Ahoy!

One weird week. Sad, terrifying, and weird. A mix of feelings that doesn't taste any better, but bitter. With this week beginning, on Monday specifically, we got the shocking news of the departure of a cousin in a car accident. He was 18. A memory glimpse passed through my mind, of all the times (even though short) when I had this boy in my lap.With all the sadness, there is a feeling of being lucky to be 32 (almost), and sad again to know such time passed, and sad again to know such a young fellow passed away, and terrifying to know death is lurking. Death, has no alarm clock.

I've finally finished what I was waiting for; the visa interview in the US embassy here. Easily done even with sort of a long wait. I just have to wait now to get my passport back (via DHL?). On the other hand, I didn't book anything yet; not a place, nor tickets. I better work little bit on this soon. Also, I need to plan and figure out how I'm going to move my camera and other stuff with me. It will be a heavy load for sure.

I. Cool me down:

Still struggling with long exposures, and realized now that the weather is one big challenge. With this heat (38^oC~43^oC at night), it doesn't matter if you take a Dark-Frame exposure and subtract it from your shot, the noise will remain a big issue still.

For those who don't know, a Dark-Frame exposure is an exposure that can be done by the camera before recording the data of the image and it is simply an exposure taken at the same time period of the original shot with the shutter shut, i.e. doubling the time of taking the exposure. This Dark-Frame exposure can be done separately by the photographer, simply by capping (closing) the lens and running the exposure and it will be saved as an image. In Photoshop, this Dark-Frame image is blended with the original shot in Difference blend to subtract the noise. I prefer this method because I can keep the image file for later uses when needed. One issue though, the Dark-Frame exposure must be taken around the same temperature.

Now, with my latest shot that took 33 minutes, I've realized that the Dark-Frame method won't do here, specially with such hot weather. However, I did some trials on cleaning the noise with a free software called RawTherapee.

33 minutes
Canon EF-S 18-55mm @30mm,
f/22, 33 min, ISO100.

Now, away from the technical talk about what RawTherapee did here, just don't be fooled for the smoothness of the image here. It is just minimized, hence the noise effect is not apparent (click to enlarge and yet it is relatively smooth). The exposure itself was dark, I guess I was fooled by the LCD, and I've totally forgotten to base my judgement on the histogram.
However, there are certain mistakes done here that I have to pay attention to next time. First of all, the rocks that were apparent in the beginning disappeared later because of the overwhelming tide. In such darkness, there would be no trace of them at all except of few dark spots beside the main rock (or crag?). Secondly, I should've counted for the advancing water, as I almost got my camera dipped! The advancing tide could have even shook the tripod slightly (even with its excessive weight). Thus, it is better next time to stay away as much as possible for the line of water and zoom the lens if possible.

RawTherapee played a great deal in reducing the noise after all and frankly I didn't mingle much in it because there is a conflicting interest. As much as I wanted it to reduce the noise in my RAW file, as much as I want to edit my RAW in ACR. RawTherapee has all the controls but they are not as flexible and user-friendly as ACR is.
Anyway, one particular option in RawTherapee that was unique, which is the ability to load the Dark-Frame file into it and it will work out the subtraction (even better than the Difference blend in Photoshop). Thus, I've uploaded the Dark-Frame which I did at 33 minutes as well but at home after coming back from the beach (in the balcony) and RawTherapee used this file to subtract the noise from the shot. Despite the relatively good results, there would be still some noise that were hard to remove with any removal plugin like NeatImage and Noise Ninja.
I've realized and remembered how the noise was a lesser issue (but still an issue) when I did a long exposure at the beach in one winter night. Thus, I've decided to take a different (and a serious) measure to reduce the effect of the heat on the sensor.

The Experiment:

Simply put, all what we need is to put down the temperature. This said, I've just got the light bulb upon my head glowing while wandering in ACE store (don't you love this place?). The idea struck as I wondered in the aisle of camping stuff (well, I was originally looking for bubble wrap, but who cares anyway) and remembered the stuff we used to put in our iceboxes when we used to leave for field trips with my work place staff; cooling gel.
Back home mom got some of those gel pads. made for medical uses, in the freezer and ready to be used. Directly after going back home I've decided to do something with those and see the effect, and I guess I wasn't disappointed. The only one thing left here is to put it into practice and see for real.
My experiment was simply to use those frozen gel pads on my camera to cool it down, and for comparison, I've ran the same long exposure of 33 minutes with the pads on.

