Through One Lens

Day 46

2009-06-20T22:00:00.001-04:00

I only have one word to say to you: GHOSTBUSTERS!!

I recently purchased the new Ghostbusters video game for my PS3 ... and ... I LOVED IT!! Granted ... I've already beat the game, definitely much too short ... and when you exit the game and then return to it, you miss some cutscenes ... but it was so much FUN!!! I highly recommend it! :O))

Day 45

2009-06-19T21:58:00.000-04:00

Once again, I'm standing outside of my apartment complex looking at the flowering plants. :O)

I can not stress this enough ...

Macro, Macro, MACRO! :O>

Day 44

2009-06-18T21:57:00.001-04:00

Let the rain come down!

I apologize for the blurry natures of some of these pictures ... as well as for the rain drops in the lens. :Op

Day 43

2009-06-17T21:48:00.002-04:00

Lots of pictures to post today. So ... I apologize in advance for the pictorial diarrhea.

A cherry tree near where I work. I thought its trunk was neat. But then I got carried away (which does tend to happen from time to time). :O>

It's a bit of a rainy afternoon on the way home today. The wind is blowing ... so ... I took some pictures of flags (American flag and the Maryland State flag).

These are near the gate leading in/out of the building parking lot where the flags are. I thought they looked very interesting up close and personal.

Not red enough ... but still quite nice.

My boo-boo is darker ... but again, hard to tell. It's actually gone now. :O)

Look how low those clouds are hanging!

And the wind is picking up to. One of the memories I have of my dad was him telling me that if the wind is blowing hard enough to show the underside of leaves, a storm is brewing.

More shrooms!!! ... Different from the other ones I took a picture of).

I was trying to show how much brighter the new leaves were compared to the old leaves. Dunno if I succeeded or not.

And I end this pictorial diarrhea with pictures of a pine. :Op Hehe!

Day 42

2009-06-16T21:46:00.001-04:00

SHROOOOOOOOOOOMS!!! :O)

It's kinda hard to see here ... but I gots a boo-boo from exercising yesterday. I think I had the strap for my Wii-mote too tight or something. *boggles*

I'm not sure what kind of plant these are ... but they look neat up close.

The leaves of this bush looked redder the day before. :O( Ah well!

Day 41

2009-06-15T21:44:00.002-04:00

The clouds were very pretty today. So ... I tried to capture one and put it in my backpack. ;O))

This was also the day that I started the 30-day Challenge for the EA Sports Active game. I'm doing well thus far and have lost about 4 pounds as of June 23rd. Go me!

Day 40

2009-06-14T21:41:00.002-04:00

This is me taking pictures of random things around my apartment cuz it was the weekend and I don't do much on weekends. So ... there ya go. Writing is, for the most part, a very important part of who I am. A pen ... a pencil ... and yes, even a back-scratcher, not to mention reference books: they are my TOOLS. :O))

Day 39

2009-06-13T20:26:00.002-04:00

On a typical calendar, Saturday officially ends the week. Therefore, this will be my last update until ... well, this upcoming Saturday (or thereabouts). :O)

In honor of it being Saturday, and because I was in the mood to do so ... I made myself a roast with baby carrots and red potatoes. I think it turned out rather well. It's very easy to make a roast when all you have to do it put it in a roasting back, add the cut/raw veggies, add the seasoning mix (just add water) plop it in a 13x9 inch pan (or a pie pan if that's all you have ... hehehehe), put it on the bottom rack of an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and wait 2 hours. Et voila!

Yeah, I cooked up some French cut green beans, too. :O)

And no roast meal is complete without a roll (this is the 7-multi grain variety).

Yup. I'm very proud of this meal. And ... not only is it delicious, but it will make a good dinner for most of the week. :O)

Chocolate chip cookie chaser, anyone? :O))

Day 38

2009-06-12T20:21:00.000-04:00

One of the things I love about where I live, there are a wide variety of flowering plants around. Spring really is a wonderful time to take pictures ... especially after it's rained. :O)

Yes, those three images are around and of the same bush. Can I one again reiterate how much I love the "macro" function! Yay for close-ups that aren't blurry! :O)

I tried with and without the flash ... I'm not sure which I like better. They both have something interesting.

