I’m stuck in an analysis paralysis loop. I’m not happy with the images I’m getting from the Fuji cameras. I have several options.

1. Sell all the DSLR and mirrorless camera shit and just take photos on an iPhone and be happy with that. (This is what a normal person would do. I’ll actually recover some money by doing this.)
2. Sell all the Fuji gear (at a big loss, of course) and buy another type, probably a Sony full-frame Alpha variant. (This might be fun but is a very expensive option, with no real guarantee of improvement.)
3. Go back to basics and take some online courses on how to use the Fuji cameras and their god-awful menu system. (This is also a normal person path, and not very expensive.)
4. Give up on photography entirely. (The world has enough JPEGs, and I don’t even know what I’ll do with the 35,000 or so I’ve amassed.)

I’ve spent hours and hours doing research on these options, and I’m no closer to deciding than when I started. The forcing function is our late July trip to Africa, wherein I feel obligated to take photos of animals and locations that have (a) been photographed millions of times, and (b) photographed by professionals with great results. The world will not benefit from my 2023 photos of an elephant.

I’ll probably go with Option 3 and see if any improvements result.

I’ve looked through my folder of “Favorites” and an awful lot of them are taken with an iPhone, not the dedicated camera. I know I occasionally get a good shot with the Fujis – like the one below – but would I have gotten the same shot with a phone? Probably, and that’s the crummy part. I love all the gear associated with a pro camera, but I’m not sure my results are any better than Joe Average with a phone. If that’s so, that makes me “Joe Below Average”.

I watched the recording of this week’s Bill Maher show, and he had Elon Musk as his first guest. I was ready for Musk to be irritating and arrogant, but he wasn’t. He was thoughtful, serious and came across as someone you’d really like to talk with more.

I’m surprised, but all I know is the second and third hand descriptions of Musk by others. My somewhat first hand impression (a TV interview) was very different than the petulant man-child many writers have described.

I really admire Musk for his tech companies, especially SpaceX. I’d like to think he’s a decent person beyond that.

I loved this Roy Wood Jr. joke from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner:

“In France they’re rioting due to a move of the retirement age from 62 to 64. Rioting! In the US we have an 80-year old man begging for a chance to work four more years.“

The French have their priorities right.

I sure like Biden’s record so far – he’s accomplished a lot. But I also worry that an 82+ year old’s health can go downhill fast – particularly in a high stress, high demand job like being POTUS. So the next election won’t really be Biden v Trump, it’ll be Harris v Trump. And while I’d take Harris every time over Trump, I’m not certain enough of the population will agree. It’s a risky bet.

***

Our weird Socal weather continues – cool and cloudy for the foreseeable future, and even some rain coming. Our olive trees are 2-3 weeks late in blooming due to the lack of warm weather. That’ll move the harvest date out into Thanksgiving or beyond.

***

I had a very strange dream last night about fishing and catching a weird hybrid animal and then letting it go free. Very vivid. After that, I woke up with memories of the worst time in my career, right at the end under a sociopath boss. It was a terrible time, and I had suppressed some of the memories that came flooding back. Wasn’t a good night’s sleep.

***

I’m *really* enjoying reading books by Cory Doctorow lately. I read his newest, Red Team Blues a couple of days ago. It’s about a 67-year old geek who works in the technology space (sounds familiar). Then yesterday I read Little Brother, an absolutely classic, timely, and entertaining tale of privacy, Constitutional rights and civil liberties. Today I’ve started Homeland, the follow-up to Little Brother. I’m not sure how I missed these in the past, but they really speak to me now. Good author, good books.

***

Peru is now the world’s largest exporter of blueberries. Who knew?