More Shameless Self Promotion

Wow - somehow I feel legitimized. I always travel with camera in tow, snapping photos to share with friends and to share with my neice and nephew to expand their worldview. Lately, I have been getting some props for photos posted to Flickr, with occasional requests to use them for various works. This one, though, caught me off guard - a journalist wanted to use it for reference to peace talks in Nepal. How could I say no? When I did and forwarded him the story behind the otherwise non-spectacular photo, he published that too (with my permission, of course....). Click here for the whole story....er, my story!

2007 Calendars Available Now!

I've opted to self-publish calendars for 2007 featuring some of my favorite images from, in no particular order: Norway, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, New Zealand, Nepal, Morocco, and the US. Any worldwideglimpses readers who purchase a calendar get a spiffy personalized Giant Thank You! Click here to purchase..

Tools of the Trade

Playing with depth of field.

Tools of the Trade

Front Porch Railing

Here, the railings have been prepped for priming, but it's hard to tell from the photo that they are 3 steps away from being the finished product!

Column Base

This is one of the column bases on the front porch. Because of some longitudinal cracking, this one needed some repair. It's been repaired and sealed with an adhesive sealant that is fill or primer ready. The next stage for the porch is filling in the uneven spots, sanding them smooth, and starting with the primer before the paint can be applied.

Holy......hole!

The previously existing hole and light fixture. One more case in which the former owners opted to do things half-assed. The hole is just thwonked in there....and the fixture is rusted through. It's an indoor fixture, not an outdoor fixture (and will be replaced poste haste). Why bother doing something if you don't intend to do it right? Take the ceiling wood. It's beautiful tongue-in-groove, original construction (1886). Yee-haw.

This Old House Home Repair - Front Porch

I've been working on what I call my "last 2%" - the last few dozen or so things on my to-do list for the house. The current project is my front porch. The paint on the columns, ceiling, and railings was peeling pretty horrendously, with some patches of wood showing through - even the primer had peeled away. Rather than wait through winter for additional crack and peel activity, I've opted to have that addressed with priority.

Luckily, I've found a fantastic contractor. I can't call this one a handyman because that's degrading to the level of skill and quality he provides. The first phase of the porch repair is complete; next steps are filling in the low spots, priming, and painting. He has already spent some time and effort into getting the porch into its current upgraded condition. Namely, filling cracks and holes with a primer-ready adhesive sealant. Except for the surface unevenness, it looks painted - but it's just at the almost-ready-to-prime step, so I'm sure the end product will be gleamingly beautiful. And for a bonus, he doesn't mind me being invasively curious - not so much that I would do the work myself (not possible to his degree of skill), but just enough so that I want to know why this sealant and not the other is the best choice. The best part: hearing him describe the things he likes about the house, from a construction point of view, and his admiration for All Things Old.



Front porch column joint to railing (with new seal).