Newly bespectacled

It was clever-clogs Carl who suggested that I phone the optician and see if my new glasses could be ready this morning. We'd decided to do something last night to celebrate the removal of my plaster cast, and went for an early bird meal in the Purple Ocean restaurant (in the ferry terminal in Dún Laoghaire -- okay, but not great) and then to the local cinema to see Hallam Foe (excellent performance by Jamie Bell, weird plot). The film didn't screen until 9.30, so it was too late afterwards for me to get home, and I stayed over in Carl's place. I took his suggestion on board, was told that the lenses had come in and that my glasses would be ready within the hour. So I had blip time to spend around Dún Laoghaire while I waited. The weather was beautiful, the sunlight was amazing, the camera lost the run of itself and clicked its shutter over and over again, so, before I knew it, there were some 70-odd images there to go through when I got home.

The new specs are pretty: 3-way varifocals, anti-glare, anti-scratch, super lightweight reactalight cost-a-fortune lenses. I noticed as I took some of my shots before picking up the new gear that I had to take off my glasses to see things clearly in the LCD screen. Hopefully that won't be necessary with the new gear. Maybe they'll also help me see the world more like the camera does (the old pair used a prescription which dates back to the 20th Century!).

Anyway, it wasn't easy to decide which of the many options to use as today's blip. I finally settled for this one because I've bounced back a bit from yesterday's hospital downer. The morning blip wander helped, and then the icing on the cake was going to the National Concert Hall with two friends from the Music Group to hear Daniel Barenboim conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Schubert's 5th and Bruckner's 4th Symphonies. The Bruckner was especially wonderful, and the experience was enough to send anyone home in a good mood and find this rock-pool image appropriate for my current mood.

To add to the high of the morning wander and the evening concert, I also had the bonus fillip of being able to tie my shoelaces for the first time in several weeks, being able to hold a glass in my right hand during the concert interval, and being able to join in the applause in appreciation of a truly wonderful musical experience.

Life is good.