utenzi

This past Friday I bought a camera on Amazon. In fact the nicest camera I've bought since the one I purchased while in college for a trip I was taking to Greece. I've been very slow to move over to a digital SLR. Part of the reason is that since I use glasses I find it liberating to be able to use the back of the camera for framing the shot and focusing and such. With SLRs you use the viewfinder since it's a single lens system. SLR = single lens reflex The light enters through the lens and goes to the film computer imaging chip. So what you see is what you get. Of course it's not quite that simple with digital SLRs but it's still close. So that means I have to peer through that nasty little viewfinder. As you can probably tell, it wasn't the camera that sold me on upgrading to a dSLR. In this case it was the printer that was bundled with the system. Or more accurately, there was a $400 rebate if you bought the printer with the camera and since the printer was...

Today is another hot day. I've lost track of how many days in a row it's been over 90 but it's been quite a few. And today's just one more on the list. This morning at 8:30 a few friends and I went canoeing on Lake Michie in Durham. It was so humid I had to keep wiping off the lens of my camera. *whew* As soon as we got on the water the sweat was pouring off us. The rentals were very reasonable. Six dollars a half-day (6 hours max) for Durham residents and 8 dollars for non-residents. Since they're tandem canoes, it's 3 dollars per person. Not bad. We only stayed out for a few hours but it was more than enough. I think I lost 3 pounds in sweat. The picture above is one that Juliet took of me to get back at me for all the ones I took of her when she wasn't expecting it. I'm bad that way. Since I was facing the wrong way and just shooting over my shoulder---not many turned out. Most of them are of the bottom of the boat. Oops. The picture to the left is f...

Yesterday after work, in the 100 degree heat, I decided to go over to Sarah Duke Garden and take some pictures of the grounds. Foolish? Hell yeah. The walking at Duke wasn't nearly as bad as sitting in the car at all the stop lights though. Going from Chapel Hill to Durham is a real pain in the patootie. How do you like that picture? I just happened to get the bee leaving the flower. Just lucky. After I got all hot and sweaty, I went to the Nasher Museum. I'd never been there before and the admission is free on Thursday. Damn good thing. That's one weenie little museum. I can't believe they charge money to go there the other days of the week. The museum is only a few hundred yards from Sarah Duke so it's an easy 2 for 1 and parking is free at the Garden after 5pm. How do you like that bridge? It used to be white and now it's BRIGHT red. It's very noticeable but I think I liked it better before. It might not be paint though. When I got closer, the bridge actu...

This is what last night's dinner ended up looking like. Here's the pan right after I pulled it out of the oven. I ate dinner while watching Top Chef and then Work of Art: The Next Great Artist , both on Bravo. I really like the art show. It's refreshing to see their talent displayed in contrast to the nastiness that so often dominates reality shows. That said, some of the artists are inflexible---and the worst of that ilk got bumped off the show this week. Awww. :-D An interesting difference in the two shows is that while they've both just started (I think Artist has been on one week longer) I've got a much better feel for the contestants on Artist than on Top Chef. I wonder if that's just me or if the personality types or show format are the cause. This is the first serving I had. I ended up having a second one before I was through. I jumped the sauce from mild to medium heat and it tastes better this way. My changing the cheese from Jack to a blend of Italian...

I didn't get started on dinner until almost 9pm so I wanted to fix something fast. If I was smart I'd have just made some cheese and crackers and munched on them while watching tv but instead I went Mexican. But very easy Mexican. I used the recipe on All Recipes that I mentioned last week to make Green Chicken Enchiladas. Yum. First I sauteed some chicken, then I layered the chicken and cheese on some flour wraps. Rolled them up and put them in a pan. Poured green chile sauce over them and baked in an over for 30 minutes. That's as far as I've gotten so far but I hope to be eating in another 15 minutes or so. :-) I changed the cheese from Monterrey Jack to an Italian blend. I hope that doesn't end up tasting funny. :-(

I'm in SC this weekend visiting with my parents. Father's Day is tomorrow, y'know? I did my normal 3am to 7am drive. There was an unusual amount of traffic but even so it was sparse compared to drives during the day. The books over there on the left were gleaned during a shopping expedition this morning at a couple of used book stores near here. I spent $38 and change on books that listed at $113. They should keep me busy for a few weeks. I didn't go kayaking today. By the time I'd talked a bit with my parents and made sure my parents dog had enough attention the temp outside was over 83 and way too humid for paddling. I think I'll hit the water tomorrow morning before the sun is up. Chicken and watermelon for dinner tonight!

It's been a while since I've posted a pet peeve so here's the one for the month: Why do studies have to exaggerate? Journalists and regular people too. I read a puff piece in the paper today about how you can save money and oil by using mass transit to commute. That's an obvious truth and well worth an article in the paper from time to time, I guess. Though it's so obvious who's it going to inform? But my peeve is the exaggeration they use in these things. According to the article people typically save $7,000 a year in gas by using mass transit and they use several people as illustrations and they claim to save $6,000 to $8,000. Then the article goes on to quote a $9,000 annual savings from the American public Transportation Association (who obviously has a vested interest in quoting a high number). Well... what in hell are these people driving? I get around 30 miles per gallon (actually 33.2 recently) and with gas costing in the $2.40 - 2.65 range, that's ...