Something's been off this year. Finally figured out what it is.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Home Office: After & Before
We spent Sunday overhauling the home office. Threw away or recycled a ton of stuff and created a much nicer space to work in. Next up: the Mac desk in our den.
Here is what it looked like before (err, actually "during" since you can see some parts of the new desk on the floor in the foreground and the area to the left of the old desk has been cleaned):
Here is what it looked like before (err, actually "during" since you can see some parts of the new desk on the floor in the foreground and the area to the left of the old desk has been cleaned):
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Slacker Cat
PDM says I should rename this blog "Slacker Cat" because of my lack of updates. It is true that I am ignoring my blog (and many others), but not because I am a slacker. I've been Getting Shit Done at home and that is a very good thing. It finally dawned on me after five years in this house that it is not gonna decorate itself. I gave it plenty of chances. So, for whatever reason, right after I got back from the New Years vacation, I got obsessed with decluttering and getting all the crap outta here. I'm off to a great start. Dropped off eight huge shopping bags of schtuff at Goodwill this very afternoon. Recycled a ton of paper/cardboard. Freed up a lot of shelf and closet space. And I am only getting started.
No more living like a grad student. Time to be a grown up. I'm ditching the particle board and getting some real furniture. Gonna hang some ART on the walls - probably lots of my own photos, enlarged and framed. I've got 600 CD sleeves on the way so I can finally get rid of all those stupid jewel cases. I donated all my VHS movies. If it doesn't fit or hasn't been worn in several years, it is outta here. If I am keeping it, it is going to be packed away in an orderly fashion.
Making a list of home projects to be crossed off in 2011. Some are easily accompished - like today's project of getting rid of those stupid bathtub "safety" decals that have mostly disintegrated and have been ugly germ traps for years. Done! Other low-hanging fruit includes some painting (although that includes some drywall repair that might not be trivial). Every one of our interior doors needs to be replaced.
So sorry about the blog neglect, but it feels so good to be getting so much done at home. I didn't check my feed reader on vacation 12/30 - 1/4, and then I was busy and couldn't do it, and then realized last week that I didn't really miss most of it. So today I checked on my friends and deleted the rest. Very similar to the other decluttering I've been engaged in!
No more living like a grad student. Time to be a grown up. I'm ditching the particle board and getting some real furniture. Gonna hang some ART on the walls - probably lots of my own photos, enlarged and framed. I've got 600 CD sleeves on the way so I can finally get rid of all those stupid jewel cases. I donated all my VHS movies. If it doesn't fit or hasn't been worn in several years, it is outta here. If I am keeping it, it is going to be packed away in an orderly fashion.
Making a list of home projects to be crossed off in 2011. Some are easily accompished - like today's project of getting rid of those stupid bathtub "safety" decals that have mostly disintegrated and have been ugly germ traps for years. Done! Other low-hanging fruit includes some painting (although that includes some drywall repair that might not be trivial). Every one of our interior doors needs to be replaced.
So sorry about the blog neglect, but it feels so good to be getting so much done at home. I didn't check my feed reader on vacation 12/30 - 1/4, and then I was busy and couldn't do it, and then realized last week that I didn't really miss most of it. So today I checked on my friends and deleted the rest. Very similar to the other decluttering I've been engaged in!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Project 365
I took at least one photograph every day in 2010 as a project to get to know my new DSLR camera. [Except on May 30, when I was busy with party preparations and then the actual party and totally forgot about Project 365 so I didn't take any photos until it was after midnight and too late to fix, dammit.] The project helped me develop as a photographer and I did get to know what all the buttons and knobs on the camera do. I also was driven to learn some new Photoshop techniques to keep things interesting and fresh. I'd say Project 365 was a success!
At approximately one photo per second, it will take six minutes of your time if you wish to watch the Project 365 slideshow all the way through (I think you can also manually click through them faster or slower if you wish). Warning: contains CATS. Also rocks, trees, fungus, bugs, flowers, pollen, astronomical objects, gastronomical objects (i.e. "food"), Tech stuff, vacation photos, abstract artsy shots, more cats, great photos, good photos, a few bad photos that I tried to rescue, and even a piece or two of me.
Project 365 involved a pretty big commitment, so I won't be repeating it in 2011. Hopefully the photography habit that I nurtured this past year will stick around and quality will now take the place of quantity. I remain interested in developing new digital post processing skills and making the most out of what I capture. I'll admit that taking a few days off photography has been refreshing. There will always be inspiration and I plan to take advantage of what I've learned. [Perhaps in a couple of days, when "snowmegeddon" arrives. Yes, Atlanta is due for some sort of big "snow event". Be afraid. Be very afraid.]
At approximately one photo per second, it will take six minutes of your time if you wish to watch the Project 365 slideshow all the way through (I think you can also manually click through them faster or slower if you wish). Warning: contains CATS. Also rocks, trees, fungus, bugs, flowers, pollen, astronomical objects, gastronomical objects (i.e. "food"), Tech stuff, vacation photos, abstract artsy shots, more cats, great photos, good photos, a few bad photos that I tried to rescue, and even a piece or two of me.
Project 365 involved a pretty big commitment, so I won't be repeating it in 2011. Hopefully the photography habit that I nurtured this past year will stick around and quality will now take the place of quantity. I remain interested in developing new digital post processing skills and making the most out of what I capture. I'll admit that taking a few days off photography has been refreshing. There will always be inspiration and I plan to take advantage of what I've learned. [Perhaps in a couple of days, when "snowmegeddon" arrives. Yes, Atlanta is due for some sort of big "snow event". Be afraid. Be very afraid.]
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Happy 2011
Happy New Year from warm and sunny Florida. PDM and I are down here on mini-vacation (staying not quite a week). Having a wonderful time biking, hiking, eating, drinking. Wish you were here. :-)
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