Sunday, June 27, 2010

Weekly Winners: Storage Issues Edition


I have a question regarding storage of photos. How do you do it? With an external hard drive, or a big USB, or something else? Our hard drive is getting full, and I need a better system. And don't even get me started on the actual organization. Any suggestions or ideas?

Just a flower. A very pretty one at that.

Busy bee

Up close and beautiful

A sea of yellow

Four little paws, all in a row

If only those little spikes showed in the shadows

Work in progrees

Tall and smiling

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Artwork

I've been pretty silent this week. Which is probably good, because all you would have heard about would have been my week. Which was a pretty bad one. So we'll just leave it at that-bad week, big egg on my head (Didn't you just picture a chicken egg on the side of my head? I did. Just to clarify, I bumped my head on a cabinet, and so there is a large bump on the side of my head.).

Instead of talking, I thought I would post a couple pictures of recent art projects.

This first one is a charcoal drawing I did in my tree drawing class. The fuzziness is mostly the actual picture, but some of it is my inability to hold the camera still. You get the general idea, at any rate.

This is the last one I finished in the art class with my neighbor. It's hanging on the wall in the hallway. I think it's my favorite one to date.
I hope you had a better week than I did. Enjoy the weekend.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Weekly Winners


Standing tall

Patterned eating

Beautifully random

Looking to the other side

Hello there, teacher

Messy because I'm busy

One way to infinity

Nothin' but net

 Caught, seriously

Inside looking out

I got a plane to write "Happy Father's Day" in the sky

Friday, June 18, 2010

Another Rambling Post About My Week

Sitting here at the end of a long week, I am tired, but not down to my bones. I started tutoring a young boy each morning in reading. He is doing well and seems motivated to learn, which makes my job much easier. The environment is very loud and noisy, but I've found that I am mostly able to focus just on him and block out everyone else.

It was week two of my photography and drawing classes. Photography on Tuesday was great; we all admired and critiqued the previous week's shots, got this week's assignment, and then went outside to shoot. I haven't really looked at any of my pictures yet (the new camera is great except the process for getting the pictures onto the computer is much more complicated and time-consuming), but I hope I got some good ones. A painting class was set up under some trees, which created some really cool mottled light.

I didn't feel in the mood for a two hour drawing class yesterday, but the feeling seemed to have no problem leaving me and my artistic abilities well enough alone, once the class had started. The teacher introduced us to a new technique using charcoal. You cover the page completely with the charcoal, and then use an eraser to create the picture. I did one of cherries, and I think it turned out quite well.

More than that, it feels good to discover this new, more artistic part of me, and to not be so scared that I can't enjoy it.

Today I had my art class with my neighbor. Nothing too exciting; just finishing off my painting, which took the whole class. She is going on vacation for about a month, so we won't resume until the beginning of July. I'll miss having that time every week, but it should help my schedule calm down some, and I will have lots of other creative outlets to fill that hole.

Our TV has been keeping us busy between the World Cup and the NBA finals. The last (basketball) game was yesterday. I stayed up late to watch, and was not disappointed. Lakers/Celtics match-up, Game 7, what more could one ask for? It wasn't a particularly pretty game, but still kept me on the edge of my seat. Shooting at something like 30% and still being able to come back from a 13 point deficit was impressive enough for a Lakers win. My dad and I went to bed happy; my mom not. (What fun would it be if we all rooted for the same team?)

I don't really follow any sports, although I do get excited and involved when big events come around. Super Bowl, the Finals, the World Cup, those sorts of things. I have no idea what I am talking about when it comes to soccer, but I still enjoy watching. I looked up the rules so I have a general idea (who knew there was a rule about spitting?), but I still consider myself lucky if I can follow the ball and differentiate between the two teams. Team USA all the way!

My parents are hiking up in the alpine this afternoon, so I have the house to myself. (I forgot-my dad's back! It's great to have him home again, and we have pretty much settled back into our routines. I think I'll post some pictures of his trip once we see them all.) I need to do some of my technology class, but other than that, I plan on reading and eating a Popsicle and relaxing and enjoying the cool of the house. I might even brave the sun's wrath to pick some strawberries.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Weekly Winners


Sunshine

Peering through the purple

Beautifully backlit

A lone tree

Floating

Fine details
 
 Caught in the shower


Friday, June 11, 2010

Breaking Down the Days

Tuesday:
I took the training to be a tutor at the local literacy center. It seems like a great program that is able to teach kids the skills they need, as well as being interesting and diverse enough to keep their (and their tutor's) attention.

I start Monday morning, so I hope that goes well.

In the afternoon I had my first photography class. It is called "Discovering Your Point and Shoot". I feel like the class is a good fit for me; the right amount of technical jargain so I understand the basics, but mostly lots of hands-on time. We will be taking and critiquing photographs for most of the class, so I hope to improve some of my skills.

I feel like I have a decent foundation, but I need someone who is more experienced to get me to the next level. (Gosh, I sound so serious.)

Wednesday:
I had my art class with my neighbor. My painting is essentially done (it is a mat like the last one), so I will be bringing it home next week. I was really tired pretty much the whole day, so I don't remember much.

Thursday:
My first class of tree drawing. I was, quite frankly, terrified, but I had a good time. I don't think of myself as a particularly artistic person (I know that sounds strange) and definitely not a drawer (this shouldn't sound strange. I specifically chose abstract because they don't have to look like anything.) I couldn't remember why I had signed myself up for this (I was going to say torture but then decided that would be a big exaggeration.)....class.

