Happy Friday!
The other night husband and I had a fantastic evening. We drank a bottle of wine and played guitar. I wanted to take a random midnight bike ride, but no, he didn’t want to go fight off spiders in the shed in the dark. Wuss.
So, we shaved his head instead.
Anyway, more cinemagraphs! (I love the Cinemagram app!)
I really like the Stinky Puppy one and the bubble bath ones the best.
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Hey! So, I have a bunch of pictures from Instagram to share, except, I’m a cheater, these aren’t all Instagram, shhh, don’t tell.
This is the dock at our beach (the little beach on the river, a five minute walk from our house)
A feather found on the beach.
This little deer (I have two) I’ve had since I was little. I keep seeing similar ones around from vintage shops or Etsy, but this one is mine haha. What I mean is that I didn’t thrift this, I’ve had it forever.
And this is a vintage Avon perfume, it was my mom’s. I have two boxes of all these old perfume/cologne bottles (with perfume still in them) that she collected. I still don’t know what I want to do with them, but there is this little honeybee one, a deer, a thermos, Thomas Jefferson’s gun, a gear shift for a car and all kinds of other things.
My new haircut. Not the best pictures, but there you go. 😀
Stinky Puppy!! I love this picture. It’s not a real Polaroid, sshhhh, but I think it came out really cool.
Food from Paladar, a Latin restaurant and rum bar. We went on Monday and it was amazing. It’s definitely added to my favorites places – along with a Mexican place, an Afghan place, Indian food from a pizza place, and tacos out of the back of a gas station, haha.
We got chips and sausa/guacamole to start, the chips were a mix of plaintain, yucca, malanga and tortilla. I loved the plantain and uhh the circle one, haha, whichever one that one was. I think malanga.
MOJO PORK TOSTONES
Double-Fried Smashed Plantains topped with our Slow Roasted Mojo Pork and a Fresh Radish Salad drizzled with Aji Verde
This was really really spicy but really really good!
JALAPEÑO SPICED LAMB STEW
Tender Pieces of Lamb, Cinnamon Rice Pilaf and Hominy slowly simmered in a slightly spicy Jalapeño-Cilantro Broth and topped with Crumbled Queso Fresco Cheese and our Housemade Pico De Gallo
Mojito. I dunno, this one was good, way better than others I’ve tried, but I’m not a mojito fan. But it’s definitely pretty haha.
And, just some rain drops.
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On Friday August 31st, there was a blue moon. A blue moon is the name for the third full moon in a season that has four full moons, according to farmers’ almanacs.
It’s actually not the second full moon in a month, like I had originally thought.
(Also, I love reading Farmer’s Almanacs! I used to grab one at the grocery store when I was little and flip through them. I don’t know if that’s just because I’m from PA, which is farm country, but I still love looking at them.)
My husband and I went looked at it together; he was my helper with his flashlight on his phone, so I could see what I was doing, haha. Also, it was so humid out, my lens and my glasses kept fogging up, but it was clear and bright.
Here’s my best attempt at capturing it without a decent zoom lens. The first few attempts were bright lights and flares, but still very pretty! At least I think so. So what do you think?
I’m finally starting to learn my DSLR though, because I was able to actually get these “real shots” after playing around long enough! Very exciting! I’m pretty happy with them.
One problem though, I’ve been singing, “Blue moon, you saw me standing alone, without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own..” for days now, ha!
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Hey, I hope you’re having a good Saturday! I bought a new shirt, picked up Insurgent by Veronica Roth (finally!) from the library and I got my haircut. It looks really great in person, but I can’t seem to take a picture that makes it look right at all, or else I would share it. Grr!
• Photography Tips at Papernstitch. I haven’t had a chance to look at everything here yet, but it all looks great.
• Not sure if you know who he is, but Nick Offerman was on Reddit yesterday and there were some pretty hysterical comments. He plays Ron Swanson, the awesome libertarian on Parks and Recreation. He and his wife (Megan Mullaly) are pretty much my life heroes.
