Cali nestles into the kitchen IKEA rack. Happy Caturday!
Category: Living
Cali Poses
In the daylight, I got a couple good snaps of Cali, in another off-the-cuff X100T test. One shot is from the perch and the other from the fridge. The first is Macro, by accident, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO 2500. The other (right) is f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO 1250. Full-size shots are available from my X100T Flickr set, or, separately, here and here.
I am a bit grumbly about choosing the X100T over the X-T1 this morning. Fuji will release on December 18 a firmware update that adds most of the features that swayed me to choose the X100T, which arrived about 21 hours ago. This is good customer service, though, for existing owners, and I won’t forget the benefit. I complain today, but long term it’s way to go, Fuji.
Someone Wake Me From This Nightmare of Black Friday Sales Gluttony
Cough. Choke. Collapse. That’s me nearly needing the Heimlich maneuver during breakfast while looking over Samsung Black Friday deals. You can preorder them. Seriously. What the frak is that?
The routine started all so innocently. Samsung sent a promo email, and I curiously clicked the picture of a Chromebook and “Reserve Computing Deals”. You can, today—as in right this very minute—preorder either Samsung Chromebook 2 for assured savings ($20 or $50) between November 27 and December 1 for one and until the 27th for the other. I understand that Black Friday is late-month this year, but, c`mon, beat me with a sack of cash, sales preorders?
Neko and Cali Perch
Peace is possible in our time.
What the Hell is a Biter?
Not long ago, I considered myself still tapped into popular vernacular. I am a people and culture junkie, after all. But today, three barbers showed how clueless and out of touch is this 55 year-old man. I’m not sure which depresses more, the realization or confessing it.
My barber personalizes his workspace with Jack Daniels jars and other signature items described but I couldn’t see. Hey, he takes off my glasses to cut what little hair I have, and my vision blows without them. His coworker in the next chair complained about another guy who comes in to buy hair-cutting supplies and selfies in front of my barber’s chair space. The evidence is on Instagram.
A Storyteller Returns (Or So I Hope)
One of my favorite bloggers is photographer Carl Rytterfalk, whose voice silenced several years ago. But in a post overnight (in my time zone) he asks: “Am I back?” That’s a good question, which answer is complicated.
“In February 2013 my life changed dramatically with the early birth of my son who was born with the rare and somewhat difficult chromosome disorder named Trisomy 9 mosaic”, he writes about his absence. “Since William was born I’ve been using Facebook instead of rytterfalk.com and I think it should be the other way around. So I’m trying to convince myself that it’s ok for a while to post more from life and when ready—about photography, too”.
A Veteran’s Day Story
I took my father-in-law to IKEA for lunch today. He prefers to eat there, but never on Sunday because the store is so busy. The eatery is by far the most hectic area, with little kids running round and little seating to pick from. He had asked me to choose where to dine, and I decided to challenge the masses. The man also likes a good deal, and the retailer advertised free food for Veterans from November 9 to 11. But we got something better: A cashier’s thoughtfulness.
My father-in-law was 18 years-old when Germany invaded Poland and set World War II in motion. The young man started his active military career in 1943; he already was a reservist because of ROTC. Seventy-one years later, the elder gent is reluctant to discuss his service—and he is no fan of war movies.
Tween and Her Mac
I shot this 10 year-old photo (July 2004) with Nikon D70, which is a classic. Among all the digicams ever held in my hands, the the 5MP shooter produced some of the sharpest, and most-satisfying […]
Sunday Morning Playlist
In another life I was a music deejay. Many years later, my tastes are eclectic and rock/pop punk current. Working on any weekend requires just the right mixtape to flush creativity from aging synapses. Classic […]
My Uninsured Life
I am supposed to be sitting in a movie theater watching Interstellar. The plan was in place for months. Instead, I write this post, which is commentary on health insurance in America. The two things are strangely connected, if in this or any other universe such seemingly disparate relationships are random. What’s that saying about a butterfly flapping its wings?
Here’s a nut graph, so you can decide whether to read further or stop here: America’s healthcare system is broken. Free-market forces cannot work. The 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act laid the framework for healthcare monopolies, which nearly 70 years later act like cartels, in defiance of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act. The Affordable Care Act raises healthcare costs, while managing the monopolies rather than eliminating them. As such, the free-market forces that should stimulate competition and drive down prices are stymied.
The Cats are Better Together
Sharing the cat tree is a huge breakthrough for Cali and Neko.
Maine Decides Whether to Shoot Bear Like Ducks in a Barrel
On this election day, I long to be back in Maine, so that I could vote on the initiative to ban bear barrels. It’s a practice unfamiliar to me. I grew up in a family of hunters, which killed for sport and food. They tracked the animals, not lured them with sweet throwaways.
I only learned about the referendum this morning, from a news story in my RSS feeds. National Geographic violates Betteridge’s Law of Headlines by asking question: “Should We Bait Black Bears With Doughnuts?” I am embarrassed for being so out of touch with important issues and politics in the Pine Tree State—they matter to family there, and to me. I may be long-time removed, but Maine will always be home. I identity myself as a Mainer, more than by any other measure.