cobaltika

windowsill : new spycam test

i don’t know if i am going to keep this thing (Olympus FE190) or not. even with a trade-in making it almost free. it is *very* tiny and light, and definitely finer than any plastic digital spycam i have used. i hoped i would have the option of making spycam shots that were of a better quality, however. i mean, i can take *anything* and glamorize and grunge it myself. but sometimes i want something clean. i don’t know. the tiny size is pretty irresistible. it has some nasty traits though. like you have to remember to turn off the flash every time you turn it on. perhaps i will read the manual though…i could be wrong on that.

no profound words on the last day of this year. some resolution to be a little more outgoing in the new one. too much isolation and introversion is not good. try to pay off some more debt. continue to simplify. like that.

no big parties at my house. we are celebrating the entire weekend with the trilogy of Lord of the Rings on iMac theatre. maybe some potato chips tonight. heh.

wishing for safety and health for all i know.

lita’s mexican restaurant : east austin texas : july 2006

: : : : : : :

church : north lawrence kansas : december 2006

: : : : : : :

these are my two new favorite images. i am in love with my Valiant plastic camera. it has taken a while. what? 3 years? but it seems i *finally* have learned to use it. or else i am getting really lucky! as much as i hate scanning negatives, i was actually squealing with joy when scanning the last three rolls, because i loved them all! too bad i have used my good scanner that does film to scan BEESWAX ART and stuff with glitter on it!!! well. i guess it gives the images an ancient look?

i wonder if clicking the images will go to flickr? i tried to make that happen here. i still haven’t figured a way to make photo pages work in a way i like on my own site yet.

wheee! a gloomy saturday to stay in!

motorinnHotel : kansas city missouri : olympus XA2&realFilm

it has been an easy week, but i am still delighted it is friday. and the official email has just been sent that tuesday shall be a national day of mourning, so our offices shall be closed. it is probably inappropriate to go “wheeeee” right? but a 4-day-weekend! joy!

i will try to be relaxed, but it is slightly difficult. today betsy left town in a rented Grand Prix to drive a few hundred miles into oklahoma to go visiting. her only driving experience has been in our beatermobile around town. i taught her how to do cruise control this morning. she was a little nervous driving over 55 and fascinated by how quickly the car would STOP and GO. drooling over the CD player. etc. omigod. just relax mama. she will drive on small roads, which are slower, but only 2 lanes. i’m really trying not to think about it too much. i sent a cloud of protection with her and my fingers are crossed. what else is there to do?

am ready to settle down into a new year. there has been too much overindulgence this month and i am weary of both eating and spending. luckily we are running out of money, so now i can concentrate on cleaning and artmaking. i have been making prepared board books and playing with lots of new images. some film! i want to re-make my website, but am unsure how exactly to proceed. what i want to share. i have bought two new cameras. one i got roped into via the Olympus trade-in program. two cameras boxed up and ready to trade in, felt rather appalled at the trade-in estimates, and then i wondered if i could do better on eBay, so i listed them, my first listings ever.

my Canon A620 and my Lumix FZ3. both are as sweet as pie. if they don’t sell in the next 3 or so days, i will trade them in for the tiny Olympus spycam i found. and the new Lumix FZ7 is in the mail. oboy. i am so BAD. oh MY!!! i just went to find the links and the Lumix is sold! my Lucia! i don’t know if i am happy or sad. i thought i would keep her for a backup, because i loved carrying her, but oh!

anyway, i was surprised how easy eBay is. Amazon would not let me list the Canon. i know there are fees at eBay. everyone fusses about it. but it is convenient and sometimes that is quite worth some fees. now i *really* want to clean out the basement and the cedar chest! there are treasures…

the junkstore window : lawrence kansas : jamcam

it was a fine holiday. on xmasEve, late afternoon, i wandered with the jamcam. i was looking for holiday lights, and surprised to see so few. the fresh air was good though. then made pesto pasta with tomato and fresh mozzarella for xmasEve dinner. we wallowed and read the rest of the evening. slept very late on xmasDay, woke, made coffee and a giftpile (it was very small and sweet), we did some rip and tear, talked to family on the phone, arted and listened to Rolling Stones and Gene Autry xmas songs while betsy made Crust. i cut up some things to put in the Crust. my poet completed the quiches. one Morningstar “bacon” and onion, the other sundried tomato and spinach. they were SO GOOD. omigodgood. betsy and i drank cold white wine and we had salad. then FLY to the movies with the dessert in our pockets. the decision between Good Shepherd and Apocalypto was difficult at first, but the timing made our choice for us and i am *really* glad we didn’t have to snooze through the Good Shepherd. Apocalypto was GRUESOME as hell, but at least it was hugely entertaining. then home. cleaned up. wallowed and read the rest of the evening.

