Well, the other blog is done and ALMOST ready to go. The only necessary thing left is to get my Foodbuzz ad up. Hopefully they will get back to me soon and that will not be problematic.

So here is it……

Whimsical Archives.com

If you subscribe here, please take the time to subscribe at the new place.

From now on, all new content will upload at whimsicalarchives.com.

See you there!

HOWEVER, I was very panicked when I logged into WordPress and saw that my blog was gone. I have been blogging here for 2 years. Over 2 years actually. Many things have been recorded here. The thought of not being able to access all I have built here had me freaking out. So, I immediately sent a panicked message to WordPress asking, essentially “why me?’, and instead of waiting patiently to hear back from them, I decided I knew exactly what the problem was and set out to buy my own domain and transfer everything from here to the new site. I like to think of myself as proactive. I like the word “proactive” far more than “ridiculously impatient”. So, I have been absolutely glued to my laptop since yesterday evening (I was up until 2 last night) trying to fix all that is broken. I bought my new domain, which took me forever to name, and I have been transferring and cleaning up the new place all day. In the midst of all of this work, I got the email from WordPress saying that they made a mistake, very sorry, and this blog was completely fine. It was up and running and healthy again.

*exhales major annoyed sigh*

Now, I’ve been wanting to buy my own domain for a very long time anyway. I actually blogged about it December 2010. Although, if I had any idea how much work it would be, I most likely would not have done it. But, it’s done now, and I LOVE the name, so I’m going to go ahead and finish the transfer.

I’ll be back later with the new link to my blog. Everything you see on this blog will be on the new blog. There will be zero differences. Posts, pages, comments, pictures, it will all be there. The only difference to speak of is that I will design a different blog header to correspond with my new blog name.

So, if you’re a subscriber, you’ll have to subscribe to my new blog. Once I’m finished with the move, that is where all of my new content will upload.

Whew. Drama-rama. I wish I didn’t have to leave this blog, sitting here on the web all alone. It’s been my space for 2 years. But I love my new blog name, and all the content from here is waiting on me there.

So, get ready to move with me please! Be back at a later date with new link…..

1. Egypt

Just like the the Redwoods were the mother of all places on my other list, Egypt is the mother of all places on this list.

About 10 years ago, I got REALLY obsessed with learning about all things Egyptology. Their culture and beliefs, the gods they believed in…everything. (I know most of the names of the Egyptian gods. )  I have rather nice collection of books on the subject, including the Book of the Dead (which sounds a lot scarier than it really is). It’s fun stuff. I would love to see the pyramids, the Valley of the Kings (and queens), and the Cairo Museum. Those are the sites off the top of my head. I’m sure I could stay there for weeks seeing everything I wanted to see.

2. London

Mostly, I want to go here so I can listen to people talk.

Not really. Well, sorta.

From everything I’ve read, the city is beautiful, AND it is the most vegetarian-friendly city in the world. Score. While visiting, I would shoot over to the Stonehenge. Obviously.

I forgot to mention that Harry Potter lives there. Double score.

3. Greece

I mean just look at that. Who wouldn’t want to go there? And maybe I could brush up on my Greek mythology while visiting.

4. Canada

I don’t really know where in Canada I would like to go…..this would require some research.

5. Italy

Venice, the Colosseum, and food. Now I want a cannoli.

It should be noted that I would be happy only traveling to Egypt and none of the other places listed here.

1. The Redwood forests in California. Specifically the Avenue of the Giants.

(source)

I’ve wanted to see the 33 mile scenic route of beautiful trees for years. In fact, I have a recurring daydream of packing up a nice, spacious rental car and driving to California just to see the Redwoods. It would be a leisurely trip. I would stay in a few hotels on the way, eat in a few interesting restaurants, and stop to sight-see as I made my way to California. Once to my destination, I would rent a cabin, then spend some time hiking the trails and essentially doing nothing more than marveling at their splendor.

