A few photos from my guest photographer...

I took a couple of your typical conference photos with my cell phone cam today but my mom and sister (who are here having a good time while I attend a conference) headed off to the San Diego Zoo today. You need to understand that my sister Susie has had a fascination with Koala Bears for as long as I can remember. She, before kids, had a big koala bear bank that all her spare change used to go into - that was her Australia trip fund. I'm sure its contents has gotten put towards the kid's college funds. I still hope that someday she can get there. Until then, the Koalas at the San Diego Zoo will have to do for her.

I don't turn over my camera too easily but I figured at least the camera should have a good time today since I was stuck in sessions. So, before I headed out to sessions this morning Susie got a crash course in Program Mode on my Nikon D80. Needless to say she was ecstatic with the pictures she got. It helped that they were there early in the morning - she's never gotten photos of the koalas awake and playing. Here is a sample of her excellent work from today.

 

Susie heads out tomorrow so mom will have to hang out by herself tomorrow.  It won't be a problem as she is enjoying the great view out of our room.  It has been a lot of fun having we girls together for the long weekend.

Susie's Tour Service

My sister Susie lasted all of about six hours before she needed a car today. Susie's capable of packing more activities into one day than just about anyone I know. She has planned family trips to Italy and London as well as all sorts of places in the US. She's been to San Diego before and when we woke up this morning she was more than ready to take us out for a day on the town.

We first headed up to Torrey Pines State Park where we got to see beautiful ocean views and nice nature trails.

Next, we went to the Pacific and Ocean Beach areas where we had a delicious lunch and then saw this cool wharf with little cottages on it.

We then headed to Pt. Loma and Cabrillo National Monument. Along with the gorgeous views we saw this cute little guy...

...as well as this strangely talented young man...

There were also more beautiful views both of the ocean...

...and the cool light house.

Finally, we headed over to the beach near the Hotel del Coronado which was built in the late 1800s. Susie, my coworker Lisa, and I walked along the beach (and I got to stick my toes in the water here too so that's my goal - all three bodies of water surrounding the US in the same month!) Took several pictures of ocean and hotel - very beautiful.

We headed a few more places but I didn't get as many pictures from those. It was a great day - lots of fun and great memories.

Greetings from San Diego

Mom, my sister Susie, and I headed to San Diego this morning. I am attending the League for Innovation in the Community College conference here in San Diego while they hang around and enjoy San Diego. We're all pretty tired tonight after a long day of travel so we're just enjoying the view from the room at the moment (the photo above was taken out our window).

We enjoyed a nice dinner at Joe's Crab Shack which is located near the hotel in the former San Diego Rowing Club facility right on the edge of a small park.

Hoping for just a little warmer weather tomorrow and for the rest of the trip.

Snow and Sun

I had to be downtown early this morning for a meeting at the new JW Marriott in Indianapolis. We got more snow and sleet through the night so the drive was a bit treacherous.

The end of the though was clear and sunny. Made for beautiful reflective light on the pond in the back yard and a gorgeous cloud formation with the setting sun.

Heading out for a few days. Will have pictures from another new locale!

Happy 21st Birthday Dear Ashley!

There aren't too many dates out of the year where I remember exactly where I was, what I was doing, and what the weather was like on the same date from previous years but the days my dear nieces and nephews were born I remember quite clearly. Today was Ashley's twenty-first birthday. The day she was born twenty-one years ago was cold, snowy, and icy so we didn't get to be at the hospital when she was born. My sister and brother-in-law kept us up to date by phone all through the day and into the evening when this beautiful lady finally made her way to us.

Thanks to my wonderful sister and her husband, I've always gotten to share a very close relationship with Ashley. They were both teachers when they first got married so they traveled a lot in the summers and I got to travel with them and help care for Ash when she was little. I taught her to curl her tongue when she was just two or three months old and how to enjoy a good cup of crushed ice when she was about two. We've shared a ton of other great memories.

She's all grown up now and off at Ohio Northern University where she is studying to be a pharmacist. However, on the night of her twenty-first birthday instead of partying with her buddies (she and one of her best buds Audrey share their birthday), she spent a quiet evening at a hometown restaurant with her grandparents, mom, dad, and aunt. I can't help but be proud of a wonderful kid who knows how to have fun but also appreciates the family that loves her so much.

Thanks for letting us be a part of your big day.  Happy Birthday Ashley!

Ashley with Grandma and Grandpa Monroe

Late Night

Don't you think this is too late to just be getting home and having dinner? You're right...I agree. Glad this doesn't happen to me too often. Hope your week is going well.

What Inspires You?