100% zoom crop of the two slides (warm & cold)
Click to enlarge.

I think the result is astonishing. Just to avoid any wet drops on the camera that might come from the ice on the pad itself, I've wrapped the camera slightly with a plastic bag. Now, that was not the end of the story. As I was trying to make this image above for comparison, I was going to Assign the color space to sRGB (why would I use ProPhoto here?) and by coincidence I've picked Adobe 1998 space and the noise was reduced significantly too! However, sRGB noise profile was much like ProPhoto but with less saturation maybe?

Both slides are on Adobe 1998 space
sRGB slide was converted (not assigned) to keep the visual look as it is in sRGB originally

Anyway, seems this reduction in noise is only apparent or visual, as some pixels do change their color code but not really eliminated as it is the case with Dark-Frame subtraction. Now, why the noise in sRGB and ProPhoto are almost the same, yet Adobe 1998 is lesser apparently, is something beyond me for the time being.

Just to recall the color spaces and understand why it is a surprise for me, the sizes of the spaces are ordered as the following: sRGB < Adobe 1998 < ProPhoto; with ProPhoto giving more flexible adjustments and more vivid colors, as it is more forgiving. Logically, one would expect if ProPhoto is high in noise level, and Adobe space is lesser, then sRGB should be lesser too, but this is not the case apparently!

This experiment is done for now and only a real work is needed to celebrate it! But that means more work to be done in moving my stuff to and from the location. If only there is someone to help, or even cares for what I do...

II. Digging The Past:

Now with DxO Optics at hand, I've discovered new capabilities (far away from the simple Photoshop) and that sparked in me the urge to re-discover the past images, specially those from Ireland. Also, I've been visiting these images again to post them to my Flickr and share them in groups.

Cashel Rock Graveyard
Canon 15mm fisheye, f/2.8, 1/800 sec., ISO 100.
 Corrected with DxO Optics

The joy of working with DxO is to be able to correct those images taken with Canon lenses automatically (and also those taken with Tamron 70-300mm, with many others of course). However, doing all the adjustments in DxO is not that easy still because of some... I don't know what to call it but let's say complexity of design a bit. Reducing the Highlights, for example, is still an issue in DxO and cannot be done in a simple way, while in ACR it can be done simply with the Recovery slider.

Fields and Graves
Canon EF-S 18-55mm @34mm, f/4.5, 1/2000 sec., ISO 100, EV-3
Corrected with DxO Optics

Images like Fields and Graves were re-discovered as well, and despite the fact that they were taken with the simple 18-55mm lens, yet DxO Optics did correct the perspective slightly (and resulting in an image out of the usual aspect ratio a bit). Yet, as usual, not everything can be done in DxO, thus the files are saved into DNG and re-edited in Photoshop for more flexible editing.

Green Mile
Canon EF-S 18-55mm @18mm, f/22, 1 sec., ISO 100.
Corrected with DxO Optics

But shots like Green Mile were completely like new to me. I remember that day though and what I was trying to do, but I've never considered this shot for editing at all. Even though it was a bracketed shot, I've decided to take only one RAW file for editing here with DxO, and then with ACR, typically. I've dug out a lot of old photos (and sometimes I do think how did I dare to make this or that!) and now I also see that I need to clean out some space in those old hard disks!

III. Ahoy!:

I couldn't resist the temptations. I've finally placed some orders online and I'm waiting now for the arrival. Two new books (and yet I didn't finish those from the previous order last month), and some stuff from B&H.

Source: Amazon

As for the books, the first is another book by George Barr, and again, from RockyNook. My first encounter with George Barr was with his book Take Your Photography To The Next Level. A really nice book about aesthetics of photography (away a bit from the technicality of the work with the camera). This book now, seems like a mix between the technical and the aesthetic ventures.
Let's hope it wouldn't take me much time to finish the books that I'm reading still. I'm trying to dedicate more time to those: in the office my flash book (by Syl Arena) and before any nap in bed I'm reading Thomas Kida's book, about skepticism. If, only if, there is any travel outside for a vacation, most probably I would be taking one of those books (present or upcoming). I do believe that when reading a book it is important to keep a chain of thought by reading it till the end without stopping for a significant period of time.

