Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Art Pact #85: Portugal Through My Eyes: Évora #1
I am notorious for my obsessive photo-taking while on vacation (and any other time), and loyal to my fame I took dozens of photos in Portugal. OK, more like a dozen hundred of them, and then some. And maybe a bit more.Don't give me this look! . . .
(to continue reading, click here).
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Labels: Creativity of Others, Photohgraphy, Time Out, Vacation
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
UTAH Rocks: From Zion to Bryce
After another wonderful breakfast at the Harvest House B&B, we bade farewell to Springdale. We were not happy to leave, as we really fell for Springdale, the B&B, Zion... but - Bryce was awaiting.
I have to confess here: when we planned this vacation, Zion was more of a must-do for me. I didn't expect it to be special. Nor beautiful. Nor impressive. Just a park that needs to be visited coz it was on the way. I basically wanted to be done with it and get going to the real attractions. And so, when I saw Zion with all its glory, I was utterly stunned, to say the least.
What I really yearned to see was Bryce Canyon and Antelope Slot Canyon. And now we were heading there.
But, just before leaving Zion, we went through the little ghost town of Grafton, of which we heard from a guest at the B&B, who told us about the town and the graveyard. My imagination went flying into full-gear, wallowing in images of ruined buildings against the dramatic mountains, with tumbleweeds rolling in the gloomy wind and the spirits of the deceased still haunting the graveyard.
Nope.
A bunch of few well-preserved buildings, and a graveyard that was well kept. No ghosts. No mystery.
It was interesting, though, to see the plate that listed down the causes of deaths in the particularly unlucky year of 1866, from "Killed by Indians" to "swing broke". 
Another interesting thing was to see the graves of the Mormon settlers, all with proper gravestones, full names, dates and inscriptions, side by side with three graves of Indians who were probably converted to be Mormons, but were - apparently - not worthy of a gravestone nor a full name. And so, their graves are marked with little wooden signs saying "Ind. Wiley", "Ind. Puss" and "Cedar Pete". Y'see, they were not even worthy of fully spelling the word Indian. Makes you think, eh?
Interesting place.
And we proceeded to Bryce, driving through the scenic Utah byway 89 - which suddenly started to be spotted with white!
WHITE???
Yup!
Patches of snow that became frequent and bigger.
Lunchtime was getting close, and we were getting hungry - but all the little towns we drove through seemed utterly deserted. 
I mean, Grafton suddenly looked like it had a lively rich community life in comparison...
Hmm - not a fun feeling, and it was a bit surreal, verging on unnerving - until we reached the town of Hatch, and a sign that pointed at a restaurant that claimed to be open! With tears of gratitude, we sat at a table, and enjoyed a buffalo hamburger (never had it - very tasty) and the view from the window.
With renewed energy, we hit the road again.
The scenery changed, with a lot of pine forests dipping their feet in white patches of snow, and a lot of rock formations that got me very excited, as they started to look like the photos of hoodoos I saw online.
We were - apparently - in Dixie National Forest, and came to the Red Canyon. Gorgeous place that made me wonder how come it was not mentioned as a highlight, as it had such cool rocks! The JohnnyB said that a lot of people who arrive at the Red Canyon think it doesn't get better than this, so they don't bother to continue to Bryce.
We bothered.
I was so anxious to see this legendary canyon - just couldn't wait to get there. Finally arriving at the entrance, we went to the visitor center, where we read the somber warnings about hiking in Bryce. The keyword was hiking boots. We didn't have any. We had good sturdy hiking shoes, but the ranger we spoke to was very strict on that, giving us apocalyptic prophecies of how crucial it is to have good grip for the ankles. We started to contemplate getting hiking boots at the general store of the little town(?) of Ruby's Inn, but as we asked him about the trails that really captured our attention, we learned that some of them were closed because of snow. As in 5-6 feet of snow!
OK then - we decided that our hiking shoes are enough, and we'll stick with the non-snowy parts.
We left the visitor center, checked in to our accommodations in the nearby small town of Tropic - and The JohnnyB got a lot of points by offering to give up on his nap and go see Bryce.
