Archive for the ‘blogging’ Category
all hail my camera fairy!
Remember when I told you that something not so good happened to my camera a few months ago?
Soon thereafter a fellow blogger with whom I’ve shared quite a few email exchanges started asking funny questions…”What kind of camera were you thinking of getting?” and the like.
Turns out that my truck-driving, photo-taking, toenail-painting blogging buddy Salena from The Daily Rant had just bought herself a new camera and had the “old” one just sitting on a shelf, hoping and pleading to go to a nice home.
And Salena thought that nice home could be mine. Can you believe it?
I couldn’t either, and yet my new toy arrived yesterday. Via the Italian postal service. And I didn’t even have to pay customs.
To be perfectly clear, the idea of her donating the camera to a good cause (me) came up on September 11. A couple weeks later, Salena mailed it to my mom in Pennsylvania, my mom then mailed it to me, and I was holding it yesterday, October 15…and just in time for my birthday (Thursday) to boot!
This may not mean a lot to those of you who haven’t dealt with Poste Italiane, but trust me–this is nothing short of a flipping shipping miracle. I don’t know what other fairies are on my side other than my Camery Fairy Salena, but I like them. I like them a lot.
And I *love* the camera. LOVE THE CAMERA.
It’s a Canon PowerShot S1 IS, and my Camera Fairy also threw in a special Macro lens (that I have yet to play with) and a 1 GB memory card.
I am so beside myself with glee, appreciation, and excitement, I thought I’d share some of the first photos I took with the new camera.
Here’s a morning shot from my balcony:
This is the opposite side of the village,
taken a few minutes later while on my morning walk with the dogs:
And here is proof that my roses are still blooming:
And finally, on Puppy Watch, Stella growled at me this morning when I went near her box, so I think we’re getting close! Can’t you see the concern in her eyes?
I didn’t do anything to touch up these photos so you’d be able to see what the camera does all on its own. I’ve already discovered that the zoom on this thing is amazing compared to my old camera–all the photos above except for the rose were taken on zoom. Incredible if you saw what my old camera used to do with a zoomed photo!
Now I implore you–go to The Daily Rant, check out Salena’s fabulous photos (doesn’t matter which camera she’s using, obviously, as they’re always wonderful), and read about her fascinating life on the road in an 18-wheeler with her boyfriend Eddie; also be sure to check out Due Amici Designs for gorgeous, unique custom made cards.
Please go show my Camera Fairy some blog love, and thank her again for me.
Grazie mille Salena!
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[tags]digital cameras, dogs, medieval villages, southern italy, calabria[/tags]
Blog Action Day 2007: The Environment
Today October 15th, bloggers around the world are uniting to put a single important issue–the environment–on everyone’s mind.
Here are 3 ways to participate in Blog Action Day:
- Post on your blog relating to the environment on Blog Action Day
- Donate your day’s earnings to an environmental charity
- Promote Blog Action Day around the web
I’m not going to recount statistics and figures to try to convince you that global warming and environmental damage are real and that we all need to do something NOW to save our wonderful planet–if a Nobel Peace Prize winner can’t do that, well I really don’t have a chance.
So I’m just going to ask that you think about what you can do to make the world a little cleaner–and make it last a lot longer.
If you want an idea of how much of the Earth’s resources you’re using up, take the Earth Day Footprint Quiz. If you’re curious as to my results, you can find them here.
Now I would love for you to throw out suggestions in the comments–small things that we can all do that will make a difference. And I’ll start.
I realize that SUV owners probably aren’t going to be tossing aside their keys just because of Blog Action Day (although good for you if you do!) but can I convince you to switch from using plastic bags to reusable shopping bags?
If you remember my blog contest from a while back, you’ll also remember Marcia and her gorgeous handmade Bella Bags. She kindly sent me one of her organic shoppers as a gift for hosting an online party.
Can I tell you how awesome it is? It is much stronger and larger than I thought it would be, and it’s getting *a lot* of use at my house. Even if you don’t order from Marcia, please do consider making this one small change in your daily routine if you aren’t doing this already.
Plastic bags are killing our planet.
Now it’s your turn…
What else can we do to be just a tad (or a lot) more Earth-friendly?
september i hardly knew ye!
