behold! argus!

Adios!

2007-12-10T17:10:00.001-05:00

I'm packing up and moving

over here, to my new blog.

Come along! It will have photographs, too. I promise.

Birthday gingerbread latte.

2007-11-29T19:24:00.000-05:00

Thanks, mom!

Getting ready.

2007-11-25T17:35:00.000-05:00

Wish I could find something like this.

2007-11-10T12:46:00.000-05:00

The sea was angry that day, my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup at a deli.

2007-11-07T19:58:00.001-05:00

Eternal sunshine.

2007-11-05T14:40:00.000-05:00

This weekend, J, S, A, and J #2 and I hopped in a rented SUV (I know, we spent some time feeling guilty about it) and hauled out to Montauk, where I've always kind of wanted to go. We got there in the middle of the end of Hurricane Noel, but on Sunday the weather was so gorgeous that it more than made up for the wailing winds and slashing rain. And I learned that you can completely dry out Converse sneakers with nothing more than a hair dryer and about thirty minutes.

I took a ton of photos, but I need to go through them and edit them, probably over Thanksgiving, when I have time for a legitimate break. But here are some of my favorites:

J took this one. Isn't it amazing? It's like we're about to walk off into the stormy sea. That's me on the left in the red shoes, A holding J #2, and S on the other side.

But then the weather turned.

I cannot get over the loveliness of the variegated blues in this one.

S let me borrow her macro lens for a couple of shots. I've got to say, I'm leaning towards getting one.

Ace.

2007-10-29T18:50:00.000-04:00

This is from a dump of photos I'd saved to the memory card of the crappiest phone ever known to man (photos of that monstrosity coming soon). Now I have a fantastic Nokia cell phone with no moving parts and no camera and no moving parts whatsoever. But it sure was fun while it lasted, wasn't it, Samsung?

Succulent

2007-10-16T16:20:00.000-04:00

Sun salute.

2007-10-08T00:12:00.001-04:00

Paper dragon.

2007-10-06T15:17:00.000-04:00

I've started taking some shots again, so I hope to be off my Montreal stuff soon. On the other hand, I still love these photos. They make me happy.

Geronimo!

2007-10-03T20:51:00.000-04:00

On the waterfront.

2007-09-08T16:13:00.000-04:00

This one almost doesn't look real.

Lilies and valleys.

2007-09-07T16:01:00.000-04:00

SO thought there was something slightly obscene about these pictures. I swear I'm not going for O'Keefe here.

Twisty bass.

2007-09-05T23:11:00.000-04:00

Eager.

2007-09-03T12:37:00.000-04:00

In the shadows.

2007-08-31T14:13:00.000-04:00

Still on the Montreal botanical gardens kick. These are really the best photos I've ever taken, and they make me feel good. So why stop?

At least it's yellow.

2007-08-28T18:23:00.001-04:00

The curious shower plant.

2007-08-24T17:13:00.000-04:00

More fun in the Montreal Botanical Gardens.

Further adventures in finally learning how to use the camera properly.

2007-08-21T14:06:00.000-04:00

Montreal 2.

Adventures in finally learning how to use the camera properly.

2007-08-21T01:39:00.000-04:00

Montreal 1.

I find this a weirdly compelling photo.

2007-08-10T00:26:00.000-04:00

SO is a far better photographer than I; he got me to start using the manual focus, and the result is this photograph. First of many odd-angle close-ups of torn jeans, I assure you.

After the rain.

2007-08-08T16:35:00.000-04:00

In Dulwich. SO may have taken this one.

View from The Rocket.

2007-08-07T17:25:00.000-04:00

From the cell phone, while cricket was being watched, albeit not by me.

This can't be good.

2007-08-04T14:16:00.000-04:00

Now that I've finished...

2007-08-03T10:26:00.000-04:00

This is really what it looked like when I finally picked up our copies at 4 in the morning.

From the garden, behind the house.

2007-07-25T18:49:00.000-04:00

A Study in Scotland.

2007-07-17T12:25:00.000-04:00

We had suspiciously good weather, until yesterday morning, when we were both due to leave. This is near Grass Market.

It did get a little stormy-looking from time to time, however.

One of a few obligatory half-pints. Shame I never took a picture of the whisk(e)y.

