Tag Archives: Photos

all calm on the homefront

June 3, 2013 11:16 am \ 1 Comment \

The last few days have been busy, but not in a hectic kind of way. More like the “consistently busy” kind of way, you know?

I ended up working on a project this weekend, and while it’s never “fun” to come into the office on Saturday and Sunday, it wasn’t too painful. Saturday I went to the gym with Kaila, and cranked out a 3.11 mile (5k) run in 36:59. The treadmill shut everything down before I could take a picture of the display, but after uploading all my iPhone photos this weekend I checked my pace from when I first started running in the winter to now:

Running in November

So this was what I was running back in November 2012. 2 miles in close to 30 minutes, pace of 14.13/mile and an average speed of only 4.22 MPH. Not bad, but definitely not where I’m at now! Again, I wish I had a photo, but the run on Saturday was 3.11 miles in 37 minutes, I think the pace was around 11 minutes/mile and an average speed of 5-something? But I know from the distance/time ratio alone that there’s been huge improvements over the last six months, and that’s so freaking exciting.

I also started the Fat Mum Slim challenge this weekend, and the first two days (haha) were uploaded with no problem. Only 28 to go! Are you participating? All my photos are on my Instagram and Flickr accounts (and the photos in the header of the blog are from Instagram feed, so you can view them there if you like).

After running and work on Saturday, I met Erin and Jesse at the pub down the block from the office for a burger and beer. There’s no better way to destress after working than red meat and liquor!

Last night we had a quiet night in at the house, and by we I mean my neighbours and I; Thomas was working. But I got to chat with Kelsey and Jeremy about their wedding plans, and it’s making me terribly excited to watch them tie the knot! We split some nomilicious food and some tasty wine as well. Thanks guys ;)

It’s only 12 days until my 25th birthday, and this weekend I’ll be in Edmonton to celebrate both my and my aunt’s birthdays. Plus, I’ll have my first consultation with my surgeon since we submitted my case to OMDS, and an appointment with the orthodontist to adjust my braces (ick). On top of everything else, my cousin bought a house and will be moving that weekend as well. There’s no such thing as a quiet weekend when I go to visit family ;)

But first, there’s a slew of work that I have to wade through to make it to the end of the week. Wish me luck…

Posted in: Home life, Kylie-centric \ Tagged: , , , , , ,

the pintester movement

May 30, 2013 10:00 am \ 8 Comments \
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So if you haven’t heard, there’s a blog out there called the Pintester. It’s written by Sonja Foust and she is pretty freaking hilarious. I met her (or heard of her blog, I can’t quite remember. Sorry Sonja!) at BlogHer last year. She tests and fucks up Pinterest pins. And how awesome would it be if that were your full-time job?

And now, Sonja is letting other people in on her turf — she’s hosting a Pintester Movement, and bloggers from all over will be testing (and fucking up) pins! I am one of them. The total list of participants can be found on her website!

For this little experiment, I decided to try the Guilt-Free “ice cream” pin.

This one only has three ingredients, but I was sceptical of whether the results would be any good. I mean, we’ve all had ice cream, and we’ve all had bananas. They are not the same thing, people.

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Bananas. NOT ice cream.

But, despite my lack of faith in the banana-ice cream conversion I decided to try it anyways. According to the recipe, you first start with the bananas. And to start on the right foot, I kinda fucked this one up before I even really got going, because according to the website you’re supposed to cut up the banana and then freeze it. I started with frozen bananas, and nearly got frostbite trying to peel them. Brr.

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Then, you add the peanut butter and cocoa. Then (if you’re me) you make your second fuck up of the evening, immediately on the heels of your first. You reread the directions, and realize that you’re supposed to use a food processor, not a blender, to get everything silky and smooth. (And if you didn’t just hear this in your head, then we’re friends off.) And apparently the food processor/blender thing is a big deal, because the above photo is after I started the blender not before. As you can see, there’s not a whole lot of change…

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I’m at a bit of an advantage though, since I live with a chef. Thomas happened to come upstairs as I was putting this all together, and (as is often the case when I’m cooking) he stopped to ask me what the hell I was doing. I explained and he took one look at the concoction in the blender and told me that I needed to add cream. That would aid in the ice cream part of the recipe, but definitely take away from the “guilt free” part of it. Though, I suspect any recipe with four bananas and peanut butter isn’t too healthy to begin with. What’s a cup of cream on top of all that?

