Castle in the Clouds

I thought this might be fun.  Welcome to my review of my top ten favorite apps!  Yes, ten.  I know you can only see nine in that image but...keep reading! These are in order that they appear in the folder, not necessarily in order according to use.  Also, this folder does not really exist on my iPhone.  I created it so I could get a quick picture (screen capture). Project Life I will probably end up doing an entire blog post dedicated to my affection for this scrapbooking app.  It's a real time saver and, while it won't replace my enjoyment of traditional scrapbooking, I will be printing more and more 12x12 pages in the months and years to come. I have a handful of apps I use in concert with the Project Life App and I'll go over those in another post, I promise.  While I'm here, though, I want to mention that in addition to using my iPhone photos, I also download photos from my Flickr and Google Photos accounts directly to my camera roll...

I'm not embarrassed to admit I take a lot of pictures, maybe too many.  I use my iPhone from time to time, but I much prefer my Nikon DSLR.  I love the crispness of the photos, the ability to selectively focus, and adjust settings to work with the lighting available.  I love capturing motion without unsightly blur.  I love that even when the ISO is bumped up to insane numbers, the noise in the picture is still minimal when compared to the noise I get on my dratted phone.  Yet, there is one thing that phone does better than my expensive Nikon equipment: it takes decent videos.  If I use my Nikon, you can hear the autofocus mechanism in the audio track.  It whirs and clicks, clicks and whirs, as the sensor struggles to keep the subject in focus. The iPhone, on the other hand, does not distract the viewer in such a way.  It just records. The thing is, though, that I forget about the wonders of recording.  Pictures are great.  They ar...

Have you seen any info on this new partnership ? If you don't want to click on the link, here's a brief summary: By adding a monetize feature to my blog, I could make linking to books and other items in the Amazon catalog oh so easy. Here's the thing. I've never tried making money off my blog. Mainly because, well, hello, not that many readers! Not that I don't love and appreciate every single one of you, because I do. But it seems to me the only time it might make sense to partake of such a venture would be when it might be fiscally beneficial. Yet, I'm tempted. Not because of the money. Nope. Because I am lazy and anything to make my life a little easier seems like a good idea. I link to Amazon a lot. Not because I'm expecting any of my readers to buy from them, but because that's where I do a lot of my buying. Don't hate me. I'm lazy. I thought we had established this... Anyhow, I'm tempted. But I'm also wary of the "m...

Yep, I got bored once again. Not to mention I was really tired of the dark colors used in the last template. Since Spring is approaching - yes, it is! - I thought I'd add some bright and sun-shiny colors. My only disappointment is that the YouTube videos still hang over the edge of the main column.

My sister-in-law has one of these little lovelies. Ohh, how I want one now. It's small enough to fit in my Nikon carrying case. It takes awesome video. And it's super easy to transfer to the computer! Now I just need to find a couple hundred bucks....

Random Item #1 Youngest will not be wrestling on Sunday now. Instead, he will be at a tournament on Saturday with his Dad while I'm off with the oldest at basketball. Hubby has kindly offered to take pictures. I'm curious how well he will do as this is gymnasium photography, which usually makes for poor photographs. Random Item #2 Internet Explorer 7 locks up more than any other piece of software I know. It is driving me insane. Random Item #3 I've been thinking about doing a 365 day project. It sounds fairly easy. One photo every day. It should capture some part of what it's like to live in your life. (Of course this idea is scrapbooking related, but I'm thinking more along the lines of Flickr. The last thing I need is one more scrapbooking project!) Random Item #4 I am way behind on my scrapbooking. At this rate, I will never get Maine or Disney done. And let's not talk about the boys' school or sports albums.

When we upgraded my hardware at home, it seemed like a good idea to upgrade the software, too. Vista looked good. It's supposed to be more secure and heaven knows I can use all the security I can get, especially since I tend to use a lot of downloadable programs (Picassa, Flickr Uploader, etc..). Vista is a pain. I got a new external harddrive that came with its own drivers and one-touch back-up software. Yeah. As soon as I installed the driver and software, Vista started flaking out. Hubby now has to fix the new computer so I can use it. Right now I can only get the internet. While that may sound just fine to most of you, I need Word and Picasa and the Flickr Uploader. So...updates here may be slim until this issue is resolved.

My computer, that is. Last night I wanted to back up some photos to a DVD. After much cursing and praying, I ended up having to reboot the system. What happened next does not bode well for my computer's continual well-being. Black screen. White blinking cursor in the upper left hand corner. This lasted for several minutes. In fact, I was beginning to think it had truly died when the Windows logo reappeared and the start-up processes started to run. Whew! Although most of my data is saved on an external harddrive, there are a few things that automatically save to the desktop, like the Itunes music I buy. I should probably transfer those files over to the external harddrive first instead of backing up the photos... Wish me luck!

