Trailing the stars

Y'all are going to be super impressed. I have yet to miss a day in my photo a day challenge to myself. But I am on to another pet project. Star trails.

Star trails are pictures of the stars that makes it seem like the stars are moving across the sky, when in fact we're the peeps that are moving (well, the earth is, anyway). I've always wanted to take these type of pictures, and now I have the chance. I live up in the hills where there's not a lot of light pollution, it's currently dark (although we're gaining daylight like mad, so I won't be able to take too many more of these), and I'm up all night anyway. Great combo.

They're fairly simple, you do have to have patience, as well as some special equipment. First night I did it, I didn't even look online for directions. Probably because the internet was down (yep, I remember now). I knew it had to have a long exposure, so I figured I'd just set up my camera and come back in a couple of hours.Which is technically true, but not how I thought. I also didn't have a tripod (mine met an untimely death in a certain car accident we had last summer), but I'm real good at stacking junk together to place a camera on top of.

It was about 2 degrees and when I came to get my camera 2.5 hours later and there was frost forming on the lens (my camera may die at a younger age). The camera had also turned off, because of the battery dying. When I plugged the card into the computer, this is what I got:

 

I was stoked. There were trails of light! Okay, it was obviously way over exposed and the composition wasn't that great, but I felt fairly satisfied with my limitations (read: freezing, no tripod, not a lot of knowledge). For those photo nerds, the exposure was a little more than 30 minutes at f11. 

Here it is again, but I messed with the levels: 

Cool, right?

The next night the internet was working and I found a decent tutorial: http://www.jamesvernacotola.com/Resources/How-To-Photograph-Star-Trails/12233655_V7cX4D . There are a ton more, but I didn't want to waste time reading them.

I learned that you have to take many exposures and then combine them into one as well as set your f/stop to as high as it will go, like f2.8. Right.

To take multiple exposures and then combine them, you CANNOT move the camera. That means not even touching it. Luckily, I have a remote. I won't get into the technical details of it all, but I really need a lock cable release, but the remote was the second best thing.

Still not having a tripod, I used a hymn book (my mom said "It's nice you were able to use a hymn book for something other than hymns." Thanks, mom) and a cardboard box and set it all up on the snow/ice covered driveway. I'm in Alaska. We're hardcore.

Here's a short exposure (30 sec) so I would be able to tell what my composition was:

 Good to go. I decided I'm come back every 10 minutes or so to stop the exposure and take another one. Unfortunately, after doing this a couple of times, the remote wasn't working (human error) so I gently touched the button. Remember when I said you can't even touch the camera? This is five images combined, but because I moved the camera, you can tell things don't line up. 

It had potential. The faint green you see is part of the northern lights. They have not been coming out when I've been looking, so I got over them, and now I don't want them out (well, I still do, just not a lot) because my picture would just be a sea of green. It was said that this Friday and Saturday they're supposed to be out really strong, so I'll switch back over to northern light photography if that's the case.What can I say, I'm flexible.

Quick astronomy. You may notice the lights are going in a circular pattern. That's because of the north star, you know, the one that doesn't move so sailors can navigate by and such. If you look up star trails online, a lot of them have the north star as a kind of focal point so you see a complete circle of stars. I obviously did not position my camera this way (maybe because at the time I couldn't find it and was using a hymn book anyway, okay?). 

Tonight I asked Doug if he had a tripod (I know, I need to buy another one). He did. Turns out tripods are a lot easier to work with than random junk or hymn books. I set this shot up on the deck right outside the family room so I it wouldn't be as much as a hassle to take another picture every 10 minutes. And...

Sweet!

Tomorrow night I'm planning on going out into the semi wilderness so I can get cooler foreground stuff and perhaps a better view of the whole night sky so I can be a cool photographer with the north star in the picture. Let's pray I don't get eaten by bears.

It's really incredible how fast the world is moving, even after 10 minutes the streaks of stars have moved a considerable distance. Stars may be my new favorite thing. Besides hot country singers.

