Art geekable podcasts

Who knew the NGA did podcasts!? Not I! But now I know and now you know.
Just listened in yesterday to a couple of their Art Talks and Back Stories..... muy bueno. I'm a fan.
The National Gallery of Art really has a special place in my heart because I love it even when I don't think I am going to.... and even when it isn't stuff I am actually into I always learn things that comes in handy later. It is kind of strange that I think of Art History tidbits to be helpful.
Anyway... I'm pretty darn jazzed about it. check it out here at their website. The one about Fontainebleau is great. I also found the Amature Photography and the Decisive Moment one was really great. It did make me a little antsy that i didn't get to go to the exhibit, but still some really great thoughts about snapshots past and present.. and even a touch of future. I would just like to take a moment to pat myself on the back, because the curator gave a shout out to cell phone photos as the snapshot of today. THANK YOU. I'm just a little bit proud about being on a little bit of the same page as a curator at the National Gallery. So neat. You can be sure that will be added to my podcast list (and just FYI you don't need iTunes for podcasts as has been the excuse of some of you out there... i know most of us are aware of that... but in case you weren't... there you have it).
ALTHOUGH Lisa did introduce me to iTunes U on the itunes store main page and it is rocking my world! I can get Fine Arts lectures from some really great Universities for free. Where have I been? It's like with the google book search... what has taken me so long to find these things? Anyway- this is a way I can keep my brain alive and moving. Some great lectures not to mention a broad range of subjects.
I know podcasts are soooooo last year, but i guess i didn't realize just how helpful getting a podcast could be. Something in my brain was saying "why on earth would I want to listen to some random person's thoughts daily?" Really I should have just realized that I can listen to interesting things whenever I want via this method from all sorts of places. Wow. So happy with technology.
Just wanted to throw that out there. I don't remember where I was listening to a sung mass at, but you can find sung masses out there too... nothing like listening to a cathedral choir while squaring up your spreadsheets :)
B

the great crafted mustache

you can't stop the mustache... nobody can stop the mustache..

The post-modern polaroid

Ian was a champ and made me use my microSD card reader... which I had never done before and which worked quite well :)
SOOOO... I dropped some of the weird pictures I take with my cell phone and I figure why not share them? Sadly when my phone first died it took some of those gems with it.. but I am beginning a new collection. ;)
While uploading these i really felt impressed that cell phone pictures are very much the "polaroid" of this generation. There isn't a whole lot of control on the camera or anything, but we get a very raw image that we can have NOW. However we can copy and reproduce these... still... it resonated for me in some strange way. I remember finding polaroids of people I had never met in albums at home and even in books in thrift stores and feeling fascinated by them. Anyway... without any retouching or further ado... my cell phone photos for this month :)










B

Doing stuff... making things... watching and listening

I thought it may be time to share some of the links that have been really making my life happy. A little music... a little art... a little bit of whatever.

I'm really enjoying Belle and Sebastian right now. http://www.belleandsebastian.com/
ThreadBanger... in case you haven't checked them out... you are totally missing out. Totally.
Craftzine.com's blog has been keeping me thinking about making and smiling as I do so.
If you aren't member of Hulu you should be. Go watch the season finale of House.
Not to mention that there is some quality film out right now that is not being viewed enough! My latest discoveries have been Young @ Heart, which I am crazy about! Talk about an inspiring family friendly film event. Oh my goodness!
Also- on DVD Lars and the Real Girl may seem a bit sketchy from some of the synopsis... but do not be fooled! This is a beautiful film that is well worth the watch! I have also been joined in opinion by not just friends... but their parent's... so if you really are worried think of them and add it to your queue NOW!
For those of you looking for something a little off the beaten path (mind you I found this thanks to Craftzine's blog) Yeondoo Jung's beautiful photography is really doing it for me. Especially her Wonderland series where she makes compositions based off of children's drawings... i love this idea!!!
If you are not shopping on Etsy.com for almost every holiday and gifting situation... you are missing a great wealth of handmade goods that will rock your world! This decal for the toilet by Etsy seller vital just tickles me! Even if you aren't buying every time you visit... prepare to be inspired!
OH! Google book search. I re-discovered this again the other day and thought "how have I been living without this so long!?" Really great resource for a bunch of different subjects... and full view books (not to mention printable) for numerous classics that are in the public domain. LOVE IT. This will greatly cut down on the amount of books that will be hiding in my suitcase in the future. Not to mention that if I am ever lucky enough to get one of those cool digital readers... i will be set :)
I know there are a billion other things I should be sharing with you that are rocking my face off... but I have places to go and people to see :)
More linkedy-links laterz.
B

Greenville wedding

Caitlin and Chase Macri... awesome. How neat.
They are married now and that is indeed what counts.
Here's a little taste of the wedding photos on my side of the table :) I can't wait to see what James has up his sleeve.


I will have more for you all soon. I need to get some things thrown in batches (which admittedly makes me a little nervy). It will be great.
:)
hearts
B

Square

I gave myself an assignment tonight. My family came to visit a couple months ago, and the pics from hanging out with them haven't gotten much love yet. Soooooo- I decided that I was going to crop a whole load of pics into squares. Square composition doesn't seem to get a whole lot of love recently- so I though I woulf give it a try with some family vacation pics. :)

National Gallery
Botanical gardens



Arlington and the monuments





Old post office tower


Hmm. Well. This was fun and interesting.
Squares. Sure.