We went back to Bryce and headed towards to the first overlook, Sunset Point, to get a first glimpse of Bryce Canyon
- - -
- - - and to have words fail us.
Labels: Nature, Photohgraphy, Time Out, Vacation
Thursday, April 24, 2008
UTAH Rocks!
And so does Arizona!
Came back on Monday afternoon, after 10 days in the deserts of Utah and Arizona. Although I never got to see that specific location that I was dreaming about, our eyelids now carry dozens of stunning views engraved inside them, along with Lots of new places, lots of different weather (from the hot Zion to the snowy slopes of Bryce), lots of people and lots of stories.
And - LOTS of rocks and red dirt. So many textures and lines and shapes and colors - and so, so many photos... The above is a tiny sample of the hundreds (yup) that I took.
Oh, and one shirt that has the brilliant title of this post.
Now it's time to get back to the suburban life, and try to digest all that we've seen. More details to come, I think.
Labels: Creativity of Others, Nature, Photohgraphy, Vacation
Friday, February 29, 2008
Spring. ish.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Sun-Day
Breaking news: sun came out this weekend! 
I know y'all are thinking why would anyone from California even bother to mention the weather - but we did have our share of cold gray wet windy bleak wet rainy and rainier spell in the past couple of weeks. Did i mention it was wet?
So, after several weekends of staying at home like grumpy hermits, socializing with our many many pet ants, we finally went out, blinking against the sun.
Yesterday we went to an exhibit where WackieM, StampieJ and some other artists were showing their artwork. As many others, I have seen a lot of WackieM's creations on her blog. Which is why it was so very cool to see them face to face, in real life! Much, MUCH more impressive and inspiring. Da woman rocks! Add to that her bubbly cheery unassuming personality, and you'd undertstand why is was such pure fun. The JohnnyB, as usual, was painfully honest in expressing his opinion about her work. Don't get me wrong - he likes her work quite a bit, but he did have his share of comments which he did not hesitate to share with her. I wonder if he was getting back at her for the famous sentence of the month. I am starting to suspect The JohnnyB is much more into what we call happy safe art, and not so much into art loaded with emotion which I tend to adore (and sometimes manage to create).
We enjoyed the other artists' work as well, only eventually The JohnnyB has reached the limit of the amount of the artistic patience that was bestowed upon him, and so we had to leave very early (from my point of view!), had an alfresco lunch at the only restaurant that bothered to put tables outside in the midst of February (best hamburger in a long, long time!) , and went back home.
And yet, I wanted more sun, more fresh air, less walls.
So today, we went to a nearby county park, located 15 minutes drive from our house. In the (soon-to-be-6-years!) time that I am here, we've never ever went to that park. Outrageous, right? Well, The JohnnyB lives in this area 15 years and has never been there either.
Took us forever to find a parking spot. I think everyone was celebrating what felt like the first day of spring. It was soooooooooooo beautiful, so warm, so sunny, so blueskyish - would have been a shame to spend such a gorgeous day indoors.
We found out this is one great park, full of majestic oak trees and trails galore that combine uphill sections with a blessed majority of flat strolling. We are painfully aware of how much we suck when it comes to being in shape - and today we kept getting constant reminders of that each and every time we passed many a joggers whose breath was not nearly as heavy as ours after a 30-second slight-slope... Shame on us!
It ended up being one of those nothing-to-write-home-about days. Just a hike in the park, looking at the animals at the "model farm" they have there with chicken and napping pigs and curly sheep and a nice little vegetable garden and lots of happy people walking around with hats, providing me with some cool reference photos. Oh yes, and some very cool shadows.
See, I am learning to highly appreciate and cherish the dull moments.
What is that you're asking? Ants?
Oh, they kept popping for visits, and we think we've finally found their entry way into the shower. But why ruin a perfect day discussing them creatures?
Labels: Nature, Photohgraphy, Time Out
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
A Thousand Words - And Then Some #16
Welcomed the New Year in Sonoma.
Nice B&B.
Great food.
Fun olive oil tasting, wonderful cheese tasting, wine shopping, soothing drives in rural areas, and some incredible art.