I don't like pink ... but this is pretty. This is a picture of one cluster of flowers that are planted very near my bus stop.

Day 37

2009-06-11T20:19:00.000-04:00

I couldn't decide which one I liked better ... so I posted them both. :O) They pretty much look the same, though there are subtle differences. Can you tell?

Day 36

2009-06-10T20:16:00.002-04:00

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Well ... okay. So I've BEEN back, but now I'm back to updating once more. I'm updating weekly, and since the MONDO update ended in the middle of the week, it's my job to finish the week out. So I'm going to be posting Days 36-39. Here's 36.

So what's so special about this screen? Simple. It's the screen of my work computer. That's right. It's my first day back at work since going on vacation. I'm so excited .... NOT!

This was what the sky looked like after I left work. Heh. Did it rain later? In the evening it did. I love rain. :O)

Day 35

2009-06-09T14:19:00.002-04:00

Today is the last day of my vacation. *cries* In honor of the day ... I spent every minute since getting up getting this blog up-to-date.

And with this image ... I am DONE with my MAJOR update. *wipes brow* This is a picture of my monitor showing me saving pictures to photobucket for this mondo update. :O}

I started sometime around 9:30 AM ... and as of 2:23 PM ... I am DONE! Now I can step away from my computer for a bit. My butt hurts. :O) *LOL*

Day 34

2009-06-08T14:18:00.000-04:00

Game day!!

While I have played TS3 on and off since getting home, this day was the first day I spent more than a couple of hours on the game. This is a poster that was included in the Prima Guide. It's of Sunset Valley - the main neighborhood in TS3. :O))

Day 33

2009-06-07T14:14:00.001-04:00

I be tired.

I was so worn out from my travel ... all I did today was watch some of my new DVDs.

Day 32

2009-06-06T14:12:00.002-04:00

The Sims 3 ... it's MINE!!!

Umm ... go to this link, cuz I don't feel like uploading the images to another folder in photobucket. My Day 32 images are in the intro section.

:OD))

Day 31

2009-06-05T14:06:00.002-04:00

Time for me to head back to Maryland. WOOT! I was so ready to be home that I didn't take ANY pictures of the trip back. As a matter of fact, I only took ONE picture ... and that was only when I was back in my apartment (somewhere around 3:30 AM) and completely unpacked:

Words are totally unnecessary. :O))

Day 30

2009-06-04T14:01:00.002-04:00

With access to the internetz once more restored to me (my grandmother does not do modern technology ... i.e, computers and such ... so I was without for a while) ... I spent all my time at my mom's house catching up with news on the Sims 3.

And here's me checking on my own order. DELIVERED!! And *whew* ... safely stored in the office of my apartment complex.

Me preparing my Sims 3 MyPage for my future activity. :O))

Day 29

2009-06-03T13:46:00.002-04:00

Once again, I took a lot of pictures (29 to be exact). I will not be posting all of them. Just a few (this time). :OD))

We left around 7:30 AM from Pennsylvania cuz the hotel we stayed at had a complimentary breakfast. I had a #1 (eggs over easy, wheat toast and ham on the side). My mom had pancakes, couldn't eat them all, so I had 3 of those as well. :OD)) Here we are just hitting the Pennsylvania-NY border. I missed taking a "Welcome to New York" picture. I wasn't fast enough on the draw. *pout*

Look at this cloud line. Neat, eh? :O)

I love my sunglasses. :OD))

I know the mountains of the northeast are nothing compared to the Rockies in the west ... but I absolutely adore them. :O)

Bridges are neat ... even from inside a car. :O))

Ah. Home sweet Home (well, mom's home anyway). And what do I do? Take many pictures of her dogs ... who BOTH not only need baths, but need haircuts. :O|

Day 28

2009-06-02T13:33:00.001-04:00

So ... in my excitement to be gone from my grandmother's house (is it bad to say that?) ... I took 26 pictures. I will NOT be posting all of them ... just the ones I like the most. :OD))

On the road again! The sun is coming up and I thought it was neat through the windshield. :O) And yes ... we DID leave at midnight. My excuse - I was going insane. My mom's excuse - she was dying of heat (my grandmother refused to open windows in her house ... or turn on her AC). Yeah ... RELIEF to be GONE!!!

