September 24

I'm pooped.

Today was the "Capturing the Moment" photo workshop at Dudley Branch Library. This was my second scheduled workshop -- the last one, on June 24th, was a bust with nobody attending -- so tonight was the acid test.

Of course, having a completed workshop on hand wasn't good enough for me. I talked myself into reworking my lecture notes after going through the old ones and finding lots of room for improvement. Had I done this weeks in advance, it would have been the logical thing to do. Deciding this three days prior was not the brightest thing I've done.

With a revised lecture, of course, I needed a revised handout. No problem, I thought, until it took two days to get them right. The handout was easier to finish -- only a few hours -- which left me with no slideshow to illustrate all the wonderful concepts I was presenting. That was only completed about two hours before the workshop began -- just enough time to shower off the flop sweat, pack up, and get to the library.

The workshop itself was a qualified success. Six people ended up showing, though three of them were 90 minutes late because the Bay State Banner posted the wrong time in their notice.

Nonetheless, it was still pretty good, though I'm glad it's over!

267/365 -

April 18

Compare and contrast: Something is different about today's photograph.

I decided to have my hair, which I've been growing out for a couple of years, cut off today. I've been growing it out partly out of vanity, but after finding out about Locks of Love, an organization which makes wigs for children, most of whom have a condition called alopecia areata that causes total hair loss, I had a goal: Grow ten inches of hair out so I could donate.

Good intentions being what they are, I kept growing more and more frustrated because my hair just wasn't long enough. Caring for it was taking more and more of my time -- just washing and drying it could waste half an hour of my day. Out of desperation, I went to the salon today. My stylist, Denise, shrugged and told me that the hair on the back of my head wasn't nearly long enough, but the hair on the top and sides could be used. I'd decided the hair was coming off anyway, but that just made my decision easier.

Now I feel lightheaded. :-)

108/365 -

April 17

Normally I don't go in for self-portraits. They're just not my thing. But today, a convergence of factors made me decide to go for one.

This is the first really pretty day of Spring we've had, and with the temperature set to drop dramatically over the next few days, it makes you want to make the most of it. I was also having a great hair day, which is a precious and rare thing in and of itself. And, having done laundry, I had the most appropriate shirt to wear for the weather -- a light cotton shirt described by my friend Scott as "both great and extremely queer." Boyfriend brought it back for me from India, and I think it's awesome.

So with everything having fallen into place so beautifully, I hauled the tripod out onto the sidewalk, plonked my butt on the front steps and used my remote control to get the photo. It came out pretty well, didn't it?

107/365 -

April 01

It's been a busy day for me, but at least I've accomplished a lot -- at least tonsorially. The lustrous brown locks are gone, replaced with a more sensible haircut.

We had a minor plumbing mishap at home this morning -- the hose to our handheld shower head decided to part company with the threaded nut holding it to the bathtub spigot -- which got me out of bed unexpectedly to try to deal with it. As I said, it was minor, but a nuisance nonetheless. Leaning over the bathtub trying to fix the problem, I had a hell of a time keeping my unkempt hair out of my face.

Without the benefit of a shower, my hair -- which is very thick and exceedingly full -- was not being particularly cooperative. I brushed it back, put in a hairband to keep it out of my face, and tied off the back in a ponytail. Well, that just didn't work.

It's a nice day out, so I cracked my window as I drove to the hardware store. My hair got all up in my face because of the breeze, which was frustrating. Sitting at the red light at the end of Cummins Highway, trying to fix my hair again, I spotted the Rialto Barber Shop across the street; once upon a time, I went there every two weeks to have a trim. "Well screw this," I said to myself out loud, and I pulled into the lot behind the barber shop. I mean, this is bullshit, not even being able to keep your hair in line.

And that's how I ended up with the old-fashioned shorter 'do.

Oh, and happy April Fools Day*.

91/365 -

*The real Photo of the Day will resume tomorrow.

March 24

I like dogs. I'm very fortunate to work in a very dog-friendly workplace.

