Jay Gaulard

One Of the Shortest Stories Ever Written

When wading through fits of literature, I think it beneficial to remind ourselves of why we are where we are and how we got where we “got.” I’m sure each of us have reasons for a great many thing, but I’m also sure that we can at least agree on our reading as a vessel to carry us places we have yet to experience, or of places we crave to be reminded of.

Short stories are a treasure. To gain any level of recognition, they need to meet a criteria that not many are able to achieve. Among others, a short story needs to be succinct and it needs to have impact. It’s the impact that leads us to our next short story and it’s the impact that inspires me to write this post.

A “shorter” story than a short story is something very special indeed. What I’m referring to here is a story of merely a few words. A sentence or two or three at the most. These types of stories are of the shortest ever told and are on par with many of our favorite quotes or sayings that we spread so often.

Let’s take a look at one of my most admired and discuss what makes it special:

“A woman is sitting in her old, shuttered house. She knows that she is alone in the whole world; every other thing is dead. The doorbell rings.”

This short story is credited to Thomas Bailey Aldrich and is certain to give more than a few a chills down more than a few spines. How can this be? It’s not more than three sentences. Impossible you say.

I suppose the common question would be this: Who rang the bell? If you merely read what’s written, you may be tempted to leave it at that. But if you tunnel just a bit deeper and forget about the “who” and consider the “how,” you may begin to enjoy yourself.

We’ve all most surely rang a doorbell. We recognize its feeling on the fingertip. It’s at times stubborn. It’s oftentimes loaded by a spring at its rear and it most positively can’t ring itself. It takes effort and desire and it’s not something the “wind” can do alone.

How did the doorbell ring?

Let’s add the question of “why” into our conversation. Since it’s the doorbell that intrigues us the most, it’s a worthy focus of consideration. That’s why I suggest asking questions about it. It’s simplistic to envision a person standing on the other side of the woman’s door, ringing her doorbell. “If she is all alone in an otherwise dead world, how is there someone alive to ring the bell?” By asking yourself the preceding question, you may be losing sight of what’s given you the chill down your spine in the first place.

It wasn’t the fact that someone else may have survived human collapse. It wasn’t the fact that the woman was all alone or that her home was shuttered. It wasn’t even that “every other thing was dead.” The chill came from a scenario that was presented to us, which quickly became impossible. A scenario that puzzled us and that too easily duped us into asking an obvious question and then, hopefully, led us into a complex provocation.

Why did her doorbell ring?

There are quite a few similar short, short stories such as the one I shared above. I’m not sure any of them can be categorized the “Shortest Story Ever” because new stories of varying lengths are constantly being devised, but they certainly are interesting and many of them warrant further thought.

Ernest Hemingway: Baby Shoes

For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.

Lydia Davis: Spring Spleen

I am happy the leaves are growing large so quickly. Soon they will hide the neighbour and her screaming child.

Now, once we recognize that stories such as these are simple to create, we may be inclined to blurt out similarities. We must be cautious though – we must remember to always seek the “chill” I described above. If we can accomplish this, we are rewarded and desire to continue on.

Do you have examples of shorter than short stories? If so, please share in the comment section below.


W. Somerset Maugham

I wanted to make a quick mention of something I find simply fascinating. In my previous post, I referred to “W. Somerset Maugham” as the editor of the revised translation of “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky. What took me aback was that W. Somerset Maugham is also the author of the fable described in the post preceding that entitled, “The Appointment In Samarra by W. Somerset Maugham.”

The mention of the name, “W. Somerset Maugham” was in no way intended. It’s purely coincidental. Remarkable, seeing that not more than one year ago, I hadn’t even heard of W. Somerset Maugham, The Brothers Karamazov or The Appointment In Samarra.


Macro Photography – First Effort

I received a few Hoya close-up lenses a few days ago and haven’t had a chance to really go outside to play with them. That is, until yesterday.

The conditions were just okay. While I had a nice amount of light, there was a small breeze, which makes close-up photography quite difficult. Also, what I was taking photos of were close to the ground, rendering my SLIK PRO 700DX Professional Tripod unusable. This tripod is just too tall. I’m not sure it would have been much help anyway – because of that breeze.

