Appear Falling

I did end up taking Yoshi out for a walk today. As I opened our front door I could see a few snowflakes falling here and there. The walk itself was nice and crisp. Snow fell off and on the entire time and sometimes the sun would hide behind the clouds, and other times it would appear and take the chill off slightly.

To give an idea of how fast the weather was changing, just look at these two pictures. They were taken looking toward the cruise ship terminal about 8 minutes apart.

By the time I got home I think it had warmed slightly as a light rain was falling. It was good to get out for some fresh air and exercise.

Frozen Fern

Yoshi and I went for a walk at Thetis yesterday. Victoria has been cold here for a few days but I was still surprised to see the amount of ice on the lake. In fact, upper Thetis lake was completely frozen over. Yoshi didn’t really pay any attention to that fact, and certainly had a good romp.





At one point he needed a drink, and had to crunch through the ice to get to the water. He was a little confused by that. I can’t imagine how cold the water must have felt, but there he was standing in it drinking!



The overcast sky ensured that the forest was a surreal green. I found this one old tree that was covered in moss and ferns. Very cool. I was on a timetable though, so I didn’t hang around too long taking pictures. We had a birthday party to get to!







The walk wasn’t as long as Yoshi needed, but it did the trick. Today I hope to get him out again.

Account Busy

This post is an account of my day yesterday. At the time it didn’t really seem like I had done a lot, but when I tally all the chores and activities, holy smokes, I was busy.

  • I got up to feed the dog (I played Poker the night before)
  • discovered Sprout had what looked like Pink Eye so I took him to the clinic to get checked out (also meant we missed our first day of Sportball)
  • picked up sandwich platter for a baby shower at our house
  • dropped off Sprout’s prescription
  • walked Yoshi with Sprout
  • picked up drugs
  • went for lunch with Sprout
  • went on a photo shoot
  • made some dinner
  • got Sprout bathed after dinner then into bed
  • did some dishes
  • cleaned up Sprout’s toys

Productive day.  It was a good thing I had the energy to do this since now Sox has come down with a cold and has no energy for all this.  The Pink Eye also means Sprout is not in daycare today, and since Sox is sick, I  have been on duty for him today too.

Today (so far) we:

  • got up and had some breakfast
  • walked Yoshi at the park in the wagon
  • went to a coffee shop for snack time
  • had a nap while dad did some computer stuff

Sox had a conference call which is why we got out of the house for a bit.  Busy times, but the great thing about that is that it goes quickly, and I feel great when I reflect on how much I got done.

Chips Break


The poker gods were kind to me last night. I was short stack for such a long time. During the first half of the game I played poorly and paid for it. I just kept losing my chips.

I managed to hang on to fourth place for quote a while, and ended up being backed into a corner. I was at a point where either I had to go all in, or I would be forced to play a few weak hands to get enough to make a surge. I went all in at the right time, got lucky, and doubled up.

My odds were getting better, but I was still the short stack. I caught another break, and was dealt a JK. The flop was a nice 10QA. Ooooh, I just had to ensure I didn’t chase everyone away. Thankfully I caught one guy who had a pair of queens, and he went all in. I called, and won the hand. From there on out I was the chip leader, so I was able to play with a bit more comfort, and ended up knocking out the remaining two players.

Quite a fun night. I always need to remember to play smart, and to trust my gut. Most times when I try to convince myself to stay in the hand I end up losing. I also need to remember that it is never too late to fold, regardless of how much I have already put in the pot.

Package Sticks

The package that caused me concern when it ended up in Mississauga while on its way to Victoria from Richmond? Well, as I mentioned in a previous post it was RAM for the computer at home. I installed those sticks today bumping the system from 512MB to 2GB.

Nice and easy upgrade that is treating me right. Editing pictures now takes less time, Firefox runs better, and RSS Bandit is happier too. Now to install PaintShop Pro X2!

Leopard Collapse

The aquarium is complete. On the weekend I got 2 new fish, a couple of Leopard Danios. They are very neat fish to watch. A basic silver fish, with very large fins. What is cool about the way they swim is that while they coast through the water the fins collapse so the fish look very sleek. When they flick their fins to get moving the fins seem to grow. These fish are very interesting to watch.

My tank now consists of 1 Tequila Sunrise Guppy, 1 Neon Tetra, 3 Leopard Danios, 2 Orange Platys, and 1 Yellow Apple Snail. I also have a couple live plants in the water, and occasionally I give the animals some fresh food, usually Zucchini.

Photographic Results

in my own world

Well, project 365 is done, and I have to say that I don’t think I succeeded with it. I think that I am more aware of photographic opportunities now, but I don’t think I expanded creatively like I had hoped. Additionally I didn’t feel very enthused by this undertaking after the first few months. It turned into more of a chore than a journey. I often found myself crawling into bed at 10 or 10:30 only to realize I hadn’t taken my picture yet. Part of my frustrations were around my work day. I get too wrapped up in work, and often forgot to go outside, get some fresh air, and take some pictures.

more reliable on a daily basis

I also never quite got to the point of posting the picture the day it was taken. This is also something that I felt was a priority for the project, but with a young child at home posting really fell by the wayside.

Some days I was quite happy with my work, and other days I wasn’t. One thing I found was that I was spending a lot of time touching up the pictures. After a while I decided that this was again not in the spirit of what I had wanted to do.

nothing but me

Now I am left with the questions of what was it that I really wanted from this project, and what was it I was I was trying to accomplish?

I think I was wanting to expand my creativity with the project. Learn to see life differently, and to not be so self conscious when I am shooting (something I always struggle with especially when I am shooting alone).

I was trying to accomplish the creation of a nice large portfolio of work. I don’t think I really accomplished that. I have a bunch of semi-interesting pictures, but it isn’t the amazing, breathtaking body of work I was wanting.

I supposed I romanticized this project, and under estimated just how much it would take out of me. I have too many commitments right now to fully fly at a project like this. Maybe I will try it again in another few years.

tidied up a little

A little summary of what I ended up with for the year:
291 pictures posted

First Picture
The photoblog
Last Picture

156 of that 291were taken with my 20D and 134 were taken with the S30. That math doesn’t add up, so somewhere along the line one of my posts isn’t tagged with what camera I used.

Popular Tags:
71 around the house
39 flower/s
13 plant/s
12 tree/s

listen to this

Notes for next time:

  • If I do this again, it will be at a point in my life where I have more free time.
  • I will dedicate time each day to shooting.
  • I will do more preparation, and give myself more themes to shoot (ie corners)
  • Learn more
  • Be happy with the results

Unlucky Package

I’ve been extremely unlucky with shipping lately. Before Christmas I ordered a calendar that I made online. It was a Christmas present for Sox, and the website reported that it was sent on Dec 10. I never got it. I had to call customer service, and they reprinted it and sent it again. I then got it last week. :grrr:

Then, last week I ordered some more RAM for our home computer. I ordered it from NCIX based out of the lower mainland. Their Express Shipping, touted as 1-2 business days was 2ยข more than the next option so I got that. They sent it on Jan 8, and I still haven’t received my package. I have a tracking number this time, so this is what greeted me today.

WTF??!?