just maryse

Already February?

gah! january has been busy. i've been crocheting up a storm (unfortunately i can't show you what i've been working on) and doing a little knitting and cross stitching  (i can show you that, just need to do a little post-processing on the photos).  i've been pretty good on some of my resolutions - the important ones - namely the writing down of everything i eat and the exercise (i average 3 to 4 days a week of at least 30 minutes - i had a doctor's appointment and she was happy because my blood pressure was in the normal range again - it had started creeping up).  not so good on the photo walks.  i managed another one, which really wasn't a walk so much as a "stop and get out of the car and take photos before i freeze my ass off" kind of walk.  i also have to process those photos.  this time of year i have a hard time motivating myself. the lack of light gets to me and i'm so much less productive.

one fun thing i did do was take a knitting class with anne weaver over at Black Sheep Knitting Company in Needham MA. it is probably my first official knitting class but definitely not my last. i learned a lot and i definitely see some shawls in my future. i'm working on the one i started in class and i can not stop working on it! it's addictive.   and then anything with anne is fun.  her energy is infectious and she makes you want to make ALL OF THE THINGS.

work's been kind of a drag though. nothing horrible, just work. i'm lucky to have a job and to work with people i admire and respect but sometimes, i just want to give it the old heave ho and do something else (what i want to do that would maintain my standard of living is another thing). i can't help but feel that my lack of motivation isn't always about my being lazy but more about not being inspired.

so what's up for february? well, now i'm going to buckle down. increase my exercise (watching L&O on my ipad while on the elliptical is the key). and i realize that without a daily photo project, i get out of the habit.  i guess i am an all or nothing girl.

a blog i found via pinterest (i love pinterest so much - if you are visual like i am, you will too) called  fatmumslim is going to help me with that.  i'm a little bummed that i missed january now.

 

ok, that's enough for now. jesus, i just typed a lot of words today, didn't i.  heh.

 

 

 

 

It's been awhile ...

Eye Candy Friday - Images of Fall

 

 

 

you go to work, you run errands, you follow the same routes every day. it's easy to forget that within your own town, if you take a road that you've never noticed before that it can take you to places you never realized existed.

Rhinebeck 2011 Part II

oops, i meant to get this out sooner.  oh well.

rhinebeck is all about the animals, and festival food, and yarn and fiber. but it's mostly about the people.  the people you stay with, the people you hang with, the people you run into and only see once a year.  ALL OF THE PEOPLES.

 

adrian, amy, david, nancy, cheryl

 

nancy

 

stitchy mcyarnpants

 

erica and amy

 

thea and a lady with a sparkly crown.

i hate having pictures taken of myself so i'm always crazy sensitive about taking photos of others. which explains why i took so few people pics. i have to get over that.

next on deck, my purchases. i didn't go nuts. i rarely do.

Rhinebeck 2011 Part I

i look forward to this weekend so much, and i always have a great time. but i have to say, i'm a little relieved when it's over.  because OH MY GOD it is always so exhausting.

this is just a tiny fraction of everything that i did and saw. sometimes i forget to pull out the camera.

 

 

 

Lilacs

this is a baby lilac bush.  there's a story with this tiny bush.  my inlaws gave us 2 for our 5th wedding anniversary.  my father-in-law planted them in our yard but with the snow cover and such (they got stepped on - they were very tiny)  both didn't make it to the spring.  so for our 6th they got us 2 more.  one was destroyed within months.  again.  this one, i saved by removing it from the ground and planting it in a pot.  i figured it was less likely to get stepped on.

for our 7th anniversary, we didn't get anything.  heh. because we had separated 2 months before.

this is what the lilac looked like the last time i was at the house.  it's still small, there are just 2 bunches of flowers.  but in the fall i'll transplant it into the ground in a protected area.

 

which leads me to this.  j and i are talking. and spending time together.  a couple of months ago, he called me wanting to get a drink together and we've seen each other every weekend since. he no longer wants a divorce and wants me to come home. i'm not ready to move back yet.  i'm still freaked out by what happened last summer and he knows it.  but we're talking. and getting along.  and working things out.

we'll see.

 

also, HOLY CRAP!  two blog posts in one week!

Red

something's been bugging me lately.  nothing too serious.  just a little nagging thing. 

i have no idea where all of my time goes.  

