Morning - River Thames

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Old Father Thames greets a new day. Commuters plod across Waterloo Bridge.

Picture taken from Jubilee Footbridge.

Pressed shirts

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Ironing: sunday's chore.

Visiting with Mum and Dad

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Dad looks a lot better after his haircut. Excuse the dribbles though.

Photo Friday - Youth

---+++Donut's Friday Daguerreotype+++---


Not the best side of youth.

Ouch, My Foot!

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


My bunion has been playing up. Pain in the joint of my big toe no doubt brought on by ill fitting shoes.

What a Load of Rubbish

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Thursday is rubbish day. That includes recycling. Lambeth now takes not only paper, but cardboard, glass and plastic. Recycling is good, but, the growing rubbish problem in the UK - lack of landfill, reluctance to allow incineration - requires that we produce less disposable stuff in the first place..

Civil Liberties and all that

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Nothing much of excitement happened today apart from attending a frightening briefing session from certain arms of the government that sent shivers down the spine of this freedom loving, liberal minded voter.

Anyway, I consoled myself by purchasing the latest from slowcore giants Low and folkadelic Yorkshiremen Hood.

David Fridmann, who's done wonders for the likes of Mercury Rev, produced Low's new album. Reviewers have commented that he's added a bit of edge. Meanwhile, Low's songwriting seems to have shed the tradmark downbeat, miserablist streak. Add to that a change to a more mainstream label, Rough Trade in the UK, and this is definitely a new direction. I hate to say sell out, but a quick listen has not convinced me this effort stands up to the previous material.

Hood could never be accused of selling out. They seem to get better with each release. Haven't had a chance to listen to "Outside Closer", but I've got a good feeling that this is more the same, but tighter. "Cold House", the last release, featured an inspired collaboration with hip-hop outsiders cLOUDDEAD.

Protest

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Well, it was choice between a sharp, well-lit picture of my lunch box or this fuzzy, dark shot of a protest outside the Royal Society for the Arts taken as I left the office. Think I made the right choice?

Men in white "radiation" overalls vacuum the entrance to the RSA.

Note, on the left, the Flying Lady of a parked Roller!

Threadneedle Street

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Had to go to the City this afternoon. Came back via the Bank of England. Unfortunately, they don't do withdrawals.

Sunday Extra - 1966 and all that

---+++Donut's Double Daily Daguerreotype+++---


A bonus photo today: not taken by me. This is the extended family on my dad's side. The photo was taken in the summer of 1966 - I think the day England beat Argentina in the Quarter-finals of the World Cup - in the garden of my aunt and uncle in Ongar, Essex. The was the last family reunion before my branch emigrated to the US. That's me bottom left, if you were wondering.

Self-Potrait in Greenhouse

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


When in doubt, post a self-potrait.

Still life

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Started sunny, but frosty this morning. Still life: table, lamp and bowl in the front room at Donut Towers.

Photo Friday - Crowded

---+++Donut's Friday Daguerreotype+++---


Friday night crowd in Villiers Street.

Down the Tube

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Embankment Station with the Jubilee Bridges and, in the dark, the London Eye in the background.

Feeding the Mind

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Bought a couple of books today from Watestone's in Traflagar Square. Nigel Hamilton's biog of Prez Bill; "So Now Who Do We Vote For?" cries Labour voter John Harris.

Mind the Gap

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


On the southbound Northern Line platform at Embankment. Going home...

Meow!

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


My brother's ginger cat - or at least it's the cat that lives at my brother's which nobody really seems to like. Seems okay to me - for a cat.

Moving Day

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Moving my parents into their new home. Readers of I am a donut will know that my dad had a stroke last August. Mum suffers from MS. So, we've had to place them together in a nursing home. It's not been an easy decision, but there's little choice for the family. Mum, at least, was pleased to be near my brother and back with dad again.

Shoutout

Thanks to Supermum for the shoutout. I'm sure my idea of a daily picture is not novel, so steal away!

Here's Supermum's Daily Typo.

Safety in the home

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


A touch of D-I-Y: bolting down my greenhouse which decided to go walkies in the storms last weekend. Of course, this meant yet another trip to the hardware store and, due to me cutting corners, a cut finger. D'oh!