then back to work today.

still looking at cameras. now thinking of the Canon S3 IS. hmmmmm…

and wondering about the new year to come.

i keep wondering when i will be able to go back. not *this* xmas, for sure! but perhaps in the spring, margaret and i will meet there again, finally, and wander and look and shoot and eat and be. i like being there with her. (and with betsy, of course, but she will be MUCH to faraway to join us). the last xmas in new orleans was odd, i was sad and rebellious and determined to make my own time and reclaim my own self. it was lovely there and i made many images that i have never shown. and i pretty much got myself back together i think. and it snowed. on christmas day. it was so amazing to wander the french quarter in the snow of 2004 and watch the great silliness of both tourists and residents. now, of course, i wonder if it was some kind of meterological preview for the nightmare that was to come. i am *so* ready to return.

enough nostalgia. i am quite happy in my little world here for now. i have slept late. the sun is coming out. as soon as i can get out of my nightie and put this big coffee down, we will go to the store and buy a few foodstuffs then home for the rest of the day. maybe a walk later. and more artTable. yes!

the new important camera is packed in its box, ready to return. whew. that libran event is over. i knew yesterday when i didn’t want to “bother” with carrying that Big Thing when we met traci for lunch, then planned a photoWander after … i just wanted to carry my little Olympus XA2 and the Valiant. i dreaded the big camera. so i came home and packed it. i am a mosquito. and a naive photographer. i travel light. i manipulate everything. the FZ7 will be wonderful for me. i have already handled it and i know. it was good to have a photoWander yesterday, even though we didn’t see many thrilling scenes. we walked on the north side. i noticed several of my favorite doors were GONE. but not from me. i have them for always! well. as long as pixels last…

i wish for peaceful celebrations for all.

i guess i’m not sure exactly why i want such a *good* camera anyway since the images i take the most delight in are the ones that come from my … pencam! or jamcam! but, i do like to capture easily and reliably with a good, basic cam and then make transformations, too. also the thought of making them BIG is tantalizing. i am still vascillating about the fz50. last night i played around a little more and even Read The Manual (instead of a novel, in bed) and i have a much better grip on the numbers now. it doesn’t seem to be as hard as i thought! but it is just so BIG. the Uzi was also big and i was fine with it. but i have been carrying tinycams around for a while now. i like to be sly and incognito when i am capturing. i don’t want you to see this big black barrel pointing at your little housey. or *you*. ha ha!

well. there is still the test of wandering to be performed this weekend. if this day ever ends, that is. i think we are making quiches for xmasDay dinner. i sort of wish we could go out, but i’m afraid everyone would think that too costly (as if a pile of fancy groceries from the Merc are any less so?) and i doubt there is a place open in town on that day. oh well. perhaps i will just let betsy and my poet cook! and i’ll paint! mostly i am excited that i have a LONG weekend and it is a weekend of no work and no travel. the first in over a month! wheee.

so the “new tool” is here for me to investigate. the panasonic lumix fz50 that i have read so much about. hmmmm. it is mighty sweet, that is for sure. it was a relief to have the familiar lumix menus in front of me again, even though this camera has GREAT capabilities, it is not excessive with options. i am thinking it might be “too much” for me, though. vampires - mosquitos - we don’t need fancy tools, just comfortable and quickly manageable ones. and i seldom enjoy a shot straight out of the camera. if it is not glamorized or transformed in a way to suit me, it does not feel like *mine*. i can’t really take it out for a walk until the weekend, so then i will decide whether to keep it or have the fz7 instead. i feel almost embarrassed to think of walking around with such a Big thing. like who do i think i am? some photographer? ha! i’m not!

i am glad to have this chance to decide. i don’t think i will *ever* buy a new camera that i have not touched again, with no option for return. i realize the handling and management of the camera is *very* important to me. the canon makes a beautiful clean image, but i must “wear” my camera and the only carrying strap i have found is a lanyard-style, which makes for an awfully clunky pendant around my neck. camera in pocket? camera in bag? does not get used by a mosquito. and i *still* don’t understand the canon menu’s! despite even Reading The Manual! i guess i will try to sell it on eBay to help pay off the new one.

it does not feel a bit like xmas and i don’t care at all. each year i become even more detached from “the festivities”. i am glad to be spending the holiday with people who do not have expectations and i do not have to provide some event for them. i did it for years when the girls were little (in a restrained way) but now we are all rebels. yay. it will be a day off from the office - a long weekend! we will probably cook something good to eat. share one gift. go to the movies. by new years i might put up sparkly lights. and leave them up the rest of the winter. new years day is probably my *favorite* holiday! cleaning out, starting over, making posole. and champagne! mmmm!