Stuff I Love: The last kernel to pop

This is sure to give far too much insight into my neurotic tendencies, but here it is.  When I'm making popcorn and the time goes off and the light turns off in the little hot box of popcorn goodness, I always always wait for one last kernel to pop.  I love that one last kernel often gets there through inertia.  Sometimes it even takes a few seconds.  But if you wait - if you just wait - normally you'll get that satisfying final pop.  It is a beautiful thing. popcorn

Stuff I Love: Crazy Weather

We were supposed to get all manner of crazy wind and lots of rain last night, but the "storm" was little more than a blip in the area and some areas did see serious weather.  But sometimes we do get awesome, crazy weather.  It's a relatively rare event here in mild-weather Washington, D.C., so I have to cherish it then.  I'm sure if I lived in tornado alley or blizzard-friendly Chicago, I'd be well sick of thunderstorms, hail and nasty weather.  And I'm not unaware that harsh weather brings a lot of suffering to a lot of people every year. That said, I do love watching thunderstorms.  Here are a few images from the past to illustrate my point.  Crazy front that moved through the region this summer: crazy weather in washington dc thunderstorm front in arlington, va big storm over washington monument And here's one from my trip to Chicago, also this summer.  This storm was all over the news and shortly after I took this photo, the tornado sirens went off!  I'd never heard tornado sirens before - it was very exciting.  My buzz kill of a best friend made me go down into the basement, though, so as to avoid injury and such.  I suppose it was for the best. lightning in chicago near millennium park

Stuff I Love: Coming home from travel

I travel frequently for work.  I'm blessed in this way, because almost every time I travel, it's to photograph an event for my organization.  Traveling is one of my favorite things to do and to combine this with my #1 thing to do (photography) makes me a happy camper.  All the same, I almost never have George on the road with me.  And hotel rooms, airplanes, suitcases... they can make for a lonely time.  That's why I love coming home.  While on the way out, I might read or listen to my iPod or do the Sudoku in the back of the airline magazine, on the way home I mostly just think about how nice it will be to come back to my George and sleep in my own bed.