danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

Happy Vernal Equinox!

I love spring because it means the cold days are almost over, and cold has become my enemy. Alas, it also means the windy days are here, but it’s a fair trade. Still, the days are getting longer, and that, coupled with the early introduction of daylight saving time, makes me happy.

Most of my appreciation of the outdoors comes from my time on campus these days, and it is actually quite pleasant. The azaleas are just about finished, and leaves are replacing flowers on dogwoods and Japanese magnolias. But the orange trees are still blooming like mad, and before too long the confederate jasmine will flower. Those are two magnificent aromas.

On the Reitz Union lawn this morning I was walking my bicycle (the seat was wet from a rain last night), and as I passed a sweet gum tree I heard a squirrel barking. I looked all around the branches but couldn’t see the critter. Finally I found him; his little head was poking through a hole in the bark where a limb had been. It was adorable. Of course, it only happened because I left my camera at home, and awesome things always happen when I don’t have my camera, like the time this one girl riding a bike was wearing ass-less pants.

Above you can see a series of photos I took of the Shumard Oaks on the Reitz Lawn as they got their leaves.

Filed under: Animals, Current Events, Gainesville, Meteorology, Photography, School on March 20th, 2008 | No Comments »

Congratulations once again to the Gainesville Roller Rebels, today featured in the Gainesville Sun, with a picture on the front page, and several more on Page 1D with accompanying article.

The girls are getting some much deserved attention, and I suspect it will only get better once they begin competing next month. Alas, it seems I may miss their first competition: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play Orlando the same night. Meanwhile, I do what I can to support the team, taking pictures at practice (like the one above), and doing the players’ portraits. Last Tuesday was Evey Slammond; this week: Patsy Clothesline.

Filed under: Gainesville, Photography, Sports on March 18th, 2008 | No Comments »

I admit it is unfair of me to judge a place I’ve never been (that’s what they do in Russia), but my impression of Alabama isn’t entirely positive. So I was surprised and impressed a couple years back when I first saw their official state quarter which depicts Helen Keller, one of the most amazing human beings who ever lived. It is my favorite issue in the series.

I was reminded of the power of still images last week when a photograph of the deafblind girl was discovered and published a hundred and twenty years after it was taken. It shows Keller holding a doll in one hand, and the hand of Anne Sullivan with the other, and it is remarkably touching.

Filed under: Musings, Photography on March 10th, 2008 | No Comments »

I cross the Reitz Union Lawn nearly every day, en route to class or work.  It is practically the very hub of my campus wheel.  This is a pleasant time of year on the lawn, since the Shumard Oaks are getting their new leaves of bright green, the azaleas are blooming in magenta or white, and best of all, a small orange tree is covered in blossoms that smell heavenly.

My favorite smell remains almond, but orange blossoms are a not too distant second.  Even if I forget about the tree, it is impossible to miss, since the breeze sends it’s fragrance across the lawn.  Yesterday I was so taken by it, that I decided to brave the bees and steal a bud for myself, and I put it in my shirt pocket.  For the rest of the afternoon at work I could smell the flower in my pocket.  It was a delight.

I must not be the only one who loves the Reitz Lawn: there are always students laying about on sunny days, and it is common for organizations to set up tables and displays along the sidewalks there.  Earlier this week as I was crossing from Weimer Hall I saw a flock of large white birds hopping across the grass.  They were scared off by a bicyclist and flew to a nearby pine tree.  They attracted a great deal of attention as they moved, and as I pulled out my camera to snap some photographs I was asked by a passer-by if they were frequent visitors.  I see mockingbirds and cardinals everyday, and red-tailed hawks are not uncommon, as are robins during winter.  But I hadn’t seen these birds before, and there were dozens and dozens of them.

As I was taking a picture a girl called to me and asked what kind of camera I was using.  She came over and took a closer look, seeing I use a D70.  She said she had a D80 that had just been stolen, and was distraught.  I’d be, too.  I take pictures ever single day, and occasionally professionally.  If I lost my camera it would be a great hardship.  And, really, hardships are the worst kind of ships.

Filed under: Animals, Musings, Photography, School on March 6th, 2008 | No Comments »

I had a little time before class this morning, and since I needed a book at Goering’s Bookstore, I walked across campus to their now–as far as I can tell–sole Gainesville location on NW 1st Avenue west of 17th Street (now appropriately re-named Lt. Corey Dahlem Drive). Goering’s had until recently also been in the plaza at the southwest corner of University Avenue and 34th Street, and, of course, long ago was at the corner of University and 13th Street, in a building that has now been demolished, while the University Corners project sits stalled. Nevertheless, the book I needed for my English Romanticism course was not in stock, so I, and the rest of ENL3241, will have to get by without it.

Not wanting the whole trip to be for naught, I strolled across the street to the post office, where I found in my box two parcel slips indicating that packages awaited me inside. Back in the glory days of 2001-2005, these salmon-colored cards were an almost daily notice of a newly acquired CD won on eBay. These days, however, I very seldom receive such booty, so these parcel notices caught me off guard.

The envelopes associated with said slips turned out to contain pleasant surprises: a new CD by pianist Wu Han performing Scriabin, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky; and a brand new cloth-bound, hardcover book called Authenticity Is Now.

Authenticity Is Now is significant to me for the simple reason that it includes amongst its glossy color pages a photograph of mine. Verily, in Chapter 2, on page 48 you’ll find my full-page picture of a lawn ornament deer. An oddity, for sure, but that’s what the publisher, Ziba Design, asked me for. The people at Ziba seemed very nice, too. Huzzah, book!

The Wu Han CD came from the ArtistLed label, which I have mentioned here before. They are unique among classical music record labels in being run entirely by the artists themselves, who choose the repertoire and even the takes that make it to disc. David Finckel–of the Emerson String Quartet–and pianist Wu Han–co-director of the Music at Menlo Festival–are well-served by the ArtistLed label, as the performances and recordings are of a consistently high quality.

This new disc includes Tchaikovsky’s Les Saisons, Op. 37, which is a piece I have loved for some time, particularly the sixth movement, “Juin: Barcarolle”. Wu Han plays it with a distinct pulse and less affectation than I have heard from most other performers.

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My only regret is perhaps absurdly persnickety, and concerns a subtle bit of phrasing that I have grown so fond of in Vladimir Ashkenazy’s Decca set. Listen for the note cluster:

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Ashkenazy uses a good deal of rubato–perhaps too much for some–but I love that little bit of dissonance. It is less evident in Wu Han’s recording, but nobody will accuse her of being overly-sentimental for it either. The Rachmaninoff Preludes on the disc are all excellently done, the Scriabin Sonata No. 4, Op. 30 is an interesting and welcome programming choice, and Liebesfreud by Kreisler is a lovely filler. I can enthusiastically recommend this and other ArtistLed recordings.

So, a good day at the mail box.

Filed under: Gainesville, Music, Musings, Photography, School, WAYLTL on January 10th, 2008 | 1 Comment »