The language of winter

Token photograph

... Since I haven't posted one in a while, and I've gone and made the rash claim that this is an illustrated blog.

Online productivity tools, Ford trucks, and other oddities

Well, okay, this is a picture I took on Saturday and which I titled "f-stop" as a kind of wise-ass photography pun. But today's assignment is to use Zoho writer to publish a piece of writing on my blog. So, depending on how this goes, I could just rename this "F" for what I might get if this were a graded assignment.

I can actually see that Zoho writer could be a great collaborative tool. I like the huge flexibility of format and the capabilities of inserting images and graphs. I prefer this to using a Wiki, although a the structure of a Wiki makes more sense for collaboration within an organization. But Zoho seems like something people collaborating on a piece of creative writing might want to use.

So, on Saturday? I grabbed my camera, drove over to the University of Alaska Fairbanks and leaped out of the car, all inspired to do some power walking and work up a sweat. You would think I'd know better, because I've done this before. Two steps and I was already stopping to shoot pictures, and what was supposed to be a forty minute aerobic workout turned into an hour and fifteen minutes of happy, unaerobic photography. Great for the stress levels but forget the cardio thing.

Image generators: you're kidding, right?

Um, well, up until this assignment, I was pretty sure I had an image generator. Specifically, a Nikon D80 camera body, which I love the same way I love babies and puppies. I mean, if I could take pictures of my D80 with my D80, the photos would go in my wallet next to pictures of my grandkids.

So I started off this assignment with a bias. What could possibly live up to my very own portable image generator? Well, not much, it turns out. I created myself an avatar at one site, but then discovered the site didn't offer any way to download the image. That was disappointing, since I could sure use an alter ego with no wrinkles, cool glasses and an attitude. Moving away from image generators to poetry generators, I cooked up a William Carlos Williams-like poem which was too terrible to inflict on anyone who stumbles across this blog. Finally, I came up with the little button at the top of this post, which I thought looked really cool, and which I made at this button maker. I suppose I could use the button as a link, but since it would lead right back to my blog, I didn't.

The crab-apple blossoms were generated with my tried and true image generator, my D80, and were living on the crab-apple tree between Rasmuson Library and the Signer's Hall parking lot earlier in the spring.

7 1/2 habits

This is a picture of my granddaughter, Gracie. Which is not what this post is about, but her, um, "expression" pretty much sums up my feelings about the 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners assignment. I'm 59 years old so right off the bat you know that peppy, chirpy voices are going to annoy me. And I think formulaic, over simplified, gimmicky presentations are condescending. But then, I'm cranky by nature, so there you go.

Anyway, in the spirit of the Learning 2.0 thingie, I would have to say that the easiest habit for me is to set goals. Sometimes they seem vague (for example: be a better photographer) and sometimes they're very precise (for example: learn to make gluten-free bisquits). The difference between the two is that the vague ones are actually broad statements about a whole subset of goals (learn more about exposure, learn more about composition, and learn how to deal with tricky lighting). Life is a happy thing when there is a goal to attain.

The hardest thing for me is to treat problems as challenges. Eventually I always do just that, but not without a whole lot of whining, complaining and self-pity. But, you know, I've elevated those things to an art form, and when you're good at something, you should stick with it!

Okay, now back to the goofy Gracie photograph. I wish I'd backed off just a little, so the top of her head wasn't cut off. On the other hand, I like how the bokeh kind of frames her head, and I like the way the lighting and white balance lend a seriousness and depth to an image that could have been just another bright and snappy kid picture.

So take that, 7 1/2 Habits.

After hours 2

After hours 2
Originally uploaded by p_asbury

Since this blog is an assignment, some entries, including this one, will be here to fulfill those assignments. I've had a flickr account for about 9 months, and I have over 300 photos posted. One of my flickr sets is "The Library." Rasmuson Library begs to be photographed, especially after hours when it can be really peaceful or a little creepy. Since I work all day on Saturday during the spring and fall sememsters, I love to come in early and take pictures.

This picture was taken on level 4 from a really low angle, while I was sitting on the floor. It's always fun to look at something from a different perspective.