the combination of heavy rain and serious wind made it impossible for me to leave the house and test out my new camera. instead i just stayed home, doing some online research, debating whether or not i should by another macro lens. around 3pm the rain finally stopped. with about an hour left of workable daylight (even though the sky was still overcasted), i got dressed and drove out to the mt.auburn cemetery, hoping to see some winter wild life.

i was surprised to see that there were a good number of people walking around the cemetery, taking advantage of the brief window of dry weather. i saw a few birds (sparrows and robins) but they weren't really interesting. i was hoping to see something prettier, maybe a cardinal or a bluejay, but the most exciting thing i saw were a few squirrels who ran up trees when they noticed me. at one point high overhead i spotted a sea gull and i was amazed that the lens was able to focus on the little dot in the sky when i pointed upwards. that's the thing with winter: everything's dead, there's very little to take photos of.

there really isn't any way to hide the camera, especially when i have the long telephoto lens attached. i tried to do some macro photography: with my old nikon coolpix, macros were about getting close to the subject, with the camera lens almost pressed up to whatever i was taking a photo of; with the canon, it's the complete opposite: i can shoot macros with my telephoto lens, but instead of sticking the lens up against the subject, i'm standing about 5 feet back. it feels weird and detached. i imagine it'd be great for taking photos of jittery flying insects, like dragonflies and butterflies (who don't like it when people get too close), but part of the fun of macro photography for me is being up close to nature. i want to get a close-up lens, which is a magnifying filter that screws on to the front of the camera, which will allow me to get closer to the subjects (about 2 feet).

i came back home before it got dark and got some groceries from the supermarket. i was originally supposed to go over to my friend andrew's place to watch the football game but he never got in touch with me until much later and by then i'd already decided i'd stay home instead. i made some ramen for dinner.

finally, new england patriots' season comes to a close tonight. there were some highlights, like that broncos player that got tackled by the patriots (who ran all the way from the other end of the field) within inches of crossing the goal line. after watching channel 4's highlight reel of the last 10 consecutive new england post-season victories, it took some of the hurt out of tonight's sting. whatever pain patriots' nation might feel, you must admit, we had a really good run, and broke a lot of hearts along the way. we were probably a little spoiled by our continuous successes, and i was already getting ready for another parade through boston. maybe we weren't as hungry as the broncos to get to the superbowl, but i can't shake the feeling that the only reason why the broncos won tonight was because the patriots' offense committed so many turnovers. it was a hard battle, and we never gave up until the very end, always within striking distance, until the broncos started to pull away within the last few minutes and a comeback became impossible. i just wish the football season would start again next week!