snap!

So my parents surprised me with a new camera, and now I've graduated from my going on six year old Kodak point and shoot to a Nikon DSLR.  Which is pretty cool.  I mean, my Kodak has been a great camera. It's simple to use, it's gone most everywhere with me the past five years, and I've taken some pretty decent (if I may say so myself) pictures with it.  Like Troy Polamalu:



And down the Banks:





And Florida:







And in my own backyard (ish):















And now I'm learning how to use my new camera. Of course, with taking pictures of the pets:











But I'll try to not be one of those really obnoxious Flickr members who post nothing but shots to show off what their camera can do (usually all macro), without any other considerations as to whether it's a good or interesting or compelling picture. Well, maybe a little while I learn how to use this thing.

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro

God, what a godawful week.

And there's nothing like coming home from said godawful week, looking forward to the blissful feeling of just not. thinking. about. anything. for a few hours to find a past-due notice for a parking ticket I never received. I mean, I was where I was alleged to be, but this ticket that I allegedly received? Most certainly was not there. I know this for a fact because I did receive another parking ticket that day, which was paid, and for which I also received a past-due notice (though it has been paid in the parking awful-thority database). This appears to be a duplicate-- same violation, fine, issued within a minute of the one I paid, and a sequential ticket number with the one I paid. Hopefully I can resolve this without having to take a day off, driving four and a half hours back to Pgh, and everything that appealing a ticket usually entails. But let's be realistic. The parking awful-thority is nobody's friend, and certainly not reasonable.

Very frustrating.

Somewhat less frustrating was renewing my Flickr Pro account. Just in time for vacation. My mini-cation. The quality of my pictures has declined so much over the course of my Flickr account ownership, which is really depressing. I guess that's what happens when your camera wears out. Mine is a five year old basic point & shoot, so I think I really can't put it off any longer.

This week's Steelers game won't be shown in Baltimore, which means I need to find a safe haven to see it. Unfortunately, identifying an actual safe haven is challenging when all there is to go on is a five year old list that links to places that are out of business and defunct fan club pages.

Bleh. So much bleh lately. I think I need to go torture the cats with catnip and laser pointers to make myself feel better.

I think I like this layout. Mostly. Still playing. Wish I had access to InDesign and time and patience to do a proper custom layout. Alas, homework beckons, as does football. This will do for now, but I'm still thinking about what I could do around these photos:

I think that my camera is wearing out. I know, it's been joked about before. But I notice a distinct difference in picture quality, which is really irritating because I really can't afford to run out and buy a good replacement. And because I'm supposed to be "the photographer" for an event next week, it's really driving me nuts.

Meh. Photoshop will have to come to my rescue for those pics.

Midterms are mostly "past"-- but not really. We're in the meat of the semester, which means an ongoing parade of work. And this is the time of year that various fellowships have their applications open, not to mention the regular job searching. Good times. This had all better pay off in the end.

fun with ethics and the scientific method

I am sitting in a class that is literally painful. I am in actual physical pain from the boredom I am currently experiencing despite spending the last two hours playing with Blogger templates (yes, this whole thing is a work in progress and subject to weird random design changes as I figure things out). So let's conduct an experiment...

Null hypothesis: It is not actually possible for a human to die of boredom

Alternative hypothesis: At least one person in this lecture class is indeed dying of boredom at this very moment.

Methods: A class of N= 105 students will be forced to listen to a TA lecture incoherently and monotonically for three hours about scientific ethics without contributing anything new to anyone's understanding and, in fact, getting basics like the federal/ state constitutional division of powers incorrect.

Ooh, I'm snarky. No, just cranky, because I have no tolerance for having my time wasted. Let's look at pretty pictures and do more garden planning instead. I started moonflower, passionflower, and nasturtium seeds in peat pellets. Sadly, not a single passionflower has sprouted (and neither Burpee nor Lowe's has responded to my complaints). The nasturtiums and moonflowers have almost all spouted, especially the nasturtiums.



Nasturtiums are suggested as a companion planting, though some suggest that they're more of a sacrificial crop than anything else. I'm hoping that they'll add a little color and attract a few pollinators and if they get munched? Well, that's better than the eggplant or tomatoes getting munched. In addition to the garlic, onions, sweetpeas, and radishes that are already planted, I'm also considering tomatoes (plum, beefsteak, and cherry/ grape), peppers (bell, serrano, hungarian hot, and more), eggplant, beans, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, basil, dill, cilantro, oregano, sage, thyme, chives, rosemary, catnip, horseradish, potatoes, and sunflowers. And maybe borage and marigolds to scare away pests (we already have the cats to control the non-insect pests). Whew!

The sunlight coming through the nasturtium seedling leaves was kind of neat, so I thought I'd play with the picture a little in Picnik



I've done the pop-art feel with a pomegranate before:



I like it. I'll have to remember to do the same with the garden and its produce.