I thought it would be nice to share with you the lovely pictures that Karlo took in Japan . . .
Wasn't that great? Oh wait a minute, did I forget to upload the photos? No, actually I didn't. My wonderful husband (who should know a thing or two about taking pictures by this point) traveled halfway around the world and came home with three pictures . . . all of which we deleted.
I was so disappointed in both the pictures and in him. I said, "I think I'm embarrassed to call you my husband. How can you be related to me? THIS is your best photographic effort???" Pitiful. Shame on Karlo. He went on to explain that I make him not want to take a picture. What on Earth? How can this be possible? Shouldn't I be inspiring him to take pictures? I just don't understand. And this must be changed. I don't want to set the bar too high that he feels his pictures don't compare. The fact is that Karlo does indeed have a good eye behind the camera. He's a bit shaky at times, but I taught him enough tricks and he could do a great job if he tried. So I'm going to work on turning things around and encouraging him more. Come on Karlo, you can do it.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
What Happened?
Where did the time go? I just realized that I haven't blogged since last Tuesday. When I discovered this fact my first thought was, "Poor Tina, she's waiting for stories." So what happened to my last several days? Well, Karlo is back. Need I say more?
It took us days to catch up with each other. And I'm very disappointed to report that I don't have any funny stories from his trip to Japan. I mean I got nuttin'. I'm still not quite sure how this is possible, but it sounded like a pretty boring trip. Oh well. Sorry to disappoint.
Since getting back home Karlo has created some work for me. Not that I wasn't working in his absence, but now I had even more to deal with. Piles of laundry, a temporary lost dog, a lost cell phone, expense reports, etc. Then there was the yard work and the never ending leaves. If I could just devise a plan to make money off of fallen leaves. Where on earth do all those leaves go? I would think that our woods would be piled 3 feet high with leaves permanently. But I guess mother nature has it all worked out. All we need to do is get them into the woods. As if that was an easy task. I spent all Sunday morning with a gasoline engine strapped on my back blowing leaves around the yard while Karlo drove the lawn tractor around at record speeds. After hours of painstaking work, I watched leaves falling from the sky for the rest of the day and now the lawn is covered again. uuugh. Between seeing the leaves and the snow on the lawn this morning I just wanted to crawl back into bed.
I'm still in denial that it's November. Maybe if I just don't accept that it's almost Thanksgiving I won't have to deal with the upcoming stress of the season. Dear Santa I would like you to bring me a half a dozen elves. Maybe then I could get my life in order. Until then I will continue to live in the chaos that is Paula's world.
It took us days to catch up with each other. And I'm very disappointed to report that I don't have any funny stories from his trip to Japan. I mean I got nuttin'. I'm still not quite sure how this is possible, but it sounded like a pretty boring trip. Oh well. Sorry to disappoint.
Since getting back home Karlo has created some work for me. Not that I wasn't working in his absence, but now I had even more to deal with. Piles of laundry, a temporary lost dog, a lost cell phone, expense reports, etc. Then there was the yard work and the never ending leaves. If I could just devise a plan to make money off of fallen leaves. Where on earth do all those leaves go? I would think that our woods would be piled 3 feet high with leaves permanently. But I guess mother nature has it all worked out. All we need to do is get them into the woods. As if that was an easy task. I spent all Sunday morning with a gasoline engine strapped on my back blowing leaves around the yard while Karlo drove the lawn tractor around at record speeds. After hours of painstaking work, I watched leaves falling from the sky for the rest of the day and now the lawn is covered again. uuugh. Between seeing the leaves and the snow on the lawn this morning I just wanted to crawl back into bed.
I'm still in denial that it's November. Maybe if I just don't accept that it's almost Thanksgiving I won't have to deal with the upcoming stress of the season. Dear Santa I would like you to bring me a half a dozen elves. Maybe then I could get my life in order. Until then I will continue to live in the chaos that is Paula's world.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
I Miss My Babies
I so miss my Bentley. This has been the first time in a very long time that I've been home alone. I really can't remember if Karlo has left town without me since we lost Bentley. This may be the first time. I never really felt lonely in the house with Bentley around. He was such a good companion. I could talk to him and he would gaze deep into my eyes, listening to (and understanding just about) everything I would say to him. Should I ever mention the word "Daddy" his ears would perk right up and he would get so excited that he would cry. I just loved being able to communicate with him.