Source: Amazon

The other book, now, is something not related to Photography at all. In fact, it is a book that George Barr (yes, again) advised me to read. Just a note, George Barr is a physician. Since I've been a follower of his blog, he did mention in one of his posts something about ADHD patients, thus I've decided to ask few questions about this case. He replied with some tips, and one of them is to read this book and compare my status to what is mentioned. Frankly, I didn't read the table of contents of the book (it is like I'm surprising myself here), but from the title it seems about giving tips to overcome the ADHD rather than a book of diagnosis. However, this is even better!
I'm not saying that I do have ADHD, however. I'm just not sure. I never did an official diagnosis with any professional in the field. Yet, I can't just deny the traits that I've been witnessing since I was in high school, and were a major abyss for my bad grades (even in college times). The inability to focus, and the (later discovered) daydreaming trend that can't be stopped easily and sweeps through the mind; all of this got to be happening for some reason, and there is something I need to know, and overcome. Yes, there is the Maladaptive Daydreaming (MD) even though it is not yet announced to be an official disorder, but referring to the most known case I believe ADHD comes closer to the symptoms I'm talking about and would be better to work on this for now.

Source: B&H

Now, to the fun part! Far away from books and the boring stuff (pardon me, books I like aren't boring to me anyway). I consider this order, somehow, to be my own birthday gift to myself. Well, it is in August but I can celebrate earlier anyway, can't I? I've placed an order for a set of few simple stuff (wish if they were simple in prices as well).
However, one item is another teleconverter: Bower 2x DGII Teleconverter. Even though I do have one already, it would be nice to have another one and compare and maybe combine the two to work as a quadrupling set! Two were available, a 4-element lens and a 7-element one. I preferred to order the 4-element type (and it is relatively cheaper) even though as it is mentioned in the specs that the 7-element type is sharper. I thought that a lesser number of elements is better (and could even reduce the chromatic aberrations problems). Vivitar's 2x teleconverter did show a strong tendency for chromatic aberrations.

Source: B&H

My second item is the Delkin Devices Fat Gecko Gator Camera Mount, which I was reluctant to order for some time now. With the presence of a gorillapod (I call it spiderpod sometimes) at hand, I've thought this item won't be necessary, but after some trial now, I think it is better to have both. I'm eying some sturdy performance better than the gorillapod, as it failed me in some instances recently. Even though this vice takes up to 1.36kg (3lb), I think it would take up to 2kg (4.4lb) in practice. The camera body, alone with no lenses, is almost 1kg (2.2lb). Just hope I won't be disappointed here. But hey! it can be used for other purposes as well!

Source: B&H

Now with the sweet stuff, my own real gift to myself. A little Canon 430EX II Speedlite to keep company with the big 580EX II Speedlite (well, not that big after the 600EX-RT). After reading Syl Arena's book (and still) my mouth got watering for more experiments and trials with Speedlites. Not aiming at portraiture yet, as it is a field that requires more than simply two Speedlites (plus the interaction with the subject). Yet, it will help in lot of occasions, like the High Speed venture. I'll try to come out with more experiments when I have it at hand. The 430EX II is generally cheaper than 580EX II (around half the price), and has a lesser guide number as well, yet I think it is a suitable choice for now because I'm thinking of using Speedlites in close distances in general and no need much light power. In fact, the opposite might be needed; a minimum power. According to the specs, minimum power (when working in manual mode) for 430EX II is 1/64, while it is 1/128 for the 580EX II - but they might be comparable because of the difference in the guide number after all.

Source: B&H

Further more, and to have more fun with my new (expected) toy, I've placed an order for Vello Universal Duo TTL Off-Camera Flash Cord (6.5'). The reason for the cable (for those of you who don't know yet) is that when it comes to E-TTL operations (let's say the automatic mode of the Speedlite) not all operations are transferable via wireless, and also for some aesthetic reasons, you might want to use your Speedlite as a master AND off-camera; something you can't do in wireless (because off the camera operations in wireless requires that your Speedlite must be in slave mode to be controlled). I'm lucky to have the Canon EOS 7D because the pop-flash (in camera flash) can work as a master for wireless operations.
All I have to do now is to sit, and wait. In hope I can get it ASAP. This seems the only joy I can get so far...

