two new challenges

The other day I was looking at this cool blog http://strobist.blogspot.com/
It is an amateurs guide to lighting in photography. Well, it mentioned someone who challenged themselves to take 365 pictures in as many days
http://projectthreesixtyfive.blogspot.com/. I figured, why the heck not? The goal being, become a better photographer because you are doing it every day. It doesn't matter what you take a picture of, just don't phone it in just to get it done, that defeats the purpose. I have challenged my sister Abbi to try it, anyone else out there game? Morris? You know you want to. Keep your camera with you at all times, and be conscious of what is going on around you, a tricky thing sometimes.

I started this Friday, October 3, 2008. The previous day, on the way to work, I saw this very large bizarrely orange mound on the side of the road. It is a fungus pile, growing on a rotting tree stump. Unable to stop then, I took a chance that it would still be there the next day. It was, and here is my picture for that day.
Day 1: 10/3/2008
Day 2: 10/4/08: On Saturday, while taking the dog out, I noticed that my neighbors rose bush still had a few blooms, hanging on for dear life.
Day 3: 10/05/08: On Sunday, Mer and I took Hudson pumpkin and apple picking, and then to a little park off of Lover's Lane in Princeton. He loves the swings. I had been fogging up my lens and then taking pictures. This has a touch of fog in the corners, but mostly his hair seems to be on fire from the sun behind him.
Day 4: 10/06/08: Monday, I took pictures of the soldered and hammered silver rings I had made on Friday, woohoo, soldering!
Day 5: 10/07/08: This little sedum plant grows from under the bushes in front of the office where I work. This might be it's last fall, so I say, thanks little bloomer...

Bonus: This is the queen pillow sized bag of spring mix that I purchased today at the farmers market for $1.99. Not $1.99 a pound, just $1.99.
Eating this before it all rots in the fridge, my second, daunting, challenge.

Okay, so if you want to take 365 in 365 with me, maybe we can set up a group in picasa or flickr to share. Don't feel pressured to post daily, once a week will do, and try to include a little journaling with the picture. After a year, we will have a great photo journal, chronicling our journey to becoming better photographers. Don't forget to occasionally snap a self photo to include, as it is a journal of your own life, you should remember how you looked during it.

worst smelling thing I've put in my mouth, ever...

I am a huge fan of Orbit "mint mojito" flavor gum. It is pure tastiness. So while at the check out counter at Harmon (how do they do it?) I spied this new flavor. Spurred on by fond memories of Fruitstripe gum, I decided to give it a whirl. As a matter of fact, I was so committed to trying this newness, that I even paid for it with cash, after my initial debit card purchase (the associate had forgotten to ring it up, maybe it was a subtle hint?). I throw my bag onto the front seat, and start getting ready to move on to my next errand, seat belt, check, windows and sunroof in proper positions, check. Ooh, let me pop a piece of sweet, chewy goodness into my gullet. As I am unwrapping it, I start to look around my car for whatever smells like butter buds. Ever try butter buds in a moment of low-fat diet inspired weakness? Dehydrate and concentrate movie theatre "butter", and then expose it to nuclear waste, that is approximately how bad butter buds are. In fact, they taste so bad, I refuse to acknowledge their trademark with capital letters. Well anyway, I get this gum fully unwrapped before I realize the stench is coming from the pack of gum, and it is the stench of butter buds mixed with a bulging can of Delmonte fruit cocktail, and it has enveloped my entire car with this cloying, foul, cloud of funk. So, instead of tossing the whole $1.16 out the window at high speed, I pop a piece into my mouth. Envision Juicy Fruit infused with rancid I Can't Believe Its Not Butter, but then that stops, and it tastes kind of good, but then if you open your mouth while chewing, you smell the butter buds again.

I've kept it. I need confirmation of this phenomenon. Watch out Mer, while we are shopping for duds for Hud today, I am going to ambush you with the gum from hell.