I have been giving a lot of thought of late to what inspires me.  Tonight's photo - food - is one of many things that inspire me.  I love to cook - I just don't get to do it often enough.  I also love a quiet dinner out with friends.  I'd lump a nice glass of wine in here too.  Other things on a short list of things that inspire me (in no particular order):

• A beautiful sunrise or sunset (I'm not picky - I'll take either)
• A brilliant, blue sky
• A starry night
• Just about anything crafty
• Having my camera in my hand
• A smell (cinnamon and other spices are current favorites)
• Light (soft lighting makes me think of portraits - bright lighting makes me think of a filmstrip).  This goes along with color as well.  Orange is my favorite but other colors grab my attention from time to time.
• Almost any body of water (you name it I'll normally find something I like - swimming pool, babbling brook, raging river, wide ocean)
• A lot of other things in nature - birds seem to be a recent favorite
• My pets
• My nieces and nephews
• Family and friends

I really snapped today's picture because I wanted a few shots to stick in my sketchbook to practice drawing a still life but since I felt uninspired overall today I thought perhaps a list of the things that inspired me might help end the day on a bright note.  What inspires you?

Muddy Mutt

Lindsay is a beautiful dog.  She's got the most beautiful blond hair and gorgeous brown soulful eyes.  She's also got a pretty great smile. 

However, at the moment, she looks like Pig Pen's best buddy.  There is nothing we can do about it.  Four old towels have given up their last threads trying to get her clean after her many romps in the mud.  But, to no avail, because here she is still coated in a layer of icky sludge.  It doesn't matter.  I still love her no matter how yucky she is - and at this point - all I can do about it is laugh. As you can tell - she doesn't really care either.  I've told her the mud is good for her skin - and I do think that once it comes off her fur it actually does make her fur softer.  The silly girl can't help herself - she LOVES to play outside.

I took this tonight as I was walking up the stairs to head to the bedroom and asked her if she was ready to go to bed.  She bounded up the stairs ahead of me as she always does, but as I looked up to see her standing there I just couldn't help but laugh.  I immediately realized these had to be my photos of the day.  With more rain in the forecast over the next few days, I have the feeling many, many more towels are going to lose their lives.  Guess that means our living room will continue to look like a muddy militia marched through it for a few more days too.  Glad that my carpet is the color of mud anyway.  Doesn't matter - still wouldn't trade her for the world. 

Hope your Monday wasn't too - well - Monday.

Muddy Paws

I've given up the fight. I just can't keep up with the muddy paw prints on the carpet and the kitchen floor. I've run out of swiffer pads I've cleaned up so much. I'd still rather have this than all the snow and ice we have finally gotten rid of, but I think I'm going to run the Roomba to death. Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Playing with Color and Lighting

Today was just your basic Saturday - lots of errands, work around the house, the usual. However, I was playing with the afternoon light streaming in through the sheer curtains in the living room. I usually have to play around with color a little bit to make it look like what I remember seeing when I took the picture. Today though the natural light kept this cool pom-pom yarn and regular yarn their natural color.

Also played around with the manual settings on the camera while I was sitting in the line (three wide) to get into the car wash today. I'm amazed at how fast those guys move though - I was still washed and on my way within 10 minutes - I love Mike's!

Wine and Canvas

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled on an advertisement for a place called Wine and Canvas. I asked my buddy Cherry Kay if she'd be game to try it and she said sure so after a delicious dinner at Bonefish Grill we headed up to a "studio" just across from Keystone at the Crossing here in Indy. We were given our aprons and handed a (very) blank, white, 16 x 20 canvas. I had joked with Cherry Kay before we went that it was probably paint by number - but it wasn't - it was completely blank canvas. Each station was set up with an easel, paint, and brushes.

We had an excellent instructor named Katie who took us through all the measuring out using our brush as our measuring tool and painting in our lines.  I forgot to grab a shot before we started but this shows the little black guide dots we used for measuring with just the first bottle "sketched" in with paint.



Then we mixed and filled in all the colors...

Palette - Before

Palette - After

...and we walked out three hours later with our finished masterpieces. Mine is already hanging in my kitchen. Absolutely fun evening - can't wait to go again!

Totally Tangled

I am still loving Alisa Burke's Sketchbook Delight class.  This week, we're finding our muse.  I think my muse has taken a hiatus - but I still decided to fill a few pages of my little sketchbook tonight.  I picked up a copy of the book Totally Tangled at the library earlier this week and I have to say that I'm in love.  I may not have much skill at actual drawing, but I can copy the fun and funky patterns detailed in this tiny - but oh so packed - little book. You can see the fun "doodles" I made with the step by steps in the book - and this was just the first page of the book.  I'll have to see if I have some of the other Zentangle books (see what it is at their web site) on reserve from the library.  These are so much fun to draw and doodle - and the book's easy step by steps make it so simple even I can do it :-)

Happy Friday tomorrow.  I love it when I already know what I'm taking a picture of the next day - and I know EXACTLY what at least one of my photos will be tomorrow.  Can't wait to tell you about my new experience with Wine and Canvas tomorrow night.

Florida Escape Summary

I took about 200 photos while I was in Florida - only about 60 of them made it onto Flickr.  I'm not sure how many will end up here, but I'll try to keep it rather brief.  I had a wonderful long weekend in Florida visiting my parents, aunt, and uncle.  It was the "beachiest" Florida vacation as we got to both the Atlantic and the Gulf Coasts.  If all goes as planned, I'll have my feet in all three major bodies of water surrounding the US before the end of this month so it's a big month.

