Screwed-up photos, non-screwed-up photos, and a clip from my novel
Hi everyone! Hope you're doing well. I had a really nice, creative weekend. I think it's because for once it was rainy outside. I love "bad" weather of any sort. It makes me feel like there's something going on, like the world is a dynamic place. It also makes me feel cozy and happy when I stay inside to write. I ended up spending most of my weekend working on my novel and sorting through photos.
I came across some photos I'd taken on the Colorado College campus at the end of last school year. I took a good 150 photos (yes, I know) only to discover that something was wrong with the memory card. I plugged my camera into my computer and got this notice: "You need to restart your computer now." You hardly ever get that on a Mac. Well, I tried a bunch of different things to transfer my photos onto my computer. When I finally did, I saw that the pictures had been corrupted somehow--with random, bright streaks of color going across each one. It was one of the weirdest things I had ever seen. I was pretty upset and frustrated, especially since my day hadn't been going too well anyway. But luckily the pictures were from campus and I could easily go out and take them again. It would've been different if I'd been on some African safari. Now that I'm past being angry about it, I can appreciate the messed-up photos as art. Here is a sample:
Pretty trippy, huh? I will say one thing, though: If you don't want your photos to look like this, never buy a Ritz Camera-brand memory card.
While sorting through my photos, I also came across these forgotten pictures from an event held on campus last semester. It was called the "Unity Contest Powwow" and was a venue for Native American dancers. I took these with a 70-300mm telephoto lens.
Like I said, I also worked on my novel this weekend. Here is a brief clip. A note on the characters: Elena, one of my main characters, is the "genius" being spoken of here. Elena's mother is named Natasha Kristoff, and this scene takes place in the 2030s.
“Mrs. Kristoff, your daughter is a genius."
Elena’s mom was sitting in a rolling chair across from Julie, Elena’s first-grade teacher. Julie had all kinds of teacher-y things on her desk, like a ceramic apple saying “You’re #1!” and a digital picture frame showing happy moments with her students. The entire room was full of colorful things. The alphabet, each letter in cursive and in print, was hung up in a huge strip along one wall. Tacked to a bulletin board were self-portraits that each student had done, along with names written in enormous capital letters and decorated with glitter. Next to this was a shelf filled with picture books. Glue-and-paper books were still the medium of choice for young children. A few books had been taken out and put on the top shelf for display. Rory the Reading Raptor, said the title on one of them. Natasha knew that her child would probably not be amused by Rory the Reading Raptor.
“Yes, she’s a smart one,” she told Julie. She was well aware of it, but she also wanted to avoid bragging about Elena. She always found it tacky when other parents trumpeted their kids’ talents and achievements to the world.
“No, I’m serious,” Julie said. This woman was young enough to be Natasha’s daughter. She had curly blonde hair and was wearing an old-fashioned headwrap. Apparently the 2010s are in again, thought Natasha. She had better get with it. “We’re not really sure what to do with her, to be honest,” Julie went on. “She’s miles ahead of everyone her age. She seems so bored in class. I see her drawing on her papers all the time. Then she answers every math question right. The other students are getting angry that she can do perfectly without paying attention. I’m afraid she’s beginning to create a bit of resentment in the class.”
Natasha sighed. “I know things like that happen,” she said. “But Elena is going to have to learn how to deal with it. So are her classmates. That’s just the way life works.”
Julie seemed to consider this for a moment. She looked a bit uncomfortable. Natasha guessed what she was going to say next. “Mrs. Kristoff, have you ever had Elena’s IQ tested?”
“Uh-huh.”
“What was it?”
“Well, my husband and I don’t put too much stock in those tests. We think they’re overblown. So we don’t like to focus a lot on Elena’s results.”
Julie looked baffled. “But what was it?”
“It was quite high.”
“I could’ve guessed. And does Elena watch the news? She seems to know everything about what’s going on in the world. Truly, I’m amazed. She’s already analyzing these things for herself. She’s also very interested in other countries.”
Natasha smiled. “I’m honored that you’ve noticed this about Elena,” she said. “Yep, she loves the news. She also loves the encyclopedia. She says she wants to travel everywhere when she grows up.”
Julie appeared to be downright fascinated with Elena. “What else does your daughter read when she’s at home?”
Yep, I've had a pretty productive weekend. I wonder what in the world got into me! I even started studying for the GRE (the Graduate Record Exam, a standardized test required by most graduate school programs for no apparent reason). I had been dreading that for MONTHS. But I read through the math section and discovered that the GRE only tests junior-high-level algebra and arithmetic. YESSSSS!
