Arrived in Arizona yesterday. I'm actually here on business, but flew in a day early so I could spend my Saturday off in a slightly different locale than cold and rainy Boston at springtime. The hotel is lovely ... I have a little two-room suite, which is always nice. I'm right near the adult pool, I had the place to myself yesterday afternoon. There's also an outlet mall right nearby ... I am going to have to use the "expand" feature on my suitcase. I got an Ann Taylor Loft wrap dress, a couple of really nice, soft, long-sleeved cotton tops, more dressy than tee-shirts, but just as comfy, and what is seriously the cutest little clutch pocketbook ever for just $12. It is soooo much more fun shopping for clothes when you're happy with your dress size.
The mall is enormous, and set up in a big loop with no cut-throughs ... so once you finally get halfway around it, you realize you might as well keep going--it will take just as long to turn back. I'd say it took me a good two hours to walk all the way around. That should make up for the Wetzle pretzel I scarfed down toward the end of the loop, when I was feeling very weak (physicaly and mentally). Definitely not Weight Watchers friendly. But, to my credit, when I saw her take out a giant housepainting brush, dip it in a vat of butter, and slather it all over the pretzel, I asked her to give me another one without it. There was a time when I wouldn't have bothered. Maybe even licked my lips and said "yum." Looking at that glistening, dripping, pretzel was horrifying, though. Like she had just dipped it in poison. I might not lose any weight during this trip, but I'm going to do my best not to eat poison.
I haven't taken any photographs yet ... It's pretty here, but not exactly photo-inspiring. My ususal "view from here" shot from the balcony of my room will be of a big parking lot and little else. But if I can stay awake long enough tonight, I'll take a picture as the sun is setting, which should make it a little nicer. Or maybe a night shot, with the lights of what I assume is downtown Pheonix showing. (Saw those this morning, since I was up at 3 a.m. and then again at 5 a.m.) Last night I fell asleep around 7, while it was still light out ... combo of the time difference and mall walking.
Hopefully there will be a better chance to take photos today, as I am heading out into the 17,ooo acre South Mountain Preserve on horseback ... I haven't ridden a horse, I don't think, since Camp Fleur de Lis, so that should be interesting. I also have a massage scheduled for later today. I'm sure I am going to need it. Also planning to hit the spa's hotpool and/or sauna and/or what it the really hot but dry one? I love those. Or is that the sauna? Which one is the one with the steam? Oh, that would be the steam room, right? I need to go to spas more often.
Weather here is beautiful, warm in the morning and early evening, about 80 degrees yesterday mid-day. But, you know, it's a dry heat.
:)
No bunnies yet, but I'll keep you posted as to any developments on that front.
Surgery, stray dogs, mini-facelifts (dot dot dot)
Haven't had time to write about everything I've wanted to, so I'm catching up from the last couple of months in one post. I'll try to be brief ...
My dad had his surgery ... two days at MGH ... everything turned out OK ... some scary/stressful moments ... some funny moments ... he says I should put the funny ones here ... can't remember them now.
Shout out for Pete's birthday ... Got him a really funny present ... and a very serious card ... that jerk scared me, laying there all pale in that hospital bed.
Forty years old (and four months) ... face gone completely mental ... more mental than usual ... blotchy, dull, wrinkled, ugly ... plunked down $20 at drugstore (too cheap to buy fancier stuff) ... bottle promised "mini-facelift" overnight ... wake up the next morning ... look in the mirror to check out my "new face" (sarcasm when alone cannot be good) ... Holy crap it actually worked ... Bought buckets more of the stuff today ... Need to hit hardware store for a trowel.
Found lost dog ... Australian terrier named Riley ... wicked cute ... peed an awful lot ... inside and out ... stayed for a few hours ... played well with Sadie ... returned to happy owner with little tears in his eyes ... it was fun while it lasted ... one dog plenty for me.
Went to Ikea ... bought lots of cheap furniture ... surprisingly heavy for pieces of crap ... rode home with large, long boxes between front seats ... potential for decapitation in event of a sudden stop ... drove 20 m.p.h. on the Expressway ... Had to open the boxes and carry the heavy cheap crap Ikea furniture into my house piece by piece ... took at least one million hours to put together.
Reorganizing the office ... went through lots of papers ... stocked new Ikea bookcases ... put away massive piles of crap ... took me a few weeks ... can't find anything now.
More travel coming up ... this time to Arizona ... hope to see bunnies (cause you know what I always say) ... hope to take pictures ... still editing, uploading pictures from trip to LA ... and Martina's visit from Germany ... and party pics from New Year's Eve, 1999 ... Not really, but still.
New new upstairs neighbors ... this time three boys ... young and stupid but in an endearing way ... extremely polite ... at least they don't call me ma'am.
Busy at work ... what else is new ... Missing Calvin-roo ... How about you?
My dad had his surgery ... two days at MGH ... everything turned out OK ... some scary/stressful moments ... some funny moments ... he says I should put the funny ones here ... can't remember them now.
Shout out for Pete's birthday ... Got him a really funny present ... and a very serious card ... that jerk scared me, laying there all pale in that hospital bed.
Forty years old (and four months) ... face gone completely mental ... more mental than usual ... blotchy, dull, wrinkled, ugly ... plunked down $20 at drugstore (too cheap to buy fancier stuff) ... bottle promised "mini-facelift" overnight ... wake up the next morning ... look in the mirror to check out my "new face" (sarcasm when alone cannot be good) ... Holy crap it actually worked ... Bought buckets more of the stuff today ... Need to hit hardware store for a trowel.
