Say Cheese!!

Crazy Cartoons

I drew the blue horse on the whiteboard first, and Matthew tried to copy it. Running out of room, he had to really elongate it--pretty goofy.

What Is It?

We can't come to any conclusions about what this pretzel looks like. Depending on the angle, it kinda' looks like a kid with a snow cap on, or a football helmet. What do ya think?

Check it out

My latest Photoshop fun.

Duck Stamp Update

I posted a summary of my progress on my new blog (see links). Let me know what you think!

When You Can't Get Snow...

...You sled on ice!! Aimee, Zach and Matthew were out there this morning conquering the slopes.

What could go wrong?
































I hope Matthew noticed the obstacles.


















Even more daring, Zach decided to stand--amazingly, he managed to keep his footing!


















Here's a classic expression!














Our family is obviously very creative ;)

News Flash

Right'o, here we go. Just to let you know, I've started a new blog exclusively about art--painting, photography and all that--a place to express my artistic brilliance, and have fun with web formatting.:) Here's the link.

Right now, you might say I'm about half way done with my duck stamp entry (I'll post a picture update on "Brushstrokes") It's going surprisingly well, considering that I've never painted with acrylics before.

The weather's been pretty strange lately. Yesterday we got about 1 1/2" of snow, and today the sky is cobalt blue and the sun is Hansa Yellow Light! (sorry :D) Anyway, I'm going to try to get a bikeride in while it's sunny.

A few of us got new bands for our wristrockets which have little magnets in the pouch for holding shot. They'll be great for shooting BB's at popcans!

My speech is coming along. Wodehouse is great, but his plots are so integrated that it's hard to decide what to cut. I timed part of it yesterday, and I hit ten minutes before I'd even read half. Of course, I draw encouragement from those who have cut and performed stories like "The Magician's Nephew," but it's still not easy.

There's my little news flash--not a whole lot worth reporting but oh well, that's life.

It's Valentine's Day

I don't celebrate this holiday like everyone else--all I get out of it is candy. Anyway, I arranged a few Sweet Tarts, took a picture, and edited it in Photoshop (basically just a diffuse glow filter, with color adjustments). I currently have a similiar pic on my desktop--call me weird (you'd be right btw).

Well, I'm Back

Hello. I suppose I should offer some iApologies for not posting recently. Yesterday, we went to another practice debate down in Salem--we won 2 out of 4 rounds. In speech club, we're doing humerous interpretives (basically acting out a piece of literature without props or costumes). My selection is a short story by Wodehouse.

A very cool photography site-->www.ejphoto.com

That's all for now, but tommorrow I'll post some more interesting stuff.:)

The Fires of Mt. Doom

A while ago, Daniel decided to burn his paper mache Mt. Doom, which he'd made about a year ago. (All it's missing is a few Nazgul flying around).


















The Crack of Doom--looks like a pretty scary place.














Once the Ring was destroyed, Sauron's domain crumbled and the mountain collapsed into a pile of ashes.

The End

Ah, Brilliance

I've pretty much come to the conclusion that a career in graphic design is in my future. The trick is determining what degree I need, and what classes will get me there. I'll probably be doing running start at Clark this fall, so I need to see what they offer. I recently got another Photoshop book from the library (great place to look) called "The Hidden Power of Photoshop" or something like that. The author says his goal is to provide advanced, practical training not usually found in manuals or other guides. Anyway, currently that's where I'm headed.

Pete, your CD is awsome! I loved track 8 (What's Happening?)--overall very well done.

Jonathan recently got a few new CD's. The first is "Dream Big" by Rubber Band--they have a unique sound. The first track, "Banjo Boy," was one of the highlights--a hillarious rap song about a fella who plays the banjo with a few breaks of Cripple Creek in between verses. (No, I don't make a habit of listening to rap, but this is clean, funny, and has more musical taste than most.) With a few exceptions, it's a pretty good CD.

Mike Marshall and Chris Thile released their new live album. Unfortunately the recording quality isn't tops, and their talent gets them carried away in a few 'songs.' There were several redeeming tracks, but depending on what kind of music appeals to you it's probably not worth your money.

