Jelly Babies, Bananas and Edible Ball Bearings

Today has been one of those no good, very bad, horrible days (much sad news from family & friends). A day when what could go wrong, did go wrong. And to top that off, something from dinner has made me feel all blurky. But the weekend is promising to be a lot of fun so today must just be the year providing me with the last bad day of 2006. Roll on 2007!

Whenever I feel not so perky, I really feel like watching Doctor Who, well, more than usual. I’m going to head off and make a nice cup of tea, fluff my pillows and settle back to watch the good Doctor for a while. Fantastic!

Capt. Jack Harkness: [incredulously] Who has a sonic screwdriver?
The Doctor: I do!
Capt. Jack Harkness: Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, ‘Ooo, this could be a little more sonic?’
The Doctor: What, you’ve never been bored? Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?

———————-

I wrote that post last night, but ended up not publishing it. Maybe I should have, because it’s not even 9am and today isn’t going well either. My budgie Scully, who I’ve had for about twelve years, died during the night and then when I turned on my computer, it’s showing signs that it’s on the way out, too. If bad luck comes in threes, I should have only good luck left for the rest of 2006. I hope!

Woo!

Woo hoo! I should have my portfolio site finished this evening! About time, too! I’ll link to it once it’s live. Ah, feels good to be *this* close to finishing! :)

Note to Self: Do not, I repeat, do not count your style sheets before they go live!
Yes, I just found a bug. Not happy!

My Heart has found her Lighthouse

 

We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won’t need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don’t fire cannons to call attention to their shining – they just shine.

~ Dwight L. Moody.

It may not be a real lighthouse, but it reminds me of one. It also reminds me of how important lighthouses are, both the real and the metaphorical.

——
While working on my portfolio site today (well, after sneaking off for a walk) I went through some of my older photos from my old photolog. If I could do anything career wise and know that I would be successful, I would be a full time photographer.

I’m entranced by the magic of capturing a moment in time. Photography is one of the few ways we have of stopping time, of capturing a special moment forever. Our memories are another. There are so many beautiful things in this world, many of which quietly wait for their turn in the spotlight, for their turn to be noticed. So many never have that moment. I think that is why macro photography delights me so. Most people can see the big picture, they can see the sunset, the mountain ranges. But how many see the way the sunlight delicately shines on the petals of a tiny native flower. How many see the individual plants, rocks and the refracted light that make those mountain ranges so special?

I love finding those tiny glimpses of eternal, natural beauty that most other people pass by without so much as a glance. For me, beauty is in the details. Not things that are big and showy, but in the special and very rare things that grace this world. I don’t think beauty is solely in the eye of the beholder, I think it is also in the heart of the beholder. The most beautiful things in this world are those that most people never see. And that is where photography, macro photography, seduces me. It highlights and celebrates those tiny, beautiful and elusive details.

Designz (couldn’t I have been more creative with the name?!)

While sorting through some old files, I came across some of my earliest digital photos taken with an old Polaroid digital camera. I also found one of my first pieces of digital art from a period when I was fascinated with aging photos and making them look like worn prints. Oh yeah, I also loved adding water drops and flowers. Back then, I spent hours designing intricate art including very small illustrations of jewels. One of my first web sites, hosted at Geocities, offered free web graphics and was called ‘Designz’. I would scan flowers, leaves and other items and then manipulate them into photo realistic backgrounds.

Thinking back now, I wonder why I stopped designing in that style? At one point, my work was going to be included on a cd that would accompany one of Andy Shafran’s books on Paint Shop Pro (I cut my designer teeth in PSP!). Then there was the time that I was invited to write a couple of chapters on Flash animation in a book to be produced by members of a design community I belonged to at the time. Both books never went through from the publishers end (I’m not entirely sure about the PSP one, however), but it was still nice to think that I was considered for those projects, even if they never actually saw the light of day. Maybe I’ll get another chance to write for publication in the future!

Anyhoo, two of the photos I found and one piece of digital art are behind the link below.

Continue Reading“Designz (couldn’t I have been more creative with the name?!)”

Murphy's Law?

Oh dear, I think I’m coming down with a cold! It would come on today of all days when I have so much to do. I hope it’s just one of those 24 hour things, because I will not be at all happy if it lasts past this week. I didn’t think it was actually possible to get a cold during summer. Ugh. Time for heavy duty orange juice and ‘fever’ inducing naturopathic drinks to try and fight it off. Wish me luck!

One of the things I’m working on at the moment is selling prints of my photos. If you’ve got some spare time, I’d really appreciate it if a few people could have a look at my Flickr stream and tell me which (if any!) photos they think would make great prints. You can comment here, email me or leave a comment at Flickr, whichever you like. Thanks in advance!

Two Less Lonely People in the World

I’m really teary as I sit here now, writing this. My life changed forever today. It changed in the most positive way I could ever imagine. Earlier I had realized how my emotions were heading, but today I knew for sure – I’m in love! In love with the most wonderful, handsome, amazing man that I could ever dream to meet. He’s everything that I ever dreamed I would find, and more. So much more. I just never thought that he existed, I certainly didn’t think I would ever be fortunate enough to find him.

And now, I seem to be having some kind of delayed reaction, because I’m crying. Not in a sad way, in a happy way. In a way, that means there is just too much inside my heart and it needs someplace to spill over. I never ever dared to hope that I would ever meet a man who could make me feel like this. And now that I have, I don’t want it to ever end.

Oh gosh, talk about turning on the waterworks! As we were driving back earlier, I was watching the sky and the clouds and the thought that popped into my mind was that not only has my life changed, the way I see the world has changed, forever. Everything, every tiny little thing looks so much brighter and more beautiful.

I don’t know what I did to ever be this lucky, but I’m thinking that I must have done something pretty wonderful in a past life, if there is such a thing, to have deserved to experience what I have today. I could say more, but I think the more that I have to say is just for his ears only. And oh, I can’t wait until I’m close to him again.

How can one life suddenly change so much? How can it suddenly mean so much more. All I know is that my life will never be the same. In a very, very good way. There is this tiny part of my heart that can’t believe this is happening to me. How can I be that lucky…am I really awake or I am dreaming?!

And Mr. Wonderful, my adorable, because I know you will read this; you know you have my heart. I just hope you don’t mind all my gushing. It was just too much to contain inside! :wub:

Today will be the day that never shall grow old
~ Someone, Air Supply.

Can't Get You Out of My Head (and don't want to)

From one of the songs that are on my mind tonight:

In the middle of the night
Cool sweatin’ in my bed
Got the windows open wide
Thinking about all the things you said

I wish I could fly
Out in the blue
Over this town
Following you
I’d fly over rooftops
The great boulevards
To try to find out
Who you really are

~ Wish I Could Fly, Roxette

In related news, I can’t stop smiling.
I don’t think I walk anymore either, I simply float. ;)