An Assault on the Eyes

In a way I kind of liked this photo when it was in color.  These flowers are just so incredibly pink!  Looking at them was just like PINK!  HI!  IM PINK!  DID YOU NOTICE?  DO YOU SEE ME?  IM PINK!

It was actually kind of like an assault on the eyes.  The photograph in particular was so overwhelmingly PINK! that it was kind of hard to look at.  

After playing around with the color in Photoshop I still wasn't happy with it because muddy PINK! is no better than simply PINK!  So I eventually just tried desaturating it altogether and I'm pretty happy with the results.  It's sort of like the original photo took an elephant-sized valium and just chilled out.

Now instead of PINK!  ALL PINK ALL THE TIME!  There's some really cool line and texture happening.

Nothing against PINK! exactly.  It's just that this is way cooler.

Lacy Husk

This is a weird little husk I found out in our courtyard a while back. I like the detail of outside and how the light is almost making the inside glow a little bit. I also took this right at dusk so the light is a little extra blue.

What a Guy.

It's been a long time since Steve's had as much occasion to laugh at me so much in one night as last night. So here's the thing: Steve is not big on football. He's a hockey guy. Me? I'm a football girl. Actually, no. That's not true. I'm a baseball girl. I effin loves me some baseball. But I'm pretty big on football too. My grandpa was a high school football coach so to say I grew up with it would be a pretty fair assessment. It was also a good way to hang out with my dad and brother while I was growing up, so I got pretty into it.

I also tend to be a... loud football fan. I yell at the TV a lot when I watch football. Especially when they play badly. And especially when it's the Vikings. Because - let's be serious. The Vikings are about the meanest team in the NFL. Every freaking year they break the hearts of every single one of their fans. The bastards. And I knew last night was going to happen too. I just knew it. Because it wouldn't have been enough to lose to Dallas. No, no. They had to get as close to getting to the Super Bowl as possible AND THEN lose. That's much more dramatic; much more heartbreaking. Indeed I had the opportunity last night to send this text message: "I really, really, really hate to say I told you so... but I did."

So if you watched the game last night it's probably pretty obvious that I did A LOT of yelling at the TV last night. Lots of TWO HANDS WHILE YOU CARRY THE FOOTBALL. And in general just a lot of cursing and gasping and such. And Steve likes to make fun of me for such reactions. Never mind that when he watches hockey I can hear him cheering down the hall, through the bedroom door, and over the TV; that doesn't seem to factor into the situation.

In the end though, he's quite a guy. Because he sat there and teased me for hours on end. But then, when I turned off the TV and said "Well, I'm going to bed" he let me open a birthday present early. And what did I get but a really gorgeous necklace:

I love it. Stars are among my favorite shapes, and this adds a slightly feminine, grown up feeling to a star shape. As I've talked like ten times in the last 25 days about other times I like light shining through things, it should come as no surprise that I like the cut-out aspect of this necklace as well. I think the stone in the middle is just a crystal of some kind, but the color is reminiscent of garnet, which is my birthstone, which I love. So all and all - excellent birthday gift. Really pretty choice, hun, but damn is it hard to take a decent picture of it.

Watercolors in the Sky

One of the coolest things about skyscrapers with mirrored exteriors is how they reflect off of one another when it's sunny. They start to look like watercolor paintings on each other's sides. It's so cool. I caught a good shot of this one this afternoon from one of the print rooms in the office. I like how the building itself is so geometrical and the reflection gets all warped and watery. It makes downtown look almost dreamy.