I was quite surprised at the difficulty of attempting this type of photography. When stacking the +1, +2 and +4 magnification filters on top of my Canon 18-135mm kit lens, the depth of field became extremely shallow. When I say shallow, I mean shallow – which I will exhibit in the following photographs. Also, auto-focus is pretty much useless while using these filters, so I had to manually focus the lens. With any type of movement of the subject, the photos were susceptible to slight blur and lack of focus.

I also learned that if I am to attempt this type of photography in the future, I am going to need a few things. First, I’ll need a remote shutter release. This will reduce the slight blur caused by the hand movement of pushing the shutter control on the camera. Even that can make a difference in macro photography. Second, I’ll need an external flash. When photographing very close to subjects, light is important. The camera needs to focus on the intricacies of what’s available and if there isn’t enough light, as I discovered in a few of my discarded photos, you’ll notice it in the final product. Third, I’ll need to use a tripod and stage my subjects. Hand holding a camera and trying to take pictures of a moving target is nearly impossible. That is, if you want nice pictures.

Anyway, here are a few first attempts at macro photography with my Canon T3i. Please comment if you wish to discuss.

The first three photos are of a Purple Columbine cluster I found near some pavement. Early Spring offers many great opportunities to photograph budding flowers. The subject was approximately one and a half feet off the ground and easily swayed in the breeze. As you can see, if I had some diffused light, I may have been able to take advantage of the inside of the flower. But since I didn’t use any flash at all, this was the result. I am somewhat pleased because without the flash, I was able to take advantage of the natural sunlight in such a way to give an artistic feel. If you look closely at these photographs, you’ll notice a very slight amount of blur on the hairs of the petals of the flowers. I attribute this to the movement and hand shake.

Purple Columbine Flower Bud - #1

Purple Columbine Flower Bud - #2

Purple Columbine Flower Bud - #3

While sitting on the pavement taking photos of the Purple Columbine, a small jumping spider decided to land on my jeans. It was quite the active insect, so it was difficult to qualify as truly my first live close-up. I took advantage of the opportunity anyway and began aggressively snapping away. I took about fifteen shots of this spider and virtually none came out worthy of posting here. I did want to share with you the best of my effort though because it may exemplify the difficulty of doing something like this as well as the extreme shallow depth of field while using magnification lenses.

Small Jumping Spider On Denim Jeans

After the excitement of taking a few photos of my first live object, I became caught up in the moment. I began searching for more living beings and found a spider in a garage window, which proved to be more difficult than expected. The spider was situated higher than my head, which forced me to hold the camera up – causing hand shake. Also, the light was behind the spider, which basically caused a silhouette effect. I wasn’t able to capture detail past the hair on the spider’s legs. I would have liked to use my tripod while taking these photos, but there were a few garage items blocking my access. In order to focus in on what I was taking photos of, I needed to be not more than approximately one foot away. The tripod wouldn’t have been effective in this instance.

Spider In Web – #1

Spider In Web – #2


The Cat, Dog, Opossum and Fox

Did you know that we call the cute marsupial we’ve all seen so many times an “Opossum” here in the states, but in Australia, they use the term “Possum?” Well, their version is slightly different than ours, but I find that interesting.

We have a very robust relationship with wildlife ’round these here parts. For a year or so now, we’ve been enjoying regular visits on our porch from what we originally thought was one Opossum. We became suspicious when we saw a similar looking Opossum making similar nightly rounds. After a while, we were all but certain there was more than one Opossum because we, in fact, saw two Opossums together – on the porch. And even after that, we were witness to a third Opossum trekking the same path. Over time, we learned who was who by the differences between their ears and tails. Opossum ears and tails easily succumb to Winter frostbite which oftentimes leaves them in ruins.

Now, you ask why we have these nightly visitors? Well, I’ll tell you. During the warmer months, I like to throw eggshells on the back lawn. They’re great for the grass. Apparently, they’re also great for attracting Opossum.

Now, please bear with me here because this story gets better.

A few months ago, a new visitor began climbing the stairs of the back porch to sit and watch us through the sliding glass door. This visitor is an orange cat that we have fallen deeply in love with. I named him “Darth Sidious.” Ask me why – no don’t.

