Sideways Stories from Wayside School - Louis Sachar
Whitney is about to start Kindergarten so we have started reading books that don't have pictures. The Wayside School was one of our first books for this task. The school was built with one class on each story of a thirty story building. Originally the design was to build a one story school with thirty classes but something went terribly wrong.
The chapters are about each student in the class on the thirtieth floor. All the stories are relatively wacky but there are a few with some off color humor. Those were the ones that I had to either change the story or just skip all together. This was a book I remember reading when I was a kid. It was a lot of fun reading it to Whitney and she especially liked it when I made up voices for the different people.
We are on to bigger books now and have recently started "The Jungle Book". It is very long but does have a few pretty pictures.
Recently we decided it would be better to get a little point and shoot camera for our family fun than take along all the expensive equipment we use at the studio. With that said I started researching point and shoot cameras based on some simple needs:
It needs to be small It needs to have adjustable settings for exposure It needs to be relatively quick (no slow shutter responses) It needs to have a true diopter (the screens are cool but not in the sun) It needs to record video files It needs to be the color black (not really. I am just seeing if your reading.)
I searched for a few and my buddy Farrah sent me to a blog of another photographer with the same needs. They were using a Canon SD800 for all their fun blog stuff. I looked at this camera and found it to be rather cool but decided to go with the Canon S5 IS because it was a little more like an SLR and less like a point and shoot. The SD800 was pretty much only a point and shoot. The S5 allowed me to shoot manually or even aperture priority. In addition it has this cool flip screen so if you do want to use a screen rather than a diopter you can.
So we bought the camera Saturday night and started Sunday off with a little "new camera fun". Denise and James got up early and went to church. Whitney and I hung back and made breakfast. Whitney enjoys helping me in the kitchen and she loves to make her godfather Chad favorite "piggies in the blanket."
I started out with these images set to a higher resolution without flash. The camera responds well but the images are a bit grainy. For this purpose it is fine. I wouldn't sell anything this grainy but we still had fun.
After Denise and James returned we ate and headed over to PaPa's house. The nice thing about their house is the huge pool and the huge dog that guards the pool. Buddy the big brown dog was waiting for our arrival. James and I played ball with him for a few minutes until he decided to take my finger with the ball. Buddy is sweet and has recently lost about 5 pounds so he is feeling a little macho these days.
My youngest brother Stephen turned 14 so we had a little party for him.
We tried to tell him these glasses didn't fit but he insisted on wearing them. He must think they make him look taller.
Whitney and James got their bathing SOUPS on and headed for the pool.
Whitney was excited to show everyone how much she had learned at swim class. In three weeks she has learned to almost swim all by herself. Below is a little movie file form the camera. The actual file out of the camera was too large for the web. This is a compressed version so don't let the quality bother you.
Dan started the burgers and I managed to take advantage of the new flip screen on the Canon. Apparently Canon found a lot of people that wanted to pictures of themselves so the developed this cool little gadget.
After the burgers were done dad made a few dawgs for the kids. I think hot dogs and chips are one of the best foods to go with little wet bodies and shriveled up fingers.
Apparently the hot dogs and chips are better with dirty fingers.
After lunch we had a cupcake party with Stephen ad all his little buddies were there to enjoy the afternoon. Most of these guys are pure trouble but there are a couple in there that are pretty good.
It was a fun afternoon but it had to come to an end. James was very upset when we left and fell asleep crying and yelling "I WANT TO GO BACK!"
When we got home he slept on the couch for a while then woke up in anger. He continued to scream about going back but eventually found happiness in a Disney Movie and juice.
Overall it was a fun day and we enjoyed our little camera. The images were pretty good but I am sure with a little practice we will be able to make better images.
So we added James and Whitney to the family cartoon. Denise was not too happy that I didn't make her yellow like the rest of us so we changed that as well. I also managed to find a simpsons font called the Akbar font.
OK so as soon as Denise and I can get away for a couple hours we are going to see the coolest movie of the year. The Simpsons! Luckily we were able to get involved by becoming simpsonized. When the kids wake up we will make their simpsonization.
Tomorrow after church we head to dads house for a little Par-T with Pickle. He is turning 14 so I am sure we will be spending a lot of time playing with his new toys.
This afternoon mommy and Whitney took off to do girl stuff while James and I played. We invited one of James' buddies over to play. Unfortunately we had to wait until Andrew woke up from his nap. James waited by the front window watching for Andrew to come over. The anticipation was real torture for the little guy.
Finally Andrew made it and they played with their trains and then headed out back for a little Jeep ride and cookie. Whitney made it back home just in time to enjoy a cookie with her brother and Andrew. Nothing better than 100 degrees, 100% humidity and a chocolate chip cookie.
For Christmas in 1982 my Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Toni gave me this book as a gift. It was always one of my favorite books because of the awesome paintings of Ul de Rico. The story is about seven little goblins that drink the colors of the rainbow. Each page is a beautiful painting done on wood that completely mesmerizes a child.
Recently I found this old book in a box. I immediately sat the kids down and we read the book. It was fun to see their excitement when I explained to them that this was a book from when I was a little boy. This alone sparked a series of questions and conversations that I know most parents would enjoy. They loved reading about the goblins and their silly dance when the storms came. James has become completely smitten with this book and manges to sleep with it every night. He took it to school the other day and forgot to bring it home. Happiness was a stranger at our house that night....
