Remember all those embarrassing (and nude) photos of you as a baby that your parents keep safely in their inventories? I was just browsing Facebook today and realizing that this scenario is not so for babies of the future.. or rather, of the Now.
Everyone born recently, whose parents are avid Facebookers, will basically be growing up "in the media".. having their entire lives documented in photos for all the world to see via the interwebs.
I haven't decided yet if that's a crazy item of ponder or just a thing that happens.. but I'm going to bank on those kids not wanting nude baby photos of themselves up all over the web once they're old enough to realize the embarrassment factor...Or they might not care. By then those photos probably will be deleted or hidden so deep into their parents' photo albums that it wouldn't matter I guess. (WHOAH. Just stumbled on an article about a photo on facebook of a mother breastfeeding her kid.. NO, No.. so terrible.)
Anyway, the thing that bothers me about the photos is when people use camera phones to take poor quality photos of their babies during their momentous stages of development.. or of anything that's worth remembering at that. I hope they're taking doubles of those shots with a camera that makes the capturing of that moment seem like it matters by documenting it with some care and quality. And I hope the only place they keep those precious photos isn't on Facebook alone... or even on a computer alone.
"Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you." That's a line from Simon and Garfunkle's song Bookends. It's a strong message to me. Photos are so valuable, and have a profound nostalgia. They represent times that have gone, or people who have passed.
Take the time to document well what's important to you. That means keeping track of photos as well as taking them in the first place.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Sneaky Somethings In Advertising
My boss (probably jokingly) told me I should hide my initials or something related in one of the ads on the Kmart homepage, on the last week of designs I will be doing before the company completely changes what all us designers will have to work on daily.
I spent about an hour (yess) finding the perfect spot for it in this ad for Patio:
It should be up during the 4th week of August, so look for it! Ha.. that is, until someone says "What is that? Take out the magazines." I doubt they would though. I think they blend in pretty well. It sells the lawn chairs, right? It says, 'these chairs are good enough to buy and to sit down at with magazines.' I'm sort of using it as a subliminal way to promote myself.. if anyone gets curious enough, they'd google my name and my work would come up.. which is why I had to put my full name in there too.. cause apparently there's another Melissa Meek in the world, hmf.
I spent about an hour (yess) finding the perfect spot for it in this ad for Patio:
It should be up during the 4th week of August, so look for it! Ha.. that is, until someone says "What is that? Take out the magazines." I doubt they would though. I think they blend in pretty well. It sells the lawn chairs, right? It says, 'these chairs are good enough to buy and to sit down at with magazines.' I'm sort of using it as a subliminal way to promote myself.. if anyone gets curious enough, they'd google my name and my work would come up.. which is why I had to put my full name in there too.. cause apparently there's another Melissa Meek in the world, hmf.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Our House: In The Middle Of.. Some Street, Somewhere..
Yes, we have begun the house hunting phase.. slash the learning about being a home buyer phase. We looked at 3 decent ones last night with our realtor (a friend from church), all of them in a really lovely subdivision (and all circa 1950s). I went into touring them with these thoughts: "I'm so anxious to have more space that works better, to be closer to work, to be rid of the noisy child above us, and just to feel settled in a place that actually feels more like both of ours."
When I saw the first 2, I thought they were really cute for the most part, the updates were nice and the new appliances were good.. but I found myself confused by the room layout of one (I think it would be weird if your bedroom was in a location where others would have to pass through it to get to the kitchen or the back porch). The second one (I thought I had originally liked best based on photos) has only 2 bedrooms, 1 bath and a "half bath" single toilet on a wall on the top floor next to a corner vanity/sink. Like, not inside it's own room or stall. Weird. But altogether it made me feel a little cramped, and the basement was creepy but in decent condish. I was bummed that this one had the cutest style but just didn't accommodate space.
The third one we saw had the most potential. Much more spacious (which initially for us almost seemed too big to me, but after some years and some kids, it wouldn't I guess. I am just kind of against having a huge home to have to clean.. don't really want hugeness). But it was also very updated. The basement was in better condition, but had a mysterious 1930s-looking boiler slash torpedo bay looking thing down there, ha.. but it had a nice carport, and an awesome 2 level back porch plus flat and large backyard. I didn't like how the kitchen had no windows though.. if I am going to be spending any length of time in such a room, I like to be able to see the free world outside.
