Well, I was just going to stop posting on this spam-infested blog, but then I noticed that I had 99 posts! And I couldn't just leave it at that, I had to reach 100. So. Here I am to tell you to visit my new blog Find Me New York.
It's been good. See you on the other side.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
see ya
I started a new job, so now my life is back up to a level of pseudo-insanity that I'm comfortable with (although still not the most I can take, a full time job that I am starting just as finals descend is pretty awful). I don't blog that much, but I'm soon going to be starting to write guests posts on some other blogs, much more political and also much more important and fascinating to me. So I'll be dropping you some links if things turn out well.
I've run out of food in my fridge, except for 1/2 a can of black beans, two kiwis, and a bag of frozen peas. Does anyone know a good recipe for pea-beans? Mmmm, pea-beans. That sounds repulsive.
Anyway, be prepared for a slew of boring/insane updates on progress here. If you want to track it, here's what I've got:
1 presentation on my Lion King paper on 5/6
the last chance to turn in a draft for review of this paper on 5/12
1 paper on Churchill's Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen on 5/14
1 take home final due 5/19
1 oral final for the same class on 5/19
final version of that Lion King paper on 5/20
1 theoretical review of Race due on 5/24
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
...Katz's Update
So, when one of my friends came by from out of town, we tried out the aforementioned plan about Katz's. Everything seemed to be going fine: we skipped lunch, and for an early dinner had some tourist cart food before wandering down to Houston Street to do the Katz's thing.
That's when everything went horribly awry. Because that sandwich? The $14.95 pastrami sandwich? 
It was delicious. I mean, really really good. I thought we'd be ripped off only splitting it two ways, but, not gonna lie. I might do it again. I might spend $7.47ish and tax for half of that delicious sandwich again. So much for my plan to be cheap.
This blog has a great quick summary of my experience.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
How to do Katz's cheap
I generally hate romantic comedies, with one or two corny, tear-inducing exceptions. The Princess Bride, Imagine Me and You, Secretary (it's sort of comedic), and the classic When Harry Met Sally are a few of the notables. Who doesn't love Billy Crystal?
Like any decent fan of WHMS, I acquiesce with "You're right, you're right, I know you're right," and think of Meg Ryan whenever I check to make sure my mail isn't stuck in the mail drop-box. And so when I moved here I knew I had to go to Katz's, the deli where Meg Ryan faked an orgasm at Billy Crystal. The other day I was in the area and hungry, and I had an hour to spare. I went for you, reader(s). How to do Katz's on the cheap, after the jump.
Don't go.
No really. Just don't do it.
It's impossible to go to Katz's on the cheap. A pastrami sandwich is not $7 nor $8 nor even $10. It is $14.95. For an average sized, original NY deli style sandwich. And a can of cream soda is like $2.75 or something. Now, you all might be thinking that, hey, it's New York, it's gonna be expensive. But, there's this thing about New York. It does that whole Capitalism gambit really well; better than anywhere I've seen before. That means, while it has lots of giant enormous businesses that own everyone and their mother and milk you for all you're worth (in business 101 terminology, "elephants"), it also has a disproportionately high number of "fleas", the little, locally owned and operated businesses that are supposed to be the basis of our economy. It doesn't have a proportionate number of fleas to prove that Capitalism is working as it's supposed to, but it does have enough that some things you should be able to get for cheap, no matter where you are. Like deli-sandwiches.
So that means that, even though New York is expensive, some food is cheaper than similar food elsewhere. You should expect to find a "genuine" New York-style deli pastrami sandwich on rye with mustard and a plate of pickles on the side for under $6. Really. Even in Manhattan. So, I couldn't honestly buy a $15 pastrami sandwich just because that's what you should get when you go to Katz's. I know the tourists like it (hell, that's the point), but I couldn't bring myself to shell out the money. So I got the cheapest thing on the menu: a hot dog, with saurkraut or mustard included. Actually, I was hungry, so I got one with saurkraut and one with mustard and then I mashed them together until they averaged out the same toppings. Those hot dogs set me back $6.20. Jeeze. They weren't even that good (honestly, I prefer Chicago-style hot dogs, and kraut that is more kraut and less sour). Add to that a $2.75 cream soda and I was pretty set back and a little nauseous when I wandered out of Katz's that evening. So just don't go.
But maybe you have to go. Maybe you love Meg Ryan more than anything and have done everything else she's done in that movie including being really anal retentive, and falling for a guy who only slept with you out of pity. Or maybe your second-cousins are in town and they really want to go fake orgasms in public. Seriously. Maybe you have to try this particular pastrami sandwich.
