Obsession

How many hours am I going to spend in trying to decide (a) whether I should get a second digital camera to cover the range/situations where the Digital Elph isn't up to snuff; and (b) if so, which camera (and what type) should I get? The answer has to be over 120 and counting. Over five full days of my life taken up with asking these questions and researching same. So far. Clearly I have too much time on my hands.

The Elph is a fine camera for basic everyday activities, such as photographing the cherry blossoms. And its size means that it's perfect for taking anywhere. But it's useless for taking pictures at United games (not enough zoom, tough lighting conditions for the many night games, not fast enough lens), and it's not great in museums (low light without flash (though I have figured out how to do better than I did in Mexico)). In addition to better zoom, I'd like wide-angle too -- my old camera started out at a wider angle (28mm vs 35mm), and I can definitely tell when I want to get entire buildings in a shot (as I did in Mexico), and I presumably will the next time I want to take a group photo indoors (in a couple of weeks at Passover?). And while the quality of the Elph is good, there's ample opportunity for improvement.

So my options are:

1. one of the handful of digital cameras with big zoom that starts at wide angle;
2. a less expensive, higher-quality camera with big zoom (bigger than option 1) that I'd need an adapter lens to capture wide angle (or give up on wide angle shots); or
   
3. a D-SLR camera (i.e., a camera that allows you to switch out lenses (you have to buy each one, and it can get very expensive), which will give you the highest quality photos, but which is the bulkiest and costs the most).

I know how to take decent pitcures with a point-and-shoot camera, but I'm only just starting to learn about manual controls. All three options will give me lots of manual control -- while a D-SLR will give me the greatest room to grow (and screw up as I grow), there's still plenty I can learn with the other cameras.

Option 1 sounds good, and ideally it would be the logical choice. But I worry about the quality, which the reviews I've read suggest is good but not great -- what's the point of spending so much money and not being dazzled by the resulting photos?



Option 2 appeals the most to me -- the camera is hardly bigger than my old one, and it offers so many more possibilities. The absence of wide-angle is a drawback, though, and it's what keeps me from deciding to go ahead with this option. A wide-angle conversion lens wouldn't be that expensive, however, or that large -- maybe this is still my best option.

D-SLRs give qualitatively better photos, and are the best for sporting events. And the prices have come down substantially, so that depending on the camera, I can get everything I need (for starters) for only a couple of hundred dollars more than the other two options. That being said, they're big (though they've gotten smaller), and I'm not sure I want to lug around at least two lenses -- if I limit myself to one lens, the available range won't be nearly as useful.

So while a D-SLR intrigues me, there's also the fact that I don't print out many photos, so much of the qualitative difference gets lost because a computer screen isn't the ideal medium to view photos. There's also the point that digital cameras are electronics, which means that I should expect that one would have a life of at most 5 years.

But if I don't get the D-SLR, is the qualitative difference between the camera we have and another non-D-SLR worth the expense to get another camera? I'm not sure, but I think so -- there's a significant difference, and pictures are usually my only souvenirs when we travel, so it's worth getting really good quality.

And so these are the issues I wrestle with, knowing that there's no real rush, as I don't have another vacation that I'd use a camera on for a few months (I'll live with the Elph at Passover). During this extra time, prices will almost certainly fall (they always do), and new cameras that would appeal to me might get introduced. Unfortunately, this extra time also gives me time to obsess even more. And so I keep wrestling with myself, knowing that the only way to end this cycle of obsession is to buy something -- it's not enough to decide not to buy something, as that's a decision I can always change my mind over.

National Poetry Month

I don't feel like I have much to say at the moment, but the six of you reading my blog deserve to see the page updated as much as possible. So in that vein, along with the premise that old stuff can become new again, and in honor of National Poetry Month, here are a couple of old poems of mine:

The Child Within

Enigmatic child leads me by the hand,
To take me to his Never Never Land.
Patiently the youth explains what it is he's made,
While in his own world he had played.

The stories he tells defy belief,
And I say that with much relief.
His imagination knows no limit --
I pray adulthood doesn't dim it.

Let the strictures of adolescence never come
To deprive him of his childhood fun.
The freedom to choose between what can't and can
Is a gift that too few understand.

