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Showing posts with label photo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photo. Show all posts
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Friday, November 7, 2008
PhotoStory Friday: Disney Daze
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek
It turns out that MetaBoy is still not past his "people in suits freak me out" stage. Santa, for example, is not a welcoming figure for our little lad. Dude, can you blame him?
Anyway, here's our story.
******************************************************
"Holy Crap? Seriously? There's a bear behind me? Shouldn't we be running?"
"Dude!! You scared me. I thought it was a bear! That's some dork in a costume. Whew!"
"In fact, take a picture, mom. A picture of me with a bear. Ha ha."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
[Pant, pant, pant, pant...]
"Ya, I know it's leaving, but is it coming back? That wasn't cool. He was behind me, then next to me. Those things move FAST!! Can I have a pain au chocolate? You know, you settle my nerves. Peeeeeeeeezzz?!?"
Monday, October 20, 2008
World Animal Day Photos
A friend sent me this link. There are some wonderful pictures of familiar and not so familiar animals. Have a glance.World Animal Day
AP Photo/John McConnico - A zebra eyes visitors at the zoo in Chisinau, Moldova Sunday Sept. 28, 2008.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
PhotoStory Friday: Expanding Family
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek
MetaBoy has an announcement to make.
Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrumroll, please.
MetaBoy has a brand spanking new baby sister, MetaGirl, for whom he has vowed to look after and protect as much as any two year old can. He's promised to try to be "gentle" and "quiet"...within reason. And seems to even empathize with her pain, as he's been known to cry if he hears her crying.
MetaGirl, for her part, does what she can to keep herself pacified.
She's found and lost her thumb several times. When not seeking out such comforts, she's either nursing, sleeping, hiccuping, or intensely staring at one of her new family member.
All in all, we're all happy, if a little tired...
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Photoshop Express
Photoshop Express is Adobe's most recent attempt to hook consumers who aren't willing to drop a bundle on their popular Photoshop software.
I haven't tried it yet, but I'm terribly excited to. The thing is, I like taking and sharing pictures, but I'm just not as good at it is I'd like to be. The few great photos I've taken have been merely accidents. I assure you. I can use all of the Photoshop-type help I can get.
Here's what they offer:
Specifically, Adobe would be granted "...royalty-free, nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable license to use, distribute, derive revenue or other remuneration from, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content..." blah blah. That hardly sounds like something I want with my photos.
Well, MetaDaddy's first reaction was "That wasn't Adobe's intention." Something about the aggressive nature of contracts paired with the ever-changing nature of technology allows for misunderstandings. That is, the folks who make the software aren't always in sync with the folks protecting it. He called it a storm in a teacup. Precious, no?
Needless to say, Adobe and their lawyers fixed their little snafu. It's now safe to jump on board again :-D
I haven't tried it yet, but I'm terribly excited to. The thing is, I like taking and sharing pictures, but I'm just not as good at it is I'd like to be. The few great photos I've taken have been merely accidents. I assure you. I can use all of the Photoshop-type help I can get.
Here's what they offer:
"There's nothing sadder than a photo without a home. You hate to see that. Give your photos a free ride with Photoshop Express. just sign up, then start uploading, polishing and showing off up to 2 GB of photos on our dime."Well...unsettling news: Complaints trigger rewrite of Photoshop Express terms
Specifically, Adobe would be granted "...royalty-free, nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable license to use, distribute, derive revenue or other remuneration from, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content..." blah blah. That hardly sounds like something I want with my photos.
Well, MetaDaddy's first reaction was "That wasn't Adobe's intention." Something about the aggressive nature of contracts paired with the ever-changing nature of technology allows for misunderstandings. That is, the folks who make the software aren't always in sync with the folks protecting it. He called it a storm in a teacup. Precious, no?
