Photo of the Day, 3/16/2010

This is an update from my last PotD. In case noone was able to identify the building, the photo that I posted was of the big ornate bronze (?) doors on the entrances to the Wachovia Bank building. Now that I work nearby, I walk past that building on a regular basis, and my eyes are always drawn to the details on the front of the building. Almost daily, I stare up at the building and notice something new about it.

So imagine my dismay when I heard on the evening news that there was a fire on the mezzanine level last night. It's now being reported as an electrical fire. But in under an hour, the fire burned so hot that it destroyed some of the windows on the front of the building. It's just so sad to see something of such beauty so damaged. I'm sure that they'll be able to repair the damage, but some parts of the building and the facade are just irreplaceable.




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Photo of the Day (Week? Month?), 3/4/2010

Kudos to anyone who can identify this building.




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What ever happened to the Photos of the Day?

So... I've been really lazy/lax about posting pictures. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, Sometimes I just haven't been in the mood to take pictures. Second, I came up with this idea because I wanted to get more practice using my new D40, but it's impractical for me to have it with me all of the time. And my camera phone and pocked-sized point-and-shoot camera don't really cut it for me. Don't get me wrong -- they're great to have on me for spur-of-the-moment photography, but as I'm trying to think more and more about composition, and picturing in my head how I want my pictures to turn out, it's when I realize that I really need my DSLR. And third, even when I do take pictures with my P&S or DSLR, I still have to download them to my computer, and sometimes that doesn't happen for a couple of days.

So since this experiment is more of a strategy to get me out and trying new things with photography, I'm going to make it more of a Photo of the Week project. That way I'll have far more time to really think about what I want to shoot, and then get the photos from the camera to the computer, and into the cloud.

Here's a photo that I took last week that just made it onto the computer... I'm not sure why I liked it so much, but there's something really neat about how the nighttime lights are so varying and colorful, even if it's impossible to tell what they are.

Photo of the Day, 2/26/2010

Mila sleeping on the radiator.




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Right back where I started

One of my oldest and dearest friends shipped off to her new, albeit temporary, home today. With her departure, I feel as though I've lost my last friend. Over the last few months and years, my circle of friends has dwindled down to just about no one. There are a handful of people from whom I distanced myself. There's another handful of people who have distanced themselves from me. Then there are the peripheral friends, who don't consider me a core part of their group, so they don't necessarily include me in things. Which leaves me solo.

I've decided that this must be some sort of karmic retribution. That the punishment for my sins in this life or another is to suffer the one thing that I dread the most.

Etsy overload? Not possible!

I keep thinking that I'm going to overdo it with the whole 'crafty' thing, but then I keep seeing so many cool things and I just can't help myself!

Grosgrain: Only the Best of Etsy Sample Packages GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

What you don't do doesn't matter

I recently saw this post on The Art of Non-Conformity about how thinking about doing something and not doing it doesn't count. It isn't the thought that matters.

So many times, especially recently, I've thought about calling or e-mailing someone, sending them a card, or making something for someone. I've thought about volunteering more, or visiting a friend... But so often, I just don't do it. I don't get around to it. Or I decide that I'll do it another time.

I suppose that reading this makes me feel even more guilty about not doing the little things for other people that I think about doing. And I've also realized that life is short, and time is precious. There's no time like the present to show people that you care.

Ups and Downs

I was having an awesome last few weeks. I've been happy, excited, hopeful, peaceful. But the last couple of days have been different. I'm in a funk again, and I guess all I can do is ride out the storm.

I Have the Fever -- Procrastination Fever

This is the thing that frustrates me the most about myself. I find it WAY too easy to put something off. I can always manage to rationalize why I can do whatever I need to do in half an hour, tomorrow, next paycheck, whatever.  OR, I decide that instead of this, I'm going to do that. But that is really way down on the list of priorities, while this is definitely closer to the top. And then, inevitably, I get stressed or feel guilty because I didn't do that which really needed to get done.

So here are a couple of questions I'm trying to ask myself to both fight the procrastination fever, and when I try to tackle my to-do list:

1. Is there a task I should be doing instead of what I'm doing right now?

2. At the end of the day, will I feel like I accomplished something?

The correct answers are NO to the first question, and YES to the second. If your answers stray from this in any way, you may have a case of Procrastination Fever. The only cure for Procrastination Fever is to stop procrastinating and start focusing on what you should be doing. Make a list of what needs to get done and go about doing those things.

What do you do to fight the fever?

I always thought that "abstinence only" was a bad idea.

Are you an abstainer or a moderator? I'm definitely a moderator.