Art Attack 2.

I've been thinking about selling some of the photos I've been taking. There are certainly some I would pay money for, so I'm assuming that others might feel the same. So as I've been pondering this, I've also been playing around with the new Photoshop and experimenting with some of the filters. One that I really like is the watercolor filter. Here are some of the results. What do you think? (All images can be embiggened by clicking.)
I'm also thinking of framing them in tandem with the original image.


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Art Attack.

Every September, Boise holds an event called Art in the Park. Dozens of artists of every variety and quality gather in one of the many downtown parks to hawk their wares.

The weather has been magnificent, and the place was packed all weekend.

And what's art without a plethora of greasy, fried food?

And colorful performers.

Complete with flapping wings and eccentric apparatus.

Dog-headed children.

Uncompensated embraces. (O. took full advantage.)

And a bunch of kids playing Metallica covers.
Altogether a lovely day in the park.

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Write If You Get Work. Part 2.

So we're writing again.

Now I have a job! I'm doing contract writing for a local software company. I start my first assignment today. It looks like we have a future in Boise.

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Write If You Get Work.

So we're writing.

Today O.was offered a job that is right up her alley with Community Partnerships of Idaho. She is very excited, and we are very relieved.

I had an interview today with a local software company about doing some contract writing for them. The interview seemed to go quite well, and I'm hoping to hear from them next week. I've also gotten expressions of interest from a couple other opportunities, so things are looking up.

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Our Future Looks Cloudy.

I grew up at the beach, and I miss the ocean. This is as far inland as I've ever lived. One of the compensations is the variety and splendor of the cloud formations. It's rare that Southern California gets interesting looking clouds, so I've been reveling in the magnificent displays we've been enjoying almost every day here. All images are clickable, and I urge you to do so to see the detail. These are just a few days worth.

Some of these remind me of Hubble's shots of distant nebulae
(clouds in Latin, so I suppose the resemblance isn't really
that surprising).

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Tummy Talking.

Luciya: Look at me! I can play the piano with my head!

O: Luciya, I want you to clean up your puzzle before you do something else.

L: (Playing the piano with her head) No.

O: Luciya, you're not being a good listener. Please pick up your puzzle.

L: But I don't want to.

O: I thought you were going to be a good listener.

L: But my tummy says I don't want to.

Or "My tummy says I don't want to go to bed, etc." When her tummy speaks, she listens. Other authorities, not so much.

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Zen for Three-Year-Olds.

Luciya: Mommy, why is an elbow called an elbow?

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Strict Parenting.

Emily (to Luciya for the nth time): Luciya! Please don't dance on Mirabel's head!

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In Which We Visit The Moon.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning on Labor Day weekend, so we decided to take a trip to the moon.

Our journey took us east through the dry plains and rolling hills of central Idaho.

We are in love with Idaho's big skies and gorgeous cloud formations.
We so rarely got spectacular cloudscapes like these in California.

The land turned agricultural.

Then, everything changed. This lunar landscape is part of the 1100
square-mile national monument called Craters of the Moon.

Almost exactly 41 years ago, Alan Shepard and the crew of Apollo 14
trained here for their visit to the Fra Mauro highlands.

The landscape was formed by a series of basaltic lava flows,
starting about 15,000 years ago, from the hot spot
that has since moved on to its present location under
Yellowstone National Park. Even though the hot spot has
passed, the area is still predicted to erupt again in
the next few thousand years.

The last major eruption was only 2,000 years ago. The basaltic plain
is now 60 miles wide and over 10,000 feet deep.

In 2000 years, very little plant life has managed to colonize this
blasted landscape.

Only lichen and a few hardy weeds seem to thrive here.

These spatter cones are remnants of the last eruption.

It was about 80 degrees at the summit of the spatter cone,
at the end of a hot Idaho summer, but just thirty feet down
its throat there was unmelted ice and snow
from the previous winter.

It will take thousands more years before these tenacious trees
and weeds break the layers of basalt down to fertile soil.

It was a fascinating day, but we were glad to return to the lush,
tree-covered landscape of Earth.

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The Chunk Sits Up!

Most DS babies have poor muscle tone, and that's true to a certain extent of our lovely Mirabel. However, she is on the high side so far, rolling over with wild abandon and now sitting up.

We managed to get the first time on camera and video.

Look at that great big held-erect head! Emily is as prolific at creating names for loved ones as I am. So we are inventing new monikers for the Chunk every day: Chubbers the Love Chimp, the Little Loaf of Love Lard, Fatty the Love Cabbage, and Fatty the Fat-Faced Ferret are just a few. Was there ever a child more loved?

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All's Fair in Idaho.

Last week, we took Luciya and Mirabel to the Western Idaho Fair.

With a little coaxing, L. tried her hand at feeding the animals.

And there were some pretty spectacular animals.

L. found their butts particularly fascinating.

She also got to milk a cow!

She proudly wore her milking badge for the rest of the day.

And ride a pony with Dadda.

And a big-girl ride with her mom. Guess who's having the most fun.

And of course, she loved the pig races. Who doesn't?
It was such a joy seeing the fair through her eyes. She had
such a great time that even the silliest things were great fun
for the whole family.

And it wouldn't be a fair without colorful rides.

Blue-ribbon crafts (because some racist @$%! never goes out of style).

Disgusting pseudo-foods.

And transient temples to high-calorie goodness.

John even convinced O., who hates rides, to board the Caterpillar.
In all, a lovely day of greasy, sun-baked fun!

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