Monday, October 31, 2005

happy halloween!!


jason and i carved pumpkins tonight for the kiddies. we only had like 4 groups of trick or treaters which means more candy for me!!!

sorry so remiss

hey sorry i haven't posted this week. been very busy with this whole wedding business thing. i signed up with a group called pictage that acts as a storefront online for my business. there is a lot to learn though on how to make the site work for me so i've been doing these online classes. i'm shooting another wedding this weekend for a coworker. it has potential to be a nightmare. the bride's future mother-in-law is insisting on walking down the aisle carrying her infant granddaughter. the baby does not belong to the bride and groom but to the groom's sister. the bride is concerned that it will look like the kid is hers and she is freaking out over it. but can't seem to negotiate the situation with the mother in law. so i've been instructed not to photograph this woman because it will look like it is being condoned by the bride. or something like that. yippee.. the bride had also told me that she didn't want me to take the picture even if the woman asked for me to. i stewed over that for a couple of days because i could really see the potential for a scene on someone's part at the event. so finally i told her that if i'm asked to take the picture i will and just then delete it from the edit and if the mother in law asks about the picture just to say it didn't come out. the bride seemed to be ok with that but we'll see.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Fall, fall, fall...


Hi, this ran in Sunday's paper. There is a section called 'gallery' where each week a photographer has a photo that covers half the back page of the region section. we get to write kind of whatever we want to go with the photo.

Here is what I wrote:

So far this year’s fall colors have been mediocre at best. Fall always has been my favorite season though, not only for long hikes, scarves and hot apple cider, but for capturing that perfect shade of orange or yellow framed by that bluer-than-blue autumn sky. Earlier this week, I was driving down North Main Street in Stonington on my way to an assignment. There is that amazing twiggy tree forest on the east side of the road just after you have turned off Pequot Trail. It has always fascinated me how all the leaves are at the top with the sea of bare trunks below. My eye was drawn to this little sprig shining in a ray of sunlight, so much brighter than the rest of the forest and at eye-level. I had to stop. While the overall leaf-peeping this year may fall short of New England’s norm, simple sights like this still take my breath away.

Friday, October 21, 2005

birdie...the new addition to our family

today jason picked up his new civic hybrid. it is very cute (sorry, MANLY). it is fun and bizarre to drive. when you come to a stop at a traffic light, as long as you have your foot on the brake the gas engine turns off. so when you go to start up again it feels like driving a really big golf cart. totally silent. the first time i started it up, i thought that maybe i didn't do it right because it made zero noise. the steering takes a bit getting used to. it is kind of stiff because it has electric power stearing instead of whatever normal cars have. also when you brake it stores up the friction caused by the brake pads on the wheels to make the electric engine go. crazy... but for 50 mpg i don't care if it had mouse ears on it and played the ice cream truck song as it went down the street. ok, maybe the "do your ears hang low?" song would make me want to go postal but maybe i could live with it.

oh and i've named it birdie. not sure if it will stick with jason but i'm working on him.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

here piggy, piggy...

so yesterday i photographed the oddest thing. there is a local private school who's third grade class is working on this art/science project. they are making papermache animals, a pig, rabbit, marmott (like a gopher) then they are going to take the critters to the zoo where they will be stuffed with meat. they then put the animal dummies gorged with carne into a bear and leopard's cages and watch them go nuts. the papermache is all nontoxic, brown paper bag strips with cream of wheat paste. they are going to paint them too with food coloring paint. i get to go with the class when they go to the zoo so i will keep you posted. the photos of them making the papermache are not terribly interesting but i will definitely post the ones from the zoo. the marmott is probably the funniest looking. it looks just like the the gopher in caddyshack. got to love today's educational ventures.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

reader feedback

hello people who read my blog. so i need some feedback as to how to respond to your comments. i read them all and love it, but would you like to me to respond in the postings or just email you back? let me know.

jason is car shopping today. he's thinking about getting the civic hybrid because of the 45 mpg mileage, but they have their own drawbacks like having to replace the battery at 80,000 that costs $3,000. and the $120 oil changes. (they take super expensive oil instead of the regular cheap stuff) but probably will end up with some sort of honda. he's just excited because he won't have to visit the gas station 2-3 times a week anymore.