I completely forgot about my Monthly Musing this month! Why is that? Probably because I love, love, love September and was too busy enjoying it…and didn’t it just fly by?!
September is my second favorite month after October, my birth month (the 18th if you’re keeping track), which is really like September Plus in my mind–but more on that another time.
So to me September is:
Relief from heat, humidity, mosquitoes, and all the nasty stuff about summer
that makes me irritable just thinking about it…
Renewed energy and fresh starts–
this from years of the school year really starting to kick into gear…
Smells of wood burning, rainy mornings, and
actual hot meals coming off the stove and out of the oven…
A crispness in the air coupled with warm sunshine, and
never knowing exactly how to dress for the weather…
Longer walks with the dogs because I won’t be pouring in sweat and
dreading every successive step…
Shorter but not too-short days, which means more cuddle time
with P as well as with the pooches…
I always love the glorious ninth month, and this year was no different. Thanks for the memories, September! Loved it, loved it, loved it, and I can’t wait to greet October (doesn’t hurt that Season 3 of “Lost” starts here tomorrow–yeah!!!!).
Now tell me do–
what do *you* like about September?
P.S. Have you noticed that I’ve signed up for NaBloPoMo? If you’re a blogger and want to pledge to post something every day during the month of November and join a great community besides, go here.
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[tags] september[/tags]
friday five: some weekend suggestions
Just like Stefanie Says, I’m giving you a Friday Five. Here are five ideas of things to do this weekend:
1. DONATE. Go to Shannon’s Tales from the Fairy Blogmother and find out how you can help her brother Dave raise $10,000 as he bikes 100 miles for Africycle, a grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of those in Malawi.
As Shannon explains, there are 5 ways you can help:
- Go directly to the Ride for Africycle website and make a donation.
- Donate $5 using the donate link on Shannon’s right sidebar and get a chance to win a Dell Ditty mp3 player.
- Donate $3 and score yourself a handmade beaded bracelet (50% goes to Africycle).
- Visit Shannon’s Cafepress shop and purchase a shirt to show your support ($5 from each shirt goes to Africycle).
- Know Shannon in real life? Just hand her some cash.
2. READ. Here are some of my favorite blog posts this week:
- Destiny, At Home in Piemonte
- Phone Calls and F*llatio, (PG-rated but for the last line, which is classic) The Daily Rant
- conversations with a hitchhiker, Poppy Fields
- Something Very Beautiful, cease cows, life is short!
- Passionate Mondays, The Passionate Palate
And a news story that has me scratching my head: Lost at Sea: A Ghost Ship Story. What the heck happened there?!
3. GO OUTSIDE AND TAKE SOME PHOTOS. I know that’s what Wanderlust Scarlett is going to be doing, and I encourage you all to do the same…and then share them with us please! No matter where you live there are beautiful sights to be seen and appreciated–especially for those of us who may never make it there. We love the ordinary *and* extraordinary around here, so get snapping!
4. TRY A NEW RECIPE. Perhaps you’ve seen The Foodie BlogRoll on my sidebar, but if you haven’t explored it completely–or haven’t looked at it lately–there are new food blogs added all the time. Some other new favorites of mine are Cook (almost) Anything…at Least Once and Rasa Malaysia. Get some inspiration and then enjoy the results. Yum.
5. WARM THE GLOBE (in a good way)…THROUGH FRIENDSHIP. Jeni of Down River Drivel sent me this a little while ago, and I think it’s a great idea. This is really a blogger activity started by the lovely Vic Grace of Cariboo Ponderer, and it’s great for those of us who love linky love.
To participate, just copy and paste the list below (adding your blog to the bottom) and then spread the love by posting it on your blog. Then your blog readers can copy and paste and so forth.
This is also great for finding new blogs to read, so even if you’re not a blogger, you can still warm up the blogosphere by visiting and commenting the blogs in the list.
Here they are–and remember, everyone is invited to participate.
Me, my life, my garden
Author blog
A little piece of me
The BiPolar Diaries
Turning the Pages of Life
A Blue State of Mind
A Day in the Life of Sasha Stinerova
Whitterer on Autism
Pastorette Ponderings
Skittles Place
It’s About Time
Creatif
Meloncutter’s Musings
10 Years Running Blind
Rather Than Working
Are We There Yet?