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I finally got the right consistency though! But, instead of ice cream, it’s more like that stage of ice cream where it’s not frozen any more, but is still cold enough to hold a semi-solid shape. The ice cream soup stage! The stuff you’d have left over in your bowl after eating the majority of the ice cream. Which really, considering this is just bananas, cocoa, peanut butter, and cream that’s not too shabby.

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So, I didn’t pull a classic Foust and fuck this up royally. Just kinda sorta fucked it up, and was lucky enough to have someone around to save me from my Pin-testing self. But, if you add some cream and need to use a blender instead of a food processor, I’d say my version of the pin was largely a success! But it’s no longer very guilt free. Maybe just pick up some ice cream unless, like me, you were partial to the ice cream soup stage of ice cream.

Posted in: Blogging, Food \ Tagged: , , , , ,

visually stimulating

May 29, 2013 11:00 am \ Leave a Comment \

I don’t take a lot of photographs anymore.

I’ve had this entry kicking around in my head for weeks now, and I’ve tried to think of a million different ways to start this post. But the line I keep coming back to is “I don’t take a lot of photographs anymore.” I’ve heard that brevity is beautiful, so you’re welcome for that one-liner.

And the statement is sad but true. I have not one, but two wonderful DSLR cameras: a Nikon D40, with 10,000+ shutter depressions on it (and it’s good until about 40k), and a Nikon D3100 that takes stunning pictures. Add to that my iPhone 4s, which has the same amount of megapixels as the D40, and I have the trifecta for camera awesomeness in all its Apple and Nikon-y glory.

See? That’s a very nice camera. And objectively, I know my appearance isn’t the worst thing to photograph.

But yet, my photos are few and far between.

Online and offline friends alike all have their Instagram or Flickr accounts, and are posting/uploading beautiful photos almost daily. I’ll surf my feeds and see the images and think “Man, I have the ability and the equipment to do stuff like that, so why don’t I just DO it?”

Easy answer: I don’t like being conspicuously inconspicuous.

That phrase took some twisting of the fingers to bang out, so let me explain what I mean by it.

I read a quote from a character who was a photographer in a Jennifer Weiner book (shut up), and the reasons she gave for having her camera at all times was to be present, but not. Having a camera in front of your face allows you a degree of separation from what’s happening in that moment. While I agree that the statement is fundamentally true, I also see the converse to be true.

There are obviously a great many pictures of cats. Cats don’t curr.

Taking the photo instead of participating in the moment is a way to separate and disassociate, but by doing something completely different and separate from the situation or group you’re by default calling attention to yourself. Everyone is standing and laughing, but you’re on one knee on the ground, two feet away, trying to take a picture.

That’s what I mean by being conspicuously inconspicuous. In theory no one notices you, but I feel so visible that it makes me uncomfortable. Even walking down the street with my phone and snapping a quick photo has the same effect. It feels like there are eyes on me, wondering what hipster picture I’m taking and with what faux vintage finish.

I know I shouldn’t give a shit, that I shouldn’t care and should just take pictures anyways. I’ve even been told that a few of them were good. But for some reason my socially anxious side will not let me get over this mental block. This is why my photos so rarely have myself in them (the one-arm selfie? I’m squirming inside!), or many people at all for that matter. I take pictures of things, because things can’t turn around and ask me what the hell I think I’m doing with my camera.

I don’t know where this came from either; as a journalist in school we had to do photo assignments once a week, and I was completely capable of and comfortable with shooting that quantity of photos. I got some great shots in return, too. But somewhere between graduation and real life, I lost the ability to let loose with my camera.

I’m going to try the Fat Mum Slim Photo a Day challenge for June, and see where it takes me. I don’t want to promise I’ll finish, or even that the photos will all be on time, but that I’ll at least try. Maybe the return to school-like uninhibited photography assignments will give me the kick in the shutter finger that I need.

Posted in: General, Kylie-centric \ Tagged: , , , ,
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