Anyway, this cat’s cute little head is nearly impossible to resist, so we have recently been spending some quality time with him out there on the deck. We sit down as he wanders around, only to roll here and roll there. He purrs and rolls and climbs on our laps. For an outside cat that very well may be a stray, he is wonderfully affectionate. Really a great cat that I truly adore.

There have been times when we thought Darth was a bit too skinny, so we gave him a pinch of dry cat food and some water. I won’t sit here and lie and tell you that this wasn’t a strategy to keep him around. When we see the motion light blink on, usually after 9PM, we both dart across the room to see who it is. The cat, or the Opossum. Either way, the visits are welcome, but we only pet the cat, so there may be more of an affinity there.

We’ve yet to see the Opossum and the cat appear together, which is strange because their visiting times tend to coincide. I suppose there is a slim margin of just a few minutes, and if we were both out on the back porch playing with the cat, I’m sure the Opossum would bend his furry little head around the corner and decide to wait things out. Now, if we weren’t playing with the cat, and if he were out there on the porch all by himself, I tend to believe that the Opossum wouldn’t bide his time. He would simply climb the stairs of the porch as well. I’ve suspected that for some time.

A few mornings ago, Simon, our indoor orange cat, looked upset. He was all frazzled and uncharacteristically (as of late) jumped up in bed with me. He walked all along my chest until I lifted the blankets up and let him in. He bolted down between my legs where he curled up to hide. I wondered what in the world was going on.

After a few moments of playing with him, I hopped out of bed to walk down to the kitchen. I was immediately introduced to a, I would say, one foot by one foot muddy smudge on the sliding glass door that leads to the very porch I was referring to earlier. I asked what type of beast could leave a smudge at least three feet off the ground. She looked at me. I looked back. And neither of us said a word. She did offer though, that whatever animal left the smudge was the same animal that scared poor Simon into jumping into bed with me to crawl between my legs.

It was a mystery. The only animals in the area that are large enough to do something like this are the bear and the coyote.

Later on that afternoon, we were outside in the front of the house just walking around when a huge Malamute came barreling across the lawn to nearly jump into my arms. I caught her and played with her and said out loud, “I think we found our mystery animal.” It was the neighbor’s Malamute who had escaped her invisible fence. Making that long story short, we returned the dog to the neighbor.

Later on that night, our motion light blinked on to illuminate none other than Darth the cat. He was sitting in his usual spot, just looking through the glass door with the cutest eyes. I could hardly take it. She could hardly take it either, which led us both to the back porch once again for our usual play time. We sat and enjoyed the cat, gave him a bit of food and then returned indoors to most likely catch up on some reality television via Hulu.

A few moments passed by when I saw another motion light turn on – this time below the porch. I stood up and walked over to the downstairs sliding glass door to see what was going on. I didn’t see anything, so I went back upstairs to the kitchen to make sure Darth was okay. He was, but he had settled into a very intense stare, originating from the outer corner of the porch. He spotted something down on the lawn below and was quite curious what it was.

I moved around to a few more windows, but was unable to assess what the cat had spotted. I ran back downstairs, saw nothing and started to head back up the stairs. Before that though, I said something to the effect of, “Boy, we sure have had a lot of action today. Both a cat and a dog.”

When I got to the top of the stairs and as I was tiptoeing towards the glass doors, I was presented with something I never thought I would see. I loudly whispered, “Uh, you better come up here, but stay quiet.”

What did I see through the glass doors? I think a video is in order.

The Cat and the Opossum

I hope you enjoyed that. I took another video, but it’s just of me petting the cat.

Orange Cat and an Opossum Together On a Porch - #1

Orange Cat and an Opossum Together On a Porch - #2

After the Opossum left, I was doing a little cooking. That’s the sizzling sound you hear in the video. I looked out the kitchen window to see Darth perched up on top of the porch railing. I yelled out, “Hey, Darth is up on the railing.” He’s never done that before, so I thought it was extra special. I’m sure she was getting somewhat annoyed from running up and down the stairs, but if so, she didn’t show her annoyance in the least. She came into the kitchen and looked somewhat puzzled. Darth had obviously spotted something else down on the lawn. I thought it was the Opossum, but wasn’t sure why he would take the Opossum so seriously now when he had practically given it a high five just a few minutes earlier.