Now on the side of conlangs (and remember the main reason for having this blog is Ayvarith conlang itself!), I still didn't plan my next move yet. I'm supposed to work with Geltani though and design the phonetic scheme and maybe a syllabic system to spell out names, but with the occupations of the mind right now I can't be bothered to work with this right now and I'd rather work with my camera for the time being. However, that doesn't mean I'm forgetting about my dear conlangs! After all, I need to get busy as much as my body allows me to. As Edison said once: As a cure for worries, work is better than beer. Yes.

A Bulughman In A Lonely Night!

Officially 31. Not much to do about it really, except of having a casual day to myself and sleep as much as I wanted. Well, that won't exceed 5 hours in best conditions. This week was slowly passing really, but I didn't have much to do with my camera, so maybe this is the reason why I felt it as slowly going. Anyway, I was pushing myself forward with my Ayvarith recording and finally recorded and finished Chapter 3 of Alexander's story. I could hardly stop laughing at myself while recording, so please don't mind the quality and the awkward presentation!
Ayvarith: here.
English: here.
Memorizing now these moments and all that work I had to do with this story makes me smile a bit. I've totally forgot about the other conlangs that I've initiated but totally forgot about them, specially the one named Bulughman.

Beside this recording, which took on several days actually and not a single one day, I took the chance to use the full moon for my benefit and have a panorama made from the roof top. Almost a complete panorama and not only a 360 panorama. Not so satisfied about it but it was an experience that I liked indeed.

I. Outtake #1!
I can say it is my first night-time panorama for the time being. I had to use the full moon to my advantage before it disappears from the skies so I was willing to work whatever the temperature would be. Anyway, the temperature was not as bad as before (gone down to 30s C as told by forecasts, while it was in 40s last week!). It wasn't all perfect of course and the noise played a major factor in this, but well, it's a lesson. But the most significant thing about this panorama is the lengthened workflow, which probably was not a good thing to do after all...

A Lonely Night

The Workflow (The Drama):