Beautiful (cold!) weather.
Tired.
Happy 2008!!!
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Labels: Holidays, Photohgraphy, Time Out
Friday, November 23, 2007
A Thousand Words - And Then Some #15
TexieD threw yet another incredible feast for Thanksgiving.
In a nutshell: divine and spicy food, best company, fun Indian movie, hilarious Taboo game, and one heated argument about half-hour time zones. An utterly pointless discussion that lasted forever, as futile arguments tend to do so often, until I reminded everyone that Indians and white people should get along on this day...
...but not before I snapped some photos.
Can you see the difference in personality between TexieD and the Minnesotan The JohnnyB when it comes to arguing?
This year, we were all very thankful for the fact that - as opposed to last Thanksgiving - TexieD in his eternal mercy has spared us, and rather than assigning each of the participants an impossible culinary task made from the freshest and rarest ingredients, he chose to do it all by himself, with the help of his two sons and his newly declared SuChef: his teenaged never-losing-his-cool nephew, to whom The JohnnyB cheerfully assigned the nickname Sue, and in response got showered with torrential rains of highly sarcastic answers.
Alas, Sue kept avoiding the camera, but TexieD's sons, Nimay and Romir, were more than happy to offer their best Dracula expression, and demanded "Put me on your blog".
I hereby do.
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Labels: Food, Holidays, People, Photohgraphy
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
A Thousand Words - And Then Some #13
I'm back from the insanely-busy state of being, just raising my head above the water to get a quick gulp of air, so I can dive back in and on to the next thing!
Our Annual Show Reception took place on Sunday. A gorgeous, sunny day, which I dreaded, as I was supposed to hold a speech to the nation (well, to the part of the nation that came to the reception).
Like, on the stage!
- - - With a microphone!!
- - - - - - - - - - - In English!!!
So many people told me I did very well, and that I did not look nervous at all.
Well, that's why they invented cameras... The JohnnyB commemorated the event with LumiB, using the continuous/burst mode.
These photos are from right after I was done and handed off to LambieL. They were taken within a time frame of 10 seconds or so... Can you hear the roar of relief?
After that, came the award announcement, which was pure fun.
And the First Place Award (out of 100 incredible paintings!) went to
-
- -
- - -
WackieM!!!!!
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Labels: Art, Damn Technology, Major Achievements, Photohgraphy, Wonders of The JohnnyB
Saturday, September 15, 2007
The Hanging At Town Square
This weekend is the Annual Show of an art organization I belong to, the one that exhibits all visual art media in its shows.
A group of five of us showed up at a cruely early hour on Friday morning. LimaB, FergieJ, NightieR, MembieK and yours truly. Interestingly enough, we are all very active members on my main art society (the one of which I'm president). We greeted each other with yawns, bracing ourselves towards the next several hours.
(It might worth mentioning that as soon as I arrived, I had to run back home... I promised LimaB that I will photograph the award winning artworks, and - as I was beyond tired the whole week, with our floors being installed, I forgot to bring LumiB with me).
For those of you who do not bear the scars caused by the corners of metal frames; whose hands never collected splinters from wooden frames and fingers did not get pinched by stretched wires; you without sore muscles and aching feet from carrying paintings around for hours; if you have never found yourselves sitting down on the floor and bursting into a hysterical laughter that verges on insane despair, sorrounded by dozens of unmatching paintings. For you, I should mention that hanging a show is a major undertaking.
It starts off as one big chaos, mission impossible. It then proceeds towards more chaos, characterized by countless iterations and trial-and-error. Everything needs to work together, color-wise and style-wise. Naturally, it has a lot to do with personal taste, and when 5 different artists are involved - you can imagine the clash of opinions.
All of the above is true for hanging any show. When it comes to an exhibition that involves different media, the challenge gets much, much bigger. We had over 100 artworks to hang: watercolors, photographs, oils, acrylics, collages, even one framed sculpture, with a wide spectrum of styles.
'Daunting' was an understatement for this task!
Gradually, you get exhausted from carrying framed paintings back and forth all over the place, hanging and removing and relocating and hanging again. You become snappy, and you lose any remnant of patience you ever had in you. From time to time, you stop and make a solemn oath that you will never, ever, volunteer to do that again.
