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I woke up kind of late and spent most of the morning editing the pictures from the day before. After I posted yesterday, I messed around with a sample HDR program to see whether it is something I want to buy. It takes multiples images shot at different settings, and averages them all together to create a single image where everything is perfectly exposed.


Here is one from the photo series yesterday. I shot 7 images from way underexposed to way overexposed. I kind of like how it turned out--fairly dramatic, no? The watermark is there because it is a trial version.

It's not something I'd use all the time--I kind of prefer my images be as true-to-life as possible, but I could see using it for certain things.

In the afternoon I went shopping for some stuff Malida wanted. I bought her a tabletop grill so she can enjoy korean bbq in the privacy of our own home. I bought a couple different cuts of meat and tried a variety of marinades. Another experiment.

I bought flour too, so I can make some bread with my natural yeast.


I had planned to take photos at every step, but didn't remember the plan until I had strained out the raisins and added flour already. It worked just like it was supposed to. I'm a little unclear on the next step, but I'll do what seems logical and see how it turns out. At worst I'll end up with a glutinous blob.

I talked to my nephew yesterday. He was on his way to work--he is the facilities guy for an Indian movie theatre.

I was reminded that when I was down in LA a few weeks ago, I had taken some pictures of a letter I had sent him when he was three.


I can't believe how much my handwriting has deteriorated over the years. This was written when I was 29, just before I went into nursing school.

While I waited for Malida to come home, I finished the book I was reading--"The Seven Minutes", by Irving Wallace. It was written in the late 60's, and I first read it in the early 70's while I was home sick from school. I used to do that a lot.

I found it in the box of old books I recently rediscovered and decided to read it again.It's kind of dated and cheesy, but a good story.

I'm not sure what to read next.

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We got up late and prepared the stuff to try our new table-top grill. I was thinking we would do it for lunch, but Malida was excited and wanted it for breakfast, so we did.


Here is the spread--some pork, some beef, some vegetables and some rice. The grill worked great, and everything tasted delicious. Malida's only complaint was that I wasn't able to find out what is in the chili sauce at the Korean BBQ restaurant. I think they make it there, so I'm not hopeful.


Malida thought the cats deserved a treat too, so she fed them some canned cat food. Usually they just eat the dry stuff.

After breakfast I attended to my yeast. I added some more flour, then dumped it into a bowl and added molasses, salt, a little oil, honey, some more flour and just enough water. It's so different from when I usually make bread.normally I measure everything out, but for this bread, I just kind of dumped in whatever looked right. It was liberating.


I love kneading bread--it is one of the most relaxing things I know. I was thinking today how it reminds me of doing CPR, only without the stress.


While I was kneading, I noticed an old picture of me on the refrigerator. I have no idea how long it's been there. It is from 1990, when I was up in Oregon, at the maritime museum. I am wearing my "24-Hour Church of Elvis" t-shirt. I look young. And skinny. I have my old Pentax mx film camera around my neck. I loved that camera.

I put the dough up to rise in my homemade proofing box, and we went out to take a walk.

We went to the creek. It was such a lovely day--the temperature was in the high 70's, and on the way to the 80's. There were a lot of people out walking, and everyone was commenting on the nice weather.


We saw so many turtles! On some logs it was SRO. I counted at least 50 in this one part of the creek.

When we got home, I found a box from Amazon with my Eisenhower biography book and a dvd of the Rolling Stones concert I wrote about the other day. They go well together.


We watched a little of the Stones concert. Malida had never heard of them, but recognized right away that they were the real thing. On the screen is Mick Taylor, the lead guitarist during that time. One of the best and most under-appreciated rock guitarists of all time.

I got a call from the paper to shoot a story for them, and had to leave right when I was ready to bake my bread. It's a story about the death of print books and the rise of e-books. My assignment today was to photograph a guy who runs a used bookstore. Next week I will photograph the state librarian and her collection of e-books. It's an interesting assignment.


When I came home, I baked the bread, and it turned out fine. I made a sandwich.