On the left, you see me (on a very good hair day) with my friend Jake the Golden Retriever. Jake would be perfectly content to come hang out with Ennio and me behind the desk, so once, as a lark, we put one of our neckties on him. He'd make a wonderful assistant concierge.

Upper right, I'm hanging out with Lola and Riley, two King Charles Spaniels. They're still puppies (about six months old) and can be rambunctious, but once you sit still a little while they turn into cuddle pups.

Bottom right is Brewster, a Boston Terrier. Brewster is a sweetheart who is very into his routines. In the mornings after his walk, he sits down by Helder the doorman, who's usually standing in front of the fire, and in the evenings he expects me to come out and sit down so he can claim his place in my lap. He's only two years old, but has the most pleasant personality you can imagine -- he's another real sweetheart.

83/365 -

March 17

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Or, since I'm in Boston, I suppose I should say Happy Evacuation Day!

Normally I wear a pretty blue Addison on Madison silk necktie as part of my uniform. However ... (select below):

1. ... in honor of St. Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland, I decided to wear this pretty green necktie instead.
2. ... in honor of George Washington driving the British from Boston in the first major victory of the Revolutionary War, thus setting in motion the events that led to our independence from Great Britain, I decided to wear this pretty green necktie instead.

Whatever reason is given, it's a dandy excuse to wear a pretty new tie to work. :-)

76/365 -

February 26

My watch has given me a rash. I wonder if this could be a case of jewelry-transmitted disease?

I've owned this watch for a while now -- almost two years -- without problems. Recently, though, my wrist started itching under the strap, where the buckle is. Of course, without thinking, I did what anybody would do when they start to itch: I scratched it.

In the greater scheme of things, this isn't a big problem. I'll probably end up buying a new wristband for my watch and be done with it. It is, however, a distraction -- I end up thinking about this every time I glance at my wrist to check the time.

57/365 -

February 16

My coworkers Ennio, Helder, and I got together to play a joke on my colleague Robin today.

On holidays and when the boss isn't around, Robin takes off her uniform tie. In her defense, it's not a very attractive thing; it's a floppy little clip-on thing that falls off at the slightest provocation and won't stay in place without the help of a strategically-placed safety pin. In her place, I'd skip wearing it, too. However, since Robin is such a stickler for uniform rules, we thought it would be funny if we all doffed our ties -- in solidarity, of course.

Such an occasion demands a photograph, and the best of the ones we took sans cravates was our blowing kisses at the camera.

(Note the pretty new cufflinks on my sleeve, my Valentine's Day gift from my boyfriend.)

47/365 -

February 07

I got my hair done today.

I'm still sick, but going to the salon and getting my hair cut and styled left me feeling very good. And, not for nothing, but I'm very happy with the results. I haven't had a haircut since July, so I had collected a lot of split ends, and my hair was tangling easily (especially in the back). I went in with no particular hairstyle in mind, only asking the stylist to lose the split ends, to take off as little length as possible, and to shape it a bit so it would look nicer.

Offhand, I'd say that Denise more than met the brief. At the risk of living a cliché, I have to admit it: I feel pretty. :-)

38/365 -

February 01

Here I am, surrounded by beauty and brains. Belynda is in purple, Anna in orange, Marion in blue and me in front. Belynda and Marion are taking over the municipal liaison duties for Script Frenzy (SF) in the Boston region. Neither Anna nor I have done well with SF, and while I actually enjoy setting up events for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), the scriptwriting competition just wasn't as interesting for me.

We all met to chat and catch up, since Belynda and Marion are NaNoWriMo alumni and both a lot of fun to hang out with. Of course, Anna and I were also there to offer advice and support for our replacements, and also to coordinate sharing of certain materials useful to both NaNoWriMo and SF (since duplicating our purchases would be wasteful).

The photo itself isn't really POTD material. It was taken without tripod by crowding around a table and setting the camera right on the Cold Stone Creamery countertop. It does capture some of the fun of the afternoon, and that's the important thing, isn't it?