P.S. I received my soldering equipment yesterday, and guess what, the forecast for this entire weekend is rain. Rain with more rain, with showers and thunderstorms thrown in for good measure. Its like buying new boots, and a heat spell that last for a week. My charcoal block and flux are taunting me from across the room...

caps for viking chain

Well, it took an entire morning of trial and error, but I figured out how I wanted to cap off the ends of the viking knit chain I made. I had a really good time, trying different things. I tried cutting wedges out of disks of copper, and then trying to fold the copper into a lampshade shape, but that wasn't feasible. I couldn't get the seams to meet evenly so I could solder it together. I finally soldered a small copper disk into the end of a piece of tubing, and drilled a small hole through the end. I know I could have just ordered some cones from my supplier, and called it a day, but I really want to be able to say that I make all my components myself. I did add a small purchased daisy spacer bead at the top to add a little flair. I don't think I will be making spacer beads any time soon (I am obsessive but not quite to that extreme, yet).
My sister, Abbi, had picked me up some very interesting beads before she left California. This is one that I wrapped, but didn't know what to hang it from. That mystery has been solved, but I have to tear it apart because I realized after I had wrapped it, that the fine wire I was using was copper colored, not actually copper, and therefore won't antique like the rest of the wire used. It is hard to tell from the picture, but the wire that has been woven around, is much brighter than the rest of the wire after I antiqued it.
My obsessive personality does not allow me to fully enjoy this pendant because of the wire situation, nor will it allow me to sell it, because it is made from some kind of mystery wire, and that shit does not fly with me. So, I'll redo it, and be happy. I have to say, I really enjoy making the chain. It is very soothing work that does not require full attention. THis makes it the perfect busy work to do while watching TV. It also keeps me from compulsively picking at my cuticles. I am experimenting with the number of "columns" (for lack of the technical term), increasing them from four to five, and also with doubling the stitch to create a more dense stitch. After I figure out how much they cost me to make, I can decide if I will try to sell them, or if they will just be for special (you know who you are).
Sunday, we went to the Gants-Bengals game. I have never wished for a cloud like I did that day. Holy cow, the sun was so strong, and I could not escape it. I taught our friend Sue the term "swamp-ass", which we realized was not a true description of what we had, because sweat was pooling in places. Thus, for this occasion, "lake-ass" was born. By the way, this picture is the NFL endorsed salt'n'pepper shakers that Sue found for Scotto in her travels. Sue can find Giants paraphanalia like no one else. In her previous home, her husband had a Giants themed bathroom. It was quite a sight to behold. Apparently last year during Superbowl, she awed and impressed her neighbors with the quantity 0f G-men shit that she hauled out of her seemingly normal home.

Well, I think that is all for now. Make it a wonderful day.

copper viking knit chain

I decided to teach myself how to make viking knit chain. Mine looks a little different than the examples in all the tutorials I looked at, but I think it turned out pretty cool.
After you loop all your wire together, very much how you do with those knitting bobbin thingies you see at craft storres, you draw it through progressively smaller holes until it looks
like
this.

Now I have to make caps to finish off the end which are quite ugly. I will show you what I do with it after I figure that out.
I ordered the remaining things I need in order to solder silver. I have been practicing on copper, and I think I need to just do it, before it gets too cold outside, since I don't have an indoor set up that will whisk away the toxic fumes.
Here's Majeicka the other day, while I was trying to put these two treats on her feet. She would let them get this close.
I even got one treat, on one foot, but two were just too much for her noggin' to withstand.

Yet, she would let me two treats on her noggin'. I had to shake my noggin', not understanding how hers works.

no longer a virgin...

Did the title get your attention? Now that you have finished laughing your shiny-hiny off, I will explain. This past weekend we went up to Ridgway, for a send off party. A friend has reenlisted in the army, and will be shipping off soon. Cyndi decided to throw a party as only she can. The beer trailer was rented, Jitter brought his smoker up from his camp, and a DJ was brought in after dark to amp up the festivities. A DJ with KARAOKE! I had lived 37 years of my life without ever setting foot on a stage to caterwaul drunken renditions of "Sweet Caroline". Well, about seven shots of tequila is the amount of social lubrication required for me to do this. Except, I sang "Brandy", with Andy, my co-Godparent of Aerin. Apparently Andy thought my husband would do this with him, but Scott had chosen that moment to hit the head. I took one for the team, or rather, the entire party suffered because I had drunk enough to loosen my inhibitions, but not so much that I couldn't read a teleprompter. I can't say that I was good, but I remember doing it, and I had fun. There is no video evidence, or even pictures of me warbling "Brandy", but there are pics of me and Abbi as back up vocals for Alli on INXS "Need You Tonite". I also have video of several other performances. Let's take a break for some video adventure. I have edited it down into a montage format, because, in this world, editing is everything...


