Strange Setting on Camera

My new camera has a setting I have never seen on a camera before. It takes photos that make the subject look like pencil drawings. Here are some I took. The camera is a G.E. brand that I got from WalMart.

Wind & Sand

It is so dry here. We are in a heck of a drought as are several of the other southwestern states. The wind blows and the sand creeps into the house through each and every little crack. You might think you have the best windows made but find out there is not any window that seals well enought to keep this dust out. There are brush fires everywhere. New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arizona that I am sure of. Tornados are just as bad like in Iowa and Wisconsin. These photos don't show the wind and dirt that well, but they are kind of blurry due to the blowing sand. The first one is after a windy day when the sand is blown like little waves.

Some Hopeful Non-Resolutions

I don't know about you, but New Year's resolutions never seem to work for me - my resolve melting away with winter's first snowman. So doing away with the futile ardor of determination, I instead put forth some hopes for this brand-new year:



In I hope to...

. learn to mount and dismount a bicycle "properly",

.complete my first "century" (100 mile) ride,

. go on my first multi-day trip by bike,

. cycle in Ireland (where I am likely to be in March),

. finally stage some bicycle photoshoots in our studio,

. finish and give away (yes, give away!) my "roadbike for ladies",

. do a good job on myBella Ciaoproject,

. have a chance to work on other interesting projects, and

. continue Lovely Bicycle on a close-to daily basis - rain or shine!



Of course, that's only the bicycle stuff, and there are many personal hopes as well. But somehow the bike stuff is easier to focus on - maybe because it is so specific, and at the same time, relatively detached from the stresses of "real life". It is funny that several readers have told me now, that they get the impression I am an organised person from reading the blog. In reality, my world is almost comically disorganised and chaotic. So perhapsLovely Bicycle is my "wishful thinking" manifestation of how I'd like things to be. Is it time to get my life in order and really focus, as I am able to focus here? Maybe. Or at least something worth considering.What about you and your hopes - or, dare I say, resolutions - for ?

Boys And Girls

This weekend is National Digital Scrapooking Weekend. Which means I have sat glued to my computer for hours on end in order to download all the freebie goodies that were out there. Because I am a woman, I used that time to multi-task and play with a new photo editing program too.




I went back to pictures that I snapped months ago and played around with pictures of my niece and nephew. And while I was editing, I cracked up at what I saw. Starting with this picture where I was trying to capture Prissy Missy doing the girl walk in the pool. When I went to crop the picture, I noticed Wild Man off to the side doing his thing.



This got me to thinking about girls and boys and the differences between the two. This is not a boys vs girls thing, because it isn't a competition about which is better. We are just different is all. In the case of Kyanna and David, they are both equally cute and sweet. But they definitely have different focuses in life. Let me show you what I mean.




Girls:



Boys:



Girls:








Boys:



Girls:



Boys:



Girls:



Boys:



Girls:



Boys:



Girls (unaware of Boy):



and one last time, Boys:



Need I say more? All the nurture in the world doesn't change some things and I'm glad. It's nice to be who we are instead of fighting it so hopefully these two stay who they are, even when the world tries to tell them otherwise. They crack me up!




Living the life in Sunny Florida!

Rustic Montana Barns

Sunday, September 18th - - While traveling back north on state road 541, along the Montana Bale Trail, I saw these two barns near the road and just “had” to stop. I love the colors on the weathered siding, especially on the barn on the left. The sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds and a brisk wind was blowing...

A Day in the Life of Jacqueline

When I initially borrowed Jacqueline, I was not sure whether I would actually use the bicycle for transportation, or just ride a bit in my spare time. But after half a day, I decided not to renew my weekly public transport card for the duration of my stay in Vienna. It is very easy to get around the city by bicycle - not just through the central touristy parts, but through Vienna proper. To demonstrate, Jacqueline will show you one of her daily routines.



At 7:00 am, we are off to the office via the Danube Canal Path - which functions like a cross-town bicycle highway through Vienna. It just so happens that both my flat and my office are close to the canal, so our route to work is pretty straightforward. Pictured above is the nearest entrance onto the path.



The Danube Canal is an offshoot of the Danube River. Both the canal and the river proper have bicycle paths running alongside, but the advantage of he canal path is that it cuts through the center.



