Tracy's blog ^pro

So here i am doing a daily video, but being unmotivated to edit and post.Meh...I don't know when that showed up, but f*#k it did.

apologies for that one, I'm hoping once the spring becomes warmer, I'll have other things to keep me from editing..haha

so my plan though it may be confusing is to post my video from today, and my one from back in...

in march... I'm determined to catch up!

hope you all are well.

T

Thursday the rain started, then the temperatures dropped, then the ice started forming.When I opened the door to let the cat out, it wasn't wind I heard blowing, it was creaking ice laden branches. Around 9pm the light flickered dim, and then again at 9:30, I should have followed my thoughts, that told me to turn up the heat some, and turn the temperature of the refrigerator down, just in case the power went out. I of course ignored those voices, I was too busy photographing the icy trees, reflecting the light outside my window.

Hours passed, then at 12:15 am ...POP booop, the power was out, My son and I wait a few seconds for it to come on, and then we realized it wasn't going to happened, off we went finding flashlights, and some LED lanterns, that I had bought years before, and use around Halloween, to light the stairs to our walk way. The dog was less than pleased with the power outage, "what was going on, why were we running around, in the dark?" So off to bed we went, me to my electrically powered heated water bed, and he to his room.My husband was already asleep blissfully unaware, at one point during the night, I thought the lights had come on, but I was too warm in toasty in our bed, and fell back asleep, I'd shut them off in the morning. In the morning noticing the lights were still out , and it was cool in the house, I realized my brain was processing a cars headlights going by,not actual lights coming on.

In the daylight hours the ice covered trees were magnificent, in this kind of surreal frozen fairytale like setting.It was amazing to see how ice covered everything was, and how it came showering down when the temperatures outside increased. We sat, read, drank alot of hot tea, and cocoa, made grilled cheese sandwiches, and naively believed the light would be on in the afternoon, just like a friend rumored, no such luck Chuck.

We ate dinner by candlelight, and camping lantern light.We did the dishes a la camping style, we heated pots of water on the stove, to combine with are only cold running water.I slept on our water bed , this time above the covers, in my sleeping bag, surrounded by a cat or two, I got ready for work, by LED lamplight, and missed the heat in my house , and the hot water alot. I felt unshowered, and tired,and I was. I was also a little annoyed that the neighbor had electricity, and we had none, damn it.

I drove to work,Friday night. It was another surreal event, I and the full moonlight were the only light on the road, as I drove, an occasional lone driver would illuminate how ice covered bushes and trees still were in some areas.One road I drove down the trees were bent so far forward, I wondered if they might touch the roof of my little Subaru.I went through several towns where the usual signal lights were out, the funny thing was I still slowed down, just like they were working.I guess old habits die hard. That night the temperatures dropped to 14 degrees.

On my ride home Saturday morning , I got to see those ice covered trees, in the daylight, which didn't make it any less scary, but more so because you could see how thick the ice still was, and how affected everything was by it. I also noticed at the top of trees the stark pointed white tipped branches left behind after all those that had broken off from the weight of all that ice

I arrived home with some necessities, milk, juice, cat food, and bread, as I got out off my car I noticed a white wire, extending from our house to the neighbors, my husband, the jack of all trades,had hooked us up, he used to be an electrician, before he became the boiler repair man. We talked briefly the night before of putting an extension cord, from our house to our neighbors. Well lo and behold, he had done that very thing! I walked over the thick white wire, to be greeted by my son, telling me that "Dad is hooking up the furnace so we would have heat, and hot water!!"

Yay!! Our house had dropped down to 55 degrees, and the mud room was even colder, colder than the temperature in our fridge, where the temperature was rising.By the time I ate my breakfast in my heaviest wool sweater, the heat was slowly rising, the smell of heat is wonderful, if you haven't had it, for a 24 hours or more. I went to bed that morning, in sweats, with a cat joining me for warmth. I woke up in the afternoon, to warmth, and no lights, but no lights, is nothing compared to no heat.
The hoards of candles I had received as gifts, many a Christmas, did us well, as did my little LED lanterns.

That evening at 6:30 precisely, the lights came on, at first my husband didn't realize, because we had turned the lights off, the first day we were without power.
But quickly we got the picture, and celebrated, with pancakes, and bacon. after all I had to work that night .

lunch

 

A: enjoy them!!

and you could also make this.

tomato bread salad with olives, and mint

2 medium tomatoes, cored and cut into wedges.I like to cut the wedges in half .

1 hoagie roll, or 2 kaiser rolls, 2 bulkies,or a small baguette, cut into 1 inch chunks

1/3 Cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved

 

3 TBS( 45 ml) fresh lemon juice

2 TBS( 30 ml) olive oil

2TBS thinly sliced fresh mint leaves

in a bowl combine all ingredients, Season with salt and pepper, toss to combine.

let stand for at least 5 minutes( which will be very hard to do) or up to 30 minutes

before serving. Serves 4 takes 10 minutes to make.

