Life's rich pageant, &c.

I board a plane for the Beer and Cheese Tour of Seattle at six a.m. next Thursday.

(Have you guys noticed over the past few years that every trip, project, etc. always seems to get a title after it's been in my life a while? By naming it, I bring it into existence. Or something.)

Why a six a.m. flight, you wonder? Sanity. Limited number of vacation days + the prospect of catching a 2:00 brewery tour next Thursday afternoon == determination to get up at something like four a.m. and sleep on the plane. If I only have X floating holidays to take, why fly out at noon and arrive at 9 p.m. Pacific time, having wasted the entire day, when I could get up earlier, be equally bored a bit earlier in the day, snooze fitfully on the plane, then touch down in Seattle in the early afternoon?

See? It sorta makes sense that way. Insane, yet vaguely sensible.

My working theory is that I'll just mainline coffee for the rest of the day. I mean, I've heard they've got that sort of thing in Seattle. I'll ingest enough caffeine and sugar to kill a couple of small rodents, top it off with good microbrew, and by the end of the day I probably won't know whether to sleep, stagger, or vibrate at high speed.

My flickr account has been seeing more of a workout than my weblog account. We picked up a new lens for the camera recently, and I'm pretty stoked about taking the setup out West. My photography is competent at best -- it is literal, reasonably-well composed, but not art -- but stalking good shots is going to be a recurring theme of the visit.

Tis the season of holiday gatherings, when you get together with friends you haven't seen lately: (links go to larger versions of photos, or you can go straight to the entire set here)

Ashley and Emily.Flickr EmilyFlickr Compositionally, the best shot.Flickr

...and if someone is saying "'tis the season," that means there's a slew of Christmas concerts, which means Jeff is somewhere out there in a tux, mastering the art of accidentals: (link goes to album)

Flickr photos from the album 2007-12-11 Huntsville Master Chorale by domesticat

DSC_0002View on Flickr
 at English Terrace, Huntsville, Alabama, United States by domesticat.DSC_0005View on Flickr
 at English Terrace, Huntsville, Alabama, United States by domesticat.DSC_0007View on Flickr
 at English Terrace, Huntsville, Alabama, United States by domesticat.DSC_0008View on Flickr
 at English Terrace, Huntsville, Alabama, United States by domesticat.DSC_0009View on Flickr
 at English Terrace, Huntsville, Alabama, United States by domesticat.DSC_0014View on Flickr
 at English Terrace, Huntsville, Alabama, United States by domesticat.DSC_0017View on Flickr
 at English Terrace, Huntsville, Alabama, United States by domesticat.DSC_0020View on Flickr
 at English Terrace, Huntsville, Alabama, United States by domesticat.DSC_0023View on Flickr
 at English Terrace, Huntsville, Alabama, United States by domesticat.DSC_0025View on Flickr
 at English Terrace, Huntsville, Alabama, United States by domesticat.
10 out of 36 on Flickr

The last portion is one I'll put in a separate post.

all tags: 
travel
christmas
library
holidays
photography
seattle
washington

Comments

On , jowilson said...
Wait, what new lens did you get? I want to know so I can be appropriately awed / jealous / judgmental / dismissive / amused / etc.

On , domesticat said...
I think jealousy is the proper response? It's a Nikon 85mm/f1.8 autofocus lens. I have a taste for fast lenses, and since we can get better quality for less $ by buying fixed lenses instead of zoom lenses, this was optimal for us.

On , jowilson said...

...bing! Match found. Emotion: approval.

Yay for prime lenses! Yay for f/1.8! But to qualify for "jealousy" it has to be in the focal length I'm currently lusting after. And, while awesome, the 85mm focal length is too tight for the type of photography I've been getting into recently. The canon equivalent is on my "that's nice, I want one but not right now" list. (I've been throwing my 35mm f/2 on my brother's ancient EOS film Rebel just so I can go wide. I love 35mm, and wish I could afford the 24mm 1.4. (Or the 35mm 1.4 and a 5D. And a pony.) I suppose I could afford them if I wasn't shooting so much film, but eh, I like film.)

But I bet your new lens is awesome. I love my (recently purchased) Zuiko 135mm f/2.8 lens for sports events, but I haven't had a chance to use it much since I sent it (and the camera it's made for) in for repair and won't see them back for at least another month and a half.

*sniff* I miss my new camera and I want it back. I also have a fabulous 50mm f/1.8 lens for it. Arg! It's making me depressed just thinking about it.

On , jeffie said...
...maybe you didn't know about the first lens she got for the Nikon... a 30mm f/1.4. :) By the way, meet the pusher who got her hooked on fast prime lenses (well, me and Stephen and Misty).