Cookin' up some Thai (and reasonable facsimiles thereof)

Noodle has a culture project due today.  He chose to give a presentation on Thailand.  He (with assistance from mom) did up an excellent presentation covering numerous details on the culture, holidays, primary religion, dress, housing, education, etc.  My dear wife and I are going to go have lunch with him, then come home and do up some Thai dishes for his fellow students to sample (and he'll be sampling the dishes that they bring in for the cultures they chose). She will be preparing Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodles), and I'll be doing up a coconut tofu dish served over organic wild rice.

After viewing the presentations by the students,  we'll be visiting the book fair being held at the school and purchasing some gifts, looking forward to it!

Psychogeography: Go and Get Lost to Shoot Something New

This is an interesting concept - though to be honest, I've been getting lost while involved in my photography for many years heheheh. It is really quite interesting how many different ways there are to get lost, I'm going to focus on this more in the future.

Psychogeography: Go and Get Lost to Shoot Something New

BBC News - New contender for oldest dinosaur

Earliest dinosaur found, filling the gap in evolutionary history - Nyasasaurus parringtoni occupied the supercontinent of Pangaea.

BBC News - New contender for oldest dinosaur

And here's the worst Star Wars fan in the entire world

I have to agree with the author on this, it is outrageous that someone would make a statement of this nature. They should be cheering on the Star Wars cosplayers attempt to cheer up the family of Star Wars fans.

And here's the worst Star Wars fan in the entire world

Kodak Bankruptcy Ending Thanks to Apple or Google? - Phoblography

Phoblography has an article discussing why Google and Apple are interested in helping to keep Kodak afloat.
Kodak Bankruptcy Ending Thanks to Apple or Google? - Phoblography

India's poster boy for vegetarianism – he's just fathered a child at 96 - Health News, Health - Independent.ie

96 year old vegetarian becomes the world's oldest father.
India's poster boy for vegetarianism – he's just fathered a child at 96 - Health News, Health - Independent.ie

Study: Sea Levels Rising 60% Faster Than Projected, Planet Keeps Warming As Expected | ThinkProgress

As Dr. Rahmstorf notes, “the new findings highlight that the IPCC is far from being alarmist and in fact in some cases rather underestimates possible risks.”
Study: Sea Levels Rising 60% Faster Than Projected, Planet Keeps Warming As Expected | ThinkProgress

Noodle, Shae and Eli say hello

My son is awesome!

Shae keeps abreast of happenings on North Padre Island.

Eli Cuddleston is way too comfortable.

The World’s Highest Man-Made Climbing Wall - Facts Pod

The World’s Highest Man-Made Climbing Wall - Facts Pod

Um.... Have fun people.

Hey Supreme Court, This Is What'll Happen To Every Woman You Know If You Overturn Obamacare. Just Sayin'.

Hey Supreme Court, This Is What'll Happen To Every Woman You Know If You Overturn Obamacare. Just Sayin'.

There is a major difference here.

Tell Congress: Renew the Wind Production Tax Credit

Tell Congress: Renew the Wind Production Tax Credit


It couldn't be clearer that we need more jobs and sources of energy that don't bring doom and gloom to the planet. Yet we are we are weeks away from losing one of the most successful programs to promote wind energy in the U.S., and tens of thousands of the jobs that have come with it.

Dutch to scrap blasphemy law on insulting God - MSNewsNow.com - Jackson, MS

Dutch to scrap blasphemy law on insulting God - MSNewsNow.com - Jackson, MS

You'd think that an omnipotent God would be able to defend itself anyway, without needing such laws.

A real time saver.

Save yourself some trouble, just wear it on your chest.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/115992851/yes-dear-tee-shirt-hand-screened

Invasion of the caterpillars

The plumeria at the grandparent's place is crawling with tetrio sphinx moth caterpillars. They are fascinating and grow at an astonishing rate.  Here are a couple of shots of them:

Macro of a tetrio sphinx moth caterpillar head on a plumeria leaf.

Tetrio sphinx moth caterpillar.

These were taken with an Olympus E-30 and ZD 70-300mm lens, handheld with macro extension tubes; f/8 at 1/100.

Both of these photographs are available in slightly modified forms via my Etsy shop at http://qnrphotography.etsy.com.

Dolphin in the Clouds

A United States Coast Guard HH-65C Dolphin helicopter from CG AIRSTA Corpus Christi, TX passes the sun over Padre Island.

New Life and Old

A shot from the grandparents house earlier in the year.

