When it gets really hot and uncomfortable outside the idea of carrying a big camera and a heavy lens starts to sound more and more... masochistic. Better on the days when it's over 100° to carry along the smallest camera you own. Something just a bit bigger and more capable than a phone.
I pursued a lazy and sybaritic day today. I walked the hills of the neighborhood with B. for a good hour and then I fired up the VSL staff car and headed over to my favorite car wash to spray away a couple of weeks of accumulated grime and random bird droppings. I used the foaming brush, then the high pressure soap spray, then the high pressure rinse. Then the spot free rinse. And for a couple hours, at least, I had a relatively sparkly and teutonic-ly clean car. Since it was already hot outside I did spray the high pressure rinse water up into the air every once in a while so I could walk through the mist and cool down.
Task #1 completed I headed over to the First Light book store to see if they had any depth in their collection of Billy Collins poetry collections. They have the current book but I've already purchased that one. I was inspired to look for more Billy Collin's books of poetry because B. and I had lunch on Saturday at the New World Deli, which is next to the Livra Bookstore (collectibles. very, very good stuff. Now saving up for the very limited edition "Dior" by Richard Avedon. Slip case and all...). After lunch we browsed and B. found a signed copy of Collins's "Nine Horses" which I promptly bought. It's wonderful.
I didn't find what I was looking for at First Light but I did buy yet another of the slender, Japanese, fine point pens the shop stocks, and a little notebook to accompany it. I had in mind taking the pair next door to Bureau de Poste as a distraction (doodling, brief observations, etc.) while having breakfast. So I did.
I ordered the egg, bacon and cheese sandwich on a freshly made biscuit ( too good to be healthy !!!) and a cup of drip coffee. And I spent my time eating slowly, drinking even more slowly, and listening to marketing people at the next table (three very beautiful young women) talk seriously while glancing over and over again at their individual laptops as they figured out how to sell more Texas seafood via "public information" outreach on the web. They obviously have some part of the Texas Ag. Dept. account to work on and it seems pretty obvious that this dept. relates directly to....seafood.
I found it funny that each of the participants came equipped with Yeti water bottles which sat on the table next to the laptops. The Yeti-s got more attention than the coffee drinks but I think the coffee drinks were just purchased to assuage the trio's implied guilt for Bogarting a comfortable table in the chilly air conditioned dining room. The egg sandwich was superb. A gustatory triumph.
After car washing, book searching and a very late breakfast I dropped back by VSL headquarters to change cameras. I tossed the Leica M 240 M-E onto a chair and grabbed the D-LUX 8 from its perch. Said "Hi" to B. and then headed over to South Congress to take a stroll in the growing heat. Mondays are always "people quiet" on South Congress Ave. One restaurant doesn't even open on Mondays. Most of the retailers have "done the math" and stay open because the accounting breaks in their favor. Even if only by a little bit.
I walked for a while until the heat became uncomfortable and then I ducked into Jo's Coffee and, for the first time ever, ordered an iced coffee. Just the right thing to cool one down mid-walk. Delicious. Zippy. And, to placate my French and Canadian readers, I sat nearly motionless and endeavored to "enjoy" my coffee without ambulation. I hope this makes them happy....
And now, back to the office to see what the images look like from the Lilliputian camera. I was experimenting with intentionally using the widest focal length settings where possible and also leaning on smaller apertures for less of that soul sucking bokeh everyone seemed to lust for five years ago...Oh, and I added some color saturation --- just for fun. Modernity. It's all over the map.
Here's what I got:
No clue what Fable is selling. Wait. I'll check Google...
Okay. See if you can make heads or tails of this:
Close and wide.
Now very gun shy about hat buying. I'd hat to look dorky.
I'm wondering if my hat consultant, J.C. would approve of this one
for casual wear? Just asking for a friend....
Chair-itable?
A very large umbrella for a very, very large tropical themed cocktail?
Old guys drinking coffee in the heat with a dog. Jo's. Of course.
Not just for retired people in Florida anymore!
Will people migrate from Pickle Ball to Shuffleboard?
I think so.....
furniture for aprés swim. At the Austin Motel.
Didn't feel the urge to give it a try. Not today...
This is Joann's restaurant's outside patio. I'm presuming the flock of
owls is there to dissuade the grackles from their usual customer vexing
hijinks. Or maybe the owner is just a big fan of ceramic owls...
Something blue.
My take on the DLUX 8? Pretty much the perfect carry around
camera for a hot, sweaty day. Love the EVF. It's really, really good.
Wish the diopter wheel had a firmer detent. The friction between my shirt and the wheel always seems to change the setting. Frustrating. Gaff Tape to the rescue?