Can you BELIEVE that the speed limit in the mid-west can be as high as 70?! I didn't! O__o

The flatlands of ... errr ... where the heck are we anyway?

Me ... looking cool in my shades.

I love watching the HUGE power line towers roll by the window.

We are nearing Indianapolis.

Is it weird that I love taking pictures of skyscrapers? :OD))

Nearing Columbus, Ohio once again and later nearing the place of my birth. :O)

SQUIRREL! :O) We're at a rest stop somewhere in Ohio.

Very shortly after crossing into Pennsylvania, we decided to take a break. Once again, my mom did 100% of the driving. My older sister did do some driving on the way down to Missouri, but mom did it all on the way back to NY.

Day 27

2009-06-01T13:16:00.002-04:00

It's the day before we are planning to leave (hopefully by midnight as I am SO ready to be gone by this point). I wandered around taking pictures that I thought were interesting in the house.

My grandmother's father.

And her mother. :O)

This is a picture of my grandfather outside of the garage he worked at for the longest time. He's the one on the far right.

My grandmother has a few antiques floating around the house. This old phone is just one of them. No - it doesn't work.

My grandmother has this huge jug near the desk towards the back of the living room that has peacock feathers in it. PUUUUUUUURTY!

Anyway, all of that was just to waste time before our daily trek into Moberly. This time we had a real purpose to going there - to meet with Social Services about my grandmother.

The great seal of Missouri.

We visited a couple of lawyer's offices.

And the courthouse.

Then we headed back into town to run some errands (clean out the car and buy more snacks for our road trip). We had plans to leave at around midnight (on my prompting) ... June 2nd.

On a more positive note ... I finally got around to taking a picture of the old stump outside. :O))

Day 26

2009-05-31T13:13:00.002-04:00

Blah, blah, blah ... "knickknacks".

That American Flag was given to my grandmother at the funeral of one of her brothers. I do believe he had been in WWII. My uncle Leland I believe (who we called Uncle Lee).

Day 25

2009-05-30T13:07:00.002-04:00

It was past sunset when I got around to taking pictures. Please, forgive the PHAIL. :OD))

Here we have a couple of through-the-window shots. Stupid screens.

Some more of my grandmother's knickknacks in the kitchen.

Various magnets on her refrigerator. Most of those pictures are of my niece ... who was about 5 or so in the shots. She'll be 15 in October. :O))

Day 24

2009-05-29T13:02:00.002-04:00

Here are some more of my grandmother's knickknacks. These types of things (varied and assorted) can be found all over the house. Which reminds me ... I forgot to take a picture of her perfume bottle collection. :O}

This is a routine that took place almost daily. My mom, sister and myself headed into Moberly ... to get away from my grandmother. More often than not, we went to Wal-Mart. This is actually a shot of an old railway station near the Municipal building.

And here's a shot of my new addiction - PC games where you hunt for objects in a very crowded room. I bought each from Wal-Mart for about $10. :O)

Day 23

2009-05-28T12:59:00.002-04:00

This is actually a night shot (it's after 12:00 AM EST ... 11:00 PM CST). No, I'm not using my not shot option on my camera. The flash was just very bright. ;O) I sleep in the living room on the couch. That's my iPod.

Day 22

2009-05-27T12:55:00.002-04:00

This is a plant my grandmother received from some kind people at my grandfather's funeral 2 years ago. It's still growing nicely.

We're chilling in the living room watching either one of the Law and Order television series or NCIS. *rolls eyes* I went several years with no addiction to prime time television ... until now. *LOL*

Day 21

2009-05-26T12:51:00.002-04:00

This was a rest day for us after the day before.

I'm in my grandmother's kitchen. She has a lot of knickknacks around the house ... and this is just one of many I took a picture of while visiting.

