My Favorite Photo Of Me

Ran across this again today. Taken by Kyle.

The Caves @ Chop Suey, April 4

Spring In Our Steps

Out with Spencer for his morning walk, I passed David Rogers Park. It had been a while since I'd taken Spence into the park, since there are usually quite a few off-leash dogs there, which makes me nervous. Today, though, the park was quiet, and we're having BEAUTIFUL spring weather, so we went in.

One of the things I love about dogs is their enthusiasm. Everything is SO COOL! And Spencer has this enthusiasm in spades, especially come springtime. He sniffs the ground. He sniffs the air. He chases crows and squirrels, and just generally enjoys the feel of grass and earth under his feet (it must be a nice change from concrete sidewalks) -- and so do I.

Sometimes when it's cold and rainy, walking the dog feels like a chore. But on nice days like today, it's more like playtime.

Closet II

So I was walking home from the grocery store today when, because I'm a big dork, I started thinking about last night's closet shot and wondering how I could recreate it in the daytime. I wanted to make it look like the closet and the outside room were filled with natural daylight, even though in reality the only window is the one behind my head.

I wanted the view from the window exposed properly, so I found those settings, then began to play with the flash I have inside the closet. The most natural-looking light dispersion occurred when I lowered the diffuser on the flash and set it close to the upper corner of the closet (my right; camera left). I got the power levels right, but found the light looked just a little too blue for me, so I decided to gel it to make it slightly warmer. 1/4 CTO was too orange; even 1/8 was a little too much. But I remembered David Hobby mentioning that you could always put a gel only halfway over your flash to dilute the effect, so that's what I did, in effect creating 1/16 CTO and getting the color, as Goldilocks said, juuuuust right.

The last step was illuminating the wall outside the closet. This was the easiest part; I bounced a second flash off of a white "reflector" (read: piece of foam core) and onto the wall, blocking the camera-right side with another piece of foam core to keep that flash out of the closet and avoid over-lighting myself. I had to crank up the power a bit on this flash, but after a couple of tweaks I got a level I was happy with there, too.

All in all this took maybe 15 minutes (including scrounging around trying to figure out where I had left my second flash), and I got a result I'm very happy with. Now, to be disciplined not-lazy enough to keep practicing my lighting on a regular basis....

The Dark Secrets Of Home Ownership

You will like it. You will want to make it look nice. You will look over one day and notice that your baseboards are dirty, and you will VOLUNTARILY clean them. You will begin to LIKE YOUR VACUUM.

Your dog still won't, though.

All In A Row

I'm back from Costa Rica and starting to edit and post the photos. You can see them here.

Magic Carpet Ride

My three year old nephew, Casey, at ski school.

On Vacation

Shit. It's got me again.

Winter.

I told my shrink yesterday I was fine. Today I realized that that may not be strictly true.
I have no desire to leave the house.
I have no desire to keep the house that I never leave clean.
I pretty much don't give a fuck about almost anything.
I'm tired of being cold.
I'm tired of sleeping til noon when I don't mean to.
I'm tired of being emotional.
I'm tired of being needy.
I want ME back.

I guess the reason I'm writing this is to say:
Look out for me, and be gentle with me.

A Man Drives A Car In Front Of The Chrysler Building

A Man Drives A Car In Front Of The Chrysler Building

A Year Ago Today

Burnt Out Like A Jack-O-Lantern On November First

I went to Safeway tonight, and turning between the baking aisle and the cereal aisle I passed several shelves full of Halloween candy. "Oh!" I thought. "We might have trick-or-treaters this year -- I should get some candy." Then I remembered that Halloween is approximately SEVEN WEEKS AWAY. And at this rate, I'll probably be completely sick of it by the time it actually comes.

I won't be sick of candy corn, though.

A Year Ago Today

A Year Ago Today

Life's A Beach

Summer is winding down and, paradoxically, the Pacific Northwest is seeing some of the best weather it's had all year. I've been hitting the beach this week, and as I was browsing my flickr contacts' photos, I noticed seashore photos popping up from all over:







And yes, that last one is me :)

Dealing

So, for a variety of reasons, I've been pretty stressed lately. And I do this thing sometimes where I don't really realize I'm stressed, and then something - a line from a song, a scene from a stupid tearjerker movie - will suddenly set me off and I'll be in tears. It's annoying, but it's also a sign that I should be paying a bit more attention to how I feel, so I'm okay with it I guess.

Anyway.

Photography, I've learned, can be a great help in the coping process. By creating an image of what I'm feeling, I've removed the emotion from my head and heart and turned it into its own, tangible thing. Then I can separate myself from it and deal with it, or move on, instead of just carrying it in my stomach all the time. (You might still want to consider buying stock in Zantac, though.)

So, don't be alarmed. I'm just getting some stuff out of my system.

Seattle -> Bellingham Flickr Road Trip

Here are a few cool photos others got of me.

-- by Kathleen

-- by Gina [I'm the one in the middle]

-- by Jeremy

May Flickr Meetup

Here are a few good pictures of me, taken by other people at May's Seattle Flickrites photostroll last Saturday.

Dog Days

Sometimes it's frustrating owning a dog. Especially one that pulls on the leash, barks at the mailman, and at the dog park tries to herd other dogs like they're sheep. But when I stop to think about how far Spencer has come since we got him four months ago, I realize that I can feel pretty proud.

Spencer looks healthier now than he ever has. His fur is shiny and soft. He's gone from being extremely shy of strangers to sometimes spontaneously seeking affection from them. On the leash, where he used to go mad at even a glimpse of another dog, he can usually maintain his composure when the other pooch is only a half a block away. And when he's tired enough, he can even meet other leashed dogs politely. (This, believe me, feels like a miracle.)

We've got some work to do with him yet -- but when I realize how much we've done, I realize how possible it is to achieve what we still have to do.

Nobody Nose The Trouble I've Seen

Actually, Spencer had a very good day. As advised by some fellow Seatle dog owners, the pooch and I hopped on the bus and rode out to Magnuson Park, which has a huge off-leash play area for dogs. I was a little worried that Spence might be rude and overbearing - he can be QUITE enthusiastic when he meets other dogs on the street - but in fact the only time I had to step in was to save him from a ticked-off Miniature Pinscher. (Spencer could've swallowed the little guy whole, but was kind enough not to.) Overall, he was very well behaved and had a great time. We both came home muddy and exausted - always the sign of a good day out.

Spencer

I went to the Seattle Animal Shelter today and filled out the final paperwork, and now Spencer is officially "ours!" Hooray! Happy Adoption Day Spencer!!

I couldn't've picked a better dog.