 

So when I became a pro member at Ipernity, I down loaded the uploadr. I hoped using the Uploadr, would decrease my uploading times, from epic to normal.

Well it didn't really.I wasn't impressed with the speed of it, it took just as long as the other to upload, but it was nice to drag and drop files.

I assumed, wrongly, that the uploadr was to blame.

Yesterday I peeled the hairy Norton 360 monkey, off my computers back,and kicked it to the ground, it was like removing a computer tumor, and being being pain-free.

I know you Mac users, are giggling a little,well alot and rolling your eyes, but for us ,PC users, power sucking programs like Norton, muck up the already weird works of Windows, and anything else you do with the computer.

I installed Kaspersky Anti Virus.It's like discovering a magic skill, you didn't realize you had.

Now when I use the uploadr it works quick, so quick that I was afraid there was something wrong with it the first time I used it after removing that program.

I realize what was wrong , and it went by the name of Norton.

 

addendum: I forgot to mention yesterday I couldn't upload files from camera to Photoshop.I still had Norton 360 on my machine, now that the festering boil has been removed, my Photoshop works just like it used to.

I will be in the wild of Otter River State Forest for the next 6 day, where there is a river, no otters.

see you later on.

Of being talked over like I wasn't there, but I was there, I was in the dental chair.

My dentist isn't comfortable with silence, so he fills it, with endless patter. I learned about the 10 smartest dog breeds, he saw it on this morning show called "Good Morning, America", then I hear about the dogs he has owned, and his assistant chimed in, with the dog she had owned. Then the topic moved to cartoons, Family Guy, the Simpsons, Ren and Stimpy....then it moved to Disney cartoons...how mainstream they've become.... they have movies about families that have(now brace yourself) gay family members, and single mom families, and sometimes a family member even dies, which he thinks "is just a little too much"

I thought it was a little too much, as they removed my filling,that they continued to talk and talk. I thought it was a little too much that his assistant , thinks gay people only live in Boston  and Provincetown.And she was shocked to find they live in other places in the country.My head almost exploded, when he talked about his disappointment in Disney's politics, that they actually have a gay pride parade, their so liberal.

I wondered in the buzzing of tooth drilling , did he think because I was married, that made me heterosexual, that I only prescribed to that point of view!?! That I had no gay friends, or single Mom friends, who are that way because a family member, their husband had died. 

It also made me wonder, whatever happened to the dentist that hummed, said nothing and just did his job? It made me miss my old dentist, who was polite , and quiet, and smelled of peppermint.

And whatever happened to the saying "silence is golden."

And what kind of medical/dental school did he and his assistant go to that they thought it was okay to talk around, over , and through the patient?

And use sarcasm as a vehicle to break the tension, I also learned I'm good at grinding my teeth, for my dentist let me know, I'm very skilled at that, like I have control over it.

I need to make a mental note, never to go to the dentist after I work nights.

now, I need to take some acetaminophen, and get some sleep.

 

 

 

well, we are here, the weather is warm, muggy and wonderful, originally it was supposed to be cloudy and 50's to 60's (sorry kids I'm not good with Centigrade, so this is Fahrenheit.)

I have been in the houseboat before, never with a laptop, so we are having fun, finding the right spot to surf with our morning coffee and tea.some places on the boat, you can others, you can not.

the jet lag is gone we are well rested, and happy yesterday I had to deal with some quiet men on my end, my husband and son are the same, when they aren't feeling 100%, they are quiet.

today, alot of laughing, and a visit to Albert Cuypmarkt, the produce was fresh, i scored some cherries, ruchola(arugula), and some fresh roasted mixed nuts.,and some rechargeable batteries for our travel clock

being on the houseboat, the traffic on the canal, is just as much fun to watch.as when we walked through the markt.

later, from Amsterdam

zack

Tomorrow my son graduates from high school. that has been my focus of the week, it's been nostalgic to watch him attend his senior banquet, just as my husband and i did many years ago, we also went to the same high school as he did, it's our Alma mater.

It's exciting to see end of the high school years, then everything is open for him to discover. In four days we depart for Amsterdam, I'm looking forward to exploring a part of Europe, with him.

It is bittersweet, to see your really cool funny child, develop into a really cool funny adult, who knew that we could play part in that and succeed.I would never take much credit for how Zack has turned out, I know most of that work was done by him and I was able to be the support he needed, to grow into the person he is, and to move forward in life.

I look at my son and I see some of me, my sarcasm, my humor, honesty, and a faring temper at times. I also see my husband's patience, and his humor, and his dogmatic ways of doing things, they are definitely two peas in a pod there.

