Photo 365 Project - Oh Hai

After almost loosing the cat, I thought I'd update everyone. Her location is known. In this case, she greeted us when we got home, almost like she was saddling up to a bar to tell a tale or hear where we had been.

Photo 365 Project - Rainy Commute

Diffley Road made an appearance in the Photo 365 project on a sunny day, here's a rainy day comparison shot.

Photo 365 Project - Sigg Explosion

Sigg metal water bottles come with a warning that says not to freeze them. Someone who shall remain nameless (not me) ignored the warning, and this is the result.

Photo 365 Project - Cat Nap

This is the cat I almost lost. Although, that might not be the right term; she wasn't lost, I just didn't know where she was. She probably didn't care. My wife disagrees with the cat on that point. I was grilling a burger, my wife was out shopping- instantly you see I had no plausible deniability. The cat, being a sly beast in spite of her cow-ish running style while on a hardwood floor, used her invisibility cloak to scamper onto the deck while I was distracted by my quarter pounder with cheese work in progress.

Hours later, I notice the furry little beggar hasn't stopped by to demand the attention normally lavished on a queen of her stature. Thus began the search. It was dark outside, and she wasn't to be found anywhere inside. After much flash-light shining and kissy-noise making (does that ever work?) I noticed a dark apparition sprinting up the stairs to the deck where I stood pondering the darkness and how much trouble I was in for not noticing the cat's departure sooner (sooner as in, seconds after she left the deck). The apprarition drew closer, moving very cat like and now clearly fur covered, but appeared to be gray. I thought for a moment the wrong wandering cat had returned home and my wife was not going to accept this as a substitute.

Alas, it was a trick of the light (I mentioned it was dark out?) and the returning cat turned out to be the one who had covertly egressed earlier. I welcomed her back in the house, announced to the wife that I had found her (some liberty with the facts, perhaps).

And the cat laid down for a nap.

Truth in posting statement: All the above is true. The events however took place on the day after I took this picture, which was the day before I wrote this post. Isn't space-time a grand construct?

Photo 365 Project - Fallout 3

I was given Fallout 3 as a gift at Christmas last year and haven't been gaming much all year long. I'm digging back in now and finding it to be excellent. Its a bit like reading a novel, except there is a lot more work involved in extracting the story. This is a huge game, I've read reviews that rate it at about 300 hours (not sure if that is straight through or including some number of the side-quests available (optional activities, story lines, and subplots that don't directly advance you towards the end of the game but still provide experience, rewards, and entertainment).

I'm playing on an XBox 360. The controller shown has an optional keyboard attached, great for messaging but doesn't get used in this game- it just looks cool with the back light turned on so I thought I'd include it in the photo.

Photo 365 Project - Missed Day (7/17)

It finally happened. I forgot to take a picture. Now the question becomes; does the Photo 365 project continue until 365 photos or taken, or just ends when day 365 is hit regardless of the number of days missed?

I'm thinking the later. An occasional missed picture doesn't significantly degrade the idea of visually capturing daily life.

Photo 365 Project - Little Ceasars

One of the ideas I had for carrying out this "Photo a day" concept was to snap of picture of things that jumped out at me. This photo is an example of that. Lately I've been driving by this Little Caesar's on my way to work. The little dude on the side of the building jumped out at me, so I took a picture as a backup in case I didn't get anything else during the day.

Photo 365 Project - Cat Sabotages Robot

This is the dock where the robot vacuum goes to recharge after it gets done vacuuming the house. The rolled up pad in front of the dock, clearly blocking the way, is property of the cat (its a scratching pad for exercising her claws- and taking out agresssion). Apparently she decided to try a different form of aggression-relief by sabotaging the robot's attempts to return to its dock.

The robot was found not far away, resting with a dead battery. Its programming tells it to continue to vacuum and reattempt docking from a different angle until all energy is consumed.

Photo 365 Project - Summer Wild Grass

Another backup picture. The view is clear in the summer here, outside a coffee shop where I stop in the morning. Just some wild grass plantings to break up the field of green. In about 5 months, this parking lot will be buried in snow and snowbanks will cover the little median where the grass blows in the breeze today. Maybe I'll grab a comparison photo then.

