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Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Carmen Miranda. Revised!

Oh to be instantly 2-3 sizes smaller.  I could get into that sucker.....Even Sister Spanx can't make that happen!  Ain't happenin'!

Poor old Carmen Miranda costume....she's old (30 years) but she's still looking good.  Somehow the earrings have gotten lost over the years, sigh.....Here we are in younger days, LOL!  So the Florida folks who are coming to the show will see the beautiful head-dress and lots of jewelry!  And I can still do it!  I always think of it as a tribute to a great performer.

And I'm getting my funky mop colored tomorrow....hooray!

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

My Hair (The Saga Grows. Everywhere.)

Apres Le C. April 8, 2015. Four months after the last of the Dragon's Blood.

(Demi-amusing)

My dear friend (who makes magic with my nails and other beauty parts), gave me some shampoo samples a while back to help thicken one's hair.  Mine, to be specific.

Apparently, everything from the neck DOWN sure as heck got the memo.  Not to be too gauche, (oh, what the hell, let's be gauche) but watching one's legs become Neaandrathalic before one's eyes is a little slice of Otherworld-liness.

My razor whimpered.

My head hair, on the other hand looks like a bizarre combination of a cartoon runner with "s'ploding" (exploding) follicles, AstroBoy and a 3-D topographical color map of the Andes Mountains compete with white tops.

Why Have A Dog That.....?

Is it just me or am I crazy?

Why in the world would you have a dog that had to be heavily monitored and watched like a hawk when it had bitten, lunged or tried to attack numerous people?

I just don't get it.  Just thinking about it makes me tired.

I have 2 friends (with non-ACDs) who have dogs that are (to me) ticking time-bombs.  The dogs have to muzzled 100% of the time when they are anywhere people might be.  One of my friend's dogs is very sick and has to be under full sedation so the vet's staff can monitor him.

I get a crabby snap when the dog is in a lot of pain; heck, I snap too when I'm in pain.  I get the "Ooops, mistake" bite too.  It happens.  Dogs bite. I'm just wondering why all the effort for dogs that are never, ever going to live even close to a "normal" life.

What's makes this even more ironic is both these folks are 100% all positive  trainers.  I'm not dissing all-positive training.  Artie was trained AP.  But what is the point of having personal dogs that can't be left with anyone or any place?

With all the good, easy, nice, "balanced" dogs out there in rescue and in shelters, why (quite frankly) waste years on a dog that will never get better?

I just don't get it.

Photography Gear For The Beginner. Seriously?

Read this first....and laugh with me.



http://pixelpluck.com/top-10-essential-dslr-accessories-beginners/#comment-1357

Are you f-----g kidding me? 

Ridiculous amount of stuff! For a beginner?? Someone just starting out? Silliness multiplied. You don’t need all that crud. 
You need a decent camera body, and can get them oftentimes used, a decent zoom lens (an 18-140 will get you started), a good, fast memory card and a computer or laptop with a cheapo program (such as the disc that comes with a Nikon) to crop and do light edits. I bought my best bag used at a garage sale for $5. I bet it’s older than me. I know folks who buy the padding and re-purpose back packs, messengers bags etc. that they buy USED!  I use a lunch bag with padding for a day bag. 
I would buy a good comfy strap new (I love the OpTech ones).
Contrary to the myth, you rarely need a tripod and sometimes you can find a good one used, it just might need a new head. A lot of pros use a string tripod (google it if you don’t know) or a fence, or wall Nothing screams “pretentious photographer” like a tripod.
Who thinks up this stuff? That’s all fluff, pretty much. Don’t you want to encourage folks to get INTO photography, not break the bank doing it?
Who wants to carry around all that crap anyway? 
Just my two cents but I’ve been a hobbyist photographer for over 30 years, with some paid gigs and awards won along the way. I'm shooting with Nikons D7100 and D90 mostly using a Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4 Macro lens currently but my first gen DSLR was a Konica-Minolta with two lenses. 
Yes, I have other lenses and If know I'll need them, I'll bring them along.  I've shot vacations to Europe with one stinkin' lens. 
Seriously, this has to be a joke or a way to get folks to buy stuff.