Originally published at sixhours.net. You can comment here or there.
Elspeth Margaret Moore Dec. 20, 2008 @ 7:01 a.m. 7 lbs, 13 oz | 21.5 inches
More to follow when I have a chance to type with both hands. :)
Originally published at sixhours.net. You can comment here or there.
But then I'm not sure I want to get so involved... I have a tendency to lose interest when a project takes too long to complete. I may scrap this as a Web layout altogether and just make it into a print for the shop. Or maybe I'll do both! Either way, it's fun thinking up all the little bits and pieces that bring the doodle together (I'm particularly enamored with the mini clothesline for some reason) and watching each house grow into its unique personality.
(Click for a larger version!)
Originally published at sixhours.net. You can comment here or there.
I had fun designing this one, if you couldn't tell. It gave me a chance to flex my (rapidly deteriorating) Photoshop muscles and better familiarize myself with the WordPress Theme structure. A huge part of this redesign is not only design, but a re-branding of sorts. I decided to treat Sixhours.net less like a photography portfolio and more like a personal Web site... and so the design is a little more me and a little less Serious Business (tm). Speaking of which, it's been eight years (!) since I first bought this little nook of the Web. I think this is the domain-equivalent of a birthday at the spa.
I'll be the first to admit I've been in a rut, and I know it's because I've defined my creative life by my photography, but photography isn't doing it for me lately (there's also that pesky new-baby-itis problem, but I'm recovering). When I allowed myself to apply my creative energy to other tasks, I found I had a lot of ideas and more motivation to work on them.
So now I have a list of projects that should keep me busy for a while. I'm already working on a new look for Calobee Doodles which will hopefully be up soon. Another thing I've been meaning to do for a few months is doodle a desktop calendar/wallpaper for each month... and now is the perfect time to start those for the new year. In the same vein, I may open a new "downloads" section on Calobee Doodles. The problem is I'm always working on someone else's projects and I don't make enough time for my own (tsk tsk!)
I'm also working on a "bucket list," a la Mighty Girl, and that has me thinking about the big picture--the things I'd like to do that might seem too big or too scary to accomplish at first glance. One thing I'd love to do is write and illustrate (and maybe publish?) a children's book. I've been thinking about that since Elspeth was born. Even if no one else ever read it, I'd love to make something for her to enjoy when she's older.
What are your favorite web or mobile apps? Which ones do you use everyday?
I Heart Radio.
I have an aux hookup in my car, so I can plug my iPhone in and listen to it through my speakers. I listen to I Heart Radio talk shows like Lex & Terry and Elvis Duran. It has radio stations all over the country. I spend about 2 hours a day in my car, so it helps pass the time. Sometimes it buffers for a while, which can get annoying, but it usually works pretty well for me.
Pandora is a close second.
The Happiest Day, the Happiest Hour
by Edgar Allan Poe
The happiest day - the happiest hour
My sear'd and blighted heart hath known,
The highest hope of pride and power,
I feel hath flown.
Of power! said I? yes! such I ween;
But they have vanish'd long, alas!
The visions of my youth have been -
But let them pass.
And, pride, what have I now with thee?
Another brow may even inherit
The venom thou hast pour'd on me
Be still, my spirit!
The happiest day - the happiest hour
Mine eyes shall see - have ever seen,
The brightest glance of pride and power,
I feel - have been:
But were that hope of pride and power
Now offer'd with the pain
Even then I felt - that brightest hour
I would not live again:
For on its wing was dark alloy,
And, as it flutter'd - fell
An essence - powerful to destroy
A soul that knew it well.
Learn More:
http://gratuitousartproductions.com/the-blog/
This wonderful little book is translated from the French. I tells the story of people's secret lives. Paloma, a precocious twelve-year-old and Madame Michel, the concierge of the apartment building where she lives, live secret lives of intelligence and wit surrounded by lesser mortals. They are exposed by Monsieur Ozu, and new inhabitant of the building and an extremely perceptive man. The story is charming and witty, the sort of character exposition that requires very little in the way of plot to advance the story. I've only half finished, so there's still a sense of discovery for me. Great reading.
Two things: I've just come back from a holiday to Osaka and Hokkaido (actually back for a week already but in denial, thinking it was just yesterday that I touched down) and I'm packing my dreams into a rattan basket and shoving it under my bed for a while. In other words, I've called it quits and moving on to somewhere else. Note: I didn't use the words "greener pastures". Fingers crossed.
This is a love story written in Qiong-Yao style but in English. At the heart of the story is Peony, a 16-year-old maiden in a traditional Chinese family who's betrothed to a man she's never seen but who has fallen for another - possibly the first man without blood relation that she's seen in her 16 years - after a few brief yet intense encounters. Like the scenes from the novel The Peony Pavilion that she's obsessed with, Peony tries to take control over matters in her life in the hope that one day she'll be with the one she loves. Then follows a series of unfortunate events - ala Romeo & Juliet - which leads to Peony's discovery of love, helplessness and forgiveness.
I like the author's choice of words, so poetic yet so down-to-earth that it's easy for me to relate to, despite the setting in a different country and a totally different era from the one I'm familiar with. Yet, the plot seems a little thin to sustain its 374 pages. After a while, I start to ponder, is this all there is to it? With the writer's prose, I keep thinking there should be more. Maybe I don't appreciate the story fully, maybe I didn't read between the lines more. Somehow I am quite certain it's more than a story of a lovelorn girl.
Rating: 3 bookmarks out of 5
Go forth and fill your libraries with media.
Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.
