I'll Take Odds And Ends For $200 Alex...

Sometimes it just seems that there isn't much of interest to blog about, and this weekend seems like one of those times. Melinda is finally off after 3 nights of work. Clouds and tonight's winds have prevented me from thinking about any astro-photos.

Today was the twice-a-year camera show - a good chance to get some used photo gear for cheap (where I've gotten most all of my 35mm film gear). But though a few items caught my eye, I didn't spend a nickle. One item that interested me was an extension tube for my Canon camera - it extends the lens out, allowing closer focus, thus enabling to take images of very small objects. I ended up passing on the $200+ they were asking, and saw the same thing on E-bay an hour later for $40. I bid $65 max, but ended up being outbid at the last second by a couple dollars. Eventually...

Actually, the thing that perked my interest in closeup photography was another blog. Andrew Cooper , former local astronomy club president and electrical engineer now living in Hawaii and working at Keck Observatory has an excellent blog that we've linked on our right border since about day one of this blog. A few weeks ago he mentioned another blog - Nature Diary , a truly spectacular showcase of closeup photography. While most closeup imaging is called macro photography, Thomas Whelan's work can truly be called micro-photography. His work on insects, flowers and ice crystals is just stunning. From his blog intro, it sounds like he images what he finds on his walks, which sounds a lot like what I do in the Illinois summer, so it would be nice to have some capabilities in close-up imaging.

While we are on the topic of other blogs we read, another that hasn't quite gotten to our public "Blogs We Read" list yet is Carpentry & Home Repair , written by Peter Bales, a tradesman living in Nashville, Tennessee. While only blogging for a month or so, he has managed to post nearly every day with helpful hints, useful tools, and remodelling ideas. If he keeps up his prodigious output, with both of the fixer-uppers we live in we'll find lots of help for our own projects. (Note: this is not one of our project rooms. The pictured room/project is that of Peter Bales - the capentry guy who's blog we've been reading)

And while we don't go out of our way to waste too much time reading on the blogosphere, another I read just for fun, especially if I have time to watch the NBC nightly news is the Brian Williams Tie Report. Written by an Ohio English teacher, she daily reviews Brian's neck wear and is really a fun read.

Oh! And speaking of fun, brand new on our "Blogs We Read" list is I Do, I Really Do! , written by Dayna, a new bride-to-be. I ran across it one afternoon by repeatedly hitting the "next blog" button up on top of our blog (you did notice that button, right?). I thought Melinda might get a kick out of it - it sort of reminded us of our own intentions early on in our planning, but as time goes on, they sound like they are getting a little more obsessive!

Well, enough for now. Rah, Rah - Arizona basketball made it to the Sweet Sixteen! We're not big basketball fans, but you can't miss the groundswell of support right now in Tucson!