Day 31/365 - Boom

Tonight I went to see the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company's production of 'Boom', by up-and-coming playwright (and marine biologist) Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. I did my usual trick of getting my ticket through Ticketplace for half-price, which left me more money to splurge on dinner and drinks before the show at Café Atlantico (two passionfruit martinis, scallops and coconut rice appetizer, jerk chicken mofongo entree, cappuccino, and warm chocolate cake with banana dessert -- damn, it was good).

This was my first time going to see a Woolly Mammoth production. They specialize in quirky, funny, more daring, off-Broadway type plays. I think one of the reasons I'd never been to one of their shows before was because of their ridiculous name. Unlike Smuckers, with a name like Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company I thought they had to be bad and that they would put on pretentious, inaccessible, annoyingly experimental, avant garde solely for the sake of being avant garde, too cool for school type productions. Nope. They just do odd, small, funny, smart plays that you'd be hard-pressed to see anywhere else. The name is still stupid, though.

WMTC has a new theatre in the Penn Quarter section of Washington, DC and it's a very well-designed space. The theatre itself is small but doesn't feel cramped. It's a bit like a modern, cinder-blocks and exposed wiring version of an Elizabethan theatre with a U-shaped seating area (both groundlings and balcony) around three sides of the stage. It's a good space with good sightlines, good acoustics, and good seats and it doesn't detract or distract from the productions in any way -- which is really all you need in a theatre.

Now, onto the play itself. Boom was funny and excellent. Excellently funny, funnily excellent. It's a one-act, 90-minute long play with three cast members -- two of whom (Aubrey Deeker and Sarah Marshall) are brilliant in their roles and one of whom (Kimberly Gilbert) starts out a little awkward and stilted but definitely gets better as the play goes along. The plot involves a biologist who becomes convinced the world is about to end in a catastrophic natural disaster and who then places an ad for a sex partner in order to lure a woman to his lab/apartment/fallout shelter.

The summary makes the plot sound a bit creepy, but it's not. The writing is excellent with sharp and clever dialogue and in 90 scant minutes it manages to serve up a primordial soup incorporating adaptation, natural selection, the Garden of Eden, the persistence of life, the survival instinct, intelligent design, evolution, mutation, fate, destiny, free will, determinism, the nature of sexuality, deism, deus ex machina, the Wizard of Oz, chaos, justice, obsession, sex, love, and dating.

Sticking with the soup analogy, it's 'mmm, mmm good', so go and see it. It runs nightly through December 7th and most days Ticketplace has seats available for $25-30.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 30/365 - Cirque du So-So

I went to see Cirque du Soleil's new touring show Kooza with my friends Chris and Desiree tonight. Des liked it, Chris gave it a 6 out of 10, and I just thought it was okay.

The picture is of CdS' 'Le Grand Chapiteau', which I think may be French for 'the big top' but don't quote me on that. CdS comes to the DC area just about every year with a new touring show. Normally they pitch the big blue and yellow striped tent that houses the show in downtown DC, but this year they decided to hold it at the National Harbor over in middle-of-nowhere Maryland instead. Not the best idea ever. I'm sure they got a great deal out of it from the folks that run National Harbor, but it means (1) everyone attending the show has to deal with the traffic on the Woodrow Wilson bridge, (2) there are no meaningful public transportation options, and (3) there are no decent places to eat or get a drink either before or after the show seeing as how the National Harbor complex is basically a wasteland of dead bars, chain restaurants, and pay parking garages.

Kooza is more like traditional circus than most CdS productions. Instead of the interpretative dance, big production number, elaborate sets and staging approach of many CdS shows like Love, O, Varekai, and Corteo, Kooza is mostly just acrobats, tight rope walkers, contortionists, and jugglers. Generally speaking I love to see that kind of stuff, but I expect more than just that from CdS. When I go to a CdS show, I want to see stuff I've never seen before and stuff that really knocks my socks off. There were a couple of performance pieces like that in Kooza, but they were few and far between.

