Merry Christmas

I have been protesting for the last few weeks that I'm over Christmas. Christmas hasn't arrived and already I want it to be over. Yet, despite my protestations I find that I'm photographing all manner of Christmas things. Take a look at this week's #Project52. The theme was "On the Shelf", and I chose to arrange a pile of green and red spined books into a sort-of tree. As though that isn't enough, I wrap Christmas lights around the book tree.

Still not enough to stick to one version of the Books-in-the-shape-of-a-tree-arranged-on-a-shelf theme, but I tried similar versions with "Merry Christmas" overlaid on the image and taken with Lensbaby Composer. There are other compositions that are sitting on the hard drive that may never see the light of day.

And then there are shots taken with the iPhone, all with the excuse of testing out new filters and updated apps:

Yet I am still insisting I want this silly season to be over. It's too hyped, too commercial, too in-your-face, too greedy, too rude, too guilt-laden, too over-the-top. While I'm loathing the lead up to The Day, I know that the day itself will be great. It will be simple and relaxed and spent with those I love and cherish and who make me laugh.  They'll take my mind off all the crassness that has become Christmas and instead remind me of the true Christmas spirit. I hope that will also be the case for you.

So that is my Christmas wish for you. I hope you spend the day with those who are dear to you, who make you laugh, who bring out the best in you and you in them. I hope that the crassness that is now Christmas hasn't soured your spirit to the point where it spoils your day. If you're feeling like I do, let's get our narkiness over and done with now, so that we can enjoy the precious time we have with family and friends.

I won't promise anymore blog posts between now and the start of the year, so this is it for 2012. Unless I change my mind, of course. Apologies for not being up to date with the #project52 posts, but they will be caught up in 2013.

Merry Christmas and may 2013 be peaceful and joyful and fun. ♥

Ride to Conquer Cancer 2013

A few weeks ago I sent an email out to all the friends and contacts in my address book. I wanted to let them know that although I hadn't completely lost my mind, I was going to be undertaking a ridiculously difficult challenge in 2013. Much to my amusement, several friends contacted me to let me know that my email was spamming them. Conversation as follows:

Me: Oh hi friend!

Friend: Oh hi, ummm, I think your email is sending out spam.

Me: Oh no! Really! I'm so sorry! I hope your computer didn't get infected by any nasties!

Friend: No, nothing like that. Just some long winded email with lots of links at the bottom. No way was I going to click on those links. Pffftt!

Me: Ummm, did you happen to notice what the blurb was about? Did it happen to mention anything about a bike ride?

Friend: Now that you mention it...it did... a 200km bike ride - No wait... you're not doing that are you? *look of astonishment followed by look of disbelief* Bhahahahaha! You are doing that!

Me: Yeh, I am, and that email isn't spam. It's a real email from me. I wrote that long winded blurb and those links go straight to my page over at the Ride to Conquer Cancer. I'm so excited, it's going to be fun and I can't wait! (and I'm not even joking here people).

Now that I've been able to clear up with a few of my friends that I am indeed doing this challenge and that the email was in no way spam, I'm not offended one little bit that some of my friends think the challenge is beyond ludicrous. (sniff...) And do you know why? Because two friends completed the challenge this year and they said it was fun, and they're never wrong about stuff that's fun. Because I will be joining three friends who have also signed up to take part in this challenge, and it's always easier to face up to a challenge when you're with your friends. Because I know that even though my friends laugh and think it's madness on my part, I know they'll support me in any way they can.

It's going to be all sorts of challenging -  physical, financial and emotional. I knew it would be emotional, but just how emotional was evident when I opened up the email to let me know that one of my friends had left wonderful words of encouragement and had already donated - I burst into tears. It's going to get a whole lot more emotional, isn't it...

So please, if you've read this far, then do me a favour and please link this on your FB, Google+, twitter or whatever your favourite social networking site is; consider making a donation (anonymously if you prefer); leave me a message of support in the comments below. I'll keep this blog up to date with how the training, and the whole process, is going. Speaking of training, that won't start up for a few more weeks due to some health things that are being finalised. Now, please clickity click on the startled housewife portrait above and view my page to find out more information about this insane challenge.

Oh, forgot to point out that there is a widget in the margin of this blog that directly links you to my page. Do visit and consider donating. Let's see if we can conquer cancer :)

The Goodreads App

The regular visitors to my blog may have noticed that I no longer have the "what I'm reading" widget to the side of the blog. That's because I've discovered this great app called Goodreads. It appears to be a networking site for booklovers. You can find your friends, see what they're reading - or what they've read. You can rate and write reviews on books you've already read, add books to a wishlist for future reading, find all sorts of books based on what your friends, and strangers, have recommended. I'm sure there's a lot more you can do on there, but I love the fact that I can use the app on the computer and the iPad and keep track of books I've read and have yet to enjoy. I've recently been listening to some podcasts that mention various novels, and I've found it handy to locate them on Goodreads and add them to my list of "to read". And that's much smarter than any widget on the side of a blog.  If you haven't already joined, and you feel so inclined, then feel free to add me to your list. If joining these sorts of sites just ain't your thang, then feel free to add your favourite book in the comments below.

The above card is also available as a postcard, matted, framed and canvas print.

Note: This post is my opinion only and has not been sponsored by Goodreads, or anyone else for that matter.

Week 37 ~ Sensual

I did say I had an exciting announcement to make, but this post isn't it. This post is going to be super short because I have things occupying my mind at the moment and it's too difficult to concentrate on much else. Plus, it's a great excuse to use for this post because I really wasn't looking forward to this particular brief ~ sensual ~ blergh, what even is 'sensual'? When you're on the wrong side of forty and the media only shows you twenty-somethings (and even younger) as the 'model' for womanhood, you do start to feel inadequate, invisible, and well and truly past it. So that every time I thought about this brief during the week, I would wince and roll my eyes and spit out "stupid senshool brief, what the hell am I going to shoot for it"... So this was the result - lensbaby, lots of blur, cropping of the face, dark and B&W. I'm simply too old, too tired, and way too worried about other things to really care. Blergh!

Week 36 ~ Movement

Whoever said "to kill two birds with one stone" needs a serious smack in the head because they've obviously never applied this to a photography project. Ridiculous saying that when applied to said photography project, leaves you feeling uber-frustrated and ready to pack in the whole thing. If I remember rightly, I was trying to combine the theme of the Project 52 ~ movement ~ with the sub 12 (a friendly and talented bunch of photographers over on flickr) brief of "little people". These little people are HO gauge people used by railway enthusiasts to populate the mini towns they create in their lounge rooms or garages. I mean, it would be silly to go to all the trouble to build a miniature railway setting complete with town and surrounding countryside, and not have little people to populate them. It wouldn't be normal at all, and be a bit zombie apocalype-like to not include these 2cm high humans in the settings. And yes, you read correctly, they are 2cm or so in height, if you don't believe me, then check here, here and here to see the wide variety of little characters you can buy from your favourite hobby store.

I tried to create a scene what showed both the little person and movement and I can tell you it was a most frustrating day. So much so, that when I saw the Canon Photo5 briefs this year included a "little people" brief, well I'll keep it polite and say that I simply exclaimed "oh fiddlesticks". Needless to say, I enjoy what little sanity I have and so submitted the above image to the Photo5 brief. Click here if you would like to see all my submissions for this year's Photo5.

Speaking of sanity or lack thereof, stay tuned to this blog, for an exciting and most ridiculous announcement shall be made in the coming days.