The News from South Philly

One of the many things I like about the new Nikon: being able to take a photograph like this without flash in ordinary classroom lighting. The text under the illustrations, freely translated, is "This is the genuine Martin Luther article and not some pirated and potentially bastardized copy."

You can click through and reach my photo set of more than 100 photos from the RBMS preconference if you're so inclined. It includes heaps o' photos from the Friday tour of historic Germantown, which began with show-and-tell at the Lutheran seminary (which explains this one). The book is printed but the illustrations are hand-colored.

I spent eight hours on the Show Floor yesterday in a split shift and I am taking the day (mostly) off from the show to recover. Also, it's about time I paid a little more attention to my Day Job.

I didn't see clindau's message in time to send greetings to my sister, but will do so at my next opportunity.

In other news, I have discovered that my desktop machine positively refuses to acknowledge the existence of the SD-MMC card. However, the ASUS happily reads it. Thus, I can do a clunky workaround -- SD-MMC card in the slot, external hard drive in the USB port, and transfer. I hope. I shot a video last night, with no clue what I was doing, and we'll see how that went.

I have good germination on my marjoram, thirteen buds on the Nopalxochia, and a second flower stalk emerging from the Hippeastrum 'exotica.'

EDIT: And I spy a second bud amid the leaves on the 'gervase." Whee!

My final tour day has been changed from Thursday to Friday. This will make the time with the artistic and horticultural classes much more interesting -- there will be judging going on in both areas. It also means, I think, that my new day off, Thursday, will be a day on which absolutely nothing is going on in those areas so I'll have a free hand to photograph to my heart's content, but no free coffee.

In other news, I uploaded my niece's photos to one of my servers so that she can grab them if she wants them before I mail the CD to her. Also...the *picture* quality on the video I shot is fabulous. The technical/artistic quality, not so much.

I pointed. I zoomified. I shot. I am happy.

I've now set the alarm for 5:30 and woke up at 5:00, thanks to my loathing for the station on which I set the clock radio. I was fully dressed and groomed and could have walked out the door at 5:45 if I had wanted to.

The bike run to the PathMark yesterday was wonderful! I felt like school had let out for the weekend. Once I make the turn on to Grays Ferry Avenue I'm virtually assured 1/2 mile of uninterrupted road, all on the level, whee! Also, there were bargains. For $100 I got enough groceries that I had to tell Roy to hop on his bike and come meet me -- I had exceeded my six bag limit and the stuff was too heavy for the handlebar treatment in any case. In fact, once I'd gotten home my arm muscles were all limp from controlling the steering!

Amazon says my Nikon shipped and should be here tomorrow, along with the aftermarket book and the battery recharger. The SD card will take a little longer. I have no obligations outside the house, so I can wait at home for UPS all day, whee!

There are lots of suggestive bumps on the Nopalxochia. I am guessing that when the bumps start to turn green it's a sign that they will become something. If I'm right, this year's bloom will be comfortably in the double digits. Whee!

It's Roy's birthday today and for his special birthday dinner he asked for....meat loaf! So the PathMark run included the acquisition of ground beef, ground veal, ground pork and ground lamb. Also brussels sprouts. Whee again!

EDIT: I bought three packs of Burpee seeds at the PathMark yesterday: marjoram, parsley, and moonflower vine. I started the marjoram this morning -- those seeds are awfully tiny! Tonight I'll put the parsley in to soak, and tomorrow I'll start them.

Thursday night I had an unpleasant restless night, was up for a couple of hours, and so I turned off the alarm yesterday, sleeping in until 7:00. Wow.

Last night I slept better and woke up naturally at about 5:30. I think I've retrained myself now -- and that my optimal night's sleep is about seven hours.

Just now I pushed the "place order" button on an extravagant digital SLR camera, a Nikon D90 plus extra battery, 16gb SD card, and aftermarket book. I expect that on tour days I will not want that huge piece of ironmongery hanging around my neck but that still leaves [counts on fingers] eight days of Flower Show to play with my new toy. kightp tells me that I'll be able to use our old Nikon lenses, albeit with no autofocus (or autometering, I would think).

We have decided to take no pleasure trips this year, putting our discretionary money instead into cameras. Roy went the steampunk route with his Leica, and I've got the digital camera, which I expect Roy will also be interested in learning to use.