Saturday, January 9, 2016

Lost in the Light Bulb Aisle


Wow, did I sleep in this morning -- until 7:45 a.m., which is ridiculously late for me. It felt great. I was really dragging this week, partly from jet lag, and I feel like now I may finally be past it.

I sat down last night and played around with Lightroom. Above is one of my first photo editing efforts. It's not quite right -- still too dark, though I want it dark around the sides, and the guy's feet are too close to the edge of the frame. But still, Lightroom is pleasant to use and pretty intuitive. In some ways it's like the old iPhoto, with similar slider controls and adjustments. A promising beginning, I'd say.

I took that picture yesterday evening at a local shopping center where I went to buy light bulbs. (I had to replace the ones destroyed by our poltergeist.) Why is buying a light bulb such a ridiculously complicated task? You should see the assortment. Here in England they seem even more bewildering than they do in the states, though that may be due to my own unfamiliarity with British voltage requirements and that kind of thing.

In what must surely be a hallmark of middle age, I once again found myself completely stumped without reading glasses. I was trying to read the specifications printed on the bulbs, but that writing is so tiny. I had to hand the bulb to a young, bearded sales assistant and have him tell me what it said. I still wound up buying one incorrect bulb, which I have to take back today.

I spent much of yesterday reading "Walking in Ruins," by Geoff Nicholson. It's a book about just what it says -- walking amid ruined structures, or ruined neighborhoods. It seemed at the outset like a dubious idea for a book, but it's really enjoyable, investigating the human aesthetic affinity for ruins and structural decay, and recounting Nicholson's own explorations of ruined areas. He can be funny, kind of Bill Bryson-ish. I'm about halfway through, and if you're any kind of walker or photographer or artist, especially with an appreciation for urban environments, I'd recommend it.

9 comments:

  1. Reading glasses are merely the beginning, my friend...As for ruins, Henry Morgan and his merry band of marauders left behind several of those where I grew up...Good luck finding the right bulb. There are too many and it does get confounding...

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  2. There is too much of EVERYTHING! I swear. I often feel as if the amount of choice we have is obscene.
    And really? Does he sell those pillows? Nice photo but I sure wouldn't buy one.
    (I am cranky this morning. Can you tell?)

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  3. That is good to hear about Lightroom. I might have to give that a try. I love the emoticon pillows too.
    I had a similar experience as we switched to the new low energy bulbs. I could not figure out what I was supposed to buy.

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  4. nothing is easy anymore. too many choices for everything. you'll have to start remembering your readers when you leave the house. we went to a restaurant one time when I had forgotten to bring my readers and I could not make heads or tails of the menu. fortunately, the restaurant kept a selection of readers on hand for just that reason.

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  5. Dollar store (or pound store in Britain) glasses, my friend. If you lose them, it won't cost much to replace them. In fact, get a few pairs while you're at it. Unless your eyes have very different requirements, they will be enough to help you out. There are different strengths; just try them on with some text in front of you at your usual reading distance.

    I love the emoji pillows. But I also love emoticons. That makes me the emotional age of a pre-teen, I know, but what can I say - they're fun.

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  6. What is the photo of in your previous post???

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  7. Pillows??? I thought they were giant smiley face cookies. Ha!!!

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  8. Ms Moon: I agree. People think choice is a good thing, but I think the amount of choice in the modern world is ridiculously burdensome. I don't know who's buying that guy's pillows, if anyone is. I didn't see any traffic in the brief time that I was there!

    Sharon: Definitely give it a try. I think it's going to work out well!

    Ellen: Yeah, I'll have to start carrying them with me. *sigh*

    Jenny-O: Actually, I have a pair from a drug store in the states, purchased by my stepsister. They're not exactly right for my eyes, but they're close enough that they work!

    E: You mean the photo of the mural on the storefront? It's just that -- a street art mural. Not sure of the artist.

    Bug: Ha! That would be a big cookie!

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  9. I thought they were cookies too! Thanks for the tip on Lightroom.

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