6 Months Later...

...we brought Mouse back to the VCA Referral Clinic for a checkup today.

I'm pleased to report that she is doing fine with no signs of recurrence. All the lymph nodes were normal (couldn't feel them, in other words), her musculature around her lumbar area is holding up great and her weight is actually quite good.

We'll take her back in another 6 months for blood work, but so far... so good!

Poinsettia

Last year's poinsettia after a summer outdoors.

f/l: 28mm; exp.: f/3.5, 1/60s; NEF file processed with Capture NX 1.3

Yes, Really...

So we were walking back down Broadway toward Times Square and I happened to look up while standing at 54th. There it was: Senor Wences Way. They really named a section of street in New York for a man who made a living talking to his own hand. It's a good gig if you can get it, I guess.

'Sallright.

Times Square

Taken by The Lovely Missus with the 20D. Scaled with The Gimp

November Clouds

Shot with the Canon 20D, scaled to size with The Gimp

Shooting Canons

Michael Yon has a dispatch up in which he discusses his Canon Mark II 1DS. The body alone cost more than 7 of our 20D.

Nikon fans may be more interested in part I, in which he talked a little about his Nikon D70 in a warzone.

While you are there, check out the story the New York Times/Washington Post/LA Times/Chicago Tribune will never print: Come Home, in which the Church of St. John's in Baghdad is re-opened, with the help of the Christians' Muslim neighbors.

Taking Flight

f/l: 135mm, exp: f/6.3 - 1/650s, NEF file processed with Capture NX

Tag: photography

51 years

The time elapsed since the last time the University of Illinois has beaten a #1 ranked opponent.

8 minutes, 9 seconds: the amount of time at the end of the game that the Illini held onto the football.

Congratulations to Isaiah "Juice" Williams and the rest of the Fighting Illini on a spectacular game in Columbus yesterday.

Sunset on Egg Harbor

Lull-Abi Inn, Egg Harbor, Wisconsin

f/l: 112mm (eq.); exposure: 1/160s, f/8, ISO 200; RAW file processed by the GIMP 2.2

Tag: photography

Condolences

Condolences to Chris Muir and family on the passing of his sister from cancer. Requiescat In Pace

More here.

Migrating through

Monarch refueling at the buddleia

f/l: 82mm (macro); exposure: f/6.3, 1/160s, ISO 200; NEF file processed with Capture NX

Tag: photography

Autumn

Red maple in Autumn

f/l: 82mm (macro); exposure: 1/320s, f/6, ISO 200; NEF file processed with Capture NX

Tag: photography

Katie

Our visitor, Katie beagle

f/l: 82mm (macro); exposure: 1/60s, f/6, ISO 200; NEF file processed with Capture NX

That's It... I'm Starting a New Institute...

...just so I can get grants. I'm thinking of calling it the "Institute for the Study of the Incredibly Apparent" so that I can get grants to study stuff like this: Earth-Shattering Study: Men Like Good-Looking Women

From later in the article: "The scientists said women were aware of the importance of their own attractiveness to men, and adjusted their expectations to select the more desirable guys."

Who could have seen that one coming? I'll bet the scientists in question are busily working on their next grant application involving "younger, hotter women with older, richer men."

Ain't science grand?

The Lovely Missus Goes 5-for-5

The Montgomery County Maryland Agricultural Fair finished this past Saturday. I am very pleased to announce that My Lovely Bride won a ribbon in each of the 5 baked goods categories she entered. Yes, yes I am a very lucky guy.



This was the first fair she ever entered anything and is already plotting her strategy for next year.

Mouse on the Sofa, Enjoying the Sunny Spot

Taken by the Lovely Misses with the Canon 20D.
Scaled and touched up with The Gimp.

Around the buddleia

Hummingbird clearwing (Hemaris thysbe)

fl: 82mm (macro); exp.: 1/1000s, f/6, ISO 200; NEF file processed with the Gimp 2.2

This Monarch is a little tattered but still taking care of business...

fl: 82mm (macro); exp.: 1/640s, f/6, ISO 200; NEF image processed with the Gimp 2.2

Tag: photography

Surveilling the domain

fl:70mm; exp: f/4.5, 1/200s, ISO 200; NEF image processed with the Gimp 2.2

Tag: photography

Foo Foo has a snack

fl: 70mm; exp: f/4.5, 1/100s, ISO 200; NEF image processed with the Gimp 2.2

Tag: photography

New living room grouping with Isobell

Our other cat, Isobell, has adopted the center cushion on the new sofa as her own. Go ahead, try to sit there. I dare you.

Update: Now with Contrast!

Mouse One Month Ago and Today

Taken about a month ago. The fur was just starting to cover over where they had shaved her.


Taken today. Her fur is starting to fill in nicely.

Mouse

This is Mouse, our 10-and-a-half year old chocolate mitted ragdoll. She was diagnosed with a sarcoma that developed at the site of her rabies vaccination. We don't know how long she has left, but so far she's been doing pretty well.

(Canon 20D, cropped and scaled with The GIMP)

UPDATE: Well, it's almost 4 months since the initial post, and now just over 2 months since we went through with the surgery to amputate her cancerous right rear leg. It was disarticulated at the hip and she hasn't had any trouble... well if you don't count the 'bed sore' on her OTHER side. That still has about a 0.5 cm x 0.5 cm piece of scab + matted fur that is tenaciously hanging on.

Mouse gets around in fine tripod fashion: front left, front right, hop. Her back left leg is now--more or less--her back center leg, but it works better than it sounds.

