All this time living in Arizona, I have never seen Javelina up close, until now. I was leaving a client’s home Thursday night and it was around 7:45 pm. I was accelerating up a small hill when I had to hit the hooks as they were just congregating in the middle of the road! They scurried up the side of the road and continued their little meeting and I just had to stop the car and marvel at them. It was really hard to photograph what I was seeing with just my iPhone. It didn’t help that I was kinda of scared that they might charge me or that a car could come up behind me at any time. Instinct told me I should not get out of the car, but I admit I was very tempted! I decided they were a safe enough distance away from my car, so I took a deep breath, picked up my iPhone with one hand while rolling down my electric window and keeping my finger on that window button, my left foot on the clutch, right on the break, paused the podcast I was playing, brought up the camera, enabled the flash while trying to reach up with my thumb to tap the screen in an attempt at focusing on the peccary then snapped 2 photos. The super bright flash from my LED flash startled them and they began scurrying away. The photos I captured were pitch black and I was disappointed that I couldn’t capture the moment. I rolled up my window, put the phone back in my dash, engaged in first gear and slowly drove off in amazement of having witnessed these nocturnal animals. I was glad I got to see them with my own eyes.
While organizing my photos for this evening, I decided instead of discarding these back blobs that I’d try and edit them in iPhoto. It turns out I was able to get something out of one of them and as you can see here, you can almost make out the shapes of the Javelina. You can make out 3 or 4 of them in the shadows.
This is what I absolutely love about smartphone photography: the thrill of the moment. Your heart beats in your chest and you feel alive in the moment.
So many times I feel guilty because I am always snapping photos of every little thing. “Melissa, how can you be present in the moment when you’re always behind the camera?” Well, maybe everyone’s way of being present is just not the same. I felt very much alive trying to capture this moment. Not only was I present then, but I can recall that moment now any time I like and feel a sense of pride. Is this not being present in the moment?
I'm having an Easy Care Extra Heavy Gentle Fast Cold Rinse kind of a day.
First I awoke to Lucian exclaiming, "Mommy! Keagan just peed on the floor right there in front of the gate!"
Sure enough, there was a diaper-less little cherub running around the living room, asking for more water for his sippy cup.
I used the last of the carpet cleaner to clean up the mess. Went into the bathroom and stepped in a puddle on the floor. I assume it was also pee.
When did we get a puppy?
Got the kids cleaned up, dressed and off to school to drop off Lucian at Kindergarten. My only saving grace this morning so far was not encountering any asshole morning parent drivers. Ah, but the day is still young and there's always afternoon pick up.
Then I got busy refilling all that needed to be refilled throughout the house while Keagan quietly played in the living room.
Wait. Quietly? Well that's a red flag that something is amiss now isn't it?
And now we come to...
Exhibit A
Evidently, Keagan thinks our carpet needs more flavor so he decided to raid our spice rack and dump sprinkle cinnamon and —I'm gonna guess— Italian seasoning — onto the carpet. And the chairs. And the throws. (I know they're called throws but because you throw them on a piece of furniture, not the floor.)
Exhibit B
Do you see the footprints in the cinnamon?
This is precisely why we have crap furniture covered up with slip covers and decorative throws.
Right now my entire living room is in the washing machine preparing for the rinse cycle.
I have yet to vacuum the floor because I have yet to eat breakfast. It's already 11:30 am — or it's only 11:30 am — the glass is neither half empty or half full around here because it's usually been spilled out onto the floor.
The floor can wait and I need a freakin nap while Dr. Destructo is napping.
I'm attending Macworld 2009! Sort of. from my couch or dining room table. where I'll be folding laundry. Wanna join me? Select a few of these links and open them in new tabs across the top of your browser. Happy clicking!
Here is the start of an interactive media list I'm generating. I will try to update this list as I see more. My idea was to make a list of all my favorite hot spots in one place and share it with you. I might even be reinventing the wheel here, but it's been fun making this list for myself. If you have any links you care to share, please feel free to put them in comments and I'll add it to the list and re-link to this post out into the ether. Live Blogging- Keynote on Tuesday, January 6th at 9:00 am PT TUAW The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Check it out! I was a guest on the "Call Your Grandma" show tonight with Patti Serrano. It was a lot of fun and I hope you might join us next week.
