Category: Photography

Photography

Busy Bee

Shelly

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My neighbor is getting ready to sell her house. She asked me to come over and lend some moral support while she took photos of it. She recently got a new camera, and because it’s similar to mine, I offered to share some of the tricks I’ve learned. Not that Miss I’m Not Artistic needed any help, mind you. When we were finished, we checked out the photos she’d taken, and they are lovely. Mine, alas, did not turn out so well. That’s how it goes sometimes. The pixel gods may smile upon you one day, and abandon you the next.

I did get some nice flower photos, though, and a couple of her pond. While I was wandering around the flowers, I noticed a big, fat bumblebee amidst the joe pye. He reminds me a little bit of a chenille pipe cleaner.

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Photography

A Mighty (Noisy) Acorn

Shelly

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I mentioned that I recently down-graded my parking permit from an A to a C? It basically means I now have to park on the other side of the lot, which ends up being a difference of only a few feet. The only reason I originally opted for an A tag was that my schedule used to be different, and it was difficult to find a C spot in the library lot when I got to work later in the morning. At 6am, that’s not a problem.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been parking in the C lot, and all’s been fine. I even found a nice, big tree to park under. I didn’t stop to look at what kind of tree–it provided shade and that’s all that mattered.

Until yesterday, that is. Yesterday, it stormed. When the storm hit, the wind got gusty and started blowing things around. There were no tree-limbs-falling-on-cars or anything that drastic. However, on my way home, I noticed a strange car noise. Strange car noises are generally a Very Bad Thing. This noise was intermittent, so it took me a while to figure out what it was. Every time I went around a curve, or up or down a hill, something clattered. And then it dawned on me. I’d been parking under an oak tree. The storm must have blown a bunch of acorns off the tree, one of which was now trapped in my roof rack! Duh.

So now I’m stuck with this noisy little passenger, because I can’t reach the top of my car to remove it.

(Photo: I stopped at the mailboxes the other morning to take a picture of mist rising from the creek at the bottom of the far ridge. The sun was coming up, and I noticed a lone pigeon perched on a power line.)

Crankypantsing, Photography

A PSA About Baby Powder

Shelly

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Mist Rising from Fish Creek

Folks, if you’re going to slather yourself in scented products, please, for the love of all that is good in this world, stay away from the ones that smell like baby powder. Do you really want to go around reeking of something that is so closely associated with the smell of dirty diapers? Because if you think it’s a good idea for a grown human to smell like a baby’s ass, I’m here to tell you that it’s not.

Photography

Perseids

Shelly

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Mammatus clouds

The annual Perseid meteor shower will be at its peak this weekend. Because of the full moon, it’s not expected to be as stunning as it could be, but it’s still worth checking out. The moon rises at about 10pm, so the time between sunset and 10:00 is probably your best shot. I recommend slathering on some bug repellant and heading out to the back yard with either a reclining beach chair or a pool floaty. Being horizontal is definitely best, so you won’t strain your neck.

The weather here has been the pits for sky watching. It stormed on and off all day yesterday, and is supposed to do the same today. It ought to clear up tomorrow, though, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to see some meteors.

For more information on the Perseid shower, check out SpaceWeather.com.

Photography

Panorama

Shelly

It wouldn’t be Friday without some photoblogging. It rained all morning, but the sky cleared up and a whole army of puffy white clouds popped up. This was created from four photos I took on my way home from work. I love the greeness of the soybeans against the blue of the sky and the play of shadows along the rolling field.

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Corner of Starnes Road and Ratliff Road, Monroe County Indiana, looking northeast

Crankypantsing, Photography

It’s Non-sequitur Friday!

Shelly
  • Seen at the gas station this ayem: old Pontiac Sunbird with a large steel hasp and padlock securing the hood. It was not entirely unlike this. The car’s back end was plastered with surfer-tattoo-heavy metal type bumper stickers. Duuuude!
  • You’ve heard the ridiculous “The internet is a series of tubes” story? Well, now you can get the shirt! I really want one. They’re hand screened and numbered, and well worth the $20. Proceeds go to benefit community radio, so it’s for a very good cause.
  • I’ve seen three red foxes this week–one on my road and two in Bloomington. I think, to see foxes, you need to be out and about at about a half hour before sunrise. They seem to be heading home at about that time.
  • There was a Watchtower tucked inside my storm door when I came home the other day. So now I’m on the look-out for Jehovah’s Witnesses. I didn’t know we had them in our neck of the woods!
  • Misogynistic t-shirt sighting, on frat boy: [University of Chicago:] If it were easy, it’d be your mom.
  • It’s always allergy season for me, but ragweed is fixin’ to bloom soon, and that’s when the real fun starts. My eyes are getting itchy, my head’s congested, and I’ve got a sore throat. I suppose it could be a cold, but I don’t think it is.
  • I saw the BoD’s Eeevil-ganger again yesterday, pulling into Casey’s convenience store. I kinda feel like Mr. Bean hunting down the little blue car Reliant. Only with more self-restraint.

    Perhaps the, um, liberal application of more bumper stickers is called for?

  • I have to mow this weekend. There’s no way I can avoid it. The grass is so long that it’s hiding bunnies right under Miss Brown’s nose. You have not seen a pissed off Boxer until you’ve seen Harriet realize that she let one get away. I think her ears melted a little bit from the steam shooting out of them.
  • Metallica has finally sold out completely. And I thought they already had!

And, now, some happy sunshine reflecting on water, courtesy of my neighbor’s pond. Petsitting has its perks, you see. I’m going to be doing more of the same this weekend, so I’m likely to take more pictures. I’m hoping to get some close-ups of the bitty eraser-sized toadlets that occasionally hop across the driveway. They are ridiculously small and cute and precious. Of course, I only ever see them when I do not have my camera with me.

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Crankypantsing, Pets, Photography

Server Not Found

Shelly

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It’s hot in here (or maybe it’s that I just chugged a huge cup of coffee?), the server is down system-wide, I overslept, and I’m tired and cranky.

I put $20 worth of gas in my car this morning, and the tank wasn’t even half full. There was a long line at the gas station because some jackass was buying lotto tickets–one of each kind, no less. Why, oh why, do people need to buy dozens of scratch-off tickets at 5am? I think maybe there should be separate gas stations for people who–wait for it!–actually want to purchase gas. And, if lotto tickets weren’t enough of an aggravation, they’ve installed a hot food kiosk in the center of the main aisle for breakfast sandwiches, hot dogs, and some sort of hamburger-y monstrosity. With “fix-ins” bar. O ick. Who in their right mind buys shriveled up hot dogs from a gas station? I suspect, whoever they are, they’ve got a death wish.

On the other hand, gas in Spencer was 17¢ cheaper than in E-ville or B-ton, so it could’ve been worse. And, at the Spencer Bigfoot, you aren’t subjected to hipster music. I win!

Speaking of cars, I looked at my pay stub yesterday, to see how much my pitiful raise actually amounts to in take-home dollars. I’m still being charged for an A tag, even though I down-graded to a C. An A tag is about 3x as much as a C, so the difference is substantial.

Photo: Harriet Brown blowing drooly spit bubbles while staring at french fries

Crankypantsing, Photography

Pod People

Shelly

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Spiderwort with Bee-thing

Have you ever had one of those days when it seems like everyone around you has been abducted by aliens and replaced with pod people? And then, you realize that it must be you who is off kilter, because no matter how much you enjoy a good conspiracy theory, the Horns of Disbelief won’t quite stand up to the possibility of a mass pod people infestation.

I’m having one of those days, and about the best I can manage is a baffled “WTF?”