Grapefruit and the color pink. Yum.

Aren't grapefruits just...pretty? My heart also made it into one of the photos - it is an object I'm using for a 365 day Flickr project.

The Gus Man

This is one of our two kitties, Gus, peering out the window into our backyard (otherwise known as his kingdom).  Watch out, birdies!

Giant chocolate toffee cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 pound bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1 3/4 cups (packed) brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

5 1.4 ounce chocolate-covered English toffee bars (such as Heath), coursely chopped

1 cup walnuts, chopped, toasted

Preparation

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Stir chocolate and butter in top of double boiler set over simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from over water. Cool mixture to lukewarm. 

Using electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs in bowl until thick, about 5 minutes.  Beat in chocolate mixture and vanilla.  Stir in flour mixture, then toffee and nuts.  Chill batter until firm, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper.  Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto sheets, spacing 2 1/2 inches apart.  Bake just until tops are dry and cracked but cookies are still soft to touch, about 15 minutes.  Cool on sheets. (Can be made 2 days ahead.  Store airtight at room temperature). 

Recipe from www.epicurious.com. 

Andy Samberg rules

I saw this online for the first time this evening, and I almost laughed until I cried.   Merry Christmas.

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Finally done!!

Phew!  My final critique for digital art class was today.  I'm pretty happy with the end result of my portfolio.  You can find my final written statement and images below.  

My photographs are an exploration of organic form and texture. Like a scientific experiment, I reduce the number of distracting variables to isolate the object, moving the viewer away from everyday associations with nature. Stripping flowers, leaves, and trees of color reveals symmetry and detail in sharper focus. By removing plants from their natural environment or simply focusing on individual plants or parts of a plant, each subject is shown simply as it is in a moment of time; identity is defined outside its usual physical or culturally conceived environment.

For a moment, then, a gerbera daisy is not defined within human language by its latin name, Gerbera jamesonii, or culturally bound as a cheerful flower well-suited to floral arrangements. A close-up image of its central florets doesn't give that much away. An image of an eye, for instance, or a lily pad may surface for a moment before the mind snaps it neatly into place as "gerbera daisy." 

A pattern is revealed as these images are observed as a collection, transforming them into a case for Darwinian natural selection. Nature has, indeed, selected more successful forms and textures that are repeated over and over in the natural world. The rough bark of an oak tree is reminiscent of the exterior of an orchid's pseudobulb, while a close up of a daisy's flower head may remind the viewer of a field of corn. By examining form and texture outside of context, common links are revealed.

Key West anniversary trip

This is a kitty that lives at the Avalon Bed and Breakfast.  We stayed there on our first trip to Key West and we visit Tigger every time we go back. Tigger is usually pretty cranky, but she seemed much nicer this time around. I think they put her on a diet, too!

Online communities

This past spring, I took a linguistics class and became interested in online communities. Why do people present themselves a certain way and, when they communicate in a virtual environment, what drives word and phrase choice? So, I wrote a paper about an online community for kids that have gone through major surgery or cancer called the Experience Journal. Kids that have already gone through a medical procedure or a traumatic experience because of their condition share their experiences through narrative.  The hope is that kids just beginning the process - who are often physically isolated in a hospital or at home - may not feel quite so alone after reading about other kids going through the same thing. A good bit of research has shown that kids with a more optimistic outlook have better outcomes and shorter recovery time. Children's Hospital of Boston bought into that philosophy and created www.experiencejournal.com. In my paper, I compared narratives written by transplant patients and ADHD kids and concluded that transplant patients form more of a survivor identity in this virtual community to make sense of what is happening to them. 

Along a less serious vein, I am also fascinated by online communities that share and communicate visually, such as Flickr. I have a Flickr account and, in case you're not familiar with the site, you can post and share your photos. There is an endless variety of interest groups on Flickr, and the following are examples to which I belong: Flowers on Black, Rhodes College, Key West, Urban Fragments, Memphis Zoo and, last but not least, the One Object 365 Days Project. 

The last one mentioned has been taking up a bit of time lately. The goal is to take a picture of the same object every day for a year. The scenery can change but the object must remain the same. You cannot say the object is a tree and take a picture of a different tree every day...gotta be the same tree. Most people pick something small so that it is easily carried around. 

In my case, I chose a small heart on a silk string made out of clay polymer beads.  It was made by Billie Beads, a funky, hippie husband and wife duo out of New York City. They make other objects out of the same beads like skulls, masks, and piggy banks. It's kind of interesting seeing the same bright, swirly colors on a sweet little heart next to a huge, scary skull.

Anyway, I am on day 11 of my 365 journey, and the farther along I get the more worried I get about my sanity. There are only so many things I can do to make a little clay heart interesting, so it is easy to begin building little stories around the pictures I take.  

Here is one that is OK:

Today I spent most of the day in the basement of the art building at my school. The unnatural lighting is about to suck the life out of me! I snuck into the print shop across the way and snapped a quick shot of my heart amongst the gritty print equipment.

Fine, OK, typical day in the life of me. Here's when I start to worry:

Mom casts a baleful eye upon Tiffany, upset that she stayed out so late last night.

...followed by...

Mom forgives with a hug.

Again, there are only so many things you can do with a clay heart, but what?? I am presenting some short yet peculiar narratives online, and I have no idea what that says about me. At the time, I simply thought it was funny. What do you think?