It's January again...already...

  I never make New Year's resolutions anymore.  I have personal goals for myself all the time.  Some of these goals, I meet and some I fail.  I just don't want everyone to know about either.  Plus, I don't want to beat myself up if I fail publicly or in private.
  I spent New Year's Eve with my friends Dave and Emily.  We had some good food at Jim's house in Smithsburg and then returned to Emily's house to play some Wii and watch the ball drop.  We played Jeopardy.  We each won one game.
 On Friday the 6th, Emily and I went to the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. to watch a live recording of the podcast of The Nerdist.  I LOVED THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE.  I've enjoyed listening to this podcast for a while now, but seeing them live in person was phenomenal.  We drove down to the Shady Grove Metro Station, got a parking spot right by the station entrance, then enjoyed a nice dinner at Zorba's in Dupont Circle.  The doors opened at the club at 8, but we arrived there at 7:20.  We got front row seats (stage right) even though we weren't at the very front of the line.  I was so happy and excited.  Each of the guys did a bit of standup before the podcast started.  I'm looking forward to re-listening to the podcast when it comes out.  I hope to go to one of their shows again in the future.  Emily took some pictures on her phone that I hope to get from her to post here. 
  Here are the pictures from Antietam in November.  My friend Lonna told me yesterday that I can go drive around there for free all the time.  I didn't know that.  I might go back some more for some more pictures sometime soon.  I do like things better with foliages, but maybe when it snows, I'll go back. 

The Maryland Monument

Dunker Church

Burnside Bridge in the morning

Sunset at the battlefield - captured from the tower overlooking the Sunken Lane

Oops!

Where did December go?  I meant to post those pictures from Antietam and post National Christmas Tree pictures too!  I was pretty sick for a while this month, so I'm going to blame my lack of posting on that.  I'm nearly all rid of this lingering cough and ready to celebrate the end of 2011 tonight.  It wasn't a bad year, but it wasn't great either.  I'm hopeful that I'll make some more progress on myself in 2012 AND take some fabulous pictures!  Happy New Year!

Antietam National Battlefield

The Civil War isn't all that interesting to me.  Yes, it's an important and terrible period in US history, but I've never enjoyed the battles and wars parts of history.  Landscapes, however, I do enjoy.  November 12th was the day after Veterans Day this year and all national parks had free admission.  I wanted to go to the battlefield and see about photographing Burnside Bridge and anything else that might catch my eye.  I got a few pictures.  I think that I wasn't there early enough for the best light on the bridge.  Maybe some day I'll be there right at the right time for a great shot.  I spent some time in the tower overlooking the sunken lane aka Bloody Lane.  It's difficult to imagine it full of bodies and flowing blood as it must have been that day during that horrible battle.  I'm having trouble with the picture uploader, but will post some pictures soon.

Boo Brunch (better late than never)

On November 5th, I drove to my friend Lonna's house to visit her, her family, and enjoy a brunch and a visit.  Her 2 daughters also dressed up for everyone in their Halloween costumes.  Lonna made some really delicious food that everyone enjoyed.  I took some pictures...as  usual.  I realized after taking some of them that my camera was on some weird settings that I don't remember doing.  I wonder how that happened. Anyway, I got a few cute shots.

The dining room decorated for the brunch - complete with banner!

Lonna making pancakes in the kitchen (and lots of other food too).

Daphne as the Evil (Scary) Witch

Vivian as the Good Witch

Daphne and Vivian as the Witches of Oz

Daphne and Vivian in their front yard

Vivian is ready to eat some pancakes...and DONUTS!

Oma helps Daphne with her pancake.



Daphne was posing for the camera with Oma, Aunt Laurie and Salt!



I love the light on Vivian's hair (she had just been rolling around on the couch with Laurie before this).