Day 20

2009-05-25T12:32:00.002-04:00

On this date - Memorial Day - we honored many of the dead in our family. As such, I took a LOT of pictures (38 to be exact). I will NOT be posting all 38 pictures, but just the important ones.

It was a very rainy morning for several days following our arrival. I thought it most appropriate for the day.

Here is my grandfather's grave. He will have been dead 2 years this August 27th, and my grandmother still does not have a headstone for him. Might be because she thinks he's still alive and wandering around rural Missouri with his brother (whoring around - according to my grandmother).

This is the back of one of my relative's headstones. I love this. :O)

This is the location of my father's grave as well as other relatives on his side of the family.

And here's my father's grave. He's been gone for over 7 years now. :O( I miss him.

This is a monument near my father's grave. I love looking at it.

The location of my grandmother's and my grandfather's graves on my dad's side is between these two trees. This is just for future recall. And FYI, from left to right, that's my older sister and my mom. :O)

It's a very pretty location.

Day 19

2009-05-24T12:24:00.002-04:00

We left Richmond, Indiana at about 3:30 AM.

I forget how many hours we drove before stopping for gas in Illinois.

But it was time for breakfast. :O)

I like green things. ;O)) *snicker*

I can't get over how FLAT the mid-west is compared to the northeast. We are in Missouri by this point. :O))

At my grandmother's house. This house has to be at least 50 years old.

The garage doesn't look so hot (that's my mom's hand btw).

My older sister and myself used to swing on a tire-swing on this tree. For some reason, Missouri people have been cutting the branches off of a lot of the old-growth trees. :O(

Day 18

2009-05-23T12:16:00.002-04:00

Road Trip!!!

I tried to take a night shot of the car (it was a little after 3:00 AM when I took these). Notice the utter PHAIL! ;O))

After traveling for several hours, we stopped to relieve ourselves. :O)

Here we are passing another rest stop. I believe this was at the NY-Pennsylvania border.

I didn't know there were so many Vineyards in the northeast.

I like green things. :O))

We're in Ohio. :O))

And here we are ... in Richmond, Indiana ... taking a much needed rest. My mom did most of the driving for the entire trip. I haven't driven a car in over 2 years, and thus didn't feel comfortable doing it (plus, I've never driven her current car). :O))

Day 17

2009-05-22T12:12:00.002-04:00

On this date, I'm at my mom's in upstate NY. We remained there for a day before the road trip down to Missouri.

Travel a mile in my shoes. It's fun ... sometimes.

Day 16

2009-05-21T12:08:00.002-04:00

So ... I'm back from my "vacation" (I returned on June 5th, got back to my apartment June 6th) ... though I shudder to call it that. *rolls eyes* The next several posts will be related to that. For non-confusion and ease, I will modify the post dates to be in order from the last update. And to start things off, here are some travel shots:

Me - spending the night at Union Station. Since I don't have a car, and the metro stops running at midnight M-Th and Su, I left my apartment at 10:00 PM (or was it 9:30?). My train was scheduled to depart at 4:00 AM.

I'm at my layover in NY Penn Station.

Layover at Albany-Rennsalear (sp?).

A shot through the train window at Lake Champlain.

I love the scenery on the 7+ hour trip up from NY Penn Station. :O))

Day 15

2009-05-20T09:34:00.000-04:00

I meant to post this on Wednesday before I left to head for Union Station, but I got side-tracked. Here are my Day 15 photos.

I was standing outside waiting for the bus and noticed this goose standing on the roof my apartment complex. Doesn't it look like he/she is gonna jump?

After work, I had gone to CVS to pick up my prescription. And since I was down there, I thought I'd go to Subway for dinner. On the walk home, I passed these beautiful flowers.

Macro function to the rescue! These are on a tree near the back entrance to my apartment complex. It will eventually become some sort of red-fruit-like thing. :O)

Close to the back entrance once more, I noticed they'd cut down the pine tree that used to be there. Notice the sap.

