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Westport, Ontario, Aug 2004
I'll be on vacation for the next week (with my new camera in tow!). See you when I get back!
The Distillery, Toronto, October 2006
Sashimi with wasabe ice cream, Uri Buri, Acco, Israel, December 2005
It's been a while since these two have made an appearance, hasn't it? More cat pictures here.
It's strange. I used to be a snap-happy shutterbug. Three things happened that changed that. I started working in a place where cameras aren't allowed, so I was no longer carrying my camera with me every day, then my initial digital camera (Canon A70) broke, and lastly, I replaced it with a bigger SLR camera. As great as my SLR camera is, it's, well, too bloody bulky. Having it as my sole camera has essentially removed any and all spontaneity from my picture taking, because I actually have to consider whether I want to lug my camera with me when I go out.
This is one of the main reasons that this site has been sorely lacking in content for the past year (well, that and the fact that I'm lazy). I've been making a concerted effort to post almost daily in the last couple of weeks (mostly pictures - I really just don't have all that much to say these days), but I'm running out of vacation pictures.
So... on a whim and with approximately 3 minutes of research, I bought a new point-and-shoot online last night. It's the Canon A530. My sister has it and I used it while I was in Palma a few weeks ago, to pleasing results. I can't wait to get it so I can start taking pictures of the daily trivialities of life.
Speaking of pictures, I've finally ponied up for a flickr pro account, and am happily uploading pictures to it. You can see my pictures here. I've just done a mass import so most of my photos are missing titles and captions. I hope to have that taken care of in the next few days.
And if we're already talking about photography, it's been a while since I've done a 26 Things challenge. This is the current list:
glee / village / reality / accident / anxiety / low / copy / kindness / bad taste / stairwell / public transport / art / shoes / Friday / alley / 7pm / telephone / ant's eye view / words / odd / a stop sign / traditional / the sea / stripes / tangled / a night shot
I've done a bit of travelling lately, so here's an update on a map I created in January, 2004.
create your own visited country map
Many years ago, when I was working in hell a bank, my colleague Jen (I wonder what's happened to Jen...) and I often went out to lunch together. During one such lunch hour, as the sandwich maker at Subway was making our order, piling up the green olives per Jen's request, she complained that she can't seem to lose weight, even when she eats healthy stuff.
rappy: Like those olives?
jen: Yes!
rappy: Jen, olives? Not exactly diet food.
jen: They aren't? But they're a vegetable!
rappy: Jen, they may be green, but can you see a connection between them and, say, OIL?
jen: OH.
This is the height of olive picking season in Israel, and last weekend, among the many fabulous things I did, I picked olives. There was an olive grove in a place called Kfar Kish, where you paid 30 NIS for a 5 liter container of self-picked olives. M and I picked a bucket-ful of olives, put them through a machine that cracks them, and then after picking out the bad ones, we filled the containers, covered them up with water, and were on our merry way back to the city. I've been washing the olives daily in water and today, following a trip to the market to buy tools and ingredients, I set to jarring them. I'm not holding out *TOO* much hope that they turn out great, but I guess I'll find out in about three weeks...
Recipe, kindly provided at olive grove, Kfar Kish, November 2006
A few more items to cross off/update on my list. To date I have completed 48 tasks from the list. Within the next month I intend to review the list and make some adjustments. Setting myself goals that include repetitive, scheduled tasks proved to me that I suck at repetitive scheduled tasks...
1. Learn to ride a horse - [Completed 10/11/06]
36. Learn to drive stick - [Started 11/11/06, a bumpy start if you will, but a start nonetheless...]
38. Reopen sixth ear piercing - [Sort of completed, as 5th piercing also closed, decided to forgo third pair altogether. I'm all about symmetry.]
77. Buy an expensive purse - [Completed 09/06 - not exactly a purse, but a $160 camera bag from Crumpler certainly counts]
Dalton Winery, Dalton, Israel, November 2006
In my quest to find a palatable red wine (see 101 in 1001 list), I've discovered the Dalton Winery in the Upper Galilee. My favourite is the Canaan red - which is actually their lowest-priced brand - described on their website as follows:
"Canaan Red:
This Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz blend is an easy drinking red wine with spicy forest fruit flavours, low tannins and a hint of vanilla. Drink Now.
WINEMAKING:
Red Canaan is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot and Shiraz. Close proximity to the winery allowed for immediate crushing and fermenting. The color of the wine is extracted by a rigorous regime of pumping over and warm fermentation."
I visited the winery last Friday and went on a tour of the facilities (this is a fairly small winery). I was pleased to learn that the winery, in addition to producing some great wines, is socially committed to the area, purchasing their grapes directly from area growers, and choosing to employ locals over machines.
rappy: hey - speaking of tv, guess who's going to be on the credits of Sesame Street?
roo: YOU!?
rappy: *grin*
roo: dude, that's the coolest thing EVER
rappy: I. KNOW!
roo: you and Big Bird!
rappy: no, no big bird in this version
roo: he's not?
rappy: nope. Wait - bb is male?
roo: yeah
rappy: shut up!
roo: hee
rappy: gayest bird I've ever seen
roo: HEE! I hate to use this, but LOL
roo: (because I totally just did)
rappy: ok, yeah.
rappy: well he IS
rappy: I've lived 31 years on this earth convinced he's female
A town whose name I can't recall... , Switzerland, July 2006
Soller, Mallorca, October 2006
