Point and Click

When was the last time I brought a camera around with me? 

You could correctly say "yesterday" since my phone is a pretty incredible camera, as is everyone's these days. But it's not that great really. It does the job, but it's not as good as having a dedicated device for taking pictures.

This weekend we travel to Manhattan for our annual Christmas spirit trip (unofficial name) where we visit all of our favorite holiday spots in the city. This used to be easier to do when I had an apartment in Queens, but now I live full-time here on Long Island. And I just noticed I said "on" which means I'm becoming infected with the discursive norms of life here.

Our weekend trip will be a blast because I'm a tourist again. It's been about 16 years since I have been a tourist in New York City. It's good to put on old comfortable clothes again. My first trip to New York City was in 1992 when I lived in Fort Worth, Texas as a moderately successful high school student. That was a great time. I had a camera with me then too, albeit non-digital and disposable Kodak film camera. 

I have revitalized my Nikon point and shoot camera I bought in 2015 (perhaps?). I bought it because my old point and click wasn't holding a charge and was being weird and out-of-focus. This was just prior to my trip to Anchorage, Alaska for a national debate tournament. Since then, this camera has been all over the world with me. It has been spending its last months/years in a box in storage. I charged it up yesterday and tried it out. Seems like it's working fine. 

The lens is better than my iPhone and it has more settings than the iPhone. The current SD card can hold 7600 some odd pictures. I think most interestingly is that when you have a dedicated camera you are not just collecting anything, you have to stop and consider what you are looking at as a picture. You have to say to yourself "I should take a picture of that." Then you have to pull out the point and click, turn it on and focus it. It's a good ritual as it adds some sort of cost, some kind of processing fee to the idea of collecting images which is what the iPhone suggests you do.

I have been thinking a lot about cameras and vlogging and doing a lot of research. I have landed back with GoPro, as you know, buying the 13 and really being happy with it. For still photos, maybe this 2015 point and click is good enough for me as it has been previously. Maybe all that studying of different things to buy just convinced me I am already in a good spot? 

Should I take the camera around with me everyday? Probably not, but I'm wondering about it. 

Spotify Wrapped

It isn’t that surprising. But it is fun to look at. The thing I don’t get is that Spotify Wrapped doesn’t consider December at all. I prefer the more comprehensive last.fm stats that will arrive January 1. But for now, here’s all my wrapped data! 

















It was awesome but too costly

Such nostalgia for commuting by train. The only part of my NYC life I miss. 

This is way too expensive if you have a car. It’s so much cheaper to drive in to Queens. Manhattan might be a different story. 

If the MTA busses weren’t such a crap shoot, maybe. Strong maybe. But I had to rely on Ubers too many times today to make my itinerary. 

In bad weather or terrible traffic days this is the play but it can only be used sparingly. I’ll have to run some numbers and post a follow up. 

I do miss commuting by train. 

I read nearly all of a book today. Last time that happened was perhaps the summer? Such an expensive joy. 



A Great Video on A Zen Master


Seung Sahn is one of my favorite Zen masters. I bought the book Dropping Ashes on the Buddha from the Barnes & Noble on Texas Avenue in College Station, Texas many years ago, but it has remained safely on the shelf for over 20 years now. The recorded sayings, personal letters, Dharma talks, and more in that book paints a really lovely impressionistic picture of this man, someone who dedicated his life to helping others gain something they already had - an understanding of life!

These kind of Zen books are great, and they really should be used as a model for other kinds of writing - I feel like I have a great understanding of this guys life and thinking thanks to the book. It's like watercolor, impressionism, minimalism, but in a text format. It also encourages a return to the book. It encourages a return to the book that is a leafing around in it, a leafing-through. So many good memories with the book. 

I think about the book on my shelf right now in the quiet house. I am in the office, but I can see it in my mind. I'm pretty sure that the old Delta airlines boarding pass is still in it as a bookmark, used that way by my old roommate Ken on a trip to Idaho or from there back to New York.

I think tonight I'll return to the book again!