Daily Photos

< August 2008 >

August 1, 2008
REAL photographers work inside this building near my house. This time of year, it`s senior pictures all day long. The city has long promised to clean up the Oregon District. Being cute is very exhausting. The walls have eyes. Things are bubbling in downtown Dayton.

August 2, 2008
Despite rules to the contrary, SOME PEOPLE`S KIDS were catching the butterflies and pocketing caterpillars. Monarchs were alarmingly few, but the zebra swallowtails ran in herds. They pick up both AM and FM. Filling up in preparation for those weeks when it will be locked inside a chrysalis and unable to eat. Nature shows its colors.

August 3, 2008
Perhaps I`m anti-social because the rituals of socialization are repellent to me. Or maybe I just don`t like people. Nighttime`s glamor becomes tawdry in the morning light. Which job is worse? `Nobody`s home, and I ain`t lyin`.` Have you had your sprinkle today?

August 4, 2008
On days that I don`t walk to work, I take a morning walk around the neighborhood instead. The face of apathy. I told you this house was a terminal case (see July 23, 2008). Lift high the cross of Christ, tread where His feet have trod. As brothers of the Son of Man, rise up o men of God. WILLIAM MERRILL Suburban guard dogs on alert for driveway turnarounds (see May 8, 2005).

August 5, 2008
Once you learn, you never forget. -WOP! My fan club meeting. A laser pointer is much more precise than a flashlight (see April 23, 2006). I need to get a new prop (see March 25, August 11 and November 15, 2007).

August 6, 2008
Unidentified flying rock. Poor guy is still dancing with his little sister (see August 3, 2005). Disqualified by the judges due to her lack of enthusiasm. `YO! Whut up, Kettering?!` Where talent and creativity collide: a song about toast played on a toaster.

August 7, 2008
The plane of critical focus is that narrow band in sharp focus within a camera`s depth of field. Ghost bee. Garbage day. All-natural beverage. For the next few weeks, I`ll be sending my photos from Beijing.

August 8, 2008
The boundaries that constrain us are mostly self-imposed. Who keeps putting all these cats on my Web page?! Eight days until the first exhibition game of the season. Red, white and blue in the sky. Red, white and blue on the ground.

August 9, 2008
Do you know where you`re going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you? DIANA ROSS Standing around in the hot August sun. I`m not sure what this is, but it`s gonna be big. Last Saturday`s butterfly pictures were taken in an enclosure. It`s much harder to photograph them in the wild. Again I heard it before I saw it (see July 30, 2008), but I couldn`t believe my ears. I didn`t think that a hummingbird could feed on a flower so tiny.

August 10, 2008
The Outrageous River Derby draws an unusual crowd. As he gained weight, Elvis Presley had difficulty pursuing his boating hobby. The boats that used more duct tape seemed to do better. [See today`s first caption.] Next stop: the Mississippi.

August 11, 2008
Morning cardinal at Hess and Jackson Streets. I won`t say that I walk fast, but when I get to work I have to scrape bugs off of my glasses. Towed away, towed away, towed away -- every car in the lot towed away. Playground detail. Afternoon cardinal at Hess and Jackson Streets.

August 12, 2008
Like tiny diamonds, fragments of my neighbor`s vandalized car sparkled on the sidewalk. He somehow failed to see the beauty of the scene. The Oregon District has some rough edges, but it`s elegance and refinement compared to the decrepit neighborhood I walk through on the way to work. Don`t panic -- it`s smaller than your thumbnail. High-biscus. Did I mention that the first exhibition game of the season is coming up?

August 13, 2008
Forsaken loyalties. Students are starting to return to campus, bringing their important possessions with them. I had an unwelcome visitor at lunch. Sure, insects will thrive long after humans are extinct, but at least for now we can outsmart them. S is for soccer. The first exhibition game is in three days.

August 14, 2008
Circles and lines. What`s the story? Why I carry my camera with me whenever I walk across campus, even if it`s just for some paperwork errand. This prospective student was taking a campus tour, saw the fire extinguisher training going on and she jumped in with both flip-flops. Meanwhile, a real fire is going strong nearby. It looks like the same location as June 30, 2008.

August 15, 2008
Due to a holiday, my morning walk became an evening walk. I`ll be YOU didn`t get today off work. Yes, this is much better than graffiti. Ghost bike. I have mixed feelings about the Oregon District as a photographic subject (see today`s second picture). Boredom is the mother of invention.