Happy Black Friday

It was a really nice day yesterday.  I should have gotten up early and drove to Swallow Falls and then attended Thanksgiving Dinner at the home of my friends Mandy & Frank in Frostburg, Maryland, but I was lazy and just went to dinner.  I enjoyed some really good food and some very nice company and conversation at the meal.  I really liked the sweet potato casserole which had pineapple in it.  It was a cool change for me.  Mandy made some really tasty green beans too.  Yum!  It was pretty late and cold by the time I finished chatting with Mandy and her dad, but I drove west and got a couple pictures of the stars.  Sadly, there were a few clouds and the pictures didn't turn out as great as I would have liked, but I did capture A LOT of stars in my picture.  It's difficult to believe that there are so many out there when you look at this.  I mean, I can only see a tiny fraction of these at my house here in town.  Blast all this light pollution!

Can you see the Milky Way on the left side?

I got back to Hagerstown about 12:30 or so.  I have been looking for a new wallet for quite a while now and I love Fossil wallets.  Up until now, their wallets never had zippers enclosing the outer edges.  I don't trust a wallet that's open to dropping cards or money or whatever.  Now, however, Fossil finally has some of these kinds of wallets.  They opened at 10pm, I think for pre-Black Friday, so I drove to the Outlets.  I got a decent parking spot and found a wallet that I really like.  I saved $15 there.  Then, I have been wanting more deep bowls from Correlle.  I got 2 for the price of less than one at their sale.  Score!  I got a few other items online, but didn't go hog wild.  It would be nice to be able to buy anything I want now and then.  Maybe some day.

I admit it. I'm a slacker.

Here is what's currently on my mind.   I haven't posted all month because I've been feeling lazy and tired!

I've been off work this week, so I've been enjoying doing a whole lot of nothing much.  It's been a nice break.  I've played a lot of the new Zelda game on the Wii.  Basically, I play until my brain is tired or my hands hurt too much to go on.  I've also done some mundane household chores, but not as much as I should have.  The weather for the past few days has been too ugly for pictures (lots of rain, wind, clouds), so I haven't been able to get out and capture anything nice. 

A few weeks ago on November 5th, I attended a brunch at my good friend's house.  The food was delicious and it was nice to see her, her daughters and her family.  I got a few really cute pictures that I'll post here in its own post.

On November 12th, all national parks had free admission, so I decided to go take some pictures at Antietam National Battlefield.  I hadn't toured the battlefield in years and years.  I'll give those pictures their own post too.

In about a week, I should have my very first Kindle.  For a long time, I rejected the idea of electronic books, but trying to hold large books is getting more and more difficult, so I caved.  My first electronic book is going to be George R.R. Martin's new novel.  I read the first four books in the Game of Thrones series back-to-back and I've been waiting for a Kindle to continue.  His books are all super long (nearly 1,000 pages each in paperback), so the Kindle should help with any issues regarding the weight/size of his work.  I've started a list of other books that I want to read as well.  I'm hoping that I can borrow some of them from the local library too. 

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, so I'll be visiting my friends Mandy & Frank for the meal.  I'm bringing a pumpkin pie that I'll be making later on today.  It's a tasty recipe that has honey in it.  I quite enjoy a good pumpkin pie.  :) 

Speaking of meals, I had a Jazz Salad today.  It may very well be the last one ever since the provider at the work cafeteria is being replaced.  Overall, it was tasty, but I think they forgot to put the hot sauce in the dressing because it wasn't hot at all.  That was a slight disappointment, but I was glad to have the salad at least one more time.  I've had this salad every week (that it's been available for sale) for several years now and I'll really miss having it every Thursday.  It's become a welcome tradition for me to enjoy this tasty meal every week.

Here is a picture of my friends that I'm going to visit tomorrow.  This was taken in Swallow Falls State Park when we all visited there in October.

This is WAY too early for snow. Blargh!

