Monday, May 9, 2011 Lethbridge
5:50 am Morning Musings
The temperature is +6 C, with a high predicted of +14 C.
From the Environment Canada website:
Today Cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers this morning. Wind northeast 20 km/h becoming light this afternoon. High 14. Tonight Clearing this evening. Low minus 1. Normals Max: 18°C Min: 4°C
I do feel like a little musing this morning.
There are two main reasons for maintaining this website. The primary one is that it is a form of time management. It is a vehicle for keeping track of what I am doing and it allows me to review my activities and target areas for new priorities. The second reason is to share my activities with a small group of friends.
The main dilemma is to find a balance between private and shared ideas and thoughts. I have tended to err on the side of privacy but I am trying to move a little to providing slightly more detail on some activities. There is no point in me saying "Gee, I liked that" a hundred times without adding at least a sentence or two saying why.
Back to the time management issue. My Activity Index lists 5 major and 7 minor activities that I find interesting. I want to conduct a quick review of these. The simplest approach is to copy the table from that web page and use the last column for comments.
| Major Activities | Description |
|---|---|
| Birding | This is on hold at the moment. Country roads are muddy and soft and will need a couple of weeks to dry out. There are 4 good birding "hotspots" (Taber Lake, Frank Lake, Pakowki Lake and Lake Newell) but they are all about 150 km away and all but one involve some gravel roads. |
| Geocaching | This is also on the back burner. There are a number of caches still to search for in the Crowsnest Pass region, but this involves gravel roads. Also trekking through the bush is not feasible for another 2 or 3 weeks due to snow conditions. Medicine Hat is about 150 km away and is the nearest center with a large concentration of geocaches. |
| Model Trains | This will soon be a busy activity. I have a new laptop on order as well as a CD for the Ship It! software. My throttle and base station module have been upgraded and I am almost ready to begin operational runs of my trains. |
| Literature | This is a regular activity. I try to find at least a couple of hours each day for some form of reading. "Autobiography of Mark Twain" and "Three Cups of Tea" are both on the go at the moment. The first is an ebook, the second a softcover book. |
| Photography | This is an activity that merits serious attention! I enjoy this, but am not doing much of it. Read "Composition Photo Workshop" |
| Minor Activities | |
| Technology | This is taking more of my time than I would like. However I think with the new pc most of my technical difficulties will be behind me. |
| Puzzles | My interest in Go is on the rise with an app on my iPad. I would like to keep this interest high. I also want to work my way through a good book on the game. |
| Musings | This is not a large item, but I should engage in some form of it at least once a week. |
| Science | I have 2 books on the go here: "Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science" and "Cycles of Time". Both books require careful, slow, reading. I also have a book on the second law of thermodynamics that I would like to review. |
| Mathematics | This seems to be a winter activity as there are other items during the summer that take priority. |
| History | "Three Cups of Tea" is in the category, but I also have a number of good Canadian books that I would like to read. |
| Philosophy | I have two substantive books here: Bhagavad-gita and "A Secular Age". Both are thick and worth the effort but this will take time. |
Okay. Now what are the priority areas?
1. Photography ("Composition Photo Workshop")
2. Model Trains (soon)
3. Literature ("Autobiography of Mark Twain")
4. Puzzles (game of Go)
5. Science ( "Cycles of Time")
6. History ("Three Cups of Tea")
7. Philosophy ("Bhagavad-gita")
Photography and Puzzles (Go) involve doing something. Literature, Science, History and Philosophy only involve reading. The two books that are at the top of my list to read are the "Autobiography of Mark Twain" and "Cycles of Time".
So here are the items to keep me active for the next week or two:
1. Photography: read "Composition Photo Workshop" and do suggested activities
2. Literature: read "Autobiography of Mark Twain"
3. Puzzles: read "Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go" and play SmartGo on the iPad
4. Science: read "Cycles of Time".
Looking at this list, I think I will drop the last item for a bit and focus on the first three.
This has been worthwhile. I now have a manageable list, and all three items are a lot of fun.
A couple of additional comments are in order. I need to get back to a regular form of exercise, that is, a daily coulee walk. This take about an hour and gives me a good cardio-vascular workout. Second, I should get back to keeping track of my eating intake using the "MyFitnessPal" app on my iPhone. Simply doing this is quite effective at helping me reduce my caloric intake.
A really good start to the week. I feel that I am in control. A little fantasy is good for one, at least this one.
10:00 am Technology
I have just received an automated email from Dell indicating that there will be a delay in shipping my order.
12:00 PM Photography
It is too cool to be outside trying to conduct a photo shoot, so I decided to stay indoors and reread the first couple of chapters of "Composition Photo Workshop".
Chap. 1 Understanding Composition
- walk around a site and see it from different angles
- try to eliminate extraneous detail (e.g. telephone poles)
- incorporate time into the image (stop-action, slow shutter speeds)
- pick an object the size of a car and take 30+ pictures of it
- Nicholas Sheran bridge
- model train layout
- Lethbridge bridge
- our house
- university hall
- playground
Chap. 2 The Elements of Design
- points, lines, planes, curves, zig-zag, C-curve, S-curve
- familiar objects do not need to be shown in their entirety
- texture
- rule of thirds (set lines to show in viewfinder)
Become familiar with camera controls!
3:00 PM Literature
I have found some time to continue reading "Autobiography of Mark Twain". This is a very pleasant way to spend an hour. He has a droll sense of humor and a gift with words.
8:00 PM Puzzles
