Hello my lovelies....

my fifteen plus one! 

I only have a few moments to chat, and I have so many things I want to tell you.  I'm afraid I'm going to forget them if I don't start writing soon.  So I'm going to make a little note of what I want to remember for next time, and we'll take care of it then.  [beach, missing the perfect shot,  funeral, marketing, school, singing, aging, client with kids who hate me - but not as  much as before, remodeling (in the other blog), paper-thin skin, holiday cards special, roadtrips, Rice Krispies commericals.  Roughly in that order.  I hope I remember what it was I wanted to say about them!  Oh!  And ladybugs!)

I do tend to go on, you know.

So, despite being on summer vacation, I've been pretty busy this summer.  I had some new babies, and some older babies, and some who weren't babies at all.  I bet you can guess which one is which.  And to that special someone out there who probably doesn't even read the blog,  TAKE OFF YOUR WATCH!  (It's said with love, of course.)

 

     

Here are some recent adventures.... 

More soon, I promise!

Sleep? Who needs sleep?

So it's 1:15 in the morning.  And in approximately 4 hours and 45 minutes, a friend of mine is going to be knocking at my door, waiting for me to hit the road.  I should have gone to sleep, oh, about 3 hours ago.  But I had to pack.  (I still do.)  I had to copy over some files (I still do).  I needed to do laundry (thank you sweetie for doing this while I was  out).   I have about a hundred and three things I wanted to do before I left.  And I wasn't able to do any of them,  because I had a family thing crop up, that I wasn't expecting, and I will go into much more  detail on when I get back.  (Or maybe while I'm gone. I don't know yet.)  But there are a couple things I wanted to show you (my ever faithful 15) before I left.  

First, a new baby.  Brand new!  So new, that they had to reschedule their proofing session from their maternity portraits because they were busy having her (I love it when that happens).  This couple is so much fun.  I can't wait to see them again in a few weeks.  I don't want to tell you why yet, but let's just say it involves a plaid skirt, and some hairy knees (not mine).

This little girl - I've been photographing her since before she was born.  Her mom was one of my early maternity clients, and I've seen her just about every week.  (She and my daughter are pals.)  She's such a sweetie!

(I know what you're thinking - gray?  You shoot on gray? But it's not... black!  Go ahead, you can talk.  It's okay.  What can I say, I'm branching out. hahaha)

Perhaps I should have clarified....

By more time, I meant during the day.  NOT at 3 am.  With a sick baby.  Those are some long hours.

Apparently, the gods have a sense of humor.

And of course, now, at 10 am, she's fine and dandy.  WE are exhausted, but she's peachy.  Isn't that always the way?  

I need more time.

In general.  In the day.  In my life.  I thought the summer was going to be slow and lazy, and I'd have a session here and there, but mostly would be hanging out at the pool, or at the park, (or more realistically, on my couch).  But I thought it would be me and the kids, doing all that fun stuff we're supposed to do together.  So far, we've gone to the pool a few times, we've watched a LOT of Cinderella and Pokemon (okay, they watched while I was working), and I've spent a disordinate amount of time trying to find things that were semi-packed for the construction. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, re: construction, please see the other blog.)  But  hey, at least my life is consistent, right?  And isn't that supposed to be a good thing?  :)

So, here are a few shots from recent sessions - I love it when a headshot turns into something fun.  

And the little guy in the second set - DID NOT want to be happy.  Fortunately, the mom was FINE with a little Hershey's Kiss bribe.  (I don't want to bribe my own kids with candy, but bribing clients' kids?  Standard Operating Procedure! hahaha) 

 And he perked right up!  

Shhhh! Don't mention Santa!!!

So today was an interesting day.  Ian started Magic Camp.  I love camp.  Especially camps that run 9-3.  But Magic Camp.  How cool is that!  I just knew Ian was going to be so excited, and dying to show me his new tricks when I picked him up today.  Well.  Let's just say that there was a very large part of Magic Camp that I neglected to mention to him.  The camp counselor looked so worried when I walked in.  I asked how the day went, and he said, "There was a small problem."  

Uh oh.  

Apparently, when you tell a six year old they're going to learn magic at Magic Camp, you need to tell them that it's not *actual* magic.  He was really upset.  "It's just tricks!!" he shouted at me, as if I had just upset the universe.  The counselor said, "I felt awful, it's like I told him about Santa Claus!"  AAIIIIIEEEE!!!!   Nonononono!   The look on my face was enough to make HIS face drop immediately.  I very subtly (and very quickly) shook my head no.  "I mean, about how he gets such good deals on presents!" he said.  Danger averted.  Ian ignored the Santa slip.  Whew! 

