Azrieli, originally uploaded by Deviant Brainwave.

I’m back in Cincinnati. I realize that I haven’t posted anything to say that I was anywhere else, probably because I was just having too much of a good time to stop and post about it.

I spent ten days in the Tel Aviv sunshine, enjoying the company of friends and family, good food, coffee and wine and a repetitive stream of stories. There was some feelings of ambivalence. On the one hand, I was home, with the people I care about most and whose company I appreciate more than anything. On the other hand, I was a visitor, spending my nights on a fold-out bed in someone else’s house, uncommitted to the day-to-day life and worries of the place.

I did miss the comfort of my own bed, but if I had to stay a little longer I wouldn’t have said no. In fact, after a year and a quarter I still don’t consider Cincinnati as my home, and I don’t know if I will ever be able to. However, for now at least, I’m staying here. It’s time to get back to the grind of a postgraduate student’s life as the winter quarter starts tomorrow. Just one more to go.

BTW: The picture above was taken with the camera on my new Nokia 5800 phone. Not bad for a phone…

Tomorrow will be the last day of my internship. I don’t think there will be many things I will regret leaving behind. This was not my best ever job to say the least. Yet, as a perpetual pessimist with optimistic aspirations, I do try to find a positive twist.

While attempting to find a way to escape the loop of muzak that was constantly played in just the right volume to annoy on the PA system, and despite the excessively restrictive internet policy, I found solace with NPR Music.

After realizing I could not use my MP3 player for the entire day and still have a battery that will enable me to listen to music on my way home, I turned to the possibility of finding a stream that wasn’t blocked. Luckily, this was the case with some NPR stations. Of all the amazing selection of genres and shows, the one I got to like the most is All Songs Considered, along with its related live concerts. It is a pleasure to listen to an adult and to-the-point conversation about music, some of which I liked and some I just tolerated. I always enjoy being introduced to artists I have never heard of before, and in the past year or so since I started studying I feel that I have a big gaping hole of musical vacuum that needs to be filled with such introductions. All Songs Considered did just that. Through its amazing streaming shows and podcasts I finally managed to properly listen to artists like Neko Case and Conor Oberst whom I only briefly heard or head of before. It was also a pleasure to return to old favourites like Radiohead, The Arcade Fire and The New Pornographers. Oh, how I wish I could be at these shows. Of course, there were also some artists that were completely new to me, and I am still going through these recordings with the aim of finding out exactly which ones to return to.

All these discoveries do warrant an upcoming shopping spree on the Amazon MP3 shop, though it may need to wait for a while. With the end of an internship comes the end of employment, so until I rejoin the productive workforce I will have to make do with free NPR music podcasts while my shopping list keeps getting longer and longer.

Colourful leaves on the ground are one of the beauties of autumn. Leaf blowers are not.

Neighbour, originally uploaded by Deviant Brainwave.

Following on yesterday’s post, in which I failed to provide a picture of the yellow tree outside our window, here is one take just moments ago of our neighbour posing in said tree.

This is an amazing time of the year to be around Cincinnati. The leaves are changing their colours in bewildering shades and combinations all around us. Often I turn a corner and my mouth opens in awe of the impressive palette in front of me. Last weekend, E. and I went out for a drive to try and capture some of it, but as E. said, frames of these trees don’t do enough to broadcast the feeling of such a visual effect all around. One of the most astonishing things about it, is that it changes so quickly. The pictures below were taken a week ago, and already those trees have changed.

Naturally, we started on our street. Looking deeply into a street is the closest we could get to capturing the panorama of colour. Too bad it was too cold to step out of the car (the following morning the temperatures dipped below zero for the first time this year).

Autumn Lined Street, originally uploaded by Deviant Brainwave.

As we drove along we saw some more colours. The contrast of colours make them even more special.

Tricolour, originally uploaded by Deviant Brainwave.

Foliage is quick, though:

Foliage, originally uploaded by Deviant Brainwave.

One day the trees look like their on fire, and the following day the leaves are gone and they stand there naked, ready for winter.

Almost Naked, originally uploaded by Deviant Brainwave.

I don’t have a picture of the tree in front of our window. Three days ago it was green, with a few leaves turning red and yellow. During those three days I have left every morning before sunrise and returned home late at night, so the next time I saw it in daylight was this morning. In such a short time the tree turned bright yellow, and I’m guessing that within a week or so the leaves will be gone. I don’t know how much of this process I will be able to witness, as I’m expecting to be very busy in the next few weeks. There’s work, classes and a case competition. I could use a couple more days in a week.

Rainbow, originally uploaded by Deviant Brainwave.

One good thing to say about Cincinnati: it has four seasons, and the autumn is one of two nice ones (the other being spring).

As I drive back home from work I see the trees around me changing everyday. They become more spectacularly colourful. This won’t last for much longer, as some lose their leaves rapidly.

On Saturday the weather was gorgeous, and we drove to Woodland Mound to enjoy nature. The park proved to be a very tamed version of nature, but we did get to take some pictures of the autumn leaves.

Sunset, originally uploaded by Deviant Brainwave.

It has been a long time since I had the chance to witness a good sunset. I did see way too many sunrises, though, and as winter is approaching it is only going to get worse.

This sunset was nice, but not amazing. Unfortunately, my camera did not do justice to the colours. I’m afraid that after 6 years, my good old Olympus C750 UZ decided that it’s time to retire. It has been having some mechanical problems as well recently. I need to start my research for a new camera. Suggestions are welcome.

The Birds And The Bees, originally uploaded by Deviant Brainwave.

Yesterday, at Ault Park.

The Autumn Is Coming, originally uploaded by Deviant Brainwave.

This week, more and more trees have started to change their colours to red and yellow. Today I needed to zoom-in to get this photo at Ault Park, but soon no zoom will be necessary.

Today’s forecast is either a proof of the of the capricious South-Western Ohio weather, or yet another attempt by The Weather Channel to make sure they cover every possibility.

Unfortunately, I am unable to confirm or deny the accuracy of this forecast, since my depressing cubicle is nowhere near a window or any source of natural light. From the little I managed to gather, it was actually quite lovely today. In fact, the weather was so nice, that after I got home today I grabbed my camera and drove to Ault Park to enjoy it. I’ll get some photos up on Flickr soon.