Progress report: March

1.  Read Lean In, The Beauty Myth, Survival of the Prettiest, A Handmaid's Tale, and Gone Girl

Even though I started reading Beauty Myth and Survival of the Prettiest a while ago I've stalled on these two.  I should just hurry up and finish Prettiest because I'm finding it a bit disappointing.  However, I am also now reading Gone Girl and I LOVE IT.  This book is intense, thrilling, and so so engrossing.  I will probably finish it by the weekend.  And a friend of mine lent me Lean In so that will probably be next on the chopping block . . . although I'm finding reading the fiction books a lot easier.

I also read Bossypants last month, which was very very (laugh out loud) funny but also had some very interesting elements hidden in it.

2.  Finish reading Anna Karenina and Howards End.
I finished Howards End a while ago, probably before Christmas.  I enjoyed it.  Forrester is not my favorite classic British novelist but his writing is very amazing and breathtaking.  I do find some of his social analysis a little over my head at times though; I wish I knew more about the history he is dealing with, because his novels always deal with very interesting themes.  I found his examination of 'culture' in Howards End particularly fascinating.

3.  Learn some basic sewing and alteration.

Photogsnazzy: blue skies

Some days the sky is such an amazing color of blue, you feel glad just to witness the color, no matter how mundane you might be.

P.S. If I would learn photoshop, I could get rid of that smudgy bush in the corner!

Photogsnazzy: summertime sun

Summer is almost over.  I tried to capture some of that sunshine around the house.

Photogsnazzy: A Rose is a Rose is a Rose

For New Years I had the chance to see the Rose Parade Floats!  There were so many beautiful flowers!  and it was great to get a chance to see so many colors in the middle of winter!

Here are a few I took of the abundance of roses I saw.

Photogsnazzy: Dreamy Caterpillars

I actually tried to do a little photography this weekend.  Almost always I'm lazy and do everything on automatic settings--- maybe I'll adjust aperture--- and focus mostly on composition, hoping that there is enough light for the image to come out looking pretty much how I want it.  Well, it's time to stop being lazy!

I did a little refreshing by cracking open a few photography books and borrowed my Dad's Nikon to actually try taking some pictures experimenting with the ISO, shutter speed, aperture and focus on manual!

Unfortunately, I took too long to get around to doing this and the sun was pretty much set by the time I got a acquainted with the camera.  That and I kept forgetting to check the focus!  (I'm so used to the machines doing everything for me!)  Maybe I should stay on auto focus until I get the hang of things.    So I basically took a bunch of really bad photos.

However, I thought I'd share a few dreamy (out-of-focus, over/under-exposed) photographs--- primarily of caterpillars!

I think these are the settings I used: 1/25s, f/4.5, ISO 400.

1/25s, f/4.5, ISO 640

1/24s, f/4.5, ISO 250 . . . also I just like the blurry green in this one, with the white flowers peaking through.

Photogsnazzy: Summer flowers

During my weekend trip to Winterthur (Delaware) and Cape May, I saw many flowers.  Some were in shadow.  Some were in sunlight.  Some held perfectly still.  Some were buffeted by the morning breeze.

Photogsnazzy: A Tree, No More

Trees are very beautiful.

Even without their leaves in the beginning of winter this year, I keep on being surprised by how beautiful the trees are in the early morning, late at night, during sunset, in the rain, in the fog, all the time!  I find myself writing poetry about trees many times a week as I drive to work.

Sadly (or perhaps happily) by the time I actually get to work and can write my musings down, I've forgotten them.

My parents cut down two of the trees in our yard this summer.  As relieved as we all were not to have to worry about them falling on our house/cars during the Hurricane, I will miss them, especially the one outside my window.

No more will I be able to watch its bright leaves rolling back and forth in the breeze or being flattened in a windy gale or dancing against a backdrop of tumultuous dark thunder clouds.

I took this picture of the tree from my window last autumn, not knowing it would be our last together.

Photogsnazzy: Sunshine and Newspaper

All of this snow in October is making me long for the summer when I could spend a Saturday afternoon reading the newspaper on the lawn in the warm sunshine.

Photogsnazzy: Autumnal Guest Author Ania!!!

Welcome to my first guest authored post! I have super cool and talented friends who deserve a little attention. One of them is Ania who does a little, gorgeous photography--- while simultaneously being a medical student! You can check out her blog about photography, U2, and med school here. But first check out her post below:

Autumn Photos, Pinckney State Recreation Area, Michigan by Ania

My friend Ashley and I decided to leave Ann Arbor for a day and go immerse ourselves in the wonders of Mother Nature while the trees were changing colors. Lost among girl talk and miles of trails, I managed to remember to use my beloved Nikon D90.

Ashley really liked the Sassafras leaves, and found one so appealing she put it to her face. Voilà, the birth of a very fun photo.
I am a huge fan of macro shots, and when we spotted these adorable fungi growing on a tree trunk, I could not help myself.

Photogsnazzy: The nefarious Sir Roderick

We went to the Renaissance Faire in Lancaster, PA last weekend--- until it started extreme thunder storming and we all got sent home.

But not before we got to see the jousting!!! This was our knight, "the nefarious Sir Roderick," who was assigned to us based on where we were sitting in the audience.

The script was rather bad, but Sir Roderick was pretty good at putting those hay bales in their place! He also had the best tunic of the lot.

Unfortunately he doing his best to be voted most "evil" knight of the company assembled. He was lucky it rained, because it probably wasn't going to end well for him.

Here he is already getting himself into trouble with the Sir I-Forget of Kells, who also had a pretty groovy get-up. Tsk tsk.

Introducing Powder Keg & Spread by Robert Trachtenberg for Tatler, Aug 2011

Prefixing posts with "Powder Keg" is my amusing way of indicating that I will be discussing fashion magazines. (Don't get the joke, look up "magazine" in the dictionary and be enlightened.)

This spread for Tatler is a super refreshing change from the general boring, hyper-sexualized, often racist, and gimmick-masquerading-as-creativity. It includes cute clothes, fashion icons, and cleverness!

My two favs: