I fell in love with Limoncello in Italy. I found it refreshing, tasty, and a bit powerful. The above is an image of my BruinCello concoction. It probably has been invented by someone else but what the heck. I made this one. It's pretty simple. Put frozen blueberries in a glass. This happens to be a small apertif kind of a glass. Pour really cold limoncello in it. Watch the pretty blue bits float to the bottom. Drink it. BruinCello. And my sci-fi novel invention too! For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and... Continue reading

The title is a bit esoteric. One of the strange lyrics from the song "Pompeii" by Bastille. And yes, this is Pompeii. One of the little side alleys you can look down but not walk down. There are many places to wander there though. And many tourists too. Probably more crowded in summer and a lot hotter. But it was nice. We booked a tour via Viator to go there. We stopped off at Mount Vesuvius, had lunch at a not very good place, then went on to Pompeii. Pretty good value and I'd recommend that itinerary for anyone. You... Continue reading

Going to start posting some shots from my vacation to Italy. Hope you find them interesting. This one I caught as we entered the Vatican. A guard I believe who might have been speaking on the phone. As I have mentioned before, get your tickets for the Vatican before you go. The lines are ridiculous. My sci fi novel! For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are up there as Leslie R. Lee. Appears to only... Continue reading

Where We Went: Rome - Our Trip to Italy Let’s talk about Rome. Make sure it’s on your bucket list if you’ve not been yet. Will I be back. Maybe. So many things we missed on our short stay in Roma. A week. And I feel we didn’t waste a second of our precious time. Everywhere you go, there’s something amazing Yet, I think when we return to Italy, we may skip Rome to go visit other parts. Very tiring. I think one of the reasons is that being the first part of our journey, we were horribly jet lagged.... Continue reading

I put up a couple of reviews on Tripadvisor and Yelp for these two hotels, both of which I would stay in again: Hotel Relais 6 in Rome (the above photo is of their breakfast spread) http://www.yelp.com/biz/relais-6-roma?hrid=mcfzujKtnncXyZhDpRFFNA http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187791-d1510499-Reviews-Relais_6-Rome_Lazio.html Hotel Caravaggio in Florence http://www.yelp.com/biz/hotel-caravaggio-firenze?hrid=DDvO5U9SW0VP02nggwzlfQ http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187895-d295625-r237600256-Hotel_Caravaggio-Florence_Tuscany.html I liked the Relais 6 better as a hotel, but it’s in Rome not in Florence. I highly recommend the Relais 6 but it is a little out of the way. I do not find that a bad thing. The Hotel Caravaggio is very well situated but is smaller. But I do recommend it with some... Continue reading

Preparation for the Trip. Here are a few things we did in preparation for our trip. Also I'll point out some things that worked well for us to take on our two week vacation to Italy. First, make sure you have great shoes. This means working your shoes in right before you go. Wear them a lot. In Italy, you’re going to be walking probably more than you imagine and over ground that isn’t the smoothest. Cobble stones. Lots of cracks. Dirt. Stairs. Many stairs. Italians love their dogs. Picking up after them, not so much. International phone plans. If... Continue reading

A poor shot of the Moon. I fogot to set up the settings manually. It was foggy and didn't think I'd get any shots. But there you go. The Moon looked big but then on the horizon, it always does. And my sci fi novel is big to me: For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are up there as Leslie R. Lee. Appears to only be B & N so far. Just so you know,... Continue reading

Someone threw some soap or detergent into the fountains on the Santa Monica Promenade on Sunday. The kids really liked it. Evenutally, the authorities put caution tape all around the affected fountain. Probably because they didn't know what else was thrown in there. However, that would be true at any time. Hopefully, whatever was making the bubbles was harmless. Hopefully, my scifi novel isn't completey harmless either: For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are up... Continue reading

Thought the play of light and dark on the wicker of this piece of furniture was interesting. At least to me. I thought I would turn it into black and white when I processed it. But I liked the color, the huse of the wicker. The original processing seemed more red to me. So I don't what happened when it was turned into a JPEG. Still like it though Something I like as well: For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name... Continue reading

Ducks at the Getty. Can't be more descriptive than that. Although the Getty has drained one of their fountains to conserve water, they have kept their main pool going. I think that is necessary not for the visitors of all kinds to enjoy and find peace at the museum. I'm sure the mom and the seven ducklings are most appreciative as well. Something you might appreciate as well: For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are... Continue reading

The stamin (?) of a big yellow blossom off a tree. The blossoms are about the size of my hand in length. Very pretty. Also full of bees which freaked out some people. As I have said previously, if you want to know how completely uninterested most bees are in you, just try taking a shot of one. They just don't care. As long as you don't you don't bug them. Then they care a bunch. And here's something I care about! For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the... Continue reading