I need practice. Check out my Flickr account to see some of the first action shots we tried to capture with the D40. Not pretty. P.S. I didn't post the good photos, mainly because I was seeking help. The portrait shots were fine.

I got my camera! It's bea-u-ti-ful! After opening the box and getting the lens attached and the straps put in place, we had to give the battery time to charge. Lucky for me, I had an errand to run after work, so the battery charged while I took the boys out to eat and then soccer shoe shopping. I'm happy to report the kids each got a new pair for under $20. Gotta love the Outlet mall! Although I should note that the oldest was a bit bummed when I wouldn't let him get turf shoes and forced him to buy the ones with no toe cleat that are made for outdoor soccer. For him, it's all about appearance right now. Unlike the outdoor shoes that would fit his size 5.5 foot, the turf shoes came in a wider variety of colors and styles. This might not have been the case if we had done our shopping a bit earlier, but things were pretty well picked over by last night. After we got home the boys had to have baths. Stinky creatures! It was finally at bedtime that I was able to ...

TV Reviews

Today the boys had their first basketball games of the season. I wanted to take the video camera but I forgot to charge the battery. That left me with the digital camera (the one I need to replace because the pictures are getting progressively worse ). Here's the end result from the littlest guy's game... Now I know gym pictures are a bitch. Still, these are pretty rough even when the subjects aren't running around (see picture #2). This is why I've started taking just a wee bit out of each paycheck and setting it aside for a digital SRL. It may take me six months to save up enough, but I'll get there eventually. As a scrapbooker these kind of photos make me crazy. I can't fix this level of blurriness. The sharpen feature in Picasa or even Photoshop can only do so much.

Well, what can I say? That last one was driving me crazy. I hated that it didn't have the navbar at the top. Hopefully this one isn't too hard on the eyes. I really like the background, so be prepared to see this one for awhile!

I've been experimenting with digital scrapbook layouts. There are some elements I really like. The stamp feature is a lot of fun, especially when you consider how many freebies can be found on the Web. On the layout above I used a swirly stamp that I got from Obsidian Dawn . If you browse her site for a minute or two, you'll notice the variety and intricacy of her photoshop brushes. Amazing. I also like how I can put on title and journalling. There is no guesssing involved. And it's much easier than trying to figure out how to get a 8.5 x 11" printer to do extra large titles. The eye-dropper tool is another added bonus for working in digital. I pulled the colors above from Danielle's shirt. How fun is that! The downside to digital? I'm not really fond of the flat look. I don't like how the ribbon element turned out. The page looks digital and that's not really what I'm going for. I know this will probably take some practice, but first I need to fig...

I've been trying to change my profile picture...and Blogger is simply refusing to let me input a new URL. I hit the save button and...it erases the URL and fails to upload a pic. This is very frustrating. Any suggestions?

The DSL was working when I got home. No re-cycling. No muttering or cursing. Just steady green lights. I wonder if unplugging the DirectTV Tivo phone cord really made the difference. I guess only time will tell. Keep your fingers crossed! I am!

I'm taking a couple minutes out of my lunch to let you know that the hubby and I are still dealing with Internet issues. Our DSL has been flaking out for about a week now. Hopefully it will be fixed soon.

I think I know why traffic here is so slow. I'm not controversial. I don't post or, more importantly, argue my personal views on politics, religion, or anything else that could remotely be considered a "hot topic". I don't post anything revealing. Not about me and not about my family. I shy away from mentioning work. I avoid bad-mouthing people if I can. I rarely rant. What I do post are updates on activities concerning me, the boys, and my hubby. This, my friends, amounts to the ultimate in boring blogs. Damn, that sucks. But do I want to write entries that will stir up more than casual interest? Do I want to risk the flame wars and name-calling? Do I have the energy to not only present my views but to fight to support them? Here in blogland I'm not terribly concerned with swaying popular opinion, or defending my buying into popular opinion if that's the case. Oddly enough, in person, I'm very open. Some people might even consider me out-spoken. More ...

I'm going to be playing with the look of the blog over the next few days. Just thought I'd warn you..

Ah ha! So I deleted all my cookies, temporary Internet files, and my history. I logged out of gmail and logged into Blogger fresh instead of allowing it to auto-log me in. Finally Blogger decided I had earned the right to type into the message field. I feel so privileged! LOL Wish I would have thought to do that over the weekend. I would have been able to post this meme when I wanted to on Friday. Womens Fiction Book Meme 1. Contemporary, Historical, or Paranormal? I use to love historical romances but now I'm more into paranormal. Although, I'm not real big on vampire romances, which is weird because I love vampires. Guess I just like mine mean and scary and staked. 2. Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback? Mass Market. I'll buy trade but I'm never happy shelling out an extra couple bucks for them. As for hardback...yeah, I'm too cheap. 3. Heyer or Austen? Since I don't even know who Heyer is, I'll have to go with Austen. At le...