Anyway, this will be my last update for a while. I do believe we are starting our road trip late tonight (early tomorrow). I will not have internet access for the next two weeks, though I will be taking pictures. Until then! :O)

Day 14

2009-05-19T19:40:00.002-04:00

So ... I only took one picture today.

Isn't the moon pretty? Look at it glow in the blue-blue sky.

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Okay ... that's a lie. I had the INTENTION of only taking ONE picture today, but it was such a nice walk home from the bus stop this afternoon, I think I got a little carried away.

Please note: NONE of these pictures have been modified in any way.

So ... judging from this picture, I'd say that I've successfully cleaned my lens. No fog! And have I yet mentioned how much I love the Macro function?

Baby pine cones!

The new spring pine needles on the pine tree. They're practically fluorescent!

SQUIRREL! ;O))

Does anyone know what kind of caterpillar this is?

I love this dead tree. It has so much CHARACTER! :O) I'd like to draw it someday.

I'm not sure what kind of bush this is ... but it gives dark blue fruit (a berry of some kind that the wildlife enjoys eating). Aren't the blossoms pretty?

This trunk belongs to a long-gone maple tree ... it got really, really sick two years ago and started losing HUGE branches. One branch landed on some poor saps mustang (not too badly damaged though). So they cut it down. Check out the rings. How old was the tree? Notice how it's not really dead yet though. It keeps sending up shoots. But of course, the grounds people keep pulling them up. If the tree was in a forest, it'd have a chance to be reborn.

I was too close to the blossom to the left. That's why it's fuzzy. The other two look okay though. :O)

I've said it before and I'll say it again ... I LOVE THE MACRO FUNCTION!!!!

Preeeeeeeeeeeetty! :O)

Day 13

2009-05-18T18:58:00.003-04:00

Progression is the name of the game today, folks. There's always a start, a middle and an end.

In today's case ... it ... Never ... ENDS!! GAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

I thought I could wait until I got back from my vacation, but ... nope. Not gonna do it! It's driving me NUTS! I put in a maintenance request today. Hopefully it'll get fixed tomorrow, along with my toilet which runs by itself about every 15 minutes. *sighs*

Day 12

2009-05-17T16:19:00.002-04:00

Just one photo for today since it's Sunday and I tend to spend all my time at home on Sundays (99.9% of the time). Since some of the ladies I'm doing this project with have taken pictures of some of their stuffed toys, I thought I'd do the same.

I've been attempting to clean the lens of my camera for the past couple of days ... since I felt like every time I took a picture, it had this weird haze/fog thing. Even now, the lens looks smudged, but I think it's better than it was. Anyhoo ... that's pretty much all of my stuffed toys. Most I received from someone else. And many of them are named "George". :O) Hehe.

Day 11

2009-05-16T18:16:00.002-04:00

So ... as I'd been telling people for a week, I decided to go see Star Trek at the movies this weekend. I also decided to see Angels & Demons.

The morning started off cloudy, but the wind was nice and mild.

The first movie on my agenda - Angels & Demons, a 9:30 AM showing. Everyone was just starting to get into the movie when about 30 minutes in, the fire alarm started going off and we had to evacuate the building. About 15 minutes later, we were allowed back in and they resumed the movie from where it was stopped. All I'm going to say about Angels & Demons was that there is deviation from the novel. But ... that's usually the case. It was a good movie. They really jumped right into the action. I give it an 8 out of 10.

The next movie on my agenda - a 12:30 PM showing of Star Trek. Thankfully, no fire alarms interrupted the showing of this movie. I really enjoyed the new life they breathed into the movie with these younger guys. I absolutely loved the fact that Tyler Perry had a role! That shocked the hell out of me! :O) I loved that Gene Roddenberry's wife (Majel) still had the chance to play the voice of the computer before she died. And I liked the "In Memory of" note at the end of the credits that gave a shout out to Gene and Majel. And I really loved the change in relationships due to the activity of certain situations in the movie. :OD)) I give it a 9 out of 10. :O))

All in all, an afternoon well-spent!

Day 10

2009-05-15T21:28:00.001-04:00

Well, I only have one picture for today (if you can believe that)!