The best way to do Katz's on the cheap if you absolutely MUST, is to buddy up. Go with three, four, or even five other people. Here's the catch: only order one sandwich. $15 five ways is only $3 a piece for the experience, and you still get to try the sandwich and feel ok oggling all the pictures of famous guests and posing in photos in the chair where Meg sat (it's marked by a big sign hanging from the ceiling).
But, 1/5 of an average sized sandwich is not dinner, you say! Not even if you get your own pickle. And you would be right. I don't think it counts as giving you good cheap advice if you don't get to eat dinner. I say the best solution to this is to make Katz's part of a tour of touristy New York food. Grab a slice of NY style pizza (you can get a crummy one for 99 cents a few doors down, or a better one for a buck or two any which way you venture), and top it off with some roasted nuts ($1 for peanuts) and a genuine New York City cart hot dog (which you can hypothetically get for under $2, I don't know, I work across the street from the Empire State Building so everything is overpriced). Now that it's spring time, find a Mr. Frosty truck and get a $3 cone with sprinkles. There's one parked right between Union Square and the Strand. Why not? You were going to be touristy anyway, and this way you should be pretty well fed (and touristed out) for around $10 per person. Well, $12 if you didn't remember to bring your own drink.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Beware!
The ides of March!
Anyway, my ides were fine. I've had a midterm each week, and I have one left (an oral report/presentation) before the break.
I had a lovely last week, making birthday cards, baking, drinking with friends, and being vegan with guests from out of town.
Pictures to come. One week and three classes left until Spring Break comes, bringing with it one of my favorite midwesterners.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
You know you've been doing too much theory when...
...You had to use step division to figure out that 4/12 reduces to 1/3
...You can sort of understand why the cat won't stop licking your Cornel West book
...You can type "social constructionism" with your eyes closed
...You only notice that the sky is half purple and it's hailing when the cat gallops in to hide under the couch
...You know the difference between Bourdieu and Badiou
...You have paper cuts...on your torso
...You have Leftovers Casserole down to an art
...You have more blog updates than any month since NaBloPoMo
...You are cursing out webcomic artists for not posting their daily updates by 12:01 AM
...You know the local librarian by name
...You think you truly understand phenomenology
Cheap as free!
Coming from a working-class family background (holla!) I've always been frugal (well except for a few weeks in college for which I will always be paying). I've had to be; the trick is doing it with style.
I enjoy going out with folks, so I have to be extra careful when I am alone, because I essentially save all my extraneous money for acting like I'm not poor when I'm out with other people who don't understand. This is even harder in NY, because I'm hanging out with overall wealthier people with wealthier lifestyles. Not my choice, exactly (other than I chose to be a grad student, which poor people normally don't do). As I get to know more people and do more things here, I'm sure this will change, but for now, I must try to be cheap.
For example, today I cooked a huge breakfast at home: scrambled eggs with a little cheddar cheese and homemade biscuits*. Total cost for enormous breakfast: approximately 98 cents. In contrast, last Sunday my twin was in town, and we went to the only brunch place in the neighborhood. Cost for me (not include the bourbon pear mimosa, nomnomnom): approximately $15. That's two weeks worth of giant (meatless) breakfast at home, and I shouldn't be eating bacon anyway. At the time it was worth it because I had a guest, but I won't be repeating that often.
Of course, if I still lived in Astoria and I went to the cheap diner around the corner I could have had a large breakfast (of, well, diner-quality food) for under $5 (including the tip). Given the amount of time it takes to cook sometimes, going to the cheap diner was occasionally worth it, especially since I felt really uncomfortable using the flatmate's kitchen.
That's how it was the whole time: her kitchen, her hallway, her apartment that I just sort of squatted in. It was very challenging to be frugal there, mostly because of this not-having-a-kitchen syndrome, but also because of supply expenses: unlike my former flatmate, I am stingy with the cleaning supplies. FRUGAL! See above! Also, I'm too aware of my impact on the environment (and the world problems US pollution and consumption are causing) to use paper towels or 17 different kinds of aerosol cleaners.