And, since everyone gets into their most edgy state-of-being, it is crucial to have a good hanging team. This is not the place for touchy souls to get offended and retreat to pout.
We started in a slow pace, working non-stop for a couple of hours. After successfully reaching the fed-up stage, we made a short coffee break, and reluctantly crawled back to work, admiring the areas that started to work together, and approaching the problematic ones with refreshed energy.
At some point things started falling into place, some sections actually making sense. Eventually, even the most impossible areas got resolved. Pretty much like creating a painting - a very complicated one. Then came that glorious moment when we looked at the show as a whole - and the sense of achievement was so extreme, that we knew we'll be there to do it next time. It looked so damn good - and WE did it!
Once we were done, dead tired and sweaty, I still had to put on my other cap and run to do some errands for "my" art organization. Had to pay HaffeyM for the workshop, and go to the hotel where he stayed to pay his bill. On the way back, I grabbed some finger-food from Trader Joe's for the reception. It was 4:30pm when I finally got home, and the reception was to start at 7pm. I managed to catnap for 15 minutes, took a long shower, put on some artsy outfit, and tried my best to look refreshed and rosy-cheeked for the event.
It was funny to see the hanging group again, all red-eyed like me. The JohnnyB even took a break from devouring the mini-samosas that were served at the reception, in order to announce to FergieJ that the fact w'all still speak to each other means we really are a good team!
Based on past experience, I had pretty much zero expectations for those I invited to attend. The only one who shows up on such occasions is DaskieM, but as her parents are visiting, I figured she won't be able to make it.
"So, why do you keep sending invitations to the others?", you wonder.
Hmm, good question. Excellent, even. I dunno, but I still do it. Call it incurable optimism.
Looking at the silver lining, the beauty in having no expectations is that you can really enjoy the moment. I hung out with The JohnnyB, mingled with the crowd, and was thrilled to meet friends from my main art society. VallieM was there, exhibiting 3 of her breathtaking paintings, and had two friends visit her, HallieH and PrevieJ, whom I adopted as my guests as well. I believe in sharing.
There I was, listening to the speeches by the mayor of the town (oh yes!) and the head of the local Rotary (whom I have almost kicked out of the exhibit hall that very morning, reprimanding him that we are hanging the show and no spectators are allowed... LimaB rushed to his rescue, and I used all my charm to apologize profusely... well, how was I to know?).
I glanced back for a second, and - - - among the many faces, I see the grin of TexieD! He came with his better 95%, and also dragged MistyP and MistyA with him, as well as their lovely daughter, MistyN.
It felt superbly great that they came; hard to explain or describe. They all live about 40 minutes drive, which made their appearance even more special. Apparently, The JohnnyB had a hunch they will show up, as TexieD mentioned the reception to him at work, but he decided to keep it to himself, so in case they do come, it'll be a surprise. And a wonderful surprise it was!!
The talking ended, and then - finally - came the awards ceremony.
I am excited to share with y'all that I got my very first ribbon!!
A nice, yellow ribbon, given to me (yes, with a cheque) as the 3rd place award in the Photography category, for this photo. I took it in Sydney, Australia. Of all the incredible places we've been to during the two months we spent in that fascinating continent three years ago, this alley (whose name is "Nurses Walk") is one of the more memorable locations for me. It was right opposite our hotel in Sydney, and to me, it was the gateway to Australia, as going down these stairs was our way to get to the main street that led to the Opera House and all the other wonders. The judge's commented that 'the descending stairs into the vacant darkness make me think of empty memories' (whaddayamean empty?!??), and that 'it's a poetic photograph'.
Y'know, The JohnnyB kept complaining about me taking so many photographs during that trip (OK, 11,000 might be a bit much, but hey - we saw so many things!!!). And yet - voila! at least one of these photos is now justified, eh?.
In addition, I received the Creative Catalyst Productions award (a company that makes the best art videos and DVDs) for my Global Warming watercolor. This is the second time I am getting an award on a painting done as part of a "Beyond The Obvious" 20-paintings series. Hmm... can it be that MikeyB was right, after all?
