Dusting My Brain: July 2008 Archives

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July 28, 2008

Grrrrrr.

My day began with yet another unwanted visitor in my apartment thanks to street drilling/construction next door. This latest event landed on my last nerve and has yet to depart. Surprisingly I did not phone and scream at my landlord, and calmly requested that they address the situation immediately. (as if.) I can feel the frustration growing exponentially inside me.

Later on I ventured out to pick up a present for someone and absentmindedly left the small shopping bag with gift tucked inside on a park bench. When I ran back to see if it was still there (which I knew in my heart would not be) of course it was gone.

It's not been a good Monday.

Tell me something funny, I want to laugh.

Update: 7/29

Funny was being out at dinner with a friend, watching as friend's car is towed due to unpaid parking tickets and as it was being towed away, the car's sensor kicked in and the alarm was wailing. I mention this to my friend who stands up, digs into his pants pockets for the car keys, pulls the keys out, points them in the direction of the car, presses the magic alarm-off button, and quite nonchalantly sits back down in his chair and continues eating his dinner.

I laughed all the way home.

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July 25, 2008

Friday Feathers

From my photo favorites folder...

It's difficult to distinguish between the Downy and the Hairy Woodpecker, and from this angle, I can't tell the length of its beak. Therefore, it's one or the other. :-)

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July 22, 2008

Keep What is Worth Keeping...

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person,
having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words,
but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together,
certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them,
keep what is worth keeping,
and with a breath of kindness
blow the rest away.

- Dinah Mulock Craik

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July 21, 2008

Jalapenos, not Tomatoes. Next Week, Squash.

So it's the jalapeno peppers y'all need to stay away from... evidently. A single jalapeno from Mexico/Texas tested positive for salmonella, so there ya have it. For those of you unaware of the vegetable brouhaha happening 'round these parts, a tainted veggie made some folks sick, and the government said it was tomatoes. Today they changed it to jalapeno peppers. That means in a week or month or more, it'll be squash. Or eggplant, or something else. Perhaps we'll go back to spinach leaves. Sheesh.

In other words, skip the veggies altogether, unless you're growing your own. Of course, that's the perfect lead-in for me to discuss the delightful goings-on in my garden. Cherry tomatoes and the bigguns, eggplant, squash, pumpkins AND Hungarian Yellow Wax medium hot PEPPERS. ;-) All are doing quite well, considering. The cherries are ripening and the larger tomatoes have sprouted but not yet turning red. The eggplant plant is flourishing but no evidence of eggs, just plant. ;-) The squash is visibly visible and the peppers are happy little green thingies and I suppose they'll turn yellow at some point. The pumpkins are sprouting too but mainly leaves.

Yup. My green thumb is fully operational this season. Yay me!

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July 18, 2008

Friday Feathers

This Pileated Woodpecker was busy carving out a new home until something made it stop and turn its head.

I don't get to see this bird too often but when I do, I'm chasing after it through the woods as it flies from tree to tree. If I manage to stay still and quiet and let it do its thing, I get the opportunity to do mine, and that's good enough for me. :-)

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July 16, 2008

Photographing Fireworks, Yet Again

Last weekend there was a fireworks show not far from the town where I grew up. Having made the attempt to photograph it last year, I thought I'd try again and this time around, hopefully being better prepared.

I knew I'd be able to see the fireworks from the backyard at my mom's house. The trick would be finding the best location in the yard and anticipating where the multi-colored bursts would appear. My plan was to set everything up ahead of time and then park my butt in front of the camera five minutes before the fireworks began.

Having read through The Digital Photography School's How to Photograph Fireworks post (again!) I jotted down some notes about camera settings and what-have-you. At the last minute I decided to use my Tamron 200-500mm lens (the one I use for photographing birds) as I felt it would bring me in much closer to the action since I was at a distance. For the purpose of comparison, last year I used a Nikon 18-55mm lens. I also used my tripod this time around, wanting to keep the camera steady and stabilized and avoid camera shake, especially with such a hefty lens.

I set the camera on manual with a setting of f16. I made sure the camera itself was firmly locked into the tripod, and I had a piece of black foam to cover the viewfinder to block out any light when pressing down the shutter. (My photography continues to be a "learn as I go" process.) With all systems go, I sat and waited for the show to start.

Here's what happened the minute the show began:

Houston, We Have a Problem
uh oh

I knew the first shot would be tricky since the exact location of the fireworks in the distance could not be pre-determined. Here you see the smoke and barely visible lines of the fireworks themselves. When I realized I was too far to the right of where I thought the fireworks would be, the scramble to move my position was comical.

I didn't review any of the photos I'd taken -- there was no time since the show was only 20 minutes long. I'd check everything out after the fact. When I did, I couldn't really tell what I got, and had to wait until I returned home and ported the photos to the laptop. Upon examination, it was evident I did something wrong. Either the f16 setting wasn't optimal or the camera somehow shook when I pressed down on the shutter or... whatever. Even so, some of these photos are kinda cool. :-)

Psychedelic

ShakeShakeShake
shake

Like the Rays of the Sun
rays

Shake2
shake2

I forgot to mention the tree in the way. Can you see it?

