retrofocus ramblings.

by the man-in-plastic – j. kiely jr., photographer, pilot, diver and sometimes nerd

Archive for the ‘personal’ Category

Whole Foods Rose – redux

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All apologies, the rose project ground to a sudden halt with the release of iOS 5 by Apple. Stupidly I tried to update the first moment and it took me two days to get my iPhone back working. In that time I lost the zest of the project. To summarize the single long stem rose from Whole Foods in Dedham MA lasted greater than 10 days before it bent at the top of the stem and continued to dry. The air in my office is rather dry, despite the rose itself being in a wine bottle filled with tap water. In the end I’d give the rose a very acceptable life span of 10 days before looking kind of sad.

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October 25th, 2011 at 6:54 pm

Whole Foods Rose – day 3

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Monday October 3, 2011
rose - day 3

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October 3rd, 2011 at 7:44 pm

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Whole Foods Rose – day 2

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Sunday October 2, 2011

rose - day 2

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October 3rd, 2011 at 7:41 pm

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Whole Foods Rose – day 1

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Saturday October 1, 2011 – a single rose purchased at Whole Foods Dedham.

It is my intention to take an iPhone snapshot of this flower in it’s makeshift vase every day of it’s flower life. Just to see how long a Whole Foods Rose does indeed last. Although the permalink indicates all from the same time period, I am trusting my iPhone to carry me through here. Let’s see how the flower lives. -j.

rose - day 1

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October 3rd, 2011 at 7:40 pm

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Testing Before Flight.

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I really do miss my good buddy.
Her name was Pepper. Born November 1996, died October 2009.

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April 8th, 2010 at 2:06 am

Posted in personal,photography,thoughts

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The Indoor Outdoor Magic.

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I don’t want to go to far out on a limb, but I bet it was a New Englander that came up with the idea for the indoor outdoor remote thermometer. Really, I do. My mother is totally addicted to hers and she bought me one for my office for Christmas. Now I’m addicted. Something about the weather. I tell ya. Around here there’s always something to say about the weather. And with this puppy you have twice as much to say!

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March 10th, 2010 at 3:25 am

Things Happy To Lose.

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Approximately 14 hours from now I have the pleasure of being sedated in a doctor’s office to have my “braces” removed.
This is a great thing.
I probably should have been ‘blogging more about my recent run-in with the American medical system as his ‘blog of my is titled “maninplastic” for that very reason. In the Fall of 2007 I fell and spent 12 weeks wrapped in a plastic shell brace. Therein came the name.

Anyway on January 8, 2010 I had surgery and had these braces affixed to my upper and lower teeth. All of them. These suckers are definitely attached to my teeth and removal includes a trip to la-la land under the careful eye of some well-trained medical professionals.

Although this is slightly a cross-post with my Facebook page, I’ll add this x-ray image of my mouth to liven the page up.

See you without a metal mouth real soon!

peace,
-j.

x-ray image of my jaw

x-ray image of my jaw with the braces

Written by j.

February 21st, 2010 at 11:39 pm

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Parts Honestly

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Already mentioned this on Facebook, but events of the last few hours have not dulled my annoyance at all.
Backing up a few days, Friday morning my now vintage Jeep decided it didn’t want to start. As I’ve been having intermittent starting issues here and there this was not a huge surprise.
Finally having the time to deal with it until Saturday morning I diagnosed the most likely cause, starter solenoid, and began the hunt for the $40 part.
No local parts store was left unchecked.
In the end nobody had it. It would have to be ordered and prepaid to boot. And I would have to come to the store to make payment. Great.
Anyway the guy at the local NAPA store was more helpful. He informed me that if I called back first thing Monday morning that the part could be loaded on the warehouse shuttle and I could likely pick it up Monday afternoon.
Nope, didn’t work that way.
I called this morning at 10-past-9. Different voice informed me that he didn’t have the part, but I could order it and pay over the phone.
This I did.
With any luck I can throw the Jeep back together before the rain and snow invades us Tuesday.
Fingers crossed!

Written by j.

February 15th, 2010 at 9:53 am

His Name is Scott Brown

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In my 16 years behind the camera for newspapers I covered more than a few local and statewide political campaigns.
That was fine with me as Political Science was my major in college.
Anyway, by now a good portion of the English-speaking world knows the name of Scott Brown. The state senator from Wrentham MA who defeated the Attorney General of Massachusetts to claim Massachusetts United States Senate seat previously held by Edward M. Kennedy.
Before Teddy held that seat his brother John held it. With a brief interlude with Benjamin A. Smith II in the middle.
There have been some pretty heavyweight political luminaries over the course of the history of the U.S. Senate that have held that seat.

All that said, I met Scott Brown for the first time in 1998. Back then he was in a three way race to take a Massachusetts state representative seat. As I was working in the bucolic hamlet of Norfolk MA at the time, this was a race that I covered.

Now I’m pretty sure I have more images than this, and as a good number of people have yet to become my Facebook friend, I figured I’d post a few shots from a long time ago in this space.

Do enjoy a small window back in time. While some have grown up in these images, there is little doubt we’ve all aged.

Enjoy!

1998 League of Women Voters Debate

Scott Brown, center, at a League of Women Voters debate


1998 League of Women Voters Debate

Scott Brown answers questions on mic.


1998 Scott Brown Campaign

Scott Brown in shades and a leather jacket. I'd have to do more research to figure out why he is dressed as such, but Scott Brown has always be up for doing what it takes. Looks like he is having fun.

1998 Election Night With Daughter

Holding his daughter (unsure which one) and a mobile phone, Scott Brown receives polling information on election night during his run for state representative.


1998 Election Night Victory Hug

Scott Brown is hugged by his daughter (unsure which one) as his wife Gail Huff, right, joins the celebration on election night. Scott Brown was elected to serve in the State of Massachusetts House of Representatives.