61 - The iPad Line at an Apple Store at The Woodlands

[iPhone Image]

60 - Lee College

Today is my birthday so I could do whatever I wanted-and I did.  Went to Lee College to start getting their clusters configured to work as a grid.
[iPhone Image]

59 - Abandoned Bike

This bike has been sitting in the street at the end of the cul de sac for 48 hours and no one has stolen it.  Wow!
[iPhone Image]

58 - Reckless Driving

Saw this shrine where a young girl was killed. ( 8-year-old girl dies after hit-and-run at Bear Creek Park. It is very sobering.
[iPhone Image]

57 - Jury Duty

From the 18th floor of the Criminal Courts Building in Houston, TX.
[iPhone Image]

56 - Bella and the Kids

Introducing Bella and the kids. I do not have them named yet.  Anyone wanna help?

55 - The Killing Field

Near this location in Bear Creek Park, Mr. Klenton Sparks had his antagonist kill a Chinese diplomat in Sanfrin's Rainbow.  Every single time we drive through on War Memorial we bring it up.  I asked him why, and he said, "In every book someone has to die!"  So there you have it.

54 - Our Cafe

This is our cafe at work where they serve coffee and some food items to keep us energized during our busy day.   I seem to make it a habit to have a couple of meeting here during week, and always enjoy my double espressos.

53- Giraffe

Tom and I went to lunch today and noticed this giraffe.   We started laughing talking of my day 51 post about Baby Girl and her giraffe.  He said I should buy it and bring it home.  The house would be buried in stuffing.  Besides she couldn't carry it.

52 - Experiments in 3D No. 1

Today I had a hankering for something new.  I have been wanting to try some 3D images for some time and today was that time.  I took two pictures of this contrived setup a small distance apart, then started the work.  I don't like it mind you, but I can see the possibilities.

51 - Baby Girl's Security

Baby Girl's security is a destuffed, cyclops giraffe.  Patty said we bought it for her.  Once she tore the stuffing out, she started taking care of it.   Baby Girl is very type A.  She's gotten into the habit of hitting the dining room windows to growl and bark at Bella.  It's too funny.  When I yell, "Baby Girl!!!!!," she comes running with her giraffe in her mouth.  She's waiting for her giraffe as I take a picture of it.

50 - Experimenting

Sometimes one does need a real camera and not just their iPhone.  Until the new iphone or HTC Evo  comes out of course...
[iPhone Image]

49 - The Unveiling

Bella's new kittens.  They are now walking and exploring.  They almost come up to me but Bella lets me know she's watching.  They have these incredible blue eyes.

48 - My Babies...

Two old and haggard collars.  They mean the world to me.  These were the first collars we bought for the babies-the center of my universe.
 
We lost Tyler's litter mate, Sidney, a few years ago.  Since then, there's been a emptiness in our hearts. I kept talking to Patty about my feeling poor-little-ol'-me.   Tyler will be 14 in June with is old for a 60 pound dog.  One day in January 2009, Patty called to tell me we were going out to lunch.  She came over with a small travel kennel.  I said, "Oh you got me a puppy!!!" to which she replied, "No, I got you two.  I picked the girl, but the boy just went crazy."  They had that wonderful puppy breath.

*LOL* That's how we got Tyler and Sidney.  We were living in California then and went just to look at Petsmart.  She saw Sidney and fell in love.  Then she looked at Tyler and fell in love again.  She was all wet from playing with the water bowl.  Tyler is the name of the street the Petsmart was located on.  They were called collectively "The Puppies."

The babies are both black with white markings.  So we decided to name the boy, Domino (aka Dom-Dom) and Onyx (aka Baby Girl) and known collectively as "The Babies."  They are the most loving and giving puppies you will ever have the good fortune of knowing. They are still wild and crazy.  Notice how little the collars are??  They were about 3.5 pounds when I got them.
[Scan FujiFilm 35mm]

47 - Scrap Daddy

Heading to the Camera Co/OP, we decided to pull over a side street to place Tom's camera in trunk.  We did not want some unsavory character to see us placing it in the parking lot and figure Christmas has come early for him.   Making our way back we ran into Mark (ScrapDaddy) Bradford's workshop.  Although we only spent a few minutes there, we were wowed.  

I am looking forward to visiting this coming week with a good camera and finding out more about his creations. 

My Scrapdaddy Page

Note: I have modified this post so I start limiting my blog posts to one image.  If I have more to say about the trip I will create a page and make a reference to it.

46 - Paper Lanterns

Trying to figure out which image to use today was hard.  Tom and I have usually had breakfast in this booth for a decade.  All of a sudden it hit me to steal  borrow Sean Mahoney's idea (and make it my own.)

Today was an embarrassment of riches.  We decided to go to the photo store so I could get a little different film for this weekend's Chappell Hill launch.  On the way there, we decided to stop the car so he could put his camera case in trunk without being seen so we pulled off on a side street.  Our task being done, we saw some outlandish contraptions like one would see at the Art Car Parade.  We stopped, made a new friend, and took a bunch of pictures. But that's a story for another day.