Plenty of these scattered about the town, though they're probably all just bigger on the outside than on the inside.

The dog in question was a lovely friendly sheepdog.

A selection of the books in question.

A bit of wall no one had bothered to cover up or knock down.

In front of a pub.

The weather was, on the whole, fantastic.

On the steps up to Princes Street from the National Gallery.

Lots of bright, bright red dotting the greyish browns of the city.

In the garden of the last pub we were at for beer and whiskey.

I'm pretty sure I took this around 10:00 at night---the sky shone with an alien brightness well past the time it would have darkened otherwise.

Breakfast and dinner of the champions.

2007-07-12T07:07:00.000-04:00

This is what I was talking about.

Boris?

2007-07-11T06:15:00.000-04:00

Aiming, about a year later, to recapture the web it was so hard to get the first time.

Here's the original photo, on the deck in the garden, strung up between some trees.

And here's a similar shot in which I messed with the levels to get the strands to come out clearer:

Genius.

2007-07-05T19:38:00.000-04:00

Snapped this one back in March, but just caught House tonight: the one where he can't pee. Hooray.

Portrait of artist, artist's mother, sister, and father.

2007-06-29T20:40:00.000-04:00

Pretty much embodies the best advice, ever for the college graduate.

Gratuitous photo of the cat, for my parents.

2007-06-27T17:43:00.001-04:00

'Sup.

Probably not as funny as I think it is.

2007-06-26T11:42:00.001-04:00

Out East.

2007-06-25T15:28:00.000-04:00

From just yesterday, on the very easternmost part of the north part of Long Island:

Gorgeous, gorgeous little cove for swimming.

Eel grass. Fantastic name, oui?

A skyline shot, à la Dooce, whose photos (like this one) I quite admire.

Feet. Mine. But of course.

Taking this one was fun, because I was lying down.

Jellyfish. There were tons of these little guys, far too early in the season, so we were told. The proximity of the things, combined with the sting brought on by saltwater, produced a condition Jo named "psychosomatic jellyfish," or, as I prefer to think of it, scyphozoa psychosomatica. Excellent name for a band, either way.

Finally, some floating seaweed.

Next time, perhaps, some photos with people in them.

For my mother.

2007-06-22T12:04:00.000-04:00

(She loves moss. Or so she claimed on our last vacation.)

Let's go crazy.

2007-06-02T21:24:00.001-04:00

Haven't posted anything interesting here in a while, so to continue the trend, here are three photos I took with my cell phone camera.

Oooo. Our tv-room bookshelf. Now in x-ray vision!

She's sleeping right next to me...

...very happy indeed. If you look closely, on the floor in the background you can see some of the ms. I'm proofreading. Breaking my back on a Saturday night, to pay the bills. Kids, don't let anyone tell you that getting a PhD is easy. Or fun.

Oh, and...

I took this one with my "real" camera. I love this sign---it's perfect. A dog. On the tracks. Shuts down trains starting at Barking. How. perfect. is. that?

Yes, and?

2007-05-04T13:28:00.000-04:00

I took this in Oxford when we were there in March. Clearly, it means something, but what that something could be, and what it has to do with the English language, are things far beyond my ken.

kitchen extravaganza.

2007-04-30T12:12:00.000-04:00

Wow, it's been a while. I thought I might inaugurate my return to photography by flooding the interwaves with evidence of my cookery. Don't you wish you were there to have eaten some of it?

What's a trip to the kitchen without a little vodka?

And why stop at vodka? I took this one at my desk, while writing, but still.

I started (yesterday) with an easy one: banana bread. As of breakfast this morning, it was still delicious.

The set-up. A little music (Andrew Bird, at this point) was essential.

Mmmmm. Chocolate chip cookie batter. Without the chocolate chips. Or, apparently, the flour, at this point.

Dual-level baking! Can you believe your eyes?!?!?!

The lucky ones got eaten before they were baked.

This approaches pornographic proportions.

And, yet again, despite my best abilities (and following the EXACT. SAME. RECIPE. my roommate did a week ago, with fluffier results) I prove that I am my parents' child, having inherited The Curse of the Flat Cookies. Yes, they're delicious, but I still hang my head in shame.

