Shabbos
Wow, I have so much to say after being locked off my computer for 24 hours. Last night was amazing. We had a drum circle type thing for the Maariv Shabbat service, and I snagged one after a while. I'm slightly rhythmically challenged in that I can't improvise a variety of rhythms the way drummers/percussionists can, but I can still keep a beat. It was fun, except at the beginning where the guys leading the service didn't know the tunes for the first couple of Psalms well enough to lead them, and nobody else stepped up to the job. I tried, but was kind of overridden by stronger voices.
I went to Contra Dancing afterwards, and actually managed to dance three sets. During the first two, I wasn't in any pain at all. I blame endorphins. The third set had my hip and both knees starting to bug me, so I sat the last couple of things out, then left when my friends did. Amazingly, I was okay this morning when I woke up, and haven't gotten significantly worse since then. While I was waiting for my friends to finish the last set or two, I had a lot of people ask me to dance, as will happen if there are partnerless people and a woman sitting by herself. I was sorry to have to keep saying no. One woman walked by and told me "Shabbat shalom! Dance is part of my religion too," at which point I remembered I was still wearing a yarmulke.
This morning I went to the third Rush event for Rho Epsilon Pi, the only sorority on campus that doesn't discriminate based on race or ethnicity (and therefore the only one I'm eligible to join). By a fun coincidence, I had a photography assignment to shoot exactly what we were doing this morning. I didn't know ahead of time what the morning's event was, only that I should come dressed in clothing I could get dirty in (I wore a black band shirt and the pants I usually dance in, also black). My assignment was to photograph the "WILD Wes workday" on Saturday morning. Turns out, Rho Ep rushers were doing community service this morning in the form of helping to spread compost across landscaping in the WestCo courtyard that had been becoming an area where only the hardiest plants would grow. The student group WILD Wesleyan set up a three layer ... thing* that will decompose over the winter and have better soil in the spring, for planting local plants and things like fruit trees. This particular area is a trial run, I think, for a larger plan to do it to more places around campus, instead of having lots of costly green lawns (instead: wildflower meadows for butterflies, edible plants, etc).
*Compost, cardboard, woodchips. Behold my inarticulation...ness.
I had a great deal of fun wandering around the area barefoot and in some spots helping to kick the dirt to spread it out, but mostly photographing the 20 ish women and a few men and other non-Rho Ep folks who were helping this Saturday morning. I did eventually put my camera away and get dirtier helping, but first I took 230 photos. I got some amazing shots and managed to convince my camera to do 1/150-350 s shots, although it kept randomly changing modes and taking shots at 1/60 s and other weird things that I suspect is part of the auto function of the camera. However, I can't figure out any other way than specific auto settings to get it to do what I want it to, which is take shots very quickly. I have a few shots that must have been taken at a slower shutter speed that just don't look as good as I want them to because they're next to shots that were much faster. OTOH, I do have awesome shots. Too bad I can't put a lot of them up on devART because quite a few of my favorites show faces and I don't have a model release form to ask people to sign. There are plenty that are only the backs of people, but meh. I got some great candids and want to use them. I may put some of them up on Flickr, instead.
I did share one on devART:
Shovel, WILDWes by ~AugmentedFourth on deviantART
Alas, no views yet. I suspect it has something to do with the mundanity of the subject. But I really like the photo.
Oh! And I really loved looking through this photoshoot. It made me feel like I want to get to know the people whose photos I took. I love looking at the expressions and body language. I can almost understand the notion that taking a photograph captures someone's soul--at least, taking candid photographs.
How was your day?
I went to Contra Dancing afterwards, and actually managed to dance three sets. During the first two, I wasn't in any pain at all. I blame endorphins. The third set had my hip and both knees starting to bug me, so I sat the last couple of things out, then left when my friends did. Amazingly, I was okay this morning when I woke up, and haven't gotten significantly worse since then. While I was waiting for my friends to finish the last set or two, I had a lot of people ask me to dance, as will happen if there are partnerless people and a woman sitting by herself. I was sorry to have to keep saying no. One woman walked by and told me "Shabbat shalom! Dance is part of my religion too," at which point I remembered I was still wearing a yarmulke.
This morning I went to the third Rush event for Rho Epsilon Pi, the only sorority on campus that doesn't discriminate based on race or ethnicity (and therefore the only one I'm eligible to join). By a fun coincidence, I had a photography assignment to shoot exactly what we were doing this morning. I didn't know ahead of time what the morning's event was, only that I should come dressed in clothing I could get dirty in (I wore a black band shirt and the pants I usually dance in, also black). My assignment was to photograph the "WILD Wes workday" on Saturday morning. Turns out, Rho Ep rushers were doing community service this morning in the form of helping to spread compost across landscaping in the WestCo courtyard that had been becoming an area where only the hardiest plants would grow. The student group WILD Wesleyan set up a three layer ... thing* that will decompose over the winter and have better soil in the spring, for planting local plants and things like fruit trees. This particular area is a trial run, I think, for a larger plan to do it to more places around campus, instead of having lots of costly green lawns (instead: wildflower meadows for butterflies, edible plants, etc).
*Compost, cardboard, woodchips. Behold my inarticulation...ness.
I had a great deal of fun wandering around the area barefoot and in some spots helping to kick the dirt to spread it out, but mostly photographing the 20 ish women and a few men and other non-Rho Ep folks who were helping this Saturday morning. I did eventually put my camera away and get dirtier helping, but first I took 230 photos. I got some amazing shots and managed to convince my camera to do 1/150-350 s shots, although it kept randomly changing modes and taking shots at 1/60 s and other weird things that I suspect is part of the auto function of the camera. However, I can't figure out any other way than specific auto settings to get it to do what I want it to, which is take shots very quickly. I have a few shots that must have been taken at a slower shutter speed that just don't look as good as I want them to because they're next to shots that were much faster. OTOH, I do have awesome shots. Too bad I can't put a lot of them up on devART because quite a few of my favorites show faces and I don't have a model release form to ask people to sign. There are plenty that are only the backs of people, but meh. I got some great candids and want to use them. I may put some of them up on Flickr, instead.
I did share one on devART:
Shovel, WILDWes by ~AugmentedFourth on deviantART
Alas, no views yet. I suspect it has something to do with the mundanity of the subject. But I really like the photo.
Oh! And I really loved looking through this photoshoot. It made me feel like I want to get to know the people whose photos I took. I love looking at the expressions and body language. I can almost understand the notion that taking a photograph captures someone's soul--at least, taking candid photographs.
How was your day?