Anthropology of YSA dances

Last post I told you I got an iphone. That pretty much sums up why I've been neglecting my blog. However, I did take on a pet project of posting to instagram everyday for the month of January. My end goal will be to take a picture every day for a whole year, but I'm doing it month by month so I don't feel like a failure when it doesn't happen. So far, so good. Follow me at, you guessed it, #elissagator. That's also my Twitter account, which I've also been using a bit more. I'm full of surprises.

This past weekend I got to go down to Anchorage for an LDS temple trip. It was great to get out of Fairbanks. I even saw caribou on the way down. One of the Anchorage YSA wards invited us to a dance. Now, I'm not that into dances.Granted, I can dance a storm around you, I just don't usually feel like showing off.

Sitting there, wondering when the night would come to an end, inspiration struck. When that happens, you can't disobey the muses. I got paper, pen and a hymn book, sat in a chair and started writing. Mind you, I was still in the gym, with the dance going on in front of me. I became that girl. The weird one. And I gloried in it.

Here is what I banged out on paper (with a few edits. The copy editing job is really starting to seep into my brain system. Shudder). For your information, YSA means "young single adult;" those in the LDS church that are 18-30. Now you know.

Observations of a YSA Dance
By Elissa Stewart

No boos. Modest dress. A basketball gym with haphazard strung Christmas lights.

A mash up of Thriller and Lady Gaga blast through the speakers. It's an appropriate beat for a scary event -- a Mormon YSA dance.

I stand with the group, yet a part as I write my observations. Tonight I am merely an anthropologist, studying the strange mating rituals of a group ostracized for their different ways. They are different, and yet beautiful -- in the same way a penguin will give a potential mate a pebble. Not a lot of logic, just pure weird.

Their favorite type of dance is the line dance. Not necessarily country, but a mix of the electric slide, pop and wobble and a rural rhythm called "Cotton Eyed Joe." I don't know if Joe would be pleased or astounded at how his name was being used. Then again, having cotton eyes, he would be prevented from most of the indecency.

The slide disintegrates into a slow song. As the tempo slows down, there is an energy change on the dance floor. A massive rush to the drinking fountain ensues by those too sweaty or too self-conscious to wait through those painful seconds wondering if someone will ask them to dance. Others claim a metal chair that hug the prickly-scratchy wall (this wall paper choice is a whole study in and of itself).

And then we have "those" couples. I put that word in quotation marks to symbolize the close and curving ability these people fit into each other. Appropriately, of course. They gaze into each others' eyes, dismissing the strong aroma of body odors and stale farts. They are the only two that exist in the room, under a hoop that will hopefully soon serve as a backdrop for their wedding receiving line.

The odd assortment of the collection adds to the mystery of the dancing ritual. There are big girls, small girls, girls swallowed up by their own vanity. And then the nice girls who come up to strange girls sitting in the corner writing (writing, at a dance -- who does that?) and introduce themselves and start small talk.

Now I don't want to group the males into one group, but for the most part they are a nervous bunch. Sure, there are the outliers -- those who wear sunglasses inside and have the moves of Usher with the morals of Joseph of Egypt. And the few males that you can't help but pity as awkwardness radiates from their clothes.

Putting the males and females together you get raging hormones of a religion that believes sex before marriage is a sin. The ability to get jiggy with it in a church approved setting is a counted blessing.

Not to worry -- there are chaperones, older couples so deliriously happy with their own marriages they can't help but facilitate the marriages of the young and energetic. These chapersones usually have kids about the same age -- and they want grandbabies. If they can help some other older couple get grandbabies, maybe karma will be good back to them.

The paradox of the evening is the fact that this event is supposed to help young people meet and mate -- yet they can't communicate over the dropped out bass of the speakers. You usually end up nodding your head and smiling with anything anybody says. I guess Ursula was right; they have to rely on body language.

Speaking of body language, after studying the subtle nuances and inflections of this particular language, I've translated a few dance movements into modern English so you might more fully grasp what these youth are trying to say to each other:

Waving hands in the air = Would I be a viable partner to produce offspring with?
Booty shake = I can't mate now, but once you wed me by taking me through the temple, you can be sure nights will be pleasurable.
The safe shuffle = I don't really want to be here, but online dating has only given me matches from the Philippines and I'm not that desperate. Yet.
Circling around a guy with pop and lock skills: Finally the attention isn't on my moves but maybe a potential mate across the circle will notice my fun and happy disposition and be willing to follow my Twitter account.

