January 06

This photo feels like it should have some kind of artsy-fartsy name attached to it. "Pogo in the Backyard," though, doesn't quite do it for me. (I'll entertain suggestions. Really. Proof that somebody reads this thing would be wonderful.)

Since I hurt my foot, my landladies and downstairs neighbors have kindly let Pogo go into their backyard for his walks. Getting around sidewalks that are salty and irritate his paws is bad enough, but with an injured foot, I have trouble navigating slippery sidewalks myself.

Getting Pogo into the backyard is kind of a production. The landladies' dog, Jasper, is rather territorial about his backyard, so I have to bring him in through the basement dog flap while letting Pogo out onto the porch through the back door. It's a masterpiece of timing, really, and I'm getting much better at it.

While I was doing the backyard ballet today, I happened to look down from a second-floor window and thought to myself what a great photo it would be to get my black-and-white dog on a stark white background. Thus, today's photo of the day.

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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.

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January 04

Occasionally I have something that resembles a social life. Here's my friend Anna at Longhorn Steakhouse in Boston's Landmark Center.

My friend Anna and I went out to dinner tonight. She wanted steak, and I rarely turn down the chance to work on a big hunk of red meat. Anna and I work together on National Novel Writing Month, the novel-in-a-month writing competition, and in the course of three years volunteering together, we've become pretty good friends.

It's not a great photograph, but it shows the most fun I've had all weekend; dinner and great conversation with a good friend. And posted with 10 minutes to spare!

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January 03

Pogo's Insulin. Writing 100 words on this is simple; the hard part is going to be keeping it to less than 1,000 words.

My dog, Pogo, is diabetic. We found out last October, and since then, he's required two shots of insulin twice a day in order to maintain his blood sugar level at a healthier level. This presented several conflicts. I love my dog and will do almost anything reasonable to keep him healthy. However, I have a moderate form of trypanophobia (fear of needles), one that manifests by my fainting when I see one.

Normally, my partner could take care of giving Pogo his injections -- and usually, he does -- but the diagnosis came a few weeks before he was to go away for 12 days to Europe for work, and a couple of months before he began a monthlong visit to India. So I had to desensitize myself to needles, and rapidly.

And I did it. I overcame my trypanophobia.

I will never be comfortable giving Pogo an injection, handling a needle, or even seeing one. Thinking about it still makes me vaguely nauseous. But I have become competent at handling and giving injections, and I've been able to keep Pogo healthy by myself during my partner's absences. And I'm kind of proud of that.

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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.

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January 01

For the first post of the year, I took a photo of the notes I took, laying out and planning my "Photo of the Day" project for 2009.

On the right is my working list -- my proposed rules, some photo ideas, and a to-do list -- all the stuff necessary to keep this consistent.

On the left is, appropriately enough, a calendar for 2009.

I make lists all the time. Some are for important things, some are just so I don't forget things. I don't multitask; instead, I do one thing, I do it well, and then I move on. My lists make it possible for me to accomplish everything I need to -- or most of it, anyway -- without missing any important bits.

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Photo of the Day 2009

My idea to take a photo a day isn't new. I'm working on this project because I want to be more mindful of what's going on around me, in my environment and in my life. By looking for interesting visuals, I will pay more attention to the things around me.

There are many groups on flickr that do a picture a day, but they're predominately self-portraits. I would rather find something that reveals something about my day-to-day life without having to put my face out there every day.

I work well within frameworks, so I've set for myself the following rules:

1. Photo must be interesting enough to write more than 100 words about.
2. Photo must reveal or elaborate on some facet of my daily life.
3. Photo should be posted the same day or next day, unless extraordinary events keep me from uploading.
4. An occasional self-portrait is acceptable, but they should not be a constant theme.
5. Photo must be relevant to the day its taken.

Hopefully, this will result in an interesting photo blog. Your comments and suggestions are welcomed.