Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Confessions of a Camera Obscura

BioMagikus: Dark Energy Device

Hello from Laurel's camera. I have returned, if only temporarily. heh heh heh. I find she appreciates me a great deal more if I go on the occasional walkabout. Maybe I don't have all the bells & whistles of the new cameras, but who wants to make that much noise anyway. Bells--bleah. Whistles--what?

I fear my days are numbered. Is it my fault if she can't hold me steady enough to get the lowlight no flash pictures she prefers? No, I say, a thousand times no! But she casts hungry eyes (isn't that mixed up anyway? hungry is the stomache's job) on the gyroscopic functions that make her microscopic shakes (she likes really low light) a non-issue. Sigh. What's a camera to do?

Answer: Hide! I'm getting good at it. She may replace me, but she'll never get my memory card!

So here we are in the new administration. I'm going to write to Obama & see if he has a job for an old (but gold) camera. I've been around the block--Peru, Ireland, Paris. I've seen things. 

Blog alternative:
163. Take several pictures of something. Close-up. Upside down. With & without flash. 

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Asheville's Most Wanted: Angel hair pasta. Probably not armed, or dangerous

Greetings from the middle of January (or dang close anyway).

I guess I haven't talked to you since Christmas, which means you know nothing of the lovely time I had with Nick & Chloe. (Unless you are Nick or Chloe.) (Hi Nick!) (Hi Chloe!) We did art & took walks & saw movies & ate food & made cookies & traipsed all over town in search of diGiornio's fresh angel hair pasta with which to make Italian Stir Fry (a fabulous dish I invented which Nick remembered fondly from childhood). (We didn't quite find the exact thing, but we got a nearly as good (good thing, too, because it was expensive as all get out!) substitute, so Nick was able to inhale at least a small portion of his childhood fave.)

Movies: Slumdog Millionaire gets 5 stars out of 3! See this movie. Pretty please. Your self will thank you for it. The Tale of Desperaux gets 1.5 out of 3, which was disappointing. I bet the book (by the lovely & talented Kate diCamillo) is much better. Yes Man gets 2.679 out of 3, because of a fun script & not too much over-the-top Jim Carey-ing.

& since I dropped the kidlets off at the Tri-Cities airport, I have had much fun doing artworks & writing (even wrote (& mailed off to an editor!) a picture book) & walks & more movies & etcetera etcetera etcetera. My first continuing education class happened. Intro to Photoshop. Lots of fun. I'm looking forward to Flash & Powerpoint. Might have to get my hands on some Adobe. Fortunately I'll be able to get a student discount. (They lure you in with a good deal, because they want you hooked on their software. Like drugs--"Hey man, try this out. The first one's free....") (Well, not anywhere near free, but also not anywhere near the bloated full price either.)

I am going to post this quick, without artwork (sorry Helen), because I don't want to go another day without posting & the camera has gone on an adventure. (Perhaps under a pillow?)

I didn't make any resolutions, but I did pick a word for the year. (See Christine Kane's blog if you want a really wonderful article on the process.) My word for the year: Trust. (As in, relax, you're doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing & all is so far weller than well that you can't even imagine (& you know how magnificent your imagination is!) the results that are on the way.)

Blog alternative:
162. Pick a word for the year that will guide your bodymindheartsoul into the center.