January Musings

After two months of being buried in paperwork for an undergraduate anthropology class and being buried in piles of lumber and buckets of paint for house renovation projects, I am finally beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. I think it’s one of those new LED flashlights: it’s too small for a train and besides, I don’t hear any horns. I can finally get back into writing for Focal Plane and get on track with an exercise program (ambitious, yes?).

In the meantime, I am working towards a bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Maryland University College. That’s the adult education, by the way. I originally had selected natural sciences as my minor, but the science classes have been steadily disappearing and there are only a couple of upper-level classes that I could take to finish out the minor: a biology class and a global warming class. I took a 300-level microbiology class last summer and my neurons are still recovering from it. I don’t think I can do more biology, which is mostly aimed at health workers anyways. What else is left? Nothing.

I agonized about this a full semester, because I wanted to finish out the minor but could not get the classes I wanted. I hoped they would be offered in the fall, but no such luck. I guess everyone is afraid of science, so I decided to switch my minor to history. At least here I have some very nice choices of what I want to study.

While UMUC doesn’t require that students take a minor, I want to have that focus. Communications is great, but you still have to be communicating about something. I may yet take the two remaining lower-level science classes that I haven’t taken: astronomy and meteorology. There used to be chemistry and physics courses, but they have long since disappeared: presumably they were sucked down a black hole and emerged in another galaxy (or at least another campus).

I took one history class a year-and-a-half ago and really enjoyed it, so I am looking forward to taking more history classes. The way I think about it, science and history aren’t really opposite subjects and there’s plenty of “history of science” that I can write about. The more I think about how this has worked out for me, the more convinced I am that these two subjects will play off one another very well. I’ve been searching for some direction to my studies and I think I’ve found it. The next semester starts in three weeks. I’m taking a a History Writing class, a mass communications class, and a forensic anthropology class (well, that is a science and a history, isn’t it?).

In the meantime, I’ve had a request to do more writing about bloggers through history. I did one article about Benjamin Franklin that was well received and was fun to write. Since I’ve decided to do some history writing, I might as well get started here. I’m thinking of it as a warmup for my class. So, bookmark Focal Plane and be on the lookout for the Blogs through History category. The next installment will be Alexander the Great.

Is there someone you’d think would be a great blogger from history? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Slow Going

I knew at some point I’d get so busy working on other things that I wouldn’t get around to writing anything for Focal Plane. So many things are happening, or else pending, that it makes my head spin. I rebel by sitting and playing Guild Wars on my computer until nearly midnight so I don’t have to think about all the things I have to do!

Our online store was just getting off to a really slow start when the CafePress servers had a massive crash that affected a lot of stores. I’ve been waiting for them to get the hardware back up and running before I upload more images. In the meantime, I’m also working on getting software to put a really nice photo gallery on the Tangent Graphics website to replace the “thrown together” look which now dominates the site.

I know it’s not pretty. Yet. It’s just that everything I want to do requires learning more and more software and programming, in addition to still doing the writing and photography. And on top of that, I’m finishing off two 300-level college classes in the next week and a half, one of which I’m putting a slideshow together for (more software!). Plus, we’ve been interviewing contractors in preparation for doing some massive home repair and renovation that could have us living in two rooms for five or more months. Ugh. That means we need to clean out the house…

I’ll leave you with this photograph of a stone turtle that stands guard in front of the reptile house at the National Zoo. It was easy to photograph because it wasn’t moving, unlike other zoo denizens. The image was captured using a Nikon FE2 with Kodak slide film.

Baltimore’s Inner Harbor

Following up on the post Thoroughly Modern Ducky, I have a few more images from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor to share with you. The day we were there was bright and sunny, without much of the haze and humidity that besets Maryland sometime in mid to late April. That made it an excellent day for photography; reflections were bright and crisp and allowed for some quick shutter times. That was important, since we hadn’t brought our tripods.

Paddle boats awaiting summer’s tourists

The Inner Harbor area is a curious mix of old and new. At one end of the harbor the U.S.S. Constellation is moored. The Constellation holds the distinction of being the last sail-powered warship built by the U.S. Navy, and is now a floating museum. The complexity of the ship’s rigging and masts contrasts with the smooth contours of the U.S.S. Torsk, which is anchored directly in front of the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Another ship, the lightship Chesapeake, also calls Baltimore’s Inner Harbor home.

The U.S.S. Torsk, SS-423, has made Baltimore her home since 1972.

The National Aquarium in Baltimore (and seagull).

Our Shop is Open(ing)

Okay, the Tangent Graphics store is finally open. It’s not fully stocked, yet, but you’re welcome to stop by and bookmark our page! Our photographs will be added to the site starting this weekend… I promise! They will be available as prints in several sizes.

After doing some soul-searching, I have decided to open a CafePress storefront for Tangent Graphics. I was originally going to offer matted prints for sale from our own website, but since we both work full-time jobs it’s a little more time-consuming than we’re able to get into. Inventory control, order fulfillment, billing, running to the post office… that’s a full-time job. Not to mention the behind-the-scenes work with adding galleries to the website and such. I’m having enough trouble keeping up with the blog!

What’s really nice is that with our new CafePress storefront, you will be able to purchase our photography as prints in several sizes. For some items, I am also considering framed prints and gift items. This way, you’ll have access to our work in a variety of ways.

You can preview the store it right now, if you want to — just go to www.cafepress.com/tangentgraphics and bookmark the page.

In the meantime, I’ve added a couple of products for fun. I needed some practice in getting the page up and running, so why not? The “Do Not Clean With Materials That Scratch” infant’s T-shirt was something that I had originally made for a baby shower. It got a lot of laughs, and it’s practical, too, so I added the “Scratch” design in a couple of formats, including a doggie coat.

Don’t need any clothing? Try the coffee mug! You can never have enough coffee mugs… See you soon!