My aunt and uncle picked me up at the airport and we headed over for lunch at mom folk's place near Barefoot Bay Florida which is about 20 minutes north of Vero Beach.  After lunch, we headed down to Vero Beach.  It was windy but very sunny and beautiful.

 

These guys were our welcoming party,

 

but you have to be careful, because not all beach residents are safe to touch - even if they are absolutely gorgeous!  My dad was walking along with me as I was snapping shots and I kept telling him "don't touch"..."don't touch" - I think it's so cute when the kid becomes the parent...

 

Loved that his feet were the feet for both his real body and his reflection.

 

This young man was surfing with a friend...his words to me when I asked if I could take his picture..."Anything to keep me out of the water - it's freezing."

 

Aren't these little guys cute?  They were so very tiny...

 

...and smart - they knew exactly when to get a move on to get out of the way of the wave.

On Sunday, we stayed around my Aunt and Uncle's retirement community. 

 

We took a tour in their golf cart - which my aunt, of course, drives expertly.  I snapped some pictures of these oranges.  Oranges were at the peak of their season so all the trees were loaded down.  

 

A crane

 

My aunt and uncle on their porch!  Aren't they cute?

 

Another ride in the golf cart...or did we walk...you do so much socializing and are out and about so much I forget how exactly we got there - this is the lake in their park.  I took several shots but this one with the sun almost completely gone and the boats in the foreground was my favorite.

And on Monday - Valentine's Day - we spent a day on the other coast at Anna Maria Island, FL which I had not visited.  We hit the sand and I have to say that I just simply took off - glad my aunt and uncle were okay with watching the chairs for a little while as I headed up the beach to make friends...

This guy looked really regal to me.  Love that he has two reflections too - the sun was right overhead since it was right around noon so I had trouble capturing shadows - had to really work to get this one.  

I didn't capture a picture (he declined to have his photo taken) of the lovely gentleman in the blue jogging suit who serenaded me with the theme from Camelot.  We chatted a moment before he took off on up the beach to serenade some other lovely ladies (his words).

 

Great hair-do!

 

Love how he has one leg pulled up and how the fact that the sun is directly over us makes his shadow look a little bit like a bomb - or a fish - depending on how you look at it.  Either way, for this bird, it's an appropriate reference.

 

I met a lovely family from Seattle.  I stopped to take a photo of the Sand Castle just up from this one and as I started to pass by theirs - not wanting to interrupt their family time - I was invited in to take photos.  Their daughter who was four had supervised construction of their "Seashell Palace".  Isn't it gorgeous?  I didn't meet her, but her two brothers insisted I take photos of their Super Trucks climbing up their Super Mountain.  It's great how when you're that little everything is Super.  I have to tell you that they were pretty challenging customers - lots of requirements for their photos but in the end the photos met their requirements - how do you know - lots of squealing and giggling when they looked at the screen on my camera.

 

Doesn't he look so incredibly free?

 

If this were a building instead of some little critter's house we'd demolish it - but just like with old buildings I find a sort of incredible beauty in this beautiful shell.

 

I played around with this a lot in lightroom to kick up the color and detail.  Still not sure I'm in love with it, but another pretty good bird shot.

 

As we were driving in my Aunt had talked about a local beach - she wasn't quite sure where - that you could swim out just a little ways and collect Sand Dollars right off the gulf floor - as many pieces of Sand Dollars as I saw while beach combing I could believe it would be possible.

 

I was making my way back to my Aunt and Uncle who had been watching the chairs for quite a while when I stumbled upon this crowd - I wasn't sure why they had all gathered together, and then...

 

...as I got closer I saw what they saw...

 

I am pretty sure it was a beached jelly.  I stayed pretty far away as I had ditched my shoes the second I hit the beach but isn't it cool looking!?

 

Loved the symmetry of the pair of kayakers, the pair of buoys, and the pair of birds who happened to be topping the buoys at the moment.

We left this beach and headed up to the cafe at Holmes beach for a great light lunch (yeah - corndog at the beach!)  After our light lunch we headed on up the coast a bit more and decided to stop at Cortez Beach which was still in the Anna Maria Island area in Manatee County.

 

As we walked onto the beach there was a young family who was trying to get a picture so I offered to take their picture - they had formed their daughter's name and this little heart out of shells.  I hope they like the photo I took of them.  I loved their creativity.  I love walking up to folks and just offering to take photos - especially families.  I do it everywhere.

 

 

Isn't this little one adorable!

 

Time to leave the beach.  There were lots of these little bridges along the parking area that ran along the beach - connecting you between parking lot and beach.  Loved grabbing a shot of the weathered wood.

 

Best Valentine's Day ever ended with this HUGE plate of Coconut Shrimp at a great restaurant called WaterfronToo!