My favorite example of my ability to save money has to do with soap. I'll admit it: I do actually overuse soap. I like a good, rich lather; foaming soap is my nemesis. I like to imagine getting rid of all the germs, and I having counting to 60 seconds down to an art. I am not frugal with soap. All my recent housemates or flatmates liked to buy liquid hand soap. For a small NY apartment (not, say, bulk for a 25-person house in Wisconsin), that costs about $4 per bottle, about one bottle per each of us per month. $4/month for liquid hand soap. Not bad, right? Well, one day I went to the dollar store to find other things and, hey, did you know that not everything at the dollar store is a dollar? Many things are more than a dollar, but some things are less. Like bar soap. Some obscure branch of a large cosmetics chain put out a rose-scented bar soap. This was 69 cents.
Do you want to know how long that 69-cent bar of soap has lasted me? Too bad, I'm telling you anyway. It's less than half gone and I bought it at the beginning of November. Even with being out of town for almost a month, that's a 6-month bar of soap. That's the equivalent of $24 worth of liquid hand soap. I saved $23.31 with this bar of soap. Boo-ya!
Let's try that again: Boo-ya!
Even though I'm awfully proud of that bar of soap, I'm going to start sharing cheap, free, and frugal things to do around New York City. Because really, I am not the only broke person in this city. And I don't know how long I'm going to be here, so I'm going to start trying to do as many awesome and exciting things around the city as possible, and the best way to do that is not to spend too much money.
*Ok, from one of those twist-pop tubes, but still, I baked them.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
New month
Well, it's been a while!
I haven't posted anything substantive in a while because I've been having some personal trouble that I've really been focused on in my life. I moved to NY into a two-bedroom apartment that a woman posted on Craig's List. I know that that's a risky thing, finding someone on the internet and it could have been much worse, but it is practically impossible to find an affordable apartment with out being in New York City. I needed someplace to live before school started, and I settled for something acceptable.
In short, it was a bad situation. And I know it's a bad idea to bitch about people on the internet. So I won't list her offenses or defend my responses or try to convince you that it sucked. But, suffice to say, that for the last one and a half months I've felt a weight settle on my shoulders when I got off the train and started walking back to my apartment. The dread of going to where you are supposed to sleep at night has been taking a serious toll on my mental health: depression and anxiety combined to essentially make me sick to my stomach. All of the time. I became an ornery, self-centered wretch. If you called me, all I would talk about was moving, packing, and my jerky flatmate. It was awful.
Time passed. I searched for apartments FOREVER. Eventually, I found a place, I found sublettors, I waited and packed and waited and waited. I tried to work and meet people and failed. I signed a lease and worried about being scammed. And FINALLY, yesterday I was fortunate enough to move the fuck out of there. And I feel totally great. Totally free.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Look! Some other people like my idea! (I like to give myself credit for this and other ambiguous things)
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
More?
Folks! I signed up for the February Photo Hunt Challenge. Even though I'm even more jaded about Valentine's Day than I am about Christmas. What's wrong with me, this is so masochistic....
Anyway, I really enjoy the excuse to take pictures, even though my camera isn't that great and I don't have any real photo editing software. Someday I will graduate and pay off my student loans and then I will have a nice camera. Maybe.
ANYWAY. Why am I here? I have so much more to read before tomorrow? I just had to share this with you guys.
(BTW: You can still vote for me if you want on the Photo Hunt Challenge Website. Just scroll down. BY THE WAY. COUGH.)
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Resolution progress
I've been having strange dreams lately, one creepy nightmare about zombies and sacrifice and loved ones, and another strange betrayal by an old friend. They've put me more in a mood to be productive than to pause and think, so I've been running through errands like no one's business.
Yesterday I did my laundry at the laundromat, bought groceries and cat food, had two classes, caught up on emails, got an emergency advance from The Grad Center, did various miscellaneous administrative tasks necessary for being a grad student, worked, cooked, studied, and found a sublettor for my current apartment. Today I cooked, had a meeting, worked, had class, accomplished other miscellaneous administrative tasks necessary for being a grad student, and now I'm off to study, clean, and keep trying to find a new apartment! High fives all around for productivity!
Well, I'm part way through my week of not spending money eating out. I've discovered a problem with this, which is that I have resolved nothing about limiting my time in grocery stores. Let's just say that at least grocery stores are cheaper.
So cheap that I'm impressed. I bought veggies and canned goods and a few sandwich-type materials for a surprisingly low amount. I will be frugal. I will be healthy. At least for the rest of this week.
So for part of this resolution, I made a black bean quesadilla for late dinner last night, leaving me with a left over 1/2 can of black beans. Today I was searching the internets for WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THESE BLACK BEANS? I know, I could put them in a salsa or a burrito or even make a black bean cake, but honestly I was feeling a little bored by all that. I wanted variety. I wanted creativity. And I wanted the recipe to come with some food porn: excellent photography of the final product that makes you drool. Pictures are key.
