Tag Archive: Sienna


Me and SJ

The Black Laser and this peanut share a birthday. We make serious faces.

A few weeks ago, it became clear to me that I would probably be able to hit my 1000th post on The Black Laser’s third birthday. As the date (11/11/11) got closer, I realized that not only would I hit 1000 posts but that I would actually have to plan on how to do it so I didn’t overshoot and post my 1000th before the 11th. Exciting!

So what does 1000 Black Laser posts look like? Here’s the breakdown!

Not surprisingly Music and it’s subset Music Videos are the overwhelming majority here. But, what I do find surprising is that I have more than twice as many Writing posts as I do Photography posts. I was fairly sure that Photography would be in second place behind music, but it’s in fourth place behind Thoughts AND Writing. Interesting! I guess I do a lot more writing and blabbing about random crap that I thought. Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s all I do here. Why do you people keep coming back? Is it my charm? My devilish good looks? My witty repartee?

To be honest, fewer and fewer people are coming to The Black Laser every day. What’s with that? It used to be I’d get a hundred fifty to a couple hundred hits every day, even if I didn’t post very much. Now, I’m lucky if I break a hundred. Where have all the people gone? I suppose it will just slowly wind down over the next three years until it’s just me, alone, yelling out at the internet, unread, unloved, and uncaring. Hermit mode—ACTIVATE!!!!

As in previous years, I will take this opportunity to wish my favorite person in the whole world a similarly magnificent 3rd birthday. Happy birthday, SJ. I hope I get back to read you more bedtime stories and turn you into a baby burrito soon.

Here’s to another successful year of infecting the internet with my own brand of madness. Cheers!

EDIT///

Here’s the proof!

Happy Halloween!!

I am the worst person at Halloween. If Halloween were winning the World Series, I’d be The Cubs. I’m that bad. It’s not that I hate the holiday, but that I just can never get it together in time to actually get a costume and then figure out something to do. It’s always either last minute or not at all. And then there are the years I get stuck at work. There are worse things I suppose.

Instead of showing you my costume, I’ll wish you a happy Halloween with a couple of cute little nuggets you’re sure to recognize.

Happy Halloween, Black Laserites!

And I think it’s worth sharing.

Sienna listening to Monster by Last Gaga: the big bad wolf got her heart out of her throat. And he ate it. And he is a monster, and there is another monster who ate her heart. And they shared. Because they’re nice. And they both like eating hearts. Yeah.

Adorable. She’s my favorite person.

Just little moments of profoundly silly zen starring Charlie, Beata, and SJ.

Last weekend I went to California for the wedding of my dear old friend Sean to a woman I had never met but who seems quite lovely. The wedding was beautiful. It took place outside at a bed & breakfast in Fort Bragg, CA, a little town along the coast about 3 hours north of San Francisco. They had llamas and dancing and vegetarian food and lights and the whole thing was really nice.

I didn’t take a single fucking photo of that bullshit.

Instead, I took a bunch of photos of my brother’s young family at their house in San Rafael (which any person from the Bay Area will know is pronounced “san ra-fell”). Take a look!

Corinne has a drooling problem.Mikey and Baby 2.Film noir in her Baby Bjorn.Leah.No, you will not get milk from that. Idiot.Mikey and Baby 2 again.Leah making a serious face.A pre-dinner snack.You got something on your chin, kid.Moments before voluminous vomiting.SJ is a superhero.Or a dancer. I don't know. She is both.Corinne being abused by her elder sister.Straight chillin'.Not safe, but when is fun safe?SJ is a princess.I can see you.Hugging children.She laughs. And she didn't puke on me.Uncle Joe approves of this one.We be on a little hike and crap.JJ blows bubbles.More bubbles.Even more bubbles. Bubbles are fun.SJ doing whatever.BOOM.Family portrait.Family portrait 2.Family portrait 3.Family portrait 4.Beata gives me the stink-eye.Totally normal.No, Corinne, that's not a nipple either.WHEEEEEEE!!!!In moments she would be a screaming mess.So concerning.

I think the photos are nice. Nothing crazy special about them. I am totally in love with my niece Sienna though. My favorite moments of the trip where when she’d come in and wake me up on the sofa. “Hi, uncle Joe.” “Hi, SJ.” “Did you see my doll?” “I do now, SJ.”

Here’s a good example.

And then I got this e-mail from Leah.

Subject: Sienna misses joe.

When I just put sienna down she asked me to tuck her in like a baby burrito and call her SJ.’ Then she said ‘why did uncle joe have to go back to new York?’

Reference: the first night there I read her a bedtime story and then tucked her in and told her I was wrapping her up like a baby burrito. God damn, don’t you just want to smother her?

Yesterday my lovely sister in law Leah gave birth to her second daughter, named Corinne Katherine Dillingham. Originally due on my birthday (6/17), she decided she was sick of being cooped up in Leah’s womb and thought that yesterday was a good time to emerge in San Francisco. My sort-of sister in law Beata works at the same hospital as a nurse and excitedly came online to IM me that Leah was going into labor and that she was SOOOOO EXCITED and had to share since Cha was still at work.

Well, then I got all excited and texted my brother and Leah wishing them “Good luck with the hatching!!”

He replied, “The alien will come out through the ribcage.”

To which I replied, “Catch it before it burns a hole in the floor and kills everyone else, Ripley.” Then I requested photos. Which he sent! Do you want to see?! Of course you do!

What a lovely family.

Welcome to planet earth, you crazy little shit. You’re in for a wild ride.

You know what’s weird?

How quickly babies grow. Remember this adorable little peanut?

Of course you do. She’s adorable. How could you not? Well, just look at this photo sent to me this morning by my brother.

What, is she dressed up for a night on the town? Gonna take the Beemer out for a spin, are ya kid? Where the hell have I been? Although the growth of babies has got to be one of the most mundane things in life, consider my mind blown.

Last month my brother, his wife, and their child Sienna came to visit me in New York. It was an adorable trip and we hung out and danced and played and ate and ventured through the city without a care in the world. I also took a bunch of photos. Surprise surprise!!

Here are some of the best of the set.

Here’s the whole gallery!

And even better, a bonus video!

YouTube Preview Image

For these photos I took out my much maligned 50mm prime, the unbelievably cheap piece of glass I got with my first camera. I thought, then, that it would be a great tool for learning, but I ended up using my Tamron 28-75 much much more. However, the Tamron is long gone and replaced by a superior lens I use more and more rarely, and the 50mm is still sitting in my drawer. I never really liked using the lens; it felt clunky and inelegant compared to the zoom I was used to shooting with. It didn’t behave like I wanted it to, and I had a hard time achieving pleasing results.

But that was then, and this is now. Now, I have much more experience shooting with primes, so I thought maybe I ought to give the little 50 a second chance. I am glad I did because, for such a cheap shit lens, it is capable of making quite good photographs. I used it a lot in this set since it’s super light and we were wandering all over the place and I didn’t want to carry around a bunch of heavy shit.

I am still not entirely satisfied with the clunky auto-focus, but that’s about it. Sure it’s soft wide open, but what isn’t? I kind of like that. Having everything in super sharp focus is for illustration and technical photographs. Life’s not in focus all the time, so why should my photos be? Right. I can definitely see upgrading to the slightly more expensive 50mm f/1.4 in the future just to have the more advanced auto-focus mechanism. There’s no reason to go L for a half-stop difference, though, especially with the fine high ISO performance of the 5D2. Stay tuned for further developments from the little lens that could.