Written in college, revised 5/25/94

-----

the mourning after -- 11/11/95

incessant pounding of a neighbor's hammering takes me unaware,
involuntarily starting my day on the
underside of the life curve
through its rhythmic throbbing inflaming the
bitterness remaining from the previous evening's
endeavors to find someone to share my
affections all the while shunning the reality
that the dysfunctional ambience of
smoke and mirrors makes me ever desperate
to gain more than these furtive jaunts into the
city's loneliness crying out for contentment
can hope to provide, recognizing in myself
the futile goal of finding a
companionship that wouldn't leave me feeling
empty as the morning's dog bowl, the a.m. a
tangled embarrassment of arms and legs
belonging to neither of their owners
but to a moment that ended shortly before dawn.

Crisis? What Crisis?

President Bush is going around the country in an effort to draw attention to the "crisis" of Social Security. Never mind the fact that his plan is disliked by most Americans, or that his plan would cost trillions of dollars, or that his plan doesn't actually address the crisis that he's squawking about. My question is, why doesn't he focus on the more significant crises with the same level of zeal? Or with any level of zeal?

The price of oil has skyrocketed in the past few months, and nary a word has come from his lips. World demand is growing, not just because Americans still feel no pressure to conserve, but also because China's demand is exploding as it becomes more industrialized. World production isn't even maintaining peak levels from the past, and almost no new reserves are being discovered. Consequently, gas prices will continue to rise as the world oil supply dwindles. Even some conservatives are clamoring for development of alternative fuel technology, if only for national security reasons. Thus, Bush would have political cover to turn his attention to this issue. Of course, that might not go over well in Texas.

And it's not just energy vs. social security. What about the spiraling cost of health care? As this editorial observes, it's clear that health care is a much bigger hit on the economy and on workers than Social Security. Check out this gem of a passage:

By either the CBO [Congressional Budget Office] or the Social Security trustees' estimates, the hit to the economy from runaway health care costs is far greater than the potential damage of a Social Security tax increase. The ratios range from four times as great to 18 times as great, depending on which estimates one chooses.

The same article observes that both Medicare and Medicaid are in very precarious positions as well.

I'm not saying that Social Security doesn't have any problems, but it's clear that Bush has his prioirities screwed up -- far greater crises are being left to fester while the President goes off on Social Security. I don't pretend to read Bush's mind, but I'll wager it has to do with the location of the money. Bush seems to live in a world of black and white, no grays (hence, the infamous statement that either you're with us or you're the enemy) -- and as far as goods and services are concerned, they're either privatized (good) or public (bad). Both the energy and health care issues are tied to rising costs in the private sector, so he won't touch them. Medicare was made more privatized by the prescription drug bill, but it's already clear that doing so exacerbated Medicare's financial condition. As for Medicaid, I fear Bush is content to let the poor go without any health care whatsoever, though state governors, Republican and Democrat alike, have successfully besieged the Senate to prevent cuts in its funding. Politically, it would be impossible for Bush to dismantle Social Security -- all he can hope to do is privatize it. This (at best) indifference toward using a solution that doesn't shrink (the non-military component of) government may explain why Bush hasn't suggested a solution to Social Security, and only considered the peripheral issue (no matter that it adds trillions to the national debt).

From what quarter will responsible leadership emerge, or will Bush and the other powers that be fiddle while the USA burns (using wood, since there'll be no more oil)?

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Weatherwise, the weekend was pretty crappy, but the first three days of the week have been gorgeous (obviously I wish the weather had been reversed). Today the high was around 80, which is about 10 degrees warmer than yesterday, and 20 degrees warmer than Saturday through Monday. I walked into work this morning, after walking home on Monday and into work yesterday. The difference is that this time I brought a camera.

Here are a couple of tulip shots at Bartholdi Gardens, part of the National Botanical Gardens (and across from the main Botanical Gardens building):



And I've really enjoyed seeing the miniature daffodils sprouting up (though they're already a little past peak):


The camera also came in handy at lunchtime, as I walked over to the Tidal Basin (about six minutes from my office) and took in the cherry blossoms. It was too warm, too crowded, and quite lovely. Here are a couple of tree shots, the first focused more at the blossoms than the tree itself:



I was very taken with close-ups of the blossoms themselves, and a number of the photos came out pretty well:






And of course, no visit to the Tidal Basin would be complete without the obligatory Washington Monument shot (bonus -- with reflection!):


Tonight I went to the DC United game against UNAM Pumas, a Mexican squad, in the first game of the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Cup. United scored early off a beautiful cross from Jaime Moreno to Christian Gomez. For the rest of the half, United played very defensively, daring Pumas to score. Fortunately, there were only a couple of close calls, and no goals. That changed early in the second half, when Pumas converted a penalty kick after a dubious penalty was called in the box. Then it was United's turn to attack while Pumas was content with a tie on the road, knowing the second game would be in Mexico City. United had a couple of opportunities, and the ref had several chances to return the favor of a penalty in the box, but to no avail. Final was 1-1.