And, a little slideshow of pictures, because I can.
But, anyway, there was so much love for Aaron, and everyone who has risked/given their lives for this country. So, let's all send all our good thoughts, and get him back here, a second time, in one piece.

When bad things happen to good bratwurst, and other nonsense

This weekend, Scott and I decided to try his friend Bill's tailgating recipe for bratwurst. It seemed a no-brainer. A foil pan, sliced onions, many sticks of butter, a couple bottles of beer, wrap it up with aluminum foil, set it on the grill for many hours. Voila, a delicious, if not healthy, easy meal, right?




Drum roll please....













WRONG!





After only an hour or so on the grill, this is what I, a professionally trained chef, produced. So sad, I felt bad for the little guys. I named this dish "Cinderwurst", and got it into the dumpster as soon a possible.















On Sunday, my sister Alli, sister-in-law Mer and Hudson, and I went to Hudson's first ever car show. My brother's car club sponsored the event. The day was gorgeous, and the main band, CB Radio was great as usual. The turnout was beyond their expectations for a first time event. Here's to many more.

Back to reality

Just got back from a wonderful week of vacation. One week is way too short. We rent a house on LBI, and it takes a fair amount of work to pack up everything you need for a week of eating, sunbathing, baseball watching, bike riding, cornhole-dominoes-uno playing, beer drinking, and did I mention beer drinking? Anyway, our household expanded from four to five this year, and Lord Beckett was a fun and welcome addition.

At 14 weeks of age, his necessities are few, but he provides good entertainment for his size. I judge him a good value so far. I know his mom and dad have trepidations about next year, as you never know what a new week can bring, let alone an entire year. I am willing to bet that Lord Beckett will continue to bring the fun, although it will be a much more active type of fun.

.



The weather was amazing, although the wind did not always favor us. The flies on LBI can be aggressive, especially if the wind comes off of the bay, and we had much bay wind. I noticed that the majority of our pictures feature the newest additions to our beach kit, fly swatters. Yes, we had to resort to laying on the beach, with flyswatters at the ready. Some may find this disturbing, but we are willing to pay this small price for lovely, family friendly beaches. Upshot, you improve your hand-to-eye coordination while enjoying the sun and surf. Only losers, the flies.
see swatter in upper right

This year I got a fabu shot of our vacation-only obsession with Easy Cheese. People who know me, know that I can be a bit of a food snob. For some reason, for a week in August, that goes out the window, and copious amounts of Easy Cheese are applied to almost anything that will stand still long enough to be sprayed with ooey-gooey yellow cheesiness. In the past, Easy Cheese has inspired some combinations of food that should never have seen the light of day. Devil Dogs, carrots, chocolate chip cookies (all stacked together!), none of these things, in my estimation, should have contact with Easy Cheese. This year, no fancy combos, just a really neato bandito picture of Easy Cheese and pretzel.

I was able to use my new camera on the beach thanks to the effective, expensive and silly looking water proof camera case that canon sells. I looked like I was borrowing Lord Beckett's fisherprice "My First Camera". Cumbersome, but it freed me the from constantly worrying about all the damage one itsy-bitsy grain of sand could do to my new baby. I tried to get all artsy and stuff, but I can't tell if I took interesting pictures, or not. I had fun though, snapping away like a kook. I did occasionally look up from the baby, and took one or two snaps of something other than Lord Beckett.

Others were asked to use my camera as well. Some photos definitely "artier" than others...



That's all for now. When I get a chance maybe I'll add a fancy pants slide show of more pictures, just for fun.