Frosty the Sno—HOLY CRAP!!!!

So.


Say you want to go out in the snow and make a snowman with your kid but you realize you don’t have any carrots, coal or buttons to make the snowman’s face.


You might assume that using M&M’s and other candy would suffice.


But.


You.


Would.


Be.


Wrong.




Very, VERY wrong.




I’m still having nightmares. *shudder*

© Coracabana

The limelight

Aaaaaaaand now for another update on this year’s Project 365….


Day 46 (2012-02-15) ~ So, I decided to try doing a re-shoot today of a photo I did in a black and white photography class I took about 18 years ago. Back in those old pre-digital days (let's call 'em the Darkroom Ages) (ba da dum tish) editing my pictures was a lot different than it is now, obviously. Back then I had an image in my head of a lime under a light which I was going to call "The Limelight". I wanted the photo to be all black and white except for the lime which I wanted to be neon green. However, creating the picture back then was not easy. I shot it on black and white film and tried coloring, painting, dying, and even putting food coloring on the lime on the print to make it bright green, but I could never get it right. Grr. Thanks to the digital camera and Picnik, creating the picture this time was SO MUCH EASIER. Is it the way I pictured it originally? Not yet.... but it's closer. I think the light was a bit too harsh, but otherwise I'm happy. I think this is a shot I will be revisiting again in the near future with a softer light source. I'll get it right one day. Yep! :-)

Day 47 (2012-02-16) ~ Not a lot of time for picture taking this day--*sniffle*--so I just snapped a quickie of a heavily graffitied wall that I pass by roughly three times a day. Usually, I'm not a fan of graffiti, but somehow I really like this wall. The colors are so vivid that they just seem to pop right off the bricks and practically poke you in the eye!




Day 48 (2012-02-17) ~ We saw the play "Grease" at Wednesday's school. At the end of it, she turned to us and said, "So, what the heck is the moral of this play anyway?!" "If you dress trashy, you get the guy," said Scope, jokingly. "I thought so," she said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head in disgust. God, I LOVE having a bookworm for a daughter!!!!

Day 49 (2012-02-18) ~ The stairwells in our condo building have these windows which always remind me of ice cubes in stacks. When the light hits them just right, they're really quite beautiful. Because of the windows, I actually enjoy climbing up all those flights of stairs each day and I rarely take the elevator anymore.




Day 50 (2012-02-19) ~ Bokeh and clover, over and over! This was my first attempt at creating custom shaped bokeh. I read some how-to guides and then figured, whattheheck, I would just wing it and see what happened. It’s not really what I wanted, but for a first try, I think it turned out pretty well. Next time I take a whack at it, I think I would do better to use a shaped hole punch with smooth edges to make the shape in the lens cover instead of trying to cut my own (which resulted in more raggedy-looking clovers than I was hoping for.) I'm also suspecting that I might have cut the shape too big and perhaps that's why a lot of the clovers ended up only partially visible in the image.... or maybe the clover just wasn’t centered, I’m not sure. (????) If any of you awesome creative souls out there have played around with shaped bokeh before and have any suggestions for the next time I try this experiment, your tips and advice are absolutely welcome! :-)

Day 51 (2012-02-20) ~ A ticket to ride…. Remember back when Disneyland had tickets for all the rides? I have a small stack of them and they are kind of fun to look at every now and then. I still remember being small with ribbons in my hair and flipping through the little ticket books with my dad to see which ride we might go on next. I'll probably end up using these in a craft or scrapbook at some point. But until then, I think they make a pretty nice picture. :-)




Day 52 (2012-02-21) ~ It was a rainy day at the park. All the squirrels were hiding up in their trees and no-one was out walking their dogs, but I was there with my camera and I thought it was kind of pretty with the trees all glistening with beads of water.




Okidoki! We are 14% done already! Sweet! :-)

© Coracabana

Tuesday’s Treadmill Tracks…. yeah, this one hurt a bit, dammit!!!!

Welcome once again to Tuesday’s Treadmill Tracks. As usual, I put my iPod on shuffle yesterday and it served up a slew of songs for me while I was on my 5.75 mile walk. However, as UNusual, my earbuds started malfunctioning and were actually giving me zappy, little static electric shocks in my ear (WHAT THE--???? No-one told me earbuds could do THAT!!!! OUCH!!!!) so a big portion of the walk was not on the treadmill, but to and from Target so I could buy new, non-shocky earbuds. And, yes, because of Tuesday’s Treadmill Tracks, I still kept track of all the songs, even as I was being electrocuted! How’s that for devotion, people?

But anyway….

So, let’s have at it! (Just clicky the song titles to catch each song on Youtube if that’s your thing.) Enjoy!


