Not yet, as the solstice is on December 21st (or 22nd, can’t remember), but it’s definitely starting to feel like it. I’ve been enjoying warm, lovely weather up until a week or two ago, when it became a bit frigid. The sun sets at about 4:45 now, and rises late in the morning as well, which means less sunlight each day.

For some reason, as temperatures lower and plant life disappears, my daily music rotation changes. I’ve thrown out The Pigeon Detectives, Tokyo Police Club, and anything that reminds me of summer, and I’ve thrown in slower, mellower music. Band of Horses, Ben Folds, Sigur R?ɬ?s, and a few others have made their way into some of my most listened music recently. I suppose the cold weather and fast paced music don’t match.

Time with my camera has also been cut. The sun sets at 4:45, which doesn’t give me much time each day to go out and take some shots. Most days I don’t have time at all. I took a shot out the window the other day though, as seen above. My time indoors has dramatically increased, and my time outdoors has been reduced to almost no time at all. With the sun setting so early, and the temperatures becoming colder and colder everyday, there’s no time for going outside. Everything becomes more and more depressing as late fall progresses into winter, which explains my recent change in music.

Due to the weather, I’ve temporarily ditched my favorite (and highly recommended) American Apparel California Fleece Zip Hoodie, and bought a new one from Uniqlo, a store which, to say the least, makes me want to smash my head with a hammer. However, it’s lined with this incredible material which feels like this bed cover I used to have (since when did I start writing about clothes?).

Speaking of Sigur R?ɬ?s, they released their double-EP the other day, Hvarf-Heim. Made up of unreleased songs, as well as acoustic versions of songs previously recorded, Hvarf-Heim is a great listen for a cold winter day, and is a great mellow addition to my daily rotation of songs. They also released Heima, a documentary about their 2006 tour in Iceland. As a dual DVD set, the first disc contains the documentary, while the second contains songs recorded live on the tour. I’ll definitely be purchasing this when it lands in stores over here on the 20th.

I purchased my Nikon D80 the other week, a really decent camera. I’m slowly adjusting to it, but I think I’ve got the hang of it. A quick read through the latter parts of the manual did the trick.

The sunsets have been incredible lately. It’s hard to get good shots of them as the sun sets so early. Tomorrow I’ll try to get some good shots downtown, we’ll see how it goes.