I walked away from #3 feeling like it was pretty promising.. but once we got home to talk about it, I learned that our house search is going to be a bit more difficult than I thought. Jon mentioned his plans for a room with enough capabilities and space to house his growing array of music and recording gear.. or at least a home that has potential to add-on to accommodate these things.. something that feels like a studio, not a bedroom. A den-like area would work well for that. This home only had smallish bedroom space for that, and if we wanted to finish off the basement for it, he thought the ceiling would be too low.
It's interesting doing these walk-throughs and trying to imagine our stuff and our future more stuff in them. At first I would think "wow this place feels empty with all this space".. but I wouldn't think "let's get more to fill it!" although some items of "more" might be necessary at some point.
I have to say it's disappointing to find a house that mostly works for everything we need, but then there's that one part that just doesn't. Eh, the search continues. We'll plan a drive-around on Saturday again.
When I saw the first 2, I thought they were really cute for the most part, the updates were nice and the new appliances were good.. but I found myself confused by the room layout of one (I think it would be weird if your bedroom was in a location where others would have to pass through it to get to the kitchen or the back porch). The second one (I thought I had originally liked best based on photos) has only 2 bedrooms, 1 bath and a "half bath" single toilet on a wall on the top floor next to a corner vanity/sink. Like, not inside it's own room or stall. Weird. But altogether it made me feel a little cramped, and the basement was creepy but in decent condish. I was bummed that this one had the cutest style but just didn't accommodate space.
The third one we saw had the most potential. Much more spacious (which initially for us almost seemed too big to me, but after some years and some kids, it wouldn't I guess. I am just kind of against having a huge home to have to clean.. don't really want hugeness). But it was also very updated. The basement was in better condition, but had a mysterious 1930s-looking boiler slash torpedo bay looking thing down there, ha.. but it had a nice carport, and an awesome 2 level back porch plus flat and large backyard. I didn't like how the kitchen had no windows though.. if I am going to be spending any length of time in such a room, I like to be able to see the free world outside.
I walked away from #3 feeling like it was pretty promising.. but once we got home to talk about it, I learned that our house search is going to be a bit more difficult than I thought. Jon mentioned his plans for a room with enough capabilities and space to house his growing array of music and recording gear.. or at least a home that has potential to add-on to accommodate these things.. something that feels like a studio, not a bedroom. A den-like area would work well for that. This home only had smallish bedroom space for that, and if we wanted to finish off the basement for it, he thought the ceiling would be too low.
It's interesting doing these walk-throughs and trying to imagine our stuff and our future more stuff in them. At first I would think "wow this place feels empty with all this space".. but I wouldn't think "let's get more to fill it!" although some items of "more" might be necessary at some point.
I have to say it's disappointing to find a house that mostly works for everything we need, but then there's that one part that just doesn't. Eh, the search continues. We'll plan a drive-around on Saturday again.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Fratterday!
People have been putting daylight savings to practice since ancient times. If such an invention was established for making life easier whether for work or for play, then why can't we make Fridays part of the non-work days of a weekend.. so we can have 3-day weekends? I think Americans are too busy as it is, and we need to lighten up! There are other cultures who know how to manage their time so that they're not feeling over-worked every week. Why can't we adapt this too?
I personally would be a huge advocate. Friday nights for us are sometimes still just winding down from the work day. Saturday is really our only full day to do anything useful or recreational. Sundays are busy until about 2pm.. and by then one or both of us are tired from setting up church in the morning... and when we come back around to having energy after a nap, it's late.. and things just don't happen on Sunday nights because places are closed.
I guess I can understand companies "needing" all the days of the week they have already for work.. so what if we just added a day of the week to make weekends longer?