It was bad enough at Easter.  We were driving home, and out of the blue he said, "I know there's no such thing as the Easter Bunny."  

What??  "Really?", I asked, almost squeaking.

"Yeah.  It's just a guy in a rabbit suit.  But don't tell anyone, because he'll get arrested."

Hahahaha.  "Um, okay."

Magic.  There's not enough of it in the world.  I want him to be able to hang on to it as long as possible.  I don't want him to know that Santa isn't real.  Not yet.  I want him to still have that belief that anything - ANYTHING - is possible.  

Well, almost anything.  I wish he'd stop asking for a baby brother.

Okay - photo stuff!

This week was the judging for the International Print Competition.  It's the biggie.  I entered State, did okay, entered Regionals, did not as well, and entered the International Comp, expecting to have wasted lots of money and time. 

And I was wrong!!  I got two merits!  You can enter 4 prints into the Photographic Open (there are other categories, too).   It's a thumbs up/down process - either it's good enough to hang and deserving of a merit, or it's not.  And that merit is NOT easy to get, believe me.  These are my first two.  It's very exciting for me.  Almost magical.  :)

Shoutout to Chontelle!

Who informed me earlier that she is one of my fifteen!  I was so excited to hear that someone besides my family and friends subscribed!  It's really quite flattering.  Because Chontelle is a photographer.  And she's  good.  And I wish I could steal her studio name, because it's about as cute as can be - Cotton Blossoms Photography.   And something I never told her, but she is personally responsible for me singing the same song about 2 THOUSAND times from here to Seattle and back.  

(Seattle!!)

What song, you may ask?  Sometimes, by Francis England.  I LOVE this song. And so did my 2 year old, who was 16 months at the time.  And  hated flying.   [We now have several pairs of headphones donated from others on the plane who hoped that Josie would watch a video.  No such luck.  Sobbed the whole way home.  But would sob more quietly if I sang, "Sometimes".   So I did.  

(only time she was quiet.)

And I sang it in the hotel room to help her fall asleep.  And I sang it while we were walking around town, and she was done,  just DONE, with being in the stroller.  

And sometimes I still sing it.  Because it's a fun song.  But alas, she's since moved on to "One Was Johnny", sung by Carole King.

[When Ian was that age, I had to sing, "When I grow up" by Michelle Shocked.  And then he moved up to Jazz Bird (from My One And Only).  And now, his favorite song is Ironman.  Egads.  I blame his father for this.]  

I love that my kids are into such a variety of music.   I have some children's CDs.  Some of them I don't think my kids have ever even heard (Jack Johnson, you say you're for children, but please.  You're mine, all mine!)  And some, well, let's just acknowledge right now that just because you have a CD doesn't mean your music is any good.   Blech.

Music.  wait, how did I end up on music?  I wanted to talk about Chontelle.  And her website.  Because I saw her website before I ever met her.  And I use the term 'met' loosely, because we knew each other first on a photography forum, and it wasn't until we went to the PPA convention in Tampa that we met F2F, as they say in the World of Lazy Thumbs. (You texters who don't write in complete sentences, you know who you are.)

So Chontelle.  And her website.  A while back, before I really knew what I wanted my work to look like, I spent a lot of time looking at other people's work.   And I was jealous, because it seemed like so many of these photographers knew each other.  And I didn't know ANYONE.  Photography can be a really lonely business.  You work alone in the studio (well, except for your clients, of course), and alone while you're editing.  You have to figure out the 'how to make this a business' part all on your own because you don't even know who to ask.  It's pretty solitary.  (And it's improved - remember the darkroom?  We all worked with the radios on for company.  Remind me to tell you someday about when someone called the cops on me for that.)

But it can be pretty lonely until you meet some folks.  You really don't even know what to ask, or who to ask to find out.  And this is where I'm going with this post. (Hah!  You thought it was going to be about my kids again, didn't you?!)   I remember when I was setting up my business, getting registered, figuring out how to pay taxes, looking for insurance... I remember thinking that there was SO much more to having a photography business than taking pictures.  Taking the pictures is the smallest part of it all.  And I wondered if it was what I really wanted to do.  I loved creating the images.  But the business part... it was so much work just figuring out HOW.  I wished I had someone to ask.

