It's a monster. Sunspot 652 generated a large solar flare today and while not headed directly towards us, we'll catch some of the edge effect. Increased chance of auroras July 21st and 22nd. Ted says he used binoculars to project the sun onto a white piece of paper and was able to see the sun spot.
The photo is a little fuzzier than previous ones. There wasn't as much contrast this time. My process is something like: setup telescope, put camera on tripod, project Sun onto foam backed board, take a bunch of photos (with timer, holding breath), bring into photoshop, convert to B&W, run auto contrast, try to fix skew distortions (camera/board/image aren't always lined up), change image size to approximately 650 pixels wide, use magic wand to select background and delete, sharpen, change image size to final (usually 400px) width, save as jpg.
My setup is documented here: Photographing the Sun.
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Brown the meat, set aside. Saute onions and red peppers, toss in a few thinly sliced garlic cloves and cook for a few minutes longer. Combine with meat, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, dash of red wine. Spice liberally and creatively. Simmer.
While you were cutting garlic you reserved a thinly diced clove for salad dressing. Dump in a small screw top jar. Pour in a nice balsamic vinegar and olive oil (1 to 2, 2 to 1, 1 to 4...you never remember ratios but it is generally more oil than vinegar).
Add herbs, fresh if you have them (diced small, bruised a bit). Basil, oregano, thyme, tarragon, cumin, rosemary...it varies based on the meal at hand, personal tastes, salad composition, and, of course, what's in the spice rack. Add a dash of salt, loads of fresh ground pepper, a dollop of a non-flourescent mustard (i.e. dijon). Screw on cap, shake like crazy. Set aside for quiet time of infusion.
Stir spaghetti sauce. Taste, touch up spices. Add sliced mushrooms when eating time approaches.
Think about how nice it would be to share the meal with someone. Look up and spot a deer ambling across the backyard. It's not what you meant but cheers things up all the same.
Are one of these supposed to be your trip photos?
Nope, both are a link to the Wyoming fella's weblog.