Alecko Eskandarian, Jaime Moreno, Josh Gros and Ben Olsen, Moments Before Kickoff

In other news, today my boss announced that he's taking a job elsewhere. I like him, I'm sad to see him go, but the new job gives him the ability to pursue one of his life interests. I certainly can't blame him for pursuing it, and hope it gives him everything he wants from a job. On the other hand, work is currently going a major transition due to change among the higher-ups, and I can't help but think of the image of a rat leaving a sinking ship.

Going Postal

Note: While I had written concert reviews in the past, this blog is my first foray into the realm of book reviews. I have come to realize that a book review is a completely different animal (though I guess movie reviews are a similar type of animal). Whereas in a concert review you essentially report, in a book review you can't do that, else you reveal the plot. So forgive me while I learn as I go -- hopefully these will improve with some practice, and if they don't, hopefully I'll have enough sense to recognize that and so stop subjecting you to them. In the meantime, at least you'll know what I'm reading.

Going Postal is the most recent book in Pratchett's Discworld series, and I turned to it almost as soon as I finished Monstrous Regiment. It tells the story of Moist von Lipwig, a convicted con artist who has been given the choice of either running Ankh-Morpork's moribund post office or of dying (long-time readers of the Discworld series may recognize the hand of Lord Vetinari in giving Moist this choice of career paths). Accompanied by Mr. Pump, a golem parole officer who can hunt him down unerringly should he try to escape, he reluctantly takes on the former task. Upon taking the job, Moist learns that the Post Office is a run-down mess almost completely filled by undelivered letters, and that the previous four Postmasters had died on the job (all in the preceding five weeks). But Moist is an optimist, and he's back in the game, so he can't help but raise the stakes in reviving the post office. He soon finds himself taking on Reacher Gilt, the no-good owner of the clacks (the equivalent of the telegraph) in delivering people's messages. Moist also starts wooing Miss Adora Belle Dearheart, the chainsmoking daughter of the inventor of the clacks, who lost ownership of the company to a group of oily investors led by Gilt. Along the way Moist invents postage stamps.

Going Postal is certainly one of Pratchett's better works. Characterwise, Moist isn't the best-developed (e.g., Polly Perks in Monstrous Regiment was better in that sense), but there's certainly enough there for you to empathize with. The other postal workers are entertaining -- Groat especially has more about him than a standard stock character. And Vetinari is as inscrutable as ever.

The plot is well-conceived and appears completely consistent. Even though you know where the book is heading, the enjoyment comes in how Pratchett gets there. In this case, it's with style. Clever wordplay all over the place (don't worry -- the name Adora Belle is surely the least funny), delightful Discworld equivalents to our world, and outrageousness that works. I laughed at numerous passages throughout the book, doing my best not to read the funniest passages to Kathy so she could enjoy them if she reads it. The only quibble I have with the plot is that although the book is chock full of entertaining concepts tied to a Discworld post office, some of those concepts are inadequately drawn out.

Rating: 9/10.

100 Things About Me

Seems like a lot of blogs I've stumbled across have done this, and if I want to be a Real Blogger©, I figure that I need to do one as well.

Last edited 04/15/2006

History
1. I was born at Bethesda Naval Hospital in 1968.
2. I was conceived in October 1967 when my Bostonian parents celebrated the Red Sox winning the American League pennant -- they considered naming me Yastrzemski.
3. At birth on July 7 (7/7), I weighed seven pounds and seven ounces.
4. My parents gave me the middle name Russell, in case I didn't like Aaron.
5. I don't like the name Russell.
6. I am the oldest of four children.
7. When I was three I called my Dad at work (in the days before re-dial or speed dial), and I have no idea how I did it.
8. I grew up in Orange Park, Florida, just outside of Jacksonville.
9. My first job that didn't involve yard work or babysitting was as an operator for a telephone answering service when I was 15 (and yes, I worked at an old-fashioned switchboard).
10. I was valedictorian of my high school class of 39.
11. Being a high school valedictorian means diddly within one year of graduation.
12. I was a math major in college.
13. I once woke up 20 minutes after a final exam started, and still finished the exam in time.
14. Between college and law school, a college friend and I did a two-month cross-country road trip that included Canada.
15. Entering Montana from Canada, we were made to wait inside border patrol for a half hour while they did a complete search of our car -- apparently, two long-haired 21-year olds, one from Florida and one from Tennessee, looked suspicious.
16. I lost my virginity at 21.
17. When my childhood dog Puddle died when I was in law school, I couldn't help but think that I'd known her longer than I had my youngest sister.
18. An ex-girlfriend who didn''t want to have anything to do with me moved in next door to where I was living with my then fiancee.
19. I never pulled an all-nighter in college or law school.
20. I have lived in the suburbs of Jacksonville, Florida, the suburbs of Washington, DC, Ithaca, NY, Tallahassee, FL, and Washington, DC proper.

