You don’t see this every day. This is how it looked from Carmel Valley, California at about 6:20 or so yesterday, May 20. Once I was present for a total solar eclipse. The changes in light were gradual until the moment of totality, and at that point it was almost as if a switch turned [...]
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It’s odd to live in a world in which a 45 year-old photograph shows up suddenly, yet thanks to the modern miracle (or curse) of technology this picture arrives unexpectedly, and I get snatched up for a quick trip back in time. Time travel seems to be an increasingly common preoccupation on these pages. You [...]
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I’ve been hunting these guys with various cameras for years. More than 15 months ago, I got a shot of several of these birds on a power wire, but that wasn’t exactly the nice nature picture I always had in mind. “Birdsong” is not a word that comes to mind when a flock of parrots [...]
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Most of us have seen video of hummingbirds flying in slow motion. In real life it’s amazing how fast they are. I’ve been hunting these guys with various cameras for years, and this is the first picture I’ve managed to get that’s vaguely worth sharing. We think of these tiny birds as being little and [...]
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Yet another amazing creature showed up to pose for pictures early this afternoon. It feels good to be getting back to taking pictures of dragonflies; maybe it means lizards are done following me for now. I’ve been hunting dragonflies with a camera for years, with some great results! Check out these dragonfly centerfolds from July [...]
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“Old ex-competitive swimmers are a menace. The ones who pretend that their muscles haven’t atrophied are worse than the ones who are out of shape, and ex-pool lifeguards are the worst of all – those losers weren’t strong enough to be ocean lifeguards in the first place. They should be required to wear life vests [...]
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Tuesday, February 15, 2011
In times of economic uncertainty, it’s important to sharpen all of one’s skills. After all, you never know when you might have to change jobs or even take on a whole new career. More and more people are finding this out the hard way. Personally, I believe that work is overrated. Clowning around always has [...]
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Saturday, January 29, 2011
Western Fence Lizards are among the most common small spiny lizards in southern California. Years ago when I started this blog, I did not expect that I would be spending so much time photographing and writing about lizards. Life is like that sometimes. It’s like I always say: “When life gives you lemons, sometimes you [...]
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Saturday, January 22, 2011
San Diego is a nice place in January, warm and mild compared to most places, but nobody would argue that it is a tropical paradise. For example, this Gold Dust Day Gecko is not native to America’s Finest City. The picture was taken in the Kohala region of the Big Island of Hawaii. It turns [...]
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Saturday, January 8, 2011
Robert Hills, one of my only coaches who was not a swimming or diving man, died recently. He’s the guy on the far right of the photo, which is from the 1972-1973 yearbook. (The others are coaches Bratschie, Lamb and Flynn.) I wish his family the courage and strength required to do without him. Coach [...]
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Saturday, November 27, 2010
Are you a good screw or a bad screw? This is a question everybody ought to ask out loud before each step of any serious laptop repair or upgrade work. The image to your left is an example of the former. This is a fine screw indeed, for one simple reason: it goes out as [...]
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Saturday, September 4, 2010
This spectacular creature showed up and posed for pictures. One of the earliest posts on this website featured another fantastic dragonfly. I like to take and to publish these pictures for the sake of art, but this one has a little story behind it. These days, I am working hard on revising my bar exam [...]
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Going back in time can be a tricky business. When one stands on the same spot 30 years later, it’s hard not to get a little dizzy. Few people appreciate Forest Grove, Oregon, the Garden Spot of the Pacific Northwest. Pacific University is here, and in May of 1980 I graduated from that institution. 30 [...]
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Do you ever get the feeling that you’re being followed by elgaria multicarinata? No? This is yet another example of how my life is different from everybody else’s. I took this picture in Ocean Beach late yesterday afternoon. Another fine representative of this species hung out with me in Carmel Valley not that long ago. [...]
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Here is the latest example of why it’s fun to have a camera handy when you’re outdoors. This bird - a bushtit, according to George, was one of a big swarm of a couple dozen that zipped off to the next group of trees to the south a second or two after I took this [...]
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