Not Dead!

Hello hello. Andunie here. I realize, as per appearances, I have not been around in a rather long while. Now, I tend to be reasonably fond of this blog, and am loath to abandon it. It will be maintained.

I have been busy, and thus cannot promise to update regularly for the time being. In the meantime, look to my Tumblr for more frequently posted (but less important/less relevant) bits and pieces.

My actual content-ful writing will be found at this column for which I now write, with fresh new posts weekly (I write Tuesdays).

If my muses leave anything left over after the column, it'll be here. Thanks for reading, all. I'll be around!

Skywatch No. 52

I seem to have actual titles only every other Skywatch.

I also seem to not have anything substantial to say, every Skywatch. I'll be back! I promise! *runs away sobbing*

Yes, I'd Like One of Those in Optimism, Please.

It seems I've been lax with actual blogging lately,* posting little but wordless Skywatches. This trend, unfortunately, shall continue for at least another week.**

*If you take "lately" to mean on and off in the past year or so
** Viewed through Optimism-tinted glasses

Meahwhile, I've been drumming up writing gigs and poking around for other sorts of odd writing jobs.

I've also played around with the idea of moving this blog to another venue. Anyone else on non-Blogger blogging services?

Skywatch No. 50

I got nothin' today.

Although, I have been busy on Flickr lately.

Here's To Some Sun

These past several days I have been upstate trekking the forests and the dunes by Lake Michigan.

The entire bluff had been swathed in an opaque blanket of cloud and fog. In a matter of minutes, it had all been blown away, revealing land falling away hundreds of feet down to the shoreline.

I am just now sorting through the files; more will be up (possibly on Flickr) later.

Skywatch No. 48

One for today.

Alas, I do not come across still bodies of water very often, and when I do, it's usually a puddle or a pond at best. I've yet to see a lake on a calm day.

Disappointment Is Like Judging Books By Their Covers

I've been wondering whether it'd be possible to get rid of my old textbooks on Ebay, and finally meandered over to the book section today. In the Most Popular section, I saw:

And I thought, wow! People are reading something other than Twilight. I am impressed.

And then I looked. Or clicked. I'm not sure which one happened first.

Then that reminded me of something I'd come across the other day.

Apparently someone thought slapping Twilight branding on perfectly innocent classics was the thing to do. There's speculation as to whether this will increase readership among younger readers, and they have a point, but still.

Still.

Skywatch No. 47

Skywatch No. 46

I'd meant to put this up back in March, when I'd taken this, but have never really gotten around to it. It was around that indeterminate space of time between winter and spring, when the ground is no longer snow-covered, but it hasn't quite melted away either- everything is crusted in a sort of muddy, watery sort of ice- and the colours are simultaneously drabber and more vivid.

Anyways, I'd like to thank you all so much for the support on our video earlier this month. The results are as expected- we didn't make it- but the experience was fantastic and you support, again, means a lot. Thank you!

Sometimes It Works Like This

I find that it is often late when I finally get down to writing. Late, late enough that tiredness drags thinking down to a crawl, late enough for elaborately crafted sentences to be broken down into essentials.

i have always wanted to write like this. unchecked and unbound by the conventions of proper writing, disconnected without being disjointed, rambling without being irrelevant. it is a nice thing to let go sometimes. i can write in fragments. i can use words i usually choose not to. i can not capitalize my i's. i, i, i. it moves along a stream of consciousness, and it is free.

i like it.

Skywatch No. 44

Like usual, only a few words from Andunie today. These are a few barreling-down-the-freeway type scenes.

It was rather very early in the morning, and I (who had after high school stopped regarding 6am as any sort of reasonable waking time) was very groggy. But mornings are quite nice, after all, and I can never pass up the opportunity to see low light combined with a low fog before the sun burns it away.

And of course, morning travel has a brisk, relaxed feel to it. Provided, of course, I am not the one at the wheel.

A Mustering of Forces

Item number one:

Skywatches. I choose two from the myriad recent sky shots because none were particularly remarkable on their own. Nothing wrong with twice the sky, anyhow.

Item number two:

Olympus (the camera people, not the mountain) hosts a video contest. Most people plop themselves before their webcams and proceed to give a speech (if this is you, take no offense). My brother and I lug our camera about and churn out a short stop-motion film (which, if you ask me, is not too shabby).

The thing is, it's based primarily on popular vote. Meaning that we'd greatly appreciate if you could lend your support by popping over to Youtube before June 6th and giving a 'thumbs up' (or two) if you so feel inclined.
Many thanks for the time, in any case!

This is Official

I have not been posting anything but the occasional Skywatch. I'll endeavour to do better.

My photography output has been increasing recently. This is a good thing.  (Except for processing, organizing, etc. That's always a pain.)

They will more likely show up on my Flickr than on here.

Should be it for now. I'll try to be more articulate next time.

Skywatch No. 41

Earlier this week my brother and I returned to the same field where we took these in an attempt to repeat those shots. That done, he insisted we cut through the back...

Now that I am required to shoot (I've a summer course at the uni), and to do so to standards and specifications, photography's become more of an obligation and less something I do because I enjoy it. Not sure that's a good thing.

Tata, folks.

Skywatch No. 40

A late Skywatch. Rather considerably late. But nonetheless:

Quite honestly, I think I'm beginning to lose track of the days of the week. Having nothing to do is nice, I suppose, but it wears on one after a while. 

This.