I did some math on this:
If we add an extra day of the week before Saturday, let's call it Fratterday.. then with 8 days a week, each month would need 31 days, except for 1 month which would need 24 to keep the 365 days a year cycle accurate. Since February already gets the shaft, it can get 24 days now:
Sounds doable to me! And it almost sounds crazy enough to be something Obama would approve, ha. Maybe we can get him to do 1 useful thing during his term.. and it'd be adding Fratterday to the week. Woo! I'm using my Fratterday to go hang gliding!
I personally would be a huge advocate. Friday nights for us are sometimes still just winding down from the work day. Saturday is really our only full day to do anything useful or recreational. Sundays are busy until about 2pm.. and by then one or both of us are tired from setting up church in the morning... and when we come back around to having energy after a nap, it's late.. and things just don't happen on Sunday nights because places are closed.
I guess I can understand companies "needing" all the days of the week they have already for work.. so what if we just added a day of the week to make weekends longer?
I did some math on this:
If we add an extra day of the week before Saturday, let's call it Fratterday.. then with 8 days a week, each month would need 31 days, except for 1 month which would need 24 to keep the 365 days a year cycle accurate. Since February already gets the shaft, it can get 24 days now:
Sounds doable to me! And it almost sounds crazy enough to be something Obama would approve, ha. Maybe we can get him to do 1 useful thing during his term.. and it'd be adding Fratterday to the week. Woo! I'm using my Fratterday to go hang gliding!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Family Game Night
Battle Tech!
Even though my robot was heavier and bigger, Jon killed it! I however, managed escape.. to triumph another day! (click to enlarge to see the illustration of my escape).
Even though my robot was heavier and bigger, Jon killed it! I however, managed escape.. to triumph another day! (click to enlarge to see the illustration of my escape).
Friday, July 17, 2009
The Technology Diet
My sister Beth wrote about her frustrations with her friends not contacting her or talking to her over the summer, despite all their tech devices and texting etc. For those who don't realize the importance of interpersonal communication, the fact that they may be ignoring close friends may go unrecognized. Her topic struck a chord with me too.
Technology is awesome. It allows us to do fun things, convenient things, quick things.. it allows us to know anything in a snap, and to make our jobs or professions much easier. I for example, use instant messenger every day at work because it's extremely efficient. I also use it to chat, talk or video with family for free without using up cell phone minutes. My husband has an ipod touch which has all kinds of useful applications: ones that make tracking music easier, ones that make it easier to watch for space stations in orbit.. mostly useful things, and some useless things, because Apple can.. and they think they're clever.
BUT.. technology has it's drawbacks, which I will point out in the specific example of losing precious interpersonal communication time. There is a point where being so connected to the world, and so connected to everyone else in the world being so connected to the world.. where people sitting right next to you feel disconnected and sidelined, to the "new best friend" of ipods, cell phone texting, facebook, online chatting, forums, video gaming and the complete endlessness of the internets. These things aren't bad.. but for an increasing amount of people in this decade, they should be moderated.
I was home a few weeks ago, for a family barbecue for the 4th of July.. and there was an entire "conversation" where participants were using their devices to search for data rather than looking at and talking to each other's faces. I have to add that the sight of someone looking into their device is much less welcoming than someone not doing so. Ever notice how annoying sales people won't come up to you while you're on your cell phone? (okay that's actually an advantage.. everyone wants to avoid salespeople) but not everyone wants to feel avoided by glowing screens stealing good company. Sometimes I miss my husband in the evenings when he's computing and ipodding. During a movie, pre-ipod, more often we would be laying together looking only at the movie screen (or me at my eyelids).
I've also decided that I am not going to enforce hand-held video gaming with my kids. I see kids at church with their necks bent, focusing on their screens and bleeps and bloops. There's a time and place for video games.. and it isn't everywhere and all the time. I mean, when I was a kid we had non portable video games, and I knew even then that having outside play time was important (and especially fun to physically perform video games in real time, ha).
Anyway.. I think we need to start enforcing a technology diet for ourselves ("we" being a society, and also personally). I'm beginning to not have enough non technology time. My entire work day is packed with looking at screens and getting carpal tunnel by typing "changes made" "changes made." When I get home I don't really want to see it. I want to go for a walk or go biking or play board games or have an in-depth conversation. We made some progress last week when Jon and I played Indiana Jones Life, followed by him teaching me how to play Battle Tech, which seriously was very engaging and entertaining for me.