1. In the beginning and after settling with my tools on the roof top, I went on doing some metering just to estimate the time I would need. The necessity to work as fast as possible (the moon moves across the sky) made me trade off with raising the ISO to 1600. Since I'm going to take a bracketed exposure for HDR (-2EV,0EV,+2EV) it was essential to ensure that when I go on with auto-bracketing that the exposure time won't exceed 30 seconds. 30 seconds is the limit in Av mode. I've metered some spots across the sky and the building fixing the EV to +2 and raising the ISO to 1600 which was the minimum ISO I could have an exposure time lesser than 30 seconds (15 seconds it was). However, the camera also had other plans of itself! I tried to choose an ISO following the stops starting from ISO100, but not the ranges in between, that is: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, ...etc. Although there are some ISOs in between as 160, 250 and so on, but according to some articles that these would be more noisy because of the circuitry involved in increasing and amplifying the signal, and it is better to have an ISO within the range of full stops.
2. To be on the safe side, I've used the hyperfocal principle again, and fixed the aperture to f/8. This aperture, however, did change by itself as the automated process was going on. There are some spots across the panorama that, apparently, required more than 30 seconds to achieve the +2EV exposure and I've noticed at some points that the f-number did change by itself within the camera to f/7.1 (i.e. larger aperture than f/8) to allow for more light in.
3. The white balance is fixed according to effect and not in desire to achieve a true balance of colors. My previous work with the moon on the roof a week or two back gave me an impression that the blueness of the sky is better and more attractive than a normal regular one. The whole thing was set by using the LCD display (which is not a good judge after all but a good estimate let's say) and from there I've fixed the WB to the minimum value of 2500K. Blue.
4. The work on the roof continued normally and my eyes adapted slowly to the darkness there but I needed my small LED light to check the scale on the rotating disk of the VR-head to make sure it reached a 0 degree after a full cycle. I didn't bother about a nadir but I did take 2 shots for zenith, which later proved unnecessary, specially that I have no intent for a QTVR.
5. Now moving to the lab, i.e. my PC. I think my first mistake was made up here. In order to reduce the noise level which I was almost sure of to be unaccepted because of using ISO1600, I've directly converted all RAW files into TIFF 16-bit format (using Photoshop this time and not DPP). I made this move to run NeatImage on the TIFF files and clean the noise accordingly (and put little sharpness as well) but seems it was a wrong step. Reasons will come later.
6. After running NeatImage and batch processing all the TIFF files for noise reduction, I ran Photomatix for batch HDR processing. I have now 41 OpenEXR files created from the "cleaned" TIFF files.
7. In PTGui now and because of the nature of the HDR files and the night scene on the roof, and because so much sky was involved in some slides, there were many slides that PTGui could not identify any points for, hence the slides were astray and "orphaned", meaning not connected to any image at all. There I decided to go on with "model" method.
8. The model method, as I call it, is simply to batch process the individual HDR files into JPGs or TIFFs and plugging them into PTGui. This way, usually, PTGui is able to find more control points more easily. We save the file, which contains all data about control points and other parameters and positions of the slides and apply this template to the HDR panorama we are working with. A lengthy procedure but at times, it is a must. I went on tone-mapping the HDR files in a batch process in Photomatix, but first I picked one of the darkest slides (and it was one of those that didn't connect to any other images) and tone-mapped it to make it brighter and clear in most of its regions. The settings used in this tone-mapping is saved to be used for the rest of the slides.
9. To my ill luck, after tone-mapping all slides, PTGui still didn't identify some of these tone-mapped images and could not connect them to each other although many features in the scene are obvious. Seems however, and after a close check up, that the difference in the noise level between two adjacent slides makes it difficult for PTGui to put on control points between the two despite the "visual" apparent common features. Here, and at this point, I realized it was wrong to clean all the TIFFs from the early beginning, and later on, more confirmation to this thought appeared.
10. I had to put my own control points here although it is a process that is tiresome and I really don't like it because, let's face it, a human being won't be as precise as a computer and needless to say someone like me who can barely concentrate for a long time. I'm not sure even how I'm typing this! Anyway, the addition was done and the file was saved, and the template or model was applied to the original HDR panorama in PTGui. Everything was organized almost with some few broken lines that I directly decided to fix in Photoshop instead of wasting time doing a game with blending priority.
11. The HDR panorama is now stitched and time for the fixes and cuts in Photoshop. Beside the regular fixes, I had to make an adjustment to the exposure (putting some areas down and raising up some) but before doing all the "local" adjustment, a major (global) fix for the exposure was due by using the white dropper on the brightest possible area in the scene. This is to bring some balance and brightness to the scene (which later on resulted in a good HDR histogram relatively).
12. Tone-mapping the adjusted HDR file proved more that cleaning the noise in the early beginning was a wrong thing to do. It became more obvious that there were batches of noises while some areas were relatively clean. Seems that I have to keep the noise reduction procedure at the every end of the workflow to make sure that I don't get such patches of noisy areas and clear ones. To over come this problem, and back in Photoshop after tone-mapping, I went doing my usual Median trick that I do usually on skin to eliminate rigid features. This though made me lose some interesting dots in the sky with the rest (stars do appear sometimes with a long exposure. Orion belt was even obvious in the images though it wasn't visible to the naked eye).

The histogram of the panorama in gaussian-like shape. Might not be always a good sign to have most of your exposure around 0EV, but it's good that there is no sudden cut in the graph itself.

II. Outtake #2!

Although the previous panorama was uploaded to stock sites (only one actually), I couldn't say I'm satisfied yet. For all the points and the drama I've mentioned above, this time I did make up my mind to make HDR files out of the RAW files directly, without any filtration and noise reduction. As expected, the matter of the noise became lot easier and lot "unique". This time and just for the sake of a change, I've made up a little planet projection, which proved quite interesting more than just a plain flat panorama!

