We are officially at the 4 week mark since the ankle surgery. That means it is has been 4 weeks since I have put any weight on it. I have noted that is quite an accomplishment for me. Unfortunately, I have ANOTHER two weeks of this insanity before I can start the physical therapy phase and finally get start introducing weight bearing (in between the screams from the PT). I have been doing my best to keep myself busy. A huge chunk of time has been devoted to working on my backlog (did I just hear cheers, someone definitely cheered), trying my best to catch up on my post reading and all the work in the haunt lab – I’ve linked the latest short video at the end if you are interested). YouTube is now my friend – there isn’t stupid Cat video I haven’t watched! In all this, there are always posts I can work on, so let’s get to it!
Battling my inner Venom:
“Do it!”
“But I don’t want to do it”
“Yes you do, do it now”
“Umm, really don’t wanna”
“You shall do it and like it”
“But it pains me”
“You are already in pain, what’s the difference!?!”
“Hmm, that is a valid point, but I’d rather do something else…anything else”
“Do you really want to stare at that series in the queue anymore?”
“Sigh, but I’ll say you twisted my ankle”
Here you go, today’s featured ugh, feathered ugh, friend double ugh Finch – make it stop.

As a general rule, I take at least one picture of every bird I see when out in the field. The amount of additional shots I take of a specimen is based on a complex internal mental algorithm which would probably rival any current AI engine. Is the lighting halfway reasonable, did I get a good enough shot to officially claim the check, is there a good story to share on the blog, what is likelihood of seeing it again, are there new behaviors to document, where does it rank on my “cool birds” list, is it on my “crap bird” list (I’m talking about you Asshats link here) and is it out of region all come into play. The logic engine turns, the lights dim and depending on the results zero or more pulses will be triggered to the shutter finger. This processing is repeated, of course, on subsequent shots.
Every once in a while I surprise myself in the digital darkroom and ask myself – “what the hell Bri, did the algorithm glitch?” Hit the jump if you want to see more of apparently one of those surprise results from the field.
Continue reading Twisted My Ankle