A second "Anyway.." ..I hope I haven't offended anyone who's just in love with all their devices.. and I hope I haven't offended my husband by insinuating that he could use less time with his... or that I could use him with less time with his. (oh, the grammar of that). But I think a technology diet would do us all a lot of good.
Technology is awesome. It allows us to do fun things, convenient things, quick things.. it allows us to know anything in a snap, and to make our jobs or professions much easier. I for example, use instant messenger every day at work because it's extremely efficient. I also use it to chat, talk or video with family for free without using up cell phone minutes. My husband has an ipod touch which has all kinds of useful applications: ones that make tracking music easier, ones that make it easier to watch for space stations in orbit.. mostly useful things, and some useless things, because Apple can.. and they think they're clever.
BUT.. technology has it's drawbacks, which I will point out in the specific example of losing precious interpersonal communication time. There is a point where being so connected to the world, and so connected to everyone else in the world being so connected to the world.. where people sitting right next to you feel disconnected and sidelined, to the "new best friend" of ipods, cell phone texting, facebook, online chatting, forums, video gaming and the complete endlessness of the internets. These things aren't bad.. but for an increasing amount of people in this decade, they should be moderated.
I was home a few weeks ago, for a family barbecue for the 4th of July.. and there was an entire "conversation" where participants were using their devices to search for data rather than looking at and talking to each other's faces. I have to add that the sight of someone looking into their device is much less welcoming than someone not doing so. Ever notice how annoying sales people won't come up to you while you're on your cell phone? (okay that's actually an advantage.. everyone wants to avoid salespeople) but not everyone wants to feel avoided by glowing screens stealing good company. Sometimes I miss my husband in the evenings when he's computing and ipodding. During a movie, pre-ipod, more often we would be laying together looking only at the movie screen (or me at my eyelids).
I've also decided that I am not going to enforce hand-held video gaming with my kids. I see kids at church with their necks bent, focusing on their screens and bleeps and bloops. There's a time and place for video games.. and it isn't everywhere and all the time. I mean, when I was a kid we had non portable video games, and I knew even then that having outside play time was important (and especially fun to physically perform video games in real time, ha).
Anyway.. I think we need to start enforcing a technology diet for ourselves ("we" being a society, and also personally). I'm beginning to not have enough non technology time. My entire work day is packed with looking at screens and getting carpal tunnel by typing "changes made" "changes made." When I get home I don't really want to see it. I want to go for a walk or go biking or play board games or have an in-depth conversation. We made some progress last week when Jon and I played Indiana Jones Life, followed by him teaching me how to play Battle Tech, which seriously was very engaging and entertaining for me.
A second "Anyway.." ..I hope I haven't offended anyone who's just in love with all their devices.. and I hope I haven't offended my husband by insinuating that he could use less time with his... or that I could use him with less time with his. (oh, the grammar of that). But I think a technology diet would do us all a lot of good.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Strawberry Turkey
I put strawberries on my turkey sammich today and suggested (via facebook) that people should try this combination. It actually is really good. I got a comment from Stamos about cross-breeding and had to take the opportunity to do some Photoshoppery. I made this during a lull at work, with my boss and my coworker looking over my shoulder going "that's awesome!" and "but kind of gross!"
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Poured Out Like Wine, CD Release Materials
I had the opportunity to work with Mike O'Brien on a sticker and tshirt design for his band Poured Out Like Wine. The new official worldwide release of Monument will be Sept 8th. These materials will be for the CD release party at the end of this month.
I have to say that Mike is a very decent client. I felt challenged with this project. It's probably mostly because the original direction I started with for the design was too focused on the meaning of the words right in front of me. I started working with designs that communicated "pouring" which doesn't describe much about what the band is at all. It's the kind of mistake I realize that I was dumb to make at this point in my "pro" designer career, ha. Woops.. I finally got around to being on track.