Tomorrow, Saturday ... I'm treating myself to not one, but TWO movies. First ... a 9:30 AM showing of Angels & Demons. *jiggles* THEN ... Star Trek. BOOYAH!

Day 9

2009-05-14T22:04:00.005-04:00

So it's my last day in Connecticut.

And what a lovely day it turned out to be, too. *end sarcasm* This did not bode well for my flight back to the DC area. Rain and thick clouds = turbulence. :Op But enough about that. I promised you all something.

Fountain shots at Bristol-Myers Squibb! Ain't it pur-ty?! :O)

This is a wooden eagle I took a picture of from inside the airport in Hartford, Connecticut. Yup ... I'm on my way back home. WOOT!

And I've landed, safe and sound, at Reagan National. Damn ... these windows are DIRTY! :O)

And now, I'd like to end this day's pictures with a special shout-out to my younger sister who turns 27 today! :O)

Man ... I feel old!

Day 8

2009-05-13T17:07:00.002-04:00

Greetings from Connecticut! Man, am I BEAT! I've been up since about 4:20 AM and here it is after 5:00 PM. I've been up for nearly 13 hours folks. And man ... I can feel it!

The SuperShuttle picked me up from my apartment promptly at 6:22 AM. In this picture, it's 8:10 AM. Yeah ... it took a while cuz the I always choose the "shared van ride". It's the cheapest. We had a full van ... I was the second pick-up, then we picked up this woman who wanted to talk to everyone ... and then we picked up a family of 6 (Hawaiian) who were on their way to NY for a short trip before heading back west. I've just checked in and this is the view across from the US Airways check-in counter. Look, boss! De planes! De PLANES!!

I'm sitting in the waiting area by my boarding gate waiting for my coworker to arrive. He arrived with about 10 minutes to spare. You can see the Washington Monument! This is Reagan International Airport in DC, FYI. My coworker got first class, I was in coach. I didn't mind though. Coach is remarkably comfortable for someone who is only 5'1". :O) And since I've lost some weight since the last time I flew (about 2 or 3 years ago is when I last flew), I fit better in the seats. It was a bit of a "Bumpy Ride" though. Tomorrow might be worse since I think there will be storms moving through ... :O( I hate flying ...

This gorgeous view is only one wing of the research company I'm visiting while I'm here in Connecticut. Maybe you've heard of it: Bristol Myers Squibb. It had a gorgeous lobby ... with a FOUNTAIN! I meant to take a picture, but I didn't. Maybe tomorrow. That was taken at about 12:30 PM.

After a long hard day, I finally make it to my hotel room ... it's 4:04 PM in this shot. Here's a view of the outside from my 4th floor window. Keep in mind that I traveled from the airport directly to Bristol Myers Squibb. So ... yeah ... I'm pretty worn out.

This king-sized baby is calling my name, but I will refrain. There's a Manager's Reception dinner in about 15 minutes. I will go there ... and eat. I haven't eaten since breakfast (which was at about 6:00 AM).

Although ... the hotel was kind enough to provide complimentary beverages and some cookies. I only ate one cookie though. I don't want to spoil my dinner (spaghetti with meatballs). :O)

Day 7

2009-05-12T21:05:00.003-04:00

Not too many to share with you for my Day 7. But the ones I did take ... oddly appropriate ... all things considered.

So ... what does a toy of a cartoon car have to do with anything? Well, I'm going to be doing some traveling tomorrow and Thursday. My place of work is sending me to Connecticut to assist some clients with some stuff.

I would have taken a picture of plane ... but I don't have one. I guess I could have made a paper airplane to take a picture of. Hindsight is 20:20! So ... I'm going to be away from my comfort zone for 2 days. But I'll be back. I should have internet access ... tomorrow evening at least. Not so sure about Thursday though. Y'all be good until I get back!

I hate flying.