Skywatch No. 39

It looks like I've skipped a week. A great number of things have happened recently, about which precisely none I could dredge up the energy or motivation to write. I'm not sure that last sentence even made sense.

Anyhow, it appears that moody clouds have been the fashion of late.

Other Things That Happened Recently:

• Obama spoke at University of Michigan's commencement last Saturday, which I had been unduly excited about until realizing that because timing was bad, it might involve having nowhere to stay, bumming rides off of people, and other assorted inconveniences. Fortunately, you can watch it here.

• This is strangely addicting.

Hate is Not Okay

Over the past few days I've been seeing this popping up on my Facebook feed as "friends" have joined it:

One would have thought things like this far behind us- somewhere in that corner of recent history people try studiously to ignore. But no, apparently it's still being flaunted out there in the open.

This is not okay. What you see above is a group praying for Obama's death. Take a look at the numbers, too- there's over a million supporters. When did this become acceptable, and on Facebook, of all places? The matter is not one of free speech; people are, after all, perfectly entitled to voice dissent and disagreement and anger if they wish it.

But "I fervently hope my president dies" is another matter altogether. It matters not whether you agree or disagree with someone. Having harm wished upon one is something no one deserves, not even the lowliest. And like Obama or not, he has been, as all presidents before him, elected into office by the people. It also takes a considerable amount of ability to lead an entire country, or even to get into office in the first place. Could the majority of us do any better, with the responsibility of a nation on our shoulders? 

Here we have a country and a government system for which we ought to be grateful- the government is not perfect, but at least we have the free speech that haters themselves are using and abusing. Do you want to live  under a government where governmental leaders can be killed whenever disagreements arise? I thought not.

Some of the commentators on the page try to justify their actions by claiming that "liberals would have done the same, if it were Bush in office." Really? I don't remember that. Personally, I might not have agreed with many of Bush's views and actions, but I did and do still hold a significant measure of respect for him. 

Death is much too grave a sentence to deal about so freely. 

What makes me incredulous is how long this page has been up, and that it has not yet been removed. If you are on Facebook, bring this problem attention by joining this page instead, then sign the "Clean Up Facebook" petition.

Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. When you next stumble across a hate-promoting-group, please stop, think, and report.

Happy Earth Day

It's Earth Day, foo's. Stop tossing rubbish on the ground. Stop tossing things that can very evidently be recycled into the garbage when the recycling bin is six inches away.

To right is my most creative Skywatch to date. Straight out of the camera. We've not had sky like that for eons.

Yesterday I was lounging about on the grass, enjoying for once not having to do anything. Several friends were bouncing about, excitedly babbling about being late for something. I ask them where they're going.

"Flash mob!"

I manage a "wh-" before they vanish. So, camera in hand, I dash off on their heels. There isn't much of a mob, though there's a small knot of people gathered on one side of the square.

"Go!"

It turns out to be a tree-hugging event, the awesomeness of which makes up for everything.

Skywatch No. 37

I was going to run up to the observatory to shoot last night, but didn't make it. Then I installed some HDR software and ran off to shoot meh sum' HDR, but then concluded I needed a lot of practice first.

So this week, I'll just be posting what I actually can and know how to do. I think I just saved you some visual trauma. You're welcome.

Sorry that the sky's not much of a focal point. But it's in there, which is what counts. One day, I'll be back shooting sunsets and thunderclouds. 

Skywatch No. 36

First are the flowers, emerging impatiently from the loam when their shoots are barely out. Trees, bursting into flower overnight like bouquets being whipped out from behind one's back. The clouds' smooth facade finally breaking into wispy streaks and the occasional towering blot that lends itself to the rare rumble of thunder.

Both were taken last weekend, during which I ventured over to the Arboretum and attempted to do schoolwork but instead ended up trekking about in the woods with the camera out.

(#*%@&#%)

Let me tell you a little story. See the time? 7:30 in the morning. The alarm on the museum next door goes off. It's just a yard or from my building. I happen to have gone to bed four hours ago *insert whining about workload* and appreciate my sleep, thank you.

This alarm also happens to sound like a combination between a brass instrument being run over by a semi and a cow with its hide being torn off.

What kind of f***ing alarm is that?

I'm sure that's what it would sound like if you tossed those two things in a blender. It keeps going... and going... and going. Guaranteed to induce insanity within five if not fewer minutes of exposure. Oh, and look now. The garbage truck has just come along. It's right under my window. And its already dissonant beeping is adding beautifully to this cacophony.

The best part? The roommate called the Dept. of Public Safety or whoever is in charge of this crap, and apparently they're testing the alarm.

Thanks, guys. Thanks.

Photo Competitions are Awesome.

My photograph of the Grand Prismatic made it into the final round of a photo contest and is now up for voting. (I'm the blue one, 1st row, vertical format.)

Which is super cool. Some of the other entries are also quite fantastic. I'm not sure if voting is restricted to people with university IDs, but you should take a gander at them anyhow.

They also put up mounted prints in high-traffic public spaces. Also very cool. Mine printed significantly darker and redder than I've been used to, which leads me to suspect that I've been adjusting to my monitor- which is probably inaccurate.

I also think I've used "also" far too many times in such a short post. Sorry about that.

Good day, all.

Did Someone Say Spring?

Here 'tis.

?? under a beech to left, magnolia to right.

We're experiencing an unusually warm spell at the moment, complete with sun and everything. (Back to rain next week.) Leaves aren't in yet, but the flowers are blooming. Enjoy.