So, 3.7 inches of snow fell here today.  This is a record here for the most snow ever in October.  It broke a record that had stood since 1925.  If I haven't mentioned it before now, I AM NOT A FAN OF SNOW.  Sure, sometimes it looks kinda pretty, but it is COLD and it is HEAVY when you have to shovel it, and most people drive like (even bigger) idiots when it is falling or already on the roads.  So, not only did this snow cause the cancellation of the annual Mummer's Parade here in town (which hasn't happened since the blackout years during WW2), but it also caused a lot of power outages.  A lot of trees still have their leaves and the snow was weighing down their limbs.  I feel bad for the trees...and myself...because I really do hate the snow.  Also, I noticed that my cherry tree that I planted this Spring is dead.  Somehow, the trunk was snapped.  I don't know if it was some horribly malicious awful excuse for a person or if it was Nature.  I'm sad and really disappointed either way.  I spent a lot of time and effort this Spring and Summer on that tree and I was dreaming of the beautiful cherry blossoms that it would bring forth into the world.  It's SO NOT RIGHT that it's dead. *SAD FACE*  I'm hoping to get another tree and try again.  Anyway, I felt bad for my weeping willow tree.  It was so weighed down by the snow that I was afraid it would be damaged.  I got my winter boots out (again, WAY too early for this!) and went out into the yard to gently shake the snow off the leaves.  Here is a picture of the tree before I went to save it.

The Maryland International Film Festival

I volunteered for 3 hours today for the Maryland International Film Festival.  It is the first year for the festival and I hope that it will be back next year and continue to grow.  I was an usher (taking tickets, passing out ballots and re-collecting them back after the movies) at The Bridge of Life Church in downtown Hagerstown.  There is a brunch tomorrow at Seven Ten which is the revamped bowling alley at Longmeadow.  I think that I'll go because it will be free food and I've been trying (and sometimes succeeding) to save money lately.  It stinks not having endless funds!  Anyway, I got a free t-shirt for my time (it's pink!) and hope enough people came out to make the whole event a success.
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture for this post, but I will try to get a picture of the former theater/now church/used as a movie theater.  I think it's a shame that it is a church now as it would be great to use it as a theather for live theater.  I liked that the doors in the lobby had diamond shaped windows.  It just makes me think of times past.  At least the church is taking good care of the building even if I'd love to put it to another use.

Beautiful weather makes for great photos, but lots of rain makes for beautiful waterfalls.

   Last weekend, I drove to Frostburg to visit my friends Mandy and Frank.  They were generous enough to not only let me stay at their house, but also to come along with me while I attempted to take pictures. 
   On Friday night, I tried to take star trail pictures for the first time...with mixed results.  The moon was mostly full, so that caused some light pollution and once we finally found a nice, dark place, a few cars messed up the shot.  I did, however, capture a few shots that I liked.  I'd like to try the star trails again, and soon, but it really needs to stop raining for a while!  I love how green my yard is, I really do, and I know that it's great for the trees and plants, but I could use a break. 
   So, Mandy, Frank, and I at dinner at D'Atris in Lavale and then came back to their house to chill for a bit.  After it was dark, we headed out looking for dark places.  We tried a couple places before going to this place in Garrett County where there are twin churches overlooking fields and a ridge.  It's pretty there.  One of the churches is no longer an active church and actually looks sort of run down and creepy - which I think makes for an interesting photo.  I had a difficult time getting the settings on my camera and the remote to work at first (lesson learned:  do that before leaving the house next time), but then I tried a few different lengths of time.  I got one picture that is approaching what I'd like to have as far as a circular shot of the stars and then another shot that just shows how pretty the night sky is and how many stars are out there.  It always makes me realize how very few stars that I can see living in the city.  Blasted light pollution!

First real attempt at star trails - you can kinda see the circle that I was going for here.

Just look at all those stars!

The Casselman River Bridge at night with stars.

   So, after the bridge, it was pretty darn late and it was chilly out, so we went back to their house. It was 1 am before we went to bed.  I woke up at my normal time of 7 AM (without an alarm clock!) and got ready to go to Swallow Falls State Park.  I had never been out in that area, so I was really excited that we were going to go there.  We stopped at this scenic overlook.  On the right side, there is a giant corn maze at the farm.  I couldn't make out the design, but it looked neat.  We drove past and next to Deep Creek Lake (which I had never seen before) and it was beautiful. 

