We’ve been housecleaning all day today in anticipation of the arrival of some beloved guests tomorrow evening. Nothing motivates me to clean my house like having house guests and I only wish we had them more often! My dad, stepmom, and niece Elise are arriving tomorrow from NH and I’m looking forward to spending some time with them as we don’t see them nearly enough!

In derby news, there is no news. I haven’t skated at all in 2 weeks. My knee has taken a sudden and inexplicable turn for the worse and I don’t get it. I just know it’s hurting more than ever and now my lower leg is swollen and stiff like it had never been before. It’s kinda mysterious considering I’d quit all forms of exercise 2 weeks earlier. What gives?! So I’m wearing my knee brace all the time now and trying to be extra careful. *sigh* I’m not very good at inactivity.

Clearly the universe is determined that I learn to be patient. Resistance is futile. Like I’m always telling Rio, if don’t learn the lesson then you’ll just keep suffering it. Here I am, suffering it again!

Gosh, it’s been an awful long time, eh? Here’s the lowdown:

• We went to Kansas, as usual, for the 4th of July. This photo was taken on the road. More to come!
• I tore a ligament in my knee and had to sit out the last home bout. My team was also missing our star jammer - Whiskey broke her ankle and will be out for the rest of the season and that’s going to hurt the travel team as well. In any case, my team lost but it was a much closer score than our last bout. Our rookies performed magnificently, especially our newest jammer, Biohazard Betty, who received MVP!
• My knee is healing well and I should be back in action before too long. I’m forcing myself to follow the doctor’s orders and avoid straining it. It was torture watching my team skate from the sidelines on Saturday night, but I have to think about the big picture. It will be worth missing 1 or 2 bouts if it means my knee can recover fully without surgery and I can enjoy a long and spectacular derby career;) So really, 1 or 2 bouts isn’t much in the grand scheme of things. I can do it!
• Steve just took a job as a sexton. Get your mind out of the gutter!
• Life is pretty damn great all around. Being too busy to blog isn’t really a bad thing.

Rio played in a chess tournament on Saturday and he befriended the boy shown here, who brought a Pirates of the Caribbean set. They played in between rounds for fun. Rio didn’t win any of his matches, but he was a really good sport about it and that was a relief. We had a discussion about sportsmanship before the tournament, because this has been a problem area for him lately. I told him that I would be proud of him if he won, but I would be even more proud if he lost graciously. And he did!

It was a humbling experience for him. My dear Rio is one cocky little dude and I tried to warn him that he would be playing against chess fanatics who eat, sleep, and breathe chess. Sure enough, he was beaten in the first round by some kindergarten prodigy. But he took it all in stride and I honestly think that it was an excellent experience for him. He needs to learn to cope with disappointment because it’s a big part of life, like it or not.

Rio’s no slouch, and he can play a decent game of chess. But he doesn’t take the time to plot out a strategy. He’s impulsive so planning isn’t one of his strong points. The kids in that tournament were mostly all chess club regulars and devote quite a bit of their free time to playing and thinking about chess. Rio was a bit of their league but he played well enough. And like I told him, the only way to get better is to play against people who are better than you.

I can’t be sure but judging by the subdued atmosphere, I’d bet that Rio was the only ADHD kid there. I’d also bet that he’s the first kid at a chess tournament to have his Harry Potter book confiscated because he was being “too rambunctious” with it.

That’s MY boy! I sure am proud of him:)

I finally got to try out this old Polaroid and it works! I’m quite tickled with it.

I’ve been intermittently sick for the last week and instead of getting better I’m feeling worse and I’m pissed. I had my heart set on skating tonight and I really NEED to, dammit. What I’d really like to do is crawl into bed and knock myself out with some heavy meds. I haven’t been sleeping well because I’ve been waking up with my head all full of phlegm and a nasty cough. I would so love to sleep for a very long time. I really just want to feel NORMAL again so I can get on with my life.

We bought a camper last night! It’s a little pop-up trailer and the price was right so we jumped on it. We’ll be taking it on out on it’s maiden voyage this weekend. Weeeee!

There’s a vicious monkey on the loose, folks. Hide your children!

“One of the things we have found out through all this is there are a lot more monkeys than we thought in the area.”

And that’s just one more reason to love this town. Here’s another good line:

“He said of monkey owners, in general: ‘They’re a wary bunch.’”

As a matter of fact, this is not the first time a monkey has eluded authorities in Columbia MO. See for yourself (You gotta scroll down to see the monkey stories).

[That's Steve and the 6 boys we brought to the Arts Festival last weekend]

Rio and I went to see Pirates 3 tonight. I’m now convinced that seeing that movie with an 8-year old boy provides the optimum experience. What fun!

Rio and Dizzy at Bear Creek enjoying the summertime. This photo has a very nostalgic feel to it, I think.

This one’s from my test roll for the Braun Paxette I got for Mother’s Day. It’s a neat old rangefinder and worked pretty well considering how long it’s been out of service. It’s a tiny little camera but very functional. Focusing was a bit tricky but I fared pretty well, considering. This little camera is a very cool addition to my collection.

Happy New Year! Sorry for the lack of updates, but I’ve been rather consumed by home improvement projects. I’ll be back on schedule after tomorrow:)

Steve surprised me with prints from a roll of film he dropped off for me weeks ago, and then we both forgot about it. So I now have shots from October, back when the OM2 was brand new and I was testing my lenses. It’s almost as good found money! This photo and the title are an expression of my current strife.