[iPhone Image]

45 - The Shrine

I stopped drinking recently.  No particular reason for it-just not interested.  This humoungous glass sits in my living room-well sat.  It was originally given to me almost full of wine corks.  I filled it and have yet another bag full.  Don't know where I got the picture-will have to ask Patty.  Reminds me of a Tuscan kitchen.

Shot indoors, blinds closed, natural light.

[iPhone Image]

44 - Another View of Campus

 

This is a view of the grand entrance once you leave the reception area.  Visitors are treated to the sound of running water from the water features surrounding us just out if sight.   Today, when the sun was out, I loved the interplay between dark and light as we walked together talking.

[iPhone Image]

Note: The picture on Tom's blog was taken at the intersection with that building on the left.  You can see the walkway in the distance in my Day 43 picture.  You can see the water features here and here.

43 - Back to Work

 

Today was such a beautiful day!  Sometimes I forget how beautiful campus where I work can be.

[iPhone Image]

42 - Garden Plans

Arrrrgh!!!!  I have to get back to work tomorrow.  Went to Cafe del Sol for a late breakfast today.  When I got back,  I noticed the flowers were really starting bloom.   I decided there were things I want to do to the front yard and this week is when I have to do it.  That faux rock in the garden is one of those hide a key ones that had been sitting in the dining room for years.  Of course, everyone knows what it is so I don't actually have a key in it.  I have returned home on a couple of occasions to see it turned over.  I would like think it was Bella rubbing against it.
[iPhone Image]

41 - Warning Lights

Today I have been working in the darkroom trying to get it a little more organized when I noticed my small LED lantern. I have a few of those around the house and larger ones in strategic locations.  These do not have a blue ring, but do have a flashing red light.  It too wards off the darkness.

40 - New Toys

Today I went and purchased a circular polarizer, a neutral density filter and some Kodak film today for the Bluebonnet Festival launch in Chappell Hill.  This is my workhorse camera, a Canon EOS-1 with a  28-105mm "macro" lens, and the new filters.

As well as crewing on Chameleon, I take tons of balloon photos.  Under normal conditions this works rather well since we are normally getting started just as the sun is coming up and getting that "magic hour" light.   Last Saturday, Tom and I went to the Bellville Fly-in but weather kept us grounded.  We decided to spend the day running around and found a herd of cows to photograph.  The results came out rather harsh so I decided on the following....

• Use Kodak Gold during the middle of the day and FujiColor early morning and late afternoon.  I have been using FujiColor film which is a fantastic film in the early morning, but C-41 processing really saturates the colors and that mid-day sun is so harsh, so the results are hard to fix.
• Use a polarizer which helps eliminate reflections, increase contrast, and darkens the blue sky.  This is why the sky looks so blue in the Bodie images.
• Use a ND filter which hopefully will allow me to control the amount of light hitting the film without changing colors.

[iPhone Image]

Note: Launch has been called off as of 8:00PM due to projected weather conditions.

Chicken with Apricot and Dates

Today there are so many things to be thankful for.  Tyler and the babies are doing well.  The kittens-one of Bella's babies came out of the enclosure and walked on her own, meowing.  But today I celebrate Tyler acting like a teenager again by making Chicken with Apricots and Dates for dinner.   It is finished with cilantro and mint.  The flavor is delicate.   Tomorrow I will place some on a bed of jasmine rice and see how that turns out.  Otherwise, it is a keeper.

Lunch Today

I have been cooking out of my comfort zone lately.  I went to Wallymart this weekend and saw a small charcoal grill for 25 bucks so I got it.  Yesterday I had Tom over for lunch for a mesquite grilled chicken breast on a bed of couscous.  Today,  I grilled high quality burgers with fries.  I mixed some habenero catsup with regular to make a nice spicy combination.

Tyler is doing really great today.  She spent some time outside, not wanting to  come in. She does not want to go back into the downstairs bathroom so I put the gate at the bottom of the stairs and have given her the run of the downstairs.
[iPhone Image]

My Ty-Ty is Home

Tyler had her operation today and is now safe at home.   She is still groggy.  She drank a little water and wanted to stay outside perhaps a bit longer than she should have-that's my hard-headed puppy.  The Dr. said she is doing fine.   I will try and feed her a little food tonight.  I will be sleeping downstairs on the sofa.  You should see the smile on my face! 
 
Thanks to all who prayed for her.   I was pretty stressed out today, praying for her frequently.  Tom came to the house for lunch and help take my mind off the surgery for a little while.  Thanks Tom. 
[iPhone Image]

Monday

Stopped by a fast food restaurant this evening and saw this light. I took it handheld with my iPhone.  When I desaturated the image, I started hearing tunes to '50 detective TV shows in my head.  So that means I am either crazy or really liking this.

I keep wonder why I don't write anything that's really personal...