J also got David Grisman's "Hot Dawg." More jazzy than most bluegrass of that era, it's a good CD. If you like bluegrass but have doubts, turn on KBOO on Saturday morning, listen for a few hours and I'm sure you'll be convinced that anything better than what they play is worth buying. (Occasionally they'll play some neat tunes, but on the whole, the program is usually a contest to see who does the best rendition of "She's gone and left me all alone and blue.")

Quote of the day:

Will Rogers: Reflections on American Life

"Our president delivered his message to congress. That is one of the things his contract calls for. It’s one of the few stipulated duties of the president—to tell congress the condition of the country. This message, as I say, is to congress. The rest of the people know the condition of the country, for they live in it, but congress has no idea what is going on in America, so the president has to tell ‘em."

Painting of the day:

Thomas Moran,Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, painted sometime in the late 1800's











Try to say this word over and over (get the pronounciation right): Truthtworsy

A Plethora of Pictures

Due to a lack of something substantial to say, I've decided to post some more pictures--lot's of 'em! These first two are from our trip to Sea World when we went down to San Diego for nationals last summer.

I don't know what they called this thing, but I call it a mudswoggling froggyfish. I want one! (How come pet stores don't stock these things?)








Here's a picture that I believe was taken by Mom at the whale show--pretty much a perfect shot!













Switching gears, here's a picture of my pride and joy--my Gold Star Gf-85 5-string banjer. (the white dots on the head are part of the pickup system)



















And here are a few shots of last years attempt at making a "canjo," using a cookie tin for the body.





































When we got a digital camera, I took a ton of pictures of various flowers around the house.













I had some fun with this one in Photoshop.












It's cartoon time!
















A weird critter I drew a while back--some kind of moon bird I think.



















I couldn't find a quote, so here's the Painting of the Day. (I love the atmospheric effect, and the soft colors).
Sanford Robinson Gifford--Gorge in the Mountains, Kauterskill Clove, 1862

Business Card

I've really been into Photoshop and the other Adobe Creative Suite programs lately--been doing some work for the new company Dad's a part of. I thought that after my success at creating various business cards, it was about time I had one. Here's the result.

For all you Photoshop crazies (including myself) the leaf was super easy to create. You just have to create a path with the shape tool, and then load and apply whatever style you like (styles are on the far right in the color palette). I did a blue gel rollover with dropshadow, but there are all sorts of options. You will need to scale the style: open the Layers dropdown menu go down to Styles and at the bottom you'll find the Scale option. This allows you to adjust the overall settings of the style, ie. the extent of the bevel, highlights etc... Dad's printer is really nice, so I made a few hard copies as well.

Oh, and I finally figured out how to upload pics to my profile. It wasn't so much a matter of how to do it, but finding a suitable picture. So I decided to do a solo photo-shoot. I had to do it in the bathroom because I needed the mirror to see the camera's viewfinder (the thing was pointing right at me, so there was no way to see what it was seeing). Anyway, I got some good ones, and experimented with some different backgrounds in Photoshop. If you want to know more about selections look up the Quick Mask function. It essentially lets you 'paint' in your selection, allowing much more control than most of the other selection tools. I'd probably die without it.

Quote of the day:

"You can stockpile your socks easier than you can sockpile your stocks"--Who knows...:)

Various Oddities

Last week I was on a walk, and coming back from the gate I spotted a little ball perched in a tree, silloughetted against the sky. It hardly looked like a bird, but what else could it be? Once I got close enough for scrutiny, I was surprised to see a tiny little owl staring at me. The thing was about 3-4 inches tall and didn't look like it was planning to move any time soon. I scurried back home, grabbed the camera, hopped on a bike and went back down. It was tough to make the little critter look my way, but I managed to get a few decent pics. Here's the one that turned out best (it's cropped).

I looked it up and found out that it was a Northern Pygmy Owl, and not seen very often. Anyway, that was kinda' cool.