Monday, October 17, 2005

prepare the funeral march

well it is official. jason's jeep is dead.

it has been having a series of problems for months now including needing new barings, oil pump and other major repairs. plus it still didn't have very good oil pressure as in when he was at a stop it would fall to zero. not good. then on thursday he was getting ready to get on i-95 and the jeep went bang then the engine died. for once jason's speedy driving was an asset since he had enough momentum to coast into a parking spot at the mystic marriott. it could have been far worse like if he'd actually gotten on 95 or in the middle of the road. instead he got to hang out in the lobby, out of the rain, until i could pick him up. friday he had it towed to his mechanic where the funeral notice came from today. i guess the crank shaft broke and shoved rods into someplace that sounds scary.

so he is now in the market for a new car. probably a civic so that he could actually get more than 13 miles to the gallon. he's going to hang onto what is left of the jeep until he can scrape the money together to put a new engine it. it will be his fair weather, fun car. no point trading it in. he'd only get a couple hundred bucks for it in the shape it is in.

can't really complain though especially when it could have turned out far worse.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

when it rains, it...comes into your basement

so first lesson in new england living: when it rains 8 inches in 4 hours, 4 inches is guaranteed to end up in your basement.

jason and i spent a good chunk of last night moving all the contents of the basement that couldn't get wet (like my downstairs neighbor's treadmill plus other electronic items) to higher ground. we tried bailing just using buckets but were making no headway and decided at 4:45am to call the landlord and turn the mess over to him. he came over to make sure the freezer, boiler and oil tanks were going to be okay. the washers and dryers sit on a concrete slab about 6inches above the rest of the basement so they were ok.

then today i spent the entire day following fire departments and other people pumping out basements. i also was sent to cover a mudslide at which i officially won the dumbshit award of the week. i actually stood at the base of the mudslide and thought "that looks pretty stable" took two steps and was up to my knees in mud. i then proceeded to walk out of my shoes just like the principal in ferris bueller. socks and all. it was gross. the only saving grace was that no one saw me.

but the sun finally came out tonight for a gorgeous sunset which was a blessing since i was about to go mad from 8 straight days of nothing but drip, drip, drip.

Friday, October 14, 2005

knit pick

so today i took my first knitting lesson at the local knitting shop. it was very cool. of course my first project is an orange scarf. big shock i know.
i actually did really well while i was there. when i got home i made a couple of mistakes, so arrogantly i thought i could take it a part and start over. oh how wrong i was!

i got so wrapped up in trying to cast on again that not only did i miss my 3pm chiropractor appointment but chucked the damn thing across the room when i just couldn't take it anymore. i think i shocked jason a bit when suddenly there were pointy brown sticks hurtling through the room too. so back i go tomorrow just so i can put my mind to rest. i tried to look in this knitting book how to do it but who can really follow directions from a two dimensional illustration. unless you are ann of course. :O)

i also thought optimistically that everyone i know was going to get scarves for xmas but i now see that maybe everyone will just get a lump of yarn to place strategically in places to keep warm.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

yeah!! a solution

so i've been needing a temporary solution to the problem of not having a website to refer prospective brides to while i figure out that whole concept.

so i've taken a lesson from ye ole blogger and created a "blog-folio". i hear by coin that phrase by the way. so check out my new wedding portfolio whose link i have included to the right in my "links" box.

let me know what you think at this blog because i have it set up not to be able to make comments on the wedding site.

thanks!

