“Birds sing after a storm;
why shouldn’t people feel
as free to delight in whatever
sunlight remains to them?”
Rose Kennedy
Shine On
Monthly Archives: January 2016
Write Write Write
“The scariest moment is always just before you start.
After that, things can only get better.”
Stephen King
The best advise I’ve read from accomplished writers is when you’re writing a novel, to just sit down and start writing. Sounds easy, but unless you’ve tried writing when you’re not inspired, it’s a tough task to accomplish.
Here I am entering week two of 2016, and I’ve yet to sit down as I had planned to work on my novel which I started in mid 2015. Even though I have fifty pages finished, I just can’t seem to get going. I have cut back on my reading so I’d have more time for writing, but just can’t seem to get writing.
So, starting Monday I’ve decided to try a method I read about recently where you sit down, set a timer for 25 minutes and just force yourself to write. If I’m going to get anywhere with my writing, I need to hunker down and write – write – write.
Shine On
Triumphant Sunset
“The true purpose of education
is to teach a man to carry himself
triumphant to the sunset.”
Liberty Hyde Bailey
Shine On
Cyanotype Photography
“The difficulty of making accurate drawings of objects
so minute as many of the Algae and Confervae
has induced me to avail myself of
Sir John Herschel’s beautiful process of Cyanotype,
to obtain impressions of the plants themselves,
which I have much pleasure in
offering to my botanical friends.”
Anna Atkins
There has been a few different styles of photography through the years, but one I’ve always thought was beautiful is cyanotype. It’s actually obtained not through photography but through a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print.
The process was discovered in 1842 by an English scientist and astronomer, Sir John Herschel. He developed cyanotype mainly as a means of reproducing notes and diagrams, such as blueprints. But, it was Anna Atkins a botanist and photographer who brought this popular processing style to photography in the 1840s.
Atkins created a limited series of cyanotype books that documented ferns and other plant life from her extensive seaweed collection. She would place specimens directly onto coated paper, allowing the action of light to create a silhouette effect. Anna Atkins is regarded as the first female photographer and also the mother of cyanotype photography.
Shine On
Weird Al Parody
“One of my pet peeves is that sometimes
the talents of my band get overlooked because,
and it was the same problem that Frank Zappa had,
with a lot of groups that use humor, people don’t realize
there’s a lot of craft behind the comedy.”
Al Yankovic
My husband and I were listening to my iPhone in the car, and of course I had the phone tuned to my Steve Martin Radio station, when a Weird Al song came on. We love Weird Al’s parodies, but this one we had never heard before and had us laughing out loud.
The song was from his Running with Scissors album, and is Grapefruit Diet, a pastiche of Zoot Suit Riot by the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies.
Weird Al never did a video for this song, but I was able to find a YouTube video that I thought everyone would enjoy. If you’re dieting or have ever had to lose weight, you might enjoy this entertaining Weird Al parody.
Shine On
Chronicles of a Blogaholic 