   Finally, we turned onto this road that led us to this tiny parking area...and a closed bridge...which we needed to cross to enter the park.  We found out later, on our way back home, that we should have gone straight instead of turning right and we could have driven into the park.  If we had done that though, I wouldn't have gotten the cool shots on the scary metal bridge (that I was afraid to walk on because you could see straight down) or risk my life walking around the construction barrier.  Scary!  We walked up the driveway (for lack of a better word) into the park and enjoyed all the light and the trees on the way there.  I would have missed that if we had driven.  I was really loving the light - it made for some really great shots.

The sky was a perfect shade of blue.  I loved all the colors against it, but particularly the reds.

Muddy Water Falls - hordes of old people descended on us as I was trying to photograph it - and then they WOULDN'T MOVE FROM THESE STAIRS - so we gave up and moved on to the other falls.

I loved this scene the most.  The light was perfect and there are so many details to be seen.

I finally figured out/remembered how to make silky waterfalls at the 4th waterfall we visited.  At least I finally got a couple silky water pictures.

The Youghiogheny River - looking upstream - after our visit and on our way back to the car.

  After leaving the park, we ate a late lunch at a Perkin's in Deep Creek.  It was the best chicken friend steak I've ever had!  I was super hungry after all that walking.  My left knee, leg, and ankle swelled up after all that walking and driving (the clutch kills me sometimes), but it was worth it to experience such beauty.  I hope to return again some day.



The Travel Paradox

I love to travel.  I really do...and yet, I also love to stay home.  When I have time and, more importantly, money, I try to visit places where I've been before and new to me too.  I have a long list of places, countries, sites, cities, etc. where I would love to go with a camera in hand.  One of them is Machu Picchu in Peru (new to me) and another is Paris (been, but loved it enough to want to return). 
  There is one place, however, that I feel that I need to visit again...as much as I love to stay home.  It's not a well known place.  It's a square mile island in Scotland and it's owned by a Dutch family.  They visit one month a year for their holiday, but the rest of the time, it is used by the Findhorn Foundation.  Its name is the Isle of Erraid and it is beautiful there.  I lived there for two and a half months when I was seven years old.  My interpretation of the place is (and was) that New Agey types like to go there to commune with Nature and each other (literally).  Since I was just 7, I spent most of my time playing and doing school work now and then.  My mother is a school teacher, so she taught us while we were there.  I remember doing several chapters at a time of math or spelling just to get it done.  I read my entire 2nd grade reading book and then, lacking more reading material, I read my brother's 5th grade book.  He didn't like that very much as I remember.  I think that this island is where I caught the reading bug.  I probably would have still been a big reader had I not visited there, but that is where the reading clicked for me and I began to enjoy it.
  While playing, I spent a lot of time walking and running on TOP of the walls.  They were stone and had rounded tops.  The tops of the walls reached about where my shoulders did at that age.  I don't think the adults there liked that I (and my siblings) did this, but no one made us stop.  I never fell, not even once.  Some of the walls had a pretty vertical slant to them as they climbed hills.  I also liked to throw rocks off the pier into the water at high tide (well, anytime but when the tide was out because that was no fun) and play in the little pink rowboat that was always tied to the pier at the bottom of a ladder. 
  There was not much that I disliked about living there.  I didn't really like the seaweed when the tide went out.  It looked and smelled gross to me.  I didn't enjoy using the outhouses.  I missed not being able to watch TV, but not a lot.  I remember that they were pretty strict about snacking and I was a hungry kid, but I remember taking apples (probably when I wasn't supposed to) and eating those between meals.
  So, back to why I want to re-visit this island.  First, it is gorgeous.  I'll post some pictures that my mother took.  Sadly, I didn't have a camera back then, but I do now.  Second, I would love to document said gorgeousness.  I adore ridiculously beautiful blue water and painfully lovely landscapes.  Third, I know that it will be different visiting as an adult, but I've wanted to return since I left and it's been over 30 years now.  It's not the easiest place to get to though, so that's part of the problem.  At minimum, it will take a plane, a train, a ferry, and a bus (or some combination thereof) to reach the larger island off the coast of Erraid called Mull.  At low tide, you can walk from Mull to Erraid, but the tide comes in quickly, so I wouldn't really recommend that unless you feel like getting wet and swimming the rest of the way.  Finally, I might have to visit alone since it's not really much of a draw for most people I would imagine.  I'll do my best to sell it as a great place to visit that's off the beaten path, but I'm not sure if I can convince anyone who I'd actually care to travel with to come along for the ride.  I hope to post pictures here from that trip some day soon, but for now, here are some pictures from back in 1981.  They are slides taken by my mother with a 35mm camera that she was learning how to use as she went. We watched the slides over and over many times.  I've scanned them all, but some of them haven't fared as well as others in 3 decades.