By the end of the night there has been heartache as well as feelings of floating on cloud nine. There have been an average of 3.7 trips to the bathroom by the females checking that their hair still lingers behind their ears in the most seductive manner. At least one person has left crying, and at least two more will cry the next day once they realize the person they hit it off with isn't going to return their texts.

There have been no serious studies as to the probability that two unknown strangers will meet, fall in love and get married as a result of these peculiar Mormon dances. But every opportunity to increase the odds of finding an eternal companion before the ripe age of 28 is taken. That's why I find myself putting down the pen and joining the bouncing throngs.

So far online dating has only given me matches from Cambodia and it turns out I almost am that desperate.

First world problems

Guess what? I did it. I have arrived. If I were Latin, someone would be throwing me a quinceanera. If I were the daughter of Lord and Lady Grantham, this would be my first London party. You get the idea.

I got an iPhone.

I know, Droids are better, I just sold myself to the Apple power who wants to take over my brain, blah blah blah.

It's my first smart phone, and I am stoked. I ordered it online and it got sent here in 2 days (which is miraculous for Alaska shipping standards). Today, I opened it, and started going through the activation process. After some problems and calling tech support, I was given devastating news.

I can't activate here in Alaska because I have Verizon and Verizon is not America's largest network because Alaska is part of America but Verizon is not in Alaska. Soon they'll be here, they tell me. I meant to tell them "well AT&T is here." But they were actually really nice and helpful so I didn't want to be rude.

I have to ship my iphone home so my mommy can activate it and ship it back up. For a couple of days I will have no cell service. Gasp, I know. The world actually might come to an end on Friday.

In more uplifting news, I've started to write. Like actually write a story. I don't know where it's going to go, but it makes me really happy. It's what I'm supposed to do.

And because I can't really get you all a Christmas gift, this is my gift to you. These are my jams that have inspired and motivated me to write and be happy. You should listen to them.

You're welcome.

In no particular order:

Take A Walk by Passion Pit

This song almost makes me want to take a walk, but then I realize it's -40, so I just take a walk in my head.

 

Madness by Muse

This song describes so much of life. Especially my life. Not that I've been in love, but when I am, I'm pretty sure it will be madness. Favorite part is at 4:10 (on the music video version anyway). Wow. It just builds and you feel the power and you feel like you've been blasted into space.

 

 

We Come Running by Youngblood Hawke

I'm pretty sure there's a kid's chorus in the background and it gives it a unique sound. I really like this music video. Most music videos are like "meh, whatever" but if you watch one of these, it should be this one.

 

Wanted by Hunter Hayes

Okay, this kid is only 21-years-old. I would not mind at all if he sang this to me (and meant it, of course). This video isn't my favorite, but his facial expressions are pretty endearing. I'm pretty picky in my Country selection, but I really like his stuff. 

Now I'm sure you're thinking "what, no female artists?" Not for today's list. Maybe next time.

Some interesting facts about some of the above: Hunter Hayes has Grammy nominations for best new artist, best Country solo performance, and best Country album. Muse's Madness was nominated for Best Rock Song.

My only concern is that these songs are going to get way overplayed on the radio and then it will be like when an Adele song comes on -- you really love it but you can't stand it anymore. Sigh, I guess good music just goes that way.

I love these songs because they make me feel. And I want to write stuff that makes people feel. Whether it be passion, or excitement or sadness. Don't worry, I'm not planning on writing 51 Shades of Neutral or anything like that.

And if I don't write for awhile, Merry Christmas! 

Just How Cold Is It In Fairbanks? Part 2

Last week it dumped snow. That's not even the best part. The best part is it got up to 20 degrees. As in 20 above 0. I think that lasted 1.5 days. It snowed so much they canceled school because the buses couldn't get through it (Fairbanks is used to snow, but it was over a foot in a 24 hour period and they just couldn't keep up with clearing the roads). It was my day off, and I had plans to go out and do things, but Deb told me not to try to drive anywhere because the roads were so bad.