Needless to say, Adobe and their lawyers fixed their little snafu. It's now safe to jump on board again :-D
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Photo Hunt: Smelly
Does it count if someone else took the photo? I'm guessing not, but this is my interpretation :-)
Smells Like Teen Spirit
PhotoHunt
Smells Like Teen Spirit
PhotoHunt
Friday, October 5, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Photo Hunt: Original
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Hand Dominance
It seems some studies have been done to determine the genetic predisposition of a person to being right-handed or not right-handed (i.e., left-handed or ambidexterous). In this study, for example, the researchers concluded the following:
This reminded me of a Discover Channel program titled
In The Womb: Multiples. It addressed mirror image identical twins, identical twins whose traits are identical, but reveresed. For example, the hair whorl flows in one direction (e.g., clockwise) on twin A, and the opposite on twin B; twin A's birth mark is the right shoulder, and twin B's is on the left; or twin A is right-handed while twin B is left-handed. Per the program, the theory is that some left-handed people are the surviving mirror image twins of identical twins. "Some fetuses spend the first trimester of pregnancy with a companion that later disappears—a phenomenon called the 'vanishing twin syndrome.'"
Per North Suburban Parents of Multiples:
This image from Genetics shows an example of hair whorls. "The counterclockwise parietal scalp hair-whorl on the left is of a NRH person, and the one on the right of the RH author swirls clockwise."
Per those photos, MetaBaby's hair whorl looks like it's counter-clockwise to me. As of yet, he's still an equal opportunity hand user, so we'll see where this leads us.
Therefore, we suggest that humans are born with hand preference that is prenatally determined. This work should also impact the social aspects of handedness. With this knowledge, it should be possible for the parents to predict that their newborn with a counterclockwise hair whorl will develop into a left-handed or ambidextrous person in 50% of the cases.That is, if the hair at the crown of your child's head swirls in a counter-clockwise direction, s/he has a 50% chance of being left-handed or ambidexterous. While the number seems to correlate with random chance, it's actually more significant because left-handed people make up anywhere from 10-20% of the population, depending on the source of your statistics (e.g., Anything Left-Handed, ABC News, and the University of Washington).
This reminded me of a Discover Channel program titled
In The Womb: Multiples. It addressed mirror image identical twins, identical twins whose traits are identical, but reveresed. For example, the hair whorl flows in one direction (e.g., clockwise) on twin A, and the opposite on twin B; twin A's birth mark is the right shoulder, and twin B's is on the left; or twin A is right-handed while twin B is left-handed. Per the program, the theory is that some left-handed people are the surviving mirror image twins of identical twins. "Some fetuses spend the first trimester of pregnancy with a companion that later disappears—a phenomenon called the 'vanishing twin syndrome.'"
Per North Suburban Parents of Multiples:
In approximately 23 percent of identical twins, the fertilized egg splits later than 7 days following conception. The original right half of the egg becomes one twin and the original left half becomes the other.Virgin Media's "fascinating twin facts" states that "A higher rate of twins (18-22%) are left handed compared to non-twins (10%)."
This may be a partial explanation for the fact that a little over one third of identical twins are left-handed, double the rate in the general population. In extreme cases, all of the internal organs are reversed in one of the twins, with the heart on the right, the liver on the left, and the appendix on the left.
This image from Genetics shows an example of hair whorls. "The counterclockwise parietal scalp hair-whorl on the left is of a NRH person, and the one on the right of the RH author swirls clockwise."
Per those photos, MetaBaby's hair whorl looks like it's counter-clockwise to me. As of yet, he's still an equal opportunity hand user, so we'll see where this leads us.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Our Reasons for Homemade Baby Food
While I was pregnant, we decided to try to feed our infant homemade baby food. We believed that the nutritional aspects are great enough to warrant the additional effort involved. So when we went in for his 6 month appointment, I was really excited at the prospect of starting him on solids. Our pediatrician said that we should start feeding him pureed fruits and vegetables, and to make sure to get him to try various different ones like broccoli and brussels sprouts. I asked why starting babies on cereal was traditional, and he said it's primarily based on the notion that babies need more iron, but he's seen studies that refute that point. In his many years, he's found that starting babies on a diet of fruits and vegetables is much more successful, and we should introduce cereal later. As for allergies, he asked that we not feed him the usual suspects (e.g., honey, eggs, milk) as well as citrus fruits, tomatoes, and strawberries. Other than that, don't be too concerned about introducing foods slowly to watch for allergies. Often, pediatricians suggest introducing a new food every 4 days so that only one new food is in the babies system at any given time. Watch for allergic reactions and if none develop, continue on to try another food. Since our doctor redlined allergens to be concerned with, we were granted a carte blanche.
