…::: NJ Brideau :::…

Foto Friday XVI

Earlier this week I headed out the front door on the way to work and saw some confused grass (or plant) coming out of the ground.  Naturally, it had just rained here and the blades of this grass were covered with spectacularly large water droplets.  I got about 2 minutes down the street when I decided to come back and bust out my trusty DSLR for a few pictures.  Getting the shot I wanted proved near impossible because neither the blade of grass nor my camera were able to hold still to get what I wanted in focus.  I still managed to take some good ones, including the picture above. Because I love this lens and it is always wet here, you can probably expect more water/plant macro shots in the near future.

1/80s f/4 60mm ISO 1000.  Adjustments: crop.  Au revior until next week.

The city is my church

A quick clip from the concert I went to tonight here at the O2 Academy in Oxford.  The group is M83 and the song is called Midnight City.  You might recognize the song from the radio, and it has also been featured in a number of TV spots, including the BBC trailer for the 2012 Olympics.

The concert was a lot of fun, and was the first show I’ve been to here in the UK (hard to believe).  Their music is difficult to describe, electro-pop with some guitar riffs and random sounds.  But combine the full range of sounds with a light show and you get a full-on attack on your senses.  Seriously, after some of the songs I needed a little break.  Sort of like they set the synthesizers to stun.  Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and thanks to my friend Anne Marie for the video.

Foto Friday XV

I got an email from my landlord one day informing me that some workmen will be arriving shortly to prune some trees in the yard and do some minimal work.  Unfortunately for everyone, minimal work in this case meant taking down four trees, two of which were quite spectacular.  This stump is from the biggest of the four to come down, (hard to tell, but the stump is about 3 feet in diameter) and this picture makes me sad.  I have no idea why it had to come down.  This tree was healthy, and far enough away from any houses to cause any damages should a freak accident occur.  Plus it provided the flat with a lot of privacy.  Such a shame.

1/640s f/8 60mm ISO 1600.  Adjustments:  saturation.  Au revior until next week.

Goals for 2012

And a quick year in review.  2011 was certainly one hell of a roller coaster year, full of all sorts of ups and downs.  This past year also brought some big changes in my life, some good and some bad, but all different.  Rather than rehash everything that has happened, I thought it might be more appropriate to evaluate the goals I set up for myself in 2011 back on January 7th last year.  Here they are along with my assessment of how well I was able to achieve them.

1.  Save money. This was a success.  While not a lot of money ended up in the virtual piggy bank, it was definitely more than the previous year, so chalk one up in the accomplished category.

2. Learn a new language.  Fail.  I’ve put about as many hours into learning a new language with my fancy Rosetta Stone software as I have installing the software on my computer.  Maybe next year.

3. Visit four new countries. Almost.  I can pick three new countries off the list, but due there was a travel gap for a few months there.  Sometimes life gets in the way.  I can definitely make up for this one in the next year.

4. Come home earlier. Another fail.  Although to be fair not all the time.  I probably call it a day at work at a reasonable hour 60% of the time, but the other 40% not so much.

In summary, I’d say by putting the pieces above together, I met about 3/4 of my goals.  I’m pretty happy with that all things considered. So what about 2012?  Well, just as last year, I like to think that I lead a pretty good life so resolutions isn’t the right term, more like goals.  And here they are.

1.  Visit five new countries

I actually think that four is a more acceptable number, but I have to make up one from last year (rough life, I know) so five it is.  I already have two of them picked out.

2. Compete in an organized race

This comes from my need to say that I completed a 10K or something similar.  Although I have a strange hankering for a serious challenge, so I might go ahead and sign up for this, you know because the London marathon is boring booked.

3.  Gain 10 pounds

This one might sound easy, but I’m not talking about adding a spare tire.  And if you know me well you will be aware that I have always been a skinny guy, so I’d like to add a little muscle on my frame.  Easier said than done for a guy who works too hard and doesn’t eat enough.

4.  Try as many new things as possible

Ok so this is a resolution parading as an abstract goal.  With some serious self reflection in the last six months I have decided that life is too short and that I should make the most of it.  So my goal is to live life outside my shell a little bit and try as many new things that come my way as I can.  I bet I meet some fun people and make some excellent memories in the process.

What about everyone else?  Do you guys have any goals you care to share?

Foto Friday XIV

I took this shot before heading in to work this morning.  It was a particularly cold night last night and you can see the effects here on this little roof moss – frost.  I learned two things this morning: 1) My macro lens is amazing (this picture is only about a 30% crop), and 2) Oxford is quite beautiful when covered in a little frost.

1/125s f/4 60mm ISO 100.  Cropped, no other adjustments, au revior until next week.