Bay of Balfour (I think)

Here is me and my brother.  Just look at that water!



I want to photograph this island!



This is me on Iona.  You can see Iona from Erraid and we visited one day.

This is the water tank behind our neighbor's house.  The Chittys lived next door.

Obsessions and Possessions

Of all the (probably unhealthy) obsessions that I have, I really enjoy (certain) video games and art.  When these 2 combine, it can sometimes blow my mind.  When it's affordable, I induldge myself.  There is currently a show at Gallery 1988 (Venice, California location) about old school videogames.  One of the most popular of these games series is anything within Nintendo's Zelda line.  I LOVE these games.  I buy them as soon as they are released and labor over them for many hours (painful arms and hands be damned!) until I beat every level/beast/boss and master every puzzle and skill.  Then, I replay them over and over.  They are delightfully full of fun in their many iterations.  I really hope that Nintendo comes out with a new one as it has been a few years now.  Anyway, I noticed that one particular artist made a really cool piece of Zelda-influenced art with which he included  a golden record with the triforce on it ('natch).  Here's a (borrowed) picture from the gallery's blog showing this work and the cover art of the "album" itself and then also a closer look at the cover art by Joey Spiotto (http://www.etsy.com/shop/joebot?ref=pr_shop).  For those who don't know (gasp!) this is Princess Zelda with The Hero or Link.  Nearly always, your character with whom you play the game is Link.  I found the artist's Etsy page and bought the front and back prints of this album art.  Sadly, the record itself will have already been sold at the show and was quite pricey, I'm sure.  The prints on Etsy were much more economically priced.  The available prints from that show should be able this weekend.  I'm looking forward to what is available as I really like another of the prints that will be available.  If my wallet is lucky, however, maybe it will already have sold out.

Also speaking of obsessions and possessions, I've neglected to post any pictures of my toy collections.  Here is one small part of the (much) larger collection - my Rose Vampires.  There are 2 sizes of this toy.  The original size was the small size you see here in the various colors.  The newer, larger version is behind these.  I haven't set him up properly yet, so you can't see all of him.  (I had a different set of toys sitting behind these guys, but moved them now that there are larger versions available.) This is not all of the Rose Vampires that were released (sadly), but I do have most of them.  I think they're beautiful.  The original version is the one on the far left with the green body and red head.  The one on the far right is last one made available which was meant to echo the original (but has a clear body - a clear head would have been too pricey I read).

Hagerstown City Park, Roses, and Photoshop

After I wrote about not having taken any pictures for a while, I decided to visit Hagerstown's City Park and take some.  I walked around the Hager House and then around the lake some.  On my way back to my car, I walked through the garden behind the museum and took some pictures of the roses there.  I played with photoshop and tried a couple cool effects...at least I think they're cool.
 

Local and National Flags at Hagerstown City Park and the Hager House




The Hager House - the city founder's home



The Hager House and the spring.

The walkway leading up to the Mansion House.

A little girl feeds the swans and ducks corn.

Roses behind the museum (original picture)

A rose with a dewdrop behind the museum (original picture)

photo with "poster edges"

photo with "poster edges"

A time capsule behind the museum which will be opened in 2026 (after 50 years).

Workers lowering the flags to half staff in observance of September 11th - Patriot's Day (edit:  what I just found out is that white block on the right side is where a piece of World Trade Center steel beam was installed and this is the Washington County Emergency Services Tribute Garden - I had no idea.  I will have to return to have a look.)

Swans swimming in the lake

Rain, rain, and more rain...

