Reminiscence

I was looking over some of the older stuff here on d4d™, and it’s occurred to me that I really haven’t done much on the other sections in the last couple of months. Hopefully come January that’ll be rectified. I’m currently working on a piece for the Thoughts section, primarily about looking back over 2003, what I’d thought I’d do, and what’s actually happened.

In that context, Depression, and it’s Seasonally Affected cousin can be quite interesting – they make for interesting background voices when looking at hopes for the forthcoming year. Maybe I should put the “what I want to do” part on hold ’til March or April, allow the sunlight to sort me out a bit first – but where’s the fun in that?

So there’s a new Thoughts piece being written, and I haven’t ranted in bloody ages. I’ve got a set of photos that I really should sort out – maybe I’ll do that tonight. They’re from ages back, and I just haven’t got round to doing anything with them. So there’s stuff in the offing, I just need to get my finger out with it all. Fun fun fun.

Piss

I knew there was something I’d forgotten about this Festering Season™. Now I know what it was – presents need to be wrapped. And yes, I’ve no focking wrapping paper. Bugger. Ah well, that’s the purchase list sorted out for lunchtime today, anyway. And I thought I’d been so organised, yet it’s the basics that chuff me up yet again. Arse.

UPDATED : There, fuck-up sorted. I now have enough bloody wrapping paper to (hopefully) do everything I need to. And not a santa or snowman in the lot. If I’d been more organised I’d have sourced the black wrapping paper I got last year. Against all my best intentions, it actually looked really good, particularly with Silver pen being used.

Spirit of Christmas

Oooh, that’s worrying – two posts about the festering season, and nary a swearword between them. I must be mellowing. Maybe it’s this flummin’ headache…

Anyway, pop over to Uborka and read Pete’s heartfelt letter to Santa, along with the replies in the comments box. Very silly, but it’s made me laugh. Now, all I need is a darkened room…

Perfect Present

Ideal for Scary, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the iDuck. You couldn’t make it up.

Surely some mistake

Maybe I’m in the minority here, but the story about Saddam Hussein being arrested by Coalition forces today left me more than slightly confused. Weren’t they supposed to have killed him three months ago?

So how do we know that truth is being told now? In short, we don’t. Instead it’s yet more turns of the propaganda screw, and no-one really knows what the hell they’re up to. Then again, I don’t really think that they’ve got any idea either…

Godsend

Unaccustomed as I am to being nice about Christmas shopping and so on, I have to say that today’s shopping “trip” has been bloody fantastic. Amazon, EasyArt, Trainline.com, Go Places and MicroDirect. Everything ordered and sorted – and delivered to the correct people. No crowds, no hassle, no stress. My kind of shopping for the Festering Season.

I’d also like to say – and yes, I’m referring to you, Postershop and Leather Bean Bag Co– that I can’t believe there are some stores who have an online presence and e-commerce system that either a) doesn’t accept Switch, for fuck’s sake, or b) uses e-commerce that actually just emails the details to the shop – no stock-checking, nothing. Sacks of shite.

Snap Happy

via Slashdot, I found an article from Fortune magazine about the future of digital photography. More to the point, would Ansel Adams have used digital cameras if he were alive today?

Ansel Adams was always one of my favourite photographers, and provided many inspirational shots of nature, and natural phenomena. And yes, having seen the results that even my shonky little camera can come up with, I have no doubt at all he’d have used a digital camera if he could’ve got his hands on one.

The other part of the article that interested me was the idea that apparently digital photography and image manipulation are seen to be very much the same thing. I find that odd – maybe it’s because I’m not a professional photographer, or something, but it’s rare that I twonk about with images at all. About the most I normally do is crop an image, or adjust the brightness and contrast – which is what a “traditional” photographer would do too. Perhaps I’m just a realist – I don’t like the feel of images that have been messed about with, no matter how professionally. I’d rather leave a lamp-post in a shot (for example) to provide contrast. Life isn’t perfect : photos shouldn’t try to be either.