well... that's kinda nifty...

I'm on Sunset Blvd in the heart of Hollywood!

Well, a billboard of me is, at any rate. And I don't mind one bit that I get to share it with Sadie the basset hound.

And since I can't just blog a GPOY post and leave it at that, I'll post some other pictures I've been taking this month. I'm on Instagram (under the very clever and mysterious handle tracyclifton) and there's been a February Photo a Day Challenge that I've been participating in. So enjoy the first half of this month's photos, and I'll show you guys the second half at the end of the month. :)

my view today

words

hands

a stranger (hey, a dead sheep carcass is pretty strange)

10 AM (don't judge me)

dinner

button

sun

front door

self-portrait

makes me happy

inside my closet

blue

heart

phone


That's all for now, folks... have a great week :)

perspective

Okay, so you're outdoors, at a beautiful park or garden or Buddhist temple, and you want cool photographs. You take a bunch of 'em but honestly, although they're pretty, they're kind of...busy. You know what makes a great photograph? A shot where you know what you're supposed to be looking at; one thing in the picture to focus on. This is why most touristy photos suck. Because the New York skyline in the middle of the day might look amazing to you because you were there, but to everyone else who just sees a blob of sky and a row of fifteen buildings, it's a bit boring.

Enter TiltShift.

The tilt-shift maker takes your photographs, blurs the foreground and background a bit, pops the color up a smidge, and viola!, it looks like your nature photographs are cool little miniatures. Wanna see?

Original photograph:

Meh. It's okay. Sort of boring, really. (It's okay, I have to be harsh with my photographs. I'm a photographer!)

Now check out this photo, post tilt-shifty goodness:

I KNOW, right? So much better.

So here's some more tilt-shift photos I took at The Huntington:

and the Buddhist Temple:

Much better, yes? Now you can show your friends and they don't have to feign interest. Yay!

PS tattoo pictures will be up by Friday. I promise. :)

catching up on pictures...

So while I keep you guys guessing for one more post about what's fact and fiction when it comes to my life, I thought I'd deliver you guys up some pictures from the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies engagement party I threw a couple weeks ago...that was not MY engagement party.

Just so we're super clear on that one. Heh...heh...hrmmm.

Might as well laugh about it.

Anyways, enjoy! And these were all pictures that I took with my normal camera, then went here and downloaded an application that turns them into Polaroid-looking pictures. Nifty, eh?

The groom-to-be, Eric, munching on a scone. My friend Kelice in the background, looking all dainty.

Blood-splattered Mandy filling out a couples-quiz.

Zombified me, looking like my eyeliner skills suck.

I made red-velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, crumbled Oreo on top, then stuck in doll hands. They came out perfect.

Oh, $1.29 daffodils at Trader Joe's, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

All the tea sandwiches were a hit, but the crowd favorite was cucumber and cream cheese.

For favors, we grabbed red and black tea-light holders, put some Spanish moss and rocks in them, then half-buried bloody doll torsos and glow-in-the-dark zombie finger puppets.

Somebody left their hand at the party. I still haven't tracked down who the owner is yet... ::clears throat:: Will the owner of their missing right hand please come claim it? It's still dripping in my kitchen sink! ;)

Perhaps it belonged to this young zombie...my friend Isaac had the best costume by far!


Yes, I'm aware I'm a dork because there are no pictures of the BRIDE-to-be... but it's not my fault. I took about four pictures then went back to making sandwiches and heating up scones.

I know...excuses, excuses. The groom-to-be did record a video of it, though...maybe I'll see if he can put it online and you guys can see how pretty (and blood-splattered) everyone looked. Yay!

happiness: a collage

Some days I feel a little defeated, a little discouraged, and like I'm running out of breathing room. There's anxiety I can't shake, bad dreams that follow me throughout the day like smoke clinging to my jacket, and frustrations that I can't just empty my life of, like tipping a trashcan upside down. The trash is still there; it's just changed venues.

Today might be such a day - so instead of blogging and swimming in the cesspool of negativity (dude, totally my next Rockband group name!) I went to Google and put in "happiness" and then clicked on images I liked.

Since a lot of them were images of people throwing up money in the air and looking doofy (Google is a shallow mistress, apparently), I also added some images from my own personal preferences. Enjoy - and if you're having a crappy Monday, by all means, I invite you to do the same. And please, let me know if you do - I'd love to look at all the things that make you guys happy too. :) (Pssst: click on any of the images to make them bigger.)

photo credit: I got it here

photo credit: I got it here

photo credit: I got it here

photo credit: I got it here

photo credit: I got it here

photo (and website credit): I got it here

photo credit: I got it here

cartoon credit: I got it here

photo credit: I got it here

photo credit: I got it here

photo credit: I got it here

photo credit: I got it here

photo credit: I got it here

photo (and website credit): I got it here