32/365 -

January 26

It's been a snowy and chilly winter in Boston. Tomorrow's forecast, into Wednesday, is calling for snow and winds and other assorted nastiness. With the current temperature at 12 degrees Fahrenheit, it's long past time to quit wishing for warmer weather and get down to the business of staying warm. This means wearing coats, long johns, gloves, scarves, and a hat.

So here I am, modeling my new winter hat. It cost the princely sum of $12 at a booth in Back Bay Station. Considering its modest price, fake fur and polyester construction, it's surprisingly warm -- warm enough that I'm willing to go around looking like Nanook of the North wearing the thing.

I think I'm going to continue to wish for warmer weather, though. Spring arrives on March 21st, so it's only 53 days away. Only 53 ever-lengthening days.

26/365 -

January 13

I was beside myself trying to come up with an image to post for the Photo of the Day.

No, really. I was -- albeit, not this literally.

It was a slow day for me, and I didn't get nearly as much done as I'd intended. I didn't get my car in for an oil change, I didn't get my car in for it's annual inspection, and other than helping a friend with a craigslist advert, I didn't accomplish bupkis today. It's not like I was even very busy.

Unfortunately, slow days don't always find me at my most creative, or my most observant, or my most experimental. Today was the exception.

I had to do a little repair work on my "boot," the special shoe I'm wearing on my right foot until it heals (which it's doing, albeit too slowly). The photo of the toe of the boot, having been carefully super-glued back together and adorned with a wooden sunburst of clothespins, was my best option until I decided to bend the self-portrait rule and do a little Photoshop magic.

13/365 -

January 12

I've been a happy iPhone user for a little more than a year now. While I was initial skeptical, following the hype of the original iPhone's release, using the phone on a day-to-day basis won me over.

It was kind of distressing when my phone began turning itself off, apparently at random. The iPhone is a small computer, and when you're done, it goes to sleep, but it's always ready to wake up for an alarm or an incoming call. I restored my software to a new configuration, on the advice of Apple, and the problem didn't go away. The folks at Apple were adamant that the problem was software-related -- which didn't make sense to me. I narrowed the problem down to the switch at the top of the phone sticking.

The stars and moons aligned today, and I was able to find a parking space near the AT&T Wireless store. I went in and told them about my problem, only to be told that yeah, three people today have had the same problem with the switch sticking. Unfortunately, the repair involves shipping the iPhone out to Apple and waiting, so I opted to buy a new iPhone (pictured above).

12/365 -

January 05

I hadn't intended to have a self-portrait -- injured foot notwithstanding -- in this series for a while yet. I don't think this is particularly gratuituous, though, since it shows something that is a big facet of my life.

Here I'm standing by my locker door at work. I decided a couple of years ago that, if I was going to look at this thing all that time, I could at least have something pleasant to look at.

The photos progress from newest to oldest as you go down. The black-and-white photo on top is of my partner and me, and was taken last July in Georgia. Below that is a photo from two years ago; Pogo (my dog) and my partner cuddling on a cold winter's day. The one beneath that is of Pogo and my partner, taken during an informal photo shoot. Pogo loves his Papa. And the bottom one shows my partner playing the violin at a "hootenanny."

I end up seeing these photos five days a week, 49 weeks a year, when I'm changing to go to work or go home at the end of the day. It's one of the things that makes me smile even on the worst days.

05/365 -

January 02

Today's photo is of my right foot. I injured it last weekend, and it has already impacted my plans for Photo of the Day -- namely, I can't move as easily as I'm accustomed to doing. I've been working on a series of topics for photos, but almost all of them require some amount of peripatetic activity.

My ability to move is further hampered by the fact that those socks are all that are between my foot and the chill January air (and snow, ice, sleet, slush, and rain). Wrapping the offending appendage in plastic bags is effective in keeping it dry, but does nothing for traction. So when it's slippery, wet, and slushy outside, my already-unstable footing is further hindered.

And, not for nothing, but the damn thing hurts!

Nonetheless, despite my unplanned foot issue, I still intend to work on the Photo of the Day project.

02/365 -