Fun and Games Dept

Action., originally uploaded by iMachias.

I did some messing around with the camera today. I took a bunch of photos in the back lawn of various things that I found interesting. While I was doing this, Tom watched me from the other side of the lawn as he basked in the sun. Then he saw me squat down to take a photo of a buttercup and decided to join me. I heard him running and quickly took a photo. It’s blurry but it’s fun.

This song has been stuck in my head for a couple of days. I had to jam out at lunch time. I didn’t spin around on the floor though. I’ll save that for the last hour of work.

Lilacs., originally uploaded by iMachias.

Our lilac bush in the front lawn is coming to full bloom today. It looks beautiful and smells wonderful. Lilacs are my favourite flower and one of my favourite scents. I believe this can be attributed to Grandma City, for she had numerous lilacs in her backyard and there was always a vase of fresh cut lilacs on the kitchen table at this time of year.

Lilacs always remind me of Grandma City. I miss her.

096.365, originally uploaded by iMachias.

Tom and I like to romp on the kitchen floor. He says I smell better than catnip.

Blasphemy., originally uploaded by iMachias.

So Microsoft released the Windows 7 Release Candidate today. This is the last version of Windows 7 to be tested before it becomes official, presumably sometime near the end of the year (the exact release date of Windows 7 has not been announced as of yet.)

I have had an interest of Windows 7 for a couple of reasons, including the fact that I am going to have to support it for work and quite honestly I’m always interested and excited about new versions of the operating system, so I downloaded both the 32- and 64-bit versions today. Tonight I installed the 64-bit version on MacBook Pro.

So far it is quite impressive.

I am putting Windows 7 through it’s paces as we speak. I installed it on my Mac using Boot Camp and quite frankly it’s running faster than Leopard usually does.

I’m going to putter around for a few days to see how it performs. So far it looks good, installation was easy and it’s cooperating quite well with my network. Let’s see if the bliss continues.

091.365, originally uploaded by iMachias.

Sometimes you just need a lazy day on the weekend.

I must be getting old. There are many moments that I long for the simpler times of days gone by¹. To reminisce, I offer this little giggle.

¹ Yes, I know that I would not enjoy the same freedoms as a gay man then as I do today, no need to remind me. I still long for the ‘good ol’ days’.

Springtime., originally uploaded by iMachias.

After the brief hint at summer with temperatures above 80 degrees Fahrenheit for the past couple of days, today is a typical April day in Central New York with abundant sunshine and closer to 60 degrees.

Tom is celebrating the arrival of better weather with his favourite springtime activity, which is sitting in the mulch along the back patio.

Frost., originally uploaded by iMachias.

The big camera is out and about today. Here’s my first shot at trying to be a little more serious about taking photographs. Bent license plate notwithstanding.

087.365, originally uploaded by iMachias.

I have been saying for a while that I want to get better at photography. Now I’m never going to be able to take breathtaking shots like my friends Kevin, Dale or Terry in Grand Rapids, but I feel the need to have a camera at my side and snap some slices of life from time to time. The camera on my iPhone is like taking an old Polaroid, you get the jist of the moment but you don’t really capture the quality of the photo, no matter how much you shake and blow on it. However, at times I’m lazy and I just take a picture with the iPhone that’s usually within arms reach.

I have a fairly new Sony Cyber-shot that I use for most of the photos I take. I was mentioning to Greg (another very good photographer) over the weekend that I want to take more photos, so naturally I left the camera in Connecticut when I headed home yesterday. Just mentioning the fact that I wanted to take more photos said to the Universe that I should leave the camera behind.

So tonight I pulled out my older Cyber-shot, a DSC-S40 that has a really small viewscreen but takes pretty good pictures.

I’m thinking that I’m going to start dragging around the “big” camera we bought five years ago, a Sony DSC-F828. I have to admit that camera was quite pricey when we bought it, we should probably use it more. Our friend Marcus always has his big camera with him, maybe I should follow his example in that department.

087a.365, originally uploaded by iMachias.