Until Next Year

First off, the year is over and what a year it has been. I hope the new year is better than the last, people are healthier and people everywhere can find peace. Sure it is a stretch, but the hope is there none the less. 

Second my thoughts are with my cousin, a marine, who left today for his second tour of duty in Iraq. May he and all other military personal return safely. 

". . .Teenage Wasteland . . ."

The Who were honoured at the Kennedy Center Honors tonight. Listening to their music tonight brought back so many memories. Memories like being too small to reach the turntable but trying to put The Who's Who's Next (1971) on, then giving up and carrying the album to the nearest adult, even if I cannot remember who that was. I managed to see Tommy in London in 1996 while studying art history that summer at the same school Pete Townshend went to, the Ealing campus of Thames Valley University (formally Ealing Technical College & School of Art).

Tonight the goose bumps rose and the tears welt as the tribute was made to two of the most influential musicians, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend.

Kisses for Rocky

Rocky makes me laugh. 

He has to sit with me or next to me every night. 

He was also very interested in watching himself on the web cam.

Power Outages

There were such high winds today with 60+ mph gusts. My stepfather works at a local supermarket which lost power for about 6 hours. Over 2,000 people were out of power in the area and we lost power for a short period of time. I was told there was a lot of damage and debris in the streets and the winds, at one point, surpassed hurricane winds. We did not sustain much damage, but the boat was blown off its blocks in the yard and there are a lot of branches down. I had to run outside periodically throughout the day to catch things blowing around, like buckets, and secure them again. 

The temperature started at 63°F and ended at around 35°F. The cats were scared of the noise of falling branches on the roof. And then there were the two humans running to the window when there was a crash and/or a huge rush of wind.

Vacation

I am still home for 2 more weeks before the next semester begins. I have a lot to accomplish before I return, but not today. The weather was rainy yet we had record high temperatures, 58°F, but I was so damn tired from the snow shoveling, and chaos of the holidays that I did nothing but play video games and eat a couple of times. I do not even care how pathetic this sounds, I needed a break. 

It was nice, but back to business tomorrow.

Video Games

For the first time, maybe ever, I went shopping today to check out the sales. I ended up acquiring a used PS2 and a couple of games, 2 of the 3 games had multiple games, Atari remakes as this is my type of game. The other game was a fishing game, an ethical fishing game, but I have not figured how to cast and when I can I cannot figured out how to "catch" a fish. 

So much fun and brings back many memories of going to the arcade as a kid.

X-mas 2008

It was a mostly white X-mas, more like melty sludge, but there were snow flurries, until the sun came into view. We went to my younger brother's house to pick him up and give him our gifts. Then we all piled into our car and went to my Aunt, my Mother's sister, for dinner -- at 13:00. We all ate, drank, and talked for a bit then shot pool and played team foosball. Another gift exchange followed by a period of utter chaos, I will not disclose, then home again.

Another holiday which took weeks to prepare and hours to blast through.

X-mas Eve to remember

My grandparents, stepbrother, sister-in-law and niece came over for dinner and gift exchange. Right in the middle of dinner the whole area lost power. I managed to retrieve a battery lantern to which we continued the festivities until the power returned two hours later.  After coffee (is an electric coffee maker) everyone left and we were able to watch A Christmas Story and wrap the rest of the gifts for tomorrow.

Finished

We finally finished X-mas shopping for the 2008 shopping season. It snowed and was all around bad weather for so many days that at the first bit of better weather we ventured out into the chaos that is the holiday shopping season. With a bit of good luck it only took about 4.5 hours round trip; thru traffic and snow showers. Now we have to wrap everything and pick up the house a bit as, weather permitting, we are hosting X-mas eve festivities at our house. My niece, her parents (my older stepbrother and his wife) and my Grandparents (mother's side) will be gracing us with their presence. 

Winter Playground

After shoveling, yet again, I shoveled a path to the bird feeder (still in the garage due to high winds), then spread seed all over. Some of the regulars braved the frigid temperatures and actually played in the snow. The Dark-eyed Juncos were chasing each other and sliding down the sides of the path -- the path which is at least a foot and a half deep. It started snowing again and the seed was covered in places so the birds had to dig for their food. They looked so funny with snow around their beaks and then them shaking the snow off. Do not get me started on the perching birds in the trees or where ever they could find room, as they were so poofy, trying to stay warm.

Winter Solstice

I really wish I had something more to write about today, but I do not -- it is still snowing.  The wind is whipping through at about 25+mph (40 km/h) taking the 8°F (-13°C) temperature to about 13°F (-25°C). It has been useless to keep shoveling as the snow keeps blowing back, everywhere. So here I sit, with a sleeping kitty curled next to me, watching the National Geographic Channel and trying to stay warm.

Bird Count

Today was the 9th Annual Wilson-Lake Plains X-mas Bird Count.  With all the snow the turn out was poor. Almost all the regulars were a no show, but there were about 15 birds, representing 7 species [Dark-eyed Junco, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay and Common Crow, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker].

I am sure everyone will return soon.

X-mas Party

I was worried that we would not get to go to my younger brother's house X-mas party due to the intense snowstorm today. I do not think I exaggerate when I say we might have received two foot of snow. With some excellent driving through treacherous, unplowed, roads, we made it. Many families cancelled tonight.