And I kept running into this guy Jeff, who kept trying to get me to go to a VPPA meeting.   VPPA is the Virginia Professional Photographer's Association.  But... I don't know.  It was a little intimidating - I didn't know anyone.  I didn't know if I even knew anyTHING.   I didn't want to make a fool of myself.  Eventually, though, my resolve weakened and I went to a meeting.  And I met some amazing people.  And they were all willing to answer just about any question I had, no matter how basic.  And then I found PPA, which is (come on, I'm sure you can guess!)  The Professional Photographers of America.  Again - amazing people, willing to answer anything.  I can't begin to tell you how important both of these organizations have been to me, and how much my growth has been directly related to my membership with them.  

Now I know that at least one of my 15 is a client, and by now has probably fallen asleep.  But I'm hoping that maybe one of you is a new photographer.  Someone who is doing what I did - looking at everyone's sites and blogs (which weren't even around when I was starting).  And I'm hoping you've made it this far.  There's only a little bit more to go, I promise.  There really is a payoff.

So back to the PPA/VPPA/SEPPA (Southeast).  They've given me more than I can ever quantify.   And one of the things that everyone should do, when given the opportunity, is to give back.  PPA has a way for you to do that.  It's called Super Monday.  Twice a year, spring and fall, PPA sponsors peer education.  If you know something, chances are, there's someone out there who wants to learn it.  And now that I've been at this gig for a while, I feel like I might know a thing or two.  So in November, I'm going to be teaching a Super Monday class.  The class is The Business of the Art.  And it's about all those things you need to do to make this photography thang an actual business.  (Trust me, there's a lot.)  So if you're new to this, and you don't know who to ask what, this would be a great class for you.  And I'd love to meet you.  

So to summarize, Chontelle's was one of the sites I looked at when I was green and learning and didn't know anyone except my children who cry on airplanes except when being sung a song that I first heard on Chontelle's website that I looked at when I was green and learning and didn't know anyone until I joined VPPA which led me to PPA which led me to a forum where I met Chontelle.

Ya got that?  :)

A moment of silence, please

We barely made it through unscathed.  The list came out, and we were untouched. 

You know what I'm referring to...  Starbucks.  The list of store closures.  None of mine have been closed.  (whew!)

But then, I was informed this morning (at the Starbucks drive-through,  natch) that there will soon be another loss.  

They are getting rid of the Skinny Mocha.

I know, I know.  Why would they ever want to get rid of something so perfect?  

Well, apparently, it was only perfect to me.   (And a few others, I'm sure.)

Skinny Mocha Triple Shot, we hardly knew ye.

(and yes, this is a  snap of the one sitting right in front of me as I type.)

Today was a good day!

I spent the entire day in the studio, hung out with my kids a bit, and then we all went out to dinner with friends.   Of course, now I'm supposed to be cleaning and organizing and doing all that stuff you need to do on Sunday nights to get ready for the next day.  And I'll do that.  But it's only midnight.  The evening is just getting started.  Remember when we were young, and we'd start getting ready to go out around 9 or 10?  My life is still so much like that!  But the middle-aged self-employed with kids version.  

Age 24:  shower at 9 pm

Age 40:  kids bath at 9pm

Age 24:  9:30 pm telling stories to the cute guy next to you

Age 40:  9:30 pm telling stories to the cute kid next to you

Age 24:  having a drink at 11

Age 40: six year old wakes up and needs a drink at 11

Age 24:  Midnight, just figuring out what to do next - The Tombs or Mr. Days

Age 40: Midnight, figuring out what do to next - file some paperwork or fold laundry

Age 24:  2 am - woozy, need to go to bed

Age 40: 2 am - woozy, need to go to bed

Age 24:  7 am - hitting the snooze alarm 20 times before getting up for work, swearing you'll go to bed earlier that night.

Age 40:  7 am - hitting the snooze alarm 20 times before getting up to get the kids to school, swearing you'll go to bed earlier that night.

My life hasn't changed all that much.

Well, except that the job I had at 24 was NOT the one I wanted.  It was the one I did while I did all the stuff to get the job I wanted (did you follow that?  Job at 24: blech.  Job at 40: sweet!)

So, about that job... want to see what I did at work today?  Because I want to show you.