Maybe I will give myself more assignments. this was fun :).
I plan on treating the pictures differently for my family... but squares were really hard. Partially because I am taking photos in a rectangle and paying attention as much as I can to composition in a rectangle. Turning it to a square is really different. What do you keep? What do you omit? How do you create an obvious balance or unbalance in something that is by nature balanced, uniform, and symmetrical in so many ways. How do you find an asymmetry that keeps things interesting? I think maybe my next challenge will be to center my subject intentionally to make things symmetrical and almost uncomfortable. I noticed that pretty much all of my composition lends itself to a focal point in one lower hand corner or the other. hmm. why not the upper corner? I don't know.
Keep looking. :)
B

Try for the first time... again

So- Let's skip introductions and just get down with this. I've been busy oddly enough but I am still keeping some things to myself until later. It was a little bit of a rough day today so if I am disjointed (and I know I already am) please extend a little bit of grace my way. Please.

Enough- Okay! What is first on the docket? Ah! Some of our friends had baby boy named Gideon. Waaaaay cute. To add cuteness to cuteness they decided to give their little guy's new abode a robot theme and I went to town making this little guy a fun little appliqué bib... that honestly probably won't be terribly functional (i warned them about the buttons... but I just couldn't live without them on there) but it is cute- and that is what matters in my little world that the moment :)
I machine and hand stitched... so I am getting quite dexterous. One one of the blogs that I have been reading about sewing someone brought up the idea of drawing with a sewing machine and I about peed myself..... I won't lie. Between that and the idea of embroidering my own stuff on my little beginner machine... I am pretty pumped. WHY on EARTH did I not think of drawing with a sewing machine in college? You know... when I was working towards something and having people critique the tar out of me weekly? It gives me something to think about though. oh bah humbug... i'm blogblabbering.. here it is-

Ah yes- I went to my first game at the new Nats stadium. Soooooo nice. Gosh. If all baseball stadiums were like that I may have actually learned the rules before this year. Heather gave me a nice little quiz and I flunked I am happy (or not really) to say. I am pathetic when it comes to sports that people actually like. Here I am in the stands trying to figure out my camera and I suddenly have to stop and ask "why are they changing on the field?" Entirely serious. I had NO idea. Three outs? Who ever heard of such a thing! (Good grief self... get it together.)
oooo! green! I love how they mow the logo into the grass. Any clue to how one does that? If I had known that you could mow pictures into the grass, chores as a child would have been a lot more fun.


Thanks to Heather for taking me out to the ball game... not to mention trading seats with me so I didn't have to sit next to the guy with the disgusting dirt-stache and popped collar. (um... yuck)


Seriously- it was so much fun going to a game with people who will explain to you what is going on, are having lots of fun, and are just as annoyed as you at the girls in the sparkly booby-shirts (also known as the staple of all skanky club ware) getting in and out of the row... albeit for different reasons. Quite frankly i was more offended my their stunning lack of ability to match metallics than their amazing need to get in and out of the row every three seconds. (They can't help it... they need to burn off the red-cup beer) . Still Sarah and Jill look pretty happy- mind you they have been talking about men in fitted baseball pants all night. how can you NOT be happy about that?

OH! and just for icing on the cake for the great American past time.... some great American fireworks! (Never mind the fact that these suckers sound uncannily like gunshots when you are walking home alone on a game night.) I guess this kind of looks like the lights are exploding, but I promise it was fireworks... because everyone should always believe the promises of people in the nation's capitol when it comes to what things look like vs. what they really are- just throwing that out there *wink*.
Mah. Enough American leisure time.
So... i know that the organization of this blog is goign to make sense only to myself, but once again, that is why this is my blog and not yours. That and I claimed the name first. :)
Another bib- this time for a little guy with a surf theme :) I really couldn't think of something fathomable with my limited skillz at the moment... so the old faithful whale came out to play.... and honestly I love it. Why did I not love my mom's whale collection more growing up? I think I recall counting upward of 300 whales of some sort in our home at one point. :) much love.
Another part hand part machine.... I think it worked pretty well. I am getting pretty handy :)


next- my attempt at being kind of deviant. I created some stickers and have left them anonymously (mostly anyway) on and in various places for unsuspecting people to find them :)
Hopefully it will be a happy reaction. I almost want to leave them where I will never think to look for them again, just so I don't get stressed about what terrible things could happen to this little owlie out on the dark streets of DC. I hope those who find them like them or have some reaction that is slightly positive :)


Ah yes. We have a new member in our home. This is Wednesday, our fishy. He is hilarious as fish go, and possibly partially responsible for keeping us happy during finals. He is very stylish and color coordinated (poor guy) and lives in a pretty much completely orange world... outside of his very trendy asian inspired sunken boat... they are all the rage in hip fish pads right now we are told.


That is about it. Here's a little bit of everyday life for all of you haven't hung out with us in a while... nutritious nachos with a side of green beans. Yin and yang, my friends. Yin and yang.


alright. I hope to consider this a success and I will try harder next time on a blog post. :)
Mucho love
B