One thing I like about it, is how green the water looks - especially in the morning. No idea whether this is due to reflection from trees or chemical pollution, but it looks nice and so I choose to believe the former.



There are some cobblestone stretches along the path, and the 28" Schwalbe Delta Cruisers on Jacqueline are just fine with them. But I have seen other cyclists get off their bikes and walk here.



Some parts of the canal path are woodsy and surreal-looking.



Jacqueline enjoys this sort of scenery the most.



Other stretches are more urban and take you closer to the main road.



That's okay too, but cycling here during rush hour will give you a nice helping of auto exhaust fumes. Have others noticed this problem in large cities? I have been told that automobile emissions in Europe (not counting former Eastern-bloc countries) are supposed to be less toxic than in the US, but my lungs seem to disagree. If anybody has more info about this, please share.



Heading toward the Southern edge of town, the scenery on the Danube Canal Path grows distinctly less picturesque. We are now cycling alongside the highway. And yes, that is a highway sign for Budapest and Bratislava. Bratislava (capital of Slovakia) is only a 45 minute drive away from this point. But instead of going there, Jacqueline heads to the office.



The landscape around my place of work is somewhat post-apocalyptic, but over time I have grown fond of it. Lots of interesting research facilities there, and I work with nice people. The total time it takes Jacqueline to cycle to the office from our flat is 20 minutes - the exact time it takes to commute using public transport.



I rarely stay at the office all day, but typically have meetings all over the city. On this day I had an afternoon meeting in a Cafe at the end of the Prater - the largest park in Vienna.



Lusthaus Cafe. Before you misunderstand what I do for a living - it's not what is sounds like in English. The name means "funhouse". This was about a 10 minute ride from the office for Jacqueline. After the meeting, we briefly returned to work, leaving in the late afternoon to run some errands.



First stop: the bank, in the city center, a 25 minute ride away. To get here, Jacqueline rode back via the Danube Canal path, and then along the Ring Road - which is another "bicycle highway" that loops around the city center.



Jacqueline then proceeded to the photo store in an adjacent district - a 15 minute ride away - to buy some film. She rode there mostly on the road, via a combination of bicycle lanes, "sharrow"-marked side streets, and unmarked side streets. The thing about "sharrows" in Vienna, is that they are mostly painted on 1-way streets against the flow of traffic. Yes, against. The speed limit on these streets is usually 30 km/h. This design goes against everything I have come to believe over the past year as a cyclist in Boston. What do you think of it? And could anybody comment whether Copenhagen and Amsterdam are the same in this respect?



After the photo store, Jacqueline was locked up on a main shopping street and waited a bit while I met a friend for coffee. Then we went to the grocery store Billa.



Jacqueline was proud that she could fit 1/2 week's worth of groceries and my laptop bag into a single pannier. (She is lazy and did not want to open the second one.)



As dusk approached, we cycled home - once again via a combination of roads, then the Ring Path via the route described here. All in all, I would estimate that Jacqueline did a couple of hours of back and forth cycling, and this was typical of how much I travel through the city on an average day in Vienna. Normally all of these trips would have been done using public transport. The travel time by bike is about the same.



I rode Jacqueline for transportation for the last week of my stay in Vienna. It was wonderful and made up for my bad luck earlier this month. I now feel like an idiot that I didn't just buy a bicycle when I lived here for longer stretches in previous years. Cycling in the countryside on my days off was nice, but I have to say that commuting by bike in Vienna is even nicer. And regardless of what the local shops might tell you, a 3-speed is sufficient to tackle "hilly Vienna". I am by no means in the best shape and had no trouble. Of course, the vintage magic of Jacqueline might play a role in that as well. But in any case - if you are in Vienna, get a bicycle and enjoy the city, whether you are a leisurely visitor or work at a fast-paced job!

Cottontails

We've gone from snow to temps in the 70s in one week. Don't plant your tomatoes yet though, says our Extension guy; there's still more cold weather to come.


Divided heart-shaped rock that has nothing to do with this post.

I'll be at the Cottontails craft show this weekend at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic center. So if you are local and have $6, come see me. If you come Friday morning, you may see a friend of mine too. Two blogging soapmakers for the price of one. And if tell me, "You said on your blog that you'd give me a 10% discount," then I will.