Funny thing, awards. I admit I had hopes for the photograph, but I thought that if any of my works would win anything, it would be my self-portrait collage. I guess we always feel this way whenever we do something new and want it to be recognized.
Still, having two artworks out of the three I have entered getting awards - you can imagine I did not need wine to be intoxicated that evening.
After some blinding moments in front of the flashing cameras (Ah, sweet fame...) and some chats with visitors and the other artists, I was dragged out by the very hungry The JohnnyB and TexieD, who have had it. There is only so much art one can handle, I suppose.
"We want to have dinner with an award winning artist", they tried to excuse their chanting bellies.
We went to a fabulous dinner at Gochi, a Japanese Fusion Tapas place, which offered exquisite service and some creative fun dishes. If they only used salt, it would have been even better.
Still, it was a perfect evening, spend with true friends.
Around 11pm, as we were hugging our goodbyes, MistyP did not seem to overcome his devastation that I insisted on paying for dinner.
"But I wanted to do it", he protested. "How can I pay you back now?".
"Ah, buy one of my paintings", I joyfully suggested.
He didn't even blink. "I'll buy your dinner next time!".
Labels: Art, Major Achievements, Photohgraphy
Sunday, June 24, 2007
A Thousand Words - And Then Some #10
Presenting to you The JohnnyB, and his newest buddy, Tal. They met 3 weeks ago, in Modiin, Israel.I could see how the polite way in which he chose to greet The JohnnyB (his grand-uncle, mind you), might lead you to think that Tal is of a Maori descent, but you are wrong.
He is 8 months old, the younger brother of the 2-year-old Nitzku, and - by theory of relativity, these pictures clearly show that he is not the tiniest baby born in Israel, or anywhere else, for that matter.
The JohnnyB was totally captured by this amazingly lovable multifold baby (well, like the Michelin man, this adorable dude is all made of folds), and Tal fell for The JohnnyB in a heartbeat. The kid was beyond ecstatic to be upgraded to the arms of the new grand-uncle, and be raised above anyone else. The two guys bonded immediately, with Tal persistently trying to pluck the hair and beard off The JohnnyB's face, while the latter constantly examining with admiration the pillows of fat on Tal's feet. Another significant advantage was the fact that neither of them speaks fluent Hebrew, and - while an obstacle with my other family members - it did not stand in the way of their amity.
The alert viewer will notice that Tal is not smiling. It's not that he is a gloomy baby, On the contrary, he is one of the happiest babies I've seen. He is simply way too cool for spreading smiles all over. His usual expression is very serious and intensely concentrated, and he breaks the heart of anyone who tries to baby-talk him into softening up, by giving them this "Ah, C'mon, would you stop this pathetic childish act already!?".
See, I brought him an incredibly cute toy, a plush elephant that you can stuff things in and take them out and put them in again and take them out and - - - Hey, this bloody toy won several awards, and is really, REALLY cool!!! And so, when I presented the gift to Tal, all the adults in my family, as well as the older kids (ages 2 to 5 year) responded with sheer enthusiasm. As for Tal, well... (Ah, it still hurts when I think of it), he gave it a brief look, (out of courtesy, I suppose, as he's a nice guy), gave me a look that I can only describe as a mixture of pity and surprise, with a touch of refined disdain, and proceeded to play with the impressive set of trucks I got for the 2-year-old Nitzku, his older brother. This is one tough little person.
Actually, at some point, he did grace The JohnnyB with one very rare smile, but even LumiB wasn't fast enough to capture this astonishing fleeting moment.
So, this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Here's a series of photos that I refer to as "Dude, what's wrong with your watch?".
We don't go Awwwwwwwwww in Israel, but we came pretty close...
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Labels: Family, Photohgraphy, Vacation, Wonders of The JohnnyB
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
A Thousand Words - And Then Some #9
Just a quick one, before I leave to Israel.
