Tag: Leica Q2

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 6, 20219:10 pm

It’s Analog Time

Four days ago, the Automatic Sport Timer 0921 arrived from Luminox. This isn’t my first watch from the company. I previously owned the A.1847 Field Chronograph (2011), the A.1848 Field Chronograph (2012), and the 3187 Navy Seal (2013-15). I loved them all, but let each go during periods of financial uncertainty and to test various smartwatches. The new timepiece replaces the Apple Watch Series 5 retired on May 31, 2021.

The 0921 is my second automatic mechanical watch, joining the TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 7 Twin-Time acquired three years ago next month. Both represent simplification, as I seek to minimize distractions and maximize attention—change precipitated in part by an aging brain. My short-term memory isn’t as reliable as younger me, although I am still plenty mentally sharp just not as quick.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 5, 20219:21 pm

Well, Stone the Crows

And I am so glad this bird isn’t a raven (gulp, unless I misidentified, which easily could be). I’ve been humming Stevie Wonder song “Superstition” since the sighting earlier today and only while writing made the subconscious mental connection: Ravens as forebears of bad luck, or worse. But I’m not really superstitious—or wouldn’t be if not for the odd encounter.

While walking along Madison, approaching the alley between North and Campus in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights, the flyer landed on a fence beside me. He seemed to want something, and I wondered if perhaps people feed him. Of course, the encounter could have been, uh-hum, an omen. The bird perched long enough for me to step back, pull out Leica Q2, and compose two shots (changing aperture between) before flying off.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 4, 20219:33 pm

Cheerful, But Serious

I don’t recall seeing this friendly graffiti yesterday—or the day before. I walk past the intersection of Adams and Florida often enough that surely my ever-roving eyes would have seen something and registered so in aging synapses. New or not, zooming in on the Featured Image suggests that the message wasn’t painted but slapped on and glued (look to the apparent air-bubbles typical of paper pressed onto a surface).

Maybe coincidence, or not, the flower is opposite the alley location where I found the “Yellow Peril Supports Black Power” protest placard two days ago. You got to wonder if something—person(s) and/or event—connects the two. The utility box is outside the Adams Substation, which is visible behind, located in San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 3, 20217:56 pm

In the Shade

Most of the Southwest is under a severe heat advisory, with temperatures in mountainous locales, like Julian, reaching 29 degrees Celsius (84 F), which is way above normal. Borrego Springs is currently 39 C (102 […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 2, 20218:42 pm

The Discarded Sentiment

What demonstration marched through the neighborhood unbeknownst to me? While walking with my wife through the alley separating Alabama and Florida streets, I stopped to wonder about the forlorn placard that is the Featured Image. I captured a single photo using Leica Q2. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 4:33 p.m. PDT, today.

The message piqued my interest—and as a photographic object, I liked the mood created by bands of light shining through the fence. For your edification (and mine), according to Wikipedia: Yellow Peril “is a racist color-metaphor that represents the peoples of East Asia as an existential danger to the Western world”. Yikes!

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 1, 20219:45 pm

The Last Days of Apple Watch

Today I put aside the Apple Watch Series 5 (cellular) purchased in September 2019. I long considered taking such action but hesitated, knowing that if (or when) wearing stopped there would be an unrecoverable break in the activity tracked and logged in the Fitness app. Criminally egotistical as it may be, I relished the consistent achievement of my exercise, calorie, and movement goals. That’s the problem: the smartwatch provided little other meaningful benefits, and I long ago adopted a daily routine that needed no tracking to maintain.

