daines'n around

Rock Canyon was beautiful this morning

I hiked farther up Rock Canyon than I had previously, and found myself wishing I had gone a few weeks earlier. Most of the leaves were already off of the trees, but not in the picturesque autumn setting. It was closer to a winter scene without snow.

That reminds me that snow is coming soon.

And because it was on sale, I got a hoody at threadless.com's sale

It's sure to warm most people's hearts, and may even get me a date. If i want to date someone based on my fantastic hoody.

New computer will be built soon. I'm still taking pictures.

It's been a while since I didn't have to deal with color problems in Photoshop CS3. I ran into this problem on my old computer when I started shooting in the RAW format. This proved a huge problem as I would have to edit photos two, or three times. Once in CameraRaw before opening the image in Photoshop itself, then again in Photoshop to match color settings that would reproduce in print and online.

How did I solve my problem?

Yes. Rubberredux, my pieced-together computer after the computer meltdown of '06 imploded. Say hello to blueduckie, my new computer. After a few scares with a faulty power supply, overcharging by Tigerdirect (since rectified) and a long panicky evening at work my new computer is put together.

It's fast! 3gb RAM, 1.5terrabytes or hard drive space (3x500gb SATA), Intel Core 2 quad (Q6600) 2.40 ghz and a 518mb geforce nvidia video card. I also upgraded to Windows Vista. I was hesitant at first. I've known XP so well for so many years now. But I'm happy now, here's why.

I have lost my color problem.

No longer must I edit photos two or three times. The CameraRaw of Photoshop CS3 translates to web color flawlessly. I still have to try out printing, but I'll wait for a photo worth experimenting with.

Here's to many years with my new computer. and a rebirth of being able to use Photoshop to its full capabilities after a year of shortcutting.

It is funny how the last warm day was almost a week ago. There was a spectacular sunrise that I was able to snap a photo of on my way to the lake. Why the lake? Just wanted to be somewhere other than the four walls of my apartment or my windowless office. It looked nice.

The very next morning things were different. December arrived. So did a storm. On my way to work I was greeted by snow. A bigger snow storm than almost all of the snow from last year's winter. It was a very sticky, wet snow. The kind that don't beckon snowmen, angels or snowball fights.

The worst part of all is scraping the windows. It is like nails on a chalkboard to me. It has to be done but my hair stand on end with each scrape across the glass. My breath looks like a locomotive and i furiously scrape away with my 5-dollar Chinese plastic scraper special. Really? I could have gotten it cheaper at Wal-Mart?

No thanks.

Happy holidays to you -- and yours.

From Chris Daines and his camera at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

Edit:

How about some more photos?

Jesus is brown! Proof at Temple Square!

Bigger version here

Sometimes, anxious feelings are remedied by Cat Stevens -- other times, ice cream. But most often it is helped by friends and conversation. Even if that conversation is banal

Less than 4 days until I leave for London.

Our planned car trip in Scotland:

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