iPadding it: with Jobe, Kalib, Margie, Chicago, Jim and Pistol

I have been wanting an iPad since they first came out - mostly, because I want to see the capabilities for online magazine and e-photo-book publishing, but until now I have not been able to justify the expense. I justify it now because I had pretty much resigned myself to the idea that I was going to have to purchase a new computer that would cost many times as much as the iPad, but now that I don't have to, then an iPad seems a good investment.

Of course, the iPad comes with a built-in camera. The resolution is low and the quality less than the iPhone, but I love any camera I can get my hands on and I worry less about technical quality than if I can use it to capture a feeling in the picture.

So, all of today's images were taken with my new iPad.

I started out with Margie and me.

Jobe and me next. He and Kalib came yesterday afternoon and will be here through today, maybe into tomorrow. I'm not sure.

Kalib, eating peanut butter and jelly.

I went to bed about midnight and, as always, when these boys overnight, Kalib slept with me and Jobe with Margie in the guest room. I spent an hour reading, Miss New India, a book that I first heard about from an Alan Cheuse review on NPR and he convinced me that I must read it. It is the first book that I will have read on an e-reader - in this case, the iPad.

It was fun, because I did not have to turn any lights on and page turning was instantaneous. At first, I thought I preferred reading a paper book, but after I had been at it for awhile I began to change my mind. I wouldn't want to read a book on an iPad while soaking in the tub, though.

In the morning, when I woke up for good sometime after 7:00 AM, I found Kalib sleeping like this, and so picked up the iPad and shot.

The light was dim in the room. This would be approximately the equivalent of shooting at ISO 10,000 or so.

Chicago had slept on the other side of my head. Here she is.

Chicago and me, in the early hours. 

My hand, before I get out of bed.

Me, still in bed. I have to wear that damn thing on my nose if I am to breathe and get any sleep at all. Looks likes its time for a haircut and beard trim again, especially since I will be heading back into the field shortly.

Jim was looking out the window.

Jim - as captured in the early morning with my iPad.

I went into the next room, which was even darker. Jobe woke up and came to greet me.

He was still tired, so he collapsed at his grandma's feet.

Soon, Jobe and I were out in the front room. Kalib slept on. Margie was coming to and would soon join us.

You did not see Pistol in the bedroom because he did not want to share the bed with Kalib, so he pouted and slept in the front room by himself.

Jobe scurries across the living room, carrying the two golf balls.

You can't see them, but this is only a second or so later, so he is still carrying the balls.

Now he is eating them.

Margie and Jobe, immediately after a diaper change.

Gramma and grandson.

Grandson and gramma.

Jobe gets down.

Jobe is ready to go. Gramma is not ready to let him go.

iPad still life: half a small cup of coffee. When Melanie and I went to India for Soundarya's wedding, Murthy gave me a set of small coffee cups. In India, they tend to keep their cups small. Drinking from a small cup helps me to not overdo it.

Plus, I like the cups.

Margie feeds Jobe some Oatmeal Squares.

iPad still life: Artificial flowers on the kitchen table, flanked by math.

But then, isn't math everywhere?

That's what my kindergarten teacher would always tell us, whenever we complained about the difficulty of the latest calculus quiz she had given us.

"Math is everywhere!" she would say. "Around and inside us - in the number of times a bird flaps its wings as it flies overhead - and how many times does your heart beat per minute... how many bites can you take out of a cookie... how many decibels in the croak of a frog...?

"It's all math, students," she would say. "Math is everywhere."

Jobe dumped the garbage on the floor, found the diaper his grandma had just taken off of him and gave it a toss. It took .9128999999999999999999 seconds for the diaper to plop onto the floor.

Sorry I can't be more precise than this. My math skills have been on the wane ever since I graduated from kindergarten and left behind the most brilliant mathematics teacher I ever had.

So ends my first experiment with iPad photography.

