You Know You Need to Take a Class When….

you spend an hour attempting to duplicate a photo of straws, and fail miserably!

One of my favorite flickr contacts (highlighted a while back at Shrew’s place) is James Christie.  (If you haven’t looked through his photostream yet, please do yourself a favor…be sure to grab a cup of coffee and a snack before you look, because you are bound to get lost in his beautiful works!)  Last night he uploaded this photo of straws.  I was fascinated with the play of the light through the straws, and since all was quiet in my house, decided to fetch a glassful and play.  It was an exercise in frustration!  Too much light, not enough light, too blurry, too far away, not far enough away, tippy tripod, overexposed, underexposed, and not nearly enough green.  But, after 66 photos of straws, and my assistant Zan holding a flashlight under the glass in a dark room (thank you Honey!) I got something passable, although not nearly good enough to warrant a comparison to Mr. Christie’s.

I kinda like this one too.

Here are my ghost straws…

And one more…

Make that one + one more!  🙂

Who knew taking a photo of something so mundane and simple, could be so instructional? 

I love flickr.  And thank you Mr. Christie, for being an inspiration.

Wow, That Was Fast

Thanksgiving came and went in a blink.  I feel like the woman who stands on the Subway platform, patiently awaiting the train, preparing to board, when all of a sudden *WHOOSH*!!  The train speeds by, blowing her hair and rustling her skirts, and is instantly gone, leaving her standing there wondering, “Why didn’t it stop for me?” 

I think having a sick Mister was a distraction.  Although he did well, when he cried for me, I felt I had to drop everything to tend to his needs.  Of course the loudest, most gut-wrenching crying came when I was mashing the potatoes and Zan was carving the turkey, and the other ten dishes needed to be brought to the serving counter.  Murphy’s Law!  His fever finally broke on Saturday, with no rash following it, so it looks like “Rosie-ola” wasn’t the culprit after all.  He’s back to his normal self today, so I chalk it up to “unspecified virus # infinity.”

Our company left on Friday afternoon, leaving us with plenty of time for Christmas decorating.  What usually takes two weekends was condensed into one.  Zan will be travelling throughout the month, leaving us only two free weekends before Christmas, which I’m sure will be dedicated to shopping and wrapping pursuits..so, we decided do it all at once. 

The to-do list is long, and the tendency for me to feel overwhelmed is present, but I am determined to slow things down a bit and enjoy the season.  It will all get done…it always does.  And I don’t want to be that woman left on the Subway platform, feeling as though yet another holiday passed me by.

To Kick Off the Next Holiday

Music is the backdrop of our lives, and that is most apparent during the Christmas season.  I share with you a small collection of my favorites.  Enjoy!

My very favorite…I listen to this one first to put me in the right frame of mind…It helps me keep Christmas in perspective.

And then Zan and I dance in our kitchen to this one every day after Thanksgiving…trust me…the video is much sexier than our dance in the kitchen, with Mister trying to climb up our legs!  🙂

And this one brings back memories!  Talk about sexy….

And here’s a tearjerker…

Love this…

And this pair together…classic!

And here’s our boy havin’ a good ol’ time!