This was the least original CdS production of the eight different ones I've seen (Love, O, Varekai, Alegria, Corteo, Saltimbanco, Kooza, and Mystere -- which I'd rank in that order). There really wasn't anything very novel or creative about Kooza. The performance pieces weren't anything you couldn't see done (and oftentimes done better) at a traditional circus or a Vegas or cruise ship variety show for about half the price. Even the costumes seemed unoriginal and appeared to have largely been cribbed from various Dr. Seuss books and 'Nightmare Before Christmas.'

There were only two truly noteworthy production pieces in Kooza -- a trio of phenomenal contortionists in the first act and an impressive troupe of teeter-totter tumblers in the second act. There was a chair-balancing guy whose act was fairly cool, but even his routine was more 'hmmmm' than 'whoaaa.' Des really liked him, but I think that was largely because he performed shirtless and in tights. She's a hussy like that. (Kidding!)

So the final verdict from me for Kooza was that it was an adequate night's entertainment, but a CdS show should never just be adequate. It should be amazing. I can't really recommend it unless you're a hardcore CdS fan or you've got money to burn. Otherwise, I'd suggest saving your ducats for one of their other shows.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 29/365 - New Jersey(s)

Today the Washington Nationals baseball club unveiled their new road jersey, alternate home jersey, and special occasion home jersey at a lunchtime ceremony held at the ESPNZone in Downtown DC. I was there along with about 100 other sad loser fanboys. It was a bigger turnout than I'd expected. Usually the autograph sessions they hold at the ESPNZone during the baseball season only draw about 20-30 people. Today though it was standing room only and the place was packed.

Pictured above are Nats centerfielder Lastings Milledge, Manager Manny Acta, and team radio broadcaster Charlie Slowes. I got Lastings to add his signature to an autographed baseball I keep on my desk at work.

I've been a Nats season ticketholder since they first moved to DC from Montreal in 2005. That first year I had a full season ticket but since then I've opted for the half-season plan instead. Eighty-one games is a lot of games to have to attend, especially during 10 game homestands. All you have time to do then is sleep, work, go to the game, sleep, work, go to the game... No time to do laundry, go to the grocery store, or anything else. The half-season plan is much less demanding.

I've really only been a baseball fan since the Nats came to town. Before that I'd largely ignored baseball. The idea of getting in on the groundfloor as a fan of a franchise was appealing though and going to the games gave me something to do, so as a result I've become a great fan of a less-than-great baseball team. There's just something about sitting outside next to a big green field and eating a hotdog and drinking beer and cheering the good plays and groaning at the bad plays that holds a lot of charm for me.

The Nationals may be a lousy team, but they're my lousy team and that counts for something.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 28/365 - Yes We Can!

I haven't the words to express how pleased and proud I am today.

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me, and I'm feeling good.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 27/365 – I Voted/Yo Voté

Hopefully you did as well. Now comes the nervewracking part... waiting for the outcome. I have a bottle of my favorite champagne (Nicolas Feuillatte) chilling in the refrigerator. I'm really hoping to be able to drink it tonight in celebration.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 26/365 - Barack the Vote!

Little Barack says 'Make sure you vote tomorrow!' Even if you're not going to be voting for Obama (although Little Barack and I both hope you will be), get out there and let your voice be heard tomorrow.

Democracy is not a spectator sport, so get your butt in the game!

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Twice on Sunday Bonus Photo - Twilight Kayaker

This week's bonus photo from my archives is a shot I took last Fourth of July while I was standing around on the bank of the Potomac River waiting for the fireworks to start. None of my fireworks shots turned out to be worth a damn, but I really like the way this one came out.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 25/365 - Shady Characters

Today I went to my first meet-up for the DC Social Flickr group. I've been posting photos to the DCist website's photo pool on Flickr for a few months now, and I'd noticed there was a group of photographers who contributed to that pool who all seemed to know each other and commented on each other's work. Then I discovered they were also members of another photo pool called DC Social.

At first I didn't quite understand the purpose or rules of that group, and I was a bit worried they would be an uber-cool, hipper-than-thou, exclusive clique that would frown on dilettante outsiders like me. Then I took a closer look at some of the pictures from the group's prior meet-ups and realized that 'Hey, they're mostly just a bunch of camera geeks same as me!' So I decided to go to this month's group meet-up at Rocket Bar in the Gallery Place section of Washington, DC.

