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My Sunday in Photos

 
stretching (or not) at tee ball

There was some drama at tee ball as the Beaner went into full "this is bullshit, I refuse to validate this nonsense by participating in it" mode (otherwise known as Lori Mode). <sigh> There's nothing more discouraging than watching your child exhibit your character flaws.

calibration

I've known for a long time that the viewfinder in the One Step didn't match the final result. This shot was an attempt to figure out how far off, and in what direction, it was when using the 4ft-infinity setting.

In the viewfinder, I was lined up such that the left 2 in the 22 was on the edge of the frame.

dresses

On the walk home from tee ball, I spotted these dresses in the window of a shop I'd never noticed before. My first thought: oooh, pretty. My second thought: Myla. Ali. Camera!

ZÉ sighting

About a block later, I saw a No Outlet sign and was reminded of this photo. As I got closer, I looked to see if there was a ZÉ sticker on this one, and behold! There was.

license to hunt terrorists

Despite a forecast of rain, we decided to drive out the Ocean City, New Jersey, where we parked behind this car. "Does that say license to hunt terrorists?" I asked Al. It did. I'm not sure what to say about that.

synchronized cracker eating

Al had expressed interest on the drive out to Ocean City in finding a crab shack and getting a clam strip sandwich or something similar. We lamented that we'd never been able to find a decent seafood place at the beach. As we were walking in a light rain from the car to the boardwalk, Al was grumbling about the distance, and I was welcoming the blame for choosing such a terrible parking spot (1 whole block farther away from the boardwalk than I'd intended!), we noticed a little building with a sign out front that said Clams - Oysters across the street. Suddenly, my parking choice looked like GENIUS.

lobster curtains (and al)

After finishing his chowder and while awaiting his flounder sandwich (I ordered the clam strip platter, thanks to Al's planting of the idea earlier, and the Beaner shared our food and feasted on crackers), Al and I admired the crustacean curtains. The rainy day and the cozy surroundings brought back vague memories of the Cape (or perhaps Martha's Vineyard?) from my childhood.

cracker tricks

The Beaner had a ball eating (and performing tricks with) the oyster crackers that accompanied Al's chowder. He had demanded fried macaroni and cheese (something that to my knowledge only Cheeburger Cheeburger has on their menu), but he seemed content when we told the waitress he'd just share what we were having. He got plenty to eat, so did we, and there was less waste than usual (something that's begun to bug me lately).

shrivers

Using the info I learned from the earlier calibration shot, I tried to squeeze the entire Shriver's sign into the frame. I lined the left edge up with the R, I think. Still cut the Y off of TAFFY.

italian

I forgot to apply the right shift to this photo; I was sucked in by the framing in the viewfinder. Consequently, the extra bit of window that's showing on the left is bugging me. I really liked the neon, though, and the plural Dinners next to the singular Breakfast and Lunch.

taking a ride at the arcade

I actually like cool, rainy weather at the beach; I like the idea of bundling up and walking the near-empty boardwalk, or staying inside reading or coloring (if you have a place there, that is). Unfortunately, I wasn't quite bundled enough on this day, and the wind kept pouring down the back of my neck. We stopped in this arcade so the Beaner could play a few games and ride a couple rides, and so we could get out of the wind for a bit.

fries - funnelcakes - lemonade

Unfortunately, I had to go right back out into the wind when I discovered that our meter was about to run out. We'd only put in an hour and fifteen minutes worth of quarters... but that was before we'd spotted Spadafora's. Being able to eat yummy seafood out of the wind and rain extended our visit a bit. I made the most of my walk back to the car by stopping to take photos of interesting signs.

closed for the season

Or perhaps more accurately, Not Yet Open for the Season. The theater next to Shrivers was open, however. "Oh, that's the movie were talking about seeing—Baby Mama," said Al as we passed the Now Showing posters. "I'm glad we saw Iron Man instead," I replied. Although I'm a fan of Tina Fey, I have doubts about Baby Mama. And I think Al was secretly thrilled that I expressed interest in seeing a superhero movie on Friday night. I'm not a fan of the genre in general, but I *am* a fan of good movies, and I enjoyed Iron Man. (I also really liked Batman Begins, which defined the New Superhero genre to which Iron Man belongs, in my opinion.)

jetty

I really need to think of the viewfinder-to-photo discrepancy as the "shift right" instead of the "left shift". Here I ended up moving the camera further left instead of further right, and almost cutting off the jetty in the process. I wanted it to be on the right edge of the frame, but not *that* far right. Apologies to the fellow contemplating the ocean waves whom I scared with the sound of the One Step ejecting its prize.

wonderland

At the end of the boardwalk is Wonderland, a strange little amusement area. The Beaner wanted to investigate, but opted not to go in and ride the carousel, much to my dismay (it would have been an opportunity to get out of the wind). He and Al played a round of miniature golf instead, and then we headed home (with a stop at Home Depot first, where I picked up some more chicken wire for the garden—photos of my further efforts to protect the garden from the attacking birds to come).