Tyler Puppy is going into surgery tomorrow morning so we spent a quiet evening with her in my lap-all 55+ pounds of her.   I have put her food up and now I am scared.  She'll be 14 in June and she's been a member of this family since she was 8 weeks old.  I cling to the Dr.'s words that she is healthy and prognosis is good.  Her chest x-ray is clear and her blood work clean.   Do me a favor if you can-pray for her.  She does deserve it.
[iPhone Image]

Headlights

The passenger headlight on my GP went out.  Normally I drive the Towncar so I did not notice it before Norman told me.  Friday I took it to Walmart to get it replaced-which was "Plan B" for Saturday's trip.  I was close by when the mechanic went to get parts, so I asked about which were the brightest ones he carried.  He showed me, and I had him replace both sides with those.   I went to visit family today and on the way home noticed how nice and bright they were.

Spring is Here-The Bluebonnets are Proof!

If I only get one image to post for the day, this one is it.  Beautiful day today, even with the early morning fog that prevented the launch.  Grass was that special kind of beautiful that only comes after a storm,  flowers were blooming.   Lime colored patina of pollen everywhere.   I wasn't affected by the pollen-yet.

The day started with the failed attempt to launch. The fog prevented a safe launch.  We did have our breakfast tailgate party though.  It is always great to be with people who love hot air balloons, they are a different breed.  Before we left, it was decided that by the time the fog lifted, the winds would be up and would be not be a good time to launch.

Tailgate Breakfast at Mathias Park, Bellville, TX

Next stop-Blue Bell Creameries in Brenham,  home of Blue Bell Ice Cream.  We always stop by to sample their wares.  Many are the memories of eating ice cream here are with the nieces and nephew While we can't really shoot inside the creamery, we did take a few shots outside.  Since my kitchen is all about cows, I bought a bright red cow apron.  I did not see it on the web site so I took a small photo.

Blue Bell Creameries

We next visited Washington on the Brazos, the birth place of Republic of Texas.  They have a great visitor's center. In this building the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Washington on the Brazos Historical Park

We did a lot of driving through back country roads.  People were uniformly friendly which is a good thing since Tom likes striking up conversations with complete strangers.  We did have an incident. We stopped to look at a herd of cows and they looked back.  They started sauntering towards the fence and I kept backing up.  Tom laughed so loudly over that.

Back Country Roads

We had a late lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Navasota.  I really want to come back to this town.  There are some great old buildings.

Navasota

[Film Scan FujiColor]

They Call Me Obsessive...

They call me obsessive for good reason.   Tomorrow at Oh-dark-thirty we are heading to Bellville, Texas for the Annual Pre-Easter Fly-in and Tailgate Breakfast Party!  The bluebonnets are starting to bloom, so I will start shooting them as well. We will be among friends who love hot air balloons!  We are expecting 10+ hot air balloons to be there. Horray for the Lone Star Hot Air Balloon Association!

Today I'm getting ready.  Plan B, if something happens to Tom is drive the Grand Prix so it has been topped off, washed and ready to go.  I have laid out the photo equipment I am taking, cleaning, charging, and packing it all into the travel case.   Laptop goes in backpack.

The plan is at 5:30 Tom gets to my home and we eat a quick breakfast (thinking of a Florentine-Benedict).  At 6, we hit Starbucks for our coffee order (our contribution to the cause).  Stop by the bakery for breakfast items for the tailgate party and onto the I-10.

Equipment I am currently planning on taking include:

Canon T90 w/ 24mm lens

Canon EOS w/ 24-105mm Macro Zoom

Nikon D70 70-300mm Zoom (28-70 backup)

Mamiya RZ67 w/ 100-200mm Zoom (120/220  backs, 180mm lens)

Manfroto Tripod
10 rolls 135  (FujiColor and Kodak)
6 rolls 120 (Kodak Portra)
6 rolls  220(Kodak Portra)
1 Pack Polaroid 669 Film
2 Roll Ilford
Seconic L758DR
Pentax  Spotmeter
Notepad (photo notes)

The goal is to shoot all the 135 and a lot of the MF.  Miss Glenda, my mother-in-law wants large prints for her dining room and I think it is such a good idea I want to put some in mine.

[iPhone Image]

April 1st - 32 Days and Counting

Never thought I'd make it 30 days...  Well 31 days in March and started with our zero-day post on the last day of February.  This is exciting for me because I am known for going months without shooting a single frame.  I have been the brunt of many of Tom's jokes, like saying I'd actually have to take pictures for me not to be happy with my photography.  So I am breaking this bad habit.

Today I had lunch with Crystal at Escalante's at the Town and Country Village.  She is a dear friend of 10 years or so-Tom introduced us.  She's a real go-getter.  The original plan was for us to have lunch at my home so I could cook, but she had a meeting and travel time would have cut into our schmoozing time.  She's very special and I too consider our schmoozing time important.  Meeting with her is definitely the highlight of my day.

So we went to Escalante's.  I did really well most of lunch-then ordered Tres Leches.  She asked if I really wanted it, giving me the opportunity to say, "No!" But I failed.  As you can see in the image, it was wonderful.  I did get it with two forks so we could pretend she was helping.

Note to self: I have to finish her pregnancy pictures before the triplets start driving!