Pragmatik » photo friday

Leaves up the street.

Johnny — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:38:20 +0000

I feel like I’ve missed a lot of leaves this fall. I always do.

Photo Friday: Autumn.

Double murder.

Johnny — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:56:29 +0000

A raven sculpture outside the Poe National Historic Site in Philly. I never made it inside while it was open from my training in August, but I’d really like to go back. This is the bicentennial of Poe’s birth, and we’ll have a grand celebration in Baltimore, too, I’m sure. How cool would it be to get to travel up and down the coast to the cities he’s called home?

I’ve had Poe on the brain lately. I have re-memorized “The Raven” just, well, because. If you’re interested in his death, I’d recommend Matthew Pearl’s The Poe Shadow. It contains some “original research” into Poe’s mysterious death in Baltimore, 160 years ago this month.

You should see all the Poe toys I’ve collected. Rather, I should take some pictures of them.

For Photo Friday: Athletic.

No ordinary hubby.

Johnny — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:57:14 +0000

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I finished a big project at work yesterday with a remarkable amount of sanity left. So I am feeling very boastful this morning. This is my “title” instead of “hubby.” It’s more bubbly.

Photo Friday: The Extraordinary.

Four feet in Walden Pond.

Johnny — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:37:23 +0000

Mrs. P. and I in Walden Pond last month.

Photo Friday: Relationship.

Ordinary milk.

Johnny — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:27:42 +0000

Skim milk in Boston’s Beacon Hill, August 2008. Photo Friday: The Ordinary.

First crate shots.

Johnny — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:40:55 +0000

Two weeks ago, Dan helped me put a crate on my bike. He even traded me this frikkin sweet red one. I should write about it more for the bike site, but it’s perfect for this particular Photo Friday: Exercise. Because riding four miles home from work, all uphill, with weight in this baby, is exercise! I’ll write up directions/how it works on the bike site. There you go.

Now I can take all my crap to work without getting sweaty. Plus, I wonder what effect it is having on potential thieves. It’s not all that cool looking, unless you’re a Fred. But it’s awesome just the same. A family member saw me riding home one day and identified me by that big red red red crate. And it’s a great canvas for stickers, which adorn it currently.

Dan’s awesome backpack he’s taken everywhere, even to the hospital when his adorable daughter was born, with a Czech army bag I bought in Philly two weeks ago. I might need to rethink my baggage for going to work. Rainy days where I need to bring clothes and my big Klean Kanteen require a second bag, which is a pain.

Weird face on my cutting board.

Johnny — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:28:22 +0000

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This weird face-like thing was on my cutting board after I cut up a bunch of stuff a few weeks ago. Probably a stir-fry. Salsa would have left it wetter. It kind of creeped me out. But the randomness was, to sound corny, beautiful at the same time.

Photo Friday: Beauty.

Office, fall 2006.

Johnny — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:16:26 +0000

Dang it, I don’t start my new job and move into my sweet new office until next month. Here’s a workspace from my dissertation, in the fall of 2006, which feels like last month.

My stomach is killing me, which is why I’m still up. I could go for some of that chai tea right now.

Photo Friday: The Office.

Cold, from last week.

Johnny — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:15:51 +0000

Didn’t get this up last week. Quick one. For Photo Friday: Cold. This is from the Washington Monument Lighting in December. That is all.

Old October walk.

Johnny — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:23:19 +0000

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Last time the weather changed, I was embracing darker images. That was a very very hot day in October, at Robert E. Lee Park, just north of Baltimore City. I was excited about bunking down for the eventual fall and the winter. I was livid that it was so hot, especially since we were to take a daytrip to Washington a day or two later.

Now, I’m happy when the forecast is warm. I am thirsting for some color, some sun, sandaled feet. I am bummed at this weekend’s forecast, which means movies and reading and cooking. But no fun outside awesomeness, especially since I woke up with a tickle in my throat today.

Poor me.

It’s been cloudy and crappy so many days this spring that I would enjoy a nice, sunny, hot day today.

Remind me, in two months, that I said all this.

Photo Friday: Fragile.

SR-71 engine.

Johnny — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:29:05 +0000

The engine of an SR-71 at The Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum. I kept thinking of how insanely high-tech that plane looked and the fact that it is an obsolete technology now.

Photo Friday: Far From Home.

I will also be far from home today. My paternal grandfather is back in the hospital, and my maternal grandmother fell yesterday and is staying at my parents’ house, where I am headed today to help out. I get to teach a ditty tonight on bike types and the basics of bike parts, which is fun and a useful means to not think about things too much.

Enola Gay Bay.

Johnny — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:24:09 +0000

Bomb bay doors on the Enola Gay. (Please forgive the poor picture quality this week.)

Photo Friday: Emotions. At the risk of sounding corny and/or overly dramatic, here is the plane that changed the world, that the door that did it.

Cog brush bristles.

Johnny — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:35:39 +0000

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I’m not certain how useful/effective my chain cleaner was for chain cleaning because, frankly, I waited too long to clean our chains and over-did the lube last time i put it on — and used too-sticky lube. The jury’s out, though it is fun to use. But this cog brush worked great for getting the crud out of our cassettes, chainrings and pullies. It looked like it got run over by a greasy truck when I was finished, but, hey. It took one for the team. It cleaned up pretty well, too.

For Photo Friday: Found Object.

Coffee shots: the good life?

Johnny — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:41:31 +0000

Photo Friday: The Good Life. You might be thinking, “The good life? Coffee? Isn’t that shallow?” I mean, after a decade of studying Western philosophy, shouldn’t this be a photo of a relaxed person, contemplating comfortably in a cafe’? Or after studying Eastern philosophy, why photos of a mind-altering substance like coffee?

It’s been…a week. So right now, Friday morning, when I have to run around until about ten or eleven tonight, teach kids about bikes, go see my sick grandfather days after his 80th birthday, work on job stuff, etc., coffee is the good life. I know; everyone is busy. So you should know what I am talking about then.

Watercolor’ed last week.

Johnny — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:24:36 +0000

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Along with the small spending limit for gifts, we thought we’d have fun with V-Day this year with the help of homemade cards. I pulled out the Moleskine watercolor book a friend sent me a year ago and a watercolor set I got for Christmas in 2004 and set to sketching. What I wound up using for the card was a roughly-brushed heart and wash deal that I almost tossed. This is the corner of a bad little woods and sky sketch that my wife stole and took to work, only to return it when I had a hissy fit. A total hissy fit. I don’t think I can paint like I used to be able to.

I was, however, happy with the Moleskine watercolor paper. The original sketch books just let the water run and never soaked anything up, at least in my experience. Which is not to say that I don’t like that paper for making cartoons about funny things I read about and people I don’t like. The color and texture of the Moleskine watercolor paper are both just right for some quick dabblings. The pages are cut at the edges for removal, too.

Especially considered the sketch/notes nature of Moleskines, it was nice to have paper so welcoming to the watercolor. Regular Moleskines don’t take thick inks very well, but I always assumed this was because of their origin as notebooks, where ballpoint ink or pencil makes the most sense, on the go, in a pocket, waiting for a train or a lover.

Photo Friday: Art.