Now on to dinner. I'm getting quite good at making pizza dough, if I do say so myself. And I do, repeatedly.

Roasting tomatoes and garlic, together at the same time. Later I put in some corn.

Carmelizing the onions.

I'm getting hungry just thinking about this now.

And that's the whirlwind tour through the kitchen! Back soon for more photos.

Miami: Just say no.

2007-03-26T11:54:00.000-04:00

I started out with the notion that I would document my thrilling trip to Miami using my exciting camera phone. So I could, you know, sneak photos of all the hot, scantily-clad Renaissance scholars at this conference.

But I got bored and depressed after four pictures.

Breakfast at the Newark Liberty International Airport:

Dinner at the hellish Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant in Bayside that evening, only made palatable by the fact that we would decamp to the hotel bar afterwards and get drunk for pennies because of the kindness of the bartender:

The view from our hotel window:

Look! You can see the peoplemover!

Another view from our hotel window, this time featuring whales:

The extent of my photography this past month.

2007-03-02T10:25:00.001-05:00

One word: Mothertruckers.

homework helper.

2007-02-22T21:36:00.001-05:00

Here, Bootsie does my grading for me. As per usual.

And a partridge in a Douglas Fir.

2006-12-21T01:46:00.001-05:00

Those Douglas Firs are damn fine trees.

Well and truly decked.

2006-12-19T05:32:00.000-05:00

Eerie.

2006-12-09T13:34:00.000-05:00

Straight out of Blair Witch Project.

Flowers of Montreal, part 2.

2006-12-01T02:19:00.000-05:00

Birthday and Thanksgiving photostravaganza.

2006-11-29T18:32:00.000-05:00

For your viewing pleasure, since I've heard I don't quite update enough.

The Birthday Party:

Sarah will cut you. If you happen to be a cake.

Grark. I do so...um.

Grace might also cut you. Regardless of the status of your cakeness.

Bootsie was curious as to why she could not have Mark's beer.

Mark and arm accessories.

Really possibly my favorite picture.

In which I decline to be interviewed by Star Reporter Ramos.

Thanksgiving Pre-Game:

The cheese no longer stands alone. Bethany took this one. Awesome!

Every Thanksgiving, it's not enough for my dad that we have cranberry sauce and cranberry relish. We also have to have a cranberry(ish) Jello. Here, it tries to run away.

Day After Thanksgiving Walk It Off:

Oh, sorry. Was that my biological clock?

Rochester, from the top of some hill.

We looked like giants.

Infinite Jest celebration at Housing Works Used Book Cafe

2006-11-17T00:12:00.000-05:00

John Kraskinski!

As a model citizen.

The screenwriter, kicking reading ass.

The editor.

Flowers of Montreal, part 1.

2006-11-15T20:59:00.000-05:00

Umbrellas of Cherbourg, meet your match.

This size doesn't quite do the thing justice. Really, you should see it in large or better yet original to get the little details. I am rather fond of this one.

ouzo fraid of the big bad wolf?

2006-11-10T02:03:00.000-05:00

In which I put the smackdown on the liquorice Greek liquor.

Rabbit and moon.

2006-11-05T21:49:00.000-05:00

From Minneapolis. In the Sculpture Gardens.

Fo' sho, Foshay.

2006-10-22T18:03:00.000-04:00

Like the hiding sun.

2006-10-20T18:05:00.000-04:00

A few pictures from my trip last month home to Rochester, to get things going on Argus once again....

From the park at Quarry Hill, where my parents go for a walk nearly every day.

Same thing. But in landscape!

From Seecap's orchard near our house. We came here on school field trips to see how they picked apples, and they'd give us hot cider afterwards. We always got our pumpkins here. Best part? Free trial apples.

Much the same. I do like this one.

Our fair city, by twilight.

2006-09-20T01:18:00.000-04:00

And you thought vegetables couldn't possibly get any better.

2006-09-13T02:14:00.000-04:00

Suck on this, veg hatas.

Sugar, sugar. On a platform. Do do do do do do.

2006-09-11T01:31:00.000-04:00

Next year: I will WIN this competition at the Minnesota State Fair. WIN IT.

Oh! The sagacity!

2006-09-06T13:16:00.000-04:00

More to come soon....

title of our second album.

