Daily Photos

< March 2008 >

March 1, 2008
I just flip for color guard. Perfectionist that I am, I`m annoyed the performers have to wear ID wristbands that don`t match their uniforms. I see a tiny part of the show through my viewfinder. Cheers from the audience tell me I totally missed something. I don`t know this girl, but I was sent on a mission from her mother to get a good shot for her graduation scrapbook. [UPDATE: This picture made it into the program book of the color guard world championships in April] Two different teams performed to Beethoven`s `Moonlight` sonata, another two teams used `Dust in the Wind`. We also heard Barry Manilow and Aaron Copland.

March 2, 2008
Five a day . . . what a great idea! Political pollution. The Oregon District: it looks bad, it smells bad. Helplessly mesmerized by the balloons, I desperately wanted to buy a house (see December 26, 2007). Drop the anchor.

March 3, 2008
Four photos with string. One girl tossed something over her head, the other three fought to catch it -- probably practicing for a wedding. Mini-metropolis. Beware if someone with a camera says, `Can you sit in this chair for a minute?` A beginning photography student developed her film and then asked, `Is it supposed to be blank like this?`

March 4, 2008
It`s a rainy day outside. It`s a rainy day inside. Father Roesch watches over Roesch Library. Group projects: one person does the work, everyone gets the grade. Despite occasional income from photography, it`s still a losing proposition.

March 5, 2008
My car was covered with tiny white pebbles this morning. I`m not one of those people who scrapes a small hole on the windshield and then starts driving. Out of context. Bridget no longer has red hair (see February 3, 2008). I have temporary custody.

March 6, 2008
Plate tectonics on my windshield. Letting off steam. Pointing the way to the Urban Krag, a rock-climbing facility inside a former church. Zooming through the Oregon District. Win some, lose some.

March 7, 2008
People come from miles around just to see it. I wonder what the view from the ladies` room is like. People say to me, `You must be getting lots of good snow pictures,` unaware of how much I hate snow pictures. I hate winter -- catch my drift? I`d been looking forward to this, but it was safer to stay home.

March 8, 2008
A night of snowfall - Elevates the humble hill - Into a mountain. Falling from the air - The snowflakes strike the earth and - Cling to their brothers. Alone in the white - One passes on a journey - Through the silent flakes. Springtime lies sleeping - Beneath the white blanket of - Winter`s harsh farewell. Nature calls us to - Motionless tranquility - Yet some defy her.

March 9, 2008
Watch your head. There`s no waiting for a patio table. If it moves, it`s lunch. We`ve already discussed why snow looks blue (see December 6, 2007). `Brrr-roarrr!`

March 10, 2008
SNOW SHARK!! Katie blows bubbles during class. Ironically, this Obama button is being worn by someone named Hillary. It was even better after I cooked it. Like some people play with their children or their pets, I play with my camera.

March 11, 2008
Purple cloth is often placed on altars during Lent as a symbolic association with mourning and the crucifixion. Winter is melting into spring. A strange case of cause and effect: I have a camera, I need to take pictures, I see a beaver for the first time. Next year`s duck stamp? I hate most of the pictures I`ve taken during the past couple of months, so this was very encouraging.

March 12, 2008
Concerned about falling satellite debris. I remember the first time I encountered the word: I was in elementary school and it appeared on the front of the `Weekly Reader`. I knew how to say the PHOTO part but couldn`t pronounce GRAPHY. What`s the point? Chapel candles. More flowers in the snow. You just have to know where to look.

March 13, 2008
Time to try taking pictures of a new sport. Getting the sign from the catcher. Fulfilling UD`s mission to `Lead, Learn and Serve.` In this `minor` sport, the players referee their own games. Try that in a `major` sport and there would be whining, fighting and cheating. I never understood the scoring system of tennis.

March 14, 2008
The Oregon District: a place to see and be seen. There are restaurants . . . There are art galleries . . . There are crowds of people . . . There are Irish dancers (sometimes).