He is stubborn and enlightened, he also loses his patience, but mostly is cool headed. We know how to calm each other, and keep his dad , on his toes. He is my movie going buddy, and we share a music as a passion, and art. He and his father have become experienced sailors, I enjoy going for the ride.

I'm not sure if I exactly have the right words to express, how proud and how much I fiercely love my son.

so i will merely state it , I am very proud of my son, and love him with all my heart.

 

I think as I get older, I want(and need) to treat my skin with the respect it deserves, so it can continue to protect me, and not age too much....haaa!
Anti- aging, how to prevent those little lines, you know the crow feet, the laugh lines, the unmentionable age spots. Who knew aging could be such a dermatological drag.
I continue to feed my small addiction to skin care. In my 40's. I prefer natural ingredients, and chemical free if possible, life is short so why the hell not.


It began with Neutrogena soap when I was a teen, I faithfully washed my face with it, I loved the clear amber bar,that told me it was pure and only full of "good for you" things for your skin.
The clear amber bar, how it could melt away, if you didn't use the special little soap dish that came with it. well it's not really a dish, it's like a soap stand, that lifts the bar out of the water that collects in all soap dishes, so it can dry, remain intact, for your use another day.Eventually I stopped using Neutrogena,but that wasn't until my late 20's, when I moved in with my husband,who was my then boyfriend, and we lived together. We still use the little soap stand , but it's to keep our present brand, high and dry.


From the clear amber bar, I tried other bars, the honey wheat and lavender bar, the lemon and olive oil bar, by Jason's, they make a good soap, or was it made by Kiss my Face, another skin friendly brand, that uses natural ingredients in the most wonderful combinations, and makes my skin very happy.
From there I briefly visited the world, on those lovely slickery facial washes,one in particular made by Desert tree, the tea tree oil people, they put it into everything, and they make this facial wash, that does a great job, but only when the 30-something zits flare up,and you needed to banish them fast- I mean Fast! Otherwise a little too drying for daily use.

Now I have a separate soap dish attached to the shower wall, that keeps my special soap high and dry, presently I have a lovely Dutch soap , I bought at Hortis Botanicus, it smells of lavender, which FYI is very good for the glitches that sometimes appear on you skin, those area that need to be quieted and soothed, lavender rules that. This special soap has this honey under note to it, that makes my skin feel soft and moisturized, this soap also has the power to bring me back to Amsterdam, sniffing said soap, reminds me of where I purchased it, and that makes me smile, did I mention how good it is for maintaining a smile.

Today my purchase arrived from DHC, they are a San Francisco based company, that imports Japanese made skin products, when you receive a catalog from them, they include samples of there popular products, I used their Pure Soap samples for years,before succumbing to want to buy and own a whole bar for myself. It's a completely clear, see through bar, that cleanses, soothes, and ever so lightly moisturizes, which I find very important to me, now in my 44's. Not only was the delivery speedy, they also let you choose up to 4 samples, of their other products. Four! that's right four, not one but four free samples, and the list to choose from, is 25-plus items long! Frankly my head was in a spin of outright lust.Here is a company, that really wants me to buy their products.I mean really, how can you not be attracted to an over achiever, one who only want to do good things to your skin.

For my samples I choose some sunscreen,a mineral mask,and two different shower gels, the forth quickest way to my heart, if you can't bring me fresh figs,or chocolate, or have no sense of humor, you could woo me with shower gels.
Of course I've already used one of them, called Imperial Green Tea , it wasn't green, it was crystal clear and had rich heady scent of mint,it was invigorating.
My heart melted at the the packaging ,with it's simple instructions; wet skin with water, apply gel with hand, wash cloth, sponge or body brush, lather and rinse.And most importantly please discontinue it's use, if unsuitable with your skin. How's that for caring?

Will my quiet little addiction, keep me from looking older, who knows? But the joy I receive from merely using these products has to do something good for me, and my skin, and for mankind.

okay so I went a little over board, but I'm a soap whore, so get used to it!

 

so next month,I am planning to go to Amsterdam, with my husband and my son. We have been planning this trip for about a year, well wait we haven't been making lists, but i have left around some travel guides about Amsterdam. At first I thought I was the only one looking them over again, the cool thing is are staying in the same place,I stayed the last time. In a woonboot , it was so much fun the last time, and it certainly peaked their interest.

But that was two years ago, and so last year we made plans to go. This weekend about less than a month to go, and we hadn't discussed it much, mostly where we would park the car at the airport.

This weekend i was feeling nervous dread, that maybe I had convinced them to go, and they didn't really want to go,and I thought what have I done?

That was until we went out for Chinese food, as we sat at the restaurant, and I sipped on my Tsing Tao. My son, mentioned he wanted to go to the ship museum, as he and my husband do love to sail. Then he mentioned he wanted to see on the map, where we were, so he could see what was around us, my feelings of dread, turned to happiness, and anticipation of arriving there.

