Archive for the ‘love thursday’ Category
love thursday: photographs
Finally got a chance to play with the camera and with Photoshop yesterday. I installed the program in Italian, which has made getting acquainted all that much more, um, challenging, but it’ll happen.
I’m thinking I could just reinstall in English, but I swear I chose “inglese” the first time around. Not sure what’s going on there. I’m really only at the cropping stage, but collages are coming soon. I hope. Collages are fun.
For today’s Love Thursday, I’m expressing love for my new camera, in particular that it enables me to share parts of my life with family and friends around the world. Plus I love toys!
These two are as taken:
Now for some fun, here’s the original:
And two with the help of Photoshop from the above photo:
Original:
Shopped, now with less spazzatura:
“To pee or not to pee?” Sorry. Couldn’t resist.Happy Love Thursday everyone!
P.S. Don’t forget that it’s De-Lurking Week for charity!
Leave a comment and $1 goes to the American Lung Association.
—————–
[tags]love thursday, dogs, photoshop[/tags]
Love Thursday: One Touch Can Opener
When Karen at Chookoloonks started Love Thursday, which has since moved to only photo form, this is what she had in mind.
Well, I’m taking the concept a little beyond expressions of love to encompass anything and everything that I love, makes me happy, makes my life easier, whatever–something that when I look at it, I feel warm and fuzzy.
And today, I offer you something that I truly love:
Yes, this thing really works the way they say it does. I see some disappointed reviews on Amazon, but I’ve been using it every day for about a month now, and I’ve had zero problems.
You put the One Touch can opener on the can, press the button, and can literally walk away and let it do its thing until it stops–by itself. Then you the lid of the can lifts off with the magnet on the underside of the gadget, and oh my goodness, how I love not struggling with the cheap handheld can openers that I’ve been subjected to here.
And it’s battery-operated, so no power adaptor/converter issues to boot!
But I don’t only love the One Touch for what it does. I also love it for what it represents. I’ve been bitching about the awful can openers here from about the second day I got here, and this here One Touch was in one of my many Christmas boxes from my mother.
Once again, Mom answered the distress call. Big time.
And that’s love folks.
Happy Love Thursday!
————–
[tags]one touch can opener, love thursday[/tags]
Love Thursday Seconda Parte: I Don’t Mean to Brag But…
I have the best mommy in the world (no offense to your mommies, of course).
Today I received this:
NB: This is the fourth outrageously heavy package I’ve received within the past month and a half.
Before my mom sent it, the story goes, my niece handed her an already sealed envelope to put in for me. Here are some of its contents:
That there on the left? Why yes, it *is* a snowflake cut out of a coffee filter.
Again, I don’t mean to brag, but let’s just say I’m a pretty durn lucky gal.
Love Thursday: Whoooo’s Feeling It?
One day in June, a little girl showed up at our door with a shoebox in hand. Eyes droopy, she said, “Can you take care of him?” and pushed the box toward me. Him was a baby owl.
Now why would this little girl bring a baby owl to our house? Obviously because we have the (well-deserved) reputation for being the local animal rescue station.
And, yes, I know you’re not supposed to try to raise baby owls, that they’re wild animals, blah blah, and I’m not in any way encouraging such behavior, but will you look at this face?*
So we took in this little guy and we fed him and loved him and named him Filippo. And for three weeks, he did silly things like this:
And this:
Then one morning, P rushed into the house asking whether Filippo had flown the coop. Why no, I said. He was safe in his cage.
“Well then whoooo’s this?” he asked me (loosely translated).
In his hands, P was cupping a brown spotted owl, smaller and, quite frankly, prettier than Filippo.
Now, mind you, we do not live in the woods, so owls showing up on our doorstep isn’t exactly expected. So we were left to wonder whoooo had been talking, because it sure seemed like word got out that our house was *the* place to grow up to be a big owl.
I think it could be because I went to law school at a certain Philadelphia university, but let’s not jump to any conclusions. We named the new addition to the parliament Filippa, because clearly she was a girl owl from her petite and pretty status.
A few days later, once she emerged from hiding in Filippo’s box, we were able to determine from the looks in their eyes that love had, indeed, bloomed.
And maybe I’m biased, but I think they both bear quite a resemblance to John Chaney–how cute are all of them?
In a personal side “Love Thursday” note, through taking care of Filippo and Filippa, I learned to love winged creatures, which, previously had only served to scare the bejeebers out of me.
The Filippi have since been freed and sighted nearby.
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
*All pictures taken months ago with a webcam and *not* the new digital camera.
Love Thursday: Topping the Tree with Love
A few years ago, I found this plush, padded, bedazzled heart in a crafty kind of store and bought it, having no idea what I might do with it. The answer came the following year, when I had my first tree, mini as it is, and was without a top.
Fellow expat and blogger Delinissima wrote about the difficulty in finding a star to top the tree here in Italy. I don’t know why they’re anti-star either, but there aren’t a lot of choices out there.
So, I had to do some creative rigging up with twisty-ties, but I think the heart does the trick– along with reminding me that Christmas is a time to love and appreciate all that is right with my world. And yes, that’s our little Bonsai Garden/Christmas Village out of focus behind the tree.
I wish everyone a Happy Love Thursday and Happy Winter Solstice.
Now go out and enjoy the shortest day of the year!
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.
Calabria Guidebook
Recipes