Friday, October 07, 2005

sigh of saddness in new england...

sigh....
well the red sox just lost the series against the white sox. at fenway too. in some aspects it is a relief since i won't have to be on pins and needles for the next 2 weeks but sad none the less. the only saving grace is that right now the yankees are getting spanked by the angels. jason and i watched 'fever pitch' last night. totally great date movie. it is a serious chick flick but enough red sox stuff in it to keep the guy entertained. of course now jason wants a wall in our future basement to be painted like the green monster (left field wall of fenway for those that aren't in the know about the sox) like the jimmy fallon character has in his apartment. guess that is all for today. supposed to rain giraffes tomorrow so maybe i'll get some work done at home. still haven't gotten all my summer clothes put away yet.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

hell froze over


so here is a photo that proves that hell does freeze from time to time. dad came to visit the week of labor day weekend. it was really wonderful having him here. i think he enjoyed himself, at least in this photo he looks like he's loving it. we were aboard the sabino (sah-BYE-no) (for all the tucson people, i know they pronounce it wrong). it is a steamboat similar to the one in Heart of Darkness. it takes evening cruises down the mystic river and out into long island sound. dad was facinated with the drawbridge in mystic and then the rotating train bridge that we went under.

finally a photo


so took this of jason and i on my birthday at six flags in springfield. i love my camera phone!

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

wedding craziness

so i've been trying to decide if i really want to be a wedding photographer or not. i'm trying to be an adult and figure out my future. i know that being a staff photographer is not going to be easy while juggling a family. as it is jason and i barely see each other with both eyes open. i wish i was better at this business thing. my friend jacqueline has a wedding biz that seems to flow pretty easy to her. i know trial and error. it is so much easier working for someone else. i also seem to be pretty good at feeding everyone else the "so i think you should" line but can't seem to get my own crap taken care of. my brain hurts. time to turn off the computer for the night. i swear i will get photos up on this soon.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

coffee please kick in now...

totally overslept this morning and feel like poop. i made a big pot of coffee but all of my big travel mugs are rolling around on the floor of my car so i had to leave half the pot behind due to my teeny mug.

i've just finished reading a really good book. it is called 'plan b' by anne lammott. i had read a novel by her previously called 'blue shoe'. i loved it and thought that was what i was getting with this book. i didn't really notice that i picked up 'plan b' in the non-fiction section of the library so i was probably 3 chapters in before i figured out this was the author talking. i really loved the book though. she talks about her struggle with faith and george bush. it is kind of amusing how much she hates him and how she knows god would be pissed that she hated someone so much so she tries to see him in better light but fails miserably. all i know is that i wish i could go to the church she goes to. it sounds very open and very spiritual for the right reasons.

Monday, October 03, 2005

vintage baseball

yesterday jason and i made the long trek to long island for an away game of jason's vintage baseball team the Thames Base Ball Club. The team plays by 1869 rules, has old style uniforms and they play with no gloves consistant with the times. they did spell baseball as two words in those days. so far the team has yet to win a game but sure gave the Atlantic Base Ball Club a run for their money yesterday. it is a lot harder than you think without a glove and reprograming yourself to play by old rules. like if you catch it on one bounce it is still an out. or you can't over run first base so sometimes you have to slide. oh and the bases are not attached to the ground so it is totally acceptable to slide and take the base with you making it difficult for the 1st baseman to step on it. oh and outs are called "hands" so two outs equals two hands. took me awhile to figure that out. i just thought they were telling everyone to make sure to use two hands to catch it. they have another home game in two weeks so i will post pix then.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

so maybe i'll give it a whirl...

ok, so work tonight was absolutely nuts for the first few hours and now i am sitting around until papers come out. my friends ann and erica have blogs and so to kill some time, i made my own. so hopefully i will keep up with this, but i can't get on the ball enough to have a regular supply of clean underwear let alone keep a blog. we shall see....
Email Newsletter icon, E-mail Newsletter icon, Email List icon, E-mail List icon Sign up for our Email Newsletter
For Email Marketing you can trust