That’s when she said, “What the??? It’s a fox!!!” It was true. Darth the cat’s bionic hearing had discovered that a fox was trotting through the back yard. I saw it just as soon as I looked through the doors. I couldn’t believe it. First a dog, then a cat, then an Opossum and after all that – a fox. Now, I knew there were a whole bunch of animals around here, but this is getting ridiculous (but fun).

And I didn’t even mention the turkey running through the back yard just a few mornings ago. Seriously, we have a small group of turkeys that hang out in the farm up the road. Somehow, one found it’s way up here and was pecking around. Strange.


Hoya Close-Up Lens Filters On 18-135mm Canon Kit Lens For Macro Photography

I’m not sure if magnification lenses would be considered “filters,” but I decided to name them that because that’s what most people consider what I purchased. The box says, “Hoya Close-Up Lens Set.”

I bought these to allow for additional magnification as well as being able to engage in some macro photography. These lenses let me get much closer to what I am taking a photo of, which in turn allows the picture to turn out much more detailed. It’s a nice money saving alternative to a macro lens, which costs hundreds. I picked these up for just under $60.

Hoya Close-Up Lenses

Holding a Hoya Close-Up Lens

The three lenses I purchased magnify +1, +2 and +4. They screw right on the end of my Canon 18-135mm kit lens. I can also stack these lenses on top of one another for even more magnification, which is what I did in the photos below.

There are a few words of caution I have for anyone who is interested in purchasing these up-close lenses for their camera. First, the auto-focus takes way too long. It hunts and hunts, so I just turned it off and used manual focus. Second, you are going to need a tripod because things are so close. You may be able to get away with hand held like I did below, but for good shots, you’ll need to used a tripod. Third, when taking up-close photos, choose fixed subjects. I was just playing around in the front yard today and there was a slight breeze. What a pain. And fourth, your depth of field is going to be extremely shallow, which is fine because the subject is usually tiny. Now, by shallow, I mean like a half inch shallow.

Anyway, here are some photos I quickly took right after stacking these lenses on top of my kit lens.

Cat Food - Up Close

Computer Screen Pixels

Simon the Cat's Large Face

Simon the Orange Cat's Even Larger Nose

Red Maple Leaves Blooming - #1

Red Maple Leaves Blooming - #2

Red Maple Leaves Blooming - #3


Houstonia Caerulea, Daffodil, Bailey’s Gold and Purple Pansies

Since the sun was shining once again and since I noticed a few more flowers had bloomed, I decided to go ahead and take a few more photographs. I am fairly confident I named these correctly, but if you know something I don’t, please tell me. I actually went back in time on this very blog to find the names, so if they’re incorrect, we have bigger problems than just this one post.

Enjoy.

Purple Pansies With Yellow Center - Tilting Away From Sun

Purple Pansies With Yellow Center - Tilting Toward Sun

White and Yellow Daffodil - With Shadow

Transparent White and Yellow Daffodil Facing Away From Sun

Light Purple and Yellow Houstonia Caerulea

Light Purple and Yellow Houstonia Caerulea - Shaded View

Bailey's Gold - Sedum floriferum - Weihenstephaner Gold


Spring 2012 Pictures

Yesterday was quite sunny, so I thought I’d walk around the house to take some photos of what was in bloom (and some other stuff). I also wanted to again try out my new Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens.

I got some decent shots. I may have repeated a few from my previous post, but that doesn’t matter.

All photos were taken with my new lens, but you really won’t be able to see the entire wide-ness of each photo because I cropped them. Wide is wide and at times, too wide. Enjoy.

Weeping Cherry Flowers Against Blue Sky

Cleveland Select Pear Flowers

Big Red Lily

Looking Straight Up An Oak Tree - Past the Emerald N Gold Euonymus

Looking Into the Woods From the Back Yard

Yellow Dutchmaster Trumpet Daffodil

Salome Long Cup Daffodil – Ivory and Peach

Weeping Cherry Flowers Darkened by Sun


April 2012 Buds and Flowers

Around 6pm, I can see the sun beginning to hang nice and low in the sky. The light hits everything in the front yard just the right way – it makes me get all antsy – which makes me get up to run outside to take a bunch of pictures.

