Ice Curtain, originally uploaded by Deviant Brainwave.

Finally we are nearing a foot of snow (as E. observed, we use American measurements, since we are not used to any other way of measuring such phenomena).

After driving to the university this afternoon over dangerous icy roads, only to find out that a message about the cancellation of classes was sent a few minutes after I left home, I decided to take it easy and we went out for a walk. There some pictures up on my Flickr.

I just noticed that I have 98 Gmail invitations left on my account. If anyone is interested, please let me know.

Those of you who happen to wonder into this site from time to time beyond the blessed RSS feed have probably noticed that on the right hand side there are thumbnails of some of my latest creations from Flickr. Most of the pictures have been taken using my old and reliable Olympus C750-UZ, a camera that I bought for my self as a birthday present back in 2003, and has been serving me faithfully since.

After taking photography classes a couple of years ago, I learned more technical terms and methods that have made me realize that despite my camera being one of the best compact SLR-like cameras out there (in my opinion, and also in the opinion of my former teacher), I would have been able to produce photos of a much better technical quality if I had a good DSLR camera. This often raises a question: should my next camera be a DSLR, or should I settle for an easily portable point-and-shoot solution or a maybe better camera phone.

Ignoring the obvious price differences, the question boils down to two issues: portability and point-of-view. Portability is considered because I never know when I will see something worth taking a picture of. I wish I could carry a camera with me all the time, but since I usually carry a heavy load as it is, I don’t need the extra weight. This thought leads to a compact camera solution. However, when I do take a picture, I often enjoy my camera’s high optical zoom and the good picture quality, and I don’t think I’ve heard of a compact camera that can equal these traits.

The other issue is my point-of-view, and that rarely has anything to do with the technology. I often like to see the bigger picture – in this case, literally. Taking good scenery photos while traveling is something that can be done with simple cameras as well as sophisticated SLRs. I believe a good photographer looks more at the details. Every pixel has a meaning, and this is not something I enjoy dwelling on.

The other two subjects I enjoy taking pictures of are wildlife and what I would call “irony” situations. Clearly, good wildlife pictures can be best achieved with a good camera that has a high zoom level. Yet, by the time I could get a camera out, the deer has ran off, leaving me with nothing. The “irony” situations are rarely understood by others, but I enjoy them all the same. I like showing decay, even though it is not “pretty”. I like it when two things are put together in one frame even if they don’t fit (check out my recent BBQ Weather or post-Christmas photos as an example).

The bottom line is that what I enjoy about photography is a personal view of things. It makes taking pictures fun, and therefore I like sharing my pictures with whoever would like to see them. Yet, this is unlikely to make me a successful photographer.

While we were still on our break in Israel and ever since we came back, thoughts have been running through my head, trying to summarize our time here. It’s not easy. A lot of questions still remain unanswered. If you have been reading E’s weekly accounts of our time in Cincinnati, you know that our mood has been swinging in parallel. I still don’t know if coming here was a smart thing to do. I will need more time before I can answer this question.

There are surely things that I regret, as well as things that I am happy about. Putting together a happy/sad list helps me sort things out in my mind:

Happy

• E. – The driver for this big change in our lives was E., and I am happy to be here with him. I think he is doing the smartest thing by getting his PhD, and I appreciate that he is doing everything in his powers to support me during my studies. At the moment, all we have here is each other, and this is all we need. I feel that we can get through everything here as long as we’re doing it together.
• The Weather – Yes, it gets cold and snowy in Cincinnati, but at least we get to see the whole spectrum of seasons. I’m not sure I will still think like that in February, but as I’m looking through my window right now and watching the snow drifting I am happy to be here.
• School – I am still ambivalent about whether this was a good choice, but my optimism causes this item to be on the “happy” side of my list. I know that a Masters degree will open new opportunity. I’m still not sure I’m at the best school I could go to. Also, the previous quarter was too stressful for me to enjoy my studies, which is a shame, but I hope this will change soon.

Sad

• Friends – I miss my friends back home and I wish they were closer. It was wonderful to see everyone during my break, and there are a few that I was sorry to have missed. We still don’t have close friends here and this is often the reason we feel down. I hope this will change with time.
• Cats – I think the greatest sacrifice I made when coming here was to give away Willy and Sebastian. I miss them every moment. Hearing the news about Willy’s passing broke my heart. I kept thinking that this wouldn’t have happened if I stayed. I feel guilty for giving him to someone who did not take good care of him. If I had stayed in Israel, Willy would have still been a happy, living cat today. As for Sebastian, I know that he is being well taken care of by my niece and my sister-in-law, but seeing him there made me realize that he is not happy. He is now living in the courtyard, while he is used to the warmth of being indoors. I miss him.
• Being foreign – Clearly, we do not belong here, and the locals make sure we know it. The strict American immigration laws make it very difficult for a foreigner to feel at home here. Combined with laws concerning credit, employment, insurance etc., the bureaucracy makes it almost impossible to settle down. E. wrote a comprehensive list about it, and there are a few things I could add to that list. What I know for sure is that I don’t feel welcome here, and I don’t like it.
• Safety – There are a lot of reasons Cincinnati is not one of my favourite cities. Yet, the most notable reason is that I just don’t feel safe here. We get weekly emails about violent robberies and attacks taking place in the area near the university that just strengthen this feeling. I don’t think I can feel at home where I am not safe.

Hopefully, with time, the Happy list will get longer than the Sad list. If it does, I’ll let you know.

Being sick is a horrible way to spend my last free weekend before school starts again. Yet, I am sitting in bed today, catching up on some blog reading while I should be reading articles and prepare for classes and probably should be taking breaks and having some fun too.

I blame too many flights in one week. I blame the flight attendant that called in sick at the last minute for our flight from JFK to Detroit, causing the flight to be 1.5 hours late and us to miss our connection to Dayton. I blame the airport authorities in Detroit that for some reason didn’t think it was necessary to turn on the heating at the airport, causing us to spend more than four hours waiting in sub-zero temperatures in the terminal. Somewhere on these flights there must have been some poor sick traveler who spread germs all over, so they are to blame too.

I think I need the help of Dr. Sunjay Gupta.