But now I'm stuck with Cooper and Peanut and although they are mostly good dogs - when they are not throwing up or completely ignoring me - they just don't compare to Bentley. I tried to have a heart to heart with them tonight. I went over and hugged them, petted their ears, and asked them if they missed "Daddy." Nothing. There is just not one brain wave moving in their heads. I got up, paced around the house and said out loud, "Boy do I miss Bentley. I'm so lonely." Within 2 minutes the phone rang and it was Bentley! OK, don't be ridiculous. It was Karlo calling from Tokyo. What a surprise that was. I guess he felt me being lonely.
Well, I'll never get my baby Bentley back, but I sure am looking forward to my other baby coming home on Thursday. I miss you too Karlo! These dogs just aren't cutting it. I need you home with me.
Because Karlo is Away
Wow, it's been a long time since I posted a blog with that title. I have been very lucky in that ever since Karlo got his new job title he hasn't really traveled much. All the recent trips he's taken have been with me which has been great. But this time he left me alone and you know what that means. Things have to go wrong.
I made it through the first half of his trip with flying colors. Of course I wasn't home myself so it was pretty easy. But I did host a house guest all alone and I kept her warm with the best fire I ever built and maintained in my life. I was so proud of myself and doing so good.
But then last night was my first night at home alone. I was really looking forward to a peaceful night of catching up on my digital life and some house chores. What I really didn't want was more house cleaning chores added to the list. So when I got back from my run and found a pile of doggie vomit on the floor (and no paper towels anywhere in sight) it was not good. But I was a trooper and cleaned it up.
Next chore was laundry. That's not so bad. I usually don't mind doing laundry. The dogs came into the laundry room to help, as they normally do, but this time they weren't much help. Cooper proceeded to throw up again, this time in the laundry basket and on MY FOOT. There goes those slippers! Dear Santa . . . I could use some nice Japanese slippers this year.
So much for my peaceful night at home. Why is it that things never go smoothly when Karlo is away?
I made it through the first half of his trip with flying colors. Of course I wasn't home myself so it was pretty easy. But I did host a house guest all alone and I kept her warm with the best fire I ever built and maintained in my life. I was so proud of myself and doing so good.
But then last night was my first night at home alone. I was really looking forward to a peaceful night of catching up on my digital life and some house chores. What I really didn't want was more house cleaning chores added to the list. So when I got back from my run and found a pile of doggie vomit on the floor (and no paper towels anywhere in sight) it was not good. But I was a trooper and cleaned it up.
Next chore was laundry. That's not so bad. I usually don't mind doing laundry. The dogs came into the laundry room to help, as they normally do, but this time they weren't much help. Cooper proceeded to throw up again, this time in the laundry basket and on MY FOOT. There goes those slippers! Dear Santa . . . I could use some nice Japanese slippers this year.
So much for my peaceful night at home. Why is it that things never go smoothly when Karlo is away?
Monday, November 1, 2010
I'm Kinda Famous
Well, that didn't take long. I go out on the streets with Sandy Foster and the next thing you know, I'm famous. Check out the link below. Alright, it has nothing to do with my actual photography skills, but it sure was nice to get a plug from a photography tips blog.
http://weeklyphototips.blogspot.com/2010/11/more-proof-im-idiot.html
http://weeklyphototips.blogspot.com/2010/11/more-proof-im-idiot.html
More Strolling on the Streets of NYC
The actual conference sucked up my entire days. The classes started at 8:45 AM and ended just before 6PM. It was nice to walk back to the hotel at twilight. I snapped the picture above of the "umpire state building," as Jamie liked to call it, with my phone. But the real fun came after dark when Jamie and I tried to learn some tricks from Sandy, who is a "street photographer." A street photographer basically means that you set out to try to capture the essence of the city. In order to do this you must be willing to point your camera at strangers–something that has always terrified me. But I gave it a try . . . Here's me taking pictures of strangers.
