AllanThinks

New Toy

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I've been accused by a friend of buying this solely to take photographs of it.

I really am going to learn to play.

Fob

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Exposure:  0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/22
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: -4/3 EV
Light Source: Flash

Sorry for the lack of posts. We've been very busy preparing for a gathering of friends here next weekend. There is still much to do.

I try to take a photo or two every day. You can always see the latest on my Flickr photostream. 

For those of you who use RSS Feed readers, my latest photo uploads are fed here.

Mike is in town for the UK-LSU game, so I will be attending the game with him. It's perfect football weather, and despite the fact LSU (the #1 team in the country) is likely to win the game, I plan to enjoy the day.

I hope your weather is just as good, and that you have a great weekend.

Cockpit

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Ali and I bought a new car last Friday. It's a 2007 Honda Civic LX.

We've needed a second car since she moved here, and we finally bought one.

We still have the 2002 Jetta, but plan to trade it in soon for another new car. The Jetta is out of warranty, and is becoming a maintenance nightmare. It spent the week we were in Washington in the shop, and cost me $1200 plus for repairs.

We are still trying to decide what to replace it with. We've talked for some time about buying a pickup truck or small to mid-size SUV for the utility they would provide for hauling things like furniture and garden supplies. The Honda Element seems like a pretty good fit.

But last night, while we were out to dinner with the local Drinking Liberally group, our friend Elle suggested to me that the Civic was now our 'sensible' car, and that the second new car should be something fun. Like a convertible.

She went on to tell me how much fun her Miata convertible is.

And, those of you who read Mike's blog, know how much he loves his new Miata convertible.

What to do? What to do?

Just playing around with Photoshop

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Hidden Treasure

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While Ali is in France, I have been trying to finish up some chores around the house. One of them is to move an old Globe-Wernicke office desk from C's room upstairs down to the new rec room in the basement.

It is just taking up space up there, and we feel sure she would rather fix the room up to her liking. And, putting the desk in the basement, both Ali and I will have a workspace. She to do her writing, editing, translating, and proofreading, and me to pay household bills, taxes, and things like that.

I bought the old desk over 20 years ago. I paid $25 for it. With the exception of the top surface, the desk is painted black. There are quite a few chips in the paint, and we will probably give it a new paint job in the future.

For a few recent years, the desktop was home to my amateur radio gear. The drawers are filled with all sorts of stuff. Yesterday, I began the task of cleaning the desk out. I spent most of the afternoon, going through a single drawer, the file drawer. It contained old tax returns, professional documents, owner's manuals and warranty information, and bits and pieces of assorted junk. I discarded perhaps 90% of what was in there, and I imagine I will do the same with the remaining drawers today.

As I dug into the back of the drawer to remove the last few remaining items, I discovered this old glass doorknob. I remember finding it in the same drawer when I dismantled the desk to get it into the house. I just left it in there. I have no idea why.

But it was cool to discover it once again. And of course, I just had to take a photo of it. It won't be placed back into that drawer this time. It has earned a place on the mantle or the bookshelf here in our living room.

The Orb

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Exposure:  0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/22
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV
Light Source:  Flash

Balloon Glow

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The Balloon Glow Field Party. Part of the Little Kentucky Derby Festival at the University of Kentucky.

Exposure:  0.333 sec (1/3)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 24 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV

myPod

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One more week.

Forever

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A Question Of Balance

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I almost titled this "I am not a number, I am a free man. "

;)

Sinister Heart?

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No. Just a reminder of good times from my college days.

Untitled

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Mercury (Rising)

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Charmed, I'm Sure.

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It Works!

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Alison and I spent the afternoon shopping for a new showerhead. When we were in New York City over the Christmas holiday, the bathroom of our hotel room had a rain style showerhead with an attached hand shower wand.

I fell in love with it the four days we were there. I have found similar ones through Internet searches, but none that were just like the hotel had.

So after lunch today we set out on a quest to find something at least similar at local outlets. We visited Home Depot and Lowes, but couldn't find what we really needed. We also stopped at a couple of bathroom fixture galleries that sold really high end stuff.

At one of them the sales woman told us that what we wanted to do was not possible with out going to a lot of expense. It would entail ripping out the wall and replumbing. I knew that what she told us was a bunch of BS. She was just trying to sell us something that cost hundreds of dollars more than we needed.

So we came home. I did some more looking around the web, and came to realize that I could accomplish what I wanted to do, with locally acquired, and relatively inexpensive fixtures.

Ali had an appointment late this afternoon for a massage, so after I dropped her off for that, I headed over to another Home Depot location. There, I found just what I needed. I purchased the pictured six inch diameter downpour showerhead, and a diverter valve to attach our present handheld shower to it.

When we got back home, I set about installing the new showerhead. It took a bit of time to get everything attached, and tightened to prevent leaks, but I finally got it done.

And it works! The rain shower rocks, and when the diverter valve is switched, the handheld shower delivers a good strong stream just like it always has.

I then cooked dinner for us. Ali offered to cook tonight, but I wanted her to relax and not lose the benefit of her massage.

I'm really tired now, but it is a good tired. There's nothing like a feeling of accomplishment to make the hard work seem worth it.

Originally posted on my Flickr Daily Photo Diary.

ghosts in the coffee house

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Alison and I can't get enough of Third Street Stuff & Coffee.

It is an eclectic gift shop and coffee house in downtown Lexington. We visit at least a couple of times a week, and we like to take our cameras with us.

You never know what, or who, you might find there.

In Which Allan Shows You His Fuzzy Balls

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These are what I bought at Michael's a couple of weeks ago solely for the purpose of photographing them.

When I posted the photo on an Internet message board I frequent, I received lots of comments about my fuzzy balls.

The best description I heard of them, though, was that they looked like multi-colored tribbles.

In any case, here they are. I hope they brighten your day as much as they do mine.

This might be the last photo I take with the D70 for a while...

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I'm crazy, I tell you!

Oops!...I did it again.

I bought something just for the purpose of photographing it.

Alison and I went shopping this afternoon for a frame for a large (20 in. X 24 in) photograph we purchased at the Woodland Arts Fair on Saturday. One of the places we stopped was Michaels, an arts and crafts store.

We didn't find a frame large enough for our needs, but we were seduced by lots of brightly colored stuff we didn't need. Luckily, all of it was on sale. At clearance prices for the most part.

Ali found a bunch of cool things that will make great Christmas stocking stuffers for her kids, and both of us bought an item each for ourselves to photograph.

Hers actually has a useful function beyond being a still life. Mine is less useful, although, I think Ali's daughter might be able to get some fun out of it. And, what I bought was marked down from $7.99 to a clearance price of 79 cents, so even if I toss it when I am done, it won't be a big deal. But I think I will leave it in C's room for when she returns to Lexington.

We haven't had a chance to take any photos yet, but when we do, we'll let you know.

I'm such a geek.

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I was recently reading a discussion on Flickr about people buying things for no other reason than to photograph them.  I had to admit that I was guilty of doing it.

Whenever I am out shopping, I am always scanning the items on the shelves, mentally visualizing them through the lens of my camera.

I am particularly drawn to bright colors and shiny things.

Alison and I were shopping at a local Parent-Teacher store today. She needed to pick up some supplies for a tutoring job she begins tomorrow.

I saw a package of multicolored elastic cord hanging on the rack. It really looked cool, and I instantly knew it would look cool through the cameras lens.

It only cost a couple of dollars, so I bought it. I took this shot while waiting for the salmon we had for dinner was grilling. You can see another shot of it here.