Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category
I don’t do street photography very often. It’s something that I find extremely intimidating. I do not search confrontation with anyone, but by pointing my camera in someone’s face I feel it would lead to just that, confrontation. So when visiting Seattle’s Pike Place Market last year, I thought that diving into a crowded place where every second person is holding some sort of camera, I wouldn’t stand out very much. I felt relatively safe pointing my camera here and there, took pictures of the merchandise, the architecture, but also of people around me. Very quickly I realized that nobody really paid much attention to me, since they all assumed I just was a snap-happy tourist, and they let me be. Well, until I took a picture of a pair of shoppers admiring the vegetables… through the viewfinder I saw this guy, staring at me through his dark glasses. He looked really grumpy. Pissed off, even. I felt like my cover was blown, and incredibly embarrassed. Quickly dropping the camera in my bag I started walking away, trying to disappear in the crowd. But every time I looked behind me, there he was, a few steps back, still following me. And closing in. I panicked. I would have ran, if there would have been the room to run… too many people, too big a crowd. When I finally felt a hand on my shoulder, I knew it was him.
“Wow,” he said, “quite the crowd. I almost lost you. Shouldn’t we find a place to have some lunch soon?”
Reluctantly, I agreed. I would have liked to stay a bit longer and take pictures of people. But when my hubby gets hungry, he needs to eat. Otherwise he gets really grumpy.
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Yesterday I almost got stuck in the worst snow storm I ever experienced, where we would have been covered in a layer of snow in a matter of minutes for who knows how long, and my Beetle got me out of this mess while all the other cars were left behind, inch by inch he dug himself out of a huge snow drift, revving like crazy but doing what nobody else was able to do. So today, I would like to post this picture as a sign of appreciation. He’s the best car I ever owned, my Turbo Diesel, super charged, not-a-chick-ride-because-it-leaves-you-in-the-dust kinda car, and I am extremely thankful to be in a warm home today, safe and sound.
It’s my car. A VW Beetle. And it rocks.
#blog
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It certainly was an eventful day… first I nearly got stranded on the way to work, but I escaped the fate of other motorists who got stuck along the way, having to remain for hours in their cars at freezing temperatures (a long story), and reached the office an hour later than normal, only to have to return home almost immediately because I got news of road closures and if I wanted to be home that night, I’d have to depart instantly. Avoided getting trapped on another deserted, snow overblown road with zero visibility once more on the way home (thank you Beetle!!) just to get stuck 3 metres from my garage. At least hubby was home and pushed the car out of the knee deep mess. Once at home, the power went out.
The wind is still howling, and the forecast calls for -17 C tonight, but power is back up and it’s warm, and I’m alive and well, and so is everyone close to me.
What a day. WHAT A DAY.
I’m off to bed. I hope you all had a great “blackout” or whatever else you did. I think I need some rest, and I’ll see you all tomorrow, unless the power goes out again.
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He ate all but one cookie, drank the milk and left a ton of gifts behind. Chester the cat looks all disoriented because it all took only a split second, and he can’t understand why it suddenly smells like reindeer in here… Ho ho ho!
Merry Christmas!!
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… you’re more than welcome to join us for dinner. Christmas eve is my Christmas… I don’t want none of that Christmas morning stuff. It’s a magical night, and magical time for love and joy. And for fondue. So if you can’t make it here by tomorrow night, have a look here to get the recipe: http://foodiesharing.com/r/yhYears of trial and error resulted in this assortment of 6 sauces. I also always make a batch of fresh herbed butter to go with the home made baguette.
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You want 10 little known facts about me? I had to think long and hard because I always tell people everything about me, but let’s see if I can scrape together 10 nobody knew yet:
10. I sleep with earplugs every night.
9. When going to a fast food place, I almost always forget to put a napkin on my tray.
8. I ALWAYS lie about my weight.
7. I NEVER lie about my age.
6. I believe I am not as smart as the average person.
5. I hate exercising and any kind of physical activity.
4. I love reading out loud (and I think I am awesome at it).
3. I’m not afraid to speak in front of crowds.
2. I wish I was shorter.
1. The first time I invited my husband over to my place for a home cooked meal, I set my kitchen on fire.
So? Which are the ten facts people don’t know about YOU?
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To give you an idea what else I’ve been working on, here is a newsletter I made for a friend a couple of weeks ago. She’s a vet, and she wanted a newsletter for her clients that looked professional yet interesting enough for people to not just throw it in the recycle bin after getting it in the mail. Considered that the majority of her customers is female, I thought this “magazine” style may appeal to them more than a “conventional” newsletter (smaller header with text starting on the first page).
I used mainly stock photography (no time to shoot) and pictures given to me by the pet hospital, and I based the colours on the front page photo. I really want to take the pictures for the next one myself, but stuff like that creeps up on people, so by the time the know they need to issue a newsletter, it’s already two weeks to late.
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On the eve of hitting 20,000 followers, I have a to come clean about something you may have suspected all along: I am not cool. I don’t think I have ever been. I was one of the uncool crowd for as long as I can remember. In elementary school I was considered ugly and dumb. The cool kids usually waited for me after school, to taunt me and beat me up. Later, in high school I survived by taking on the role as class clown. I ended up falling in love with the first guy that showed any interest in me, 12 years my senior, and that was only the beginning of a series of poor choices. Needless to say, my youth wasn’t much fun: I grew up thinking I was ugly, and dumb, and my self esteem was in the pits.
Still, to this day, I have a hard time accepting compliments. Even when I am proud of something, and I know the praise must be sincere, I tend to not let the feeling of pride take over, never let my guard down, just to avoid another disappointment, another realization that they are just playing with me.
When you’re cool, you know how to handle compliments and praise. You say the right things at the right time. You have cool friends. You never need to call anyone, they always call you. Nothing happens without you knowing about it. But you’re too cool to care about anything anyway.
Well, I’m not cool. If you circled me because you thought I was part of the “*in* crowd”, then I’m sorry to disappoint you. I’m so far from cool, it’s not even funny. I have never been to a class reunion. I never been invited to a teenage girl pyjama party. I’m NOT a pro photographer. I have 92 empty slots in my 100 speed dials and to this day only 167 friends on Facebook. I constantly say the wrong things at the right time, and the right things at the wrong time. I don’t not know what’s going on, what’s new and what’s hip, or how to play the game. I don’t even have a flippin’ G+ page!!! I’ve just never been one of the cool kids. And I am not one of the cool kids here on G+ either.
Hey, but I’m cool… with that. :)
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