering Puppy
Meanwhile back at the funny farm, I recently did a photo shoot that involved two rather large dogs. As a favor to a friend, I welcomed the change from birds to dogs and thought that a few doggie treats would save the day in order to obtain their undivided attention.
NOT.
What I planned to do and what ensued = vastly different. There was the photographer (me) laying on my stomach in the grass (possible dog poop under me) to get that dog's eye view shot. My friend stood behind me, making the mistake of calling to the dogs. Guess what the dogs did. In a split second they trampled me in their haste to get to their owner. Okay, that didn't work.
My next dog trick was even better than the previous. I was on my knees with both dogs sitting in front of me and before you could say FETCH! I was on my back, my left arm stretched out and flailing in the air, the camera dangling precariously in my hand. Yes, the camera was saved; my back? Another story entirely. Need I explain that the dogs thought I was playing and pounced on me?
To cap off the doggie tale (tail?), one of the two uncooperative mutts (with a head the size of mine and a tongue equal in size and girth to that of a London Broil) slobbered my face with thick piles of doggie saliva and attempted to... you know, french kiss me. Eww. Like ewwwww a gazillion times over. I guess it's safe to assume he liked me.
Ew.
Spoiled Puppy
One more bit of brain dust and then I'm outta here. Yesterday I recalled this little tidbit -- the time I was in Berlin visiting my friend Holger and ten of us went to dinner at a sushi restaurant. We ordered appetizers and then placed our order for the main course. When the main courses came out and were distributed, we soon realized that only 9 dinners were served and mine was MIA. Holger dutifully rose from the table and went to inquire about the missing meal. He returned not long after and informed us that our waiter had left for the evening. In typical fashion (whether as an American... or not...) I said "WHAT!? You can't be serious." Holger decided to return to the kitchen and see what could be done about my missing dinner.
After five minutes had passed, Holger returns and tells us that the kitchen was now officially CLOSED. [At this point you can easily imagine my incredulity.] Holger said he was told that since the kitchen is closed the chef won't be cooking any longer. [insert another WHAT!? here.] Starving and just longing for my din-din, I replied, "Since when is sushi cooked? It's raw fish. It's prepared but typically not cooked. Give me a break!"
There's nothing worse than an unhappy, dinner-less American at a table with nine very understanding and patient Germans. Holger made sure I didn't morph into an ugly American even though I was very close to becoming one. Then all my German friends decided the only thing to do was to remove one item off their plates and fill up a separate plate -- for me. That's just one of many reasons why I love my friends in Germany.
Okay, that's more than enough slobbering for one day. :-)
P.S. I failed to mention that I've been housesitting on the weekends... sans laptop. Am off again in a few hours...
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (4)
July 4, 2007
Happy 4th!
Stars and Stripes
Posted by me, of course!