I'm glad I went. They turned out to be a really laid back, welcoming, fun group of people who live, breathe, eat, drink, sleep, and dream photography. Now I'm already looking forward to next month's meet up.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 24/365 - Original Sin

For those who can't be bothered to pluck the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil themselves, it now comes in a handy bottled form.

We lucked into more great weather today, so this morning I rode my bike back down to Old Town Alexandria. This time though instead of just turning around and riding home, I parked my bike and walked all over the place taking loads of pictures (548 to be exact, hurray for digital photography). Old Town really has great textures, colors, shapes, and architecture to photograph. I'm going to have to do more photo safaris there.

Before hopping back on my bike and heading home, I grabbed lunch at a little bar/restaurant called Bilbo Baggins. The home-baked bread they serve there is amazing and they've got a crazy huge list of beers to choose from. I decided to be more autumnal in my choice of beverage though and opted for the Original Sin hard apple cider. It hit the spot perfectly. To go with it, I ordered the Quiche Lorraine. It was a warm, crusty, cheesy slice of edible heaven (which came in handy after my fall from Grace due to the cider).

I'm definitely going back there again.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 23/365 - Lame-oween

This picture should've been a shot of my friends and I out barhopping in costume. Or maybe it would've been a shot of someone we saw who had on a really clever or cool costume. But instead, it's just a shot of a leaf laying on the sidewalk that I took earlier in the day. Hoo-freaking-ray.

One of the group of people I was supposed to be going out with tonight got a headache and another got sick and so the plans fell apart and for the second year in a row I wound up doing nothing with no one for Halloween.

woo hoo

fun fun fun

What a great Halloween I didn't have today.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 22/365 - The Way of the World

It had been a while since I'd attended a play, so tonight I went to check out the Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of 'The Way of the World'. I love going to plays. It's like 3-D tv. I got my ticket for half-price from Ticketplace. It's amazing that more people don't know about Ticketplace. It's DC's version of NYC's TKTS. They have half-price tickets to most shows in town, including the Washington National Opera. It sure makes theatre-going a lot more affordable.

The Shakespeare Theatre Co. is a pretty safe bet for a night out. They stage some very good productions. This is the Lansburgh Theatre -- their old, small theatre. They also have a huge, fancy new theatre just up the block that is basically an architectural rip-off of the Signature Theatre in Shirlington. I think I like the old one better. It's less uppity and pretentious.

'The Way of the World' isn't one of Shakespeare's works. It's by William Congreve and was written a century after Shakespeare. It's a farcical and funny bit of frippery with overwrought costumes and big fluffy wigs. It's essentially a sharp-tongued morality play about a bunch of scheming lovers and/or deceivers and it takes a pretty stiff needle to the foibles of society and its obsessions with reputations and appearances.

I liked it and got quite a few laughs out of it. I have to admit to getting a bit lost in the first act, though. There are loads of different characters that are all interconnected in about a dozen different ways and involved with each other in about a dozen different schemes. I was a little embarassed that I was having some trouble keeping abreast of things until during the intermission (or as I like to call it, half-time) the older couple seated next to me asked if I'd been able to make sense of the first act.

I freely confessed that the play had me a bit dizzy and then the three of us read through the synopsis of the plot that they'd printed in the program and talked it through trying to remember which characters were which and what they were all up to. It was a lot like reading a Chekhov play where each character goes by at least three different names and you can't keep them straight without a scorecard. After the half-time cram session though, I was able to follow the second act much more easily.

All things considered it was a good night's entertainment with some very funny lines, great costumes and sets, and (for the most part) excellent performances.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 21/365 - Here Comes the Sun

I pass underneath this highway overpass every weekday on my way to and from the subway station near my apartment. It's a much more pleasant walk now that they've installed the mosaics and painted sections of the sidewalk. It used to be pretty grey, drab, and institutional/industrial looking. And then there were the pigeons.