March 15, 2008
All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray. I went for a walk on a winter`s day. JOHN PHILLIPS All the moss is green and the logs are wet. Fungus: a sign of spring? Stopping by woods on a chilly afternoon. Homage to Brother John Lemker. See his (much better) photographs at Gallery St. John through March 23.

March 16, 2008
Earth, air, fire and water. Preparations for St. Patrick`s Day. It`s lights out at another Oregon District business. Maybe the next tenant won`t mind the `Cricket` color scheme. My front and back windows simultaneously. They can always tell when a cat-hater is approaching.

March 17, 2008
Ask not for whom the vulture circles. Another holiday that people celebrate with no clue why. The wearin` o` the green. I thought leprechauns wore hats. Last year`s model, soon to be replaced by rows and rows of roses.

March 18, 2008
Serenity among the pines. Onward and upward. Historically, stained glass in churches has played an instructional role, but I`m not sure what to learn from this. Let`s call the whole thing off. They say it might rain today.

March 19, 2008
Don`t worry, those wet ceiling tiles falling around you contain only small amounts of asbestos. Dead umbrella. I gave a technology demonstration today. Eventually there were people in the chairs. I got mail for four different people today, most of it wet and mangled. How expensive will gasoline have to get before people start noticing these?

March 20, 2008
The first day of spring, and my car is covered with icy stalagmites. Remember my elevator sign from September 18, 2007? Someone loves the pony-tailed computer user icon. EQUALITY NOW! A simple but satisfying foreground-background study. Ophelia!!

March 21, 2008
Splashdown! Adam Alonzo, combat photographer. While Wilbur and Orville flew the airplane, Kyle Wright encouraged them from the ground. Business is booming in downtown Dayton. Whose idea do you think this was: his or hers?

March 22, 2008
FACT: the average jazz pianist is more musically intelligent than the average classical pianist. FACT: the average jazz saxophonist is a lot more hip than the average classical saxophonist. I waited and waited and nobody came. It`s true what they say about the glaciers melting in Greenland. Eventually this will become a photograph.

March 23, 2008
Art or vandalism? I lean toward vandalism. Welcome back. We missed you. Unlimited MPG (your mileage may vary). Fluffy does hard time behind bars.

March 24, 2008
I love it when other people make lunch for me. I love it when other people feed my lunch to dogs. Thanks to my new National Geographic field guide, I know what kind of bird I photographed yesterday. Let us now recite the pledge . . . My photos can be seen in only the finest homes (see April 1, 2007).

March 25, 2008
Big man on campus. I guess they didn`t like the Cricket color scheme (see March 16). Art or vandalism? I lean toward art. What do you mean you had a hard time finding the place? Didn`t you see the sign?

March 26, 2008
College geese. Standing around Fifth Street. Nothing much to say. It took me only about ten years to notice this lion at the end of my street. There`s a photo by Victor Skrebneski in there somewhere.

March 27, 2008
Poor Dana had to spend the entire winter in a chrysalis. These big boys came by and pushed me off my bike. `Hey, wait for me!` Adam`s apple. What a moth sees.

March 28, 2008
Photography gives me an outlet for creativity. `For Caitlin I wore satin, which I looked really fat in. For Tabitha I wore taffetta. You should never - people laugh at ya. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.` Springtime in Ohio. Semper fidelis. Not surprisingly, the free gift included an invoice.

March 29, 2008
Hints of things to come. When you`ve lost the guy you`re defending and he`s about to score, the best thing to do is fall on the ground. Looking forward to spring break. The world`s biggest dewdrop had not evaporated by 1:30 in the afternoon. What hath Wilbur and Orville wrought?

March 30, 2008
I went to the Dayton Otto Show but never saw Otto. Out of my price range. Hollywood remakes old movies, Detroit remakes old cars. Beauty is only skin deep. There were some non-autos at the auto show.

March 31, 2008
It must be a Monday. Traditional film photography isn`t very Earth-friendly. One of three `repair` photos today. All we do crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see. Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind. KANSAS By the end of March, Stanley had begun to regret the odd exercise program he`d started on New Year`s day.

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