Luckily, by the time I had to go to work the next day, the roads were basically cleared. Deb said when this much snow happens at once they have to haul it out of the city, because you can't exactly keep making a snow wall on the side of the road. I guess technically you could, but then people would get really mad.

Speaking of a snow wall, at the university they make an ice wall every year. As soon as the temps start dropping below freezing they start to spray water onto this 35 foot frame and before you know it, ice wall! You can then rent gear to climb it. Like rock climbing, except slightly colder. And slipperier. And colder.

Remember how I said it got up to 20 degrees? Well I'm pretty sure the weather was climbing an ice wall and suddenly fell off because within 30 hours or so it dropped to -40. That's a 60 degree difference. On my laptop it says it's currently -46. Today we only had the first hour of church because of the temperature. Winter church regulations: -30 church is 2 hours, -40 church is 1 hour, -50 church is optional. It's because they don't have outlets in the parking lot so we can't plug our cars, meaning they will literally freeze if left out in those conditions too long.

It's too cold even for ice. Let me explain. There's a lot of ice sculptures around here, because, well they can make them in November and they'll last until April and why not. But if it gets too cold, the ice gets brittle and the sculptors can't work with the ice and then the wings start falling off angels and then you have to glue them back on and then Tinkerbell dies. Tragic.

Coming home from work tonight I'm pretty sure I small icicle formed on the corner of my eye. I wanted to give it a name, like Squishy, except Freezy, and it would be all mine. Instead it melted and died.

The ice fog was the worst I've seen it tonight. At one point I only could see 10 feet in front of me. What's ice fog? Ice fog is when all the car exhaust, pollution, smoke from wood burning stoves and other particulates freeze and get trapped in low levels. So exactly like regular fog, except this stuff is miniscule ice crystals of crap. When you're driving behind cars you have to have a greater following distance because the exhaust immediately freezes and it's like driving through Puff the Magic Dragon, minus the drug references. 

In fact, a couple of weeks ago Fairbanks had the worst pollution in the whole nation, and greater than most places in the world, besides big cities in China. Thanks China -- we didn't want to be number one in that category. Don't worry, in the summer there's hardly any pollution, unless there's a fire, then there's a bunch of ash, so take that and smoke it.

Here's me in a frozen sleigh with a frozen Santa in North Pole. He also had 8 ice reindeer, but I didn't feel like straddling something that would undoubtedly chap my thighs and perhaps sterilize me from ever having children.



Now I need to clarify something. There are few things in my life that I am able to have bragging rights over, and living in Fairbanks during the winter is one of them. Someone (I won't mention names...) challenged me because she stated that she had lived in a certain southeastern Idaho town where there's a certain LDS owned college and once it got to 50 below.


Being the good researcher and humble bragger that I am, I checked up on that. The coldest it's gotten in that certain potato growing village was -30 back in the 80s. It rarely drops below -20.

Whew. Glad I got that off my chest. I feel better.

And for those of you going to warm destinations for Christmas, like, I don't know, Hawaii... I hope you have a wonderful time. And that the ice machine in the hotel starts spewing ice into your room. That is all.

Just how cold is Fairbanks cold? Part I: Cars

In our paper we put a graphic of the state of Alaska with the weather forecast for main cities (all 6 of them). For Anchorage, which is 6 hours south of us, the high was -1 and the low was -8 and the blurb said something like "Sunny and very cold with snow flurries in the evening."

For Fairbanks, the high was -30 and the low was -36 and the blurb said "Some sun and very cold with cold snap continuing through the week."

Let's break this down. The difference between -1 and -30 is 29 degrees. That's the difference between a nice 71 degree day and a hot 100 degree day. You notice how I use different adjectives: nice vs. hot. The Eskimos may have 40 different words for "snow," but apparently anything below 0 is just "very cold." 

Mark Zuckerberg has yet to create the facebook option where you can feel things through the internet, so I'm going to have to explain what -35 is, because I'm betting most of you haven't experienced it.



