Characterization

It’s the time again…when Spring comes, language is renewed.  I would like to post one of my favorites here from the great John Keats.

Ode on a Grecian Urn

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness, 

  Thou foster-child of Silence and slow Time,

Sylvan historian, who canst thus express 

  A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:

What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape 

  Of deities or mortals, or of both,

    In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?

  What men or gods are these? what maidens loth? 

What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?

   What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard 

  Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;

Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd, 

  Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:

Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave 

  Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;

    Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss, 

Though winning near the goal--yet, do not grieve;

  She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, 

    For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed 

  Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;

And, happy melodist, unwearied,

  For ever piping songs for ever new;

More happy love! more happy, happy love! 

  For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,

    For ever panting, and for ever young; 

All breathing human passion far above,

  That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd, 

    A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

Who are these coming to the sacrifice? 

  To what green altar, O mysterious priest,

Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies, 

  And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?

What little town by river or sea shore, 

  Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,

    Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn? 

And, little town, thy streets for evermore

  Will silent be; and not a soul to tell 

    Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede 

  Of marble men and maidens overwrought,

With forest branches and the trodden weed; 

  Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought

As doth eternity: Cold pastoral!

  When old age shall this generation waste, 

    Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe

Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,

  'Beauty is truth, truth beauty'--that is all 

    Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

Interested in reading more of my favorites…keep your eyes open on my two blogs.  Yea, I am a sucker for the classics…perhaps a bit of shakespeare tomorrow…hmmm

I just read an article in the New York Times about digital scrapbooking and was intrigued, yet appalled at the same time.  How can people give up their creative efforts and penchant for glue, stickers, and other items in favor of digitized photos, layouts, embellishments, and audio and video files?

Well to prove that I am uninterested in this endeavor, I will show you the latest scrapbook I finished for my cousin Michael and his wife, Annie, for their first wedding anniversary.  I hope they like it as much as I have enjoyed making it for them over the past year.
Sorry about the yellowish tint; it was either that or a burst of flash on the pages and you wouldn’t be able to see anything of the photos or the arrangements.  This is the front cover; I generally prefer books with a picture window on the front.  If you cant see, the photo I choose is whimsical..with frosting on my cousin’s nose.

In this album, like many of my others, I chose black and white and color photos.  I like both mediums actually.  This album, however, does not contain any digital photos because I did not understand my digital camera at the time of this wedding and all of those photos were promptly deleted because they were too blurry.  LOL Now that I am a digital guru of sorts, my scrapbooks are likely to contain digital photos as well.
Also, this is the first scrapbook where i substituted color pages for the white ones that came in the book when I bought it, though generally, I only buy books with black pages because I prefer them.  However, black pages may not have been appropriate for this album given the wedding theme. 

This is one of my favorite photo pages in the album because Annie and Mike look like they were photographed in the olden days (little framed photo of them at the doorway of the church).  Actually I have to say that Annie is easily photographed.  She looks great in anything she wears really.

The key to making a good scrapbook page is to fill it with details and words and photos, but not too fill it up too much or it will look contrived and cluttered.  Ugh I am distracted by the ruckus in the office hall given they are constructing or deconstructing whatever the case may be.  You get the idea.

This is a nice collage of photos with two color framing one black and white photo of myself and vova (grandmother to you non-portuguese).  This is a simple page, but the photos have been cut with those design scissors to make them more than simple photos, but works of art.  Ok, maybe I’m biased.  LOL

This is the one I am proudest of because I used two elements; first the mirrors and second the buttons inscribed with love, marriage, bride, groom, i do, and other sayings.  Placing the buttons on the mirrors allowed the words and the colors of the buttons to stand out against the bland background color.  I like the three different poses I chose for the cake scene as well.

This page merely shows you my first attempt at incorporating fabric, in this case ribbon, onto one of my pages.  I think it sets the photos apart, which is good because they are really different aspects of the reception.  and yet, the ribbon gives them some connection to one another.  The jury is still out on this photo…I haven’t decided if I like it or not.
Maybe you are getting sick of these photo pages by now I have no idea, but I only have one more to show you after this one.  Again here I incorporated photos, words, and a frame for an extra kick.  I’ll let you assess this one on your own.

This is the last page of the book.  I really like red paper I think…it shows up quite a bit in this book.  Scrapbooking is easy, but back to my original point…would digital versions of a scrapbook be this unique or beautiful?  LOL  OK I really am biased aren’t I?

Since I wrote such a long entry last time, I thought I would keep this one shorter with just one photo of a beautiful getaway for giraffes at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego.  If the animals need a drink or just to get away, this is the place to do it.  Gee, I wish I had one of these places near my apartment; that would be lovely.

In other news, working hard this week and trying to get several scrapbooking projects off my plate and continue with the freelance work I have started this year.  I’ll have to keep you posted on my activities…a lot quicker than a month later huh?  Ah San Diego is so much fun to revisit though, and I will have to have some photos of Boulder and Broomfield, CO posted as well.

