Illumination
The December Solstice is upon us. I look upon the now lengthening days with joy and happiness. Whether you celebrate with a feast, a flame, or simply by noting the length of the day remember: while the cold of winter may just be settling in, the sun is returning little by little.
Happy Solstice!
Act now and we’ll double the amount!!
A couple cetan.org updates:
My original thought with cetan.org would be that it would act as a "best of" photoblog and that my flickr account would be a combination of good and near-misses. This is why I started off with updates every other day, rather than daily. But in reality, flickr has turned more into a "best of" than anything else (with a few near-misses thrown in). As a result, cetan.org has really lagged behind in terms of photo uploads. There are a number of images on flickr that I really like that I've simply neglected to put on my photoblog.
So, for the remainder of this year, (and hopefully beyond that), I'm switching to daily updates on cetan.org. Earth-shattering news, I realize. 
Also, for those of you using livejournal to read external feeds, 
helloheather created a syndicated feed for cetan.org:
http://syndicated.livejournal.com/cetan_rss/
Rotational Inertia
I'm sure helloheather will provide more details when she gets back online, but I thought I would do the "proud papa" thing and say:
Nathan has officially (and repeatedly) rolled over today.
Now, he did roll himself over twice before but both times were accidents. Today he went from front to back with a very deliberate and decisive action.
Here's a photo from Heather's phone of the aftermath:
Yes, that's just a photo of our baby on the floor. But notice the "I just rolled over twice" look in his eyes. Yup, that's a baby that's on the move.
Possible Auroral activity tonight
Thanks to a very large coronal mass ejection recently the stage is set for, what could be, some very nice auroras tonight. These could be visible in the northern third of the US.
http://spaceweather.com/ has the latest info. Hopefully the clouds will be clearing out of here and I can grab my tripod for a bit of photography.
So busy
cetan.org ran out of photos to show 2 days ago, and I just was able to upload a couple more. I'm closing in on 3 months behind on uploading photos to Nathan's photo album. My long-standing web-site design project is so dead it's probably turning into oil by now. Projects at home are piling up and up and up (what will it be like when yard work kicks back in this spring?).
And I have apparently turned this blog into "Rob complains about stuff." It was probably better when it was "Rob talks about obscure nerdy photography things." So, I'll combine the two:
A service advisory update from Canon included my A80 is their list of cameras that may warrant a free repair due to a faulty Sony CCD sensor inside. The behavior they describe is exactly the behavior that our camera has been exhibiting. (see: "Uh Oh")
This, of course, is the best time for the camera to function perfectly and without fault in any condition. Which is exactly what it has decided to do.
So, I'm holding a UPS shipping label (Canon's footing the bill both ways) and an apparently working camera (that has some serious body damage) wondering if its even worth being without a point and shoot over the holidays. In all likelihood the repair people will point to the body damage as the reason for the failure and reject the claim. (That is, unless they too want to screw Sony to the wall as they're the ones paying for all these faulty sensors, in which case go go Canon!)
If the claim is accepted, then I have a good chance of being offered a replacement camera in place of fixing the A80. Owners of the A70 were (I believe) being offered the A530 which isn't a bad trade for them. I don't see Canon offering more, but an A540 would be a nice alternative.
Love
http://cetan.org/index.php?showimage=168
You are the one I've been waiting for today
Here comes the sun
It's been baiting morn todayYou looked right through me there’s no one else
I sat beside you and became myself today.
Today.You are the one I’ve been waiting for today.
Here comes the sun
It’s been beating on today-Joshua Radin : "Today"
Dear Nathan,
As you've reached five months old, you've started to behave less and less like a newborn and more like a little person. It's difficult for me to admit, but this scares me to no end. Nathan, I have no idea what I am doing. No clue. I don't know how to teach you or how to raise you to be a good person.
And I'm really really worried that I'm going to screw it all up. I'm worried that you'll take with you all my problems and hang-ups; that you won't be able to free yourself from my mistakes. Because, Nathan, you look at me with such innocent and trust-filled eyes and the last thing I want is to ruin that.
You have your whole life stretching out in front of you. All I want for you are the best tools you can carry. But I sit next to you with an empty toolbox and no way to fill it. I'm sorry. I love you.
-Dad.
I seem to have won…
The Nelsonfoto Forums ran a photography contest of sorts last month. The rules were simple:
1) B&W only
2) 35mm film - 36 exposure roll
3) Shoot the entire roll either walking to work, from work, or during your lunch-hour.
4) Put them online for everyone to see
So, I did just that and added the set to my flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/phule/sets/72157594365963914/
Judging took place on December 1st and, lo and behold, my set won!
http://www.nelsonfoto.com/v/showthread.php?t=7194
*boggle*
Thanksgiving Joy
Grandpa Swanson and Nathan share a laugh
As always, click the image for a larger view.