Best quote:
[–]sloaney
You are one of the manliest men of whom I have ever heard. What is your morning routine that begins a day of badassery?
Also, what is your favorite outdoor activity?[–]NickOfferman
I awaken. I consume oxygen, then bacon, eggs and black coffee, then my wife, then bacon.
I love to paddle my own canoe, and also wife. Best while staring at the leaves of the maple or sycamore.
• Speaking of Nick Offerman, earlier this month, he donated Ron Swanson’s moustache to a pediatric cancer charity called Because of Ezra.
• Review of iPhone Photography by Misho Baranovic ebook at Lifeinlofi that you can buy. It looks highly recommended. I might have to get it.
And I don’t know why I didn’t post this sooner, but this might be the best thing I’ve ever seen. Mixing Steelers and Paul Rudd.. it’s like my dream.
Check out the rest of my Weekend Links.
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One of the coolest iPhone apps right now is Cinemagram.
Cinemagraphs are still photos in which a small part of the photo is moving, like in a recording. You can see the the work of the photographers who coined the term at Cinemagraphs.com. They have beautiful art.
The Cinemagram app allows you to make cinemagraphs by taking a short video, selecting the portion of the video you wish to use, then selecting the part of the image you want to keep moving. It’s pretty easy to do, but the difficulty is in making sure you hold your phone steady.
My biggest complaint is that I don’t see a way in which you can save your images. They don’t save directly to your phone like most camera apps, and any sharing you do is linked to their site. I pulled mine off of the website, by right-clicking and saving them, but it’s a small version. I would like to see this changed in future updates.
Currently it’s buggy and the filters could be better, but it’s the usual lot and what they do have works for me. The app is community oriented, a la Instagram and similar apps, and I forsee it becoming very popular.
It’s easy, addicting and creates beautiful images, and right now the community size is perfect for actually getting your images noticed.
In the app, you can find me by searching for “ohlauren”. Or go check out my page on Cinemagram!
Posted by Lauren
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Hey everyone! So, this week’s postcard speaks for itself.
My mom was from Pinebluff, North Carolina so that’s how I have this one.
And I do love North Carolina! Though, I’ve only been to Pinebluff and the Outerbanks on vacation, but I have been there. The last time I visited Pinebluff is a town that makes you feel like you’ve stepped back in time; it has about 1400 people and it’s quiet and peaceful. I loved going there growing up and visiting the Baptist church where my mom went and everyone knowing me because of her. The last time I visited was a few years ago and I heard a lot of “wow, you look just like your mom!”
When I think of North Carolina, I think of fire ants and pine trees. Supposedly, once when I was little, I got attacked by fire ants while playing in the sandbox in the backyard at my grandma’s house. I don’t remember it happening, but I’ve heard the story many times.
Oh, and southern accents, of course! My mom lost her accent so I never heard her use it, but I heard she did have a strong one at one point.
There wasn’t anything printed or written on the back, but pretty cool anyway, I think!
Check out the rest of my Postcard Project.
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I haven’t done a Draw Something post in awhile! Actually, I haven’t even been playing too much, but it’s still fun to show off my favorite ones.
So, today I got housework done, went to the gym and made up a Steelers playlist on Spotify. I have to get ready for football Steelers season, ya know.
And yesterday, I invented a hashtag on Twitter. haha. It’s #bsbhour – at 2pm everyday you have to listen to the Backstreet Boys, preferably the older music for nostalgia purposes and whatnot. That’s just how it is, so you probably shouldn’t complain too much and just do it. My friend even added it to Tagdef for me. So, you know it’s official now.
Just another day in the life of Lauren, making things happen.
This one reminds me of Germany! I went there in 2000, and one of the few words I learned when I was there was the word for squirrel, “Eichhörnchen”, which is pretty awesome to learn how to say, and I pretty much still love going around saying “Du bist ein Eichhörnchen”, so yeah, totally worth visiting Germany for that. 😉
I also learned “Willst du mich heiraten?, which was also quite handy. (Will you marry me?)