2006-08-30T14:06:00.000-04:00

That's the second album by Rembrandt Recycling Project, you hipsters.

magritte-like twilight.

2006-08-29T13:43:00.000-04:00

This was roughly what I envisioned.

portrait of the artist.

2006-08-25T23:15:00.000-04:00

calpestare?

2006-08-17T17:19:00.000-04:00

But now, being a Non-Resident Member of King's, and all, I can keep on the grass with wild abandon.

this is what the freezer does to the vodka.

2006-07-23T19:39:00.000-04:00

If you look really close at the second one, you can kinda see what I mean. There were ice crystals in it. ICE CRYSTALS, people. Vodka probably shouldn't freeze.

the purdiest bread i ever done et.

2006-07-19T17:54:00.000-04:00

freezer burn.

2006-07-19T17:51:00.000-04:00

Can you explain this symbol on my vodka-freezing freezer to me? Because here's what I've got, left to right:

Manky-looking bread
Thing I am praying is sorbet
Fish (easy)
Um, pot with brick?
Pigface (and I want to freeze these why?)
OK, this one I have no idea about
Airplane?
Moo?

the name of my band and the cover of our eponymous first album.

2006-07-16T19:05:00.000-04:00

Lead singer Wind-Up says, "Yeah, I totally took this picture in Amsterdam. And before you ask: Yes, I was stoned. In fact, I AM STONED RIGHT NOW. God, I hope my mother reads this someday."

this is how we cut it in the city.

2006-07-13T19:05:00.000-04:00

It was delicious. But why am I thinking of Sonic the Hedgehog just now?

candystripe legs.

2006-07-12T12:14:00.000-04:00

I probably shouldn't listen to The Cure *quite* so much, should I?

i like to keep the mystery.

2006-07-10T15:47:00.000-04:00

(...)

bruges, wissant, wissant, & ypres.

2006-07-09T12:05:00.000-04:00

Racism has spread to Brussels.

Just before dinner.

On the coast, next to the dauphin.

Jo's author photo.

fernface and dragonhead.

2006-07-09T12:04:00.000-04:00

bruges.

2006-07-09T12:03:00.000-04:00

le chimay

2006-07-09T11:49:00.000-04:00

What a difference a flash makes. The Chimay Bleu was 3.50 euros. Seriously.

i miss the beast.

2006-07-03T18:34:00.000-04:00

vermeer?

2006-07-03T18:30:00.000-04:00

this is just to say.

2006-07-01T18:00:00.000-04:00

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

William Carlos Williams

the patient english.

2006-07-01T17:56:00.000-04:00

This bears a striking resemblance to the cover of the copy of The English Patient I bought on extras at Labyrinth. At least I think it does.

fruit porn: Rrrripe plummmmms (xxxxxxxxxx)

2006-07-01T17:52:00.000-04:00

first blush.

2006-06-29T19:07:00.000-04:00

Same green dude from the earlier photos. Reinforcing my Inherent Notion that vodka and expensive cameras should not be mixed.

feeling nostalgic.

2006-06-28T18:16:00.000-04:00

she's a long one.

2006-06-26T18:33:00.000-04:00

berry porn: blackberries.

2006-06-25T16:56:00.000-04:00

berry porn: ghostberries.

2006-06-25T16:55:00.000-04:00

berry porn: the happy family.

2006-06-25T16:54:00.000-04:00

berry porn: redberries.

2006-06-25T16:53:00.000-04:00

25p a pack.

2006-06-24T15:16:00.000-04:00

plant porn: McGreen.

2006-06-23T17:40:00.000-04:00

plant porn: cacTUSSSSSSSSS.

2006-06-23T17:39:00.000-04:00

plant porn: stalks of love

2006-06-23T17:35:00.000-04:00

testing, one, two, three.

2006-06-23T17:30:00.000-04:00

I am wind-up-bird. This is my phlog.

Is "phlog" really a new term? By "phlog" I of course mean "photo blog." And by "photo blog," I of course mean "I have an expensive badass digital camera that I worked considerably hard to be able to buy and I really don't know anything about taking photographs or editing them so I thought I'd inflict my amateur photographing upon you, ha, ha, ha."

Enjoy.