The cancer was stage 3, so there is still work for the folks at the VCA Referral Clinic: every 6 months we need to take her in for a chest x-ray to see if anything has spread to her lungs. Thus far her incision line is clean, and that is very good news. At the rate her tumor was growing it would be positively ginormous by now. Similarly, there have been no signs of breathing difficulties.

After a heart-to-heart with her, My Lovely Wife announced that there was an agreement in principle for 10 more years. Let's hope.

just spiffing up a bit

I'm still playing with the font.

Behold the rudbeckias

Exposure: 40mm, f/4.5, 1/50s, ISO 200; NEF file processed with the GIMP

There is a purple coneflower peaking 'round the back. Can you see it?

Thoughts On Crusader Lutheran Chuch....

...as filtered through the mind's eye of one of those Old School Lutheran Church ladies.

"Crusader? Uff! What sort of name is that? Oh, Shepherd of the Hills, or Shepherd of the Prairie or Shepherd of the Valley: those are good names! Even Trinity or Prince of Peace! But what kind of hotdish can you expect to get at Crusader Lutheran Church anyway? Uff da!

UPDATE: My dear wife says I forgot "Good Shepherd". And so I did.

Riviera BallroomLake Geneva

Shutter: 1/1000s, f/16; FL: 22mm; NEF file processed with the GIMP 2.2

Tag: photography

Popeye'sLake Geneva

Shutter: 1/1000s, f/16; FL: 22mm; NEF file processed with the GIMP 2.2

Tag: photography

I'm wit' Mitt

Mitt's catch phrase doesn't have the same cachet as "I like Ike." Sort of like it's coming from the lower east side.

Sigh...

Palm with rain drops

Nikon D70, FL: 82mm, Shutter: 1/40s, f/6; Processed with the GIMP 2.2

Tag: photography

Robin at the bath

Nikon D70, FL:180mm, Shutter: 1/500s-f/5.6, Processed with the GIMP 2.2
Tag: photography

Red Azalea

A friend of ours, a Maryland native, said that no self-respecting Marylander has a yard without an azalea. Well, after a year in the house, we are finally self-respecting.
Canon D20, scaled with The Gimp

Arlington Memorial Bridge (detail)

Detail of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, from the deck of the Odyssey on the Potomac.
Taken with the Canon D20, Cropped and scaled with The Gimp

First Rose of 2007

photo credit: The Lovely Mrs. with the Canon D20; scaled with The Gimp

Lucky kid...

Kyle and Paul Konerko, May 12, 2007.

Big FallsSo. ForkJump River, WI

Tag: photography

Tulips, stately Larson Manor

Behind the pansies and between the tufty, lily-like plants and the cotoneasters that our builder left us, we planted a selection of tulips. The first two colors to emerge are the purple (negrita) and yellow. Coming later this spring (or rather sooner) Queen of the Night 'black' tulips. (Hopefully they'll have some overlap.)

The Black and Gold represent St. Olaf College and the Purple and Black represent Northwestern University. Alas, there aren't any blue ones, so my alma mater's colors weren't available.

Canon D20, shot JPEG-only. Scaled with the GIMP

One of Last December's Pansies Returns for Spring

Outside Stately Larson Manor, the bed of pansies we planted last November or early December have come back up this spring. Here's one of them, up close and personal.

It's odd that "pansy" has become a pejorative term. These are pretty tough little flowers to make it well into winter and still have enough oomph to return in the spring.

Taken with the Canon D20. Bandwidth-saving crop done with the GIMP

After Much Deliberation and Research...

...The Missus and I have purchased a Canon D20. Even after adding a 2GB Compact Flash, carry-bag, sales tax and so forth, we came in under the price of the new D30 before tax.

For me, the deciding factor was comfort. I had to bend my finger rather radically to reach the shutter button on the Digital Rebel XTi. The D20, being a little wider, felt very natural in my hands.

We hope to have some photos to add in the coming days.

Dolomite FormationCave Point County Park

Formation, normally submerged, offshore from Cave Point County Park near Bailey's Harbor.
Tag: photography

Hickory Dickory Dock

Tag: photography

Just On General Principle

I'd like to see Bush fire all the remaining Clinton appointees among the US Attorneys (if any).

(UPDATE)
What perplexes me is that how Bush who can take a Never Appease the Enemy approach with Islamic totalitarians acts like such an appeaser on the home front. His entire presidency has been marked with attempts to suck up to Democrats. The only non-negotiable is the war--and even then he threw Rumsfeld under the bus after the 2006 midterms.

A puzzlement!

Misadventures in Whale Saving

Then again, maybe the whales should just be left alone:
Japanese Fisherman Killed Trying to Rescue Whale

Remember: Whales are wild animals. Really, really, freaking huge, wild animals. Please don't try this at home.

Tagged: Whales, Why Do They Hate Us

Old Rail CarStumphouse Mtn, SC

Detail of an old rail car at the entrance to the Stumphouse Mountain tunnel, South Carolina.

Tagged: photography

[fixed the tag - Ed.]

Oconee Station FallsOconee Station SP, SC

Tagged: photography

So That Congress May Hear...

...what our men and women in uniform think of their 'non-binding resolution', there is a site which Active Duty, Reserve, or National Guard military personnel may sign an Appeal For Redress. Here is the wording:

As an American currently serving my nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat. I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home. The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack.

Too often our Congress acts as though our Armed Forces cannot hear them. If you are serving and have been disturbed by the actions of certain Congressmen, have a look at the site.

(h/t The Thunder Run)

Skyline DriveShenandoah National Park