Litter from Social Media – Behold a Giant Muh

I don't remember what was so funny, but I love that Abby and I are laughing together in autumn sunshine. — I don’t remember what was so funny, but I love that Abby and I are laughing together in autumn sunshine.

Today is the shortest day of the year, and the longest night. Cull what you will from the meaning of that.

I fired up my All Trails app for a recent walk with Hawken the Irish Wolfhound, with only one surprise: 95 feet of elevation change. It's a great route, one I hope to take him on it many times this winter. — I fired up my All Trails app for a recent walk with Hawken the Irish Wolfhound, with only one surprise: 95 feet of elevation change. It’s a great route, one I hope to take him on it many times this winter.

“All I want is what I… I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share.” ~Sally Brown

“Look, Charlie, let’s face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It’s run by a big eastern syndicate, you know.” ~Lucy Van Pelt

One thing I happily glossed over about A Charlie Brown Christmas when I was a kid: it consists almost entirely of recycled Peanuts comic strip dailies.

Your humble host poses with Christmas toys made out of metal, unheard of in the 21st century, both because it's much cheaper to make them from plastic, but also because metal toys are potentially razor sharp in spots. This image was made by my grandfather, Richard Batten, in 1965, the very year that "A Charlie Brown Christmas" debuted. — Your humble host poses with Christmas toys made out of metal, unheard of in the 21st century, both because it’s much cheaper to make them from plastic, but also because metal toys are potentially razor sharp in spots. This image was made by my grandfather, Richard Batten, in 1965, the very year that “A Charlie Brown Christmas” debuted.

When my wife looks at me this way, all my troubles seem to melt away.

Recently I’ve been thinking about consumption. I thought of this as I reminisced about lenses I once owned and now miss; all that beautiful 1970s and 80s era Nikkor glass. What if I magically had a storage unit with all my old gear in it? But then I thought about the police scanners and Sony Trinitrons and flannel shirts and cars. Then, I thought, what if I magically had a warehouse full of everything I ever owned? Every bunch of broccoli. Every quart of motor oil. Every beer. Every loaf of bread. Every magazine and newspaper and paperback and hardback book. Every computer and floppy disk. All the DVDs and CDs and Blu-Ray discs and VHS video cassettes and vinyl records and compact cassettes and all the appliances to play and record them. All the wine and water. Everything. How big would that warehouse be?

Props to Walmart for carrying Gardein Chick'n Strips again. I have missed them, and was dismayed when they stopped stocking this product last year. — Props to Walmart for carrying Gardein Chick’n Strips again. I have missed them, and was dismayed when they stopped stocking this product last year.

Another cooking success happened when Abby wanted baked potatoes recently. I paired them with veggie burgers and sauteed chives, and it was amazing.

"Fiend," a coworker's bulldog, has become the defacto mascot of The Ada News. — “Fiend,” a coworker’s bulldog, has become the defacto mascot of The Ada News.

Abby and I saw some of a M*A*S*H marathon. We’ve both been watching this show all our lives, so I looked it up: of the 11 main actors throughout the series, only five are still alive: Alan Alda, Loretta Swit, Gary Burghoff, Mike Farrell, and Jamie Farr.

Abby and I watched The Innocent Man, a Netflix original series, this week. Though I was not interviewed on camera, the show, about two mishandled murders in Ada, is full of my images. I wrote my column this week, which ended up being our lead story Wednesday, about the day two of them were exonerated.

This is an overview of the courtroom April 15, 1999, when Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson were released from prison after DNA evidence exonerate of the 1982 murder of Debra Sue Carter. As Abby and I watched "The Innocent Man," I recognized many people I know very well to this day. — This is an overview of the courtroom April 15, 1999, when Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson were released from prison after DNA evidence exonerate of the 1982 murder of Debra Sue Carter. As Abby and I watched “The Innocent Man,” I recognized many people I know very well to this day.

Despite producers' efforts to make Ada look bleak, secretive and undereducated, I remain enamoured of this place, my home for all these years. Pictured is the December 6, 2018 Parade of Lights, which is beautiful, well-attended, and fun. — Despite producers’ efforts to make Ada look bleak, secretive and undereducated, I remain enamoured of this place, my home for all these years. Pictured is the December 6, 2018 Parade of Lights, which is beautiful, well-attended, and fun.

My close friend, photographer Courtney Morehead, brought this camera-shaped cookie for me yesterday. She got it at Amber's Sweet Shoppe, where Amber has somehow perfected a physics-defying 104% sugar recipe. — My close friend, photographer Courtney Morehead, brought this camera-shaped cookie for me yesterday. She got it at Amber’s Sweet Shoppe, where Amber has somehow perfected a physics-defying 104% sugar recipe.

An unassailable truth: when Abby is up and about, I can sneak through the house like a ninja. But when she’s asleep, I might as well be on roller skates carrying a box of chandeliers.

My intermediate/advanced photography class ended on a high note, with good epiphanies from all my students. We all had fun, and they all seemed to learn a lot.

My column for Saturday will be about the true meaning of Christmas, about which I will likely catch flak because I didn’t mention Christ. But it was a good-natured column, so only the true nut jobs will call. Yay.

I brought this cheap Amazon.com knockoff of a Lensball to class Monday, and it really seemed to open a lot of eyes and stoke a lot of imaginations.

Of the dozens of cutouts available in my "bokeh kit," my students like the frowny-faced ones the best. Symbolic? — Of the dozens of cutouts available in my “bokeh kit,” my students like the frowny-faced ones the best. Symbolic?

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