Here's the final design, which has yet to go to production for both items:
I have to say that Mike is a very decent client. I felt challenged with this project. It's probably mostly because the original direction I started with for the design was too focused on the meaning of the words right in front of me. I started working with designs that communicated "pouring" which doesn't describe much about what the band is at all. It's the kind of mistake I realize that I was dumb to make at this point in my "pro" designer career, ha. Woops.. I finally got around to being on track.
Here's the final design, which has yet to go to production for both items:
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Living By The Skin Of Your Grape
Would you believe there's a chemical in the skin of grapes that can help you live longer and live better? No wonder they say red wine is good for you.. but apparently you'd have to drink 1,000 bottles a day for it to have this effect... unless of course it's manufactured into a pill.
This article, among others, discusses the effect of that chemical, called Resveratrol. Researchers are exploring the affects of taking the pill to prolong life by 30% while curing the diseases of aging such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and alzheimer's. They say these medications will be available to the public within 5 years, but apparently Maximum Resveratrol, Resveratrol Active, ResV Pure and ResVer XP are available online for "free" trials.
I have to say that things that sound too good to be true should be considered with great caution, but this thing seems believable and safe with possible side effects including feeling buzzed, sometimes elevated blood pressure, and diarrhea. According to tests, it can make anyone much healthier, no matter weight, age or ailment. "If you're 80, you'll feel like you did when you were 60." That's a pretty amazing claim, as well as the claim that this pill could basically be the cure for aging, which they say is merely a disease itself, or a collection of those noted above. There were also studies showing it aided in the prevention or relieving of diabetes and alzheimer's.
People who used the pill for a month claimed they noticed increased energy, less wrinkles, more color in their skin and softer hair.
If you're feeling run down, or feeling old, or just complaining about feeling old and run down, a sample might be an interesting test, and perhaps a cure for the inevitable.
Of course, this whole article doesn't say you can't live healthily on your own for a very long time. From my observation, few young people take any care or concern for what they put into their bodies or what exercise they aren't getting. "If it tastes good then it doesn't matter!" I've written on this before, but young people just don't care much for their old people selves, because they're young! and vibrant! and focused on young people and vibrant activities like fatty fast foodies and sitting. I asked my dad once how often he considered the state of his future health when he was 25. Never, really, he said.
I think being conscious of this can help you mold lifestyle and eating habits that will enable you to age well without the aid of miracle "fountain of youth" pills. That's my goal anyway. I don't really care if people give me an eye roll for my "be active and eat healthier" suggestions. I don't know if I like them feeling jealous that I can do it while they secretly wish they had the willpower to do so, but they need to see the big picture... it might prevent them from having to cash in for Resveratrol in 30 years.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Some Day Things
On our trip back from St. Louis for the 4th, Jon and I were discussing how efficient it would be if he got his pilot's license, and we could fly back and forth to St. Louis, to Huntsville... to anywhere we've got friends or family we'd like to see more regularly. Yes, it'd be expensive for lessons and to get the license, and to keep it in a hangar, and to purchase our own plane.. but it sure would be much nicer to fly 3 hours to St Louis rather than 7! or 8 when the weather is hurricanic like it was on this trip.. in which case we'd be grounded in a plane anyway, heh. But! in guaranteed nice weather, it would be nice.
We'd get a cute little single engine plane with a Saturn V rocket painted (by me) on the side panels. Jon's door would say "Captain" and mine would say "Mrs. Captain" and we can get some flight suits and I would design a "mission patch" for each vacation we take our plane to.
(The rocket blast is an unreal addendum, ha)
It's so easy for me to give myself more reasons to wish for something :) SOME day.
Also, and not related.. some day I'm going to build my own dark room, solely for the purpose of re-experiencing the nostalgic nature of processing film and photos like those times that were so dear to me through late high school and mid college.
Up front, buying all the equipment and chemicals would be a little pricey (although I've seen enlargers being sold for only like $300 or something) but afterward it'd be relatively cheap to maintain the hobby. Photography is so intriguing. It's amazing how a chemical bath will make an image magically (chemically) appear on paper.. an image that exists due to light being exposed on a thin clear piece of plastic, basically. AMAZING. I'm more impressed by the people who figured it out in the first place.