This is taken from the last car of the tram that takes you from the parking lot to the Getty and vice versa. In this particular case, it was taken on the way out back to the parking lot. It's a short little tram ride but very pleasant when it's not too crowded. A very pleasant day there as always. The museum is free but parking is $15.00. If you're going to eat at the restaurant I suggest making a reservation online or as soon as you get there. The cafeteria is excellent and much cheaper. Or even better, take... Continue reading

Playing around with composition and depth of field. And cropping. I tend to shoot wide then crop close. That's the best reason for having a bunch of megpixels on your sensor. To be able to crop and still have a decent shot. Just my opinion. And no need to ask my opinion on my own science fiction book? For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are up there as Leslie R. Lee. Appears to only be... Continue reading

One of the fountains at The Getty has been drained for the duration of the drought. A shame since this looks great when it has running water. Always popular with the kids. The big pool with the waterfall is still running. A family of ducks is enjoying that. Have you been missing me pushing my scifi book? For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are up there as Leslie R. Lee. Appears to only be B... Continue reading

I've been processing rather than posting. And now I'm almost caught up, I shall start posting again. I'm sure you've been missing them right? This was taken recently in the UCLA Mildren Mathias Botanical Garden. The garden has been going through some renovation, recently opening up a new entrance and some new displays. It is well worth the visit. Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden And I know you've been missing me pushing my scifi book so: For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under... Continue reading

This little girl just appeared in the shot suddently as I was taking a shot of my wife at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA. I don't even recall her being in the shot or her running into it. Don't know if that's a case of a senior moment or concentrating so hard on the composition that someone can run into it and I'm not noticing. In any case, I really love it. And you know... My novel! It's right here! For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the... Continue reading

Actualy a shot by my butt as I was walking along. I do this often and I almost always like the effect. I hate to think that my butt can take more interesting shots than me though. Guess it doesn't matter as long as I get something interesting out of it. And you know... My novel! For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are up there as Leslie R. Lee. Appears to only be B &... Continue reading

My wife took this photo with her iPhone. I appropriated it and added some weird processing. So I now consider it to be my image LOL. That is Mount Rainier in the background there. We were very fortunate to get a few clear days when we were up there a few months back. No, it didn't quite look like this. And hey, here again is my novel! For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are up... Continue reading

Thought this looked good as a grayscale image. Just to catch the lines and shapes and the silhouettes of the trees in the background. And it has a slight erotic feel to it. At least for me but then I'm a guy. For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are up there as Leslie R. Lee. Appears to only be B & N so far. Just so you know, because I know you've downloaded and read... Continue reading

Another shot of the Sundial Bridge in Redding, California. I'm slowly processing all the photos I took those months ago. Taking photos is easy. Processing them is fun but is a lot of work. Trying to capture the feeling that I had when I took the shot is hard and sometimes it just doesn't come through. Still, it is very much worth the effort to me. For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are up there... Continue reading

Continuing to process photos from my trip up to Washington. This is the Sacramento River and I believe that is Mount Shasta in the background. The big white round thing in the sky might be the Moon but I hate going out on a limb like that. For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are up there as Leslie R. Lee. Appears to only be B & N so far. Just so you know, because I... Continue reading

Just some glasses. But I like the pattern and that it's almost just a grayscale shot. I wish I'd used a higher f-stop for better D of F but it's not bad like this either. Probably would have needed a tripod. Here ya go... For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are up there as Leslie R. Lee. Appears to only be B & N so far. Just so you know, because I know you've downloaded... Continue reading

I always see things in clouds. What do you see? I see many things and in some ways, this captures what might be watching as well. Here ya go... For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are up there as Leslie R. Lee. Appears to only be B & N so far. Just so you know, because I know you've downloaded and read The Edge. My science fiction novel, The Wound, the sequel to The Edge,... Continue reading

Another beautiful flower out in Santa Barbara. Don't know what it is. Just pretty. And... For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are up there as Leslie R. Lee. Appears to only be B & N so far. Just so you know, because I know you've downloaded and read The Edge. My science fiction novel, The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is now available here for $00.99!!! How great is that? Just think, you can... Continue reading

Was at a beautiful wedding yesterday and these buds were just opening up. Have no idea what they were. Great setting on the top of a hill in Santa Barbara. Very glad we were invited and were allowed to share in their joy. And... For those who care, there's some issue with my books up on Barnes and Noble. The Wound, the sequel to The Edge, is under the name Leslie Lee. My other books are up there as Leslie R. Lee. Appears to only be B & N so far. Just so you know, because I know you've downloaded... Continue reading