The show runs every Friday night at 10:00 pm ET. Mark your iCal with a pop up reminder. The show is simulcasted using UStream and TalkShoe so you get it from different angles using audio and video streaming while also being a podcast to which you can subscribe. What's the show about? Go ask your Grandma and find out! Patti has invited me to do a weekly Mac Segment. Tonight's show was just an introduction. This is NOT a "Mac Show." Some people have already asked me, so I thought I should point that out. It's a show about having some fun using social media to talk about anything and Patti is brave enough to pull all the strings to make it happen. She also happens to be a grandmother who uses a Mac to do it. If you know anything about me and have been reading my blog and twitter, then you know that's right up my alley.
For the audio portion of the show, it's best to listen to it from the TalkShoe feed for better sound quality. Click this TalkShoe graphic to play it or go directly to the page where you can listen there or subscribe in iTunes to the show.
Last night, Lucian and I watched another one of Geoff Smith's live performances on UStream. Geoff does one of these concerts every couple of months and Lucian gets really animated so sometimes I record a seesmic video of his reaction to Geoff's music. I thought it would be fun to post the previous videos next to each other because it's still amazing to me how fast my little boy is growing and how much he is learning. He loves making videos, as many kids do. Right now he is starting to engage in pretend play and it always amazes me the things he comes up with. He will take an ordinary object and pretend it is something else. In this case, he took some items out of my jewelry armoire and improvised. A necklace box became a "guitar" and a chain clasp tool became a "trumpet." I think. I love being able to go back in time and see how much my child has grown and changed. I love finding new ways to document his growth over time.
Speaking of changes, I should give you an update on Lucian's vision problem in case you wonder why he might look a little odd in the videos. Lucian has strabismus in his left eye. He also has an astigmatism which prevents him from focusing clearly. His optometrist recommended he wear corrective glasses to straighten his eye and help him focus. Yesterday was his most recent checkup. Unfortunately, after 8 weeks, he hasn't responded to this treatment alone, so we've now been directed to patch his good eye to help force his bad eye to work properly. Currently, he is only using his right eye and turns his head when confronted with using his left eye. So, I just wanted to let you know about that because sometimes the quality of online video might not show certain details, like the fact that he is wearing a flesh-colored patch over his eye, not that his eye is missing entirely.
Last night was the first night of patching his eye. We were very nervous about it because we weren't sure how he would react. Would he have a major meltdown and begin to hate us? Would he keep ripping it off and refuse to cooperate? All I know is I would be really ticked off if someone patched my good eye so it was not easy doing this to him. For this reason I have to tell you just how thankful I was for Geoff's concert last night. It really helped to smooth out this experience. Lucian was so cooperative. I was shocked that he kept the patch on all evening. The doctor said she would be really happy if we could keep the patch on him for at least two hours per day for the next two months. Well, he kept it on all night last night and he's been wearing it for over two hours with no complaints today. I'm so proud of him!
I really think that by making movies and seeing himself with his eye patch on and having fun helped to make him more confident about wearing it. It certainly didn't impede his ability to have fun and it sure did help to have Geoff's online music show to interact with.
People always tell me to savor these moments because the time goes so fast. Capturing these moments on video helps me do just that but it still blows my mind at just how fast five months has gone by!
Geoff-meet your new band memberhttp://www.ustream.tv/channel/geoffsmith Hey JudeI think he thinks it's hey Dude tho hangin with Geoff Smith
If you don't yet know who Geoff Smith is, you should really check him out.
Last night he performed another free UStream concert for close to 300 people who joined as viewers and chatters from all over the world. (I say world because several from Canada were there plus a buddy of mine from Australia checked in too. I know that because I was tweeting it like crazy in case you missed my tweetmeat. I wouldn't call it spam, so I'm calling it meat instead, LOL!)
Last night's performance marked the one year anniversary of his "accidental concert." He doesn't really have a regular performance schedule so you kind of have to catch him. To make that easier — if you already follow me and I know about it, you'll know about it. Even easier yet though would be to follow Geoff Smith for updates.
Thank you Geoff Smith for all the good times so far!
