The blue jays must have seen my post about wanting to stalk them. I haven’t seen one since.

I’ve noticed blue jays in our backyard more often lately. I see them out there occasionally in the summer but it’s difficult to spot them behind the leaves. Now that all of the foliage is gone for the winter, they really stand out against the bare trees and brush. I managed to grab my camera and get to the window for a quick photo of one today. It’s posted as photo 12/365.

I shot it in shutter priority at 1/250s fully zoomed in (135mm). That’s the maximum zoom that I have for my a6000. It’s not a terrible photo, but I had to crop more than I wanted. So I’m going try to improve that photo. To start, I’m going to have to get closer. Spend some time sitting out in the backyard just watching and waiting.

So far the photo challenge has been a bit up and down. It’s definitely kind of difficult to just shoot something every day. To motivate myself, I usually have to come up with some sort of feature or technique that I want to focus on. (Clever puns come naturally, I guess.) Over the winter I think I’ll be taking a lot of black and white photos. The weather is usually overcast so it seems to make sense to shoot in black and white. The hard part is finding interesting lighting and shadows. Fortunately, it gets dark earlier. So if I head out for a walk around sunset I’m usually able to catch lights as they start to flicker on for the night.

Reading

Currently reading: The Last Taxi Driver by Lee Durkee 📚

This should be a little more casual compared to the last few books I’ve read. I found it on a recommended reading list somewhere and figured I’d give it a shot.

Community Event

Now that I’ve completed Microblogvember and developed a small habit of posting daily, I will need to continue to reinforce that habit. At the very least, I have over 350 more photos go to. #mbnov

Trying to Understand Gandhi 📚

Reading

Over the past couple of years, I’ve started to read autobiographies of famous people to try understanding them a little better. So far I’ve enjoyed learning about Benjamin Franklin and Johnny Cash. Earlier this year I decided to start reading Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mohandas K. Gandhi and I’m just about wrapped up.

While I managed to get through it and learn quite a bit about the man, I struggled with it for a few reasons. First, it was difficult to wrap my head around the timeline and the state of the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I don’t have a great understanding of the breadth and influence of the British monarch during this time period. Basically, I know that the sun never set on the British Empire and that India and South Africa were a part of that empire. Second, while I think the book is generally chronological, I had trouble figuring out precisely when some of the events were occurring. Third, the writing style isn’t that of a book but more like a well written diary. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I would need a mountain of footnotes to really get a good grasp of the timeline and how the events fit in to the world around him.

I think the best part was the glimpse he gave from his childhood to becoming a mature adult. It was interesting to see how he developed through his education in England, his various experiments with diets and fasting, and the early work he undertook in South Africa. I was particularly interested in the lengths that he went in learning about and trying to understand various religions. While I was raised Catholic, I haven’t considered myself Catholic for many years. I don’t really consider myself any religion at this point. But I have also spent some time reading various religious texts, specifically The Bhagavad Gita. A cherished favorite of Gandhi.

The concept of “ahimsa” is really important to understanding the philosophical ideas championed by Gandhi. To him ahimsa was the idea that even if you may vehemently oppose someone’s ideas or actions, you should never take away an individual’s humanity. He writes, “…the doer of the deed, whether good or wicked, always deserves respect or pity as the case may be. ‘Hate the sin and not the sinner’ is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world.” Ahimsa was the foundation upon which Gandhi built all of his life’s endeavors.

I plan to get a more general biography about Gandhi as well as a book specifically containing some of his writings. I think the first will give me a bit more context as his work relates to the era and the second should provide a more refined view of Gandhi’s philosophy.

And yeah, I’m all over the place with who I choose to read about. Once I move on from Gandhi, I’m looking forward to Nikola Tesla and Buddy Holly.

Links to each book on Goodreads:

  1. Mohandas K. Gandhi, Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth
  2. Gandhi: His Life and Message for the World
  3. The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas
  4. The Bhagavad Gita

Community Event

As this month has passed I feel like my posts have become more pedestrian. At the beginning, I tried to be more creative with how the words were used. Now, I’m just going to stroll on to the end of the month jotting down random musings from my day. #mbnov

Community Event

Like many people, I recently watched The Social Dilemma. I don’t think it surprised me all that much. But I did get the sense that, while the algorithms were designed to manipulate and hold the users attention, the effectiveness has surpased even the designers expectations.

Community Event

The most epic war in our house is the one between me and my wife over how, and when, to adjust the thermostat. #mbnov

Community Event

The provision of Thanksgiving dinner requires: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and corn. All of this should be drenched in a rich gravey with buttered rolls (or cornbread) to clean up the plate. Afterwards, a mound of whipped cream with a sliver of pumpkin pie. #mbnov