2. Chicago.

I really have no reason for wanting to visit. I just want to. I think my reason may have something to do with pizza.

3. New York City.

It’s one of the greatest cities in the world. Times Square, Central Park, The Statue of Liberty, etc, etc, etc. Ground Zero. And honestly, what I would want to see the most after Ground Zero is the New York Public Library. I salivate at the thought. And the museums. Oh my. And I would have Chinese delivered to my hotel. It would be glorious. And then I would have pizza.

4. Yellowstone

Yellowstone has buffalo. I love buffalo. I want to cuddle them. Yellowstone also has geysers, bears, and all kinds of critters. I love critters. I can just see myself staying in a cute little cabin, and doing some hiking, learning, and buffalo oohing and ahhing.

5. The Harry Potter theme park.

I’m not going to lie. This one should be listed as number two, but I was going for some sophistication.

     I‘m in love.

After shooting my way through a roll of film a few weeks ago, I suddenly got the urge to try my hand at taking pictures with a vintage camera. I told myself that I have a beautiful Canon 50D (plus a Canon 35mm slr) and the last thing I need is an old, quirky film camera.

The more I told myself this, the more I wanted an old, quirky film camera.

Cue obsessive Ebay stalking.

Gawd……look at how it just sits there being all sexy and smiling all coyly at me.

Anyway,

I won my ebay auction, received my much anticipated package, and began pouring over the instructions. (This 30-40 year old camera came with it’s original instruction manual. Awesomesauce.)  I loaded the film in, took a couple of shots, and then………..it sat in my room for over a week.

It’s over a hundred degrees where I live. It’s too dang hot for prancing around with a camera.

But today I could NOT stand it anymore, so I loaded up my boys (unwilling photo subjects) and made my way to the park to take my new bad girl camera for its first test drive.

I spent an hour taking carefully posed, focused pictures of my kids and other surroundings. I caught some really pretty shots.

And then I realized that my film was not loaded correctly. It wasn’t advancing at all. I was simply clicking the shutter release without recording anything on the film.

Now, I probably should’ve felt really stupid, but hey, I’m cool with it. You live, you learn.

So, with the park all behind us and the opportunity for serene and scenic shots behind us, I decided to burn up my roll of film (now properly loaded)  in under 5 minutes, standing outside my mothers house. I just had to know what the camera could do.

I could not have been more pleased with the turnout. I was certain I would screw up my first few rolls of film. I only had 3 shots that were not properly focused. Everything was accurately exposed. Kick ass.

I can’t wait to use up another roll of film.

Pardon my kids being dressed like hobos.   The little one has an obsession with cowboy boots.

If you’re wondering why I have a picture of my shoes, it’s because I have pretty pink shoestrings. Of course.

200 speed Fuji.

Me loves.

And that is all.

Until next time.

(Check me out blogging 3 days in a row.)

“I need another __________ like I need a hole in the head.”

“Another ________ is the last thing I need right now.”

Great, that ______ is just what I needed.”

Well, if I were to take all the quips in the world that are similar to the three above, add the word “dog” in the blank, put the sayings in a jar, and shake said jar all the hell up, this is what would come bouncing out of the dog quote jar.

Her name is Gidget B. Shagnasty and she has won the hearts of all who have met her.

She’s hyper and cute and and very lovable and definitely not what we need right now.

Big thanks to my sister and nephew for playing on my furry animal weakness/love and forcing me adopt her.  I’m never taking my sister fresh squeezed lemonade at 9:30 pm (out of the kindness of my heart) ever again. God knows what she would send home with me next time.

While I sound scornful, I really do like Gidget B. Shagnasty.

Per my vow to do more blogging, I spent the last few days thinking about a recipe to create for my blog. I pondered mostly on hearty vegetarian casseroles and sweet baked goods. However, it’s 110 degrees where I live. One day it was actually 115.

Yuck.

