cobaltika

if i hadn’t been such a slacker yesterday, i could probably feel justified in taking an illegal snow day today. buh. i could clean up my secondary artTable and set up my NEW SEWING MACHINE. i could eat scrambled eggs and ice cream. i could make TTV images out of my household belongings.

but i am moving slowly and putting it off as long as i can. the going-out into that white soft fluffy world. i have warm clothes. i’m not *that* worried about the cold. mostly i’m worried about the cars sliding around and trying to hit me, as i know the sidewalks will be impassable. i hope there is not ice!

mostly i would rather just stay in and be cozy.

apples in afternoon : ensign ful-vue with lumix fz7

another trend i have taken up with for these frigid winter times. it is *so* much fun and rather magical. making images through the viewfinder of a box camera makes me feel like a photographer of history, that thrill and amazement of “capture”. so far i have not created a “contraption”, as many use, but like the flexibility of being handheld. it *is* hard though! i know i am going to acquire an awful cramp in my back.

but it will be worth it. magic is worth a little distress.

the weekends are full and precious and i usually like to wake up early and start them so i don’t miss a minute of “my” time. but since it seems to be bear season, instead i sleep late and have outrageous dreams. even though it is more convenient on the weekend, i still feel a little cranky to “oversleep” for 2 hours. this has happened for 2 mornings. but the dreams are fun. no, i’m not going to ramble on *again*, describing them. they are too complex and my poet is now my morning victim for re-hashing. he is so patient.

so now i am sitting in my already-sunny artRoom in my blanket and red socks, slatternly still in my nightgown after 8:30. errands and chores are mostly done, a little laundry to finish. some photowandering with traci occurred yesterday in the alleys of my neighborhood. she had her little green pinhole machine and her brownie. i had two projects of double exposure in mind, which i worked on, but it seems like miss jemima had her own secret project going on and came home with a card-load of white pointy mean little sheds and houses. that silly girl. there are more on flickr upon clicking the image.

then we had a dinner of couscous with a garbanzo bean/mushroom stew and finally finished Bleak House on iMac theatre. i LOVED it and wished it had gone on forever. we tried to watch Crash afterwards, but it seemed much more bleak than Bleak House, so we read books instead.

now it is today and i thought it would be gray and snowy (lying weathermen) and i would be in and at the artTable all day. but nooooooooo. it is sunny and 40 degrees predicted. i want to go out and play!!!

church north lawrence kansas : olympus xa2 - real film - photoshop

i have longed claimed that i am not a “Real Photographer” and have mostly avoided film and the math/science aspects of Real Photography. most of my image-capturing devices have been digital. film and developing are expensive. the darkroom is stinky (in an interesting way). and i have limited time and patience. the instant gratification of digital photography is so lovely. artistic risks are possible, even for the cautious.

a few years ago i bought a Holga, then some eBay polaroids, acquired some cheap plastic 35mm cameras to abuse the lenses with nailpolish and scratches. hmmmm. it was so interesting. worth the wait and small expense when cool things happened! soon enough i find i have also a collection of vintage film cameras–a Lomo, Olympus XA2, Smena, a Diana clone, Brownie Hawkeye, Ensign Ful-Vue. there is a plastic box of many films in the refrigerator. i realize i am now “into” film, but still don’t quite see how it happened. i have even caught myself looking at film SLR’s on eBay. migod.

i will say though, that when it is cold and dreary and all looks the same every day for months, it is quite lovely to sit and work with some Real Photographs and film and my beloved–Photoshop.

i know i am behind. i have seen this stylish “look” all over flickr & photo sites. sometimes it is real crossprocessing. in fact, that’s what i believed it was. no one ever said… it is funny how people are so secretive about techniques that are just photoshop plug-ins. i know if i am doing something particularly unique that i have figured out, i don’t want to give away my style and “secrets” either, but hey. if it is a photoshop plug-in or action that *anyone* can use? so i downloaded Urban Acid. and have been having a great time experimenting with it. of course all the images look alike, but oh well! it’s too cold to play outside.

this week has been sleep. eat. plod to the office. (sleep) keep the little XA2 in pocket anyway. use it some. sleep. share a few words with my poet. sleep. every day has been the same color and temperature. we have undertaken the entire 3-DVD series of Bleak House. started last night. i love it. it keeps me awake.

in reality it was much too frigid to be out wandering with a camera on Sunday. but the light was *so* lovely … impossible to resist.

more here

it feels a typical monday. still very very cold. not-pretty light today. sleepy even after an outrageous amount of sleep last night. it is definitely hibernation time. almost weepy today. from a-not hearing from the girls in what feels like forever, even after practically humiliating myself begging. did betsy return from london safely? how is margaret’s poor jaw? b-sadBad dream about my poet last night. totally unreal, but one of those things that hangs on.

still wondering about journalling outloud online. maybe it is time to stop altogether? that would feel lonely, i think. wish i could make LJ look the way i want, if i am going to use it well. silly to be so concerned with the visual aspect, but hey. it’s mine. wondering also about etsy. the initial response was sweet, but now it is very quiet. i guess it is like that unless you spam daily, which i will NOT do. or if you are famous or something. wondering if i want to put some of my prepared books on there. yesterday, worked on a new one, trying to ascertain how long it takes to make one from the start. realized no one would buy them at a fair-to-me-too price. the preparing is the part i like best. then they sit there because i don’t know what to do next. thinking about prints. hmmmmmm. i don’t know…

i have my XA2 in my pocket. maybe the light will be pretty when i (finally) leave here today.