The first session was a 4 month session of the cutest little guy.    They came in for his newborn session and I LOVED them.  And I swear, it's not because they went to Starbucks on the way. (That does help, by the way.)  And today was just as good.  Great family - so much fun to work with.  We only stopped because their  wee beastie was done with me.  I borrowed the giant teacup from a friend, and I'm really hoping she forgot she lent it to me, because it was pretty fun.  (And no, this is not the size of the coffee I require to get started in the morning, har har.)  The family pic is my new favorite family shot.  And it wasn't even my idea!  The mom came up with the whole thing.  It was fantastic!  :)

My second client of the day was a maternity session.  And again, they were SO much fun!  I don't know how I've managed to do this, but it seems like every person who has walked through my door this year has been someone I would want to hang out with all day long.   And in this case, 'all day' was three hours plus... and I still didn't want them to leave.  Half the time, I keep shooting just because we're having fun and I don't want it to end. 

I love how she looks in these.  I hope they do, too.  

I know just how you feel.

Everyone has bad days.  Sometimes, all you want to do is have a good cry and curl up in a quiet place.    And when you're two, well, sometimes there's just not much you can do about it.  Sometimes the best thing you can do is call it quits and start over another day.   I had a shoot a week or two ago, where this was the situation.  She was as cute as a bug, but she just DID NOT want to be photographed.  She would be fine, until I picked up the camera.  And then, well, you can see for yourself.  She was so happy when she was walking out the door.  We'll try again soon.  :)

Pictures!!!

How on earth did I forget to post these pictures?!  I loved them!  I loved the clients!  I loved that they brought me coffee! (Quickest way to my heart is through my caffeine addiction.)  I even love the clients who referred them. (It's a veritable love-fest at the moment.  I'm in a very good mood today.)

So seriously - had SUCH a fun time with them.  They are wicked cool.  I can't wait to see them again. 

   

I wish I wish I wish

I wish I could get up early and work before the kids get up.  I try, almost every day.  But I hit that snooze alarm at least 10 times.  I used to outsmart myself, by putting my alarm clock in the drawer across the room, with the idea being that if I made it that far, I could just keep going on into the shower.  Of course, I also discovered that I could go from the shower, right back to bed.  It wasn't a perfect system.

So last night, I went to be early.  EARLY.  Like... 10 pm.  Which for me, is practically the afternoon.  I am a total night owl.  I do my best work at 1 am.  But I''m trying something new - instead of going to bed at 3 and dragging myself out of bed at 8, I thought I'd go to bed at 10 and drag myself out of bed at 4.  Or 5.  or 6.   6 worked.  But it wasn't easy.  It was 7:30 before I felt awake (and I'm still feeling a little fuzzy, thank you very much, at 8:15).  I've gotten no work done. So in essence, I basically lost a night of productive work instead of gaining it.  

How do you morning people do it?  Do you mainline coffee first thing?  Do you hit the ground running and go for a jog or something equally painful?   Is anyone creative at 7 am (STARTING at 7 am, not coming around from the night before).  I just don't get how that works.  You people are a strange and exotic species to me.  

So... I *was* going to talk about photography and this really cool new client who came in.  And had I been writing this at 1 am, I would have been witty and brilliant and talked all about how much fun she was (and how nice she was when I kept renaming her husband, who STILL reminds me of a guy named Chip).  But it's early.  And I'm not really functioning yet.  And it's all the fault of you morning people who make this getting-up-early thing look easy.   So instead, you just get to see how pretty she is.  (I think that's a fair trade-off, don't you?)

  

Say yes

Hi people!  All 14 of you!  Today we're going to talk about good things.  And, no, I don't mean Martha Stewart.  (An aside - have you noticed her magazine is starting to run out of ideas?  I swear, I keep expecting to see "21 Things To Make Out Of A Potato". )  No, I mean doing good things.  Which basically means doing things for someone else, when  there's nothing in it for you.  I don't think I do this enough.  It's so easy to get caught up in your own world, to expect everyone to live on  your timetable, to think the world revolves around you. (Because it does, right? Right!) But sometimes it doesn't.  And every once in a while, you're reminded that there's a big world out there, and if everyone helped just a little bit more, then that world would be a better place.  And isn't that what we all want, really?  (That and Colt's Chocolate Covered Marshmallows?)  It's what I want.  I want, at the end of the day (that day being about 50 years from now, please), to know that my children always felt loved, that I never betrayed anyone, and that, when given the opportunity to do something good, I took it.  I want to know that the world was generally a better place because I passed through it.   

