Tag: Valentine’s Day

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 14, 20238:48 pm

Love is Consequential

For Valentine’s Day, I share a card that my wife made me for Feb. 14, 2017. I keep it in the desk drawer on top of my computer, which in 2023 is Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio. The sentiment means much to me, and you can see some wear and tear from being moved about when my notebook is removed or replaced. Love is consequential, after all.

Annie adores this plush Yeti, which to me seems perfect way to show off her card craft. I also use the moment to give glimpse of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra‘s 108-megapixel camera. The Featured Image is straight from the smartphone—composed as shot and unaltered. Color is spot-on accurate and dynamic range satisfies. Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/40 sec, 23mm (film Equivalent); 8:05 p.m. PST, today.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 14, 20229:57 pm

Where Do You Hang Your Heart?

I saved the Featured Image, captured on Jan. 2, 2022 using Leica Q2, for Valentine’s Day. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/400 sec, 28mm; 9:43 a.m. PST. The tree rises above a utility […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 1, 20227:38 pm

Be Mine

The menacing palm that you met in April 2021 dresses in holiday-appropriate attire, like Uncle Sam garb for Fourth of July. Now he’s ready for Valentine’s Day in 13 days and has been at least since I captured the Featured Image on Jan. 4, 2022. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/4, ISO 100, 1/640 sec, 28mm; 2:04 p.m. PST.

Composed as shot, the moment comes from Leica Q2. If you live in, or visit, San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood, you can see this terrifying tree on North Avenue between Meade and Monroe.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 14, 20219:46 pm

A Valentine’s Day Story

A favored walking route from Old Trolley Barn Park is the alley between Alabama and Florida streets. Occasionally, Pace (pronounced paw-chay, according to his owner) appears—and, on some days, Coon or Ghost (both nicknames) in an adjacent, expansive yard. Today, I passed by a woman either emptying recyclables or trash (not sure which) and she wished: “Happy Valentine’s Day”. She was cheerful, which emotion a higher-pitch voice accentuated. Her apartment overlooks the alley, and she recognized me from looking out her windows on other days.

The 35-year-old Salt Lake City native has resided in San Diego for about a decade. We talked about the terrible expense of living here, mainly housing, which she offsets by having a roommate and adopting a minimalist lifestyle. Governor Gavin “Gruesome” Newsom’s several SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 lockdowns put her on unemployment twice, which led her to become entrepreneurial, rather than depressed and destitute. Adapting her mom’s recipe, she bakes and sells chocolate chip cookies by the dozen—$15 a box.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 14, 20196:01 am

The Cats of University Heights: Valentine

Some kitties pull your heartstrings—to somber notes—as did this black and white seen yesterday along Campus Avenue, at the same property where lives the grey that I call Blue. The putty-tat earns its nickname for the day being profiled and for me thinking when looking at its face: “Be mine”, like the text on one of those candy hearts.

Valentine also has the distinction of being the first cat appearing in the series shot using the Fujifilm GFX 50R, which I received four days ago, and Fujinon GF63mmF2.8 R WR lens. Vitals for the Featured Image: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/70 sec, 63mm; 9:13 a.m. Same for the other, but 1/100 sec.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 14, 201912:01 am

Candy Crush

If you believe the Wall Street Journal (and some other news outlets), “No One’s Making Sweethearts This Year, Crushing Lovers of Valentine’s Day Candy“. NECCO (New England Confectionery Company), the manufacturer behind the confection, closed its doors in 2018. Sweethearts’ new brand owner, Spangler Candy Company, hopes to have production lines ramped up for Valentine’s Day 2020, but existing supplies are limited for this year. Hehe, good thing this stuff has long shelf life.

Given the Sweethearts shortages, I was surprised to see a bowl of the candies strategically placed between the cosmetic and jewelry sections inside Macy’s Fashion Valley. Shouldn’t there be a security guard to protect these precious commodities from smash-and-grab robbers rushing the bowl? I imagine a sitcom plot where an attempted jewelry case robbery is merely a distraction for stealing Sweethearts instead.