So stay tuned i feel some blog posts coming on.

When I list my occupations,I'm able to list printmaker, along with registered nurse. I have been a nurse for 24 years, it's the job that pays the bills, the one I seem inherintley good at, but one that vexes me, at the riduculous need to do more paperwork, and still do all that is required of me as a nurse.

I came into printmaking over 5 years ago, I took a course at a local art museum. It was an introduction to Non toxic printmaking. I learned etching using ferric chloride, and we etched copperplate, it was as if I was relearning an art that I once did, but had forgotten about. I was in love with it all, from the smell of the inks to the rustle of the paper. our instructor, was a peaceful laid back kind of teacher, who did great when the class had the same level of experience, but could get easily kidnapped if there was a student, that believed the class was for them only, and didn't really like to share. i've seen a lot of that in classes at art museums, not so much from the artists, but from the everyday kind of person, who had artistic tendencies, they seem to need to exert their right to create art, instead of just doing it.

When it came time for me to move on to a place where I could do printmaking, without having to compete with other people, I found Zea Mays. At first I was excited but nervous at the prospect, of being in the studio with other artists. So I signed up for a class, and discovered what a wonderful place it would become for me. Here the teacher was close to my age, even had kids the same age as me. I discovered she had been doing printmaking as long as I had been a nurse. She was genereous with her knowledge, and taught me a thing or three, it was great. the other thing i noticed at this studio where you supplied your own ink and paper, and copperplate, people really were sharing with their knowledge, there was no sense of entitlement.That same year I took the class, by the summer, I had joined as a member.

I have been an active member for over 5 years, and will continue to do so, until I decide to stop. Over those years we have moved down a few doors from a small studio, that could only have 4 artist working at the same time to now 7. It amazing to see the growth of the studio, which is fueled by artist turning toward non-Toxic printmaking, also there is something about a collaborative environment where we work beside each other, and have the pleasure of looking over each other's shoulders seeing what people are doing, and we all seem to have our own unique style which is hugely creative. We are mostly a studio of women, with a few men. Is there a reason for that, no we are open to whomever you are, but maybe women search more for a place like that, who knows.but either way it has become a big part of who I am as an artist, and who I will continue to grow into.

this journey into small clips of video, is interesting. I imagined all of my videos would be me, a talking head, sharing funny everyday anecdotes of my life. I never thought I would add any effect, or even music to my videos. It surprises me, because honestly with my photos, all I really use from photoshop is to tweak the contrast, or the colors or the highlights, of what ever photo I had taken. I wasn't really doing much else than that. I wasn't adding any effects or layers. It's not that I was against that, but I never was really ever taking pictures of anything but everyday things.

Now with video, I'm playing around with video effects, and adding music. I have been using Windows Movie Maker, it's an okay basic program, I'm learning by doing, what I'm finding I like the most is adding a music track to my little videos, there is something about movement and music that are so complementary, and can convey so much.

Whether any of it is good, or bad, I am getting a huge amount of satisfaction out of doing it. I guess that's how it should be.

 

i am such a novice, with all this video. I just discovered I have Window movie maker, as with all typical windows programs, you look for help and it answers you're question, but not completely, there's always something left out. So I feel like stupid and a luddite, because I can't figure it out, then finally in my frustration, I drag my file too fast and too far, and I'm able to see the audio file, I want to remove. Finally!!

My son has a mac. I'm definitely going to play around with iMovie.

I also just discovered ccmixter , which I find a salvation being the windows movie making diva program, doesn't like mp4 files from my iPod....F*ck!

can't a novice get a break?

 

 

I'm finding out what I sound like. I have this lisp, that I never really noticed before, with my Leica P&S, for video, it's really noticeable. And then I am wondering have I always had a lisp?

How did I escape the torment as a kid if I lisped, Isn't that what some afterschool specials were based on, the speech impediment, and the shame that went with it?

 

Maybe no one thought I would care, so they never used it as a weapon, to intimidate me as a kid.

Or maybe you can develop a lisp as you get older.I wonder will I end up sounding like an old lady daffy duck?

i never really imagined i would express myself in video, ever.

For some reason 3 days ago, when the freaky outrage at Flickr ,started to happen.All because videos were going to be able to be uploaded, I thought it a little crazy, and negative, and a waste of energy.

it's just a little video, people.

it wasn't until, I recieved my first invite to "just say, no video, flickr" group, that it made me curious to try it out. After all I have the setting on my digital camera, I can record movies with sound, so I went for it,I figured if I didn't like what I saw ,I could delete it. But I liked what I saw, and I posted it.

I'll have to say I'm finding it, awe inspiring to watch people', I kind of know, because of their photos become real to me, moving ,full of sound. It filled my heart, in a good way.

what i plan on exploring here is, video