Have you ever made a pinhole camera? Photo paper + darkness + beam of light = printed image. AMAZING. It truly is.. but it's only science, ha.
Here's my pinhole attempt from my junior year in college. A small piece of photo sensitive paper was placed inside a film canister that had a pin hole in it with a piece of tape over the hole. I took it outside, lifted the tape and revealed the paper to light for a few minutes, then closed it back up and ran inside to develop these:
My toes on the sidewalk.
(the curve of the paper on the inside of the film canister creates a fish eye lens effect)
Trees around the studio.
Trees and the front side of the building, Ellis Hall.
This is a "contact sheet." All the negatives from a shoot are laid out on top of the photo paper and exposed to light. Pretty neat.. I haven't seen some of these images for years.. click to enlarge.
We'd get a cute little single engine plane with a Saturn V rocket painted (by me) on the side panels. Jon's door would say "Captain" and mine would say "Mrs. Captain" and we can get some flight suits and I would design a "mission patch" for each vacation we take our plane to.
(The rocket blast is an unreal addendum, ha)
It's so easy for me to give myself more reasons to wish for something :) SOME day.
Also, and not related.. some day I'm going to build my own dark room, solely for the purpose of re-experiencing the nostalgic nature of processing film and photos like those times that were so dear to me through late high school and mid college.
Up front, buying all the equipment and chemicals would be a little pricey (although I've seen enlargers being sold for only like $300 or something) but afterward it'd be relatively cheap to maintain the hobby. Photography is so intriguing. It's amazing how a chemical bath will make an image magically (chemically) appear on paper.. an image that exists due to light being exposed on a thin clear piece of plastic, basically. AMAZING. I'm more impressed by the people who figured it out in the first place.
Have you ever made a pinhole camera? Photo paper + darkness + beam of light = printed image. AMAZING. It truly is.. but it's only science, ha.
Here's my pinhole attempt from my junior year in college. A small piece of photo sensitive paper was placed inside a film canister that had a pin hole in it with a piece of tape over the hole. I took it outside, lifted the tape and revealed the paper to light for a few minutes, then closed it back up and ran inside to develop these:
My toes on the sidewalk.
(the curve of the paper on the inside of the film canister creates a fish eye lens effect)
Trees around the studio.
Trees and the front side of the building, Ellis Hall.
This is a "contact sheet." All the negatives from a shoot are laid out on top of the photo paper and exposed to light. Pretty neat.. I haven't seen some of these images for years.. click to enlarge.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Wedding Photos Preview
Some of our wedding photos are in! Find about 50 of them here.
These, by far, are not the half of them. The photographer (who did a fantastic job by the way) should be sending a disc of all photos this week or next, and then we will figure out how to share them with everyone so whoever wants prints can get some...
but I'm going to share some of my most-favorites:
(you'll probably have to click on each to biggen them)
I love the bluff rainbow!
I'd like to make a large print of this shot (or similar) for our wall.
I really like the soft lighting in this one.
Our expressions are the greatest here!
This moment is so precious and I'm so glad it was captured:
when he first saw me.
The bathroom was so small with only one mirror,
but it made our makeup prep shot really cute.
See, we don't really look exactly alike ;)
I love this one with my bridesmaids too.. back lit, and everyone looks pretty.
These, by far, are not the half of them. The photographer (who did a fantastic job by the way) should be sending a disc of all photos this week or next, and then we will figure out how to share them with everyone so whoever wants prints can get some...
but I'm going to share some of my most-favorites:
(you'll probably have to click on each to biggen them)
I love the bluff rainbow!
I'd like to make a large print of this shot (or similar) for our wall.
I really like the soft lighting in this one.
Our expressions are the greatest here!
This moment is so precious and I'm so glad it was captured:
when he first saw me.
The bathroom was so small with only one mirror,
but it made our makeup prep shot really cute.
See, we don't really look exactly alike ;)
I love this one with my bridesmaids too.. back lit, and everyone looks pretty.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
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