Those of you who read the flotch: I'm thinking about killing the "automatically open a new window" bit of each link. I don't like when new windows are forced open on me, so it seems odd that I would impose this on others. When I first set up the flotch, it seemed like a good idea, but now I'm not so sure. What are your thoughts?

Why is it that our culture rejects reincarnation as absurd, yet is eager to swallow the idea of some ethereal afterlife, a heaven? Is either one of these ideas fundamentally less sound than the other?

The other day I declared my ambivalence toward David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, which has received much praise and many award nominations. I retract that. I did find the book slow going at first, but now I'm completely hooked. It's absorving, thoughful, and immersive. I'll have to do a review of it when I finish.

I'm continuing to take afternoon walks through the country when the weather allows (which hasn't been often this spring). Mostly I listen to audiobooks on my iPod. Sometimes, though, I actually pay attention to what's going on around me. When we can, Jason and I walk together and talk about religion and politics and life in general.

Sometimes we pass this pasture filled with daisies.

Yesterday I noted the various birds and listened to their calls. I looked at all the dead critters on the road: a possum, an ancient decomposed skunk, several frogs, a bird, and a snake. The snake's corpse was flattened and desiccated.

(When I was a boy, I didn't believe snakes lived around this place. I still don't. Sure, I used to see the occasional garter snake, but by occasional I mean "once every few years". Lately, though, I've noticed a lot of snake corpses on the road. They're here; they just keep a low profile.)

I decided — for whatever reason — to take the snake corpse home with me, so I searched for something to carry it with. I opted against the dozens of plastic grocery bags that lined the ditches. (What possesses people to throw these bags out their windows?) Instead, I picked up a length of red bailing twine. When I returned to the snake, which had died in a sort of S-curve, I hooked it by its head and carried it back to the office. The snake fluttered from the string dangling at my side, a sort of corpse kite. I paused to pick up a rather large and heavy roll of that rubber stuff used at the bottom of walls to protect against scuff marks. (What is that stuff called? Better yet: why did I pick it up? Why did anyone leave it by the side of the road?)

Kris loves this time of year because her garden is in full bloom. There's a cascade of blossoms, one following the other. Right now, her daylilies are on display. "Come take a picture of them," she said (demanded!) yesterday afternoon. I guess I should have asked her what kind of image she had in mind, because mostly I just took macro (close-up) shots. I was fascinated by the colors and textures.

Which is better:

   

An image with sharp focus throughout? Or an image with a shallower depth of field (yielding a more abstract, blurred effect)? Or do they both suck?

I love macro photography. It's amazing the level of detail a macro lens can capture. It's a tricky skill, though; tolerances are miniscule when photographing small objects, and you can have a depth-of-field measured in millimeters. (Or even microns!)

Our bathroom remodel is close at hand. Kris' parents arrive this weekend. They stay for several days, and then when they leave, the remodel is upon us. At last I'll have an excuse for not showering for days on end!

On this day at foldedspace.org

2004 — More Work, and A Story   Yesterday was a day of rest for us. Also, I drove to Canby to pick up the cats. Simon's journey was not a good one.

2003 — Order of the Phoenix   Any book that gets people this excited about reading has some merit.

2001 — The Last Straw!   Blogger somehow ate all of my archived entries.