There were only three other students, which makes it feel safer and less intimidating. The teacher is really laid back, letting you come to her for questions, and not shoving technique down our throats. We drew lots of trees, from our imagination, not looking down at our paper, outlines, and with shading.

I didn't love any of the drawings that I did, but at least half of them actually looked like trees! I'm not going into this with big expectations, so I hope to just enjoy myself and maybe learn something.

Friday:
I got my hair cut. A little shorter than last time, but not different enough that I feel the need to leap up and take a picture and post it. Or even find a decent likeness on Google. You are all imaginative people. Chin length, tucked under, hopefully easy to care for.

But....the big news of the day week is that my dad is coming home. Today. At approximately 6:40 pm. It'll be great to see him and hug him. (One of the biggest things I've missed is hugging someone taller than me. My mom disagrees when I say that I am taller than she is, but we all know the truth.)

I'm sure we will here lots of great stories (hopefully nothing too exciting) and see lots of great pictures (I'm telling you, after stealing the brand new camera from me for a month, he better have some good pictures.).

I have been reading a lot, spending time outside, shoving the camera into Smokey's face, playing games with my mom, watching movies (we watched the entire Harry Potter series while my dad was gone! I have always wanted to do that. It was really fun to see them in a row and have that continuity, but it also made the flaws and gaps in continuity much more obvious. And we'll have to do it all over again once the seventh one(s) are out.), taking my technology class, and sitting on our roof watching the sunset.

Have a great weekend!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Weekly Winners


This was a week of experimenting with new-found features on the camera and, it felt like, relearning how to take pictures.

 Beauty in purple

Hard at work

Let sleeping cats lie

Tall and proud

On the path to edible

Reflections

Hanging on the edge

Gathered teardrops

Thursday, June 3, 2010

On where I am at the moment

I am sitting outside on our patio, feeling content. The sun is filtering down through the green leaves, a light breeze ruffles my ponytail, and there are so many beautiful sights to be seen.

I am wearing a long flowing skirt and lip gloss because I needed to feel pretty, and smiling at my nails that are bright blue and have smiley faces on them. Because I needed to smile.

I am laughing at this joke: I dream of a day when a chicken can cross the road without its motives being questioned.

I am working to make my eyebrows less squinshy from worry and pain. So I am sitting here feeling pretty in my blue skirt and matching nails that smile up at me.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

End of the Year Ramblings

I have taken my final in chemistry, so I am officially free. It feels great to be done and not have to worry about fractions and pi and perfect grammar. However, I do admit to missing the schedule and the structure that school work gave my days. It wasn't a lot, but every day I had a few things to accomplish and take care of.

I wouldn't say that I'm bored yet, just sort of hanging in limbo to see when my summer really starts. I am looking forward to next week when my art classes start. I do not want to reach the point of mind-numbing boredom. It isn't any fun and makes me feel so stupid for missing school just for something to do. I think summer and boredom go together quite nicely, unless you have absolutely nothing to do.

I have been reading more, which always makes me happy, as well as getting a little more organized. Key words being a little. My closet is next. I am dreading it. I don't know how I manage to accrue so much stuff in a year, but it all gets thrown into my closet.

I have a full garbage bag of stuffed animals plus a shelf in my room devoted to huggable bears and cats and safari animals that I never hug. I think it is time to move them on (maybe not all of them) and do something else with that space. I'm sure there are kids who would get a whole lot more use out of them than I am. So, I will have a whole shelf (yes! One whole shelf. My room is rather full and the walls are packed, so it's a big deal when a space opens up.) just begging to be filled. I haven't decided yet, but something drastic and different would be fun....(be afraid, be very afraid)

I tracked down the user's manual for our old camera because I will need it for my class. I flipped through it, just to see what it had to say, and spent the next hour or so reading and discovering new parts in our old camera. There are so many!

I haven't had great energy the past few days, but I hope to be able to take the camera out and experiment. I'm hoping that if I am able to figure out all some of the features on this camera, the new camera won't be as foreign to me when it returns from its adventures. (They're both Canons.)

We've gotten a few emails from my dad and one phone call and it sounds like he's having a great time. Seeing lots of wildlife and new plants and scary poisonous things (he hasn't actually mentioned anything of the scary poisonous variety, but I'm assuming; he took a whole book on spiders!) (Can you tell I'm into the parentheses today?) (I think it's just me being lazy and writing really simple sentences. Okay, I'm stopping now.) (But I can't guarentee that.)

Where was I? No scary poisonous things in Namibia. Yet.

I had two doctors appointments today. One for a shot and one for my toe. We went in for the shot and told them about my toe and they made us schedule a whole other appointment just for my toe. (I think doctors are way too worried about making money. They make us come in twice 45 minutes apart and they book the appointments so close together in the first place they can't look at my toe at the same time as they are poking me with a long needle.)

The shot was fine; I barely even felt it. And so far my arm isn't stiff at all. My toe is infected and will be treated with antibiotics for a week. No amputation necessary. (Honestly, I'm a little disappointed the nail isn't going to fall off. I know, that's gross and way too much information, but it would be interesting.) Three hours and one smoothie bribe later, we are back home.