I gave a first try at my new Mikona DV-8 digital camera, which I picked up for under twenty dollars on eBay. Cheap digicams now occupy a place in my heart once reserved for throwaway cameras. I still mean to pick up a point-and-shoot proper digital camera, but I want to research one that will support a telephoto lens and also a zoom lens, so that I can easily shoot birds and butterflies in nature.
Towne Lake featured an area in which people fished for trout, with success, because the trout, not hardy in our heat, are placed in the lake in profusion for fishing derby purposes. Cormorants, gulls and geese were also in evidence, as well as a gorgeous labrador retriever puppy out for his very first park walk.
I'm still reading "Schoenberg's Journey", a fascinating book which gives me a sympathy for the blaue reiter era that I never got from reading the almanac itself. I'm also focusing on learning Sawcutter 2.0, a stand-alone twenty five dollar synthesizer I have owned for years and intermittently used. It has a huge advantage, in that ti samlpes save forms admirably, giving a rich palette of voices for the instrument. Yet one can compose only 64 notes at a time in the sequencer, which I find a bit confining. I must admit, though, that I have no ideas or craft that cannot be captured in 16 bars or so.
The sky is overcast. The day is quiet. Children catch trout. I am content.