Neighbors
Author: robertjames1971
I'm wicked tall.
Procrastination is My Middle Name
What have I been putting off? More like what haven’t I been putting off!
I am a procrastinator. I am a master procrastinator. I am a legendary procrastinator. I am the undisputed king of procrastinators. Everyone needs to find that one thing in life that they are really good at and I found that my one thing is being an epic procrastinator.
I procrastinate at work. There are projects that I have to do regularly that I just can’t wrap my brain around unless it’s the absolute last minute. I drive myself nuts when I do it, but I do it all the time.
Home improvement projects? Why do it today when you can put it off until tomorrow. Example: When Harry moved out he took his bedroom furniture with him. Jen and I have been planning to replace it so that he can have a bedroom when he comes home. There are four boxes worth of an IKEA bed in his room as I type this. Have they been opened and assembled? Nope. That’s actually my main project for today, but it could have been done yesterday. Instead I repeatedly fell asleep watching Doctor Who. Peak level procrastination.
Even my stupid little creative projects get pushed off. I promised myself I would take the cameras out for a walk this morning, yet here I sit right at the high point of golden hour typing this silly post. Also, when was the last time I played guitar? Last month. Why? Procrastination.
Like I said, I am the king. You’re going to get a photo of that IKEA bed today if it’s the last thing I do. There comes a time when procrastination must end, am I right? Sure. I’m the king after all.
(Not Quite) Daily Haiku for You #55
You didn’t think I was going to forget today’s haiku, did you?
No, I did not forget. Today’s hailu comes to you from the land of gastric bypass surgery recovery fun.
My stomach’s a jerk.
Why you gotta be that way?
Can’t you just play nice?
Exhausted Cats
The cats are exhausted from a long day of sleeping and doing nothing. I’m exhausted too. I fell asleep watching an episode of Doctor Who. I woke up as it was ending, restarted from the beginning and fell asleep again. Ugh, doofus.
I am still hoping to do another photo walk in the morning but I really don’t know if I will have the energy. I have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow and I should probably sleep in, but the weather is going to be good for shootin’ pitchers so I am torn on what to do.
What do you think the cats would do if they found themselves in my position?
Sleep.
Alliance Park in Amesbury, MA
On the way back from the ocean this morning I stopped at a little park in Amesbury that I found by accident on a similar sunrise photo journey about a year ago. Again, I don’t like any of these. I feel sad. I did take some film shots though so maybe those will make me happy when I get the roll developed at some point in the next 100 years or so.
This is the Merrimack River.
This little river that dumps into the Merrimack is called the Powwow River, according to Google Maps.
In closing, the little church across the street is nice too.
I Won’t Grow Up
Daily writing prompt
When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)?
I answered one of these daily prompts not long ago with a definition of imposter syndrome. That response works for today’s question as well. When was the first time I felt like a grown up? Let me answer with another question, have I ever felt like a grown up? Let me answer that one with yet another question, what does it feel like to feel like a grown up?
Who the hell knows.
I was a 26 year old college drop out working for peanuts in a warehouse. I made the decision to get my shit together and go back to school and get a degree so that I could get a real job and have a real career. It took seven years to achieve that goal, but I did it. Was the moment when I decided to get my life straight the first moment of grown up behavior? It might have been.
Could it have been the moment when I asked Jen to marry me? Could it have been the moment I spoke those marriage vows and became Jen’s husband and Harry and Bellana’s step father? Likely.
Should I look at this more abstractly? Is the difference between adult behavior and childish behavior accepting the fact that you cannot be in control of everything? If so then it would probably be the horrible night when we learned of Harry’s diabetes. We were in the ER at Boston Medical Center and we had to sit there helpless while he was in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and the doctor was basically spelling out the numerous things that were trying to take his life, and she could not assure us that we weren’t going to lose him. You may think you know what terror feels like, but unless you’ve been through something like that you probably have no idea. We were utterly and completely helpless. Was that the first time I felt like a grown up? Scared out of my skull? It might have been.
I think the real answer to this question is that there was no defining moment. There was no specific instance where I realized I was a grown up. Instead it was a gradual process that took ages to complete and really just sort of… you know… happened. Maybe that’s what growing up is? Things just sort of happening?
Deep, man. Deep.
Sunrise
I made it to Salisbury Beach this morning. I took a bunch of pics and I don’t like any of them. I had the ISO set way too high because I set it high when I’m at home and I always forget to lower it when I go outside. It ruined all of my long exposures. Blah.
I think I prefer the 40mm lens to the 28mm lens for the sun itself, but the 28mm is better for the beach as a whole. That makes sense, right?
I had the ND filter on for a lot of these. Not sure which pic is the first one after I took it off.
From here on the ISO is set to 100 instead of 1600.
Morning Cats
I took these before work this morning. I don’t have a reason to post them now, but so what? They are cute so I’ll share.
How Are We Doing?
Hey folks. How is it going? Are we all doing all right tonight? It’s Friday the 13th, has the universe thrown you any curve balls?
Today has gone okay for me. I found out my nephew has Covid. Sigh in frustration. I hope he’s okay, and I hope he kicks it way faster than I did. I don’t want him to be sick for three weeks the way I was. I have a whole new perspective on this particular plague and somehow it makes everything worse.
I had another one of those empty stomach things that I wrote about last night. Usually it hits about three hours after eating. Today it hit two hours after I finished lunch. I had a snack and thought I would be okay until dinner, but an hour later it came back. Weird. That’s the first time this issue was not predictable. I didn’t eat dinner until 7:00, which was about an hour after the stomach ache came back. We’re going to have to keep an eye on this tonight. I don’t want any weirdness. Unpredictable weirdness is not as fun as you’d think.
Jen and I just watched this week’s episode of Loki. Season two episode two. At lunch today I was poking around news.google.com and I was almost spoiled about seven times. I am going to have to be more careful on Fridays for the next four weeks.
I just checked the weather for the weekend. It is going to be clear at sunrise tomorrow and clear just after sunrise on Sunday. There must be photos this weekend. It’s a necessity. I have a lot of stuff on my agenda and I’m booked pretty solid. Still, from a mental health standpoint a photowalk somewhere must happen. The mornings are getting cold and there are only so many more opportunities left before the winter ruins everything. I have to take advantage of this. Ocean sunrise and maybe some Merrimack River stuff tomorrow and then either around town on Sunday or maybe finally spend an hour or two walking around the city? Boston at sunrise on a Sunday should be easy to social distance, shouldn’t it?
Like I said, there is a lot on my plate this weekend. I need to make time for some creative stuff. I’m still feeling a little shell shocked from the covid journey so my brain needs to stretch its figurative legs a little.
Here’s hoping we can make something happen this weekend. Assuming Friday the 13th lets us through the day, right?
Today’s Photo a Day
Hello and welcome to another addition of today’s photo a day. I don’t do these every day, but I do them now and then because I want to and it’s my page and I do what I want.
There is a “where’s waldo” element to this photo. Somewhere in there is a squirrel giving me the stink eye. Do you see the little furry bastard?
Inside the Red Head's Head 