Martha, My Dear...

For the last few weeks, I've been walking to work on Portland Street, a renovated residential street in West Baltimore just west of the Camden Yards stadium. One day, I saw this nice-looking sheepdog sitting on the back of a sofa in the window of one of the handsome brick rowhouses.

Of course, being a Beatles fan, I instantly dubbed her(?) Martha.

So I look for "Martha" every day, but usually don't see her. Luckily, on Thursday, I not only saw her, but also had my DSLR with me. Martha doesn't share my affection for her; she barks when she sees me. But she settelled down long enough for me to take this peaceful image.

By the way, Martha is a very bright dog - a graduate of Virginia Tech. Besides the Tech decal on the window, Martha also sports a Tech collar - if you look closely, you can just see a bit of Virginia Tech maroon around her neck.

I-95 Wildlife

An aggressive seagull gives me the stink-eye and a squawk to warn me to stay away from the bit of bagel that I dropped for him. Some gratitude.

To take a photo like this, you have to get down... literally get down, as in lie down on your stomach. To the delight of some and the puzzlement of others who were going in and out of the Cheasapeake House rest stop on I-95.

Blue Screen

My fabulous students from the Adult Hebrew class I teach generously gave me an Amazon gift certificate last month, and what I ordered with that gift arrived tonight - this nifty Dolica Tripod and Ball Head

So having this nice new tripod to play with, I thought I'd try it out with a self-portrait. The ball head made precise positioning of my Canon XSi DSLR much easier than with my cheapinski "Best Buy Special" tripod. I used a wireless remote control to trigger the camera for what turned out to be a six-second exposure. The resulting image didn't show any camera shake, so I'm happy (of course, there was no wind and no tractor-trailers passing by in my family room...)

It's a very nice tripod for the money - lightweight, of course, but the ball-head is very secure, the legs are individually adjustable for angle at the "hip," and the center column is reversable for down-low shooting... features not often seen at this price point.

Lunch!

Nomiki has the best food and nicest personality of any of the lunch wagons on the University of Maryland Baltimore campus. You'll find her every weekday at the corner of Lombard and Penn. Fortunately for me and my co-workers, less than a block from our office.

Great breakfast too... come hungry!

Queen Of Hearts

Happy Valentine's Day!

Quigley's 1/2 Irish Pub

I've taken to walking to work via Portland Street lately. It's a nice residential street, lined with brick rowhouses that were nicely renovated some years ago.

I don't know what the "1/2 Irish" part is all about, but Quigley's is a nice place with good food and service.

Eklof & Co.

An old side-of-the-building advertisement on Portland St., just west of Oriole Stadium at Camden Park.