Done.
That week I started steaming and mashing food. He didn't like it. I tried a blender, a hand blender, and a food mill. We suspect he thought we were trying to poison him.
I don't know where he gets this paranoia from. *sigh*
I figured the texture was a bit chunky for him, so on a whim I tried a couple of store brands like organic Gerber, Homemade Baby, and Earth's Best. I also called the pediatrician's office to see if they could suggest anything, and they said that since he's already getting all of the nutrition he needs from breastmilk, just keep trying until he gets used to the texture. Finally, between some of my food and some of the store bought food, he started to eat. His favorite by far was Piwi, a combination of pears and kiwi. I continued with a bit of store bought food for a while longer until one day we compared the color of homemade peas to store bought peas. Then we remembered why we wanted to feed him homemade food.
We want him to eat fresh, organic food - If I make his food, I can regulate the ingredients and be sure of the state of the food before it's pureed. I want fresh, organic food for health and nutritional reasons, so I buy produce from our local farmers' market. If we know what he's eating and how it's prepared (e.g., steamed), we can be sure that he's getting more nutrition out of the food he eats. Besides, I'm convinced that the reason I couldn't get my food to the same texture as the food I bought is because they add other ingredients. That's enough of a reason for me to question the ingredients label. Again, I'm paranoid, and there's nothing anyone can do to change that.
His food should taste good - We like good food. if we don't eat processed foods, why should he? We watch cooking shows for fun. We've traveled to countries because we like the local food. In essence, we've been willing to spend more to get better quality ingredients, and nothing's changed. So now that we're feeding him, we want to give him food that we would eat. Sorry Gerber...you just don't do it for us.
We want him to broaden his palate by exposing him to many foods - Even if we didn't have a problem with store bought foods, the flavors available are few in number, and we really wanted to feed him a wide variety of foods. I was a picky eater until...well, until I met my husband. I liked food, but I was only comfortable in a safe zone. He helped me try more foods and flavors, and over time I've become a much more adventurous eater. However, I wish I'd been less apprehensive before because I missed out on a lot of culinary experiences and growth as a result. We don't want that to slow our little slugger down.
We want him to eat what he's given - We don't want a picky eater, and we'd like to nip it in the bud if we can. If we're willing to eat it, son, you're gonna have to eat it, too.
That's the gist of it, though I'm sure I missed a few other good reasons. In the end, we just want him to be happy, healthy, cooperative and well-rounded. If we can start teaching him these fundamentals in the form of food, we figure we're off to a good start.
Done.
That week I started steaming and mashing food. He didn't like it. I tried a blender, a hand blender, and a food mill. We suspect he thought we were trying to poison him.
I don't know where he gets this paranoia from. *sigh*
I figured the texture was a bit chunky for him, so on a whim I tried a couple of store brands like organic Gerber, Homemade Baby, and Earth's Best. I also called the pediatrician's office to see if they could suggest anything, and they said that since he's already getting all of the nutrition he needs from breastmilk, just keep trying until he gets used to the texture. Finally, between some of my food and some of the store bought food, he started to eat. His favorite by far was Piwi, a combination of pears and kiwi. I continued with a bit of store bought food for a while longer until one day we compared the color of homemade peas to store bought peas. Then we remembered why we wanted to feed him homemade food.
We want him to eat fresh, organic food - If I make his food, I can regulate the ingredients and be sure of the state of the food before it's pureed. I want fresh, organic food for health and nutritional reasons, so I buy produce from our local farmers' market. If we know what he's eating and how it's prepared (e.g., steamed), we can be sure that he's getting more nutrition out of the food he eats. Besides, I'm convinced that the reason I couldn't get my food to the same texture as the food I bought is because they add other ingredients. That's enough of a reason for me to question the ingredients label. Again, I'm paranoid, and there's nothing anyone can do to change that.
