Let’s talk about Monday…
So, let's sum up what happened yesterday:
1) I forgot my key-card at home. Not a big deal but annoying to get around the office until I could get a temporary.
2) For the first time ever I forgot my tie at home. Very embarrassing. I was able to borrow one that came down to the middle of my crotch, but at least I wasn't sent home to get a tie (which would have been a 4-hour round-trip ordeal).
3) The three Hi-8 video tapes I need to have converted to digital files (for a particularly high-profile training DVD I am creating) appear to have failed completely. Attempts to get them to play on the equipment at the video conversion vendor have resulted in lots of visual static and no sound. These tapes are less than 7 years old. The company has at least 100 such tapes in storage and I fear we will lose a lot of them.
4) A 21 oz bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper (2/3 of which had already been consumed) proceeded to burst forth and spray my shirt, pants, and the steering wheel and dash of my car when I attempted to open it.
5) Our venerable Canon A80 has had power problems since returning from having the CCD repaired/replaced. The problems were intermittent and I thought perhaps they were related to bad batteries. Yesterday I discovered that the rocker/selection button on the back is stuck down on the right-side. This is a curious problem as it would suggest the camera has been damaged in some way. However, the far more problematic discovery yesterday was that the camera won't turn on unless you first open and close the battery door. This needs to be done each and every time you wish to use the camera. The A80 was working fine on Friday and never left the camera bag all weekend.
This is most distressing because 
helloheather and I certainly were not planning on spending any money on camera equipment any time soon. In addition, having just been repaired, the camera was (despite the intermittent power issues) performing wonderfully. Canon not only fixed the CCD but replaced the lens assembly giving the camera a whole new lease on life. The zoom was smooth and quieter than before the repair and I was marching my way towards 40,000 total exposures. Clearly we have had our moneys worth with this camera, I just wish we could have squeezed out a little bit more.
Clearly yesterdays problems, even cumulatively, were minor annoyances at best. There are far worse things that were happening to other people and there almost always are. I kept this in mind as I arrived home a few minutes early and was able to spend the last bit of rapidly fading light outside with Nate crunching fallen leaves and investigating all the yard had to offer. We came inside with cool cheeks and empty stomaches and were warmed and fed. A lot of people did not have those luxuries last night and so I remain thankful for mine.
soon
yet no sign of it
in the cidada's chirp
-Basho
Thank you Apocaplops for bringing this haiku to my attention.
Chris and Hilary’s Wedding
[another blog entry started and left in draft for too long, then quickly finished..this seems to be the nature of things]
As helloheather has said, the wedding "week" (or so) was rather crazy. We both feel that we weren't really /there/ and yet we were. I was unprepared for how much work being in a wedding and being a father was actually going to entail.
We drove down on Thursday and arrived during rush hour, which slowed things down. Nate slept twice in the car and, by the time we got to grid-lock, was starting to get annoyed with the whole "in the car seat" thing. I can completely empathize. After checking in we headed over to hilhas1 and gonj's house for dinner. They provided a really tasty tuna-pasta-curry meal. It was excellent and just the right amount of spice for me. Nate even tried some and seemed to really enjoy the flavor.
On Friday morning, helloheather's dad and step-mom treated Nathan and I to the Indianapolis Zoo. We had a really good time and Nate (as predicted) loved the animals he could get close to and that moved a lot: penguins and the meerkats. We were only there for two hours but, for Nate it was enough. He fell asleep in the car before we left the zoo's parking lot!
Saturday morning, Nate and I, along with Aaron and his daughter Charlotte, went swimming in the hotel pool. Much playful splashing ensued and only a little water was accidentally inhaled.
Photographs on Saturday started at 2 pm and the babysitter started at 4, so Nate had time to run around prior to the 5pm ceremony. And run he did. He had such a great time investigating the various rooms where the reception would be taking place as well as the outdoor areas. He "talked" to nearly everyone involved in setting up and, needless to say, was a big hit. (I credit helloheather's excellent choice of bow tie and sweater.)
And thank you Sue who arranged the babysitter for the children of those in the wedding. This was a wonderful addition to the day. As helloheather and I were both in the wedding, not having to wrangle a very exited child and stand up for hilhas1 and gonj was a relief. As helloheather mentioned in her post, though, his absence was a perfect example of the forces of supply and demand. We did not bring Nate down to the reception until after we both had a chance to eat, which is about the point at which everyone else was finishing. The constant flow of people wishing to see Nate was a bit too much for him, especially after a quiet time of playing with his new friends in the babysitting room.
We ended up staying until 10. Again, as a measure of how much energy he exerted, Nate was asleep just after leaving the parking lot.
Sunday was a brunch at hilhas1 and gonj's house which was nice and then we left for home. I'll not get into the drive as it was painful, despite seeing new areas of IN and IL. Live and learn.
So, as was mentioned, the time was fast-paced and full, but good. I wish I had been able to spend more time talking with people at the reception, but that's ok.
Chicago Public Radio – October 4th
A recent photo from my photoblog at cetan.org was featured on the Chicago Public Radio website as their photo of the day today.
See the photoblog entry here:
http://cetan.org/index.php?showimage=416
Learning to see, all over again (part 2)
A previous blog entry discussed the affect field of view has had on my photography. But I realized, only recently, that there's another force at work here.
Not only has my photography been effected by the focal lengths of the lenses I use, but by the aspect ratio of my capture medium.
As mentioned elsewhere, digital point and shoots (with a couple minor exceptions) have sensors with aspect ratios of 4:3. 35mm film and digital SLR's have an aspect ratio of 3:2. This is a pretty profound distinction and one that seems to be causing problems with my photography.
4:3 is the tan color, 3:2 is tan plus red
I use my Canon A80 almost every single day and so, when I pick up our SLR, I find it very difficult to compose shots, mostly because I have all this extra /space/ on either side of my frame.
******
This has been sitting in "draft" for a long time now, so rather than finish it with anything profound I'll leave it as is.