If I’d had the digital camera handy, I would post a photo of Mei licking the jack-o-lantern lid and loving it. Who knew cats like pumpkin? Anyway, I took a couple shots of her with the lomo, and I’ll post them as soon as I finish the roll and get the pics back.
Edit: See this entry for pumpkin-licking Mei pics!
Interesting, I think, how dark it is in my neighborhood tonight. Even our next-door neighbors, who always have their motion-sensor porch light on, now have all their lights off and their blinds drawn. Can’t have anyone mistaking yours for a trick-or-treat house, after all. Our own porch light is broken, though, so we couldn’t really hand out candy tonight even if we’d planned to.
Aaron and I kind of forgot to carve our jack-o-lantern until today, so we’re planning to do that after dinner. Of course, that will be long after the trick-or-treaters have gone home to count their Smarties and Tootsie Rolls and get wired on sugar before bed. Ah, well. It’s the thought that counts.
And if you’re not into the modern American Halloween festivities (but who isn’t?), you could always reflect on your family or learn about the history of Halloween / Samhain and how other beliefs and cultures celebrate the day.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times:
Always have an extra camera battery.
It would also help to remember to turn off your camera after the last use.
Fear not, though: the lunar eclipse photography attempt was not completely in vain. I got some good shots of the partial eclipse (I hope), and a couple good ones of the last sliver of moon before totality. Just as I was ready to take the last photo before the total eclipse, though—that was when my battery finally gave out.
So, no photos of the absolute total eclipse, but that’s no biggie. I’m wagering that my setup wasn’t quite equipped to take photos of totality, since my 2x extender cuts my aperture by 1/2 while it multiplies my focal length by two. Meaning, for the photo-savvy, that my teleconverted telephoto lens wide-open is about a 400mm f/8 lens. For the non-photo-savvy, all this means is that while my gadget makes faraway subjects bigger in the frame, less light can get to the film, making for less successful low-light photography. Like total lunar eclipses.
We’ll see, though. I’ll post photos as soon as I get them back from Dale, and we can discuss.
Ugh. Need more hours in the day. Still have stuff to do.
Recent events: Went with Aaron, Kris Heath and Jamie on the Haunted Train Ride in Waterville on Saturday. Cookies and cider and an hour-long train ride for $9. Cheesy “actors,” but a fun evening nonetheless.
Went with Aaron to the Michael Moore rally yesterday. Unlike anything we’ve ever attended before. Learned a few things we didn’t know, got extra fired up to go vote Kerry. More later, I think.
Tonight I finished Order of the Phoenix while I should have been cleaning the bathroom. Good Christ, what next? Oh, and according to the FAQ on J.K. Rowling’s website, she’s not done axing characters, either. How could she be, given the prophecy? Now I can’t wait for books six and seven, either… Damn. At least now I can go and read all the Harry Potter websites and message boards without fear of spoilers… for the published books, anyway.
(I do love how she remembers how it was to be sixteen and presumptuous and impertinent and full of yourself and all that. Of course, I wasn’t a wizard, but I remember being kind of like that… though I swear I wasn’t nearly as much of a moody bitch as Harry was.)
Oh, and thanks, Eric, for mentioning the Wired Creative Commons CD. I went and downloaded it via BitTorrent while I played a brief stint of Civ III this evening, and I’ve now burned it with the intention of bringing it in the car with me tomorrow. Good stuff so far… the Beasties and David Byrne are worth the free download, IMO. 🙂
OK, I’m going to go scrub the bathroom sink before I fall asleep.