Thirsty auto

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Driving to Essex, I needed petrol, so stopped at Catford Sainsbury's. Pleased to see Sainsbury's haven't forgotten the correct use of the apostrophe.

Photo Friday - Signs

---+++Donut's Friday Daguerreotype+++---


Signs: Information Sign, Balham Station, 14 January 2005.

Photo Friday

Sunny morning stroll in the park

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Walking from Embankment tube station early in the morning, I took this picture of the Adelphi building (left) and the Shell-Mex building (right). The park is Victoria Embankment Gardens, constructed on reclaimed land in the mid-19th century - known as the Embankment. Off camera to the left is the Watergate, the original north bank of the Thames.

Cough, cough

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Feeling a bit poorly at the moment, so stoking up on vitamin C.

Evening sky

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


"Dickensian" street lamp near Vincent Square, SW1.

I am a Donut

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Next to the Bagel Factory, there's a new Krispy Kreme donut outlet. No, I wasn't tempted.

Inter City

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Monday: I was in the Midlands as you can see by the Midland Mainline train entering Loughborough station.

Never mind hardcore, this is hardware

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Sunday morning shopping at Homebase, the do-it-yourself superstore. I didn't buy any window locks, but the shopping trolley was full and the bill came to £140.

Thar' she blows!

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Morning after a wild night - and I don't mean dancing girls and bottles fo tequila. We had 70mph gusts which blew down part of our back fence, shifted the greenhouse about a foot and blew the side gate off its hinges.

Winter morning in SE27

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Friday morning. Windy and mild. Quiet street about 7:00 am.

Is that the postman?

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Who's that at the front door? Our video entry phone gives a peak outside.

Desk tidy

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Today, believe it or not, I tidied my desk. Mainly I unplugged my laptop from a bad monitor and ditched the shelf on which the monitor sat. The laptop now sits on the left of the desk instead in the corner.

Life is for the Birds (sometimes)

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Bird on Cleopatra's Needle - as seen from the end of the street where I work in London.

Big McC

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


...on a sesame seed bun...

Emulsion

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


Painting the front bedroom. A nice yellow colour, if you must know: that would be wild primrose.

Essex

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---


My usual Saturday trip to Essex to visit dad in hospital after his stroke last August and mum in a nursing home. Good news, they will be moved to a different home together closer to my brother in Hampshire. Still a two hour journey for me, but I probably won't visit every weekend.

About

---+++Donut's Daily Daguerreotype+++---

Welcome Donut's Daily Daguerreotype!

Why Daguerrotype? Ok, I'll 'fess. I'm not posting Daguerreotypes. This was a bit of artistic licence and Daguerreotype was about the only alliteration I could think of. All the current daily photos will be taken with my FujiFilm FinePix 4900Zoom digital camera bought back in early 2001. The camera was about the top end of digital cameras available at the time. The attraction was the through the lens viewfinder and the feel of a "real" SLR camera. No fancy software used: just Microsoft Photo Editor. But, there may be an upgrade at some stage. No special effects: just a bit of tweaking of contrast and brightness. Picasa Hello has been used to upload.

Why Daily? Whilst over at Iamadonut and Commuterland there's no guarantee of a regular daily post, over here the plan is to post one photo per day. Occasionally I might slip in a series of photos from the day. Also, I intend to resurrect my participation in Photo Friday. I might re-post older Photo Friday entries. Content is king. In most cases, the daily photo will catalogue a particular aspect of my daily grind at work, rest and play. This is a snapshot of 2005. I make no claims of artistic brilliance. I'm not looking for any prizes. Therefore, expect snapshot style photos. Most pictures are likely to be of objects rather than people. I’m less comfortable taking photos of strangers.

Why Donut? Blog daddy Iamadonut gets its name from the infamous speech by President John F Kennedy at the Berlin Wall in 1963. "...Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is 'Ich bin ein Berliner'..." Urban legend says that "Ich bin ein Berliner" translates as "I am a Donut". I toyed with a few possible names, but alighted on I am a Donut - the name of my old personal site.

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to comment!