the art of writing is discovering what you believe
This took some of the past 2-3 days, as I got an itch to make some superwide pictures but wasn’t satisfied with the earlier cigarbox cam I had made.
This incorporates several improvements (and points out several more, of course). I hope to get out with it this weekend. This morning was clear and bright, with stunning views: this afternoon, not so much.
And I just loaded up all seven of my film-holders, to eliminate any excuses not to get out and use the thing.
I just received a freezer full of steaks for Christmas and I’m going to enjoy every bite. Because homo sapiens are omnivores. And who am I to defy science, anyway?
The Circular World of Illegal Labor:
Just caught this at Rolling Stone:
It’s hard to imagine a clearer sign that current American immigration policy is a total crock:
The Golden State Fence company, a firm that builds border fencing to keep illegal immigrants out of the San Diego area, has just been fined $5 million for… wait for it… employing illegal immigrants to build its border fencing.
Um. Please raise your hand if you are really surprised.
Technorati Tags: immigration
Captain Renault might have been, but me, not so much.
These mud-encrusted shoes are part of a photoset I just uploaded, the first installment of a project I did many years ago.
Leave some comments over at Flickr and encourage me to dig up the rest of this stuff and post it.
Look through the list and see if anyone from your state appears.
–AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl
–AZ-01: Rick Renzi
–AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth
–CA-04: John Doolittle
–CA-11: Richard Pombo
–CA-50: Brian Bilbray
–CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave
–CO-05: Doug Lamborn
–CO-07: Rick O’Donnell
–CT-04: Christopher Shays
–FL-13: Vernon Buchanan
–FL-16: Joe Negron
–FL-22: Clay Shaw
–ID-01: Bill Sali
–IL-06: Peter Roskam
–IL-10: Mark Kirk
–IL-14: Dennis Hastert
–IN-02: Chris Chocola
–IN-08: John Hostettler
–IA-01: Mike Whalen
–KS-02: Jim Ryun
–KY-03: Anne Northup
–KY-04: Geoff Davis
–MD-Sen: Michael Steele
–MN-01: Gil Gutknecht
–MN-06: Michele Bachmann
–MO-Sen: Jim Talent
–MT-Sen: Conrad Burns
–NV-03: Jon Porter
–NH-02: Charlie Bass
–NJ-07: Mike Ferguson
–NM-01: Heather Wilson
–NY-03: Peter King
–NY-20: John Sweeney
–NY-26: Tom Reynolds
–NY-29: Randy Kuhl
–NC-08: Robin Hayes
–NC-11: Charles Taylor
–OH-01: Steve Chabot
–OH-02: Jean Schmidt
–OH-15: Deborah Pryce
–OH-18: Joy Padgett
–PA-04: Melissa Hart
–PA-07: Curt Weldon
–PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick
–PA-10: Don Sherwood
–RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee
–TN-Sen: Bob Corker
–VA-Sen: George Allen
–VA-10: Frank Wolf
–WA-Sen: Mike McGavick
–WA-08: Dave Reichert
We can do better.
I couldn’t help thinking of Orwell’s Animal Farm — Some Animals are More Equal Than Others — when I saw that.
And it turns out we have had a local case of an impaired cyclist involved in the death of a local pedestrian[*]. So what happens to the idea of equality of cyclists and motorists? Granted, cyclists are allowed to ride on the sidewalk, as in this case, but drunk driving, no matter where it takes place, is unacceptable.
The whole thing stinks. Critical Mass, if these people are representative of it, is crap. From what I can learn from this article, it’s just a bunch of anti-social misfits claiming rights when they really mean entitlements. Rather than demonstrating maturity and building mutual respect, they think society will accommodate them if they complain loudly enough and act out, in hopes the rest of us will give in to keep the peace.
On the other hand, if I see an outpouring of letters and condemning these yahoos as not being representative of the two-wheels-good crowd, that will help straighten things out.
For the record, I think the people pictured and quoted are the minority, and the bone-headed end of the curve; they should not be poster children for the cycling public.
Update: since too much of this debate seems to come down a discussion about photo cropping/editing, I scanned the cover image from the magazine to better capture the product placement aspect that I found more irritating. This is just a thumbnail: the larger image might be more informative.
Applecare is money well-spent. My iBook returned today, with some components replaced (the work order details an “invester” which I take to mean an “inverter”). All seems to be well with it.
Between this repair and a new 30Gb drive last year, I have gotten my money’s worth from AppleCare and would not hesitate to buy it again on my next portable. It helps to have a Genius Bar so close (10 minutes away, with two others within a half-hour).
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drawing class has improved from the first week. this means I learned a lot. broken down to its essentials, drawing is a. making marks and b. deciding what marks to make and how. given my lousy fine motor skills (ever seen my handwriting?), this is suspect terrain. but it’s worth the effort to work through the decision-making process and the physical mark-making.
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camera-making goes slowly. I need to start over, it seems. The work I have done so far has been instructive but not good enough to use. So I take the lessons and apply them to the next iteration.
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some ebay auctions have gone my way, so I now have a lens and shutter for my 4×5 camera and a new tripod and geared head on its way. a friend who works for a government agency that deals with documenting historical landmarks suggested I could perhaps get some work if I can demonstrate some proficiency at large-format photography. All the incentive I need.
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some traffic came from Gruber’s dope-slap last week. I can’t help wishing he would turn his attention to a more meaningful problem. I’d like someone to work out how to create encrypted tunnels for http or email traffic without having to create a separate process as I do now. And if you haven’t seen them, check out the Other Feeds he provides for subscribers (I am not one, but happy to send readers his way).
optimism, n, the quality possessed by someone sensitizing paper for sun prints in Seattle during October, especially if rainfall is audible.
Now playing: Everybody’s Jumpin’ by The Dave Brubeck Quartet from the album “Time Out” | Get it
It has occurred to me that with a circle cutter in hand and a drill press on its way, I am able to cut lensboards for large format cameras like this outfit. And since I am digging around on eBay for a decent starter lens to fit on a 4×5 camera I picked up a while ago, this might not be a bad thing to learn about.
This page even explains how lenses and shutters are mounted, their constituent parts, et al.
