Rain, Rain, go away!

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I went to bed last night at 8:30PM. In a bed with freshly laundered sheets and a down quilt. When my kitties tried to wake me up this morning I played "dead" for a while, listening to the rain, and the music from the alarm clock. It is raining heavily this morning. If it were only a few degrees colder we would have more snow. Alas, it is drippy and mucky. Huge mug of Joe in hand, I start my day with some trepidation. My brain hurts from using my computer too much yesterday, steeped in design work and post production editing from a photo shoot from Wednesday.

I learned a great deal from that shoot. The location was an indoor tennis court. Unable to use much flash, so as not to disturb the other players on adjacent courts, I had to wiggle about with my shutter speed, my aperture, and my ISO as well as use my heavier tripod. With speeds low, there was too much blurring of the tennis racket. With even the most open aperture, not enough light was getting through. The courts were outdoors with a bubble overhead. In short, the lighting was sucky. Sure, I got the shots I need for the job, but, damn, it wasn't easy. Guess it is time for a faster lens, eh?

Coming home to work on Pinch and Sprig was great fun, though. I am looking forward to it's first post tomorrow!

Onward and Upward and toward the Heavenly Keen!


Your Daily dose of Cool Things:

Image from Holly's site

Go check out Holly Ormrod, a phenomenal artist and really cool person. (I say so because she wrote me and told me I was cool, too! Yay!) I have always had a visceral aversion to messing with the inside of books. This, however, takes me straight from the casual pencil mark to full on crack addiction of slicing and pasting and coloring, and Oh! My! The goodness!!!

In case you get lost in the desert...

This guy can help!

Your Daily dose of Wonderful Design:

Literally thinking INSIDE the box, this designer came up with a fabuoo idea of a 3D multiple volume "magazine":

Aspen was conceived by Phyllis Johnson, a former editor for Women's Wear Daily and Advertising Age. While wintering in Aspen, Colorado, she got the idea for a multimedia magazine, designed by artists, that would showcase “culture along with play.” So in the winter of 1965, she published her first issue. “We wanted to get away from the bound magazine format, which is really quite restrictive,” said Johnson.

ASPEN

Each volume is a compendium of articles, posters, published papers and even recordings from many different contributors on topics ranging from the arts to technology and social psychology. Really folks, if I had nothing to do but sit around an examine my navel, I would be knee deep in this Aspen Project.

Your Daily Inspiring Words:

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From the movie Powder (1985) about an albino boy and his struggles to live in a rural town.

Lindsey : What are people like, on the inside?
Powder: Inside most people there's a feeling of being separate, separated from everything.
Lindsey: And?
Powder: And they're not. They're part of absolutely everyone, and everything.

Your Daily Wicked-Good Food:

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Simple Poached Pears:

I used Bartlett pears for this. I prefer to leave the skin on as I enjoy that somewhat gritty texture, plus lots of essential vitamins are packed into the skin. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray pears with Pam (or similar) and place in deep baking pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup brown sugar. I added two tablespoons of brandy (yum) to mine, thought that is not necessary if you have none. I added about 1/2 cup of water to the bottom of the pan. Bake for 30 mins or until a knife slides easily into the flesh of the fruit. Serve with the caramelized juice from the bottom of the pan drizzled on top. (I finished mine with sparkley casting sugar)