Day 6

2009-05-11T20:26:00.008-04:00

It's a Monday. And to commemorate the 6th Day of my 365 Day Project, and the fact that it's a Monday and I'm feeling kinda blah ... I present to you these images (and as always, please, click the thumbnails to see a larger view - 1024 x 683 ... and if they don't show at that size, it's photobucket's fault)):

Here I sit ... at work ... separated from the fresh, clean air of the rainy day outside by the blinds ... stuck inside the cage, the prison that represents the sum of my adult life: work, work, work.

My fingers often hover over these keys, the buttons that represent my shackles. I am tied to this laptop - my work computer.

I love the rain ... but today the rain reflected my mood ... dark, dreary ... seemingly abyssal ... without end.

Even a mere glimpse of the sun did nothing to lighten my mood.

I turn my eyes away from the brightness to settle on the dark and dismal once more. In a way ... it is a balm to my weeping soul.

And then ... a quick glimpse, a brief flash of color against the gray clouds ... it brightens my heart a little ... a rainbow after the storm (and yes, it's there, but faint ... I missed it when it was at its most vibrant ... since I was on the bus at the time).

And to brighten my mood further until I was feeling more like myself ... a little bit of levity in a day where I just wanted to get away from it all (be careful what you wish for - I'm being carted off to Connecticut for work on Wednesday and Thursday ... *sigh*). This is Episode 10, part 19 of Flintlocke vs. The Horde from the GameSpy website. It's very funny. It really did cheer me up to read this.

Anyway ... sorry if it's somewhat depressing. That's just how it was for me today.

Day 5

2009-05-10T09:03:00.005-04:00

Happy Mother's Day!

So ... for today's picture(s), I decided I needed to do something appropriate for Mother's Day. I usually don't see my mom more than once a year (for the Christmas/New Year's Holiday), but this year, I'll end up seeing her twice! I will be traveling up to NY on the 21st of May so that my mom, my older sister and myself can go on a road trip to Missouri to visit with my grandmother. I wish I could say it was going to be a 100% pleasant trip, but we all know better. But anyway, these pictures are for the woman who brought me into the world.

These are for my mom.

(Please click the images below for larger versions.)

I looked around my apartment for something appropriate (since I have on plans to step outside of my apartment today) and only came up with these two things. She made these for me (she's a very crafty lady). The pillow unfolds into a blanket with a pocket for your feet - keeps them warm! And the red thing has some beans or something like it inside of it. You put in the microwave to warm, and then you can lay it on any cold body parts. It's also good for tense muscles.

These are 3 of 5 of my potted broad-leaf vine plants. My very first clipping of this plant came from my mom. That was back in 1994 when I first started my undergraduate education. Fifteen years later ... and they're trying to take over my apartment.

Thanks for everything, mom. :O)

And a special shout-out to the other mom's in my family:

My older sister.

And my Grandmother.

Day 4

2009-05-09T10:24:00.002-04:00

So ... in honor of it not raining this morning (though it might later on today since I did see some dark clouds trying to roll in), when I got up to use "the loo" this morning at about 6:40 AM ... and saw that it wasn't raining, and that the sun was actually out, I decided to commence with my weekly Saturday morning walk. I haven't done the walk in several (and I do mean SEVERAL) months. As a matter of fact, I think the last time I went on my Saturday walk was sometime late last year. Anyhoo ... I brought my camera along with me. I hope you enjoy these eight photos that comprise my Day 4.

I tend to walk by the lake (it's a nice lake and has a walking path next to it). I see this sight every spring.

So ... I will now bombard you with images of nature, both animal and plant. :O)

You can actually get fairly close, as long as the adults and subadults do not perceive you as a threat. I was about a foot away from an adult pair as I walked down the path. Of course, you have to be careful when the babies are nearby. The adults will hiss at you.

It's about 7:00 AM at this point and the sun has peaked over the trees and is trying its best to burn through those clouds.

I love taking shots of the lake ... especially when the sun is coming up.

I thought this was a nice effect. :O) See how the rays are coming down from above?

I probably should have forced the flash for this shot ... so you could see. I don't know if this is bag worms or spiders. Dunno. :O) Anyone know?

