Fisheye

So there is this made up company/ photographic technique called Lomography, which is basically marketing genius and a manufactured brand that appears to be vintage but is actually new. I did not research the company before I bought a Groupon for their products, and then it was too late.  They sell really cheap quality plastic cameras for a lot of money, all under the guise that they are some throwback Russian cameras from the 1960s, like Holga and Diana.  They are really nothing more than those disposable film cameras dressed up in a cute, colorful plastic shell.  Nonetheless!  I had a paid Groupon, so after scouring for MORE online coupons I landed a $100 dollar plastic fisheye 35mm camera for $23 with shipping. And it was not worth a penny more than that! Here is a photo of the camera (borrowed by someone on Flickr):

 

I shot a roll of 36 pro 35mm film and when I got it developed, I was only given about 10 photos and told the rest did not come out.  I looked at the negatives and did see some partial images but couldn’t pinpoint what went wrong exactly.  And unfortunately, besides the photos that DID come out, I could not recall what else I photographed!  Total brain fry. So I couldn’t even try to determine lighting conditions or anything.  Guess I will have to try a whole new roll and take my chances that isn’t a total waste also.  Good news: several Lucy 11 month birthday photos did come out, as well as my maternity session of Sara.  Thank goodness, because those were important.  On the other hand. The pictures are nothing to write home about.  What was I saying earlier? Something about the quality of disposable film cameras?  I rest my case:

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A Free Friday

Pete missed us so much he decided to take Friday off of work, to hang out with us. First we went on a Family Bike Ride to Hollywood Mirror to get retro accessories for our Halloween costume.  They were super packed with shoppers but I got photos of their always-awesome window displays.  I took them with the fisheye camera so those will come later. We had planned on lunch at Chicago Diner (Chai Tea milkshake!) but Lucy was extra crabby with her tooth coming in and really needed a nap so we headed home and had a Family Nap. Then we went for a walk and had a snack at Rokito’s and on to the wig shop!  Lucy cried when she saw me in my wig, and Pete said I look like my mom!

Having sushi at Agami – avocado maki with soy paper! She just chows these down.

Walking home with a shoulder ride. On the very far right you can see a red and green light in the street.  It was a girl approaching on a bike dressed in a Tron costume with red lights all over her bike! Wish I had been fast enough to catch her.Stopped at Walgreen’s on the way home, to get some costume makeup and candy.  Lucy liked this clown…I was grossed out by this gummy finger in an ice cream sundae…Lucy holding onto dad’s makeup…

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11 months

Happy 11 months Cookie. Is it possible that in just one more month, my baby won’t be a baby anymore? Not possible!  For many reasons, but especially because she still (not) sleeps like a baby. Other big news: today she got her first tooth!  After a fever yesterday, suddenly today daddy found one on the lower right. Hopefully she does not take on biting – as she did at bedtime tonight!

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Bell & Howell

We just spent four days visiting grammy, grampy, aunt JuJu, uncle Mike, Jen, and cousin Panda.  On a whim I decided to pull out the old slide projector to see if it works, even though it never worked well in the past. I got it working  well enough (even though it “sticks” on each slide) and announced to the fam that it was home movie night! We have two Bell & Howell cube slide projectors, and even a nice silver projection screen. We had cubes from 1964-1986, so that covered  pretty much everything important that has ever happened in our young lives. It was quite a trip down memory lane, especially seeing pictures from before I was born, that I had never seen before. My brother and sister:

My grandparents opening Christmas gifts in the late 1960s:

And then halfway through the slide show, Lucy decides that maybe she isn’t getting enough attention and maybe we are all laughing heartily, but it looks like everyone is laughing at that screen up there…so she stood up in front of everyone and ripped her diaper off.  And pranced around naked.  And I think she even bent over and mooned a few of us.  We let her run around like that for awhile, and she threw herself onto the sleeping bag over and over and had a grand old time being completely f-r-e-e.  How liberating.  Too bad we don’t all look so cute naked.  I had to raise the lights to grab a photo.  Here I gave this the 1970s vintage treatment, to keep with the theme of the night.

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…Take me away

Dear Little One,

As you will hear about many times in your life, you do not sleep well at night. You are almost 11 months old and you have never, ever, once slept through the night. 4 hours was about the longest stretch, except one time, after your first vaccination, you slept from 8pm to 2am.  Of course we were so alarmed all we could do was watch you on the monitor and worry.  It’s not like we could actually sleep, nor did we know you would go an unprecedented six hours. Lately, you awake every hour or hour and a half. You are driving your parents batty with exhaustion.  We have tried everything, essentially feeding you steak and lobster every night, to no avail.  No we are trying relaxing baths.  We turn off the lights, light some squirrel candles, add lavender salts to the water, and dad takes you in there to calm you down.  He is also teaching you to relax and float on your back, the very beginnings of water survival and learning to swim.  You love the water, and stand by the side of the tub and throw things in.  Dad turns on the jacuzzi jets and you laugh your old man laugh as they shoot your rubber ball around the tub.  Dad is your water buddy.  He is anxiously waiting to see if you continue to love the water.  The gears are turning, and he has Big Plans for sharing water with you. Swimming lessons, surfing, paddle boarding, SCUBA diving, whatever you like to do.  He was a lifeguard, an instructor, and on the swim team in high school.  He surfs Lake Michigan and the Pacific Ocean.  He SCUBAs in the Caribbean with sharks, octopus, rays, dolphins, eels, and he’s not afraid of any of it. Maybe some day you will too.

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