Mountains and valleys

All our friends kept telling us how the drive to San Fran on the 5
freeway is boring. We've never seen these parts of California and
we're really enjoying the scenery. Thank goodness we left home earlier
in the day rather than going with our original plan of driving through
the night.

Cheetos and freeways

We set off about four hours early for our trip to my sister's home.
Right now we're passing "The Happiest Place On Earth" while consuming
snack bags of delightfully disgusting junk food.

But now what?

I finally finished a sweater! I used to have a yarn store and would burn through knitting project after crochet project, but in the last year and a half it hasn't been the same. I think I've made a scarf, a hat and a mitten, yes A mitten. But today! I finished this cropped sweater.

The Viva sweater from Ella Rae Book 7 is knit in Manos Silk Blend, an amazing yarn. It feels so soft and isn't itchy, I just love it. I know I'm going to wear it so much everybody will be tired of seeing it.

What do I knit next?

He'll be stored in the underground mausoleum

"Ooh, hon! 'Lego Loses Its Unique Right To Make Lego Blocks, the European Department of Justice has decided that the Danish company Lego does not have exclusive rights to the lego building block anymore. Lego went to court after a Canadian firm had made blocks that were so like lego blocks that they even fitted the real blocks made by Lego. The European judge decided that the design of the lego blocks is not protected by European trade marks and so anyone can make the blocks.' DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?"

"It means Lego is in a bad place."

"NO! It means we will soon be able to buy trashcan-size containers of legos!"

"And, do what with those?"

"We could build a structure, a big lego structure in the backyard!"

"Um, no?!"

"Oh, yes hon. We could build a shed! Down in the bottom of the yard! IT COULD LOOK LIKE ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL! We could have a shed that looks like St. Paul's, perfect!"

Photoshop Trainee

I have never been a huge fan of Photoshop. My favorite graphic design concepts are type, text and paper. Don't get me wrong, I love photographs but I prefer not to alter them too much from their original state. I like to boost the color, crop a little here and there, but extreme manipulation and surreal dreamscapes are not in my repertoire. But whispy landscapes are not the only thing that Photoshop can create. It is, of course, the most powerful photo engine on the market, and I have lost the slight edge I used to have on it.

When I was in college I didn't focus on the Photoshop classes that were offered to me because I chose marketing and management courses instead. Then in my first job I was only required to do minor photo editing. In my second job, no graphic design. Now as an independent graphic designer I find I really, um, must know how to use it better.

I have a couple of books but I find it hard to follow along to those with any devotion. What I did find that works are these videos of PixelPerfect hosted by Bert Monroy on Revision3 Internet TV. The guy is amazing. He goes click, click, and a throws on a filter or two and there you have it! A fabulous piece of digital art. They call him the Bob Ross of digital art. Remember Bob Ross? The old, odd art guy from PBS. Bert Monroy has the same gentle, encouraging tone. I love his videos, and I'm learning tons of new stuff!

Here is a quickie watercolor lesson. We recreated a photograph with brushes and then gave it the texture of watercolor paper. Below is my version followed by the original photograph.