Fairbanks "very cold" is so cold that you have to plug your car in while you're at work, else your engine, oil and battery would freeze. At many work places, such as mine, they have these posts with outlets that you plug a freeze fancy extension cord into and the other end into a plug coming out the front of your car. They even light up so you know there's juice flowing. 

It's true. I'm cheating. These aren't my pics, but they're linked back to the original site. Don't go too judgmental on me, I'm living in very cold weather.

Now, some people have this sweet device called an auto start for their cars. The device is attached to your key chain and before you go outside you push the button for your car to start so it gets warm before you have to risk your life. It takes about 10-15 minutes, depending on how comfy cozy you want your car to be. Really fancy auto starts have sensors inside the car and if the inside temperature gets below -5, it automatically turns the car on to warm it back up.

I do not have an auto start. I did recently buy a car, and it would be awesome to have one, but getting an auto start installed is about a quarter of what I paid for the car, so it's just not worth it to me.

Because of this, when I get into my car at the end of the night, it is slightly cold inside. I recently bought these extreme gloves that are leather and down goose feather crazy insulated; in fact if I wear them inside for more than 2 minutes my hands start to sweat -- but it's so cold these gloves aren't cutting it because I can feel the cold radiating from the steering wheel. I don't grip the steering wheel very hard.

This concludes this section of "Just how cold is Fairbanks cold?" Stay tuned for more informative reasons on why I deserve lots more gifts this year.

Highlight

On the inside front cover (A2) is a brief summary of the weather. There is the high and low of the day (H 9 L -5), the sunrise (8:51 a.m.) and sunset (4:05 p.m.), the percent of snowfall (30%), and minutes of daylight lost (6 minutes and 44 seconds). And then a cute weather icon picturing what the day is supposed to be like.

I am then supposed to write a short 3-4 line phrase interpreting the forecast, and they told me I could be creative with it.

Let me repeat that. They told me I could be creative with it. 

This is the highlight of my work night.

I get to type out words from my head and they get to be published in a newspaper. The second largest paper in the largest state.

For the first week, I kept it within the limits of a stagnant pond. I was still putting my feelers out for my new environment. The last two days -- well let's just say the tadpole got some legs and is walking out of the pond.

Because honestly, there are only so many words that rhyme with sunny, cloudy and cold. And those three words are what the weather will always be for a long time.

Two days ago, it was supposed to be cloudy with some sun. I wrote "After the sun hides behind the clouds, look for clouds that are shaped like mythological creatures." Yesterday, cloudy all day "If clouds were cotton candy, there will be lots of cotton candy in the sky." Today's cloudy and cold "On this cloudy day, dare a friend to eat ice cream outside. And then run away."

Ladies, and gentlemen, I am just warming up.

I want to be that girl that my editor gets calls about "You have just got to tell me who writes your weather reports. They're brilliant!" or "Do the world a favor and let me hire this girl and help her achieve greatness while paying her loads of money."

I want to be that girl that when Katie Couric asks what was the main turning point in my road to fame I'll look sentimentally off to the right and say "Writing the weather reports, Katie."

I want to be that girl that gets her honorary meteorologist degree and makes surprise visits during the nightly news weather report, much to the glee and happiness of all who are present.   

I want to be that girl that gets perfume named after her (I'm thinking "Cloudy, With A Chance of Eternity, by Elissa")

Because that girl needs only three lines a day to slide her way into the hearts of many and the noses of none.

Why I Love Alaska

1. The bumper stickers. Those that say "Tok Alaska: We're not all there because we're all here." Or "Where the hell is Chicken Alaska?" And how could we forget "I can see Russia from my house." As one person pointed out, Alaska bumper stickers are like an inside joke, because the only people most likely to read them are...other Alaskans.

2. Driving erratically because you're watching the northern lights in the night sky.

3. Going on walks when it's 5 degrees and seeing moose only 10 feet away.

4. The crunch of snow. The other day someone said they hated that sound. I'm not sure how they're dealing with everyday life here.

Want to see what I see everyday? This is the arctic cam, which is a real time view from the building I work in, the Daily News-Miner.