24 May 2004 - 10:32 p.m.

bimbo's kewpie

i'm on deadline and haven't had much sleep lately, which has, no doubt, contributed to my arthritis at this present moment. i should be in bed, but i'm pretty cagey from deadline (still not finished) and waiting for the painkillers to kick in.

i learned a new word tonight, while editing a column at work: descemetocele. imagine me trying to decipher that one (and others like it) from the author's handwritten fax. woo!

i can't seem to get the new machine translations album out of my head. i like this quote:

It's not that easy to find the time to really get inside a record, to get to know its every pore, in the way you did when you were 15. But Venus Traps Fly is one that richly rewards the effort.

what the reviews don't tell you, though, is that, out of the 11 tracks on the album, 7 of them contain at least one of the following contagious nonsense verses:
* doot-doo-doo-doot
* oooooh-ooooooh-ooooh-ooooooh
* la la la la la la

and there are handclaps.

to think i didn't even want to buy the album because i wasn't crash-hot on the radio singles. i'm telling you, kids, it's highly addictive, especially the first track.

i took my first newspaper pictures with the new camera, which was the main intent behind the purchase. the first one was pretty bad, but i know why i mucked it up. somehow, i think this camera can do anything because it so flash, yet i still need to remember that it's not tripod-independent. "instant" does not equal "without thought on the photographer's part", and things like extaordinarily long exposures still need to be worked out mathematically, not half-assed by checking the LCD screen after every shot and adjusting accordingly.

the second attempt turned out perfect and was so easy that it almost hurt: drive to location, take pictures, check pictures on LCD screen, show pictures to subject, drive back to work, download pictures. piece of cake. the members of this household spend a lot of time trying to justify big purchases before they are made - it's nice to know when one really works out as promised, and for all the intended reasons.