Crafty pants.

December 4, 2012 - Pic #339

Today I went to the Mulberry Street Library, where I will do my internship next semester. I observed a teen program, "Crafternoon at the Library". It was awesome! Got to make this snazzy bird, who I named "Tweety Petey". Sarah Goldschadt, author of "Craft a Day", led the program. Check out her awesome book on Amazon.  

Kitten Namesakes

Pic #120 - 4/29/12

For those of you who don't already know... my cats are named after this Salinger book. It's not necessarily at the top of my shortlist, but I had recently read it before getting the kittens, so the title characters' names and personalities were fresh in mind. Plus, you know, with the whole librarian thing... of course I would have cats named after book characters!

Another fun fact: Franny and Zooey were originally named Zelda and Pandora by their rescuer. Mmmmm no. 

And another: Though the book characters are female and male (respectively), both my cats are girls. 

Try to "F-Stop" me now!

Today I did something I've talked about doing for a long time... I took a photography class! How appropriate for this pic project, eh? I admit, when I embarked on this 2012 adventure I envisioned using my fancy Nikon camera a whole lot more - however, in reality I don't bring it with me very many places, and so my pictures have almost all been taken with my iPhone/Instagram. For sentimentality purposes this is fine with me. I'm concerned more with the content than the quality. It's time to get real though... enter "F-Stops" photo workshop at the New York Public Library :).

Dorothy and I found an incredibly affordable workshop price using Amazon Local Deals. Check it out: Two-Hour Photography Workshop. I imagine there will be more deals like this one if you are interested. We took the "F-Stops" class today, which covered the basics of using camera settings to control ISO, Aperture (measured in "f-stops"), and Shutter Speed. It was sort of a whirlwind course, but I think I retained most of it :). For two hours, Dorothy and I essentially frolicked along the steps and surrounding areas of the NYPL, posing for one another's assignments. This involved a lot of literal running and jumping (see bonus pics below). Several of the assignments had to do with purposefully blurring either foreground or background pictures...so yes, they suck on purpose. 

I can't say any of the photos I took are brilliant, or even as nice as ones I've been able to take in the past. I'm pretty good with 'auto' ;-). However, it was an awesome learning experience, and I'm excited to get into the nitty-gritty of the manual settings on my next photography adventure. 

Pic #78 - 3/18/12

Dorothy snapped this one while the instructor was coaching me on a how to over-expose a picture. I put it through Instagram just to be ironic :). 

Bonus Pics: 

Libraries are pretty

Pic #66 - 3/6/12

Finally made it out to CW Post before dark, but just barely.

Who's this guy?

Ohhhhh bummer. If you were hoping I'd answer that question, you'll be sorely disappointed. I arrived early to class and wasted about 10 minutes staring at this dude in the CW Post library. Since that's the longest I've been able to focus on anything all day, naturally he is my pic of the day. Any guesses on who he is?

Pic #24 - 1/24/12

Someone loved him enough to make this beautiful piece of art...

Also, driving to and from C.W. Post today allowed me to re-learn three things about myself: 

1. I talk to myself a lot when I'm alone. A lot. 
2. I cannot get enough pop music, but only when it is pumping through a car radio. 
3. After 8 years in NY, the skyline still takes my breath away. 

And I announced each of them out loud as they occurred to me. 

I also learned something in class, which is that I spend a considerable amount of time genuinely concerned the people around me can my read my thoughts. 

So...can you? 

-LB

P.S. Happy Birthday, Mom!!!