Homebody

There's not too much I enjoy outside of staying at home and mosying about my own business.  This is where my contacts come out, my hair goes up in a dreadful mess of a bun and I pull on my sweats and frumpy shirts.  I'm surrounded by my favorite things and (luck-willing) my fridge is stocked with yum-O items.  Where I feel the most :in my element: and where I feel fully myself.

I admittedly carry the lifestyle like that of an eigthy year old.  Siigh oh well :)

a little bit about downton

i'm immensely saddened by the fact that i am nearly caught up with all the streaming episodes of downton abbey online and will soon have to bear the horror of waiting 6 months before the start of its 3rd season.  i love this series for its depiction of the end of 19th century aristocracy, social class, romance, pretty dresses, english accents, gentility and intertwining drama.

i also love each of the character's development throughout the seasons.  one of my favorite characters is the dowager countess played by maggie smith (professor mcgonagall!!) who has some of the greatest one-liners in mini-series history.  in a scene the dowager countess, finds her granddaughter edith (who happens to be a middle child) arranging wedding presents for her cousin matthew and fretting over her future as a spinster.

violet:  don't worry, your turn will come.
edith:  will it? or am i just to be the maid and aunt?  isn't this what they do?  arrange presents for their prettier relations.
violet:  don't be defeatist, it's very middle class

classic.  so with that, let us never give up the struggle.  onward!

keeen-doh, i love you.

i compare it to the events that led me to my kindle.  for a long long long time i held fast to my values and adamant decision not to give in.  nothing could sway me and given the opportunity, i'd whip an argument that'd send you hiding under a chair with your tail between your legs.  (k, in my dreams i did but not in real life)  lots and lots of books on shelves are significantly superior to a cloud of text amidst the gray slab of plastic.  and my argument against costs doesn't even need elaboration.  end of story.

and then i went on a vacation, wherein every hand held this glorious plastic slab.  of course i stood firm to my principles but the premise of my stubbornness began to waver.  with every trip to the beach, my pages filled with sand that distorted the binding of the spine.  at every turn i'd catch sight of a book i  might want to read but couldn't justify the purchase.  i discovered i could borrow books from other kindle holders for free and that sac public library carries a selection of ebooks for lending as well.  and while the few books i carried in my luggage contributed to its exceeding the weight limit, my companions easily carried a library in their pocket.

it's not like i was consciously thinking about these things..  had it not been for this particular trip - being put in a very specific situation, i would have never given amazon the upper hand in selling me their product.  but given the circumstances and the serendipitous placement of 3 kindle-carriers in my view, i warmed up to the idea.  and that's when the true damage began.  once i became in the mindset of considering a personal slab of gray, every justification shifts in its favor.  a once disgusting piece of technology suddenly becomes one that i cannot imagine living without, completely enamored by its lifeless, dull shade of mouse fur.  i released my convictions and awaited its arrival in two days.

what's in comparison here?  i really don't know how to say since it's so near and dear.  but i'm just weary that given the right circumstances, many will knowingly (or maybe unknowingly until knowledge catches up too late) give up their convictions for things that are more lasting and binding than a kindle.

to my single lady friends, this is a heartfelt cry to you.  decide now what is important to you and never give that up.  trust in him who is faithful and make the vow to follow him.  never compromise.

Maui maui mow-yeeeee

That's the view from our condo balcony. Pretty sweet. What woulda been even sweeter would be taking this shot with my dslr loaded with 35mm 1.8 prime lens plus wide angle attachment lens.  Too bad stupid butterfingers here let it crash to the ground at security in the Alaska airline terminal. Stupid screen on the stupid camera stupid popped out.

The good news is the gigumbo price I paid to fix the shutter is still intact. But the stupid screen won't turn on. So my skillz are really being put to the test now that I can't immediately preview every pic I take. Goin' old schooool. Also, I can't change my ISO. Yeah, I say that like I know what I'm talkin bout.

Please keep all fancy objects outside my reach.

Other than that, maui is pretty freaking rainbow-everyday awesome.

playing around with manual

for camera pros out there this must be pretty elementary, but i'm finding that capturing the image you want is a really tricky play with balance  and that balance is all up to the photographer's discretion.  should i make the flying squirrel look like he's whizzing through the vastness of the forest?  or do i want to stop him in action and catch him winking at me?  too bad for me i'm so slow at changing the settings that i'm more likely to miss the action and end up taking a picture of the poor squirrel after he's missed the next branch.  anyways, i think that's really cool.  another concept i learned from the class is to take pictures unlike how the normal eyes sees an object.

that up there is my stupid sink faucet.  as you can see from the trajectory of the water coming out, its angle causes tons of unwanted splashing and wet socks.  pehhhh

to capture life

what i didn't expect was to turn into a sapball emo mess halfway though the photography class i went to this evening.  so great!

i walked into the building and found myself a seat in the third row feeling completely self conscious and awkward as normal.  the event center was dimly lit with low chandelier lighting while the stage was getting last minute prep.  i yawned about 9485679 times since i'd just had a gigumbus lunch and was surrounded by 49874059 other people.  the situation seemed pretty grim from the get go and i was pretty sure i coulda spent fifty bucks on some cute shoes instead of taking a really expensive nap.  fortunately the 60+ year old couple sitting next to me kept me from dozing off with their bickering over what they thought facebook really was.  it's really too bad they had no way of entering themselves into the prize drawings by liking the photographers on facebook..  anyways, twenty minutes passed and rocky music started to play and the class began.

the best kind of people i've met in my life are those who instantly exude the entirety of their life's passion and purpose within the first 5 minutes of their introduction.  and this couple that led the class did just that.  they introduced themselves, they explained that they would be teaching us the basics of shooting manual, and they let it ring loud and clear the purpose of why they shoot without a pulpit, a promise ring or a bridge drawing on a napkin.  and then halfway through the class, they showed a video on their project called Vision Culture and i turned into mushball.  50% of all their profits go towards this project where they support organizations that rescue and care for orphans, trafficking victims and really, anywhere else they see need.  it's so inspiring to see people be passionate about their work and be passionate about sharing christ's love and seamlessing weaving the two together in a such a beautiful way.  

their parting words weren't about the evilness that is auto, but to figure out our passion and purpose and to go out and capture it.

..and now i'm thinking i really need a wide angle lens asap  =/

modify search criteria

finally, my list!  my mom always asks me what my list is - my search criteria.  usually i have no response, of which my mom will proceed to build my list for me for the next half hour.  other times when talk time is limited, i resort to the default christian list including items such as loves god, cares for people and.. well, i guess that's it.

but from this day forward, i will live by my new list.  i have good feelings about this one.  must be effervescent!