 

i work a regular 40 hour a week job with some commuting time but since i've been living in the city, it's probably no more than an hour or two tops a day.  i don't have kids.  i live in a 400 square foot room.  (omg i'm in college again!!!!)  so you would think i had tons of free time to do whatever it is that i want to do! 

 

and the thing is i do! but i seem to have nothing to show for that time.  in the time it's taken me to knit one pair of socks or two, my friend chawne has made blankets and spun and quilts and all sorts of shit. and there are others out there just like her.   and i'm wondering, what is it that i'm doing or not doing that makes me so unproductive.   do i play too many iphone games?  do i need to step away from the computer more?  limit my time on pinterest? or do i sleep too much?

 

now, in addition, i'm starting to slowly gain back all of the weight i had lost in the fall, and that makes me sad and slow and tired.  so i know that i need to exercise more.  which i know will just eat more time away from my crafty pursuits.  heh.  (it's been suggested that i knit and walk but i'm not 100% sure that would really work).

 

anyway, all of this is more rhetorical than anything.  i just have to figure things out i guess.  procrastinate less.  do more. 

in the meantime, i'm taking photos of red things because on top of everything else, IT'S ONLY NOW THAT I'M BLOGGING ABOUT THIS YEAR'S PROJECT SPECTRUM!!!! 

i tend to love all colors (well expect for baby pink, barbie doll peach and beige) and i'll obsess about certain colors for a bit -- such as mustardy yellow or aqua.  but red is my favorite color.  it was no accident that this beautiful quilt includes so much red or that i drive a red car. 

so yeah that's about it.

 

4th Annual Macro May!!

the past few weeks have been a little rough.  oh nothing too serious, but i've been sick.  one would think that after all of the stress i've had over the past several months, that i would have been sick all Fall and Winter.  but no.  i got hit over the head with the worst cold i've had in a long time just as the weather was getting better.  fevers, chills, laryngitis.  it's been a joy.  and now allergies.  so i've been so tired.  even today.  i got 9 hours of sleep last night and i'm still dragging.  bah.

anyway, it's May already.  (it's funny how the older you get, the more time flies). and that means it's time for Macro May.  this was maritza's brainchild in May 2008.  (see, time sure flies).  and i have to say it's one of my favorite type of photo projects.  since my life can be pretty routine, i sometimes run out subjects pretty fast, but when shooting macros, even the most mundane things can look fresh.

like toast!  mmmm i love toast.

 

or berries on a wreath!

 

gingham!

 anyway, grab your macro lens or your macro filters, and play along.  it's fun!

 

 

 

Eye Candy Friday

as part of a flickr exercise, i've been going through photos from the past few years, picking one out each week that was taken during that same week but in the past.  on february 8, 2009 i took this shot.

 

 

i've been doing more spinning and some crocheting and thinking about knitting.  good things.

 

May Flowers!

in 2008, maritza and i "hosted" the first macro may month.   i put hosted in quotes because really we didn't do anything except for create a flickr group and then encourage people to go out and take macros.  we did it again in 2009.  and now for the 3rd year in a row, we're doing it again!  i know!  we are fantastic people!!!! 

anyway, i really like shooting macros.  i like the tiny details they uncover and how a macro shot can make the most mundane object seem fantastic.  it's almost like looking into a microscope.  i still remember the thrill i got when i first looked into a microscope's objective and saw wee beasties.  heh.

no wee beasties here though.  something more traditional for the first day.

i shot these using a macro lens.  the earlier iteration of this  Nikon 105mm f/2.8G   (i think.  i know i did not spend that kind of coin for mine.  no frickin' way.)   another great nikon macro lens is the smaller Nikon 60mm f/2.8G .  i don't remember why i went with the bigger lens, maybe it's because the 105mm also makes a great portrait lens, but i haven't regretted it. 

if you'd like to play along and don't want to get a macro lens, you can use close-up filters for your SLR.  i wrote a post about them a couple of years ago. (disclaimer:  if i'm off about the technical information, please don't drag me over the coals.  i did the best i could at the time.  thanks.).  i use them still because my macro lens is gigantic and weighs 800 lbs. finally, most P&S and many smaller DSLRs have a little flower icon on them.  check your manual if you can't find it.  anyway, you can use that setting in a pinch for the same effect.

anyway, all this to say, come and play!  we aren't exclusive.