Photo 365 Project - Painting Water Tower

Painting a water tower is a big job. The sandblasting and paint application process in this modern age of eco-protection includes draping the tower in fabric sheets to prevent the sandblasting residue (and new paint too) from drifting over the neighborhood.

It also makes the tower look a bit like something Pink Floyd would have used on an album cover.

Photo 365 Project - Church Key

Another last minute jump out of bed and take a picture photo. This one is the best prize so far in the Old Chicago World Beer Tour. Prizes are given at various numbers of beers on the way to 110 (a complete tour). This was the prize at completing 40 beers (over the course of months, not in a single day!).

Photo 365 Project - Bunny

Just a little bunny foo-foo, hoping along to see-you (more likely 'evade you'). He's small and blending into the background quite well.

Photo 365 Project - New Belgium

The New Belgium Tour de Fat was in town today. More in honor of the use of the phrase "Beligum!" in lieu of expletive in DNA books, I give you a New Belgium Beer sign hanging in our local "B-Dubs" (slang for Buffalo Wild Wings).

Photo 365 Project - 48 Minutes

A near miss. I was falling asleep and realized I hadn't taken a photo. Having already resorted to posting a picture of my Kindle when a similar thing happened a couple weeks ago, I decided this was as good as any. Consider it a placeholder for a missed shot...by 48 minutes.

Photo 365 Project - Ditch Flowers

The little yellow weeds are in bloom. Another backup photo taken while on the way to work "Just in case" I didn't get anything better later in the day.

Photo 365 Project - Still Pond

An hour or so before this picture was taken a young buck and doe were tearing through our neighborhood. The buck launched himself into the air to clear a small berm of dirt and fence leading into the abandoned golf course (Carriage Hills, soon to be Stone Haven) I mentioned in a previous post. It seems the construction is stirring up the animals. Of course all I could think as I watched the buck and doe skitter across the road was "there is no way I can get my camera out to catch this", and I was right. The picture I did get was of a dark cluster of trees and shrubs that the doe, much more dainty in her approach to the golf course, had just disappeared into.

So, awesome photo op blown, I settled for a still pond photo. As I was taking this it occurred to me that one thing these "photo a day" pictures will give me are examples of how a picture could be improved. This one needs a bit of work, but it does capture the honest truth of what a pond looks like on a hot hazy day as the sun goes down behind some clouds. No crystal clear water, the pond plant life is teaming this time of year. No serene background that goes on for miles, this pond is nestled in a suburb of 60,000 people. No white sandy beach, that is real brown sand and clay, with some broken branches from the last storm laying in the foreground.

Still, a nice pond.

Photo 365 Project - Best Buy Sign

This is a picture that just didn't turn out. The Best Buy store in our town is a pretty new one. The exterior design includes a rakish point in deep blue shooting up into the sky adding some color and flair to an otherwise squarish "big box" brown brick building. The yellow Best Buy tag logo, set at an angle is positioned jauntily on the field of blue.

Sounds great, but the picture was snapped as I was trotting into the store, too close to take it all in and with the sunset glinting off my phone it was hard to see what I got. Maybe a re-do is in order.

Photo 365 Project - Sweat Test

I remember when I had to ride my bike up hill, both ways, to school in the snow. We had it rough then... Probably heard that one before. This wasn't up hill both ways, it wasn't in the snow either. It was on a bike. And it was 80% humidity. And it was a sweat test. It was also a last minute "oh, crap, I haven't taken a picture yet today and by the time I get back from this bike ride it will be dark!"

Photo 365 Project - Witch Wisdom

I know, the fourth of July and no patriotic picture. I was walking through a parking lot and took this picture as a back up, just in case I didn't get anything else. Obviously it was a good idea, since the backup picture made it. I left the place where this was taken and forgot to get the 'other' picture I was planning. Maybe that one will get taken on another day. For now, some advice regarding witches.

Photo 365 Project - Canterbury Paddock

It was a hot and hazy day, that shows a bit in this picture (the streaks of sunlight are streaming through the humidity). This is the paddock at Canterbury Downs, celebrating their 25th anniversary with free admission. Horse racing is a seasonal thing here, with the season going from sometime in May to sometime in August.