OK, so maybe two of them were mannequins. That counts, right? Hey, I was trying. I finally did get brave enough to get some actual humans from the side. Baby steps. I'm getting closer.
And then I got real brave and snapped these:
There's no stopping me now! Look out city streets, here I come . . .Friday night was quite fun despite the temps dipping down and the wind picking up. Sandy and I had a great dinner with a couple from the "Photoshop gang." The guy was a Photoshop instructor and the girl was a Mini Cooper freak. Needless to say we never ran out of things to talk about. We ate in a very funky Thai place and the spicy food got me ready for our walk out in the cold.
We strolled more and took more photos. My favorite thing to see this night was the walk sign. Which in our case was the 'Quick - RUN - I'm freezing' sign.I thought my brain would explode by the end of the day on Saturday. I had photo and video overload. Not to mention PEOPLE and CITY overload and I was so ready to go home. We planned on taking a taxi to the train station, which was a relief given the fact that I practically ran a mile to get from the convention center to the hotel. But the bellhop told us it would be faster to walk the mile to GCS than taxi so that is exactly what we did. No, wait a minute, we more ran than walked . . . pulling our suitcases, in insane Saturday night crowds, in my dress boots. Holy smokes that was not fun.
And let me tell you . . . if you think there are lots of freaks in the city on a normal Saturday night, you should try visiting on the night before Halloween. After seeing several strange characters walking by, one of them a werewolf in a power blue tux, Sandy wanted to stay another night! Imagine the interesting street photography we could have gotten that night.
To see more pics from this exciting trip, please click here.
Big City Adventures
What a whirlwind past few days I've had. It will be a true miracle if I can document this one, as I've had virtually no free time what-so-ever for the past 5 days. It has been jam packed with socializing and entertaining an out-of-town guest and jet-setting in the Big City. But I will do my best to recap (at least some of it).
The journey began early Thursday morning. My new friend and "photo mentor" (gosh I feel so important to have a photo mentor) arrived to CT on Wednesday afternoon. Luckily we controlled ourselves and went to bed at a reasonable time rather than staying up all night talking, like we really wanted to do. After a painful tour of New Haven (two GPSs in the car and we still got lost) we managed to find not only the train station, but also my cousin Jamie. We were finally making our way to NYC.
Me and Sandy pushing our bags at Union Station.
The train ride was fun and uneventful. The biggest event that occurred was getting a call from Karlo in Tokyo and not being able to actually talk to him. He called from a computer with no mic so it was a one-way conversation of "Karlo? Is that you????" followed by dead silence. What a bummer.
We found our way out of Grand Central to stand aimlessly on the corner for 5 minutes pondering which direction to walk in. Once again, two high tech GPS phones and still clueless. Luckily Sandy still believes in good old fashion maps and she navigated us to the New Yorker Hotel a mile from the train station. One mile of walking is certainly not a big deal, but it sure was no fun pulling a suitcase along. Once we dumped our bags at the hotel it got much better.
First stop, B&H Photo. My dream come true. I have always wanted to visit this camera mega store. The mecca for all photographers. It was about a city block long and more amazing than I even imagined it would be. Wow, compete sensory overload. Good thing for our wallets we planned this trip 1.) before lunch when we were already hungry, and 2.) before our first workshop that was starting in less than an hour. Needless to say it was a short trip and only cost me $5. Didn't know it was possible to walk out of B&H Photo and only spend $5!
The actual conference was amazing, but I won't bore you with those details. In a nutshell, I was in heaven!
The first night was the only night Jamie would be with us so we went out to dinner. As always it was nothing but laughs. Here's the table after sitting for 5 minutes. And this was just for Jamie.
Next it was time to stroll the streets to test our hand at "street photography." It just so happens that Sandy is one of the best street photographers out there. She holds prestigious awards to prove it. Anyway, Jamie and I hoped that just being near her would rub off. Not sure that it did for me. I am still uninspired in the city, but there is no shortage of interesting material in Times Square.
pics to come . . .
We got silly and visited the M&M store where you can take a profile to see what color M&M you are. As you can see I was not at all happy to be Blue. boo.