We give my brother some of his presents and save the rest for X-mas day. He gives us our presents, to which I received a cookie jar and packaged cookies. He said if I really cannot use it I could always fill it with beer -- he is too amusing.

Soup

I have been watching Iron Chef every night for a few weeks now, and I actually started cooking a bit more. Tonight I decided, at the last moment, to make a scallion soup, inspired from an episode. I used a vegetable broth, added miso, and two scallions.

Delicious, truely tasty!!!

Off to watch another episode.

Digging out

When the snow stopped falling, about 5-6 inches accumulated in my driveway, well everywhere else too.  There was a bit of excitement outside this morning.  Our neighbour's aid parked in the street, in front of our house, and the plow truck could not travel along its normal course.  Going around the vehicle, the plow truck drops the plow and rips up part of the street around the sewer drain. If the vehicle was not parked where it was, the street would be fine and there would not have been so much heavy wet sludge-snow at the foot of the driveway and the street. 

After clearing the driveway (and the mess the plow truck left), I built a little snowman under an opening of our front Pine tree. I used bits of the asphalt left scattered in the street for buttons and a face, with tree branch bits found, in the shoved snow, for arms.

Water

Why is it when the house loses water, due to a water main break, that the need to use the bathroom, to the point of an emergency, occurs?  It is ridiculous really.

A few hours later the water is back on and we had the pleasure of running the faucets to get the air out of the lines.  The noise freaked out the kids, the cats, and the little one took a liking to the, briefly, unattended running faucet.

I am not surprised all this happened as it was down right frigid and we are going to get slammed with a snowstorm (with sleet, yuck!).

Iron Chef

I cannot express my utter happiness on the rerunning of Iron Chef originally called Ironmen of Cooking (料理の鉄人 Ryōri no Tetsujin). It is badly dubbed into English, but the fervor is still preserved. It matters not that they use ingredients I would never eat, but matters lay in the presentation achieved in the short amount of time they are given for a challenge.

がんばって

Vocation

"Oh, gentlemen, after all, perhaps I consider myself an intelligent man only because all my life I have been able neither to begin nor finish anything. Granted, granted I am a babbler, a harmless annoying babbler, like all of us. But what is to be done if the direct and sole vocation of every intelligent man is babble, that is, the intentional pouring of water through a sieve?"

Фёдор Миха'йлович Достое'вский
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky

Sales

I do not know anyone that does not like a sale. I am talking about 50% sales and bigger. I was in JoAnn Fabrics and some patterns were $1.99, originally $14.95-$16.95. I am not kidding. I also scooped up some remnant fabric, perfect for plushies. Coupons are also the best as we had one for, yes, 50% off. A great sale is a sale where one saves $160.00+ and only spend about $50.00, really.

Hand

Photo 231
2008 December 12

Adjacent Series cont.

Squeaky Feet
2008 November 17


Snow Clouds
2008 November 17

A then B

hours fly by
seasons change

leaves fall
flowers bloom
long sleeves
short pants
hot soup
ice tea
come
go

everything changes
only question
is when

fail
succeed
bare
concealed
dry
wet

drops

list
errands
a rainy day
bustling shoppers
dodge each other
in a silent dance
to get what they desired
with the least exchange
as the rain drops fell
washing away
today

Today I . . .

. . . shoveled some snow.
. . . cooked rolls.
. . . used new camera.
. . . ate some pizza (without cheese).
. . . read most of Genju no Seiza 3.
. . . did not do laundry.
. . . laughed at funny kitties.
. . . will cheer for the Buffalo Sabres.

Shopping

Ah, marathon X-mas shopping. We got an early start, a close parking spot, everything on the list, and some sushi (for me) for dinner. It was so cold, 15°F before the wind chill -- shopping was the best choice.

I bought another camera, an Oktomat, taking eight images in one frame.

Holiday Happening

The Niagara Wine Trail held its annual holiday event today, but it runs two weekends for a total of four days this year. There are twelve wineries, but we only visit 11 of them. There was seven of us in our party and it took us six and a half hours to complete. After getting dropped of we decided to order pizza, and had a bit more wine to wash it down.

Way to Go Buffalo!

Members of the Buffalo football team pose at midfield after their 42-24 victory over Ball State in the Mid-American Conference championship game at Ford Field in Detroit, Friday, Dec. 5, 2008.

source: Associated Press

P80

I have finally upgraded after 6 years of devotion from the 5700. Doubled in metapixels, quadrupled in zoom (with a wide angle) and capable of handling a 4 GB card. I can now work more easily in the RAW format.

I still to not intend to print any images.

Exams

Tis the season
of seemingly endless
exams,
papers,
and
projects.

Relish over
knowing
sleep is coming,
homework will subside,
and any sanity left
might return.

Wooden Chair

A chair in three pieces to show off its' repetitive nature as it sits alone, empty -- waiting for an occupant.

Holiday Shopping

I was shocked at the lack of people in stores today. Maybe we were just early and people were not home from work. There were a lot of cars on the roads, but traffic flowed at a "normal" pace. I prefer to shop online and only have to talk with the UPS person or USPS person. Sometimes, when one least expects it, an interesting character graces ones' presence. That was the highlight of today. A stranger, who did not seem like a stranger was talking to us, strangers from her point of view. Based on our conversation, I have a feeling our paths will cross again.