Suitcases are packed (and packed with gifts!), two paintings are framed and deposited in good hands to be brought to two group shows that begin in June, my studio looks decent enough to be fun to come back to, passport and green-card are safe in my wallet (checked four times!!), and even my Israeli cellular phone (whose chargers went AWOL), is now fully charged and ready to go, thanks to TexieD, who - as always - came to the rescue and donated not one, but two chargers of his old cell phone, and to The JohnnyB, who made a special delivery in the midst of the day and went back to work. (Thank You, and Thank You!!!!!!)
and,
- - - above all (drum rolllllllllllllllllllllllll),
Sunset over the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), Israel, June'05Labels: Photohgraphy, Vacation
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
A Thousand Words - And Then Some #6
So - we are back from Grenada.
Not as tanned as this little girl in the picture, but quite nicely colored.
And quite jet-lagged, too.
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Labels: Photohgraphy, Vacation
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Days Like This...
What a day!!!
After going to sleep at 02:30 last night (because I could, that's why!), I somehow managed to get up in time, and decided to go ahead and go on a paint-out day, at the Presentation Center, way down in the Santa Cruz mountains.
It was very straightforward getting there, and took only 30 minutes.
85 South, then 17 South, and then 2.5 miles on the insanely uphill-winding Bear Creek road.
On a normal day, that would be a fun drive.
Only today, with the remains of my cold, plus my deadtiredness, that little ride did not make my dizzy head very happy.
But I made it.
The Presentation Center is - apparently - an incredible place.
Quite rustic, very unpretentious, beautiful grounds, giant trees, heartbreakingly stunning in their post-fall colors, adobe buildings scattered all over the place - a haven for painters and photographers, and actually for anyone.
Just strolling around makes you feel on vacation, to the point that puts that idiotic grin on your face.
And, it was sooooooooooo warm and sunny!
December 7th, you hear "I'm Dreaming of A White Christmas" everywhere you turn - and we got a tan!
This place is really something else!
You can have a conference, party, lunch, dinner, they have rooms, you can just come and stroll the grounds.
Next time you want something different, check it out.
Whether it's during the week or on a weekend.
Apparently, not only is this place gorgeous, it's also packed with history.
Packed, I tell ya.
- - - - - - - -
OK, now I am getting this smirk on my face...
...and that would probably expand to the faces of some of my readers from far far away.
So let me just say this:
Among other things, it took me a very long time to get used to the usage of the word "history" in the USofA.
Here, a 200 year old building becomes a historical marker, and many places proudly claim "In business since 1950", which means they wallow in history.
And, hmm, how shall I put it gently: where I come from, history goes, well, a bit further.
Just a touch, y'know.
"Hey, when it comes to Western society, we go as far as 400 years!", reprimands The JohnnyB.
Yeah, well... that's nice. How's that working for ya?
- - - - - - - -
Anyway - that presentation Center used to be a school for boys, and they used to have ladders between the different floors of the buildings and all - must have been a very fun place!
Now they have staircases and other modern niceties, but the remodeling was done so that the place still retains its character and charm.
And it has a lot of both.
At some point, I realized it's actually a catholic place (well, that explains the crosses all around), but they welcome anyone through their gates.
I mean, really welcome.
And everyone!
There is even a sign that says "Welcome" in 15 or 16 languages (with an excruciating typo in Hebrew...).
Anyway - we had a fun day, a bunch of us painting, and BlaineyC hung with us for lunch.
BlaineyC used to be the leader of our watercolor society and is now the marketing person of the center.
She gave three of us a tour of all the rooms and buildings, and brought us to the little charming chapel, where I made a highly bloggable mistake, which I cannot talk about, as it may offend some of the readers...
No, really.
Honestly, I cannot tell you.
Oh, OK, what the heck!
Better me telling you the actual version, and the whole truth, than The JohnnyB raving about his retarded wife and taking some artistic license...
So, here goes:
Y'see, in the little chapel, in a little corner, there stood a little table.
And on the little table, there was a little crystal candy-jar.
And next to it, there lived a little bottle-thingy.
I thought it contained olive oil (it looked like olive oil, OK?!?), and I was wondering (loudly, alas):
"Why would they put olive oil in such a little bottle?".
More than that - why would they have balsamic vinegar in a candy jar?