So, philosophy aside... how does one do that?  By giving back.  By doing good things.  By saying yes.   Here are some folks we've said yes to lately.

CARE and Doctors Without Borders.  When they come asking for money, say yes.  These two organizations give more to help the world than anything else I know. 

Arlingtonians Meeting Emergency Needs.  A small local nonprofit that works with the County to help people stay healthy, employed, and in their homes.  

Down Syndrome Association of Northern Virginia.  I had a great time doing some portraits for their upcoming calendar.   Here are a few of my favorites:

Say yes.

Simply adorable

Today's session was so easy and smooth that I'm still not entirely positive something didn't go wrong and I just can't remember what it is.  (Did you follow all those double negatives?)  This little guy is still sleepy.  (I *LOVE* the first two weeks!)  He was sleeping when they came in.  He was sleeping when they undressed him (except to open his eyes long enough to see his parents were still in arms reach - you never know when you'll need a snack! - and go right back to sleep).  He woke up to nurse and went right back to sleep.  One little piddle, nothing else.  The kid was a trooper!  I had a hard time picking my favorites from the session to show you.  Y'all know I'm horrible at narrowing things down and he was simply adorable.  :)  

How to photograph a one year old

One year olds are challenging.  VERY challenging.  They're fascinated by everything, and they are fast!  They are constantly on the move.  And when you hold them still, you get cranky faces.  I don't want cranky faces.  Dangle them from their ankles, however, and you get this:

I totally love this picture!  I've been photographing this boy since before he was born, and every time we get something really fun, but this shot is my absolute favorite of him.

Another trick is to give them something to play with... like, oh, say, a cake (and yes, that's a different baby).   :)

The saddest song I know is by Maurice Sendak

This song makes me cry.  (Which is hard to explain to the preschoolers who are watching the video with you.)  Pierre.  Pierre was a boy who didn't care.  The gist of the story (or the song, as I've only heard it sung by Carly Simon) is that all he could say was, "I don't care".  So things happen, but not with him.  Until they do.   For those of you who haven't read or heard the story, I'll leave the details out.  Let's just say there is a large carnivore involved.  But that's not the sad part.  (although, it SHOULD be.)  The saddest line in the song, and in the world,  really, is when his mother is calling him her darling boy, her pride and joy, and all he says is, "I don't care".   An  d kids say stuff like that all the time and we hope - and assume - they don't mean it (because I clearly do love my mother, despite how many times I shouted otherwise when I was slamming doors as a teenager).  But in the story, Pierre really doesn't care.  And that's always a possibility in life.   We hope, when we have children, that they will love us with all the furiosity with which  we love them.  But there are no guarantees.   There aren't any guarantees with anything.   

I found out this week that another friend is separating from her husband.  And  I'm still shocked.   I thought they were happy.  They looked happy from the outside.   I wonder how my family looks from the outside.  I'm thinking we might not always look so great.  I'm cranky and snapping at my husband for no good reason (how dare he shower long enough to steam the bathroom!)  I'm yelling at my kids to please, FOR THE LAST TIME, get in the car we are running LATE!  And it seems like this happens every day.  And yet...  and yet, these are the people I love the most in the world.  I can't imagine what life would be like without them.  I don't even want to try, because the possibility of a life without any of them makes me cry.   And there are no guarantees that they will be here tomorrow.  Fortunately, the odds are pretty good.   But I want to go give them all a hug.  Right now.  (which might freak my husband out, since he's at work.  Can you imagine?  You're sitting at your desk, and hello!  You're wife is here.  She comes in, gives you a hug, and then leaves.  A drive-by hugging.)  

So yeah, I'm feeling a little moody this  morning.  It's that damned Pierre.  It does it to me every time.

 

A little out of my element

I am a studio photographer.  I love being in the studio.  I love knowing *exactly* what my light is going to look like, and if I stand right here and point it there and do this, that it's going to look like that.  I admit, I'm a little bit of a control freak.  It works for me.  (Which is kind of funny, really, because I also love doing documentary photography.)   

So today, when I did a newborn session at a client's home, with mostly available light, and three dogs, I was a little out of my element.  It's not like I don't know how to do any of it.  But I was away from my comfort zone, so I had my fingers crossed the whole time that they looked like I thought they were going to look.  Want to see how they turned out?  :)

So dusty!