There were hordes of pigeons roosting in the girders that make up the underside of the overpass. Walking through there was a bit like darting past a firing squad. I was pretty lucky and only got hit once, although of course I happened to be wearing my favorite jacket that day. Getting pooped on by a bird is supposed to be lucky, but frankly that's luck I think I could do without.

Before they installed the mosaics they pigeon-proofed the underside of the overpass with these little spiky things that keep the birds from roosting up there and then then they hydroblasted the accumulated guano away. So instead of pigeons, poop, and prison grey concrete we now have a clean, colorful, really cool walkway.

Not all tax expenditures are bad. To quote Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: "I like to pay taxes. With them I buy civilization."

Okay, maybe 'liking' paying taxes is a bit strong, but sometimes I don't mind paying them so much.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

P.S. - Click here to hear the song from which I stole the title for today's post.

UPDATE: This installation is called "Radiance" and the artist is Valerie Theberge.

Day 20/365 - Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb

For this week's self-portrait I thought I'd introduce my hands, Lefty and Righty. Turns out that shooting a picture of both your hands at once is not an easy thing to do. Go figure.

I haven't always been particularly good to my hands, especially the right one. Once when I was very small I was sitting in the garage with a mostly full pop bottle and I stuck my right finger in the mouth of the bottle and and proceeded to shake and shake and shake and shake it. Not sure why I did it. In fact, I don't even remember it. It's one of those stories your family tells about you that you were too young to remember yourself. My guess is I just wanted to see how much pressure I could build up in the bottle as the pop got fizzier and fizzier.

In those days pop bottles were made of glass rather than plastic, and eventually the bottle exploded and bits of glass went into my hand. I still have a tiny scar from the stitches on the edge of my palm. A few years later I was hanging upside down from some monkey bars while we were visiting my aunt in San Diego and slipped. Somehow when I fell the thumbnail on one of my hands (can't remember which) was torn almost entirely off. That one I remember. Not having a thumbnail looks weird, btw.

Then, during my time in the Navy, there was the time I broke my right hand in the most idiotic way imaginable -- by getting mad and hitting things. I'd only had two drinks, so I can't even really blame it on alcohol. It was just sheer, inexcusable lack of sense on my part. I was mad about a woman and a situation I was powerless to change, and so I was walking down the street and roaring at the top of my lungs and hitting things that didn't have much give to them -- like concrete light poles. It's a wonder the people who lived nearby didn't call the police to complain about a madman roaming their neighborhood.

I didn't realize I'd broken it at the time. In fact, I went out and played basketball the next day. I'd never broken any bones before and thought (mistakenly) that if your hand was broken you wouldn't be able to move it. My hand still moved fine and the only time it really hurt was when I turned it from side to side, and that was probably just because the bones were then grinding together. I broke it on a Saturday and didn't go to get it looked at until Monday. Even then I just went to sick bay on my ship to see if they could do anything to take down the swelling. At that point my hand looked like a grapefruit with five little vienna sausages attached.

They sent me for x-rays and then it was pretty apparent my hand was broken. The x-ray showed that the last two fingers on my hand were snapped in two. The bones never did heal properly, thanks in part to the less-than-stellar care I received at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital. They should've put pins in the bones to keep them knitted together, but they just taped them to a splint they attached to my cast. The bones are more curved than straight now and they bother me from time to time.

No one to blame for it but myself, really. Guess it's like my brother is always telling me, I've got a fair amount of brains but no common sense whatsoever. Even I know how to learn a lesson, though. Hitting things in anger and frustration is not something I've ever done again, nor will I.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 19/365 - The Ties that Bind (and Choke and Gag)

The photo is a close-up of my necktie du jour. Every work day I stuff a tie in my bag that matches what I'm wearing and then when I get to the office I drape it over some reference books at the side of my desk to keep it from getting wrinkled. I only bother to actually put it on if I have a meeting to go to, otherwise the tie just lays there until it's time to go home, at which point I stuff it back in my bag.

I hate wearing a tie. Given that fact, I might have been better off choosing a profession that generally didn't require me to wear one. I'm half-convinced that one of my ancestors was hanged at some point and that my aversion to having things tight up around my neck is the hereditary remnant of his sorry end.

