avablog

Thank you, Site5! I would complain about the RAID array failure at my host, which led to a three day outage here at avablog, but I’m piggybacking on my friend Greg’s account, so…. You didn’t miss much, anyway. We’ve been up in Decorah since Friday afternoon for the annual apple cider weekend. This event revolves […]

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Another fun thing Ava did with her Gramary on Wednesday (who came up with the spelling of Wednesday, and can we change it?) was to visit the practice field used by the Iowa Marching Band. The band was there preparing for the big game at Soldier Field this weekend, and Ava rejoiced in marching along […]

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This picture was taken on August 9th, 2004, just a little over a month before Ava was born. It was taken either right before or right after we got back from a brisk walk, a regular measure we took to help keep Leah’s blood sugar numbers down. What a pain that was. Measuring all her […]

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This is the 7,000th image I’ve uploaded to flickr: Coulda been better, coulda been worse. Over half of those images are of Ava, so if you’re not on my friends or family list or otherwise connected, you’re missing out.

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We’re heading home on Sunday and will arrive back in I.C. on Monday. I understand it’s been very hot, muggy, and rainy in Iowa City while we’ve been gone. Makes me hesitant to mention it’s been about 80, dry, and sunny here every day. If it makes you feel any better, I’m sure I’ll have […]

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I hate being jealous.  It doesn’t happen that often, really (I have a pretty darn nice life, after all), but sometimes I see something that just steams my clams.  And sometimes I see it repeatedly, and I try to ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist, lest I collapse into a big quivering pile of […]

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I get asked relatively frequently about buying a digital camera.  There are a lot to choose from, and they all have dozens of options, some of which are better or cooler than other cameras in the same class.  My mantra has always been, “Canon, Canon, Canon.”  I love the color out of these cameras, and […]

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Another crocus. Cool! And the daffodils opened up this weekend, too. Nothing like a little warm air, sunshine, and rain to get the garden moving. I’m most excited about my scabiosa, which looks like it may have survived the winter alive this year for the first time. I can’t wait to see if it blooms.

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It’s kind of sad to be glad that a weekend has passed, but I’m not going to miss this past weekend one little bit. Oh, it had its moments. We had a nice time with Leah’s parents, and there was some birthday celebrating going on. But there was a lot of hassle, too, and I […]

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I figure I owe it to Ava to include on this blog at least one shot of myself in the tub as a tot. Lord knows she endures enough poking and prodding in front of the lens from me. As you may be able to see there on the right edge of the photo, this […]

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Today would be a good day to be included among my family and friends at flickr. Night before last I uploaded a passel of maternity shots of Leah. Some are professional shots; some are from the baby showers she had. Others are just casual shots taken day to day as we watched her belly grow. […]

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A maven is someone who is experienced or knowledgeable.  Given the title of this post, I suppose it goes without saying that the contents of this flickr set exhibit the telltale signs of a Photoshop maven at work.  Some quick background…

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I’ve misplaced the cable I need to get pictures off my camera, so we may go as long as two days without a moment of cuteness.  I know.  At least I can see Ava in the flesh everyday.  You, poor reader, must rely on this blog for your daily fix (aside from those of you […]

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I’m glad I kept our old digital camera when we got our new one. Ava loves to tote it around and take pictures. As a matter of fact, I just went through over 100 shots she’s taken in the last two weeks. Most were overexposed pictures of the armchair in our living room, but now […]

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In case any of you were getting sick of all the cute shots of Ava: Shot courtesy Apple’s Photo Booth software.

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No one’s ever asked me why I take so many pictures of Ava (and of everything else). I guess it’s pretty self-explanatory why I’d want to keep a fairly complete photographic record of my daughter. But I someone ever does ask me, I’ll tell them I’m trying to get a shot as good as this:

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Have you ever wanted to look at thousands of pictures of our adorable daughter but didn’t want to register an account at flickr, where they’re stored? Now you can!

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Those of you who were prescient enough to register an account here at avablog have access to all the pictures I put up of Ava from time to time. If you haven’t registered, don’t despair! You can always click on the “register” link over at the right and set up an account (it’s easy and fast). If I know who you are, where you came from, or how you came across the blog, I’ll set your user level to allow you to see all the posts.

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You ever have one of those days when everything you see looks like a picture?  Like every scene appears framed, with perfect light?  I don’t know if it’s the flat gray light outside today, or that I just finished reading a review of Canon’s latest DSLR.  Whatever the reason, today has me thinking that I’m […]

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Well, maybe that’s too strong a word.  “Frustrating” isn’t quite right, either.  “Disheartening?”  Maybe. I love taking pictures of Ava, if you hadn’t noticed.  But I’m not a great photographer and I don’t have very flexible equipment.  So I keep telling myself that comparisons of my shots to shots by people like this isn’t really […]

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