It Started with a Journal

Sooooooo a few posts ago I might've mentioned that I was itching to get a new costly camera lens. The good news is, I did more research and felt that at this time, I didn't really need a new one, though there are certainly a few I'd like to have. The not-so-good news is, I've gone and bought a new camera. >.> Well, not so good in the sense that it's kind of a lot of money. But I am SUPER EXCITED ABOUT IT, so I suppose it's the good kind of spending. ( More details! )

Unfortunately, in the course of all my research, I realized that my D40 is very likely a gray market version. ( Why does everything have to be so complicated? )

I feel SO tired. It's not even like I didn't get enough sleep, I got a decent amount. It's just one of those days when I just feel like I'm DRAGGING. I went and got an Americano but I don't know if it's going to help. I am such a wimp, I put 4 sugars into a tall Americano and it still barely tastes sweet to me. I don't know how people can drink unsweetened coffee.

Maybe if I work myself up I will start to feel more awake. With that, pet peeve #43: People who do not leash their dogs at parks that have "leash your pets" signs posted. It's selfish, inconsiderate, and downright dangerous when people ignore that, thinking they are the exception to posted guidelines. Every time I see another dog at the park, there's a 50/50 chance that it won't be leashed. This is totally unacceptable. That sign is there for a REASON. I don't care how well behaved your dog normally is; I don't care how under control you think you have your pet. YOU DON'T. Unless you are Cesar Milan, YOU DON'T. (And if you were Cesar, I'd be on you like a rabid fangirl.) Dogs are not predictable except in one thing: that they can and will be unpredictable. If they see another dog, THEY GET EXCITED. Most people think that all they have to do is call their dog's name and it will obey. I have encountered dozens of dogs at the park and maybe ONCE I have seen the dog obey. Usually it takes many such calls, and by then it's too late. When they see Talis, they INEVITABLY bound over -- especially unleashed dogs. You could have the sweetest dog in the world, but if it's unleashed and bounding energetically over to my dog, who isn't a big dog at all, you know what he gets? Scared. He feels threatened. Which means that he will bark and growl and even bite at the dog he sees as a threat. So you know, that sign to leash your pet isn't for OTHER dogs' protection, necessarily. It's also to protect YOUR OWN DAMN PET. I always have my dog leashed, but if your unleashed dog runs over to us, TALIS COULD BITE HIM. Most dogs leave him alone when he gets all defensive, but one day there could be a dog that bites back, and then where will we be? SO LEASH YOUR GODDAMN DOGS unless you're at a dog park and there are signs explicitly saying that you don't have to use a leash.

I am in love with my new macro lens (the bokeh is amazing), but it is REALLY heavy. Especially for my little D40 body, I feel like the lens could possibly break off (I'm sure not though, or Nikon wouldn't have approved its use with my style of camera)! Plus, I'm not tall enough for it, lol. I'm too close to my subjects (usually food), and even when I stand on my toes it barely helps. I need to get a little stepstool or perhaps move my subjects to ground level to photograph them.

Now that I've been brewing my coffee at home (and not even that expertly), I must say ... the coffee at work is really gross.

I'm sad to be at work this early in the morning. I'm usually not even awake at this time, much less in my office. I'm also hungry and the notice that our Friday bagels have arrived hasn't come in yet. :/ I also have to remember not to eat a lot, because tonight ropo and I are going to Icon Grill! I've been wanting to check this place out, because they supposedly have really good mac & cheese. In fact, they have two kinds. The appetizer version, which are like, fried macaroni & cheese nuggets that you dip into sauces, and the side dish: "This Mac n' Cheese is unlike any you've ever had before. Four cheeses, tomato snow, crunchy topping and a final flourish of even more molten cheese." Mmm.

Afterwards we're going to go see HP6 on IMAX. And take pictures along the way (not, obviously, of the movie).

So far Robbie's visit has been filled with a lot of eating. We haven't even done that much, but still haven't found any time to cook at home or make ice cream, but that's partly because I'm not off work until next week.

Yesterday we went to Third Place Books, which is more of an upscale Half-Price Books. It's better because they tend to have rarer material and they're anal about the condition of the books, but it's not as good because they mix new and used books (so you might get excited by seeing something you've been looking for, only to discover that it's a new copy at new prices), and they sell used books for more than half (how much more depends on the book). Considering you can get 30-40% off books at Amazon and when Borders sends coupons, getting a used book for that price isn't a good deal at all. Anyway, I brought a box of like-new, mostly trade paperbacks to see what I could get, and they only took 3 of them! And one of the ones they took was A Nerd in Shining Armor, which was terrible. So yeah, I don't think their book buyers know what they're doing. <g> HPB isn't so choosy, they always take everything, as far as I know.

The cool thing is that I found Tom Douglas's Seattle Kitchen for pretty much half price -- and it was autographed! Tom Douglas is the most famous chef in Seattle; like, if you were entertaining visitors and wanted them to go back with the full Seattle experience, you would include taking them to one of his restaurants. I also found Alice Medrich's Cocolat, an out-of-print book that I bought for $30 not too long ago, for $10. Grrr. I'm going to try and resell my other copy.

Finally, I just have to mention the fun game jade_okelani devised for us. Robbie and I both like photography and have the exact same camera, so she's got us on a sort of photo scavenger hunt. We get different clues (which add up to a larger puzzle that we have to solve, every 3 photos), and she awards points based on composition, style, and her own whimsy. :)) I'll have to share my photos after it's all over (or possibly after each round, if we're allowed), because obviously I cannot let Robbie know my clues.

BTW subject line is in reference to "How I Met Your Mother," which I am really enjoying so far. (Got 3 seasons of DVDs for $15 each on Amazon! Looks like that deal's over, though.)

Also, happy birthday, corianderstem!

For 3starsinmyeyes:

( B&W photos from different angles! )

For heinous_bitca:

( The inside of my fridge! )

Only one request left, which is to photograph my handbag collection. Still trying to decide how best to do that. All together? By collection? Individually? (Probably not the last as it would take too long and be somewhat repetitive ... maybe just the superstars. :D)