And last but not least, some pretty yellow flowers along the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street from the lake as I get towards the last leg of my trip. Where I walk usually takes me about an hour from doorstep to doorstep. Then, of course, since I missed working out on my Bowflex yesterday, I did it when I returned. So ... I'm pleasantly sore. :O)) I hope you enjoyed my Day 4 romp!

Day 3

2009-05-08T18:51:00.006-04:00

The following pictures were taken at 1600 x 1200 resolution. Day 1 was 3072 x 2304. Day 2 was 2304 x 1728. Should I return to the Day 1 or Day 2 resolution, or is today's fine? What resolution is everyone else using?

So ... I'd decided when I first thought about doing this project that I wasn't going to try to take thematic pictures. That would require some form of premediation. No. I want to do this "off the hip". So as a result, these next 5 pictures are in no way related ......... :OD))

I'm off to the bus stop once again. And this is yet another bush along the path. :O) I like these bushes. They are so many varieties and colors.

After nearly 1.5 weeks of nothing but cloudy days and rain (which I, personally, LOVE), the sun decided to show it's face. Please Note: it was after taking this picture that I realized the lens was smudged ... which may account for why some of my pictures look kind of "foggy". It's an interesting effect though. :O}

I'm actually standing outside of my apartment complex, waiting for the bus, standing beneath some cherry trees (or ... I think they're cherry trees).

And speaking of cherry trees (or what I think are cherry trees), this tree is holding onto its last blossoms ... but we all know it's a losing battle. The time for blossoms is over. It's time for leaves and chlorophyll. Summer is coming.

And last but not least, this is a view from outside of a coworker's window. I had meant to get a picture of these cute yellow flowers when they opened (the sun wasn't quite in a position yet to cause them to open). Unfortunately, work got busy. I'll try to catch them another time (hopefully I won't miss it).

Day 2

2009-05-07T19:20:00.005-04:00

So ... I believe the project says you can take a MINIMUM of one picture per day. Today, I bring you four:

First, let me apologize for the "graininess" of this image. I wanted to have a little bit of flash since with no flash, my hands shake too much to make a decent picture ... it ends up blurry, but not a lot since using the flash did that whole "shiny cover" thing. So what I did was leave the flash on, but cover it with my hand. I've done it before with my old camera with pretty decent results. Didn't really get good results this time. Anyway ... I digress.

The reason why I chose this image was because last night before bed I read this volume of my favorite Manga of all time: Fruits Basket. There's only one more volume remaining (I think). I can't tell you how many YEARS I've been following this series. About 3 years ago (maybe longer?) I started collecting the manga (since it goes more in depth that the DVDs) ... desperate to know what happened (since the DVDs don't go into the whole "breaking of the curse" thing). And last night ... in this volume ... I found out. The next volume (which I think is the last volume) we get to see what happens next (kind of like an epilogue I think).

This one didn't turn out too badly. I decided to turn off the flash completely. Now ... even though the background is kinda fuzzy ... the foreground looks okay. Me love da watery-melons! *drools* They're kinda in season now ... so I buy one every week.

A close up of one of the bushes outside of my apartment complex along the path that leads to the bus stop. I used the macro function ... but I think I was too close for it to work properly. Y'see ... I find it easier looking through a view finder ... my brain processes things better that way I guess. It's difficult for me to switch to LCD screen only. Know what I'm sayin'?

And here's another of the bushes along the same path. It was raining a little bit this morning. :O)

Day 1

2009-05-06T18:42:00.001-04:00

So ... I blame my simming buddies for making this project so tempting that I just couldn't help but be part of the fun, too. The purpose of this little project is to take one picture everyday for a full year. That's 365 days to you and me. Can you imagine what kind of pictures I might come up with every day? I certainly can't. Anyway, for my Day 1 image, I thought this was very appropriate:

It's the new camera I just got that I will take with me everywhere. It's small enough to fit into my backpack where it won't get in the way. It is my tool to bring me through 365 days of interesting (and not so interesting) days. It's not the best quality first photo (what with the flash and everything), but ... I think one of the interesting things about this project (for me at least) is to see how I've progressed .. in as far as picture-taking ... and life ... is concerned.