It really is fun having a camera. It opens up a pretty nice world. A world that somehow needs to be photographed. Listen, I know my pictures are of just a bunch of stuff, but I really do enjoy trying to make something out of nothing. I mean, I’m not sure how many comparable men were outside a half hour ago, trying to get a decent shot of a Hemlock bud. I’m just not sure of that, but since I was, I suppose that says something about my personality.

These pictures are a bit different than those from my last post. First, I changed the lens. While I used my Sigma 10-20mm for the last bunch, and took pretty much everything at 10mmm, I decided to get some close-ups this go round. I changed lenses to my Canon 55-135mm and tried to take these at 135mm. It didn’t work out all the time, but these are all mostly zoomed in as much as I could go. Almost all of them.

Doing close-up shots reminds me of why I wanted a macro lens last year. If you don’t know what that is, do an image search for “macro photography” and you’ll see what they do. It’s pretty awesome.

Anyway, here are my latest random pictures. Enjoy.

Red Maple Bud and Spider Web

Highbush Cranberry Immature Leaves

Some Sort of a Lawn Weed

White Pine New Growth

Silver Maple Immature Leaves

Another Photo of a Lawn Weed

Immature Leaves On a Vine

Bud On a Canadian Hemlock

New Growth On An English Boxwood

Flowers On a Crabapple

A Bush In the Back Yard


Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

In a previous post, I mentioned that I wanted to share something with you regarding my camera. Well, today is the great unveiling. While it may not be all too exciting over there on your end, it’s kind of exciting here.

Okay, so here goes – I finally broke down and purchased a wide angle lens. To be exact, it’s the “Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras.” That’s Amazon’s title.

While I’m not going to go over all the features and intricacies of what this lens has to offer, I will say this – the price was right. Compared to other ultra wide-angle lenses I looked at (Tokina, Canon), I thought Sigma had the best deal. Things can get awfully pricey in the lens world and when shopping for these types of things, I must remember that all I need is something to get the job done.

I haven’t taken any photos of anything real, per se, but what I did do is something to give you a gist of how much this lens can capture. I took a few photos of some trees in the front lawn and one of my car. When you look at the one of the car, remember that I am only standing about eight feet away from it. Pretty cool.

California Coast Sigma 10-20mm Sample Video Canon T2i / T3i / 550D / 600D

Laying Down on Front Lawn - Sigma 10-20mm Wide Angle Lens

Garden and Trees - Sigma 10-20mm Wide Angle Lens

Bare Trees and Sun - Sigma 10-20mm Wide Angle Lens

Flowers On Cleveland Select Pear - Sigma 10-20mm Wide Angle Lens

Flowers On Cleveland Select Pear and Sun - Sigma 10-20mm Wide Angle Lens

BMW X5 - Sigma 10-20mm Wide Angle Lens


A Beautiful Spring Day

Re-post from my other blog. Written years ago.

A few days ago was the first day of Spring 2010. It was absolutely beautiful weather. I would say it was in the lower 70s and the humidity was low. For Connecticut, that’s pretty good. It can get humid fast around here.

I did a little playing outside for a while and then remembered that I had a hammock. Oh sure, it was the most important thing in the world to me just before I bought it, but now that it’s hanging in the garage, I completely forget about it at times. Well, since it was only around 4pm and the sun was shining, I decided to pull out the old hammock.

I remember last year when I sat in the very same spot. I brought my new Motorola Droid out and played “Days Of The New” through my headphones. It was like magic. There truthfully is nothing like laying on a hammock in perfect weather.

The other day was almost perfect weather. The breeze was about 3mph too fast, but other than that, things were pretty much not going to get any better.

As I was laying there, I thought to myself how cool it would be to get some pictures of the trees and nature and all that. I dragged myself out of the hammock and ran inside to get my camera.

What did I come up with? Well, I got about six shots of the trees in front of me and I put them all together. I know it’s not a perfect job, but I think it’s pretty cool looking nonetheless.

Laying in Hammock

See what I’m talking about?