Anyway. I have work tomorrow. Time for bed. Cheers!
I came across some photos I'd taken on the Colorado College campus at the end of last school year. I took a good 150 photos (yes, I know) only to discover that something was wrong with the memory card. I plugged my camera into my computer and got this notice: "You need to restart your computer now." You hardly ever get that on a Mac. Well, I tried a bunch of different things to transfer my photos onto my computer. When I finally did, I saw that the pictures had been corrupted somehow--with random, bright streaks of color going across each one. It was one of the weirdest things I had ever seen. I was pretty upset and frustrated, especially since my day hadn't been going too well anyway. But luckily the pictures were from campus and I could easily go out and take them again. It would've been different if I'd been on some African safari. Now that I'm past being angry about it, I can appreciate the messed-up photos as art. Here is a sample:
Pretty trippy, huh? I will say one thing, though: If you don't want your photos to look like this, never buy a Ritz Camera-brand memory card.
While sorting through my photos, I also came across these forgotten pictures from an event held on campus last semester. It was called the "Unity Contest Powwow" and was a venue for Native American dancers. I took these with a 70-300mm telephoto lens.
Like I said, I also worked on my novel this weekend. Here is a brief clip. A note on the characters: Elena, one of my main characters, is the "genius" being spoken of here. Elena's mother is named Natasha Kristoff, and this scene takes place in the 2030s.
“Mrs. Kristoff, your daughter is a genius."
Elena’s mom was sitting in a rolling chair across from Julie, Elena’s first-grade teacher. Julie had all kinds of teacher-y things on her desk, like a ceramic apple saying “You’re #1!” and a digital picture frame showing happy moments with her students. The entire room was full of colorful things. The alphabet, each letter in cursive and in print, was hung up in a huge strip along one wall. Tacked to a bulletin board were self-portraits that each student had done, along with names written in enormous capital letters and decorated with glitter. Next to this was a shelf filled with picture books. Glue-and-paper books were still the medium of choice for young children. A few books had been taken out and put on the top shelf for display. Rory the Reading Raptor, said the title on one of them. Natasha knew that her child would probably not be amused by Rory the Reading Raptor.
“Yes, she’s a smart one,” she told Julie. She was well aware of it, but she also wanted to avoid bragging about Elena. She always found it tacky when other parents trumpeted their kids’ talents and achievements to the world.
“No, I’m serious,” Julie said. This woman was young enough to be Natasha’s daughter. She had curly blonde hair and was wearing an old-fashioned headwrap. Apparently the 2010s are in again, thought Natasha. She had better get with it. “We’re not really sure what to do with her, to be honest,” Julie went on. “She’s miles ahead of everyone her age. She seems so bored in class. I see her drawing on her papers all the time. Then she answers every math question right. The other students are getting angry that she can do perfectly without paying attention. I’m afraid she’s beginning to create a bit of resentment in the class.”
Natasha sighed. “I know things like that happen,” she said. “But Elena is going to have to learn how to deal with it. So are her classmates. That’s just the way life works.”
Julie seemed to consider this for a moment. She looked a bit uncomfortable. Natasha guessed what she was going to say next. “Mrs. Kristoff, have you ever had Elena’s IQ tested?”
“Uh-huh.”
“What was it?”
“Well, my husband and I don’t put too much stock in those tests. We think they’re overblown. So we don’t like to focus a lot on Elena’s results.”
Julie looked baffled. “But what was it?”
“It was quite high.”
“I could’ve guessed. And does Elena watch the news? She seems to know everything about what’s going on in the world. Truly, I’m amazed. She’s already analyzing these things for herself. She’s also very interested in other countries.”
Natasha smiled. “I’m honored that you’ve noticed this about Elena,” she said. “Yep, she loves the news. She also loves the encyclopedia. She says she wants to travel everywhere when she grows up.”
Julie appeared to be downright fascinated with Elena. “What else does your daughter read when she’s at home?”
Yep, I've had a pretty productive weekend. I wonder what in the world got into me! I even started studying for the GRE (the Graduate Record Exam, a standardized test required by most graduate school programs for no apparent reason). I had been dreading that for MONTHS. But I read through the math section and discovered that the GRE only tests junior-high-level algebra and arithmetic. YESSSSS!
Anyway. I have work tomorrow. Time for bed. Cheers!