Embrace your inner fuddy-duddy

Colleague and I got into a discussion of Annie Leibovitz’ new book, Annie Leibovitz at Work.

If you haven’t read it, you should. It’s both an excellent inspiration for the portrait photographer and a powerful pictorial history of the last 40 years. I’m not always a fan of “behind the scenes with photographer X” books, but first of all, this is Annie Leibovitz we’re talking about, not Joe-I-once-shot-some-celebrities-Jones. Second, the photos are just plain damn fabulous. Third, she’s pretty forthcoming both about the philosophy of her shooting as well as pertinent technical details, which makes me want to grab some faces and start shooting pixels.

Anyway, since Leibovitz is on my top ten photographers of all time list (and possibly also the top five), I pretty much devoured the book…and was kinda brought up short by the rather extensive digital manipulation of Leibovitz’ later shots, particularly her work at Vogue. She’d shoot actors at different times (and sometimes in different cities), then have her digital techs seamlessly stitch the images together and fill in the gaps with still other images, so that Judy Dench appears to be driving at night with a very unhappy Helen Mirren when in reality they were photographed in separate sessions.

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A mother’s sacrifice

Was reading the New York Times this morning and ran across this headline:
TO BUY CHILDREN’S GIFTS, MOTHERS DO WITHOUT.

Now that’s a heartstrings moment if ever I read one, bringing to mind the Grapes of Wrath, the Great Depression, parents starving themselves so their children can eat. I knew the economic crisis was bad, but…wow. I read the story, and decided the headline needed some editing:

TO BUY CHILDREN’S GIFTS, MOTHERS DO WITHOUT DESIGNER JEANS

The story goes on to explain that mammas throughout the US are foregoing buying luxuries for themselves so they can load their children up with toys at Christmas. While daddies are probably also sacrificing, it’s the mammas that are hit “hardest.”

“I want her to be able to look back,” one mamma sighs, “and say, ‘Even though they were tough times, my mom was still able to give me stuff.” *

This brave mamma is sacrificing the purchase of a pair of designer jeans so her daughter can have a $260 play kitchen and other goodies. If she desperately needed a pair of pants so that she could step outside without copping an indecent exposure rap, great. Given the picture, however, we know she’s got at least one pair.

Awwww, c’maaaaaaan, people. I can’t decide if somebody oughta fire the headline writer for overdramatization, fire the reporter for not even remotely picking up on the real story, or send that mamma to, say, Somalia, so she can watch real sacrifices and stop whining.

Is this truly what we’ve come down to? Surely we’re not so shallow that we equate “great personal sacrifice” with “buying an off-brand until the economy recovers.”

I dunno. Maybe all this busted economy stuff is God’s way of telling us to get real.

Best iPhone apps, continued

Gigi-the-iPhone is a goofy little beast. As I’ve said ad nauseum, I’m willing to put up with her crummy phone service because she’s taken over so many other tasks. And what gets her there are the apps.

If you’re using a barebones iPhone, i.e., only the apps that came in the box, you’re operating at about half-strength on the utility scale.

If you’re not sure how to add apps to your iPhone (you can do it directly from the iPhone by tapping on the Apps icon, or through iTunes on your computer), Apple has a pretty good tutorial on their apps site.

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Sunshine

“AAAAAAAAAAAIEEEUUUNT NO SUNSHY-YINE WHEYUUUN SHEEEEEEEEEAAAAH’S GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWUUUUUUUN…”

Startled, I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw the man in the car behind me, mouth open all the way back to his tonsils, belting out the Bill Withers classic. “That voice,“ my old singing teacher would have said, darkly, “shouldn’t be allowed to sing.”

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Memo to self:

When busily keyboarding in a client’s office, wearing the iPhone headset to cut down on cubicle farm distractions, and an infectious Gilbert & Sullivan melody tickles the vocal cords, resist the urge to belt out a few bars.

It’s truly amazing how many odd looks you can garner merely by warbling:

“Go to death, and go to slaughter.
Die, and every Cornish daughter
With her tears your graves will water.
Go ye heroes, go and die!”

Sheesh.

Free drink the next time you’re in glassland to anyone who (1) sings this loudly, in front of me in a very public place, using the correct melody and (2) identifies the character who solos these words.

(OK, Gary, is that tougher?)

Are you a glass artist? I’m not.

I’m an artist. Period.

Is it just me being Ms. OversensitiveWordist, or is there something a tad demeaning in the term “glass artist?” I mean, when we talk about a sculptor, do we say he is a “bronze artist?” When we talk about a painter, is he an “oil artist?”

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Wordsplosion

I’ve got a real thing about words (surprise, surprise), and Wordsplosion has had me doing the ROTFL thing for the last half hour or so. Definitely worth a visit.

BTW, the photo above is my own Wordsplosion-style entry. Mom and I saw it at an airport on our way back to DC for a wedding.

Dar Essalam (Moroccan)

• Restaurant website
  
• Location: Wilsonville, OR
• Price to fill up two people for dinner: About $40

There’s a hidden jewel in Wilsonville (of all places): One of the tastier Middle Eastern restaurants I’ve encountered on the west coast. I’d driven by Dar Essalam a couple of times on my way to Fry’s Electronics, and filed it under “new Moroccan restaurant” for future reference.

When I say “hidden” jewel, I mean it. Coworker Sara and I decided to try it tonight, and it proved so hard to find in Google Maps that we nearly didn’t go (google “Moroccan restaurant in Wilsonville” and see what you come up with). I’m glad we did, because it was delightful.

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Hooray for Amazon.com

Amazon.com has decided to tackle one of the banes of my existence: Scumsucking, finger-slitting, diss-the-customer packaging. They’ve posted a “Frustration-Free Packaging” credo that promises to eliminate the clear plastic shells that eat your fingers, triple or sometimes quadruple boxing that costs more to ship, eats trees and fills up your garbage can, and those REALLY STUPID styrofoam bits that get on absolutely EVERYTHING and take years to vacuum up.

Thank heavens somebody finally gets it.

10 iPhone apps that really ARE useful

Fortune Magazine just named the “Top 10 must-have iPhone apps,” and pretty much proved why business magazines shouldn’t try to talk geek. If you want a 2-inch rotating disco ball or a screen depicting simulated beer, cowbells, staplers (STAPLERS?) and cigarette lighters, this is the list for you.

If you want anything useful, look elsewhere.

The iPhone, as I’ve said, is a lousy phone. Once the coolfactor dies, the reason you’ll still own it is because it’s actually a quite useful pocket computer and entertainment center. You can download impressive apps that add to the already-impressive bunch on the phone, most for less than $10 (or free). Here are my favorite ten so far, in no particular order (and here’s another 10, with games): [Read more]

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