ORANGE FEVER

I was in Austin over the weekend visiting Avery and getting reacquainted with living the "college life". It isn't as enjoyable as it was 36 years ago! Kids were out partying until 4:00am, acting crazy and being loud, and the parking around west campus was horrible (especially with a small SUV). But it WAS great seeing all my kids and going to the University of Texas football game. Unfortunately they were playing a bad school and so we left at 1/2 time. Here are some photos I took for my photography assignment.

THE NEW YEAR IS SINKING

We are only a few weeks from the new year of 5770 and the good feelings are already slipping downhill. I don't know how many of you have family issues when you marry but our two families don't meld together so nicely. Every holiday has to be celebrated separately which puts a strain on me. I am the one left to juggle everything and make the pieces fall into place. Do you think writing about it in my journal will help me get over this?

A THINKING DAY

Today is a thinking day. I don't fast anymore but I do try and think about my behavior and actions from last year. I like what the Rabbi said last night during his sermon. He said that it doesn't matter what you believe, whether you are Jewish (orthodox, conservative, reform, or re-constructionist) , Christian, Agnostic, or Humanistic. Your BEHAVIOR is what is important. Can't we all get along?

OFFICE SUPPLIES

DRIVING TO AUSTIN

I decided to go visit my favorite daughter in Austin. Yogi is going with me so we will be going to dog parks and having fun doing the UT stuff. I know that the game tomorrow isn't against a top football team but I haven't been to a game in soooooooooooo long! GO HORNS! Yogi has never stayed in another home before so this will be a first for him. (thank goodness apartment carpeting is gross already) Ha...

NIGHT BALL

Last night I went up to the ball fields to shoot my friend's son, Adam, playing little league ball. It was at night but I knew the lights would be on. I wanted to try using my new lens and boy was I pleasantly surprised! It was awesome shooting with a 1.4 lens. Here are some of the shots I took. I was also experimenting with capturing "MOTION" for my photography class assignment.

These show motion:

BACKFIELD IN MOTION

My photography class assignment this week is MOTION. In most cases a blurred photo would be one that went in the trash. But now it can be considered art. The most important aspect of this effect is getting some kind of sharpness whether it is in the background or in the person's face. I am suppose to shoot images that show this. Here are a few photos I will share with my class on Weds.

COULD YOU PASS THE TEST

POP IT GOES

I am taking a beginning photography class for the next two months. Our first assignment is to take images showing "MOTION". I decided to google this subject and this is what I found. It is an awesome photo of a bubble popping. One prod of a finger and - pop! - it's vanished in a split second.

Richard Heeks took these fantastic photos with a slow motion camera. WOW is all I can say!!

SPEAK TO ME

Angry, irate, incensed, enraged, infuriated, furious, mad; provoked, irritated, and loss of patience. The ability to be positive is an essential skill to living in a comfortable state. So take a deep breath and put on a happy face. Usually I don't let someone get to me or make me that mad. But this week was different. Someone really pissed me off and I had to hold back my words and stop myself. Took me about four hours to get over it.

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”

GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE SAND

SPRAY "CACA"

Don’t know what “caca” means? It’s Spanish for poop. So what would a product named “Spray Cacas” be like? It is fake, sprayable poop in a can! Again, it’s not real poop, but it’s supposedly very smelly. I can't believe that by just surfing around the internet I ran across this product. They call it "A STROKE OF GENIUS". Oh my, what will I find next?

COLOR MY DOG

Talk about a Pawicure, a Trim, being Punk'd, an Extreme Makeover, and a Dye Job. I ran across this photo spread this morning about a Dog Salon in Wuhan, China, where canines can get a make over with bright colors.

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1911484_1912188,00.html

THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR

I absolutely loved this link. This house shows that I am NOT the only one that likes to display "collections" on the walls and all around the place. Now I can validate the walls in my home as art and share this link! CHECK IT OUT!

