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It is +8 C with a high forecast of +18 C. Sunrise 5:23 Sunset 21:40 Hours of daylight: 16:17.
See current forecast here. See current news here.This page last updated on: Sunday, June 15, 2008 7:41 AM
Coffee is at hand. Now for a few minutes of quiet reflection.
Rumi is a good place to begin.
The drive yesterday finally got us into the countryside. That triggered the idea, again, that we need to get out more. We bought a couple of road atlases (the old-fashioned kind made with paper) that show the backcountry roads. But I also looked up the term "geocaching" on google as one of our friends is continually talking about this. It looks very interesting - sort of like a treasure hunt using GPS. Now to combine GPS with photography and bird watching.
I am pleased with my progress in mathematics. I am now beginning to get immersed in linear algebra and can see a progression to abstract algebra and then group theory. That should set me up for symmetry. I want to maintain a balance between activities along this progression and activities that are specifically on symmetry. For example, I want to take photos of symmetrical objects as well as objects where the symmetry is slightly broken.
Photography. The book that I received yesterday is about using the manual settings on a digital camera. I like the way it begins. "With your camera and lens in front of you, set your camera dial to M for manual. ... set your lens opening to the number 5.6 ... Now, look through the viewfinder and focus on your subject. Adjust your shutter speed until the camera's light meter indicates a 'correct' exposure in your viewfinder and take the photograph. You've just made a manual correct exposure." [p. 15 of "Understanding Exposure. Revised Edition" by Bryan Paterson]. I should be able to do this.
I want to sit out in our patio and sip a coffee while listening to the water fountain. A little later - it is only +8 C at the moment. The lawn will need mowing later this morning after the dew evaporates. I also want to take our recycling stuff to the bins.
I also want to try out a Nordic Trak cross-country ski exercise machine that we have at the moment. It certainly looks like a calorie burner.
I should be able to take a quick trip to a couple of shops and see what types of GPS devices they have. Then back to google and see what additional information I can find on them.
This has been a good start to the day.
| Long Term Activities | Planned Activities for Today | Time Today | Cumulative Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cull professional articles | Review Psychology articles | 5 hr |
|
| Prepare pdf files of my papers | Digitize 3 professional papers | 4 hr |
|
| Digitize slides | Digitize slide collection | 10 hr |
|
| Put away stamps | 0 hr |
| Learning Category | Planned Activities for Today | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Literature | Begin morning with a Rumi reading | |
| Puzzles & Games | New York Times crossword puzzles | 1 hr |
| Literature | Continue reading "If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things" by Jon McGregor | 1 hr |
Mathematics |
Make a few notes on linear algebra (Hefferon Ch I, section 1) | 1 hr |
| History | Continue reading "Ahtahkakoop" by Deanna Christensen | 1 hr |
Here are the very first photos that I have taken with my camera on a manual setting. I set the exposure to 5.6 and adjusted the shutter speed until the camera indicated that the exposure was okay. All of the photos were of our back yard.
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It is an encouraging start. The goal was simply to see if I ended up with a photo that was properly exposed.
I have been doing a fair amount of googling on geocaching. This is another world - much like that of people who collect fountain pens, or build model train layouts. I can sense that this might well become another interesting pastime. I am now becoming familiar with Garmin and Magellan GPS receivers.
Much of the day was spent on yard work. The lawn is mowed and the weeds in the back alley are gone. I also pruned a couple of trees and removed one large branch from the May tree.
And I have just finished reading "If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things". Wow!
This was a fantastic read! I could hardly put it down as the suspense continued to build right to the last page.
The first four pages describe the sounds of a city in the morning. This was one of the most impressive opening pages of any novel that I have ever read. It immediately set the scene for the rest of the book and gave one a foretaste of a very original writing style.
I doubt that I will ever forget the story, nor the way it was written. It is a remarkable story, but I do not want to say more. The title says it best.
I would rate this story as 6 out of 5.
Tags: novel, England
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