August 16, 2008
In a much-anticipated exhibition game this evening, heavily-favored Dayton (in white) was matched against underdog Dayton (in red). A rooommate of one of the players stood nearby as I took pictures. She would shout things like, `GO LAUREN! YOUR HAIR LOOKS GOOD!` Future Flyer. Meanwhile, in a nearby stadium, a scrappy Dayton team (in white) battled against arch-rival Dayton (in white). Mom and Dad hope there`s a volleyball scholarship in her future, but she`s more interested in engineering.

August 17, 2008
Neph n niece. Nother neph. Neither neph nor niece. Thank goodness children are drip-dry. Red lights everywhere.

August 18, 2008
By the pale moonlight. The truck was still there the next day, but the stuffed animal was gone. If I stand at just the right place outside the law building, I can create a total eclipse of the sun. This campus is nothing without U. Taking pictures of WORDS represents a failure of creativity on my part, but I do it frequently.

August 19, 2008
Taken at the same time and place as yesterday`s moon photo, just facing the opposite direction. Where elementary school students play. Where university students play. In the chapel garden. Well, it`s not really MY computer. I borrowed it.

August 20, 2008
Quite early one morning. Ghost bike. With students back in town, the city`s cash flow increases. This is one of six I noticed on my walk to work. For me, the first day of the semester lasted about 13 hours, so it was dark when I finally walked home. Shaky helicopter.

August 21, 2008
I assumed they were repairing the malfunctioning clock, but I went by two days later and it had been demolished. As close as it gets to a skyscraper in Dayton. Fourth and Main. I always thought the sea was blue, but on a harp the C is red and the F is blue. Still harping on my daughter. HAMLET Act II Scene 2

August 22, 2008
When people observe me taking photos, I usually detect feelings of discomfort or suspicion, but today someone went out of his way to tell me about this potential picture. Towering high over my secular neighborhood. Looking for more goldfinches, I find only goldflowers. Today was hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk. Never do this.

August 23, 2008
This is probably my last volleyball game of the season, since from now on I`d have to pay to get in. My age is on here somewhere. Take a guess. Poor guy can`t afford to put gas in his car anymore. Down by the riverside. Sutna is still dancing (see August 26, 2007) but this year she has braces and is reluctant to smile.

August 24, 2008
Grass warrior. Like a small electric motor, I could hear a hummingbird but the sun had not yet risen high enough to photograph it. Photographers can be so intrusive. Trois couleurs. Most of the performers at the Lebanese Festival were not Lebanese, but that doesn`t mean I went up on stage and start dancing around with a sombrero.

August 25, 2008
You`re supposed to wipe your feet on it before you enter. Someone recently commented that the lighting in my pictures looks `very natural.` Well, that`s because it is. You are here. Mannequin and wommequin. Lacking a budget for marketing, artists must often resort to shameless self-promotion.

August 26, 2008
Snowflakes? One of three living room window photos today. Moving two feet to the left would have ruined this picture. Hey you! Studying isn`t supposed to be pleasant. My two most convenient props: the living room blinds and my hand.

August 27, 2008
A totally unposed scene at the Library Circulation Desk. I walked by later and somebody was being hauled off this ride into an ambulance. Woo-hoo! Fun times at the fair! The horse that came in first place. The horse that came in last place. I don`t believe that it`s possible to purchase fun, which makes me a poor target for vendors at the fair.

August 28, 2008
My lunch in progress. It takes a long time but I think it looks great, especially with my pink flip-flops. I didn`t know the A10 sanctioned paper airplanes. I spent my(lar) evening at an Art Hop. Her shameless self-promotion on August 25 paid off.

August 29, 2008
A clean goat is a happy goat. A caged rooster is a dangerous rooster. A bottled goldfish is a tasty goldfish. A blue-eyed dog is a spooky dog. Snowflake the showdog was back to defend his fourth-place finish from last year (see August 31, 2007).

August 30, 2008
Auctioneers talk funny so they can mesmerize people into paying $200 for one rabbit. An auction is a transitional point at which some child`s pet becomes someone else`s dinner. Maybe you CAN purchase fun. The Pentagon insists this is not torture. Bathtime for Bessie.

August 31, 2008
This poor pig must be bacon in the hot sun. I mean, BAKING in the hot sun. Every year at the horse grooming contest, my camera gets covered in dirt. If you can get a dirty horse as clean and shiny as this, then you`ll win a trophy. Only wimps pass. Real players dribble through. I enjoy watching soccer, but hearing the adults abuse the referee became very tiresome.

×