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/08/12/garden/20090813-location-slideshow_index.html

Douglas Coupland, the author of "Generation X," Microserfs" and the upcoming novel "Generation A," renovated a midcentury house in Vancouver, British Columbia. Mr. Coupland, who was an artist before his writing career took off, has created an open floor plan that showcases his art and reflects his inventive point of view."I collect shapes," Mr. Coupland said. A globe of the Moon, a metal watering can and an assortment of vases and other objects line shelves.

9-9-9

According to numerologists, the number nine is associated with tolerance, generosity, success and a deep love of life. It is a day to get dressed to the nines, listen to the Beatles, get married and to ponder whether this is the end of the world as we know it. Sept. 9, 2009 — or 9/9/09 — is inspiring a number of events today: discounts on weddings, impassioned doomsday predictions and the release of the Beatles' whole, re-mastered catalog and a Fab Four-themed videogame. Check all this out ONLINE today!

ANNIE LEIBOVITZ

In the news today I read that celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz could lose the right to her entire portfolio of world-famous photographs if she doesn't meet a Tuesday deadline to pay back a $24 million loan she is alleged to owe. Leibovitz, who has photographed everyone from the Rolling Stones to Queen Elizabeth II, put her art, intellectual property and even real estate assets up for collateral last year when she consolidated her massive debts. How can one spend that much money???? Especially money you knew you didn't have. Join the crowd Annie because I don't think it is that much different than what one of my neighbors might be doing, using credit for everything! It just goes to show you how you really don't know what goes on behind closed doors... STOP SPENDING...

PLUS SIZE MODELS

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2009/09/06/church.real.woman.photo.cnn Did you know that everything that you see in magazines has been air brushed to perfection? No fat, blemishes, or wrinkles to be seen on the models!!! But do we think about it every time we thumb through a magazine? Why are women still trying for that perfect skinny body! Is it a goal that we can never achieve? Glamour Magazine ran a photo shoot with plus size model, Lizzi Miller, only twenty years old, baring it all. Isn't that what we look like in our undies? GOOD FOR THEM!

EXERCISE WON'T MAKE YOU THIN

The basic problem is that while it's true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits we just accrued. Exercise, in other words, isn't necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it harder.

Whether because exercise makes us hungry or because we want to reward ourselves, many people eat more — and eat more junk food, like doughnuts — after going to the gym. So the solution is:

CLOSE YOUR MOUTH EXCEPT FOR DRINKING WATER!

"BAROCKY ROAD"

In honor of the 44th President of the United States , Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream has introduced a new flavor: " Barocky Road ." Barocky Road is a blend of half vanilla, half chocolate, and surrounded by nuts and flakes. The vanilla portion of the mix is not openly advertised and usually denied as an ingredient. The nuts and flakes are all very bitter and hard to swallow. The cost is $100..00 per scoop. When purchased it will be presented to you in a large beautiful cone, but then the ice cream is taken away and given to the person in line behind you. You are left with an empty wallet and no change, holding an empty cone with no hope of getting any ice cream. Are you stimulated?

DON'T FLUSH!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xad8sp_kids-instructed-to-pledge-allegianc_news Kids are instructed in an Obama propaganda video to NOT flush the toilet after urinating. Plus celebrities make these un-American pledges: “I pledge to be a servant to our President.” What is going on right now in our country?

STALKING YOUR CHILD WITH FACEBOOK

Staying in touch with your children with Facebook. This is a spoof about seeing what your kids are up to on Facebook and Twitter. It is hysterical.

JIGSAW PUZZLE

What is fun, when you have nothing else to do, is solving these online puzzles. It seems like my drawing has taken a back seat to my quilting and beading these past few weeks. So here is a photo of drawing pencils. (CLICK IT TO SOLVE IT) My daughter is an expert at drawing animals with Prisma color pencils. When I work in my art journals I prefer to use Prisma markers. Their colors are just so vibrant!