So, I took a different route. I have never made fresh lemonade before and have wanted to try it for years. I determined that record breaking heat outside is the perfect time to buy up some lemons and give it a go. And I didn’t have to turn on the oven. Big bonus.

I didn’t want to make plain ol’ lemonade though. I wanted to do something a little extra sweet and unique.

Cue the watermelon.

And the pineapple juice.

The end result was sooooo good!!! I must say, I was pretty darn proud of myself over this recipe.

Fruity Lemonade

8 cups of water

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice

3/4 cup of pineapple juice (I simply drained the juice from a 20 oz can of pineapple chunks in natural juices)

2 cups of watermelon chunks

In a large saucepan over medium heat, mix together the water and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Chill.

Blend together the watermelon chunks and pineapple juice. Important: After blending the pineapple juice and watermelon, a soft foam will rise to the surface of the liquid. Skim this off, as you do not want it to cloud up your lemonade.

Add the watermelon mixture and freshly squeezed lemon juice to the chilled water and sugar mixture. Mix together thoroughly and then drink the pooey out of it.

This lemonade is sweet and fruity. It is not especially tart. If you like it less sweet and more tart simply adjust how much sugar and lemon juice you use accordingly.

I’m sipping my third glass as I type this. It’s like having dessert. I’m happy right now.

That is all.

I love that quote. There has never been a more true statement.

The easiest thing to do in life is nothing.

“I’ll start that tomorrow.” “I’ll finish that tomorrow. “I’ll think about doing that later.”

I think everybody has tasks in our lives that we KNOW we should be doing. Even is it not a task that is required of us by others, it is a task that we feel we should be doing for our own personal benefit. Yet, everybody puts these tasks aside and says, “I’ll do that later.” (I know that whoever reads this can think of at least one task/goal/project they know should have already finished/started/achieved.)

I am determined to stop doing this. I am a considerably happier person when I feel as though I’m being productive.

Now, I think everybody has different opinions on what productivity can mean. A productive day to me may not be a productive day to someone else. And vice versa.

I really like being creative. I like writing and I like photography. There is just something satisfying about creating something that can not be duplicated by anyone else.

Here are the daily goals I am setting for myself to allow me to feel more productive:

1. Journal. This is not to be mistaken with “Dear Diary, this is what happened to me today and this is how I feel about it.” Yuck. I tried that. It’s not for me. What I mean by journaling is writing my daily “to do” list. Goals I need to accomplish for that day, tasks I need to do in the future, things I need to buy, notes about projects I’m working on, etc.

2. Read 50-100 pages everyday. I read a lot anyway, but I go through phases when I don’t read at all for weeks. I get very cranky when I don’t read. A weird withdrawal symptom, I guess. However, it’s VERY easy for me to spend ALL day reading a book (I’ve done this a lot) and this is not a productive thing to do. I feel like I need to get my reading time in everyday, but I need to limit how much I do.

3. Get in some camera time. Man, I like my cameras. I realize this is not necessarily a productive thing, but I sure am happy when I’m taking a new picture, or editing a new picture. I would REALLY like to improve my photo editing skills. Hell, I would like to improve everything about my photography habit.

I love my cameras.

4. Writing. This is the big one. I like to do it, but I never do. At all. I find this weird. If I like it, why don’t I do it? I tend to liken it to running…..I only really love running once I’ve finished with a run. I like running a lot less WHILE I’M RUNNING. But, I still get my butt out there and run, so I should commit myself and just write.

5. Blogging. I feel productive when I blog. And since I have a contract with Foodbuzz, I really need to be doing it more often. I’m going to try really hard to commit myself to at LEAST two blog posts a week, one post being food related. (Though, I confess, food-blogging is not my favorite thing. But it is my favorite thing to read.)

6. Eat healthy and exercise. I run 3 days a week now, and I eat pretty healthy most days. But, food intake and exercise has to be an effort every single day. A person has to strive to make good, healthy choices every single day. When I make good choices about my food and exercise, I go to bed feeling better about myself. I feel better physically too. So, even though this is something I am already doing, I like to make it a daily goal. It’s easier to feel like you’ve accomplished something good if you make it a day-to-day goal. 