And why isn't the balsamic vinegar darker?
And why does it look like it has crumbs in it?
And then, Oh dear dear readers, as I got closer, I saw it was more like, well... kinda... very... flat... cookies... like, wafers... y'know?
Yep.
Told ya!
Well, I do have the ultimate excuse for this unforgiving ignorance.
And yet, BlaineyC and the other two took way too long a time to get over the laughter.
Good thing I was brought up to be so well-behaved, and didn't touch anything.
Bad thing I actually opened my mouth.
Silence is sometimes priceless.
Indeed.
Perhaps I should have started this post a bit differently: "A Catholic, a Unitarian, an Atheist and a Jew go into a chapel"...
A-n-y-w-a-y - look at the time...
Then it was time to head back home.
Winding road went fine.
17 North went fine.
85 North went fine. . . .
. . . but something seemed a bit weird.
And, as I saw the sign that cheerfully informed me "Oakland, 33 miles", I got somewhat uneasy, but kept on driving, sticking to my eternal optimism.
When I arrived at Mission Ave, in Fremont, I figured that perhaps I have gone a bit too far north.
And East.
And away from where I was heading.
Not that I have something against Fremont.
A lot of lovely people live there.
In fact, some of our very best friends live there.
Fremont is a very, very nice place.
Very.
But not when you need to get to Los Altos for a haircut!
Cussing with all my might, I drove back, without getting a ticket (that's the miracle of the day! perhaps all the good energy from the Presentation Center was protecting me). and made it just in time for the shearing.
My hair designer, however, could hardly do the job, as she was laughing so hard at the scenic route I took.
Yeah, VandieA, it's always funny when it happens to someone else, ain't it?
Other than that, the haircut was uneventful.
But then I got a deep cut in my thumb when I put my hand into my purse to get the wallet out (I still have no idea what caused this cut), and with a blood-dripping hand, I drove my poor-fuzzy-diddumed self (a-la ValieM) home, just to realize that I forgot my earrings at the salon.
If you happen to go there, (and I couldn't recommend it more!!!), would you please get them for me?
'cause I ain't no drivin' nowhere in the near future!
*** P.S. the photos so nonchalantly attached to this post, as if it's the most trivial thing in the world, took about 6 hours to download.
They are the very first pictures shown to the world, taken by LumiB, and I somehow managed to screw the card during the download... We almost decided to reset the card, but LexieV, who was visiting from England, has saved the day, big time, and from now on he shall be known as The God of Hacking.
But that is a whole different story, that shall hopefully be blogged by The JohnnyB.
When offered the idea, he snapped - good-tempered as always: "I will blog it if and when I feel like it".
. . .OK then.
I am going to officially put an end to this day.
It's been way too long and evenful.
Layla Tov. (means, Good Night, in the language of the land with real history).
Labels: Driving, Faux Pas, Photohgraphy
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Who Needs Santa?!?
"Are we doing Christmas gifts this year"?, asked The JohnnyB when he came home this evening, looking with glee at the UPS packages that piled over the dining table.
"I dunno", answered his lovely wife with a certain anxiety.
See, in the almost-five-years I've been here, I have learned that the true meaning of Christmas and the real profound reality behind the holiday spirit, is pretty much gift-related.
An insanely outrageous amount of gifts is set under and around millions of decorated trees, may they be real or plastic ones, and everybody's running around in frenzy to find one more gift for the mother of the third cousin of the niece's husband's step-aunt's adopted son.
The first Christmas after I moved here, we had two piles in front of the fireplace.
As the days went by, The JohnnyB and I kept counting - with growing concern - the number of packages in the other's pile, trying to go for equality.
It was quite nerve-wrecking, and we decided that no longer.
We are above this craziness.
No more Christmas gifts.
After all, it's not even my holiday, right?
And yet, each year, we sneak a gift or two, anyway.
Now, The JohnnyB never, ever, goes shopping.
Oooooooooooooooh no.
He shops with his fingers, a click here, double-click there, a secretive smile adorning his face, and packages galore arrive at the house, carried by our smiley-yet-weary UPS guy.
