Website Wednesday - Pandora

PANDORA internet radio is this week's awesome website. First create an account, then start developing stations by typing in a song or artist. From your selection, it will add similar songs/musicians. OR you can select a genre. Another cool feature is the ability to rate your selections and give it a Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down (if down, they will never play that song again on your station). You can also look up the lyrics and find similar artists to the highlighted song.

I noticed I was giving a lot of Thumbs Ups to bands that start with "The." There's quite a few . . . The White Strips, The Shins, The Strokes, The Beatles, The Kooks, The Cure, The Verve, The Who, The Cranberries, The Black Crowes, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Presidents of the USA, The Vines, The Hines, The Ramones and The Flaming Lips. Can you think of any others I need to add to my list?

Squash, Not So Much

I briefly read the description tag with the information about planting distance between squash vines. Ya know, when they are only an inch high you really can't envision them getting much bigger. Well, ours have exploded and I don't think they have enough room to grow properly. We've learned so much this year, I can't wait until next planting season.

Poppers Poppin'

If there's one veggie we know how to grow, it's jalapenos. I have a feeling our salsa is going to be muy caliente.

Tasty Broc

Garden Update . . . some critter's belly is extremely full from our broccoli leaves.

Sweetie Pie

We discovered this little playground and petting farm the other day. Mr. H is holding tight b/c the horses go "really fast." Looking at this photo, you'd think this child is always a sweet heart.

Tiny Showcase Print

As I was checking the mail, I noticed a thick brown envelope. Yeah, my print from Tiny Showcase arrived! It looks even better in person and there's quite a bit of detail in the water. I just checked their site and the artist raised $11,595 for the Gulf Restoration Network.

Professor Goo

Harrison found these joke coke bottle glasses and surprises us by actually wearing them. I've been trying for weeks to capture it. Today, he slipped them on and I ran inside to get my camera. Apparently, the lens hadn't adjusted to the humidity yet.

He also said dada's name is Shawn, his is Light (he was looking at the lamp when he decided) and I'm Rattlesnake. And he didn't want to go to Bob and Mimi's b/c they have ticks and ghosts. He's quite the storyteller.

Beard Team USA

Welcome, Website Wednesday! Click HERE to read all about Beard Team USA Nationals in Bend, Oregon. Yes, they are gearing up for the World Beard and Moustache Championships held every two years to find and honor the best facial hair in the world!

What Are You Lookin' At?

Bad hair day or punk rock day? Harrison was smart enough not to get too close to this guy.

Summer Sizzle

To mark the first day of summer and the incredibly hot weather, I decided to try out the old saying "it's so hot you could fry an egg out here."

The skillet was outside for about 10 minutes before I cracked the egg.

I actually forgot about the experiment for about an hour. Here's the result.

Dada's Day

Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there! Harrison, who's a big daddy's boy, was pretty pumped to bake Ryan a chocolate cake. The evidence is on the face.

Portraiture

Who says a portrait needs to be a front shot. I caught this handsome guy before he noticed the camera.

Bottle Tree

I've noticed around our neighborhood several people have bottle trees. I'll have to photograph one soon so you'll know what I'm referring to. Anyways, I can't decide if I want to jump on the bandwagon. Although, I do love the way light reflects and shines through them. This is a "recycled" pic from the flea market.

Danger

Well, that's one way to see stars . . .

100 Layer Cake

It's Website Wednesday! Click HERE to view the blog from 100 Layer Cake. No, I'm not getting married or renewing our vows, I just love the photography and ideas on this site. Fantastic research for birthday parties, invitations or just plain cool stuff. Hope you enjoy!

Inforescence

Sunflowers seem to bring joy to any boring day. Here's my thank you to them.

Heading East

Normally, I'm a aisle seat requester but this was a full flight so only a window was available. Which do you prefer?

No, I didn't hang out in Vegas, this is a shot from inside the airport, just in case you have one more dollar left.

Rose Bowl Flea Market

The second Sunday of every month, the Rose Bowl Stadium (well, outside of the actual stadium) hosts a flea market featuring over 2,500 vendors! Lucky me, it landed on my weekend in LA.