When I started work I wore a suit everyday, but then after the first year I realized that was a bit pointless because the first thing I'd do when I got to my office was take my jacket off and hang it up. So then I ditched my suits and just started wearing slacks, shirt, and tie to work. After about 5-6 years of that, I began to question why I bothered with the tie given that I spend most of the day in my office and generally don't see anyone except for other lawyers, none of whom care whether I'm wearing a tie.

That's when I switched to carrying rather than wearing the tie and only putting it on for meetings. And now it's even gotten to the point that I don't wear it to every meeting. Only certain meetings merit the tie. Meeting with regular clients on routine matters = not tie-worthy. Typically I only put on a tie now if the meeting involves people from outside the Agency or if there are going to be fairly high-ranking people in attendance.

Guess you can tell I've never really cared for dressing up. When I was in the Navy the sailors on my ship were only permitted to go ashore if we were wearing collared shirts. Don't ask why, it was some BS argument about upholding the reputation of the command. Whatever. After dealing with that frustration for a while, I finally hit upon the idea of buying a white golf shirt and cutting the collar off it. Then when I wanted to go ashore, I would just tuck the collar under my t-shirt or sweatshirt so that technically I was wearing a collared shirt. Once I was off the ship, I would take the collar off and jam it in my pocket and go on my merry way.

Worked like a charm. When I left the Navy I gave my shirt collar to another guy in my division so he could carry on my legacy of obeying the letter of the rule while simultaneously thumbing his nose at the spirit of it. You know, on second thought maybe I was destined to be a lawyer after all, my distaste for neckties notwithstanding.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Twice on Sunday Bonus Photo - Girl + Duck + Fountain = Cute

This isn't part of my 365 Project, but I thought I'd start adding a bonus photo on Sundays. This is a shot from my archives that I thought turned out well. It was taken at the fountain in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC. You can't really tell from this angle, but the little girl had a bright pink cast on her arm.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 18/365 - My Badass Beach Cruisin' Bike

Too bad there isn't an actual beach anywhere nearby. This is the bike I got for Christmas a few years back. I had my family all get me gift cards for Target and then I used them to order my bike. It came in a jillion pieces in a box and I had to assemble it. That took a while. I'm not the most mechanically-inclined guy in the world. I somehow managed to put the front wheel on backward. Twice.

This morning I went for a bike ride with my friends Chris (that's his serious black bike just on the other side of my frivolous one) and Adriana. We headed down the Mt. Vernon Trail from Crystal City to just past Old Town Alexandria. I'd never been on that part of the trail before. It's very scenic and mostly level, which is good given that I hadn't taken my bike out of the closet for over a year now. I tend not to do well biking on hills.

Chris said we covered about 8.5 miles and it took us around an hour and a half. If he and Adriana had gone without me they could've done that distance in far less time, but they kept having to wait for my slowpoke butt to catch up. I'm sure my thighs are going to be killing me tomorrow, but it was worth it. I got to enjoy a nice morning, hang out with friends, see some pretty scenery, and get a bit of exercise. Not a bad way to start the day.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 17/365 - Sarah Palin Is a Real Dog

Today I went to a Halloween extravanganza in the Clarendon section of Arlington, VA that was being held for dogs (and their owners). I don't have a dog, but I went along to be moral support and designated photographer for my friend Chris and his miniature Australian shepherd Chewie. Normally Desiree (who is Chris' wife and another friend of mine) would serve in those roles, but she's in Florida for a bachelorette party this weekend.

There were about 20 dogs there, mostly the yappy little fluffball kind but there were a few regular-sized dogs as well. The costumes ran the gamut from pirates, pumpkins, hotdogs, fairies, Elvis, ladybugs, lobsters, dinosaurs, angels, lions, monkeys and Chewbacca the Wookie (that was Chewie) to Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. That's the crazy clueless right wing moose-hunting beauty queen herself pictured above.

The Palin costume was definitely the best. That dog had on a navy business suit, wig and glasses and was riding along in a jeep with guns in the back and was accompanied by another dog in a moose costume. Don't know if she won the costume contest portion of the festivities or not, but she should have. The event was organized by a funky little local pet store and in addition to the costume contest they had a full slate of activities scheduled, including professional dog portraits, a parade, and doggy trick-or-treating.