Quote of the day:
"And then I began to see daylight. What exactly was the trouble I didn't understand, but it was evidently something to do with the good old Artistic Temperament, and I could believe anything about that. It explains everything. It's like the Unwritten Law, don't you know, which you plead in America if you've done anything they want to send you to chokey for and you don't want to go. What I mean is, if you're absolutely off your rocker, but don't find it convenient to be scooped into the loony-bin, you simply explain that, when you said you were a teapot, it was just your Artistic Temperament, and they apologize and go away."--P.G. Wodehouse

I've got to go babysit at the neighbors so I can't write more, but I might get to it tomorrow.

'There Was Much Debate'

Hello again. With little to do, I guess I've gone picture crazy. Anyway, here are a few from last weekend's debate tournament down in McMinnville OR.

We're such a great team...













What a scholar!!













Look at those gestures!



















Dad posted about it in more detail on the family blog (see links). D & I went 3/1 (won 3, lost 1). In 3 weeks there's another practice tournament in Oregon, and possibly another the following month. Then there are two speech qualifiers around the time of the only team debate qualifier in a few more months. I'll probably compete in speech since I'd like to get to nationals one way or another (it would be more comfortable to go for speech anyway. Debate is stressfull!). There's tons of stuff I need to get done in the next 3-4 months--I won't bore you with details. Talk about overload!

Die Katze

I was browsing through some photos I took of our cat Tailbiter last summer. Our last cat had a few batches of kittens and we kept a few. He's a great pet--friendly, loyal, pretty, and a good mouser! It's pretty rare you get all those qualities in one cat, but he's an exception.

As a kitten



















All grown up. I thought the contrast and strong lighting called for black and white.

"I am not worthy"

Luke 7:2-9
"Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him.
When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant.
And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him,
for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.”
And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.
Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed.
For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”

Listening to this passage I found the difference between the centurion and the Jewish elders quite interesting. When the elders found Jesus they “pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him.” But when Jesus approached the house, the centurion sent word saying, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” It was his realization of his own unworthiness that caused Jesus to say of him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” This passage illustrates why we must come before God without any self-righteousness—we shouldn’t expect Him to answer all of our requests to our satisfaction. Rather, we must realize that He operates in His own sovereign will, and whatever he decrees is for the good of those who trust Him.

An Ammendment to a past post: I hold these truths to be self-evident, that banjos and mandolins are created equal. How's that? No, I'm not compromising--they're both cool (in different ways). I would like everyone to make note of my remarkable humility as shown by this confession.

Lewis Carroll

Has anybody read L.C.'s poem "Jabberwockee" or "The Hunting of the Snark"? Here's a link to the latter.(read the preface!!)

The Hunting of the Snark

WARNING: His poetry is Strange (with a capital "S") but humerous and worth a quick read.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;
They pursued it with forks and hope;
They threatened its life with a railway-share;
They charmed it with smiles and soap."--Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Is it weird to eat peanuts, shell and all?

Excuse my randomness. Give me the weekend to think of something worth posting...

I Got Tagged

I couldn't come up with the 5 weirdest things about me but here are some nominees:

1. I’m pretty good at sewing by hand (buttons are a breeze)
2. If I’m writing something on my computer I generally save it after every couple of sentences
3. I’m crazy about flashlights
4. I like the smell of boat-motor smoke
5. I kind of like pink and purple (I’m an artist, what can you expect?)
6. My bed is always a wreck (it’s the bed’s fault, not mine)
7. I get upset about scratches, dents or tiny nicks in almost all my belongings
8. I wear an apron sometimes (...when I’m painting:)
9. My computer cursor is shaped like a banjo
10. I won’t eat anything that’s fallen on the floor/ground—unless it’s candy (that’s pretty weird in our family;)
11. Apple computers rock (some friends would think that’s strange)
12. Banjos are better than mandolins (it’s true!!!)
13. Someday, I’ll cover my desk with little cactuses
14. I can’t stand cucumbers, cherry tomatoes or avocado

Here's a weird quote for ya!:

“I’m perfectly normal—my siblings are all isotopes”

Good night...:)

A Quote

"We don't attend a one-room schoolhouse, we have a one-house schoolroom!"--Me

Daniel, welcome to the blogging world. May your posts be frequent, may the entire world rave about your writings, and may you never receive a negative comment!! :) He's posted at least 6 times already--good start! I've linked to him on the right.