The Lonely Planet

As long the panorama contains big portions of the sky with relatively interesting atmosphere in it, then I guess a little planet projection should always be considered. The moon here looks like a sun, making me wonder if all the "suns" we see in photographs are really, a sun!
The procedure here was the same as above with exception that the HDR files were composed directly of RAW files (in Photomatix v3.0). 
I've used the previously made model file to arrange the points and the stitching errors were the same in fact; the same broken lines, but at least the noise was relatively easier to handle here. When stitching the panorama, in PTGui you are given the option to choose an "interpolation" method and usually I don't change this and keep it by default to Lanczos. The interpolation is concerned with the pixels of the image as a way to predict locations and values of pixels on the image when your image is stretched or squeezed and so on, which is something normal in case we are talking about panoramas made out of several images to be stitched (and the images are distorted originally because they are taken with fisheye lens of course). I believe there is some relation between the weird color spots that I used to see in my previous panoramas and this point of the workflow. For the time being I think I will use the Bilinear or the Nearest Neighbor methods to stitch my future panoramas as these two are more regular in Photoshop itself, as Lanczos method is not an option in Photoshop.
Photoshop editing was essential as well to balance the exposure little bit (but the histogram this time was different and not balanced around 0EV like before), and after tone-mapping (which gave me a headache for memory problems and again, Photomatix v3.0 was better to solve this problem and not the new v4.0. Sometimes I wonder why did they make a new version!!) it was time then to plug it again into Photoshop.
NeatImage was run to clear the noise in general (specially the chromatic noise related to the high ISO of 1600). Yet, there are some portions of noise that were hard to remove by NeatImage and I had to sort it out with the Median trick, again. This type of noise apparently is related to the temperature of the atmosphere and they were more apparent and so obvious to note in the sky area, while in the occupied areas in the middle where the ground and the bricks rule, this type of noise needs a bit of concentration to notice. I've lost some stars in the sky, again, when I did the median trick but well, I smoothed the sky. The lower portions of the image specifically were hardly struck by such noise more than the upper portions.

I think the main reason for such stitching errors is the movement of the moon, which caused the shadows to move as well and with such movements in the scene it is natural to have stitching errors. Beside the moon, my own shadow as well would be a cause for such errors. In fact, despite the fact that I've cloned out most of my shadows with the camera and the tripod combination, I've discovered that are still some traces of my shadow somewhere. Go figure!

This is it for now, and I'm thinking now if there is a way to reduce this amount of noise caused by the heat. Seems next time I'm going to bring a hand-fan with me to cool down my camera while I work! Ah well... just kidding really. I need to look up new things to photograph hmm...

Ávanúnú

A day that starts with a severe diarrhea is not to be counted in your life span, this is for sure. Now, I think I can make some connection between the dates (food) I take by night, and the diarrhea I get next morning. I think I over-ate those. I still feel some upset in my intestines and my body is just so tired to do anything.
No photo shots for days now, as I'm walking slowly with my life, or trying to at least, with other things on my mind. Seriously, to do everything I wish to I would need the power of 10 men... and the time of course! The traveling time is approaching and I must prepare some stuff already, and a new shoe is a prime concern! You don't wanna go to some foreign airport and the people checking your stuff go "EEEW," right? Yep, that's it.

Today, as usual, I was lucky to translate one verse of the story, but the weird thing is, I was writing down in slow motion. I couldn't speed up my pace! I kept my handwriting small relative to how I used to write down the other pages. This is why I like handwriting analysis. In such situations you wouldn't know what is really going through you, but with handwriting analysis you can discover deep within this brain the true feelings that are beamed through your fingers to your pen. Unfortunately, I didn't device a way to analyze my handwriting with Ayvarith... as I am the only speaker (and not fluent as well) in the whole world! Feels cool somehow, duh!

After I made this "simple" translation, I hit the engine and went on to pick some stuff that I need for my camera and to get a new shoe (as mentioned before). The humidity is lessened today, but the heat in general is still awful. The streets were fine though! I thought I will face such a traffic jam by 9:30 a.m., but I didn't! Ramadhan this year has a soothing effect on people, so I hope it lasts until the end of the month. People usually prefer to stay away from the streets (generally speaking despite the traffic jams in previous years), and would avoid going in this sun, but for me I think it is a sort of a challenge. It is either indeed the blessed mercy of God that befell on me to make me do my stuff today under such a heat, or it is my self-esteem and stubborness, that God bestowed upon me as well, but I felt the urge to go out and finish it even with such weather. I sweated to much and I do feel my throat like a piece of wood, but I feel relaxed in the same time. To me, it is always a matter of mood in fact. When I don't like to go out of work to do my stuff outside in normal days, it is mainly a matter of the mood itself and not the lack of strength or time, but today, I was eager to do it all! Hallelujah. I don't want to strike myself with an evil eye. Unfortunately, I didn't find a CF memory card, but at least I got myself a camera remote and got myself a new battery as well. And now I just remembered that I didn't get a plug-head for my camera charger from the TSC store, after getting my shoes from there. UGH!