I realized that the wrist computer had come to give me a little dopamine kick—or something like it—that obsessed Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok users get from checking their posts for comments, likes, and other reactions. A glance would reveal my pulse, which typically is in the low fifties when I’m not active; that made me feel good. Then there was Pavlovian-like preoccupation with starting (and ending) activities like walking in the Fitness app. What’s the outside air temperature? Twist the wrist. Who sent that text message? Twist again. “What are my active calories?” Twist and tap.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 31, 202110:46 pm

Say Hello to My iPad Pro M1

The month ends with a new tablet—11-inch iPad Pro M1, 16GB RAM, 1TB storage, WiFi + cellular—purchased yesterday online, picked up today at Apple Store. I chose the silver variant simply because it was in stock. My wife inherits the previous generation model—same screen size, storage, and wireless—that I acquired nearly 14 months ago. That one replaces her 9.7-inch iPad Pro (256GB WiFi) released in 2016 and bought in November of that year.

Given my concerns about the economy, inflation, and supply chain problems, the Wilcox household is upgrading computing hardware a little sooner than would be typical; Apple’s new M1 chip makes the timing marginally good for future-proofing.

For Annie’s birthday, last week I replaced her 2018 model MacBook Air with the 2021-release 13.3-inch MacBook Pro M1 (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD). The laptop is more powerful than she needs, but we could share in a pinch and I expect the loaded config to retain higher resale value should we want, or need, to sell before the next expected upgrade—when the AppleCare+ warranty expires in three years.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 28, 20218:28 pm

The Sunflower Rises

The house where lived Pepe—and Levi may still be—changed for the better during the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The family homeschools now, and that was a decision prompted in part […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 27, 20218:09 pm

The House Collection

Here’s another reason to like what my wife and I call the “1917 House“, for its street number. Today we walked past this mini-makeshift neighborhood along the property’s wall adjacent to the sidewalk. I had […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 24, 20219:19 pm

Stand Off!

Temperature rose to 25 degrees Celsius (77 F) today in San Diego. As we walked about during early afternoon, I suggested going along Louisiana and perhaps sighting some kitties lounging about. My wife smartly observed that any sensible animal would be sleeping during the heat of the day. But as we crossed Mission moving towards Monroe, cries of something stirred our eardrums. “Are those babies?” Annie asked. Nope. They were felines fiercely yowling, practically nose to nose.

I immediately recognized the animals: Ash and Bandit, both of which were profiled in my “Cats of University Heights” series. Annie and I were on the opposite side of the street; capturing the Featured Image meant crossing part ways and shooting without disturbing the already disturbed beasts. In the two minutes that we observed, and I photographed, them, the two males maintained a stand off. If their territorial dispute ended in a fight, we didn’t witness it. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/8, ISO 200, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 1:50 p.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 23, 20218:38 pm

The Flower Power House Goes Dark

This is unexpected. The flower power house that I photographed on April 8, 2021 and posted here three weeks ago has gone black—as you can see from the Featured Image taken today, using Leica Q2. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/7.1, ISO 100, 1/250 sec, 28mm; 9:38 a.m. PDT.

Obviously, some kind of renovation is underway, which the mural made lively—and that was a refreshing sight in a neighborhood where the clank, clank, clank of construction obliterates the soothing chatter of birds and occasional caw of crows. In these dark days of segregation and tribalism, fueled in part by so-called social justice warriors and their opponents, the repainting is a mood metaphor. Someone cancelled the expressive art. So let’s stretch it all into a symbol of cancel culture.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 15, 202110:06 pm

Pandemic Pollution

What a difference a year makes. In April 2020, when SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2), which causes COVID-19, seemed so dire and face masks were so difficult to find, I wrote about the perils of not wearing one—illustrated with a rare, discarded protective covering. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that vaccinated individuals no longer need to wear masks, or social distance, in most situations—meaning: “except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance”.

Long before the unexpected change to pandemic public policy, just two days ago, face masks could be found littered all about the County. San Diego Union-Tribune spotlighted the debris along beaches in July 2020; early last month, ABC News reported that “discarded masks litter beaches worldwide, threaten sea life“; the local CBS affiliate, reporting about the April 24, 2021 “19th-annual ‘Creek to Bay Clean-up'”, explained that there has been a surge in ‘single-use plastics”— and the “biggest offender? PPE [Personal Protective Equipment], especially masks”.