We had a great Halloween this year with Lucian. He only ate one little lollypop despite the huge "facebucket" of candy he collected.(He carried a little orange jack-o-lantern bucket and because it has a smiley face on it, he called it a facebucket. Sounds like some new social media application, doesn't it?)Aside from a few pieces of chocolate (I'm only human) we'll be donating the rest to Mr. Davis' science class for, um, science, yeah, that's what we'll call it.
Instead of going to the mall or trick-or-treating door to door, we went to something called Trunk 'O Treats which was held at the Picture Rocks Community Center. Several families volunteered to dress up their vehicles stocked with goodies (as well as themselves) to line the perimeter of the parking lot. Picture Rocks Fire Dept., Trico Electric, the A&W Great Root Bear, C4PR and Arizona Youth Partnership were there to support the event. There was a decorated Sheriff's car where a male and female officer handed out badges and coloring books.
Our favorite part was the Picture Rocks Fire Department's firetruck. Lucian and all the other youngsters got to climb up and tour the firetruck. We had to pry Lucian out of it. He really loved sitting inside of it. No surprise as his Great-Grandfather was a Fire Chief once upon a time. (I just know my Grandpop was smiling down on us from Heaven that night with pride. If only he could have met Lucian. I really miss you Grandpop.) The firefighters were so awesome and entertaining. They were always willing to answer any questions. Lucian really loved inspecting a fireman's hat. He couldn't get enough of the flashlight attached to it.
Inside the building they had face painting and coloring supplies for the little ones. There were also drinks, stickers and cookies for everyone. There were about 10 vehicles all decked out with some amazing decorations, music and special effects like a smoke machine. Everyone was dressed in costume and all the kids were adorable and pleasant.
We met up with some new friends and their two little boys as well as some other parents and their children. It was nice because everyone knew someone there and it felt like a very safe and secure environment. Lucian and his new little buddy held hands as we walked around visiting the different families at their cars. We brought our own bag of goodies and helped replenish a someone else's stock so we could feel like we too were sharing.
After that event, we headed over to Oma and Opa's house to Trick-or-Treat with them and they were very much delighted to spend the holiday for the first time in person with their grandson. Oma took Nemo by his little fin and walked him to a couple of doors around the block to say hello to their new neighbors and show off their little pride and joy. Daddy and I took the opportunity to teach Lucian a lesson in saying thank you and having patience while people answer the door.
I always have mixed feelings about Halloween because it's not the way I remember it and I'm still not certain about what I want my son to experience. I really don't like the idea of kids consuming so much candy. I don't mind the idea of the tradition and celebrating it, but I don't see why it has to be all about candy and unhealthy snacks. When I purchased treats this year, I got pencils, playdoh, bubbles, etc. I didn't go wild on the candy because we never get enough kids to hand it out to and then it sits in our house for us to deal with. I just re-read my post on this from last year and I still feel the same way.
I wonder what you think about Halloween and how do you explain it to your kids?
I don't know. Maybe I'm the mean mommy and things will change as Lucian gets older and starts hanging with his friends. I don't care for the kind of mixed messages kids get when it comes to this event so that's why I was grateful for the opportunity to go to the Trunk 'O Treats event where Lucian got to meet Police Officers and Firemen. It gave me a chance to start introducing him to these services as part of a broader family emergency plan. Part of an emergency plan is preparing your child by introducing them to things like the sounds and lights of police cars, ambulances and firetrucks and also the people who provide these services so a child knows what the uniforms look like and who they can go to for safety. I got the idea from the Sesame Workshop. This is one treat I hope you'll check out. There are great links on the right side of the site where you can download printable PDFs of some important information to keep handy. There are also tools to help you communicate these concepts with your child. I really like the page that has the large phone keypad on it. I think it's a great tool to help a young child learn his/her phone number. If you click here it will download the PDF so you can see an example of what I mean. (Tip: I had to physically rename the file to add the dot pdf extension on it so my computer would open it.)
From our family to yours, we hope you had a very Happy and safe Halloween!
This was the first year we went to see the annual Winterhaven Festival of Lights here in Tucson, AZ. It was a great time spent with some dear friends of ours. I had to take the above photo and share it. This is a photo of one of the home displays which featured The Twelve Days of Christmas. "On the Eighth Day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me, Eight Maids a Milking..."
