caged

my batteries ran out of juice after about four pictures. this was the best of the lot. i promise better in the future.

subterranean homesick alien

Title courtesy of Radiohead. The title was *almost* courtesy of Spinal Tap. I nearly called it "D-minor, the saddest of all the keys." And then that made me think i should call it--i'll make this family friendly--"l.m.l.p."

Sophomoric humor aside, for me this photo evokes terrible sadness and loneliness. Just like the song of the same title.

learning the moves from the master, johnny robot.

this is the first and only photo i've ever posted taken by someone other than me. I do so because it reveals so nicely why i am indebted to this young man--a man who, despite what you might gather from the photo (or, say, from talking with him), now studies at princeton.

Here’s how life works: i gave him knowledge and wisdom (on, for example, why drummers make the best student workers, or why baptism by immersion is almost like cheating because its symbolism is so obvious it requires practically no faith at all). in return from him i learned how to make computer noises and dance like the white man i am. i also learned this phrase: "conversational tyrant." i will not tell you to whom he applied it. (hint: i'm still bitter.)

Let’s face it: I got the better deal in the bargain.

This is a limited edition posting that will soon be taken down.

my three little christmas monkeys

have no fear. this picture is a month and a half late, not ten and a half months early. i'm not walmart, you know.

like father, like daughter

a keenly developed appreciation of the bizarre.

asking questions until the question answerer goes insane.

a need to qualify every answer with eight counterexamples.

I wonder….where did she get those traits?!? Hmmm….

best of all, she thinks i’m perfectly normal, even terrific!! recently she said, “dad, i know why you like taking pictures of me so much.” (I have taken more pictures of her than any other person.) “it’s because i don’t automatically smile like all the other kids do, isn’t it? it’s more interesting when someone doesn’t smile, isn’t it.”

“That’s my girl!!! Come over here, you!!”

my ripe little plum

such a tender and loving heart this one has. to paraphrase one of my colleagues, her heart is like a perfectly ripe plum--in equal measures sweet and easily bruised. i fret for that little heart trying to stay true to itself in our sharp-edged and indifferent world.

little miss ornery in the morning

and this one. do i worry about her?

not so much.

though i do wonder how her reign will be judged by history.

i'm on the top of the world....

....lookin' down on creation....

sorry for getting it stuck in your head. but have a great day!!

christmas in 2007, pt. 1

christmas in 2007, pt. 2

stephen redux, no. 1

here’s what i can say about this glorious series of stephen-themed pictures. first, no animals were harmed in the making of these photos. however, i can make no such claims with respect to stephen’s soul. second, photoshop use was extremely minimal—basically i converted a few pictures from color to black and white. i did not digitally impose any photos on other photos. (actually photoshop use was nonexistent since i don’t use photoshop. i use the low-end software that came with my camera.)

stephen redux, no. 2

stephen redux, no. 3

stephen redux, no. 4

stephen redux, no. 5

stephen redux, no. 6

18 degrees

Title courtesy of my oldest daughter.

So the next few pictures result from our recent cold snap. (Yes, the low was 18 degrees.) It turns out it’s easier to take pictures of ice when ice is available. Twice last week it snowed--flurries, but no accumulation. For a few minutes at least my daughters experienced pure joy—giggling, and pushing each other, and running around with their mouths open, trying to catch falling snow. I never know how to use the word “frolic,” but I’m pretty confident there was some serious sister-frolicking going on outside.

When the snow stopped my middle child told me it was because they had eaten it all up. And I thought, hey, that’s a pretty cool kid strategy: rather than being morose because the snow ended, take ownership of it. “Sure it ended; we ended it. And that’s why we’re full. But I COULD use some hot cocoa.”

That’s how they roll.

incredibly tiny ice swirls

I had not detected these pretty little bubbles and swirls when I took the picture--I discovered them only when I enlarged the image on the computer. Something about seeing these little images emerge from nowhere reminded me how the importance of accidental discovery in contributing to a rich life can hardly be overstated.

And then I thought how we, too, need from time to time to peek beneath all the layers of lies and clichés and routines and habits that shroud of us from ourselves.

You know, with the help of digital photo manipulation software.

And then I thought this: the robots will definitely win.

Oh, there’s no doubt.

icebergs in the sandbox