Camera Want

Anyone have $14K lying around so I can get my grubby hands on a Hasselblad? No? Eh worth a shot.

Picture courtesy of Jak & Jil.

New Camera And New Work

My camera arrived yesterday! I wasn't expecting it till much later this week, so I'm just thrilled I get to play with it before all the Christmas parties begin :)

Matilda had to come investigate and get her picture taken.

Isobel wonders why Momma is squealing...

Indoor pictures in the daytime are pretty nice. I still have to play around with the camera and actually learn to use it properly but so far, so good.

In low light last night. Coffee cup (you can see the handle on far left), Coke plus can, water... we obviously feel very strongly about hydration.

Night time couch photography. In low light again.

And there've been quilty things happening of course. I still have to take a picture of my husband's pressie. I tried keeping it secret but since my sewing room is an open space, secrecy went out the window almost immediately. Pffft.

Anyway, the above are two cut outs of ravens that I'm going to applique (wish me luck!) on a custom quilt. I couldn't find pictures large enough so I had to draw them. I can't draw. This is evident. I can't tell you how bloody long these two damn ravens took me to scribble out. But hey, as long as others can tell they're ravens, it's worth the while. Sort of.

My MIL asked for potholders for Christmas since hers are close to disintegrating. Her kitchen is blue and she is the high priestess of beige and brown, so I used a colour in between the two. Ecru? I dunno. It was in my stash and I didn't label the colour.

I made two with the blue star points, and two with the ecru star points. Now I have to figure out how to quilt it. I hate working with Insul-Bright, but it's what works best for potholders. The crinkly sound makes me want to barf, and my sewing machine hates it.

Off to do chores and stop playing with my camera :)

Early Christmas Pressie To Self

I just bought myself an early Christmas pressie and I feel a little nauseous.

To be honest, it's probably got nothing to do with Christmas -- I just really, really wanted it :) And I really shouldn't feel nauseous... play things like this are afforded by my quilting. Another reason to love quilting heehee!

I can't wait till it gets here. Absolutely cannot wait to be confused by all the buttons and dials...

For Your Professional Camwhoring Needs

An LCD screen on the front of the camera? Yes please!

I hate to play into the stereotype that Asians all walk around with cameras strapped to their hands, but I do love taking pictures of everything. And yes, I do the camwhore shot, made famous by MySpace. I wouldn't be a good Asian otherwise.

I do draw the line at the peace sign-kawaii thing though. Somehow when you're in your 30s, it just becomes sad.

Anyway, I immediately thought of my sister Averil when I first saw the ads for the Samsung DualView TL220, because the woman has taken camwhoring to a whole new level. I told her about this camera and she was suitable geeked out.

Not sure if this is a good camera because I'm not quite good at discerning specs and stuff, but I wouldn't mind it if Santa delivered this to me this Christmas. Just saying.

Second Childhood

Now that my dear husband's all done with law school, he's decided it's time he revisit his childhood. He went to his parents' shed and dug up his old computer games and now our living room looks like we have a adolescent in the house.

I tease him about reverting to his teenage years, but I think it's great he's finally got the time to do silly things like this. For as long as I've known him, he's had his nose buried in his books and even sitting down to watch an entire programme on TV is a rarity.

Anyway the game that's got him all happy is Panzer Dragoon Saga.

I know next to nothing about computer games. The only one I played when I was a kid was Super Bomberman... which I was terrible at it. But apparently this Panzerwhat'sitsface is quite rare, especially since it's in its complete set and in mint condition. Ever since he dug it up, he's been going onto eBay almost daily, then giving me a full report on how much people are paying for it.

He's sooooo lucky he's pretty.

Technology, Why You Do Me Like That?

It's official. Technology hates me, hates my husband, hates this household. First my laptop went screwy, then the treadmill... now, the damn cable box. Whatever's next??? I'm guarding my sewing machine and kitchen appliances with my life.

Why be like that, Technology? I thought we were friends. I thought I'd admitted to you that I'm a pathetic mess without you. And yet you feel the need to continually test my love for you. Why?

So tonight we sat around the living room looking at each other, and my sister sighs and says "Does this mean we actually have to talk to one another? Eww". Well said my darling, well said.

Then my husband remembers he just got a documentary from Netflix today, so it was either that or conversation.

They watched the DVD, of course. (It was I.O.U.S.A.: The Movie by the way, if you're curious.) (And excuse the blurry photo -- It was night and a sneak-attack picture.

I went to my sewing machine instead. I've finished the monkey quilt top and pieced together the batting. I hate to admit it but without TV, I'm pretty damn productive. Having said that, we need to get this sorted immediately.

But I'm very thankful that the TV in the gym works perfectly fine otherwise there'd be some panicking and yelling on the phone going on. And yes, technically we could go watch TV in there but my sister remains freaked out by my 'creepy basement'. Wuss.

I Exist Again!

A few weeks ago, my laptop's browser just stopped working. I didn't touch a damn thing... it just decided to lay down and die all on its own. It had basically become a very expensive and shiny paperweight / doorstop. Then a few days ago, one of my sisters asked me why I hadn't replied to any of her txts. I hadn't gotten anything, and apparently when I tried txting her, she didn't get it either. I tried txting and calling the hubs, nothing. My calls couldn't even go out, let alone connect.

First the laptop craps out, then my mobile / cell? When technology wants to make my life miserable, it really does a spectacular job of it. Technology hates me and it's not shy about it.

So yesterday I finally bit the bullet and took my laptop to get repaired. I got my laptop back today (love the Geek Squad for its efficiency!) and it works! Oh if I could kiss the Internet, I damn well would. Being without my laptop's seriously painful and it's pathetic how much I rely on it, but there you have it.

Apparently the operating system was corrupt (don't get me started on how much I want to punch Vista in the misters) so they basically returned it to its factory settings. I backed up all my pictures and documents... but of course I forgot to back-up all my bookmarks. I feel like someone's driven me blindfolded into the middle of nowhere and unceremoniously dumped me there without a map. But I'm being picky. The important thing is my laptop works and I can resume chatting to my sisters. That's really the thing I missed most.

Technology Hates Me

My laptop has decided to make me miserable. All my web browsers refuse to work, but thankfully my chat programmes work or I'd be tearing my hair out. I'm not proud of my Internet addiction but I fully admit to it.

So in order to stop myself from going nutty, I have sown even more seeds. Although I'm beginning to think it's much too tedious for me. So I planted half of what I have, and the rest will just be sprinkled on the ground once I'm fairly certain there'll be no more frost. Then again this is New England, so anything can happen.

They're mostly zinnias but I do have some sunflower seeds in there too. Just experimenting to see whether they do better in the soil than on the damp paper towels. Clearly, I have too much time on my hands without the Internet.

I did get some poppy seeds too but those will go straight into the ground. The package instructions were very clear about that. Who am I to defy the package instructions?

Also, I have finished a beret for a friend in Singapore. No, she won't wear it in Singapore. I hope. She told me she wanted a beret for when she goes on business trips, and since she's dark-haired and fair-skinned like me, red's a winner. The colour doesn't come up quite right here... it's a gorgeous, fire engine sort of red. More red, less pink.

I'm now working on armwarmers for her to wear at the office. I used to cover myself in a large shawl or pashmina when I worked in an office in Singapore, so I know full well how bleeding cold it can get. Hoping to get them done over the weekend so I can send them to her soon.