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!"
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