Categories
Plants

By any other name

I do love roses. I know that the orchid is more exotic, and the daffodil more egalitarian; the tulip more proud, and the sunflower more bold; the daisy is more shy and the iris much sexier, while the carnation fills buttons the world over. And how can I forget the buttercup and dogwood, or the rhododendron that provides the only color in areas bleak and gray. There are a thousand, thousand other blooms to choose from, and the rose so ordinary…but I do love its promise.

O my luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my luve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun:
O I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve,
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my luve,
Though it were ten thousand mile.

Hee. Who else? Robert Burns

Categories
Photography

Camera tricks

I did manage to get some fairly decent photos today. Using the speedlight white balance helped, though I wish I could figure out what is causing that odd blinking symbol to show in my camera’s preview – it’s not mentioned in any Nikon 995 article or manual. Whatever is happening, plays havoc with the focus. If you have any guesses, please drop me a note.

Thanks to Sheila Lennon who helped me identify that odd tiny little oval symbol as the ‘date not set’ indicator. Yeah, I know: Shelley! Duh!

I set the date when I bought the camera, and haven’t touched it since. However, I must have unset it somehow in all my tinkering around. It was one thing I just didn’t think to check.

Nice to eliminate the blinking, and thanks much to Sheila. Unfortunately, focus is still screwy and white balance is off (now, these menu options I am familiar with) but it does okay for photos here to the weblog. Good! More bandwidth sucking pages, just for you all!

Anyway, with patience and a lot of missed shots, some water lily photos – thanks to Rev Matt, who turned me on to them.

True, a rose and not a water lily – but you have to embrace the roses when you can; before they’re gone and all you’re left is a stick in the mud, the ghost of a scent on the breeze, and a pansy at hand…if you’re lucky.

Categories
Weblogging

Disclaimer: I can be bought

Both David Weinberger and Frank Paynter reference a bizarre posting about issuing disclaimers on who pays for the blog.

Mr. Weinberger took it seriously, but I prefer Mr. Paynter’s response:

You people have got to be kidding. Conflict of interest? Disinterest is more like it. Who cares who pays for my blog anyway?

Hmmm, I am begging for a new camera–does that count? As for hosting, through the kindness of friends my weblog hosting was paid for last year, though I did share space with a group of really interesting people (it is true what they say about poets, the poetic at heart, and other strange people).

Currently I’m now covering all my hosting expenses. However, I can be bought; you can buy me for a very reasonable price.

update

I think perhaps I should put a caveat on the word “bought”.

Categories
Photography

Water lilies

I am off to take photos of water lilies at the Gardens and Tower. I’ll take film camera, as well as digital, and if any of the digital work out, will post later.

I grabbed the photo below, last week. Sunset over St. Louis. Best viewed with Route 66 or Walker Evans stylesheets.

Sunset

The water lilies at Busch Conservation Area should be exploding with color by the end of the week.

Categories
Diversity Technology

Differences of humor

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Sam Ruby has posted a note about the upcoming Applied XML Conference put on by Chris Sells.

When I looked at the agenda and realized that the conference managed to put together two days worth of presentations without one woman speaker, I was moved to note in comments at Sam’s:

For entertainment, is the conference going to bring in strippers and see if they validate?

Personally, I thought it was funny. Sam didn’t and pulled the comment. Isn’t this environment a tough one when it comes to figuring out what each sex considers objectionable?

update

Sam left a comment saying he didn’t delete my comment. My mistake, Sam, sorry for saying you did.

So does this mean you think this comment is funny after all?