Meanwhile, I will have to leave you with this oasis, so you can relax at home by your computer or on your couch if you have a laptop…just imagine the nice hot sun beating down upon you and the cool breeze of the Pacific Ocean. 

An Ostrich Farm?  Well, you have now.  Yes this was right up the road in Encondidos from the wonderful Farm Stand, which sold…can you guess?  Ostrich Jerky!  LOL You heard
it here first folks.  Ostrich jerky…and no I did not try any.  Sorry, I was being adventurous this trip,
but not that adventurous. 
        So we found this little ostrich farm on our road trip to the San Diego Zoo’s
Wild Animal Park in Encondidos (forgive my spelling).  Ah but before we get into our little visit to the wild animal park, which is relatively inexpensive at $28 per person, let me share with you a wonderful set of breakfast photos…I had Chorizo con huevos this morning while the other two jokers I was with had traditional fare for the most part.  LOL  But as you can see One is serious, that would not be Cris, and the other is not.

If you know anything about Cris, he is hardly ever serious…even when he needs to be or should be…but what can you do…not much…he is what he is…lol  does make for amusing blog photos though doesn’t it?

So back to the trip to the wild animal park.  Included with the price of admission was a long train ride around the entire park from which you could take photos of the various animals in their habitats.  This was relaxing more than imagined given that there were soo many kids on the little tram.  While it was beautiful and I took literally hundreds of photos…my trip through the park on foot was plagued by these creatures…

Bunnies…cute little…run of the mill…bunnies…rather than taking shots of wild african or asian continent animals, I was traipsing through the park taking photos of these scatter-brained little creatures…that would appear and disappear as soon as I approached to get a closer photo.  It was quite ridiculous how much time I spent photographing these bunnies that I could have photographed at home.  :)) I thought you would all find that amusing at least.  Meanwhile, my husband spent a great deal of time trying to photograph a different sort of animal…one that escapes photographers most of the time…

Ah he caught me from a distance…we won’t show you the close-ups he took…lets just say that I’m scowling…nevermind the fat that now resides all over me…LOL  I did promise food pictures from the Hash House a Go Go didn’t I?  O well, guess you will have to wait until next time for that since I did not remember to post them this time around…hmm Unless I can find the quickly before I have to get back to work.  But until then let me upload this photo that my husband took…he’s quite the little artsy photographer these days.

I really liked this photo and though you would enjoy it as well.  But I did find the files with the smashing and stuffing food from the Hash House…my god were we stuffed to the brim…ah but you knew that we would be for the entire trip didn’t you…when visiting other places you must sample the cuisine…particularly the landmark cuisine…
Here is the famed place in San Diego and yes if you visit you must have breakfast here at least once…expect a doggie bag…that’s for sure…you’ll see why I recommend it in a moment…

This was Shannon’s plate of food…i mean vat of food or do I mean skillet…well they called it a skillet of food, but I think it was more like a vase or a pot of food..Shannon like my brother can pack away the food, but let me tell you…this was even too much for him to finish in one sitting.  I will show you my plate after I ate my fill.  LOL you will laugh at this one because the plate doesn’t even look like it has been touched at all.  too funny…but the food was excellent.

Now….I hope you enjoyed this little ditty because there is more to come in future days.  ta-ta for now…

Here is a view of the city of San Diego from across the bay.  My husband was getting all artsy in his photos this trip, not that he isn’t always that way mind you.  He also has a tendency to wander off, leaving the rest of us saying, "have you seen Cris?" "No, it was your turn to watch him."  LOL

Now this photo, were dubbed the twin towers of San Diego, by our friend Mary’s father.  These are the cutest anecdotes when you are site seeing.  I recommend having friends or friends of friends in every city.  They can give you the low down on everything and they always have interesting stories.  The one sad thing about this trip is that I forgot to take photos of the famous in-and-out burger.  DARN IT!

Hotel del Coronado: the famous resort of the rich and famous in San Diego.  Yes, we went inside, yes it was awkward, but by grace it was beautiful.  These are the places you see on television and in movies that make you want to be rich and famous, just to have the lap of luxury at your feet.  Note I am posting a picture of the hotel because the day we visited I saw no celebrities.  :)  The gift shop had oodles of expensive items to purchase, though I chose to spend my money elsewhere.  LOL  Kid were gaily swimming in the HEATED OUTDOOR POOLS, while their parents sat poolside bundled up in warmer jackets and long pants.  Too funny.  I was wearing a sweater that day as well as sneakers and socks; hence the disappointment of no photos with me stepping foot into the COLD PACIFIC OCEAN.  But I did take this beauty.  If you look close enough you can see a figure standing there on the edge of the ocean and you will never guess who that is.  Why its Cris.
He has no idea that I took this picture I think…he will eventually when I print all the San Diego photos out, but I love the picture…reminds me of a postcard.
These are just a few tantalizing photos to whet you appetite.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.  Oops, almost forgot.  I took this beauty as well….
Gotta Love the Pacific Ocean crashing on the rocks.  Nothing like it, except maybe the Atlantic.