December, 20, 2005 archives

unlike the last one, this photo is not retouched or enhanced in any way. sometimes life doesn’t need an “enhance” button.

i got lucky this morning — i noticed dawn was breaking, popped open my window to see what i could capture, spotted these birds circling over little tokyo, and managed to grab a few awesome shots of them. here’s another of the birds against the orange sky, and one with a little bit of little tokyo visible. finally, a shot of dawn over little tokyo and city hall at dawn.

i leave for minnesota (late) tonight, so when i get back next week i should have some pictures that aren’t taken from my usual window perch. if i don’t freeze to death taking them.

the big sleep isn’t the film i was supposed to watch last night — it was supposed to be the big sleep, but the wrong version was in the envelope. i’ve seen the bogart/bacall version before, and was curious to see what the 1970s london take on the story was like. now i’ll have to wait for the right version to be sent, but the bogart/bacall version will be more fresh in my mind so i can compare the two.

i finished off a bottle of trader joe’s coastal cabernet sauvignon 2004 along with the movie (and dinner), and it wasn’t terrible for a $4 bottle of wine. but it wasn’t great, either.

and yes, using a telephoto lens to take that wine bottle picture was totally gratuitous.

sourcery by terry pratchett is the fifth discworld book. the story sort of collapses at the end, and it feels like some elements (plot and characters) are sketchier and not as fully realized as they could have been. but it is frequently laugh-out-loud funny, and that makes up for a lot.

i had a vague idea of being more clever this december, but as i see the time on the month tick away, the obvious choice of the marine toys for tots foundation has become the easiest way out.

“have a merry christmas, a happy hanukkah, a kwaazy kwanzaa, a tip-top tet, and a solemn, dignified, ramadan.” — krusty the clown