A month in pictures -- Part 1

I'm not much of a photographer. I (Alex) have attempted to learn about camera settings and photo composition, lighting and shutter speeds.  I have flipped through books and browsed websites.  I'm still not much of a photographer.  One problem is that I never have a camera with me and when I do have it I don't like to stop what I'm doing an actually take a photo.  Some advice I have gotten is just to take more pictures-- try to take a picture of something every day.  So during the past month that's what I tried to do.  I found some suggestions for a photo scavenger hunt and set off with my camera in hand.  (Actually I still didn't carry my camera with me but my iPod can take pictures which is handy.)

1. Something I do every day

 

Being in school I tend to do quite a bit of studying-- more than I would like most of the time.  During finals week it seems like I spent entire days sitting at my desk with notebooks and textbooks scattered about.  Of course I might not have had to spend the whole day chained to my desk if I hadn't waited to start studying for my comprehensive cardiopulmonology test until the day before.

2. Something peaceful

  It might be ironic but what I chose for something peaceful is actually along my commute to school.  I never have pictured commutes in rush hour as peaceful but I really enjoy driving to school especially in the spring.  The neighborhood I drive through has statues at each intersection (side note: Kansas City has more statues and fountains than any other city besides Rome, Italy). 

3. Snacks

One day during finals week I found a box at my door.  First of all I really like getting mail.  Secondly I get super excited for packages even if they are textbooks from Amazon.  Thirdly when the box is full of goodies for finals week I can hardly stand it.  The past couple of years my church back home has sent all the college students a care package full of snacks.  I will admit for a brief moment I wondered if staying in school to get yet another degree wouldn't be such a bad idea if it meant that I continued to get boxes of snacks.  However it didn't take long to realize that several more years of school wouldn't be worth getting more care packages.  All college students love getting food but it also means so much to know that there is a group of people back home who continue to care about you , support and encourage you-- thanks!

4. Something pink

This rose bush is planted on the corner in front of the apartment Jules and I live in.  It was beautiful this spring.  

5. Something unusual

This picture may not seem unusual but take note that the faucet isn't running- this is what makes this unusual.  For about three weeks this faucet had been running constantly.  It started as a simple drip.  We contacted the maintenance man to fix the drip.  He came and worked on it a while.  That evening I took a shower and I couldn't turn on the cold water so I had to jump in and out of the shower to keep from getting scalded and suffering burns.  The next day Jules informed me that the cold water does work but you have to turn the knob three times as far as you use to turn it.  A few days later we came home and the water was running constantly even though the faucet was off.  While the sound of a babbling brook may be soothing the sound of water from a faucet that runs constantly is less that relaxing.  Several days later the maintenance man came back and tried to change a few parts.  He was able to slow it down to a small trickle and also showed me where the cold water shut off valve was.  Within a few days the trickle gradually increased into constant running again.  But this time we knew where the shut off valve was since the maintenance guy showed us which knob it was.  This was handy but then also slightly inconvenient since we had to turn on the water at the shut off valve to take a shower, flush the towel, run the dishwasher, and anytime we needed cold water in the sink.  After about a week of this we finally got a plumber to come and "fix" it.  The faucet still drips like it did to start with but after all of this we were happy to have the drip back.      

6. Something I made

This past year I have taken up sketching and drawing.  I didn't start this because I needed a hobby but to prevent me from going crazy listening to lectures for my online class.  My online class had 1-2 hour lectures each week about ethics, leadership principles, risk management, conflict resolution, and health insurance reimbursement-- riveting stuff.  I had to find something to keep me busy so I could sit and listen without being bored out of my gourd so I began drawing.  I suppose I learned something in my class but I also came away with about 10 new pieces of art work.