Married and Living in DC
21. I hadn't ever lived in a major city until 1998, when I moved into DC.
22. Within one week of moving into the city, I had met my future wife Kathy at the dog park.
23. I write acrostic poetry to Kathy, where the first letter of each line spells "I love you."
24. I proposed to Kathy reading an acrostic sonnet, in iambic pentameter, where the first letter of each line spelled out "Will You Marry Me," then handing it to her, the question being in enlarged bold.
25. She didn't notice the proposal.
26. Kathy and I got married in 1999.
27. I never want to live in suburbs again.
28. Kathy and I have two dogs, Nora and Junebug.
29. When I met Kathy, my dog was Rosie -- after she died of cancer in 2000, we got Junebug from the pound.
30. For my commute, I either Metro or walk.
31. At our wedding, my cousin Jeff was both the best man and maid of honor.
32. We live on Capitol Hill in a house we bought one month before we got married.
33. Despite living on Capitol Hill, I've never been inside the U.S. Capitol.
34. We would like to have children, but have been unable to conceive.
35. The best present Kathy has ever given me is a digital jukebox.
36. My wife is my best friend.
37. We don't have cable TV.
38. I need more sleep than Kathy does.
39. Together, my wife and I only own one car. We didn't own any car until November 2001, after Kathy had gotten somewhat panicked by 9/11.
40. The thing I most dislike about living in DC is that we have no voting representation in Congress.

Interests
41. I love good beer, and if you give me a chance, I can talk your ear off about it.
42. I have tried over 4000 different beers -- you can see the ones I've rated (and how I've rated them) here.
43. The only beer I've ever given a perfect score to is Three Floyd's Dark Lord Imperial Stout, which is not available where I live.
44. I don't think Sam Adams is a particularly good beer, but I'd still be polite if you said you like it.
45. I'd be polite even if you said you liked Budweiser.
46. For the last nine years I've hosted a holiday beer party, where I ask guests to bring a six-pack of seasonal beer.
47. I have taken many trips for the express purpose of trying beers or meeting up with fellow beer geeks.
48. I'm very good at Boggle, and have played a non-copyrighted version of it regularly on this site for over 10 years.
49. I have hosted a Bogathon and attended a few others.
50. As part of our first date (which started at noon and went until midnight), I played Boggle against Kathy.
51. During the first game, I started laughing because I had found the word "inebriate."
52. Kathy no longer likes playing Boggle with me.
53. I have met over 120 people in person whom I first met through the beer or the boggle site I frequent.
54. My favorite professional sports team is DC United, and I have been a full-season ticket holder since 1998.
55. I have been to five of the ten MLS Cups, including three of DC United's four championships.

Likes and Dislikes, Bests and Worsts, Mosts and Leasts
56. My favorite flavor of ice cream is coffee.
57. I don't drink coffee.
58. I don't drink any other caffeinated beverages, or any type of soda.
59. I don't like asparagus, I don't eat beef, and I'm allergic to shrimp.
60. My favorite ethnic dish is Vietnamese vegetable spring rolls (with peanut sauce).
61. I love sushi.
62. I couldn't possibly pick a favorite band (though I have identified several of my favorites on my profile page), but I do my darnedest to keep up with current music despite not having a decent radio station to listen to in DC.
63. My favorite foreign films are Life is Beautiful and Amelie.
64. While one of my favorite albums of the 1990s is the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs, my favorite love song of theirs comes from a different album ("It's Only Time," on i).
65. The "loneliest" day in my life was my 21st birthday, when I saw only one other person (while hiking in the Canadian Rockies).
66. The most beautiful moment at a wedding (not my own) that I've attended was when my brother exchanged vows with his then-four-year-old stepson.
67. The most regret I've ever experienced was at my grandmother's funeral (when I was 17), when I discovered how much she had cared for me that I had taken for granted.
68. I love getting a massage.
69. The strangest place I've had sex was in the breakdown lane of an interstate.
70. My favorite season is spring, but I find winter the most beautiful.