View iPad images as slides

I briefly see three humans today; I take a drive, listen to the Obama State of the Union Address; new baby draws nigh, causes intense contractions

This is it, right here - the only three humans that I had any direct contact with today. Carmen, of course, Samantha, who is in the fourth grade, but "going on fifth," and her mother, Tina. This happened a bit after 4:00 PM, when I got into the car and drove to Metro Cafe to get my Americano, and to listen to one hour of NPR, followed by President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address.

Other than these three, I did not come within face-to-face talking range of any other humans this entire day.

When I got up, Caleb had already gone to bed. I almost punched the auto-start to the car so that it could warm up and I could head to Mat-Su Valley Family Restaurant, but it seemed to me that I should eat oatmeal today.

So I scooped some out of the round Quaker Oats box, put it in bowl, ran a little water into it, pulled a pack of mixed berries out of the freezer, dumped a handful in, micro-waved it for two minutes and then, surrounded by cats, ate it.

I also had a banana and a cup that I brewed myself.

Afterward, I took my walk and as I did, I exchanged a series of text messages with Lavina. Her situation is getting to be quite nerve-wracking. The contractions that she has now been having for a good week at least have intensified. They are getting strong and causing her significant pain. She is exhausted. Still, the doctor is telling her to stay home and stay in bed until they get to be about 15 minutes apart. 

Right now, they are 30 minutes to one hour apart. Her doctor still hopes to delay this birth a bit, as the baby is not officially due until one month from today and it would be good for s/he grow a bit before coming out.

But I hate to have Lavina suffering. It is hard for me to stay home. A couple of times today, I almost dropped everything to drive to Anchorage, but then if I got there and the baby still did not come for a couple of days, that would be kind of crazy.

I don't think s/he's going to wait until Tuesday for Grandma Margie to come home, though. As for Grandma Mary, she has given up the idea of coming. She still has some recovering to do from the injuries she sustained in the crash.

So Lavina's sister, LaVerne, is coming, with her young daughter, Gracie.

I am excited to see them.

After we quit texting, I looked from my iPhone and saw this jet passing overhead, going north.

Royce in the afternoon - he seems to be improving, but he is still mighty skinny.

That brings me back to coffee-break time. Here is Samantha, by herself. I, of course, am sitting in my car at the drive-through window.

Now I am driving, drinking my Americano, listening to the news, waiting for the Obama State of the Union Address.

At the very moment that I pass by this house, Obama begins to speak.

His speech continues as I wait at a stop sign for this car to go by.

I had thought that I would return home and finish listening to the speech in my office, but I did not want to get out of the car. So I bought a hamburger and a glass of water for dinner, and then ate it in the parking lot, not far from the Tesoro station.

I thought it was an excellent speech. Our President said some things that needed to be said and as I listened to him, I once again felt the rise of a sense of hope - yet, I'm pretty sure that those who needed to hear what needed to be said have already shook it all off and are busy planning and acting out the mischief that will build up their egos, spread the word of nonsense, hype fear and tear down our country.

Our nation drowns in absurdity - and my little town has contributed far, far, far, FAR more than its fair share. But damn - I still love this place.

After I returned home, I read Apple's announcement on its new iPad computer. This is just the tool that I wish I had 30 years ago, but new developments come along with they come along. I can't wait to get my hands on one. Maybe I can create little digital books about cats and coffee, and market them to people with iPads.

Margie called. She is a bit discouraged to be so far away as our new grandchild apparently draws so nigh to being born.

Somewhere near 10:00 PM, Caleb rose from bed and slipped off silently to work, so I never laid eyes on him today. The only folks I saw were Carmen, Samantha and Tina - just long enough to get an Americano served to me through the drive-through window. Other than that, my only companions today were cats and fish.

I love my cats and fish, but I think I will go to Family Restuarant tomorrow morning. I will spend half-an-hour or so in the midst of other humans, as their knives and forks clink against their plates and they ignore me and say clever things to each other and make each other laugh, or perhaps tell somber and grim stories and frown at each other.

My waitress won't ignore me, though. No. She will treat me right. At Family Restaurant, the waitresses all treat you right. They are excellent waitresses, each and every one.

Of course, if my phone should ring sometime between now and breakfast... then I will be off to go meet my new grandchild instead.