Cameras used in the stratus jump

Popular Photography has an article on the Cameras used in the stratus jump. An interesting video discussing the cameras used and the modifications that they had to make to them.

Learn to Adapt

There is a new shirt up in the shop as of yesterday.  "Learn to Adapt" features a 45 RPM adapter and utilizes a font reminiscent of a manual typewriter. You can see it here: Learn to Adapt hand-screened tee.

I seem to be adding more shirts to my Etsy shop than photographs.  We actually have a different shop and I'm considering moving all of the non-photographic items over to it.

No rush....

It is Wednesday night. My wedding is Saturday afternoon.  I guess I should finish my vows, yipes!

Hatchling release July 12th.

This morning was more colorful than the
 last few days were.

.

This hatchling swam between my legs.

You can view the whole set here: Hatchling Release - 20120712

Doesn't look like a water park to me

Some photos

I don't have too much to say today, so I figured I would just put up a couple of photographs taken while walking on one of my turtle patrols. I used to make my walking patrols at right about sunrise, which provided many photo opportunities.  This year, I'm doing the patrols later in the day - I'm not seeing the gorgeous sunrises, but I'm also extending my route. Using the bicycle, I'm getting in many more miles per day and hopefully I will come across a nesting sea turtle.

A UTV from Padre Island National Seashore

with a biotech and volunteer pass by while

engaged in a Turtle Patrol North.

Some American Avocets (Recurvirostra 

americana) a plover and a sandpiper at the shoreline

on North Padre Island.

Turtle Patrol

Yes, I know, I am horrible at coming up with titles.  On the blog, on my photographs, on everything.

Another turtle patrol today.  It started with a massive horsefly attack, progressed to a walk through an extremely stinky section of beach near Bob Hall Pier, and then settled down to a standard patrol.  There were a number of vehicles on the beach involved in picking up and emptying trash cans.  Here is one of them, from the City of Corpus Christi.

 There is never a shortage of birds to be seen during the patrols, here I'm passing mile marker 250 with a Great Blue Heron while a gull makes a fly-by.

 This truck is emptying trash cans.

 Behind the truck is a UTV from the National Seashore, involved in a Turtle Patrol North.

Pteranodon attacks Corpus, film at eleven.

Brown pelicans always make me think of pterodactyls, the perspective on this shot increases this feeling.

There are times when I am really disappointed in people

This is a photograph that I took while walking down the beach on North Padre Island.  Vehicles are always getting stuck in the sand, and the owners of the vehicles usually get themselves out; either by themselves or with the help of others. I am originally from New York City, so I'm used to stripped vehicles, but it really disturbed me to come across this one and to see all of the damage that people had inflicted on it.  It's not obvious, but the entire rear windshield is busted out.

CCA Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup

A late entry, but I want to start getting more content in here. This is going to be very short.

On Saturday, the 28th of April, I joined a number of my friends from the Corpus Christi Atheists in cleaning up Cole Park in downtown Corpus Christi. CCA gets involved in many community oriented activities around Corpus Christi.

Don't look for me, I'm taking the photo :D

Off on a Turtle Patrol

Heading out on a sea turtle patrol, looking for nesting Kemps Ridley turtles.  This year, all of my patrols are walking patrols, I generally do about 10 miles on the beach, using my bicycle.

Today, I ended up doing about 15 miles - no turtles, but it was good exercise, and as always, there were photographic opportunities.

Not part of a well-balanced sea turtle diet.

I won't be driving a UTV this year.

My transportation, and a turtle poster

on a trash can.

Things are afoot

There have been many positive changes in my life over the last fifteen months or so. I will be discussing the changes in future blog posts; for now though, I simply wanted to put the word out for any friends or acquaintances that might have been wondering what I was up to for the last year or so.

I am still, unfortunately, a social phobic. However, I am working on handling real life encounters more effectively. In addition, I am attempting to be more active on social networks.

I have opened a store on Etsy: QNR Photography . I have not made very many sales yet, but those that I have made have been exciting - I hope to sell many more items once I have learned how to market myself properly.

A photo or two.

You just never know what you are going to come across during the course of the day. Luckily, sometimes I have my camera available when I do encounter something interesting. Driving down (well, being driven down, technically) Whitecap Blvd on North Padre Island on the 17th of April, we  came across these two on the corner of Park Road 22. The longhorn is Tex, and the Cowboy is Kenny.

Took a trip to the Texas State Aquarium on the 22nd of April and got to watch some otters getting it on. We have a video of it, but I'm not posting it - here is a more innocuous photo of one of the rapscallions.