I'm not loving the dust.  I am enjoying the idea of a new office.  But that in-between stage.... well, I'm not loving the dust.   I've started a new blog about the construction stuff.  The link is IHateTheNoise.blogspot.com  

(The name is  explained in the first post, which I wrote today.)

Today I did my first mid-construction session.  I'm not shooting during the week at all anymore, not until the contractors are doing the detail work inside, because today I was shooing the concrete guys out of the driveway and 90 minutes before the shoot, I was keeping my fingers crossed that I'd have electricity in the studio (and I did - yay!)  It's just too much stress for me.  My faint heart can't take it.  It makes me want to take to my bed.   (Okay, that may have been a bit of a stretch, hahaha.)  

I'm not going to talk much more about the construction here, because, well, I just went to the trouble of giving it its own blog.  And this is my photo site.  I want to show off my favorite pictures!  Like these:

  

Wonder Woman found a body in the river?

Let's get past the tragedy that finding the body of anyone entails (because if I think about that part for more than a few seconds, my head wants to explode), and go back to the Wonder Woman part.  Linda Carter is an accomplished, professional woman who has spent the last 29 years NOT being Wonder Woman (yep - since 1979, although technically, I'm sure she did some promo stuff for a while after, but lets not muddy up my point with actual facts).  She was Wonder Woman from 1975-1979 and has had 32 role since then (thank you IMDB!), in addition to doing all sorts of other things (sorry, other than that thing with Robert Altman, I haven't really kept up with her).  But she's still referred to first and foremost as Wonder Woman.    And I'm wondering...do you think she minds?  I mean, really, deep down?  I don't know if I would or not, to be honest.  I think that it's hard when you're stuck with an identity forever.  I know that when I go home to visit, I immediately go back to being that gawky weird girl from high school (and honestly, I don't know if I really WAS that girl, but that is how I felt, so to me, I was that girl).  I know that no matter what persona I try to project, I know that there are a few hundred people who only know me as who I was way back then.  And I'm not that girl anymore, or at least, I don't think I am.  But what if that persona, that person you were 25 years ago, what if she's kinda cool?  I mean, Wonder Woman - really - kinda cool.  Still.  So do you think that she's happy that people think of her as only this cool hot chick with a wicked set of bracelets, or do you think she's constantly saying, "My name is Linda!"

I was just wondering.

So anyway, today, two of my bar-none, absolutely favorite clients came in for their babies six-month sessions.  I swear, next time I'm  going to have them both come at the same time, and then we can all talk for hours.  I am positive they'd love each other.  Here is a quickie from each session:

oh dear readers

I have been remiss.  I apologize, my 9 faithful blog readers, I haven't posted anything in weeks.  WEEKS!  In a world where blogs are updated daily (or twittered hourly), I update, oh, every  once in a while.   Every week or two.  Or every month or two, in this case!

What's new with me... from now on backwards.  Today, I'm home with two sick  children.  Nothing serious, just a cold and a cough.  But if sent to school, they would have been sent back right away.  Today will be a day filled with Go, Diego, Go and Nickelodeon.com.  (and the kids will do some of that, too.)

Yesterday - yesterday was very cool.  Some very fabulous brand new parents stopped by on their way home from the hospital for a newborn session.  It was wonderful.  She was wonderful.  And I was REALLY impressed that they made it here!  Here's a bit of loveliness from that:

And yes, she literally JUST had a baby 4 days ago.  If only we all looked that good afterwards!  

Before that - where have I been? Oh, watching my house ALMOST get torn do

wn.  Or rather, some of it was.  And then they had to stop.  Short version: The electric company, rain, and a bit of, "but I thought YOU were going to blah blah blah".  Longer version includes tales of the world's second largest wasp nest in the attic, a hole in my living room wall, and an amazing amount of dust EVERYWHERE.  

But BEFORE all that happened, other things happened.  (Don't you like how I'm going backwards in time?  It feels very Momento to me.)

Here are some moments that happened between the last post in this one.

(I know what you're thinking - white back

ground?  You've got a white background?  Yes I do!  And I've been doing more color, too.  Oh, so many new things.  New toys.  New p rops.  Old backgrounds I'm finally dragging out.  Here'

s more!

There will be more soon.  I need to go do actual work now.  :)  And change the tv.  I'm feeling very Wind In The Willow's right now.  :)