Well, we endured Hurricane Irene the same week as the East Coast Earthquake of 2011, but then we suffered through the drenching rains of Tropical Storm Lee.  Lee was much worse than Irene, but it was just rainy here.  It didn't flood where I am, thankfully!  This morning, there is finally a bit of sun.  I'm hoping that we can keep it for a while. 

I took the plunge and signed up for Level 3 Basic Sign Language.  It looks like only 3 people have signed up though, so I'm not sure the class will go on with that few...which will be disappointing.  I'm not the best ASL student, but I'm trying to learn it.  I had to go to the main campus of Hagerstown Community College to buy the book (couldn't find it online at a decent price that would get it here, for sure, by Monday's first class) and get a parking pass.  It was an ordeal to get a parking pass.  At least I didn't have to pay for the pass itself, which is nice, and student parking is right in front of the building where my class will be (if it happens, that is). 

I know it's super nerdy, but I've made my annual spreadsheet of Fall TV Shows thanks to some help from Entertainment Weekly.  I don't like that EW ignores channels like HBO, Showtime, and AMC.  I'm really looking forward to The Walking Dead (October 16th!) and Mad Men (sadly, next year) on AMC.  Such awesome shows.  I can't watch the zombie show right before bed though.  It would give me bad dreams.  As it is, the show made me paranoid last year when I watched it.  While in my basement doing laundry, I worried that a zombie might be able to see me through the basement window despite the blinds and the curtain and he/she/it would try to break through the basement window when he/she/it sees the basement light and then I'd be toast...or zombie food...whatever.  I know that's ridiculous, but if a show can make me think that much about zombies, then it's certainly doing something right.

I am midway through book 3 of the Game of Thrones series.  I read so much yesterday that I dreamed crazy dreams with strange violence in them.  I don't want this series to ever end.  The paperback books are all nearly 1,000 pages, but it's still not enough.  I have the rest of book 3, then book 4 and then book 5 was just released in hardcover.  I just might have to get a Kindle (I've been fighting that urge) because it's gonna hurt my hands to try to hold a book that big and read it.  The author, George R. R. Martin has been writing this series since 1996 and I'm just now inhaling the books due to the HBO show of the same name that I adored.  It's going to be quite difficult to wait for books 6 and 7 to be written.  It sounds like it will be years and years from now before they're released.  Some things are difficult to wait for, but definitely worth the wait!

I don't have any picture to post today, sadly.  It's been so wet, that I haven't really been able to get out and do anything.  I tried to take pictures of my dog Max who isn't doing so well, but he didn't really want to cooperate and he cried when I tried to pick him up.  Oh well.  I wanted to capture what I saw last night in my backyard, but I don't think it would have come out as cool as what I saw.  Fog was slowly creeping across the long, shared back yard which borders the fence separating us from the Western Maryland Rail Yard.  The lights from the rail yard are always too bright, but the fog made them look eerie and surreal.  Maybe I'll learn how to photograph fog at some point.  I guess fog at night is even more challenging.

Earthquake!

So, I felt an earthquake today for the first time.  It was not a pleasant experience.  I heard a loud bang sound which was followed by the floor shaking.  I was at my desk at work.  Our office is located right above an empty, underground parking garage.  When it gets really windy outside, the floor already shakes under our feet.  It felt like that today only much worse.  I looked outside expecting to see the trees really bent over from the wind, but they looked the same as usual.  The woman who sits across from me then commented that this is what an earthquake feels like.  I was pretty freaked out and a bit scared too.  We didn't leave the building or even move from our seats.  We just kept working...or tried to anyway.  I'm pretty bummed that there was some significant damage to the National Cathedral.  I love that church.  It is gorgeous inside and out.  I hope that everything can be repaired.  Here are some pictures from the cathedral which I have taken. 

This was the tower that was damaged.  I hope that it can all be repaired!  This was taken during the Gargoyle Tour.

A stained glass rose window inside the cathedral.  The morning light was streaming through the windows onto the pillars.

The front of the cathedral - taken during the Gargoyle Tour as well.