Daily Photos

< December 2008 >

December 1, 2008
Here`s looking at you. Things are looking up. Today seems to have a sculptured face theme. Handel`s `Messiah`: good gift wrapping music. The light at the end of the gift wrap tube.

December 2, 2008
We set about choosing a tree. `It should be,` muses my friend, `twice as tall as a boy. So a boy can’t steal the star.` `A Christmas Memory` by TRUMAN CAPOTE I know the feeling. The cat`s water dish has become an ice dish. One thing I`ve learned from taking pictures every day is how to make something out of nothing. Holidays come and go so quickly at this time of year.

December 3, 2008
And good will toward men. Paul Laurence Dunbar, painted by Curtis Barnes, Sr. Sitting in the car waiting for something to happen. Something happened: the flag moved. I`ll take a picture. Something else happened: a car got pulled over. I`ll take a picture.

December 4, 2008
Had to dress up, stand on stage and let people clap for me. I hate that. The one-armed, headless photographer. Six-string Shakespeare. What Sir Andrew overheard. Unrequited love.

December 5, 2008
Blurry dog and cryptic sign. Artwork by University of Dayton student Artem Voevodin. `HEY! Stop talking and listen to me!` Bottle caps along the floor . . . . . . lead to this.

December 6, 2008
And it`s another two weeks before winter even begins. Pete Rose. Once I force myself to go outside, it`s usually not so bad. But there`s a lot of initial resistence. Probably not the same spider web as October 23, 2008. How lovely are thy branches.

December 7, 2008
From left to right, there`s Comet and Cupid, Donner and Blitzen . . . That`s one grand staircase. See? I told you. My annual creepy mechanical elf picture. Memo to Dad: this is NOT fun.

December 8, 2008
This year`s leaf is next year`s soil. And so it goes. Ice diamond. Ice sickle. End of season clearance. FREE THE OAKWOOD BERRIES!

December 9, 2008
File under C. Rest at last. The littlest angel. Hollow log. Wipe your nose, for pete`s sake.

December 10, 2008
This butterfly needs a few stitches. I just missed sunset . . . by about an hour. Gecko, newt or salamander? Other people decorate, I take the pictures. It`s Greek to me.

December 11, 2008
Lunch was great, but my dessert was upside down. Herd of mousse. It`s the thought that counts, but I want the thought in the red box. The distance between sections is just a few feet -- and a few hundred dollars. Is the sign supposed to tell you where he is, or tell him where he`s supposed to go?

December 12, 2008
Morning moon. Once again, my camera`s cuteness knob was turned up too high. `AARRGGHHH!!` `Twas the night before Christmas, man.` Rhythm in Shoes presents Holiday on Thin Ice.

December 13, 2008
Visions of Snausages danced in his head. An old Christmas picture. A new Christmas picture. Seriously: from a Starbucks employee training manual. Christmas candlelight tour of the Dunbar House.

December 14, 2008
I like this concert because I get to sing too, very loudly, with trumpets in one ear and a pipe organ in the other. Trumpets, pipes and my singing had no effect on this audience member. Cherubic. Maybe some of the red-dress singers from December 11, 2005, have now graduated to black dresses. After the concert, the highly-disciplined singers loosen up.

December 15, 2008
Tired of his old-fashioned sleigh, Santa Claus attempts to transport himself around the world via satellite. Sadly, the experiment ends in tragedy. He looks a little too big for the manger. Euphorbia pulcherrima: called poinsettia after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first U. S. Ambassador to Mexico. Silver balls, silver balls, it`s Christmastime in the city. In case you`ve lost count, I`ve taken photos for 1665 days in a row.

December 16, 2008
?yas siht seod tahW You`re being watched. Blame the economy that the FREE STUFF box is empty. Paper view. Student sculpture project.

December 17, 2008
Lunch today was eaten within earshot of two different sound systems playing two different Christmas songs. The Virgin Mary had a baby boy. Third and Main. Not my type. No need to fix dinner tonight.

December 18, 2008
On a good day, I eat lunch and look through the pictures I`ve taken so far. Today I took my first photo during lunch. Tilting the camera slightly downward, I then took my second photo. Students are excited about going home for Christmas. I`m excited that there won`t be any students around. On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. There were little bits of broken car in the intersection.

December 19, 2008
Don`t be knotty. Believe it or not, this is a color picture. The sun came out briefly today, but I was at work. Once I got outside, there was only cold wind, clouds and rain. Coming and going. The first picture I`ve taken in a long time that I actually like.

December 20, 2008
Face the first. Face the second. Face the third. Face the fourth. Face the fifth.

December 21, 2008
Scenes from a laundry room. Scenes from a dirty laundry room. Scenes from a very cold day. Wicked winter sun that gives bright light but no heat. In case you haven`t decided what to get me for Christmas.

December 22, 2008
Take a little sherbert, add some 7-Up and you have a Christmas party. Sixties` fiberglass lamp shade. Sixties` braided metal lamp base. Christmas candle swinging from its electrical cord. It`s a Caravaggio Christmas.

December 23, 2008
After shivering in my office all morning, I ate lunch under these warm lights. Seventy-five percent of my department is on vacation for two weeks. I`m the twenty-five percent still at work. Radar spots strange aircraft descending. Data warehouse. It was nearly midnight before I decided to knuckle down and take my fifth picture.

December 24, 2008
Christmas eve delivery of a special present for a special person: a new camera lens for me. My new lens does one thing really well, so you`ll be seeing more pictures of bugs and flowers. But when called upon, this lens will also shoot big things. All is calm, all is bright. Just give a boy dinosaurs and he`s happy.

December 25, 2008
Tempus fugit. Deep inside the Christmas tree. Some uncles give strange presents. Some uncles give good presents. And they said it wouldn`t last.

December 26, 2008
Open door policy. This Christmas-tree-in-a-raindrop justifies the expense of my new lens. You can`t see the large puddles all around. Dripping wet. Ulysses` gaze.

December 27, 2008
Who would`ve thought I`d be able to take pictures outdoors on December 27? `Do you mind sitting down in this dress?` I asked her. `No,` she said. `I got it for ten dollars.` This dress cost $500. For some reason, we attracted a crowd of onlookers. I guess they thought I was good looking. If there is in fact perfection in this world, it will probably appear to me while looking through a viewfinder.

December 28, 2008
Yesterday`s warm temperatures made me foolishly decide to shoot outside today. The sun was bright but not hot. Manipulating a tripod and the buttons on a camera is difficult while wearing gloves. The Lensbaby doesn`t HAVE to be used for black and white pictures, but it often seems appropriate. I saw this one in my head last night before I went to bed.

December 29, 2008
Time to put up the Groundhog Day banners. Much more colorful than his previous appearance on December 1. My new camera lens really helps me C-sharp. Altar cloth. Letter box.

December 30, 2008
Brand recognition. Time to put out the Groundhog Day lights. Mr. Kettering. Waiting patiently for soccer season. Everyone can tell when Tippi Hedren comes to visit.

December 31, 2008
Time to make a resolution for the new year? Completely useless, but attractively so. They said it might get windy today. `There`s that guy again, takin` pitchers of the Chrismus tree. Lock the doors!` I`m still finding beauty in the kitchen sink (see August 3, 2004)

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