I finally discovered this: Black Bean Brownies Don't they look totally amazing?
I'll make them tonight and let you know how they are! In the meanwhile, please share any great recipe sites you have! They are fabulously cheaper than cookbooks.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Goal-oriented
SO I decided to make some goals for the new year, as many people do around this time. People call me goal-oriented because I like to accomplish things. But I really don't know if it's an appropriate description. I think I'm much more stop-and-smell-the-roses oriented, enjoy-things-on-the-way-for-that-is-life oriented. But. Nonetheless. There are some goals.
1. Eat more fruits and veggies. I am convinced that this can't be bad for me, even if I get these in a less-than-healthy manner. Like this amazing looking salad from smitten kitchen: Mixed Citrus Salad with Feta and Mint. I hope she doesn't mind that I borrowed a picture to show you how delish this looks.
2. Cook so much more! For the first 6 months (January-June), I'm going to cook at home for one week straight. For the second 6 months (July-December) I'm going to cook at home for one week straight, twice per month.* I'm always looking for new and delicious recipes to try, so feel free to leave me links or ideas in the comments!
*Note: I already didn't do this for January, but I've been out of town most of the month, so I'll just do it twice in February. Yikes!
3. Walk an average of 3 miles/day. This one is going well. It helps that I live a bit from the train. If I move closer I'm sure this will become much more challenging. When will I have time?
4. Find my own place! I'm super excited about this one. I've been picking my brain recently and I realized that I just really NEED to live by myself. Because of financial stuff, I've always needed a roommate (or several) in order to afford rent. Now I am planning on spending less and living further away in order to get my own place. I know that this isn't the most viable of strategies in NYC, but I'm sure it is possible. As soon as I find someone to sublet my current place (well, and some place to go), I'm outta here! The hardest part of settling in I imagine will be cooking with my limited cooking supplies after I've paid my security deposit. Ie: When my sister left Madison her friends pitched in to get her a going away gift of a collection of nice spices. How awesome is that? I own a bottle of onion powder and some ground nutmeg, and no measuring cups. I need help! Clare and Rachel had a good idea though, which is to allow themselves to buy one spice each time they go to the grocery store. Maybe I'll let myself buy one kitchen utensil each time I hit the g.s....
5. Publish or present two papers. This one is pretty straightforward. I want to get two articles accepted to be published by the end of the year, or to present or discuss them at conferences. Conferences for grad students count. I am currently working on 3 different submissions, so hopefully this bears fruit.
6. See the bioluminescent bay in Vieques. 
You may have heard about this bay. I have had the very great fortune of being able to visit Puerto Rico twice in the past two years as the result of someone else's funding (thanks!). This year I am on my own, but I think I could do the whole thing for under $500. If you're like me and the twin and all you want to do is sleep, eat, and swim in the ocean, this can be a very inexpensive option (especially with hostels...cool). But the trip out to Vieques is more money. Essentially to see the bay you have to stay one night on Vieques, which can be costly, and transportation on Vieques is harder. I've twice visited the bay in Lajas which was phenomenal, but the one in Vieques is supposed to be far more brilliant. You can kayak or swim in the bay and that would be amazing, so I'm trying to work extra now to save up!
7. Be more crafty! This is a compound goal with four parts:
a) Scrapbook 12 projects. I know Jessi's aim is 100 LOs (10 times my own pitiful goal). But she is a Master Scrapbooker, and I, only a novice. Nonetheless, I certainly have the supplies and the desire to make more pages/projects. In fact, when I was in Boston I visited a paper store and picked up some brown and pink stripes for a sweet project I have in mind. More later.
b) Knit two more useful items. Again, not as cool as The Boss, but good enough for me. These can be gifts for folks. Technically this year I finished these wrist-warmers that I now wear, but I don't think those count, as I just set the goal and I finished the wrist-warmers a few weeks ago.
c) Draw/paint 6 projects. I love drawing and would love a reason to start/finish some major projects I've had in mind. This one will also be hard to do with classes, etc., but I'm optimistic.
d) Make my own holiday cards. Last year I tried to make my own cards at the end of the year, and ended up not finishing them and not sending them out due to lack of materials and motivation. This year I will be better prepared!
8. Get two of my wisdom teeth out. I've been putting it off for insurance reasons (that and now I don't know how I'd get home after they knock me out). But if I don't exceed my insurance limit I think I can get half of them done. I'll get the next two the year after, and that will be quite enough of that, thank you.
