On Vacation

I’m finally taking a real vacation.  The fact that so many coworkers were glad I was getting a vacation at last was really telling: I need to get away more often!

Luckily, I’m going off to Geek Central/Comic Con with my good friends Household and Eclectic.  The schedule is set (sort of), the accommodations are arranged, the die is cast, the lots are tossed, the craps are shot…wait a minute.  Take a breath.  In.  Out.  In ‘N Out.  Mmm…double-double.

Yeah, I’m excited about a vacation, but also one to Comic Con.  That will be a great time away from the “normal” of life, and not just because so many people there aren’t the classic “normal” we all love to think we aren’t.

But that’s just this week.  How to keep from getting into the same position again of never having a vacation?  That’s a challenge for me.  Family vacations were always annual, so the weekend getaway is a mostly foreign concept. But I’ve seen that rejuvinate many co-workers and have decided to explore this phenomena.  The only trouble, if it can be called that, is finding a weekend and a place to go.  It may not be every month, maybe every other.  But it’s worth a small cost and bit of effort (but hopefully not inconvenience) to make it happen.

Aside from that, I’ve been enjoying several memories from this summer already.  There was the prom.  And the Special Edition Worship Team. A nearly successful evening flight over SoCal. A church picnic. And that’s just four things I took pictures of and all of them dear to my heart in many different ways (I have two of the songs from the kids on my phone that really help me put things in perspectice on the rough days).

Now to go and make more of these and not have it just be a summer thing, at that.

The New

My stimulus payment came in today.  $600 advanced from next year’s tax refund (if I have a refund).  At least, I think it’s really an advance.  The West Wing said it was and who am I to disagree?

Normally, I’d put it into savings or pay down debt.  But I’m doing well and don’t have any regular debt outside of my student loans.  I could pay that down, but I’m doing well and don’t feel the pressing need.  I could save it and that’s the smart move.  But I’m putting more into savings than ever before already.  Never too much savings, I guess, but it felt like, for once, I could do what The President wanted me to do and spend it.

So I did.

I got a new camera.  A Nikon D40 DSLR, to be exact.  And it’s a lovely camera that I know I’ll enjoy learning to use properly and learning to get great pictures with (and probably a good number of ok, not-so-great, and flat out mediocre pictures, too).

But who cares, right?  The camera’s nice for me and it looks awfully fancy, but what does that for you, dear reader?  Not much, I think.

It so happens that WordPress.com recently released a new theme meant for photoblogging.  I have decided to take advantage of this and start a new blog.  No telling how often I’ll update it (if this blog is any indication, not often).  But it’s something neat to use besides Flickr and Google (I imagine I will continue using those as well, though).

Megapixel Mythology

Anyone looking to buy a digital camera should read this article (NY Times).

My camera is a mere 2.0 Megapixels and I’ve always gotten great compliments on my photos.  I like to think that I take interesting shots.  Granted, I can’t print them larger than 8×10 without some interesting effects and cropping reduces the print size considerably.  But I rarely print photos anyway.

That said, I do look forward to getting a new camera someday, but not for megapixels.  I want lenses.  Telephoto, wideangle, fish-eye, you name it.  And flashes so I can do some semi-professional portraits.  And a house that I can set up a room to store all this equipment in.  And a maid to keep it clean.  And…no…that’s about it.

The other interesting thing about this article is how comments to an original post set up a new experiment.  That’s very Mythbusters of them.  Speaking of which, maybe they’d like to take this one on, too?

Firecometing

Wow.

(click the image to see the comet)

Thanksgiving Photos

I spent Thaknsgiving this year at St. Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, CA.  It was a wonderfully peaceful time lacking in noise and hunger and having plentious times of quiet, walking, photography, and disc golf.

Hope you all had an equally good holiday!

Triforce Found!

In honor of the Wii release tonight at midnight at locations across the US, here’s a nice picture from MIT.

Ten hours to go from this post. Church will be interesting tomorrow, depending on how much sleep I end up getting tonight (And yes, I’m going to church tomorrow. I’m not that hardcore.)

Reno Balloon Race

These are time lapse images.  Very cool.

Oak Glen Photos

I posted Pictures from a trip to Oak Glen yesterday. This includes my first picture of a bee. Milestone, baby!

Not really.
Enjoy!

Back on the Mainland

We returned from Catalina without too much adventure (that I’m aware of).  I had a great weekend relaxing, talking with friends, reading, thinking, examining my life a bit, and generally recharging.  There’s probably lots to tell, but I’m still digesting some stuff.

In the meantime, here are some photos I took.  I stuck with black and white photos this time around.  I just like it better.  I feel like I can express things better without the color.  Go figure.  Only a couple are color and you’ll see why.

Enjoy!

Going Dark

I’m out on Catalina Island this weekend. There may be Wi-Fi some day, but not where I’m going. Not yet (unless there’s something they aren’t telling me). Even if there were, I wouldn’t bring the laptop I don’t have. This is my weekend to relax, rest, do some reading, get in some photography of a beautiful place, and maybe recharge a good bit.  In other words, no blogging from me until Sunday or Monday even if I could.
See you on the flip side. Or there. It’s a small world.