no fortune told in tea leaves (16)

rather i should say, reading your future into tea leaves is made somewhat impossible when you use a tea infuser spoon for your herbal green tea. although what future do i envisage regardless... getting into bed to read my library book a perfectly good family by lionel shriver (a good read ... despite a lot of somewhat discomforting and very astute family behavioural observations) to ease myself into a good night's sleep to give me the best start possible to tomorrow. sounds pretty good. let's hope it comes true. (by the way, this photo taken in 'negative' effect on macro focus using my mobile camera).

light at the end of the tunnel (15)

now.... i know it's cheating in terms of the 365 project but i am adding a second photo to today. maybe this can count as a credit on another day when i am too lazy to put one up? anyway. this is the original photo i took, sans mands, when i looked back through the rocks passageway (featured in the previous post) and saw all the cool light reflections and shadows defining the bricks and pavers, originating from the bright light at the end (start?) of the tunnel.

shady characters in dark passageways (14)

it might be modern times but there's silhuoetted terror still awaiting in the old dark passageways between and behind old terraced buildings in the old sydneytown area called the rocks.... in the form of a cantankerous amanda brown who doesn't find wandering through endless market stalls as fascinating as i do.... that is until she found the liquorice stall ;)

i said, say cheese! (13)

this isn't actually lexie launching into attack - for once - but a harmless lazy yawn while lying in the afternoon sun.

say cheese (12)

have you ever seen such giant whiskers?!

i think i'm ready for my closeup (11)

mands understands she is going to have to get used to being my main photography model over the next couple of months. she might not like it but i did manage to capture a genuine laugh. in the end. on this occasion. let's hope she is generous and patient. otherwise i'll be coming for you....

lime & corona reunion (10)

lime, i told you last week you would look better in a beer. and i do believe this proves i'm right. this is the refreshing view down the neck of a corona bottle. we spent today enjoying good company and some deliciously cold beer on a very hot australia day in the nation's capital.

tootsies (9)

i love the black and pink pads on lexie's feet!

the toilet and the tower (8)

this is a sight common to me in my bicycle commute to work. while it's ordinary as it comes, and it is probably a really boring photo for others, there's something i really like about it. well i like the view itself, which is what i've tried to capture. the juxaposition of a toilet block with the black mountain tower. to be honest i probably like the look of the toilet block more, oddly enough. at least it's been gentrified to a degree with some interesting and colourful graffiti, whereas the tower is still a plain grey concrete 1970s spaceship-like object propped atop a hill called a mountain. canberrans like naming big hills mountains. which is quite endearing in a parochial way. this photo also shows something else i love about canberra - the abundance of green in the form of nature reserves. this location is a mere 5km maximum from the city centre. lots of green makes for serene living.

sunday self portrait (7)

i need to start taking photos of people and mands outright refused on the account of not having had a shower (translation: utilised the hair straightener) yet. in so far as i don't want want to leave the house that means i'm left with me as a subject, and well i look this good having just rolled out of bed ;)

twenty-six degrees (6)

not entirely accurate, it's actually a couple of degrees hotter than that. but when it comes to the galileo thermometer, we value historical style over technological substance.

i'm sure it represents something incredibly deep (5)

this art installation that is. but i didn't bother to read the sign that explained what it all meant, i just thought it looked pretty. i saw it on my way to the library. my second visit to a library in about 15 years, the first being earlier this week to get a membership card. there are some books there i want to read that i can't get on my kindle and i am loathe to purchase any more books as i don't have the space. oh for one of those houses with super high ceiling where the walls are shelves and shelves waiting to be filled with books. anyway i took this photo with my mobile phone so i might go back with the DSLR to take a better one. by the way, the building in the background is the ACT parliament building. yes, very underwhelming isn't it!

you would look better in a beer (4)

grow, little lime, grow big and juicy!! hopefully you will be big enough next week to pluck and slice then i'll pop you in an icy cold corona to celebrate the end of my traditional january detox. i hope you don't mind ending life in such a manner. as a reward for such a worthy sacrifice in seasoning my drink, you are surely destined for greatness in the next life. maybe you'll come back as ... what? any kind suggestions from blog readers?

advice: don't buy plants when hungry (3)

or you may end up buying a choc-mint cordyline like i did. in case you were wondering - yes it was actually labelled that, yes that was actually why i bought it, and no it doesn't actually match the royal blue pot it was destined for. blue and green should never be seen, and it's true in this case. however it does grow healthily with zero care, which is the numero uno rule of survival for plants at our house.

i probably should have fed him first (2)

perhaps then - but on the other hand probably not - he would have posed more nicely. talk about an uncooperative subject. my eyes hurt from looking through the viewfinder for so long to get a half decent shot!! it's not just about good equipment but using it properly of course, so i imagine it will help a great deal to read the instructions that came with the camera too :) tomorrow i am going venture out of the house to take the next shot otherwise it's going to get boring in terms of subject matter very quickly. having said that you can expect more of the little b in future. and i will feed him first next time.

acquiring a new focus (1)

i've always been serious about trying to take the best photos i could. now i finally have the equipment to take me much further on that journey, a canon 550d dslr twin lens kit. i've been meaning to buy a really good camera for years but kept on putting it off, until my sister asked me to take her wedding photos this year. so now i have four months to make sure i'm the best i can be, otherwise... well i don't like to think. unrelated to the recent upgrade prompt but upon hearing about my impending purchase, my friend siobhan challenged (or invited might be a nicer term) me to join her in the 365 project, which is about uploading a photo of choice every day. anyway this shot is #1. this challenge should help get me prepped for the april nuptials shoot, not to mention such an objective should (i hope!) help this blog to become what it was supposed to be from the start. wish me luck!

i would love a house with high ceilings

just for the opportunity to install some amazing lighting. like this installation - taken from directly beneath it in a bar in dickson. fancy.