His food should taste good - We like good food. if we don't eat processed foods, why should he? We watch cooking shows for fun. We've traveled to countries because we like the local food. In essence, we've been willing to spend more to get better quality ingredients, and nothing's changed. So now that we're feeding him, we want to give him food that we would eat. Sorry Gerber...you just don't do it for us.
We want him to broaden his palate by exposing him to many foods - Even if we didn't have a problem with store bought foods, the flavors available are few in number, and we really wanted to feed him a wide variety of foods. I was a picky eater until...well, until I met my husband. I liked food, but I was only comfortable in a safe zone. He helped me try more foods and flavors, and over time I've become a much more adventurous eater. However, I wish I'd been less apprehensive before because I missed out on a lot of culinary experiences and growth as a result. We don't want that to slow our little slugger down.
We want him to eat what he's given - We don't want a picky eater, and we'd like to nip it in the bud if we can. If we're willing to eat it, son, you're gonna have to eat it, too.
That's the gist of it, though I'm sure I missed a few other good reasons. In the end, we just want him to be happy, healthy, cooperative and well-rounded. If we can start teaching him these fundamentals in the form of food, we figure we're off to a good start.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Save Yourself a Trip to the Kwik-E-Mart
A Flickr user graciously posted all of the pictures you'll ever need of a 7-11 posing as a Kwik-E-Mart.
Whew...temptation averted.
Whew...temptation averted.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Dinner and a Show to Celebrate
Using Open Table to make a reservation, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary by having our first nice meal out with our highchair bandit in tow. We treated ourselves to a lovely meal at Campanile, and oh was it good. We made our reservation for 6, which is when they open. However, traffic was a bit of an issue as one of the streets we took was blocked off (caution tape, police officers, police cars blocking several blocks...very unsettling). So we took a detour, but we were definitely running late. I didn't have the restaurant's phone number, so I tried 1(800)GOOG-411, but after two attempts, I gave up. So I texted "Campanile Los Angeles" to 46645(GOOGL), and they texted back the phone number within a minute...free and quick. It doesn't any get better than that.
They thanked me for calling, and even better, they held our table. Once we got there, they seated us and we got our drinks. They make a killer mojito. Since it was already 6:30, we decided quickly to get the ball rolling. We had an arsenal of toys and snacks, so we were ready, but no point in delaying the inevitable. He had a few teensy pieces of bread, which he seemed to love (mouth wide open waiting for more). He also really took to my starter (see below), which was precious. It made me wish I'd gotten more ravioli ;-)
MetaMommy had:
Appetizer - Green garbanzo puree ravioli roasted cherry tomatoes and spring onions - Garbanzo in ravioli is delicious. There's a creaminess that isn't heavy...I'll definitely try this one day if I ever get into making my own pasta.
Entree - Copper River salmon en papillote with sweet corn, roasted porcinis, pancetta, dry vermouth, and garlic butter - En papillote means cooked in parchment paper, which it was. A lovely presentation, and a great way to cook fish. Incredibly flavorful overall.
Dessert - Cream biscuits with wild huckleberry compote & creme fraiche ice cream - Comfort food at it's best, though the creme fraiche ice cream was a nice twist.
MetaDaddy had:
Appetizer - Greek salad with heirloom tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, kalamata olives, fresh goats cheese - Gourmet version of a delicious salad. I'm surprised he didn't go for something a bit more exotic, but you never know with him ;-)
Entree - Roasted pork chop with saffron onions, braised cabbage, bacon, and saba - There was an unexpected bit of honey in the sauce, but it was still pretty darn good. Saba, which we pondered, is apparently a vinegar. You learn something new every day.
Cheese Course - A glass of port with a some fine aged blue cheese and a firm white portugese cow's milk cheese - Loved the blue cheese, though the firm white cheese was a bit strong for me. It was sharp like a goat's cheese, which I've never been fond of.
