Napped Out

Of course, no one ever said it would be easy being 72 hours old.

Sweetest Baby Ever (SBE) born Aug. 2 to brother

Cutest Baby Ever (CBE) at Edward Hospital.

Seven pounds three ounces.

Confusion as to length (definitely a DNA thing).

19 1/2 or 3/4 or maybe just 19 inches long.

She's so comfy all curled up, it's hard to tell.

Hello, Charlotte. Welcome to your world.

Back To What?

This page came from a free Naperville magazine that is mailed to us each month. The photograph was taken as part of a Back To School section.

I'm thinking she probably wouldn't need the hat if she had more clothes on.

Really? Who comes up with these fashion ideas?

Mostly, Naperville Now wants to know what you make of it.

Leave me a comment.

Do Not Disturb

The laundry will remain in a mouldering heap.
Chinese take-out and pizza will be sufficient unto my day.
And boss? I quit because I have found my life's calling. 

It is what makes this

turn into this:

And this

become this:

Am I the last person on earth to discover the joyous addiction that is Adobe Photoshop?

The Lifelong Learning class at Benedictine University that my friends and I took this summer was more fun than any college class has a right to be. Tinkering with saturation and values and curvy things on a grid was unquestionably the most fun I have EVER had. We would probably still be sitting in the classroom, oohing and ahhing over our groovy results, had the janitors not come in to sweep us out

Not only am I going to buy this software today, I'm going to have to invest in a really comfortable office chair. I don't plan on getting up until I've experimented with/improved 30-plus years of photographs.

Thanks again to Aaron, our teacher, for showing us the way to the light. And to the contrast. And to the levels. And especially to the burn and dodge.

Love, Grandma

Dear Charlotte,

You are nearly here, and there’s so much explaining to do about the federal budget and debt ceiling crisis, I hardly know where to begin. This I do know: the whole debt/budget calamity has a lot of fuzzy math in it, with both Republicans and Democrats screeching, countering and plutttting at each other.

This will all seem familiar to you by the time you’re in seventh grade. The he saids, the she saids, the president said.

It’s all what one might expect in Junior High, but among the grownups? Not so much.

By the time I’m through trying to explain the trillions, the top 2% and the concomitant deficits, you will be in college, majoring in macroeconomics.

So until then, may I offer a few basics?

Don’t spend more than you have in your checking account.

Save a little bit each month. You’ll be glad for the cushion. And it’s satisfying to watch it grow (although the spending part can be satisfying, too).

When someone tells you that someone else said something outrageous, don’t believe it until you’ve spoken directly to that person. Direct is best.

Don’t open pictures sent from 202 area codes. Ever.

Read newspapers when you can, although I suspect they will mostly be in electronic form by the time you’re really following the Cubs.

Don’t follow the Cubs.

I’m sure there are a lot of other things that I can come up with that will be helpful to you down the road. As long as Blogspot is offering a free forum, I’ll write stuff down.

Meanwhile, we are all looking forward to Tuesday. Your Mom is especially ready.

Your dad’s got the crib assembled, Zach has painted the carpet (long story), I’m working on the curtains and your mom has washed all of those darling pink outfits. We won’t have to do laundry until you’re two, which is a cost-savings any political party can agree on.

Can’t wait to meet you, baby girl.

Love,

Grandma

Bucket List

This was the cover of the Arts section of the Chicago Tribune on Sunday.

After I got my heart started again, it felt heady to be 11 years old again.

Tickets to his concerts at Wrigley Field are something like a billion dollars, but you know what? I'm pretty much okay with my creased newspaper. And that face.

Is there a band you'd love to hear? Or have you already been fulfilled on this front? Leave me a comment.

Shoot

Much to my dismay, our field trip by bus to the Morton Arboretum was canceled because five students weren't enough to justify the gas. And while I realize it didn't make the greatest environmental sense, I was really looking forward to my first field trip since Mrs. Burrell's first grade went to a New York dairy to watch milk swirl around in stainless steel vats.

Saw my first cow that day, too.

In any event, our fearless instructor, Aaron (who is volunteering his time to teach this Lifelong Learning class) discussed brightness, contrast, saturation, temperature, clutter, the grid, hotspots and Ansel Adams.

Take out Ansel Adams and it sounds a bit like menopause, doesn't it?

After class, we took a "photowalk" around the campus, although I confess to getting sidetracked.

This is Sharon, author of the blog My Life with Labs and Jillian. She has a bodacious camera -- and she knows how to use it.

This is Kaki, a covert blogger with a special relationship with ospreys (in the photographic sense of the word). Also an excellent photographer.

We roamed Benedictine's campus trying to keep Aaron's lessons in mind. 

A lesson in lines.

A lesson in clutter.

A lesson in staying dry.

A lesson in how to get an A.

Next Saturday is our last class, when we will learn how to use Photoshop, a handy utility for coping with double chins and bad hair.

I'll share some of the results down the road.

Benedictine University gets high marks for its Lifelong Learning program. The content is excellent and the price is right.

And seeing Kaki go after a ladybug on a weed? Priceless.

See

One of the really great things about where we live is our backyard. While 95 percent of Illinois is flatter than a pancake and filled with prairie grasses, we live in tree central: elm, oak, hemlock, infuriating buckthorn, black walnut, serviceberry and mock orange.

And then there's the wildlife: annoying squirrels, even more annoying chipmunks, raccoons, skunk, deer. A fox trotted through our hostas just a few weeks ago.

It's all rather Disneyesque.

While starting dinner last night, I saw a flash of really intense blue just outside the window. An Indigo Bunting! We hadn't had one in ages!

"Honey!" I called out, rummaging for my glasses. "Tiptoe out here and see this bird!"

Upon further squint, I paused. "Wait! Is that a blue butterfly? Never had one of those before!"

 I grabbed my camera.

It was very still and unafraid. I slipped outside to get a closer shot.

Rare and endangered helium balloon, ripped and roosting in the ivy.

So it's time for the optometrist.

Side benefit, howevever: I've been reading about this photographic effect called bokeh. And I think I (inadvertently) got it. A little bit, anyway.

I'll strive for a better subject next time. In fact, a few book buddies and I are taking a photography class at Benedictine College. I missed the first class last week on account of my trip to St. Louis. This week, I'm told, we are taking a field trip to the M0rton Arboretum in Lisle on Saturday. And we are taking a bus.

It feels just like first grade.