1. Behind The Wheel - Depeche Mode

2. Binary Love – Blake Lewis

3. Cool – Gwen Stefani

4. Blue Sky Mine – Midnight Oil

5. Lovesong – The Cure

6. I Hear Motion – The Models

7. F**k You – Cee Lo Green



8. Hit – Sugarcubes

9. Baby Got Back – Sir Mix-A-Lot (Shut up.)

10. The Reflex – Duran Duran

11. Comfort Eagle - Cake

12. Ebay – Weird Al

13. The Great American Melting Pot – Schoolhouse Rock

14. Wind It Up – Gwen Stefani

15. It’s Oh So Quiet – Bjork (Oooooooh, I love this one!)



16. Hey, Headmaster – Pet Shop Boys (This song always reminds me of Dumbledore. *sniffle*)

17. Stay Up Late – Talking Heads

18. Permanent – David Cook (*sniffle* again.)

19. Fun Fun Fun – The Beach Boys

20. Forget You – Cee Lo Green (Ha! Both versions of this song in the same walk. Nice.)



21. Holiday – Allison Iraheta

22. Something’s Always Wrong – Toad The Wet Sprocket

23. Josie And The Pussycats – TV Show Theme Song

24. One Of The Boys – Katy Perry

25. Pets – Porno For Pyros

26. Detective – No Doubt

27. You Sexy Thing – Hot Chocolate

28. Harry Potter – Harry And The Potters

29. My Sharona – The Knack

30. Barbarella – The Bongos

31. Danke Schoen – Wayne Newton





© Coracabana

Who watches us while we watch Chuck?

Aaaaaaaand now for another update on this year’s Project 365….


Day 40 (2012-02-09) ~ Back in his single days, my hubba hubba hubby, Scope, had several little gargoyles sitting on shelves around his home. The story goes that his friends and family kept telling him that whenever he finally met The One and brought her home to stay, the first thing she would do would be to throw out all the ugly gargoyles because—as rumor had it—chicks don't dig that sort of thing. Well, ha! I love them. Especially this little fella who sits right by our TV, grinning at us while we watch Chuck and American Idol. (Of course, I own a life size Dobby the House Elf statue, so what the heck do I know about appropriate house decor?!)




Day 41 (2012-02-10) ~ It started snowing these odd little pellet-like snowflakes in the afternoon, so I thought I would re-shoot the deck picture from Day 39 just to show the snowflakes off.




Day 42 (2012-02-11) ~ Every year after Christmas when Wednesday was little, we used to take our gingerbread houses into the woods and leave them there for "the fairies" to live in. Now that she is older and we live in the city, we take our gingerbread houses to the park for the squirrels to snack on. The squirrels are a riot every time we do this! They run and leap all over the place, half curious about the delicious smelling little houses and half scared of getting too close. Soooo funny. We left the houses in the park this morning and while the other squirrels zipped here and there in nervous excitement, this little fella came right up to me and even fearlessly nudged my shoe, looking at me expectantly, as if asking what else we brought for him!




Day 43 (2012-02-12) ~ We were running errands and tackling life a good chunk of the day and I completely forgot about taking a picture. Oops. Just as the sun was about to set—*BING!*—I remembered it and immediately grabbed my camera and took a close up shot of a blown glass ball that is hanging in my window. For being shot in a hurry in rapidly fading light, I think it actually turned out surprisingly well. In a way, it kind of reminds me of the way a swimming pool floor looks distorted through water.




Day 44 (2012-02-13) ~ My Strawberry Shortcake Dolls were my favorite toys when I was a kid, and my most favorite one was Blueberry Muffin. I had dozens of these cute scented dolls and my whole room smelled like a bakery. Mmmmmmmmmm.




Day 45 (2012-02-14) ~ Happy Valentine’s Day!




Okay, so we are 12% done with the project now! There’s more to come soon.

© Coracabana

Tuesday’s treadmill tracks…. from The Violent Femmes to a theme park ride

Welcome once again to Tuesday’s Treadmill Tracks. As usual, I put my iPod on shuffle yesterday, and here is what it served up for me while I was on my 5.5 mile walk. (Just clicky the song titles to catch each song on Youtube if that’s your thing.) Enjoy!


1. Bohemian Like You - The Dandy Warhols

2. Spelling Bee – Meryn Cadell (Aww. YouTube fail. Couldn’t find a link to this one. Boo.)

3. Locked Out – Crowded House



4. Copacabana – Barry Manilow

5. Gone Daddy Gone – The Violent Femmes

6. Short Skirt/Long Jacket – Cake

7. Dancing Queen – ABBA

8. I’m Just A Bill – Schoolhouse Rock



9. Night Fever – Bee Gees

10. Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life – Monty Python

11. If I Can’t Have You – Yvonne Elliman

12. Hey Baby – No Doubt



13. More Than A Woman – Bee Gees

14. Love Is Wicked – Brick & Lace

15. SuperScratchaVocalisticTurnatableLicious – Blake Lewis

16. Solid – The Dandy Warhols

17. Haunted Mansion Holiday Ride-Through Mix – Disneyland Theme Park Soundtrack



18. China Girl – David Bowie

19. Billie Jean – David Cook

20. Headstrong – Ashley Tisdale

21. Great Southern Land – Icehouse

22. Bump In The Night – Allstars

23. Harajuku Girls – Gwen Stefani

24. Everybody Needs – Oingo Boingo



Happy Valentine’s Day, to my hubba hubba hubby, Scope, and to you, Blogaritaville!!