MetaSon had:
Appetizer - Some of mommy's garbanzo puree and a little ravioli
Entree - Homemade mix of lentils, zucchini, and butternut squash
Dessert #1 - Mashed banana
Dessert #2 - A taste of huckleberry compote
The whole time, we had to entertain our lad, but he wasn't too disruptive at all. We did suspect him of larsony when it seemed like he was going for the busboy's wallet, but we stopped him in time. Towards the end he got a bit more vocal, but not too bad. Even better, we didn't get any rude looks or comments from anyone. The staff was very nice and accomodating (we were offered both crayons and a sippy cup). Better still, there were at least two other young children in the restaurant while we were there. While we might have assumed that upscalre restaurants generally aren't kid friendly as a rule, I now know anyplace is capable of being a good place to go with well behaved kids. The well behaved part...well, therein lies the challenge.
We wrapped up at about 8PM, happy to have gotten a nice evening out, and happy to have been able to share it with our big, bad 10 month old.
They thanked me for calling, and even better, they held our table. Once we got there, they seated us and we got our drinks. They make a killer mojito. Since it was already 6:30, we decided quickly to get the ball rolling. We had an arsenal of toys and snacks, so we were ready, but no point in delaying the inevitable. He had a few teensy pieces of bread, which he seemed to love (mouth wide open waiting for more). He also really took to my starter (see below), which was precious. It made me wish I'd gotten more ravioli ;-)
MetaMommy had:
Appetizer - Green garbanzo puree ravioli roasted cherry tomatoes and spring onions - Garbanzo in ravioli is delicious. There's a creaminess that isn't heavy...I'll definitely try this one day if I ever get into making my own pasta.
Entree - Copper River salmon en papillote with sweet corn, roasted porcinis, pancetta, dry vermouth, and garlic butter - En papillote means cooked in parchment paper, which it was. A lovely presentation, and a great way to cook fish. Incredibly flavorful overall.
Dessert - Cream biscuits with wild huckleberry compote & creme fraiche ice cream - Comfort food at it's best, though the creme fraiche ice cream was a nice twist.
MetaDaddy had:
Appetizer - Greek salad with heirloom tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, kalamata olives, fresh goats cheese - Gourmet version of a delicious salad. I'm surprised he didn't go for something a bit more exotic, but you never know with him ;-)
Entree - Roasted pork chop with saffron onions, braised cabbage, bacon, and saba - There was an unexpected bit of honey in the sauce, but it was still pretty darn good. Saba, which we pondered, is apparently a vinegar. You learn something new every day.
Cheese Course - A glass of port with a some fine aged blue cheese and a firm white portugese cow's milk cheese - Loved the blue cheese, though the firm white cheese was a bit strong for me. It was sharp like a goat's cheese, which I've never been fond of.
MetaSon had:
Appetizer - Some of mommy's garbanzo puree and a little ravioli
Entree - Homemade mix of lentils, zucchini, and butternut squash
Dessert #1 - Mashed banana
Dessert #2 - A taste of huckleberry compote
The whole time, we had to entertain our lad, but he wasn't too disruptive at all. We did suspect him of larsony when it seemed like he was going for the busboy's wallet, but we stopped him in time. Towards the end he got a bit more vocal, but not too bad. Even better, we didn't get any rude looks or comments from anyone. The staff was very nice and accomodating (we were offered both crayons and a sippy cup). Better still, there were at least two other young children in the restaurant while we were there. While we might have assumed that upscalre restaurants generally aren't kid friendly as a rule, I now know anyplace is capable of being a good place to go with well behaved kids. The well behaved part...well, therein lies the challenge.
We wrapped up at about 8PM, happy to have gotten a nice evening out, and happy to have been able to share it with our big, bad 10 month old.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Babies as Pandas
"Babies disguised as pandas take part in a crawling contest in a Hong Kong shopping mall."
A BBC image from Friday June, 21
Monday, June 11, 2007
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