On Easter Sunday, which this year also was April Fools, I walked the neighborhood, practice manual focusing with the Leica M (Typ 262) and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens. Morla the tortoise was out and about, too. […]
The Cats of University Heights: Snow
The second of three consecutive Window cats—and nineteenth out of 152 putty-tat profiles to date—is another white. My wife and I spotted this handsome looker on March 19, 2018 along Louisiana Street between Meade and […]
The Cats of University Heights: Holiday
This place is going to feel like a real meowy beastie blog, while the backlog of photographed but not featured felines clears away. Apologies, I got behind posting to the series while furnishing my daughter’s new apartment. Four of them look out from glass, like today’s wonderful white, who is the eighteenth behind a window—and unbelievably the sixteenth sighted on Alabama Street. Monkey, who recently passed away, lived on the same block. Laramie, Lupe, and Smokey remain residents.
I waited weeks to profile the kitty that earns nickname Holiday, seeing that it’s April and a Christmas wreath still hangs on his owner’s door. Somebody often cracks a window for Holiday, who is a fixture when days are sunny and warm. I held back the profile hoping to meet his caretaker(s) and get a name. I first photographed the cat on February 17, 2018. That’s long enough ago to abandon the quest and move onward.
Hey, Brownie
Two days ago, when crossing El Cajon Blvd., my wife and I spotted something surprising at the corner of Mississippi Street. We put down our groceries and snapped some quickies—she with iPhone X and me […]
The Cats of University Heights: Sebastian, Too
Meet the second Sebastian to appear in the series. The first lives near the Vermont Street Bridge, which is more than a mile (1.6 km) from his namesake, who romps with two other kittens around a home on Mississippi between El Cajon and Meade. One of them, Persepolis, posts simultaneously but separately.
Sebastian and his mates were adopted together, which wasn’t the owners’ original plan. But the three were obviously a bonded set, having been fostered together, and they couldn’t conscientiously be separated.
The Cats of University Heights: Persepolis
The series is way behind, based on the number of furballs photographed but waiting to be profiled. My apologies for the break. During the past two weeks, I was occupied setting up my daughter’s new apartment. But that project is finished. Whew. Let’s resume with the first of three kittens, living on Mississippi between Meade and El Cajon Blvd.
Persepolis is this handsome ginger’s real name. Companion Sebastian posts simultaneously but separately. Hopefully soon, their mate Lilly will join the series, whenever I capture a better portrait (She was too quick, and I too slow with the camera).
Decorating Shabby Chic
While my daughter was away for two weeks, I furnished her new apartment, which was a fun exercise. I decided to go vinatge, buying several semi-matching Shabby Chic-style pieces—the majority from local store Loveseat.
The Featured Image is Molly’s nearly completed living room; a few additional accents are not shown here. She already had the phonograph player and guitar—earlier Christmas and birthday presents, respectively; I added most of the rest, including the picnic basket and painted box, with a few exceptions like the painting. The lamp, light, and chair are from IKEA.
The Only North Face They’ll Ever Climb
Our kitties Neko and Cali love to sleep on my North Face sleeping bag, which we keep for them on the spare bed in the office. Typically they take turns sleeping there. The two together […]
A Garbage Story
Human behavior perplexes me. This morning while walking towards the Sprouts market, here in San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood, I observed a grey-haired woman stop walking to pick up a discarded cigarette carton; a wide-brim hat obscured her face. I smiled and thought: “Good for her! How commendable”.
But she soon followed community-minded behavior with inexplicable action. The lady tossed the thing into foliage alongside the sidewalk. Surely, I misunderstood—but, no, her right hand was empty. So much for the goodwill of grabbing unsightly refuse and disposing in a garbage can—which wasn’t more than 46 meters (50 yards) further along. Passing the spot of the drop, I could see other trash.
The Cats of University Heights: Apple
What other nickname could I possibly give this fine feline than Apple? Luckily somebody isn’t putting paws to keyboard. Eh? Among the 148 kitty profiles since the series started in October 2016, Apple is the seventeenth behind a window. But the first sighting was beyond a door, few weeks back—and I almost tried to get a portrait then. But distance and rudness shooting deep inside the apartment kept my finger from the shutter. Hehe, but not yesterday.
I captured the Featured Image and its companion at 3:48 p.m PDT, along Mississippi Street between Adams and Madison, using Leica M (Typ 262) with Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens. Vitals for both, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/2000 sec, 50mm. I shot the second photo first and the other immediately after, when Apple turned. The closeup is a crop; the longer-distance portrait is framed by the window edges. I let Adobe Lightroom Classic CC auto-adjust both.
My Leica M (Typ 262) Adventure Begins
I am no fan of Daylight Saving Time, which commenced today. Grumble. But warm breeze and sunlight pouring through billowing clouds, following heavy rains, made me want to walk—and carry along the Leica M (Typ 262); I need to practice manual focusing on the camera, which has been in my possession for a scant three days.
While the rangefinder pleases, a few gripes are unavoidable: Either my focusing skills are really bad, or the Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens that came with the Oberwerth Set isn’t as sharp as the Summilux 28mm f/1.7 lens built into Leica Q. The aperture ring is a bit too smooth for me, such that I inadvertently change the f-stop when moving the manual focus knob. Someday, soon hopefully, muscle memory will keep stray fingers off the Summarit lens. What did I say about the importance of practice? Eh?
The Cats of University Heights: Bob
The morning is unusually cloudy and damp here in San Diego as this otherwise fine Caturday unfolds. Meet Bob (real name), whom I encountered on March 7, 2018 along Cliff Street, where he lives. Initially, I thought he was the putty-tat I call Finny, from nearby Adams Ave., but closer photo inspection reveals they are not the same animal.
A woman taking her daughter to school gave me Bob’s name, and she said that he belongs to one of her neighbors. He surely is a friendly puss. Bengal Abby also lives somewhere on the street. She will appear in the series when I finally capture a portrait worthy of her beauty. Currently, I am zero for four attempts.