january mosaic

I finally got around to getting this done - this is the first month of my 365 project:

day 030.365

I managed to snag some lovely "reject" photos for today's shot. I commend them to you:

From the parking lot of Intermedia Arts Center. We had our Salon fundraiser and silent auction for the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra at Intermedia this evening. It was a really lovely event that (hopefully) made some money for this really excellent group. Pat and I certainly feel glad to be involved in making music with these amazing people. To add to the congenial feelings, we won a night's stay at the Embassy Suites in downtown St. Paul including complementary drinks during the manager's reception and a cooked to order breakfast the next morning. Excellent!

Last night we stayed over at my parents' house in the suburbs due to a late night event. To at least attempt to show our gratitude, Pat and I (mostly Pat) made a delicious chicken pot pie for lunch. The sauteing red potatoes, red onion, and carrots looked just beautiful in the pan. Had to snap a shot.

Last of the rejects - there were a bunch of beautiful icicles hanging off the roof of my dad's shed in the back of the house. Catching Etta out of focus in the background was sheer luck. I do love that part - that and the sun in the ice... Lovely.

So, on to the main event. Today's photo - 030.365 feathers.

Beautiful sunshine today, and a good amount of time to just relax with family. I do encourage you to view on black. For real. I am still playing with this new lens and learning how best to use it. I think it's only getting better. Really pleased with it. $200 well spent.

029.365 moonrise

The moonrise this evening was absolutely incredible - unfortunately, I didn't have the extra moments to grab my tripod to properly capture it... so, here's the blurry excuse for a shot. I did some tweaking to try to take the parking lot red light off the trees, but in the process I lost some of the color in the ring around the moon (see original below). They said on the radio that the moon looked particularly large this evening because it actually is closer to the earth - oval-shaped orbit and all. So that's pretty dang cool.

29 January 2010

day 027.365

The orchestra we play in always has snacks at the mid-rehearsal break. We've been working on a Mozart symphony recently, so it was very appropriate that the treat bringer made a birthday cake for Mozart for the snack break. Happy birthday, Wolfgang - thank you for your immense contributions to music.

27 January 2010

day 026.365 do mi mi do

ten things about me: (thanks si)
1. I'm married (2 and a half years) and we have a one year old puppy, Etta. We live in the Twin Cities in Minnesota and love it.
2. Today I really miss singing in an excellent choir.
3. I'm trying to read an average of three books a month this year. So far I'm doing alright, but the English degree training is starting to kick in - I want to take more time to do analysis on some of this stuff, and less time just moving through the books. (Most recent point and case, The Road. I think with this one I will be taking some time to seek out some analysis.)
4. I play the cello. Expect to see more shots of that as the year progresses.
5. I went to seminary and have a master's in Religious Leadership.
6. I work as an Office Manager and am actually using my master's - at least a little bit.
7. I'm doing a Rocky Mountain School of Photography weekend when they come to the Twin Cities in April - I'm both really excited and really nervous. I'm really hoping to improve my photography skills this year - I figure this can't hurt!
8. I spent my childhood camping and tromping around in the Rocky Mountains of Idaho and the Black Hills of South Dakota.
9. I could eat pasta for every meal.
10. If I had to give up either cheese or chocolate for the rest of my life, I'd drop chocolate in a heartbeat.

How about you - ten things?

025.365 created & a little stop flare for good measure.

In seminary I took a course in Native American Theologies. One of the last days of class we needed a kinetic day after hours and days and weeks of written finals. The professor had us all bring in bits, treasures, trinkets, all manner of junk we could find or wanted to have included in the project. She provided the sticks, and we all created these prayer sticks. I'm sure various pieces of mine will be making more featured appearances later in the year. This is Etta's first encounter with my prayer stick - we'll call it a blessing of sorts, for both her and the stick.

25 January 2010

Alright, so here's what I think must have happened. It was a long day, another super grey day, and I hadn't had the slightest bit of inspiration all day. So, when I got home, I grabbed my tripod, my remote and headed out into the snowy street. Clearly there's a ton of flare in this shot, but what I think is happening is a weird light reflecting thing causing after images of the stop sign down the street to come bouncing back at me. Crazy. Any other ideas?

day 023.365

We went to the Minnesota/Michigan State basketball game at Williams Arena this morning. The Barn was loud and packed, and despite holding onto a lead through most of the game, the Gophers fell behind in the last minute and a half and wound up losing by one point to State.

23 January 2010