9. Get contacts. I've always thought about it, never done it. I'd like to get some disposable ones and just wear them occasionally, like when I dress up or hit the town. I recently got eye insurance through my school, so perhaps now is the time.
10. Meet new people. I'll keep this one broad, as the main point is to get to know people in my new city. I'm sure it will happen; I'll just be cool ol' me and the cool peeps will come rolling in.
Alright, 10 is plenty for 2010, don't you think? Oh yeah... number 11. Make-outs! Woo!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
MIA
No no no no. I mean, where the f have I been? I know, you don't accept that Photo Hunt nonsense as blogging content, not after I proved I could do nablopomo last year.
The last several weeks of school were hectic. I finished my papers and passed my exams, and then ran out the door of the Graduate Center with the most luggage I've ever brought on a trip in my life (read: one medium suitcase and a backpack). (The main reason New Yorkers spend a lot of time caring about and feeling superior about transit is because it takes a ton of work to learn your way around here. I had prepared a self-inflated rant about how I have now learned enough to navigate even though I thought I was lost, but I'll save it for some other time!). Regardless, I've spent the last month ish traveling, thanks to my new-and-improved Grad Student Income!
First it was Chicago, to crash with Dan and Merilee, and spend the day hanging out with Mingwei. We ended up at a fabulous bar where I had about 45 minutes to catch up with kiran, Neily, and other NASCOol people. It was over in the blink of an eye, and I had to leave to catch a bus out of town. It was the beginning of a series of visits that were far too short. I met the twin (!) at the bus stop and we took an overnight bus up to Minneapolis (which was terrible...*shudder*). We got picked up and spent the next week visiting Dad, Jacki!, Sara, and Robin. We even got a visit from the other syblings, and on Christmas Day picked up the new Sherlock Holmes movie with our brother. The next day we drove to Dodge Center and met Mom and the rest of the family there for Christmas. We had a great time playing games (I learned Hand and Foot, although hell if I can remember it now), conquering Super Mario Galaxy (at least, as Mario!), cooking/eating, and talking, talking talking. It was the most relaxing way I could imagine to spend those days, and lovely to see people! Because of the icy weather we ended up staying an extra night, which felt like winning the lottery! I love my family!
Then, of course I had to spend a few weeks in Madison. I spent the first few days hanging out with my Mom and sister, and getting over a small cold. I first ventured out into Madison for New Year's Eve with Lindsay and Patrick, their friends Mike and Celina, and our old friend Laura (who lives on the West Coast, alas!), and diverse other folks like Scott and Emily and Kat! It was definitely the best NYE I've ever had, even better than the one year I accidentally made out with Emil's bi then-boyfriend. :) It was a much smaller, quieter party, but we barely noticed when midnight rolled around. We played games and talked and laughed and shared the evening and the morning after in a very sweet and special way. It wasn't the first, nor the last time that I realized I'm honored to know such wonderful people. Lindsay and Patrick became my gracious and amazing hosts for the rest of my time in Madison.
Throughout the next two weeks I saw Kathy, George, Kevin, Steph and Jared, Nicklaus, Anna, Rachel and Ari, Maya, Erica, Quentin, and various Phoenicians, coopers, and Madisonians. I felt so loved and I am so blessed and lucky to know you all and have such warm and wonderful, loving people in my life. I visited many of my old Madison haunts, spent a ton of time with my awesome family members, and even took a day trip down to Milwaukee to eat at our old favorite, Capri. I played trivia at the Alchemy, went to the Weary Traveler five (5!) times (including for an amazing pork-off: candied bacon FTW), drank at Paul's Club under the tree, had dinner at the Phoenix, napped at the MCC Office, had brunch with Mama Davis at Lazy Jane's, drank strawberry vodka at The City and coffee at ERC, discovered new things with Rachel, washed with soap made by Steph2, waited in line for over an hour at the Old Fashioned, bought 10-year cheddar from Carr Valley, flirted with a bartender for the Merc, spent an afternoon reading and sipping at Barrique's, saw a play at the Overture Center (a great one! Called Why Torture is Wrong and The People Who Love Them, by Christopher Durang, and produced by the new group in town: Forward Theatre Company. Madison theatrites and art-heads, you should be excited!!), looked out on the lake from Observatory Drive, learned to play Sheepshead (!), shopped the Frugal Muse, had a salted caramel from Gail Ambrosius, drank wine at Kathy's place, and yes, ate cheese popcorn. It was a veritable orgy of pleasant experiences, hopefully enough to keep my level of joy and self-esteem flying high through the next semester and summer of loneliness in New York!