On my way from the cameras store to TSC, there were some cops here and there (some in black cars and some in those clown-like cars for traffic). I passed the yellow light while a black police car was beside me, and although it passed with me I was scared that something might happen or so. You don't know the mood of those guys here! Then, Just in the next traffic light, as it turned green, a cop was flashing his lights and turning on the red and blue and the siren, I thought something was going to happen to me personally or that cop reported my pass for the yellow light, but the clown-car passed me by and blocked the way of the other road coming from the right. Did I say I hate Mondays before? Well, today is no exception, but it was that close to my mind. However, I won't feel safe and sound, until the day is completely over!

You might wonder by now about the title and the image on top. This word I encountered in the text that I've written (and forgotten), and it means "his ancestors." I liked the way the word sounded, so I decided to put it here today. Doesn't sound cute? You judge!
When I made this word, I didn't really have some specific conjugations in my mind, but in some way the words just formulate as if by magic in your brain and spelled out. Let's peek a bit into this word, Ávanúnú* [Ankh sequence: aavunwnw]**:
1. Origin: originated from the word "Avvá" [Ankh sequence: auvWa], meaning: father.
2. Singular form: Ávanú [Ankh sequence: aavunw], meaning: ancestor.
3. Plural form: Ávanún [Ankh sequence: aavunwN], meaning: ancestors.
4: Conjugates:

a. my ancestor, ancestors: ávanuwáy [aavunowaY], ávanúnáy [aavunwnaY].
b. your ancestor, ancestors: ávanúká [aavunwka], ávanúnaká [aavunwnuka].
c. his ancestor, ancestors: ávanwú [aavunww], ávanúnú [aavunwnw].
d. her ancestor, ancestors: ávanuwá [aavunowa], ávanúná [aavunwna].
e. our ancestor, ancestors: ávanuwáyun [aavunowayoN], ávanúnáyun [aavunwnayoN].
f. your (plural) ancestor, ancestors: ávanúkun [aavunwkoN], ávanúnakun [aavunwnakoN].
g. their (m) ancestor, ancestors: ávanúm [aavunwM], ávanúnim [aavunwniM].
h. their (f) ancestor, ancestors: ávanúne [aavunwne]***, ávanúnin [aavunwniN].

5. Related words: avvúnah [avvwnuH], meaning: ancestry.

While writing the pervious information I discovered that I might need to add/remove some stuff from the grammar page that I made before! Anyway, I would do it as I do the new page after GeoCities close down!

* The "v" sound in Ayvarith is a labial (done by lips only), like in Spanish.

** Ankh sequence is the sequence used by the Ankh font, which I use to type with Ayvarith. Ask me if you like to have font!

*** The original suffix for feminine plural third person is [-in], but in this case and to avoid the mix with the original plural of the word itself, an "e" is added at the end.

I need a shower... NOW!

Project Alexader, is over...

Finally, and after many upheavals and events, I put an end to the story of Alexander, ending with the 6th part in 3000 lines. It will be a really hard work to translate all of that indeed. It is but time to start a new story about the town of Qafra. Didn't think of a twist though.

I feel a bit of sadness though, since the death of a little kitty that was born in our yard some weeks ago. The two kittens were OK in the beginning but then started to get thinner and thinner. One has passed and I'm trying my best to feed and take care of the second one. I'm trying also to cool down the heat in the yard with this crazy sun in the summer by spraying some water with a manual air-pump. I feel my brain got out of my ears already.

The late kitty, 2 weeks almost before his death

I sent the Visa request via DHL to the Irish embassy in Riyadh, since we don't have one here. It was somehow a complicated matter for me since it is the first time I do all of that. Everything went OK I suppose, and I'm waiting for my DHL to arrive back with my passport. I made booking already for the place I'm going to stay in Ireland, though I was advised not to go in October because the weather is "so" cold there at this time, but I decided to give it a shot. I went to Iran before, this cannot be worse! All what is left for me now is the tickets which I'm still looking after for some good bargain. The Turkish Airways (Türkçe Hava Yolları) seem to be the best bargain so far.

Summer is coming and I hope it will be a quiet one... but surely it's going to be a heated one indeed.