© Coracabana

Who knew Smurf butt cheeks were so darn cute?!?!

Aaaaaaaand now for another update on this year’s Project 365….


Day 36 (2012-02-05) ~ I toyed around with a levitating Froot Loop a couple of weeks ago and thought I would take another whack at it with Valentine Conversation Hearts this time. I definitely like the Froot Loop one better, but this one makes me giggle too in its own way.




Day 37 (2012-02-06) ~ Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone…. Yes. It's a Smurf butt. I was taking pictures of a Valentine's Day cupid Smurf I have had since I was a little kid and I couldn't resist turning him around for one last picture from behind. Of course, the behind picture ended up being my favorite by far, because.... well.... how often do you get to see a Smurf derriere?!

Day 38 (2012-02-07) ~ A proud mama moment. Wednesday brought home her first semester Freshman report card and it’s straight A’s! And she’s in the extra-tough honors classes too! Incredible.




Day 39 (2012-02-08) ~ I took this macro picture of my deck and I can't stop staring at it. Seeing it so up close, looking all rickety like this just makes me marvel at how buildings even manage to stand at all, really. Just amazing.




Okay, so I’m 10% done with the project now. Woot!

© Coracabana

Tuesday’s treadmill tracks…. from Van Halen to Laverne and Shirley

Because I sooooooo enjoyed putting together last Tuesday’s treadmill tracks post, I’ve decided to make this a regular feature—at least until I get tired of it. So, once again, I put my iPod on shuffle and here is what it served up for me while I was on my 5.75 mile walk yesterday. (Just clicky the linky to catch each song on Youtube if that’s your thing.)

1. Binary Love – Blake Lewis

2. The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead – Crash Test Dummies

3. Shut Up and Let Me Go – The Ting Tings

4. Friday I’ll Be Over You – Allison Iraheta



5. The Power of Love – Huey Lewis & The News

6. Sister Madly – Crowded House

7. Friday Night – The Darkness (By the way, I’m still beyond thrilled that The Darkness had a Super Bowl ad! Squeeeee! LINK.)

8. Let’s Groove – Earth Wind & Fire

9. Everyday I Write The Book – Elvis Costello



10. Weirdo – The Charlatans

11. Alice’s Theme (Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland Soundtrack) – Danny Elfman

12. Useless – Depeche Mode



13. Colors of the Wind – Disney’s Pocahontas Soundtrack

14. Wouldn’t It Be Nice – The Beach Boys

15. Miserablism – Pet Shop Boys

16. Jump – Van Halen



17. The Sun Never Shone That Day – A-ha

18. How Deep Is Your Love – Bee Gees

19. Good Life – Leslie Mills

20. Hot N Cold – Katy Perry



21. You Might Think – The Cars

19. It Only Makes Me Laugh – Oingo Boingo

20. I’m Too Sexy – Right Said Fred

21. Kissing A Fool – George Michael

22. Going, Going, Gone – The Posies

23. Cold Fever – The Models

24. California Gurls – Katy Perry



25. Laverne And Shirley Theme Song

26. No Matter What – Bad Finger


And that is that! :-)

© Coracabana

The one where I take you through the carwash

My Project 365 is still going splendiferously. (Yay!) Everyday I take a picture and, most days, I try to attempt something I haven’t really dabbled in before (like levitation!) (And bokeh!), so I’m learning a lot about my camera, its lenses and editing through all of this. Here is the latest update….


Day 31 (2012-01-31) ~ Valentine’s Day is coming and, Hubba Hubba Hubby, this one's for YOU!




Day 32 (2012-02-01) ~ I was in a cartoon-y mood this day, I guess. :-)




Day 33 (2012-02-02) ~ Ohhhhhh, the danger of living next door to a bakery! I have concluded that this is a bad, bad, BAD thing!!!!




Day 34 (2012-02-03) ~ I didn’t have a lot of time to play around with picture taking this day, so I just shot a quickie of my old Kodak Hawkeye folding camera.




Day 35 (2012-02-04) ~ Scope and I took our car to a DIY car wash. As I climbed out of the car to help Hubba Hubba Hubby wash it, he insisted I stay inside so I wouldn't get wet and cold. (Awwww.) So, I sat in the car watching him washing the windshield. The sun was bright, so the soapy streaks across the glass became dark silhouettes against the blue sky. I started snapping pictures of them. This one is my favorite and was taken right as the water came shooting across the window to wash all the soap away.

The project is about 8% complete now. Still many more to come!


© Coracabana