Monday, October 11, 2010

Cats Like General Conference Too

IMG_0448IMG_0449While folding laundry (one of Paprika’s favorite activities) I decided to watch General Conference. Paprika watched General Conference with me. She especially liked our prophet. Watching and listening to him just wasn’t enough for her. She had to reach out and touch him too. She stroked the screen a couple times, but it apparently didn’t add to the experience and she soon gave up.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

We Really Got Hail

Rainbow Before the StormIMG_0431I was out driving around when the hail started Tuesday. It didn’t start with small bits or heavy rain; it went strait from light sprinkle to huge heavy hail that made me fear for my windows. I quickly felt like I was being pelted by a machine gun of hail. I pulled over next to a particularly tall bougainvillea bush that I thought might at least give my car some modicum of help. This was not effective.

Next, I decided I had to find some real cover. I soon found an empty carport where I was able to wait out the hail. Afterward I saw that some of the hail in the road were ping pong ball size. Now my car looks like a red golf ball.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Looking at Some Fruit in a Bowl

Fruit in a bowl. Which is more beautiful?

There is something very homey and comforting about fruit in a bowl. I feel almost like I’m creating a work of art every time I dump a bag of fruit into whatever bowl I use. I think this is because so many paintings are made of fruit on a table &c.

To be honest, the real reason I took this picture was because I have a new monopod. For many years I’ve wanted a good monopod and I finally found one that was tall enough and cheap enough that I felt like I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity. It’s even made by Vivitar.

Why would anyone want a monopod instead of a tripod, you ask? Hah! I know the answer to that. See, a tripod doesn’t usually fit in a backpack and is generally just awkward to carry around. It’s kind of a lot of commitment to even use. That’s why I normally only use a tripod around the house even though pictures out and about would benefit from a tripod. Enter: the monopod. It fits in my backpack. It could strap to my belt. It hides in the car easily. I can whip it out when I need it. Besides, there is only one leg to extend instead of three and it screws into the camera more easily.

If I had known how happy I would be with my monopod, I might have looked harder for one long ago.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Ideas for Sale: Free to a Good Home

Tamara and I went to the Home and Landscape Show for our date tonight. We were mostly there to see landscape ideas and dream, but there was one indoor idea that I really liked. One display had a tv surrounded by a picture frame. I thought that just made the tv so much less intrusive. We expect to see picture frames on the walls – even big ones. Tamara and I thought that when the tv were off, there could be a family portrait printed on canvas that could be pulled down from inside the top portion of the frame to cover up the tv screen in much the same way as the mini-blinds that are built right into some windows. Alternatively, the tv could just remain on and display family portraits when not in use; it would be a large digital picture frame.

I did a quick search for ‘television in a frame,’ and it turns out that someone else has already had this idea and made a company out of it. I bet I could make one myself a bit cheaper though.