Menacing Eyes

So this post is purely for the bloggin -- the picture is pretty terrible.

I stayed up all night studying for the midterm I have on Tuesday, while Adrian played xbox. Around 3am, there was a noise outside and the cats stretched their necks as they listened wide-eyed at the window. There were 3 raccoons in the tree immediately outside my door and window. When I went outside to take a picture, 2 of them got scared off, but 1 them remained, and I only had enough time to grab 1 malfocused picture of him before he clambered onto my roof (it was too dark for autofocus, and in the dark I could only do so well to focus on a pair of eyes in a tree:

I have much more pause letting my cats out at night knowing there is a pack of raccoons on the loose (more unsettling: Google the phrase "pack of raccoons" and the 2nd hit is "seriously why would a pack of raccoons want to kill kittens").

~*~

Stop & Smell the Flowers

Being severely bummed out -- and inconvenienced -- by being sick, I decided to cleanse my body with tea, and within a couple days felt almost 100% again (which to me is amazing, since my rare colds last 1 week or more usually). I'm not sure if it was all the liquids flushing my body, or the tea itself, but I'm a believer.

[0.8 sec, f3.5, ISO 100, 28mm]

Spring is here! And the flowers are in bloom. I pass them every day when I leave my apartment, and now that I can smell again, I stopped to enjoy.

[1/125 sec, f4.5, ISO 200, 98mm]

And in between 3-hour shifts at work today, I took some time to relax.

[2.5 sec, f4, ISO 100, 60mm]

[1/125 sec, f3.5, ISO 100, 28mm]
~*~

Endings

Yesterday winter ended. How is it that I survived all winter without getting sick, and then the first day of spring, my head swells like a balloon?

Spring break also ended. And I made my last drive down I-5 from San Jose to Los Angeles -- the last time for school, anyway. Less than 2 months left, and then college will be over. And I'm kind of freaking out.

The drive was gorgeous. The rain and the high winds cleared out the central valley, and the rolling hills were green and breathtaking. Unfortunately, my camera was out of batteries, so the moment I tried to take a picture mid-drive (Adrian was a doll and took over halfway down because I felt like my eyes wanted to seal shut they stung so bad), I couldn't. I thought I would actually get a good shot!! Oh well, they were beautiful to look at on one of the few drives I was actually a passenger for.

Adrian brought a power inverter so he could DJ half the trip with his laptop, so I gave my camera battery a quick charge, and when we stopped to pee in Valencia, I got a quick shot from the parking lot as the day came to a close as well.

[1/1250 sec, f10, ISO 400, 105mm]

~*~

Fight or Flight

If I were a bird, I'd fly to paradise.

[1/500 sec, f4.0, ISO 400, 40mm]
~*~

Studs

I'm completely screwed for my computer graphics midterm on Monday because (1) I don't pay attention in class and (2) the lecture slides aren't very coherent.

Toby felt neglected, so he decided to help me study:


But he gave up rather quickly upon realizing he's not the brightest bulb; let's face it, he has trouble getting down from high places, let alone manipulating matrices.


Don't worry, bud, I don't understand it, either.

~*~