The most important thing about assigning daily tasks is to make them a habit. I have heard that it takes 3 weeks to form a habit. I think this is very accurate. I’ve been running for about 2 months now, and on my assigned running days, I just get up and go. There is no question about whether or not I will run that day, I just do it. It’s a habit now. (Unless, of course, I’m under the weather.)

And…..that’s it. Now that I’ve put this out into the world….. I have to hold myself to it.

I think that one would have to like photography more than the average joe to understand why this would be considered fun. But I’m sure there are people out there that totally get what I’m putting down.

(My film camera)

Anyway….

Shooting with film is crazy expensive! Once you buy a roll, have it developed, and have the photos added to a disc, it costs $20. For only 24 pictures. With digital, you can shoot and shoot because your not limited to buying expensive film, and best of all, you can delete your mess-ups. Let me be clear here: digital is the only way to go….especially from a financial standpoint. My $1200 DSLR has probably paid for itself. Actually, I’m certain it has.

However…..Shooting with film can be really fun. And the pictures look awesome if done right. I think that color is more enhanced with film photos, and I also love the slight grain produced from low speed films. (Though I am not a fan of heavy grain from high speed films.) I also think the prints look better, though I’m not sure why this is. Maybe it’s the aforementioned grain and enhanced color. (Though, admittedly, all of this could be a figment of my imagination.) And…since I’m not worried about my son touching my old film camera, I let him take a few photos as well, and he did a really great job. (If he even breathes on my Canon 50D, I begin to have a rather frightening psychotic episode.)

I confess…..after snapping a pic with the 35mm I looked down at my camera about 10 times to see the photo I just took. And felt slightly perturbed when I couldn’t view the pic. Dear technology, you spoil me.

Also….trying to explain this film thing to my 10 year old son was interesting. We would take a picture and he would say, “Let me see it!” Then I would say, “Sorry. Can’t. Remember what I explained to you?” Him: “Oh, right.” We did this about 3 times.

My old, unimpressive film camera felt a little silly taking a picture of my 50D. I mean, the poor thing, he knows when he’s in the company of a superior being. But I told him to be strong and just take the pictures. He did, and when the pics came back, I showed them to him, and he felt much better about himself.

My oldest took this picture.

Yes, I am restraining the kid in the picture. It’s necessary as he never stops moving for any reason. Literally. 

And, the jewel of the the entire 24 exposure roll…….

I. LOVE. IT.

It may not be that spectacular of a picture to some people (or a lot of people), and I could see why, but it’s one of my new favorites. Maybe my biased opinion comes from the fact that my boys are the models.

Now, I’m not going to make film photography an often thing (too expensive), but I would like to continue to do it on occasion. It’s fun, and it’s a good learning experience for my son. So, considering that I’m breaking out the film after years of pretending it’s dead, I would like to explore the photography world a bit more with one of these…..

OH!!!! Isn’t it beautiful?!?!?! I think vintage cameras are so sexy. Don’t you? The heavy duty construction, the weight of it in your hand, the clicking sound the shutter makes…….yep….totally sexy. I’m stalking a few of these little beauties on ebay right this moment.

Okay, okay…the reason I want one is to test myself. I have a pretty good working knowledge of exposure and all that photography jazz, but with cameras today it is just SO EASY to take a good picture. With these vintage models, you really have to know what you’re doing, or the shots come out like crap every time. And, well, I think I know just enough to do one of these sexy little cameras justice. So, I wanna give it a go.

(Note: While I do find the Canon AE-1 to be a sexy beast, it should be clarified that I in no way find this camera to be sexier than my Canon 50D. That would be ridiculous. And stupid. And really, really dumb.)

Alright. Weird, random photography post is now abruptly concluded.

My camera is the the sexiest thing to ever exist.