When we were all Times Squared, chocolated, and photographed out we began our walk back to the hotel. That is when Bono stopped in a car right in front of us. Jamie snapped a picture.
By this time we needed some drinks. Jamie stopped off at a pub for more beer, while Sandy and I (being the rocking party animals that we are) went to Walgreens for water. Do we know how to party or what? While in line Sandy notices the woman next to her is a movie star. After craning her neck to see that the woman's license was from CA she's convinced it's really her. So after leaving the pharmacy Sandy tries to snap a picture, but Hollywood stars have a keen sense for cameras and she looked away. Now Sandy felt bad so she went back to the store to apologize for the camera incident and she strikes up a conversation. We ended up walking all the way back to our hotel chatting with Jennifer Coolidge. Very cool, but of course I was still searching for Sting . . .
All photos courtesy of Jamie. I've yet to do anything with mine. More NYC stories and pictures to come.
The journey began early Thursday morning. My new friend and "photo mentor" (gosh I feel so important to have a photo mentor) arrived to CT on Wednesday afternoon. Luckily we controlled ourselves and went to bed at a reasonable time rather than staying up all night talking, like we really wanted to do. After a painful tour of New Haven (two GPSs in the car and we still got lost) we managed to find not only the train station, but also my cousin Jamie. We were finally making our way to NYC.
Me and Sandy pushing our bags at Union Station.The train ride was fun and uneventful. The biggest event that occurred was getting a call from Karlo in Tokyo and not being able to actually talk to him. He called from a computer with no mic so it was a one-way conversation of "Karlo? Is that you????" followed by dead silence. What a bummer.
We found our way out of Grand Central to stand aimlessly on the corner for 5 minutes pondering which direction to walk in. Once again, two high tech GPS phones and still clueless. Luckily Sandy still believes in good old fashion maps and she navigated us to the New Yorker Hotel a mile from the train station. One mile of walking is certainly not a big deal, but it sure was no fun pulling a suitcase along. Once we dumped our bags at the hotel it got much better.
First stop, B&H Photo. My dream come true. I have always wanted to visit this camera mega store. The mecca for all photographers. It was about a city block long and more amazing than I even imagined it would be. Wow, compete sensory overload. Good thing for our wallets we planned this trip 1.) before lunch when we were already hungry, and 2.) before our first workshop that was starting in less than an hour. Needless to say it was a short trip and only cost me $5. Didn't know it was possible to walk out of B&H Photo and only spend $5!
The actual conference was amazing, but I won't bore you with those details. In a nutshell, I was in heaven!
The first night was the only night Jamie would be with us so we went out to dinner. As always it was nothing but laughs. Here's the table after sitting for 5 minutes. And this was just for Jamie.
Next it was time to stroll the streets to test our hand at "street photography." It just so happens that Sandy is one of the best street photographers out there. She holds prestigious awards to prove it. Anyway, Jamie and I hoped that just being near her would rub off. Not sure that it did for me. I am still uninspired in the city, but there is no shortage of interesting material in Times Square.
pics to come . . .
We got silly and visited the M&M store where you can take a profile to see what color M&M you are. As you can see I was not at all happy to be Blue. boo.
When we were all Times Squared, chocolated, and photographed out we began our walk back to the hotel. That is when Bono stopped in a car right in front of us. Jamie snapped a picture.
By this time we needed some drinks. Jamie stopped off at a pub for more beer, while Sandy and I (being the rocking party animals that we are) went to Walgreens for water. Do we know how to party or what? While in line Sandy notices the woman next to her is a movie star. After craning her neck to see that the woman's license was from CA she's convinced it's really her. So after leaving the pharmacy Sandy tries to snap a picture, but Hollywood stars have a keen sense for cameras and she looked away. Now Sandy felt bad so she went back to the store to apologize for the camera incident and she strikes up a conversation. We ended up walking all the way back to our hotel chatting with Jennifer Coolidge. Very cool, but of course I was still searching for Sting . . .All photos courtesy of Jamie. I've yet to do anything with mine. More NYC stories and pictures to come.
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