As Harrison would say "lotta stuff" or "lotta junk." You name it, they probably have it.

As a costume designer, my sis is always searching for that great period article to add to her collection.

Wouldn't this be a great pose for a baby photograph with his (or her) mama? It reminded me of one of my favorite photographers, Julia Margaret Cameron. She used soft focus and long exposures which caused an intentional blur. In my artistic photography, I tend to gravitate towards this technique. When you think about events in the past nothing is perfectly remembered (or in focus).

Okay, how funny is this kitty cat lamp? I think it would be great to have it in a guest bedroom so your company would definitely have to question your taste in decor.

First, I noticed this almost life size German Shepherd. Then I saw the wounded legs. THEN I saw the swords in front of the poor guy . . .

Dining & Driving

Mr. J met us for brunch at Mo's in Burbank. We've missed this family so it was good to catch up with him and his parents. Such a cutie pie and man, that boy can JUMP.

Sisters hanging out in the big city!

Instead of showing the picture of the freeway which is the view from the windshield, I turned to my right and saw this view.

Greetings From LA

I hit the skies this weekend for some sister time in sunny California. It wouldn't be LA without lots of traffic and palm trees.

Curious George aka Harrison would really appreciate this banana tree.

As we entered this parking garage I noticed a electronic sign on each level. It lets the driver know how many spaces are vacant on that floor. What a time saver!

The highlight of the day was our dinner at Jar which is described as a modern chophouse in the heart of Los Angeles. The chef, Suzanne Tracht was a contestant on Top Chef Masters so I was extremely excited about dining there. I started with Bug Juice (raspberry stoli, lychee juice, pomegranate juice and fresh lime) and we shared the Pork Belly (with watermelon and mint) appetizer. Melissa ordered the Dover Sole with a side of creamed spinach and enjoyed the Boeuf Bourguignon. One word . . . yummy!

Mr. Opal

Mr. Opal deserves to take the day off . . . he woke up bright and early, and ran from the kitchen to the living room about five times. He's requested his lunch on a silver platter.

Website Wednesday - Tiny Showcase

I have several bookmark folders with my favorite sites/blogs, so I decided every Wednesday I would feature one. Thank you Casey, for introducing me to this one about a month ago. It's called Tiny Showcase, click HERE to view it.

Every Tuesday, a new piece of "tiny artwork" is posted and available to purchase. The majority of the pieces are limited editions so you have to act fast. A percentage of the money from each print sold is donated to a charity chosen by the artist. Plus the prints are only $20-$30!

Half of the money from this week's print goes to the Gulf Restoration Network. It's a win-win situation, I love the print and it's money to an artist and the gulf.

Hibiscus

As I was looking for something to photograph today, I remembered this hibiscus plant on the deck. I move it to the table and shot it from below so the light would leak through the veins in the petals.
As I was switching my angle, I noticed a blue tarp in the distance. I squatted down about 2 inches and tada a flood of blue highlighting the flower.

Ma and Pa

Harrison found these antique dolls and calls them "mama" and "dada." After eavesdropping their conversations, I must say "hi, hi, hi" and "be right back," quite a bit.

Whadcha Say?

Last week during a doctor's visit, Ryan was informed that he had 15% blockage in his right ear and he needed to get it out. After a week of trying almost everything under the sun (except for ear wax candles b/c we couldn't find them), it had gotten much worst. Since it was Sunday, not much was open except for a walk-in clinic. Two hours later and one toothbrush looking device, he can hear all of my under the breath comments.

Cossatot Camping, Part Two

Starting the day, bright and early. After last night, we decided one night will be just fine for this family. Getting a 2-year-old to sleep in a tent is mission impossible. He was SOOO excited, it took about two hours and one small car ride later to get some zzzzzzzz.

This was the view about 20 feet from where we camped. Breathtaking!

The water was the perfect temperature for a little dip.

Ryan is always on the quest for a just the right skipping stone.

Watch out for the spider web!

I wasn't paying attention when Ryan was grilling smores . . . check out the grill marks on the graham cracker!