And, The JohnnyB always has the most uniquely original ideas, that usually hit right on the spot.
"Because if we are not doing Christmas gifts", said The JohnnyB, disrupting this line of thought with devils in his hazel eyes, "then you get your gift right now!".
"Uhm... well... it's up to you", said his wife, trying her best to sound daintily indifferent.
And so, he handed me a box.
(Not wrapped, of course. As we have all learned, The JohnnyB never makes a fuss about presentation).
And in the box, הס פן תעיר, lived a digital camera.
Now, we've been discussing, for quite a while, my long and longing yearning for a digital camera with a decent zoom.
The digital camera I have now (Olympus Camedia C-50, also given to me by The JohnnyB, 3.5 years ago), is an admirable product.
It's wonderfully compact, with an incredible durability and unprecedented survival skills.
It has served me above and beyond my highest expectations, especially considering what I have put it through. Starting with 11,000 photos (yeah, eleven thousands) during our 2.5 months trip in Australia and the Cook Islands, in extra-dusty conditions (well, the Australian outback is not exactly an airconditined resort...) plus several nasty falls, followed by a couple of thousands more photos, taken on other trips, family visits and daily occasions.
But - recently, it's started to show signs that its days are numbered. I guess it's lived a very full camera-life (more like 13 lifetimes), with its photoholic owner.
Plus, it has a 3X optical zoom.
Not very helpful when you want to snatch a photo of someone with an interesting face in a crowd, without that person noticing that s/he is in fact modeling for you. (and I am, as we all agree by now, very much into portraits).
The catch with a bigger zoom is that the camera also tends to grow bigger, more massive and more impressive, and can no longer be tossed in my purse or my coat pocket, as I go scavenging for new faces and scenes.
And suddenly: look at this wonder!
Not much bigger than my current camera, with a very clean, slick and elegant design, in stunning metallic dark blue. AND it is 10X zoom!!
So small - and 10X!!!
How do they do it?
Ah, triviality..
Just to warm the hearts of the engineers amongst you (it's actually pretty neat!):
"This camera features a refractive prism lens unit, that allows zooming to occur horizontally within the camera. This makes it possible to pack a powerful 10x optical zoom - equivalent to a big 35 to 350 millimeter lens on a 35mm camera - into a compact camera. The Extended Optical Zoom function, which magnifies the image with minimal deterioration by using the center part of the high-resolution CCD, boosts the zoom power of up to 12.5x."
Yeah - self-explanatory!
Plus, it has a Leica lens, which would have warmed my parents hearts, as my father owned an antique Leica, and my mom used to speak very proudly of it.
10X zoom!!
10X zoom!!! (I repeat with teary eyes).
More than 3 times the zoom I had till this moment.
A whole world is awaiting me out there - and all I need is zoom into it.
- - - But wait!!!
Didn't they say something about 12.5X zoom?
The JohnnyB delved into the manual and the Panasonic FAQ website, and discovered that when you set the image to be less than the biggest size (5MB), the CCD actually takes advantage of the unused photo-cells and effectively increases the optical zoom by 25%.
So - if I do not insist on having all my photos as heavy as 5MB, I actually get 12.5X zoom!!!
12.5 ZOOM!!!
That is even better than my wildest dreams.
The JohnnyB has really שיחק אותה בגדול!!!
(as in, really, truly, totally and utterly excelled himself this time)!!!
- - - And now The JohnnyB has 3 broken ribs.
Hugs can be quite damaging, so it seems...
...and in the midst of the excitement, I find myself wondering whether it was fair of me to take a picture of the new camera with the old one, that's about to be abandoned.
Feels almost immoral.
Like the first wife of a Mormon making the bed of the new, second wife, who's just arrived.
oh, Oh, OH - the battery is finally charged.
Time to go out and play!
Disclaimer:
As amazing as this may sound, no furniture was broken, no fire has started, no wall was damaged and the roof is still standing.
Basically, no harm was done to the house neither to its residents during the opening, testing and playing with LumiB.
And, mind you, not even one cup of tea was made by me.
Almost disappointing, Eh?
Labels: Photohgraphy, Wonders of The JohnnyB
