August 14, 2009

Friday Apollo and a rant and rave

Monday through Friday, every day around 3:30, give or take, Apollo nudges my elbow and stares at me intently. If I give him any hint of attention, he dashes off to get the "flinger," which got its name when I was trying to teach Apollo the names of his toys and needed an alternative to frisbee, and brings it to the front door.

Off we go to a nearby field to play for about 15 minutes. Any longer, it's too hot for him. We usually return around 8 or so when it's darker and usually cooler. Most days, it's just him and me. It always surprises me. There's a perfectly nice field not a block away from this apt complex (it's just a few feet away for some apt buildings in this complex) that a local company that owns the property is nice enough to keep mowed for the locals to use. Why don't more people use it? It baffles me.

Anyway.

Rant: I am so annoyed that Eagles signed Michael Vicks. Granted, I wasn't a huge fan of the team to begin with, but I definitely won't be rooting for them anymore. Why couldn't the NFL have had an unofficial boycott? Why couldn't some other team sign him? Let him go to the Cowboys or better yet, the Lions, the worst team in NFL.

Rave: My brother sent me a couple books for my birthday. I absolutely loved one of them: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Not only is this one of the best books I've read in years, it's extremely well written and complex without being overwhelming. It's smart. Crisp writing. And the way Steig Larrson put the story together is just wonderful. This book was translated from Swedish, so some sentences are a bit awkward and stilted, but after a couple chapters, you get used to it.

I just did some poking around online, and it appears that Steig Larrson died a few years ago, and his three books are being published posthumously.

Read this book and while you're at it, snag: The Girl Who Played with Fire, just released last month. The third should be out later this year.

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August 12, 2009

I really need to brush up on my astronomy

I could not for the life of me find the north star. I had no problem finding ursa major, but for some reason, couldn't locate the ursa minor where the north star is located.

click on the image to see it in large size
North star is somewhere to the right of this frame.
Shortly after my camera finished processing this image, its battery died, otherwise I would've repositioned and tried again.

This exposure was about 13 minutes long, it's a little overexposed, I underestimated how much light there'd be.

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Perseid meteor shower

Tip - click on the photos for large images.

What's this? A meteor? But it looks so odd!
It's a plane.


I only saw one, albeit very brilliant, meteor. It streaked where I didn't expect it - right under the moon. The moon was pretty bright, plus I had the city lights to contend with. So I satisfied myself by taking pictures of the stars, something I hadn't done since my first photography class about 15 years ago. I'm probably dating myself here. Geesh.

Anyway. I had only a few minutes of exposure for these pictures. One downside to digital - it takes them awhile to process the image after I'm done taking a particular image and it's very boring standing there in the dark twiddling my thumbs waiting and waiting for it to greenlight so that I can take the next image.

I wasn't feeling patient tonight and was really tired, so I didn't want to take long exposures. Next time, I'll bring something to read and go nuts.

I must've jarred the camera slightly. There's a tiny bobble at the start of the star trails.

Of course, now I'm back home, I've got my third wind.

Not a stellar pic. har har, punny.

It's very disconcerting to be standing there in the dark, totally oblivious to anything nearby, then the camera's night light comes on for a split second - and I see a million bugs swarming around me.

Not bugs.

I'm still itchy at the thought of those bugs!

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August 10, 2009

By land, sea or air


I've come to the conclusions that I will love living out in the country, by sea or in the mountains (air). Suburban and urban life isn't for me.

On Saturday, I went out to a friend's ranch and while I'm not cut out to be a farm girl - I held eggs that just shot out of a chicken's poop cute! Eeww - I did enjoy the experience immensely. It's quiet. Serene. The closest neighbor, at my friend's ranch, was about half a mile away. Relaxing.

True, there are downsides to having some land. Like figuring out how to maintain it. But not having neighbors right in my face seems like heaven. I've lived in apartments for just over 10 years, counting dorms in college, and I'm pretty tired of it. I can't imagine living in one for another fifty years. I know a couple people who have.

I'm not going to rush out and buy a property right now. Need money, for one, but it's a goal to keep in back of my mind. If I can make a decent living doing work online, certainly attainable.

And for your amusement: dancing dude
Warning - may need bleach for your eyes after viewing.

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August 7, 2009

Friday Apollo

Checking out the view at Mt Evans

Puff the Magic Dra-err--Dog!

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August 5, 2009

One of my etsy shop items

was chosen to be featured in Etsy's Treasury section for 'sublety'.


The link here: Etsy Treasury - Sublety
It will expire Friday Aug 7.

I realized recently I am really digging graphic design and am thinking of how to incorporate it in my business.

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August 4, 2009

Hiking Tips by Jen

While ogling 3000 years old trees...

Instead of looking at the treetops while walking, STOP walking and look up.

Or you'll end up with one of these.

(shot with cellphone)

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August 2, 2009

This goat won't win any pagents

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At 14,000 feet, M&Ms...

explode!

Went up to Mt. Evans today. There's a road that goes nearly all the way to the top of the mountain. You have to hoof it up the last 200 feet though. When I was close to the top, I heard weird, loud popping sounds and thought there was something wrong with my car!

Wasn't until we parked and I got the bag of M&M out for snack that I discovered what happened.

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August 1, 2009

Late Friday Apollo

I totally forgot yesterday was Friday. Oops.

Taken with my old point-and-shoot camera. Apollo was about 2 in this picture

My punishment for being a bad blogger: I will go now flail myself with a soft furry tail.

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