Seeing as how it was raining, however, Chris and I opted to bail before the costume judging was over. There was still a full hour and a half to go at that point, but we couldn't be bothered to stick around any longer. After hanging out with a bunch of frou-frou dogs in frilly costumes we felt the need to reassert our dude-hood, so we went back to his place and played a fighting game on his Wii. Then we ordered some hot wings, drank beer, and watched college football like the manly men we are. Grrrrr!

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 16/365 - Black & White Movies on a Grey Day

It was cloudy and overcast in the DC area today, perfect weather for curling up on the couch and watching old movies. I love old B&W movies. Directors and cinematographers back then did absolutely amazing things with light and shadow (Casablanca is one of the best examples of this) that modern filmakers just ignore. When I lived at home my parents could never understand why I always watched old movies and tv shows. At some point they would invariably shake their heads and say "I don't know why we bothered buying a color tv when everything you watch is in black and white."

I think Turner Classic Movies is my favorite tv channel. If I'm not watching an old movie on TCM, then I'm probably watching sports. I don't really watch much broadcast tv anymore. The Amazing Race and 24 are about the only series I still follow. I gave up on Lost after the second season. I don't really miss it.

The movie on my tv in this picture is Hotel Berlin from 1945. It's all about layers and levels of intrigue, schemes, and plots taking place among a group of people from different walks of life in a grand hotel in Berlin toward the end of WWII, most of whom are looking to get the hell outta Germany before it's too late. It was pretty good. It had been sitting on my DVR for a while, but tonight I finally got around to watching it (BTW, DVRs get my vote for most awesome invention of the past few years).

Now it's time to dash downstairs to the convenience store in the basement of my apartment building and grab a pint of Ben & Jerry's before they close. Then I'll browse through the list of movies waiting on my DVR and see what I want to watch next. It's a Friday night double-feature at my place -- bring your own ice cream and join in the fun.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 15/365 - Math Problems

Emphasis on the 'problems' part. This is what you get when you make an attorney do math. I realized after I took this shot that my calculations looked a lot like the rantings of the crazy homeless guy from a few posts ago. Who knows, maybe once upon a time he was an attorney who was forced to work with numbers and it drove him stark, raving bonkers.

I spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon and this morning reviewing the assets and liabilities of a married couple who own a government contracting company and winnowing through their tax returns to try and figure out how much of their collective income was attributable to each spouse. They had applied for certification as a disadvantaged business and I had to see if the program office's determination that the couple was not economically disadvantaged was legally supportable. Which meant I had to do math.

Math is not my friend. It was always my worst (and least favorite) subject in school. It's not a widely known fact, but most lawyers are terrible at anything involving numbers. We tend to react to numbers like Superman does to Kryptonite and vampires do to crosses. If we were good at math we wouldn't go to law school. We'd be doctors or scientists or engineers instead (or in my case, an architect), or something useful like that. But we suck at math so we wind up lawyers by default.

After a lengthy and awkward struggle (and a bit of cheating using the QuickMath automatic math solutions website -- man I love that website), I was finallly able to determine that the couple's adjusted net worth was below the $750,000 threshold but their average two-year incomes were in excess of $200,000, which put them in the upper percentiles of all U.S. taxpayers and therefore precluded them from being deemed economically disadvantaged.

Anyone who wasn't math illiterate probably could've figured that out in about 20 minutes, tops. Making an attorney do math is like giving a monkey a chainsaw -- it might turn out all right, but the odds are it's going to result in something messy and unpleasant.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 14/365 - Morning Gory

I decided that I should do one self-portrait each week as part of my 365 Project, and then I had the less-than-brilliant idea of taking a shot of myself right after waking up in the morning. Hopefully this will be the roughest I’ll look in any of the self-portraits, although I did manage to lessen the carnage a bit through the use of B&W and soft focusing.

Anyhow, that’s me and my Nikon D80 with the Tokina 12-24mm lens attached first thing in the bloody morning.

(Rather obviously taken with my Nikon D80)