I recently got a Sigma 17-70, 2.8-4.0 telephoto to fit my Canon Rebel XTi. The lens blows the socks off the 18-55 stock lens (duh) and has a pretty incredible macro (which allows you to get mere inches away from your subject. I’ve been happy with its brightness and, though it’s a pain to carry around, the heft of the lens is nice when compared to the 50mm 1.8 or other kit lenses I’ve tried on the camera. I put a couple of photos on flickr taken with the sigma lens.
Month: August 2007
BBG
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is lovely this time of year. (When is it not)? The roses were past their prime, but there a number of other flowering plants all around the grounds. A couple of other bbg photos.
Windy Riis
It was a very blustery day on the beach today. Winds were in excess of 20 mph and the sand was whipping across the tundra that is Riis Park. This is a picture of me checking whether beachside is less (or in this case) more) windy.
Honorable William Wall
M and I went out to the “Honorable William Wall” clubhouse last night. The floating bar/barge is great. We got there early so it was quiet, but it quickly filled up. There was a regatta from the Manhattan Sailing School (with the skyline in the background) and a beautiful sunset. Highly recommended. A launch leaves from the west side every half hour after 5:15.
PSFC – Make Ups Before You Start
I did my first shift at the Park Slope Food Co-op tonight. I’m doing data entry for “make up” shifts. The filing and database system is quirky to say the least, but it seems to work. So now I’m only on alert for not having paid my dues. During my first shopping trip I offered to pay it but the cashier (with fist to chest) said, “don’t ever pay your dues, dude! Fight the man”. But, aren’t I “the man” if I’m a member of the co-op?
Alaskan Salmon
C came back and brought a lot of fish. This is a picture of the fish in a freezer. That’s a s-load of fish, eh?
A New Bench
Someone, I won’t mention names, sat on the bench in the backyard last week and cracked one of the slats. Thank God! It’s needed a reno for a long, long time. I got some poplar from Lowes, stained it, and painted the wrought iron. This camera-phone picture tells the tale.
Tenement Museum
M and her dad C, his gal M, and I went to the Tenement Museum on Saturday. I highly recommend visiting the museum. In the “Getting By” tour we saw two apartments (one from the 1870s and another from the 1920s). So much has changed in the past century, but so much has stayed the same too. Our very young guide seemed like she’d rather be on the beach than asking rhetorical questions to tourists, but despite this it was a worthwhile trip.
Write a Letter – It Helps
My latest corporate crusade was against AT&T/Cingular: I tried to upgrade M’s and my phones. We’re on a family plan so the hyper-incetivized offers from Amazon do not apply (the small print indicates that if you try to upgrade any part of a family talk plan they’ll charge you full price for the handset retroactively). I called and emailed customer service over a dozen times and was getting nowhere. (However, prior to all my calls I had dropped a letter in the mailbox to Kansas City laying out my position: upstanding customer, wants free phones, will take refurbs). Just when I was ready to give up and buy phones from eBay or CL or take one of the crappy free phones, Kansas City came through and offered me the phones I wanted. The math works out like this: paper + mailbox = stuff gets done. (I haven’t received the phones yet, but I’m hopefully optimistic).
PSFC – Drinking the Kool-Aid
M and I joined the Park Slope Food Coop tonight. They offered Kool-Aid (organic), but we didn’t drink it. The admonition-laced orientation session lends a lot credence to many of the horror stories about the Coop. Quotes from M’s email to V about the commune will follow shortly.