Found lost dog ... Australian terrier named Riley ... wicked cute ... peed an awful lot ... inside and out ... stayed for a few hours ... played well with Sadie ... returned to happy owner with little tears in his eyes ... it was fun while it lasted ... one dog plenty for me.
Went to Ikea ... bought lots of cheap furniture ... surprisingly heavy for pieces of crap ... rode home with large, long boxes between front seats ... potential for decapitation in event of a sudden stop ... drove 20 m.p.h. on the Expressway ... Had to open the boxes and carry the heavy cheap crap Ikea furniture into my house piece by piece ... took at least one million hours to put together.
Reorganizing the office ... went through lots of papers ... stocked new Ikea bookcases ... put away massive piles of crap ... took me a few weeks ... can't find anything now.
More travel coming up ... this time to Arizona ... hope to see bunnies (cause you know what I always say) ... hope to take pictures ... still editing, uploading pictures from trip to LA ... and Martina's visit from Germany ... and party pics from New Year's Eve, 1999 ... Not really, but still.
New new upstairs neighbors ... this time three boys ... young and stupid but in an endearing way ... extremely polite ... at least they don't call me ma'am.
Busy at work ... what else is new ... Missing Calvin-roo ... How about you?
Quilt Show
My aunt, Daphne, and her quilting group had a show at the Beebe estate in Melrose. A very sexy way to spend a Friday night, right?
I practiced some of my indoor event shooting. And came to the conclusion that I definitely need a better flash
. Photography is an expensive hobby. The ones that I took with the in-camera flash needed a LOT of editing in Photoshop. And the colors still aren't exactly right--Daphne's shirt (which, of course, she made herself) was a little more orange than red. The natural light ones came out too warm, bordering on tungsten, which I was mostly able to mitigate (though if you correct too much, they come out looking too harsh and cold). Some of the non-flash photos were too soft. The lens I was using is good for low light, but must be focused manually. Soft focus can't be fixed, really. There is a sharpening tool in Photoshop, but I think it makes the photos look fake. The answer is to be more vigilant about focusing. Or, well, to buy a better flash.
Anyhoo, here are some of the pictures from the event ... I still have a few more to edit and upload, but you can look at my quilt show set to see what I've uploaded so far and any new ones will appear there, as well. Some of the photos are marked for friends and family only, so be sure to log in to Flickr if you have permission to see my private photos.
Top to bottom and L-R: Daphne's colorful, fun totes and toss bags, her beautiful handmade scarves, Daphne on "opening night," women examining one of the impressive quilts on display, the artist with Jesse and Audrey.
Flash (left); no flash (right):
I practiced some of my indoor event shooting. And came to the conclusion that I definitely need a better flash
. Photography is an expensive hobby. The ones that I took with the in-camera flash needed a LOT of editing in Photoshop. And the colors still aren't exactly right--Daphne's shirt (which, of course, she made herself) was a little more orange than red. The natural light ones came out too warm, bordering on tungsten, which I was mostly able to mitigate (though if you correct too much, they come out looking too harsh and cold). Some of the non-flash photos were too soft. The lens I was using is good for low light, but must be focused manually. Soft focus can't be fixed, really. There is a sharpening tool in Photoshop, but I think it makes the photos look fake. The answer is to be more vigilant about focusing. Or, well, to buy a better flash.Anyhoo, here are some of the pictures from the event ... I still have a few more to edit and upload, but you can look at my quilt show set to see what I've uploaded so far and any new ones will appear there, as well. Some of the photos are marked for friends and family only, so be sure to log in to Flickr if you have permission to see my private photos.
Top to bottom and L-R: Daphne's colorful, fun totes and toss bags, her beautiful handmade scarves, Daphne on "opening night," women examining one of the impressive quilts on display, the artist with Jesse and Audrey.
Flash (left); no flash (right):
Ever wanted to be a fly on the wall?
OK, this is new to me--I'm posting a link to an audio file. It is not suspicious and it will not harm your computer, I swear. Just click on the link and choose "open". It should play automatically on whatever media player you've got installed. And they're only a few seconds long.
The first clip is a rare one of me doing my job. I am trying to record an intro to an online audio interview. I am alone in my office. It is my seventh attempt:
"Hello, this is Gienna Shaw, for HealthLeaders Media."
I did eventually record the intro. But the digital recorder is also new to me. Here you can hear an example of how adept I am at handling it (that's my voice; I am on the phone with a colleague, oblivious the the fact the thing is recording):
"You know? I know. Right."
The first clip is a rare one of me doing my job. I am trying to record an intro to an online audio interview. I am alone in my office. It is my seventh attempt:
"Hello, this is Gienna Shaw, for HealthLeaders Media."
I did eventually record the intro. But the digital recorder is also new to me. Here you can hear an example of how adept I am at handling it (that's my voice; I am on the phone with a colleague, oblivious the the fact the thing is recording):
"You know? I know. Right."
A few more scenes from LA
Haven't been writing much, haven't been editing photos much, either. But I've posted a handful of pics from my recent trip to LA and I'll try to add more over the weekend ... I do have some other events to write about. The Quilt Show opening. The near-fatal trip to IKEA. And, ah, some other stuff I can't remember now.
Yeah, my life is wicked glamorous.
Yeah, my life is wicked glamorous.