Groovy
groovy

See the tree?
tree

There's that tree again.
tree2

Smoke Gets in Your Shot
smoke

Next time I'll move my location to a better vantage point sans trees. If at first you don't succeed, try try again. :-)

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July 15, 2008

Hot Hell on Heels

The "out of town for a few days" excursion a few weeks ago was not vacation and didn't involve birds. I was off to attend a wedding. Nevermind the fact that 'round this neck 'o the woods, it was a thousand degees plus humidity. Forget that pantyhose, high heels, a dress, makeup and lacquered hair was the required getup of the day.

Help me, I'm MELTING!

My photographic pursuit of recording this event had its misfortunes. While in the church, the photographer hired to shoot the wedding stood right next to me. He had me blocked in the church pew with no room for movement. I couldn't change my seat because I was involved in the ceremony and had to stay right where I was. I resorted to snapping what I could and finally just gave up.

Damn.

Things became progressively worse back outside in the heat. While the pro photog arranged the wedding party on the steps of the church, I walked over to the spot where he'd be shooting from. My plan was to fire away once he took his shots. I set up the shot. My eye was pressed against the viewfinder and I was ready to fire. That was about the time when the videographer decided to poke me in the shoulder (his way of saying "MOVE!") Evidently I wasn't the only person who experienced the rudeness on the part of the hired hands; the groom's father was poked while trying to take a picture of the happy couple. Were it not for the fact that this was a wedding, my otherwise understanding nature would have happily returned the favor by walking into any and all shots just at the right time. I'm just not that evil, but you can be sure I was fantasizing about it.

Later on, the heat descended once again at the reception hall. There was no air or air conditioning when a group of us had to pose with the bride and groom for photographs. Makeup quickly melted off faces, hair became droopy and matted, sticking and clinging to overly moist necks. Pantyhose, undergarments, suits, dresses and gowns became glued to overheated bodies like hot molten cheese sizzling at the bottom of a hot oven. I never saw so many people smile so quickly just to get into the air conditioning.

As with most weddings, dancing was involved. When you dance to every tune played, you perspire, unless you're one of the lucky few who don't break a sweat or showered in the restroom in between songs. By the seventh song, high-heeled feet begin to cry out in agony; heels are nothing more than a fancy chamber of torture we women wear. They're not meant for long walks or a lot of dancing. The only time heels are worthwhile and painless is when you're sitting down - period.

I digress.

Though I knew my heels would rebel just about the time I was settling into my dance groove, I neglected to take a pair of stylish flats with me. I silently envied those who knew this trick, their feet and toes released and free at last from high heel hell. Instead of continuing my dancing fool follies, I sat my sorry ass down in a chair nearby, slipped off the chambers of torture and rubbed my achin' feeties. ahhhhh.

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July 14, 2008

Crapple, the Drive Quit

Over the last few years I've used Apple's iPhoto - iMovie - iDVD software to produce DVDs of my photographs. Some of the DVDs I produced include a half a dozen of my 2-year-old nephew that I've given to my brother and his spouse, a niece's engagement party and subsequent wedding and some family parties. The photos are set to music and the DVDs have become a huge hit with family members.

My godchild was married last month, and I spent much of the time photographing the event with the intent to produce yet another DVD. I spent a Sunday afternoon and evening working on this project. When all was completed and ready to burn to DVD, I knew the final burning process would take a bit of time. I sat and watched as iDVD went through the handful of steps involved. Not long after, the final step of burning would begin.

And it did...

And then the laptop spit out the disk.

WTF?

After watching the completion of each step of the process, somehow, some way, the computer decided it wasn't going to burn the iDVD. I didn't use a new type of disk - the media was the same I'd always used so nothing was different. Unfortunately, there was no way to insert another disk and again attempt to burn the DVD. I'd gotten an error code of Ox80020022 which, upon searching for a definition, came up muddy and unclear. In utter frustration, I repeated the entire process two additional times only to experience the same exact result. The DVD drive on my laptop refused to cooperate.

My first thought was the most dire -- the DVD drive up and quit. Having experienced Apple hardware drives that suddenly stop working over the years, this was a highly unpleasant thought. The "WTF!" thoughts came fast and furiously given all the hardware failures in the past. The only Apple computer I've never had a hardware problem with and is still operational today is the Apple clamshell/Blueberry laptop. I think after that machine was built, Apple began inserting crapola drives in its machines, guaranteeing the demise of the drives and forcing its customers to spend more money replacing those drives or purchasing a new machine. This is the thanks I get for being a dedicated customer. They may have suckered me in at hello but after numerous drive problems, I'm about to say sayonara.

However, as distasteful as Apple has become in my eyes, it doesn't resolve the problem of the iDVD that needs to be burned. Though I have an external Lacie drive I purchased specifically for this kind of thing, that proved fruitless also. (I think) the final stage, the burning, is read from the hard drive of the machine (though I could be wrong) so that would prevent even the Lacie from working too.

Therefore... (insert extended *sigh* here) I can't burn anything -- the iDVD, files that need backing up, photos that are typically slapped onto Archival Gold. And to make matters worse, I can't take the laptop to Apple or TekServ because I need it to finish a freelance job. So I have two requests for info: the first is suggestions and ways to troubleshoot my MacBook Pro and the second is where to backup those files online. I don't want to lose all that data. I don't want to have to remake the planned iDVD (at least I have the entire project saved on my laptop.) Due to the inability to burn to disk, my laptop is expanding by the nanosecond and I really need to get these files off of it.

Help?

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