We have enjoyed reading the book which I am sure my Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Toni never knew I would read to my own little ones 25 years later. Unfortunately the old book has become brittle and lose in its binding. So I found it on Amazon.com and we now have a fresh new version for the kids to enjoy. The old book was put back in the box for safe keeping transitioning from a children's book to a fond memory. Funny how even a books life can change over time.
Across the street form me is a designer that I have been working with on some of her marketing pieces for her fall line. One of the dresses she has is super cool. I made a comment during a shoot that I thought that was my favorite dress. She asked if I thought Denise would like one and I responded with, "Well sure but that would mean I have to take her out somewhere nice!"
Needless to say Toni fitted Denise in the dress so we took the opportunity to photograph her for her first Couture fitting. It was a lot of fun ad I will be happy to take my wife out on the town in her beautiful dress. Toni has an intern that is leaving at the end of the month and I am attending a gathering for her this evening at hotel ZaZa. Gina is the girl in the middle of the photo. I'm sure she will be very successful in her future and hope she gets to come back real soon.
Last Friday James went to Kids Night Out at church. He said he was a big boy and could go without crying. and marched is narrow rear end right on in to the church and never looked back. Mommy was super proud of him. Whitney on the other hand acquired a rash so she was not able to attend the event. So what better place to take a kid when she has a rash than to a restaurant!
We took her to 59 Diner for the first time. We all shared a strawberry shake and Whitney learned that dipping her french fries in the shake makes life pretty good. Before we left we had to take a tour of the photo booth. The only bad part of the night was waiting the whole 5 minutes for the prints to develop!
Recently I purchased this book as a recommendation of my previous purchases at Amazon.com. I wasn't sure if it was going to be any good but over all it was quite entertaining. It is apparent to me now that graphic designers take a lot more of their minute elements very seriously and with a lot of historical reference.
The book is broken into three parts:
Letter: The Letter section goes into high level detail about the history of font faces and its evolution due to the growth of computers and the World Wide Web. In addition it has a great section on terminology of fonts and why fonts are classified as script, serif, or bold. This first section definitely sparks the need to learn more about the history and makeup of font faces.
Text: The Text section was interesting due to the historical nature of graphic and layout design. A lot of the way magazines and modern books are designed is driven by Swiss designers. This section follows a historical reference of layouts and explains why and when text is blocked, justified and mixed case. In addition it covers the practical and impractical ways to manipulate text to build an emotion or feeling of the content.
Grid: The Grid section was a little complicated to follow. It does dwell on some of the design elements of web development that is taught when designing websites. These were ideas such as title and table of content placement. This subject of design is obviously very complicated and mundane. While its apparent the author intended on a high level explanation it seems to be an element that would take a lot of education and practice to fully understand.
Overall the book was very entertaining and educational. It definitely inspires the need to read more about the history and influence of fonts. The design of advertisements, text and websites have a lot more underlying influences than imagined. Going forward with the tools from this book will inspire proper design, font selection and text placement. It may sounds boring but overall the end results will be more pleasing to the eye.
John sent me an email today with a really cool picture of his "host brother" and his "host cousin". Currently Mica and John are in heavy training but seem to really be enjoying their experience. The nicest thing is that they have been able to keep in good communication with us.
Feel free to check out their blog about being Peace Corp Volunteers. I'm sure they would love to hear form you too.
Last Saturday Denise and I photographed Allison for her maternity portrait. She wasn't due for three weeks and we were all set to see them back with the newborn some time in August. Well Tuesday night I was at Hermann Hospital helping a family capture their last few moments with a precious little girl suffering from brittle bone disease. I was at the hospital for a very long time and was finally headed home after a three hour ordeal.
When I came out of the families room I saw Matt (Allison's husband) and he was all excited because Allison had her baby three weeks early. He was shocked to see me there and I was even more concerned why he was on the 7th floor telling me about his baby. Good news is the baby was fine she was just in observation on the 7th floor. I hung out a little while to get a glimpse of the baby and possibly take a few of her first portraits. Well two hours later I couldn't wait any longer so I headed home. Denise and I went back to the hospital today and took a whole bunch of pictures of this beautiful little girl.
It was a nice treat for the family and especially myself. So please welcome Gianna Jolie!
A good buddy of mine and former manager Marty Wells, has three beautiful kids we have had the pleasure of watching grow up. These three little ones (Kenna, Sammy and Marshall) all have beaten the odds. The "trips" were born three months premature and have successfully grown into wonderful happy children.
Denise and I are very involved with an organization called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. We help families with remembrance photography when their is an infant loss. I have witnessed and spent time with many families that have lost twins and sometimes triplets. Each time I encounter one of these families I think of the Wells Trips and say a little prayer of thanks.
I have had the pleasure of knowing some pretty neat people and these three little miracles are high on my list. Next Sunday we are going to go to their sixth birthday party and party we will!
Well today is the day that out first advertisement in the Bellaire and West University Buzz goes out. We had a few clients call us to let us know they got their magazines and loved the ad. I thought we would share it here since a lot of our BLOG guests are not in Houston.
This local magazine is a nice little 4 color rag that we pretty much read every month. Right now we are sticking with a quarter page ad but we may increase that to a full or half page right before Christmas. We may also run a big special in September.
OK this is a very neat little website brought to you by those crazy kids at PANTONE. Just click on the link to the COLORSTROLOGY website, pick your birth date and have fun.
I am a Lavender and have a dry sense of humor... Denise is a Pastel Lavender that has a keen sense of awareness. Whitney is an ASH Rose and is the "angel of society" James is a DAHLIA PURPLE and it helps calm his restless nature. Yeah right!
