The Other Kind Of Pests. Little Easier To Photograph.

Can you throw this?

What if I look sad?

Really, really sad?

Maybe try waiting patiently?

Or not

OK, fine. We can tug…

Or toss

But if you can be a pest, so can I.

No peanut butter in the house. How about these?

Oh God. *happy place, happy place*

No idea where that second one went. Swear.

Bella doesn’t get upset. Just…annoyed…

Seriously, best canine Eff You Face ever!

HAHAHA! Totally going on my desktop at work.

I See You!

This is what I do at lunch now. It's OK, I can skip some calories.

Glad to have cool, bug-ridden places so close.

However, I now have another list to add to my lists. Already maintaining birds and butterflies.

Now regular ol' flies, too. Sigh.

Macro Class

There is a company here called Aperture Academy that does various photo-related educating. They have some in-house classes like printing and PS stuffs, but they do cool workshops, too. Field trips for adults. No parental consent required. The second one I participated in was at the UC Santa Cruz

Arboretum.

Macro heaven.

I learned:

That tripods really are a pain in the butt and you don’t need one if you learn to steady yourself and stop breathing so much.

I need to be more patient.

The wind really does just suck

I “need” a second camera body

‘Cause you get cool little bugs then these guys come by and constantly swapping lenses in pain in the butt

Any bird folk read this blog? These are Scrub Jays. Juvies, I think. What is with the orange on the head? They had varying degrees of it. Some none, some tons.

I couldn’t get any really decent shots. I thought perhaps they were just getting into some weird plant, but it doesn’t look like something just sitting on top of their feathers. Weird.

Shinier head!

Probably used to be shiny? Before the zombies?

I also learned that I really have zero interest in photographing plant life. Even cool looking plant life.

I really do prefer things with faces.

Did Anyone Sleep Last Night?

I used to love the 4th. It was a great kid holiday. Where I grew up, the week of the 4th was always fun. Our little town had a carnival every year, the block bbq, the parade and, of course, the fireworks.

Now, though? Hate it. It means at least 4 days of no sleeping. Four days of worrying if something is going to be set on fire. San Jose had three fires last night. Not reported if they were due to fireworks or not but I am pretty sure the brush fire and the wood shake roof fire were due to the boom booms. We had a very light winter rain-wise. Only 7 inches, I think. We are dry, dry, dry. Do folks not think about that?

Happy birthday ‘Merica. Land of the free, home of the people who think they have the right to set their neighbors house on fire?

We celebrated by getting up early to beat the crowds and meet our agility buds at Point Isabel.

Super cool view of the city from there. You have to trust me on this. Maybe if you squint? Was early, still foggy. It is SF, after all.

Poor Willie still not getting any action from the collies.

Kate? No.

Bella? No.

The poor guy just wants to have a little romp. Totally not understanding why pee on a bush is more interesting than him.

He finally give up and decide to find his own fun.

We lost him briefly to a pack of Poodles. Perhaps they were discussing haircuts?

Segregation.

Kate is clearly torn between family and someone holding treats. Flaky that one. Bella, though? Dedicated camera whore. I don’t know why she is standing like a bulldog, though.

Low tide makes for a very bendy nose.

Always the same side.

No bending for Kate.

Nothing on Kate bends.

Hope you American folks enjoyed your holiday and you still have all your digits and your house is in one piece.

I am going to take a nap.