Travel
71. My favorite place I've never lived is Portland, Oregon.
72. I have been to every state except Arkansas, Hawaii, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Idaho.
73. I have been to Las Vegas four separate times.
74. I never get tired of vacationing at the Outer Banks in North Carolina.
75. I have no particular desire to visit Hawaii.
76. I have been to Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Russia, Belgium, Israel and Jordan.
77. When I visited Prague, I left after four days, afraid that if I didn't leave right then I never would.
78. The country I've not visited that I'd most like to is Turkey.
79. Or maybe it's Thailand.
80. I don't speak any language other than English.

More of What Makes Me Me
81. I am both a cultural Jew and an atheist.
82. I feel that I have lived a very fortunate life.
83. I am very opinionated.
84. I'm only 94.7% as arrogant about my opinions as I used to be.
85. I'm a shade under 6 feet tall, weigh about 165 pounds, and have green eyes.
86. My parents are still married, and live in Clearwater, Florida.
87. My brother Josh and sister Shari live outside of Phoenix, and my sister Rebecca lives outside of Atlanta.
88. I have never smoked tobacco or pot, or done any illicit drugs.
89. I favor legalizing pot.
90. I have way too many things.
91. My best friend from high school lives 25 miles from me and I haven't seen him since my wedding. I was first runner up in a Style Invitational contest for writing a poem that used only the first row of letters on a keyboard.
92. I wouldn't want to live forever.
93. I saw the Grateful Dead three times.
94. I have never been to an NFL game, and I haven't been to a Major League Baseball game since the strike of 1994.
95. I use puns way too much.
96. I cry on occasion.
97. Ive stood naked on my roof before.
98. I cut my own hair.
99. For me, work is a means to an end rather than an end unto itself.
100. I envy people who love their work, but I don't know what I'd love to do.

Television News Coverage 2

Following up my snarky comment from yesterday --

People die, and the death itself is nothing special in and of itself. I understand ABC (and all the other stations) were looking at his legacy, etc., as much as announcing his death, but for that there was no urgency that necessitated a 2-hour special report. They could have scheduled something knowing he was dying. If that's too morbid, i.e., you shouldn't assume he's going to die so it's possible there will be more added to his legacy, then wait until the funeral (which will have at least a few days of lead time), or the selection of the new Pope (which is also news).

I have never understood the morbid fascination with death of famous people you don't know personally. Whether it be the reaction to rock stars dying young (Jim Morrison or Kurt Cobain), or world leaders dying in old age (the Pope), these are people that you have always only read about. Then there was the whole Princess Di thing. Why do people fixate on such things? I truly don't understand.

Television News Coverage

The Pope has died. For believers, I'm sure this is sad news, but that's all there is to report.

At halftime, DC United leads Chivas USA 1-0 in a game that was moved from ABC to ESPN to allow for the Pope's death coverage. Meanwhile, ABC News is reporting that the Pope is still dead. ABC News will continue to provide live coverage of this news, just in case anything changes.

In a little over six months...

the full-length Wallace and Gromit movie is due out!

Milestone 2

60 is a number. When it is an age measured in years, it means that someone has been alive for 60 revolutions of the Earth around the sun. Someone who turned 60 today was born in 1945, at the end of World War II. If she is American, she might be the daughter of European-Jewish refugees. She might remember when the words "under God" were added to the Pledge of Allegiance. She might have gotten married at 20, fairly young for the time and very young compared with many marriages today. She might have been a mother in the 1960s, a bit too old to take part in the Summer of Love, but still able to be amazed by Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. She might have four kids that she raised across almost three decades. She might have been a school librarian some of the time her children were in school. She might have gotten her masters in Library Science, and now she might be a librarian at the city library. She might have grown up in Boston never wanting to leave, but now might live in Florida and never want to leave. She might have traveled to Australia, Israel, many parts of Europe, and all over the United States (including Hawaii and Alaska). She might have grandchildren. She might be married to the same man for almost 40 years. She might tell her son that a single paragraph is inadequate to describe her life thus far.

Happy birthday Mom.