The Crazee Chick's View of Life

...because the beauty of nature becomes even more amazing.

Mo's playing basketball! And not only does that mean that we get to go cheer her on, it also means that I have a new excuse to take pictures. I like it....

I began my love affair with Mr. Photoshop Elements a number of years ago. Actually, it was a voyeuristic affair; I liked to watch what he did to other people's pictures but I was never able to have him do anything to mine. I bought a book that was supposed to help me subdue and conquer Mr. Elements but the book didn't bring us closer together... In fact, it tore us apart. The book was bulky, pushy and overwhelming. It caused me to fear Mr. Elements, and of course, Mr. Elements with it's lack of friendliness, did nothing to assuage the intimidating nature of Mr. Book. So, in my despair, I turned away from Mr.PSE to a certain degree. I only allowed him into my life to surround my photos with borders or titles...but I feared the commitment of hue/saturation, flattening layers, unsharping masks, dodging and burning. Our relationship, the love affair between Mr. PSE and me, was, for all intents and purposes just a shell of what could have been. We weren't using...

If.... A powerful, yet insignificant-looking two letter word, that sneakily embeds itself into our thoughts and makes us question our life and the choices we've made along the journey. If.... The word can cause us pain or pleasure... What 'if?' 'If' can cause us to stick to the beaten path or to chose the one less traveled. If... The other night I had my own experience with an ' if. ' While sitting at the computer night after night, editing and digitally scrapbooking my photos and making videos a few thoughts crossed my mind about my life. The first thought that sneaked in was a negative one where I admonished myself for spending hours enthralled in a pointless pursuit (I'm not making the world a better place, I'm not saving a life, I'm not curing cancer...I'm not even cleaning the toilets!!) and then I came to the conclusion that I obviously had NO LIFE! If I could spend days doing this, neglecting my housework, and yes, as much as I hate ...

I'm a bit of an electronics junkie. I'll admit it. This little baby shoots HD video AND is a 10 megapixel still camera. It's a pistol grip hold (which means that when you take a picture or video of someone you really are 'shooting' them! Hee...hee) and it's small enough to fit into my purse so I can capture our life at a moment's notice. It's so cool! In the last year I've got an iTouch; a new laptop; a new DSLR camera; new software for making movies and now this new camcorder. Wonder what else is out there that I NEED? Yes, I am doing my personal best to help out the Canadian economy. Isn't that magnanimous of me? Oh yeah, happy summer everyone! I see sunshine coming out...HAGS everyone (no, I'm not calling you a HAG, I'm saying H ave A G reat S ummer!---just the cool people know this...thanks Eileen for making me cool!)

I've been saving. Really saving. Not even going to the mall type of saving. I've had a goal: a new camera. It's been torture! Well, yesterday I bought it! A Canon Rebel XS! I was so excited to go to the store and pick it up that I could barely breathe. I had butterflies for the first time in a long time. So, how do I feel now? Overwhelmed,scared, incompetent. It's so big and so new. I thought I'd better break it in, so to speak, so I went out and took a couple of shots. I don't know anything about the camera yet and I don't know anything about aperature, shutter speed or lighting, so don't expect miracles. That information will come. For now I just wanted to press the button and here it go 'click.' As sound as heavenly to me as the sound of someone unwrapping my favorite chocolate bar.... I'm shallow. I know. I accept it. Here are some pix.