I followed that up with a little more than 24 hours back in NYC before I hopped on a bus to DC. I visited Clare and Rachel there in a whirlwind 48 hour trip, and managed to squeeze in the official reason I was supposed to have gone: to see Black Voices: The Stories We're Going to Tell, a festival for the new works of black playwrights. All of it was awesome, although I missed the whole discussion for the rest of the weekend and didn't know anyone there. Also, Georgetown is a strange and isolated campus, so no one could tell me how to get back to the train (they've chosen not to have a train stop so the rabble can't bother them), so I had to walk a few miles in the cold to the area where I knew there would be a train. Boo. But this was all made up for by the fun I had the next day with Rachel and Clare, playing dress up in Clare's vintage store and drinking too much beer and reminiscing about the coop. Clare helped get rid of my burgeoning mullet while we were drunk, at the expense of a small chunk of hair about my left ear. But anything is better than a mullet, so I guess that was a net gain.
Finally, I stopped back in NY to check on the cat, and then took off for Boston, to eat vegan for 48 hours (yay!), wander through Boston Commons and the Harvard Campus. I visited Nick (therefore we talked about oppression for hours and watched star trek), Shira (hi Shira, I told you I would blog about it), and was graciously hosted by Avi and Alexa in their charming Boston College area flat.
But now I am on the megabus again, this time coming back to New York, where I look forward to cleaning and sleeping and finishing the Baroque Cycle (by Neal Stephenson) before classes start on Thursday. They are late this year, but that's fine with me. It's been a marvelous tour of various large and larger cities around the Midwest and the east coast, and I don't really feel at home anywhere anymore, but I'm almost looking forward to a few days by myself. Which is good because that's precisely what I have in store for myself.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Photos Photos Photos Photos Phooooootoooooooos!!!
Sorry for the delay folks! I've spent the holiday with my family, and internet is not so easily available. Nonetheless, here are my photos from this past month. Enjoy this weird mix!
1. Holiday Lights (Every quarter hour these illuminated snowflakes faded out and lit up again according to a different holiday tune. I caught them flashing to Jingle Bells on my way to the airport this evening.)
2. Holiday Spirit
3. A Holiday Treat (the best home-made pumpkin bar with homemade vanilla gelato and pecan praline I have ever had. And the best Americano I ever had to go with it (see photo 13). I just stopped in this place randomly because I thought it was a coffee shop and I needed to charge the lappy. Turns out it is a chocolate restaurant. Let me say that again. Chocolate. Restaurant. Needless to say I will be going back. They have chocolate beer floats with that homemade gelato. I'm not even a dessert person...)
4. An Ornament
5. A Gift-Wrapped Package
6. A Window Display
7. A Winter/Holiday Icon
8. A Tree
9. A Tradition (My wonderful friends Patrick and Lindsay, graciously hosted me for NYE. Here they are opening a bottle of port; don't worry, we're not doing shots! They have a delightful tradition for ringing in the New Year. It may be someone else's New Year's tradition, but I hope it becomes mine!)
10. Something that says Noel
11. Something Precious (Flying somewhere over the U.S. between New York and Chicago. Flying, if nothing else, keeps me conscious of how fragile humanity actually is.)
12. Something Peaceful (BUNNIES!)
13. Something Hot (The best americano I've had so far...)
14. Something Cold (Not the best picture I've taken, but it was the coldest on the solstice, probably 30 below at least, everything windy and frozen. At about 5 in the evening, only two brave ice skaters remained at the park across the street from my dad's house)
15. Something Red
16. Something Green
17. Motion Blur
18. Black and White Photo with Selective Coloring
(Ok, so technically I did this wrong because I thought we had access to Photoshop through my department but I can't seem to access it remotely. The consequences: I had to use Picasa, which I am not at all familiar with. I could not get it to do what I wanted at all, so this is the best I've got folks.)
19. Infrared
Ok team, you really can't do this one without a fancy expensive program like photo shop. Well, again, I downloaded Picasa (which then took over my photo management, so I am now doubly displeased), and anyway, I just cannot find anyway to create the desired affects with this one. I feel sort of whiny saying this, but I can't make it work and no one seems to know how to do it on the internet, which I take as a good sign that it probably can't be done. So disappointed my first photo hunt included something that isn't accessible to folks without a ton of money to spend on photography. :( Enjoy a picture of my cat playing with a straw instead!
20. Digital Macro (The only my cheap camera does well. Salmon maki!)
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