Here’s a shot from the Olympus OM2 test roll. I only shot 12 exposures - 6 with the 50mm lens and 6 with my zoom lens. The 50mm was predictably clearer and brighter overall. I think I can get sharper results from the zoom in the future if I stabilize it. I’m thinking about getting a cheap monopod - something very light and portable should do the trick. I shot this roll very hastily and I really don’t have any other shots worth sharing. Also, the roll in my Holga turned out like crap because I keep forgetting which setting to use for the bulb shutter setting! So I’m running out of photos again and I really need to get out and shoot. A lot! Hopefully this weekend will provide some opportunities.

Another Argus shot of Rio being silly:)

Here’s a sample from the Argus Argoflex 75 test roll. This is my first Argus, not to be confused with the Argus 75 that I purchased shortly after the Argoflex. The only difference is that one has a portrait lens. I’ve got a test roll in that one right now. They both have a working bulb flash and several replacement bulbs, and two different sized leather cases. I’ll probably merge all of these accessories and keep just one Argus. So far the results from the test roll are mixed (I haven’t scanned them all yet). The contrast is highly variable, and I suspect that this may be somewhat more the fault of my scanner, not the camera. Or perhaps a little of both. In any case, this was one of the more contrasty shots and also one of the best. I like contrasty images. Overall, this camera seems to produce Holga-like results without the vignetting. In fact, the Argus offers even less control over the image. No focusing, no aperture or shutter options. Well, it does have a Timer setting which is like the “B” setting - the shutter is open for as long as you hold down the button. I’ve got lots of negs to scan, lots of test rolls to shoot in my new cameras, and lots of stuff to post. It’s a bit chaotic at the moment but this is the kind of problem I don’t mind having:)

Isn’t it funny how those 2 front teeth always seem to come out together? I couldn’t wait to get a shot of that grin:) I’m sure there will be many more. My second Argus 75 arrived tonight. I know, I know! But it was only $3 and this one has a portrait lens! I couldn’t wait to test out that lens, so I just loaded some film into it and then also found out that it fits my tripod. So I’ll be playing around with my new toy tonight. And my new Olympus OM2 arrives tomorrow . . . Life is grand! And not just because of my new cameras;)

Here’s Rio demonstrating the Argus Argoflex 75. Isn’t it cute? I shot a test roll yesterday, but I won’t get it back from the lab until Wed (real black & white film only gets done on Tues & Thurs). I can’t wait to see how it turns out! I’m now at the tail end of 3 rolls of film in 3 cameras, and my new ones haven’t even arrived yet! I’m thinking maybe I should start shooting 12 exposure rolls just so I don’t have to wait so long to get a batch of photos. But for now I’ll try to finish off these rolls so I have something to post, because I’m running out of shots.

Taken while sampling my Mamiya MSX. I’ve already decided to use my winnings (did I mention first place includes a cash prize?!) to buy a new(old) camera. Or two, depending on the price. Just tonight I won an Argus Argoflex 75 on ebay for a whopping $5. Yeehaw! How can I resist at a price like that? However, I must show some restraint. I’d like to purchase at least one “serious” camera so I can pretend I’m a pro once in a while. I’ve been browsing the Nikon and Pentax systems on ebay and there are lots of promising candidates. Decisions, decisions. Once I’ve made my final purchase, I’ll list the Mamiya on ebay. It’s not a bad camera, it just doesn’t suit me.

Sorry for the lack of posts. Again. I meant to pre-load some images before my mini-vacation, but time (that elusive fiend) got away from me, as usual. Which is also why I didn’t warn you that I would be away for a short while. But here I am, and although I’m exhausted, it was well worth it. We took a little float trip down the Nianga River and camped out for 3 days. We brought 7 kids and 1 dog, plus some more family that met up with us at the campground, and we were one rowdy crowd. We swam, we paddled down the river all morning, we fished (Aubrey caught 3 sunfish), we roasted weiners and marshmallows, we sang and played music, we made mischief. And of course, I took photographs. Not as many as I would have liked, unfortunately, because I was unable to bring them on the canoe with any assurance they would stay dry in a worst case scenario. Our canoe (Rio and my dog, Chico as crew, Me as Captain) ended up being one of three that didn’t get dumped all day, out of the 7 canoes in our party. But I’m no gambler, so I left the cameras behind. I’m going to finish up this series on the Cooper County Fair before I post any from our trip. Because these are full of fun, too.

Rio is a pyromaniac of the first degree. Camping means only one thing to him: campfire! I spent the entire weekend monitoring his activity around the fire. I’m resigned to the fact that keeping him away from the fire is impossible. That would require a strait jacket and a leash, so the only alternative is constant vigilance. There was a brief respite in the course of the evening when, to my relief, he ran off to play with the other kids in the campground. I was able to relax for a few minutes around the communal campfire and listen to the band. My reverie was soon shattered by the sight of Rio chasing a child on a bicycle and waving a big stick engulfed in flames. Mothering a pyromaniac kid ain’t easy, I’ll have you know.

If you followed me here from my old site, you might remember this photo. That was taken just over a year ago, and you can see how much Rio has grown in the last year. Amazing.

I know this is a little old, but I like this picture a lot. In hopes of starting a new Christmas tradition, Pa, Rio and I rode our bikes into downtown Columbia and stopped for hot chocolate and pastries at The Coffe Zone. This shot was taken while Rio was enjoying his chocolate chip cookie, just minutes before he dumped his cup of hot chocolate all over his pants. Still, I like the idea of a bike ride on Christmas morning:)

This is the last Holga shot until i finish this next roll. It will be my first color roll, so I’m curious to see how this film compares.

Yep, the first roll looks like hell:) Though this one isn’t so bad. But I’ve figured a few things out and the next roll can only get better.

One week on his first skateboard and he’s king of the ramp.

Here’s Rio inside Devil’s Icebox, a cave at Rock Bridge State Park. The entrance to the cave is cool because there’s an opening in the top that lets light in. Very handy for taking pictures!