You Capture - Happiness

This week's I Should Be Folding Laundry challenge is Happiness!

Most of you know that music makes me very happy. So much that I decided to take pictures of a few of my favorite pages of music to share!

Wait, am I violating some copyright with this?

Unfortunately I was too lazy to set up or wait for proper lighting, so these are taken at ISO800 or higher. That translates to fuzzyness when zooming in, so I'll be surprised if anybody can identify these pieces. But if you can - you are rad.

LIGHTNING BOLT!! LIGHTNING BOLT!! LIGHTNING BOLT!!

I've been wanting to try lightning photography for quite a while. Tonight would have been the perfect opportunity thanks to a spectacular lightning storm over the valley. Unfortunately I was driving when the storm hit and by the time I got home it had mostly passed.

I did manage to get one shot of a strike about 15 miles away. Next time I will be better prepared! And I think I have a better idea what to do next time - don't shoot so wide, use a better lens (not the cheap 18-55mm I used this time), etc.

You Capture - Up Close

My friend Erin showed me this neat blog called I Should Be Folding Laundry. In it are weekly photo challenges to try to get you to find new and different ways to take photos. It's a fun game, and I hope it makes me get out the camera a bit more.

This week's challenge is to get up close and photograph things ... well, up close. I know I'm supposed to be taking new photos, but this challenge reminded me of some photos I took a few months ago and promptly forgot about. I actually liked them quite a bit, but I never did anything with them - I didn't even bother putting them online. So this week's challenge made me put these up for all to see, for better or for worse.

One of Goomba's squeeky balls.

The innards of a paper shredder.

Shredded paper. The poor focus was accidental, but I think I actually prefer it - it makes the photo seem old. Or maybe I'm looking for excuses for my own screw-up.

Turning in the Man Card

About eight years ago, I was in the Silver Smith casino in Wendover, and a song came on the overhead muzak that I totally dug. It was very slow with dense jazz chords and a female singer. I had heard it once or twice before but never knew who it was. Unfortunately over the din of the casino (slot machines actually dispensed coins back then!), I could not make out any lyrics, so I was unable to figure out what the song was.

I've thought about this song quite often over the last eight years, wondering if I would ever figure out what it was. I had plugged in a few phrases I thought I had thought were in the lyrics, but never had any luck finding it. I was doomed to be haunted for the rest of my life by it.

This evening I ended up at Lagoon, and was surprised to hear the song playing on their muzak! Thanks to the power of the iPhone and Shazam, I was able to find out what it was immediately! And you know what? I was so utterly humiliated by what it was that I could feel my testicles shriveling up into nothing. I now have to turn in my Man Card for even liking a song by this artist. It's so bad that I am refusing to admit what it was.