So, anyway, you should share you Draw Something pictures, because it’s kinda fun. And if you do, link back here and let me know.
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Meet my praying mantis friend, who came and visited me today. He was on our large front window, just sitting there watching me. Actually, I think he’s still sitting out there.
I saw a grasshopper too, but he fell off the window, haha. I have no idea why my window was so busy today!
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Hello, it’s time for links! Did you guys have a nice Saturday?
Guess what? I got an iPad! I got a white one, so exciting! I now own the entire Apple store.. one Macbook Pro, one iPhone and an iPad. I’m still setting everything up because as usual I have to make it a long, drawn out process. I can’t just turn on my photo stream and be done with it. No, I decided I have to clean out my photo stream and delete anything old on my phone that has been backed up on my computer already – ya know, so I can have a clean slate – and of course that means I need to back up my computer “just in case” something happens in the time that I don’t have all the photos on my phone in several locations..
I have to regularly back up my computer anyway, but yeah, this is typical of me. Can’t just do one thing, have to rearrange everything in order to do one thing. Anyone else like this? Am I nuts? Don’t answer that!
Oh, this is not actually related to anything at all, but one time, when I was a child, I invented a way to open and shut my bedroom door from my bed with a Slinky.
Anyway, links.
• We didn’t choose the thug life.
• Make DIY wall art out of folded paper over at the How About Orange blog.
• Really interesting typography article: Pitch Design Information.
• Ok, this blog is really cool. Do you remember those diamond shaped things you’d make as a child, out of folded paper? You’d move them around with your first two fingers on each hand, and then you’d open then up and they’d say something? Paperfortunetellers.com calls them cootie catchers, and their entire blog is dedicated to them.
• This is really funny. Just watch it. I love how many people are being such good sports.
Check out my other Weekend Links posts where I link up to a variety of things I’ve found during the week.
Posted by Lauren
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Hey, it’s Friday, yay!
Ok guys, are you ready to make fun of me?
I’m going to share some old poetry I wrote in hmm.. middle school? They were written for school (I didn’t write poetry on my own growing up) and I think I got some kind of award for them, because I remember having to read them in front of some women’s group.
I think we were assigned to write either a short story or poetry, and I always picked poetry because I thought it was easier.
I don’t know if you can tell, but the last one references the Holocaust.
I think it’s interesting that they’re all thematic and [externally] idealistic.
Hate
We all believe in different ways,
And do things differently,
But we all experience love and care
And friends and family.Everyone is different,
Yet, we are all the same.
Why can’t we see it’s what’s inside,
And stop the hate and blame?Peace on earth is quite a wish,
Though impossible it may appear.
If we look past what we think we see,
We see there’s nothing left to fear.Lights
Ground covered with cold, white snow
Beautiful evergreen.
The sky is mystical and deep
And twinkling stars are seen.Thousands of people gather around,
For the lighting in the square.
No one will make a sound
For the beauty they are about to share.One day of the year,
Friends and even enemies together
Everyone has fun and looks
Beyond the still, cold weather.In the background, yet so faint
The joyous sounds are clear.
Christmas carolers they can hear,
The melodies so near.The glorious tree is finally aglow
And children’s eyes so brights,
And the moment that was very slow
Is here– the glorious light!Innocence
The battlecry of freedom,
Oppressive cries of rage–
Longing for the life they miss,
Trapped in a timeless cage.Family and friends taken away,
Never to experience peace.
Hunger, weak and dying,
Their will to live has ever ceased.The few are left to wonder why,
They are the ones to pay.
What did they do to deserve
This path without a way?“You don’t fit in!
You’re not the same!
You’ll work and slave,
Your life no gain!”Why are they different,
With teary eyes they cry!
The love and hope they barely know
Is gone and they must die.
So, do you guys have any old writing to dig out and share?
Do you find it interesting, amusing.. weird?
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