I took my car in this afternoon to get new tires, brakes, and an oil change. On my way, I stopped at the bank, where the teller gave me a little box of candy hearts. It was a nice gesture, but ugh. I’ve always hated them. They were sort of amusing, though. What kind of person would give someone a candy heart that says, “IN A FOG”?
Happy Valentine’s Day, foggy folks!
I mentioned (or maybe not) that I bought a couple of fun toy lenses. Toys, in this case, costing about $100. So they’re expensive for toys, but not for lenses, which can run in the thousands. Anyway, I received them a week or so ago, and one was for the wrong friggin’ camera mount. Grrr. I’ve been trying to email and call the company I ordered from (alas, not the manufacturer, and I’m kicking myself for not ordering directly from them). Bupkis.
They aren’t exactly a fly-by-night company, but I’ve heard complaints that their customer service sucks ass, Mr. Garrison. I’ve ordered from them in the past (a lots42!) with no problem, so apparently it was time that my good luck ran out.
I guess I’ll just return the lens with a copy of the receipt and a polite but irritated letter, and hope for the best, as the lens as it is is of absolutely no use to me.
Alsotoo, this means standing in line at the PO, which is so not my favorite thing to do.
Adorama, you are on my shit list!
Harriet was completely hidden under a pile of blankets, with only her nubbin sticking out. Every time I talked to her, it would start wiggling.
I’m tired of ice. I had to scrape it off my car twice today. This morning, it was so thick that I could only chisel off a square inch at a time. Talk about tedious! Then, when I left work this afternoon, it was raining. Raining? Ha! More like semi-frozen gel that hardened on contact with my already-once-scraped car windows.
And to make matters worse, there were three cars lined up behind mine, wanting my parking space. Three of them! What the hell did the second and third driver think they were going to do, arm wrestle the first person in line for my spot? So, I had car scraping performance anxiety, because I knew that all three of them were watching me cussing at me to hurry up.
And now, I’m at home and worrying about potential power outages. Id rather not have a repeat of last spring’s ice storm. Just in case, I’ve got the heat preemptively cranked up. I think I’m going to go put a load of clothes in the washer, check the mail (yay, Netflix!), and park myself in front of the television with a big cup of hot tea.
The mirror fragment and the chunk of earthenware it’s sitting on were things I picked up while out walking. The tacky flamingo came from my great grandma. The clock came from God only knows where. It’s loud, though. I can hear it in the next room, through two closed doors. Some nights, it’s like the telltale-freaking-heart, keeping me awake. It’s one of those noises that, once you notice it, you can’t ignore.
It was spitting tiny little sleet pellets at me when I left for work this morning. The day stayed mostly overcast, but at one point there must have been a break in the clouds, because I looked out the window, and the buildings across from the library were glowing against the dark sky behind them.
I hadn’t looked at the weather since the middle of last week, so I was completely unprepared for this morning’s cold. It was in the 50s on Saturday, for crying out loud! This morning, it was 7F. Somewhere along the 27 steps between my front door and my car, my hair froze. But that’s not the part I’m complaining about. Much. The part I’m complaining about is the fact that we are supposed to get the dreaded Wintry Mix.
I never thought I’d say this, but I think I’m kind of over this whole winter thing. I’m ready to retire to a deserted island where the temperature never gets below 40F or above 70F.
They’re cheap paints, but they’re what I’m used to using. I like Daler-Rowney’s paints a lot better than Winton (Winsor & Newton’s student grade paints). The texture is creamier, and I think the colors might be a bit cleaner. I still have a few tubes of Winton left over from when I was in school. One of them is a gawdawful earthy burnt orange sort of color that I don’t think I’ll ever use up.
This shot was hand-held with flash. I took another with just available light and am kind of amazed at how sharp the in-focus section is. I cropped the second image, and I did some color correction, but I didn’t do any sharpening whatsoever.
I had the blinds open in the studio, trying to get enough light to get a progress shot of the three pears painting (verdict: too late in the day). I noticed that the cedar tree outside my window was making a lovely shadow on the wall, so I took its photo instead.
red paper boat 