Overthehill Boomer Chick
Whee! All The Way Home
Mother’s Home
A Place I Call Home
Time With Shelby
Any Apples
BoggyWoggy’s Cache
Erika Jean
My Dogs Keep Me Sane
Rambling Shan
Random Autumness
The Turtle Parade
Dottie’s Place
The Wonderful World of Nothing Worthwhile
OzLady’s Ramblings
Tinkerbell
Chicken’s Life
Echos of Grace
Tales From a Former Michigander
KSHIPPYCHIC
Meeyauw
A Purple Shade of Black
Dare to Get Organized
And Miles to go Before We Sleep
Beth & Cory’s Mom
The Middling Monettes
Twist & Skewer
A Day In The Life of Elle
Tea Time Ramblings
Bubba’s Sis
Akelamalu
Buzzqueen
Josie
Leslie
Lynne’s Little Corner of the World
A Southern Girl’s Guide to Almost Anything
Welcome to My World of Dreams
Charming & Delightful
Down River Drivel
Bleeding Espresso
arrivederci august–and happy BlogDay 2007!
Again I’ve waited until the last possible day for my Monthly Musing. What can I say? I’m just not a summer person, especially when summer equals over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit for more than half the time.
Go ahead, smart aleck–ask me why I live in southern Italy. I know you want to. But that’s a post for another day.
The month of August gets a reprieve from my otherwise lukewarm (hah!) feelings, though, because as you’ve seen, it has given me two of the most precious people in the world to me, my niece and nephew.
My childhood best friend’s birthday was yesterday as well, and one of my best friends from college turned another year older on the 23rd–indeed, the last couple weeks of August are packed with celebrations of the birthdays of those I love…new friends included!
And then there’s a little matter of school starting up, which I always loved so much. Yeah, I was a geek like that.
In fact, starting Monday (a holiday to you in America, but not to me!) I’m starting my new regime of taking the next step in learning Italian. I have some grammar books, yes, but I also acquired a high school textbook (from two of the cutest 17-year-old boy twins you’ll ever see) on what I’d call “government and civil law” or something similar in America—I’m ready to learn about Italy’s governmental structure (sorry, I don’t get the Parliament thing) and what it considers basic human rights.
You know, all that knowledge you take for granted because you grew up with it *and* had to learn it in high school?
So I’m starting school with many of you, but before I hit the books, I have time for one more silly haiku (there’s always time for haiku, right?):
Heat, humidity,
Mosquitoes, sleeping is rough–
Sticky, sweaty, blech.
And now on to BlogDay 2007, a day on which all bloggers are encouraged to find and publicize five new blogs. I was tipped off about this by Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy, and I thank her kindly.
Here are five great new-to-me blogs for your enjoyment:
(1) Vanielje Kitchen: I’ll let the author describe this blog–“The kitchens of my childhood reflected my heritage, loud, boisterous, always full, the air thick with laughter and spices, a simmering melting pot of cultures and influences, French, English, Dutch, Malay & African, and underpinning it all a deep reverence for family and food, and the smell of home: vanielje.” Great stuff.
(2) The Late Bloomer: An American living in France who calls her blog “The Late Bloomer” not only because she finds herself blossoming in new ways into her 30s but also because she started blogging late in the game–only a month after I did, though! Charming, witty, just fun to read.
(3) Charlotte’s Web: A South African mom, wife, writer, editor, reader, traveler, dreamer living in Germany. Makes you want to get all tangled up in Charlotte’s Web. *groan* But seriously, on my first visit, I spent quite a while looking through archives. A true pleasure.
(4) A Child of the Universe: Dana is a nutritionist and herbalist in California and often writes things that I wish I would’ve written myself. Seriously. She uses the words “wanderlust” and “vintage” in her profile and talks of her dream of having a farm/B & B in Italy and taking lots of wonderful photographs. Are you starting to realize why I like her so?
(5) Debbie Egizio: An artist and designer whose blog really is her playground (she even says so in the blog description); it’s so much fun to wander around there and see her creations–and I have my trusty bloggy-friend somepinkflowers to thank for leading me to Debbie’s place. Thanks somepinkflowers!
So what are your five? Come on, you know you want to play!
Happy Labor Day weekend to my American readers,
and arrivederci agosto!
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[tags]BlogDay 2007, august, haiku[/tags]
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
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