Photo Retouching!

Over the past year or so, I've gotten lots of comments about the pictures on my blog.

Well, the truth is, I am not an awesome photographer.
(not even close)
But what I AM good at is retouching.

So, I'm offering to retouch photos to make some extra cash this holiday season, what with travel and all.

Here's the deal.
You send me a photo (email, of course, at charismb@yahoo.com),
including some notes in the body of the email about what you want done to the photo (clear skin, make colors pop, make it black and white, vignette, etc.),
And I'll retouch it for you, emailing you the new photo when complete.

The price will be $25 per photo, and that'll be taken care of via paypal.

Turnaround is quick, and this is great for holiday photos, especially since it's so popular nowadays to send out family photos on your holiday cards!

Anywhoo, here are some before & after examples:

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Interested?
Questions?
Email me :)
charismb@yahoo.com

Today's quote:
"A merry heart is like medicine for the soul."
~Joyce C. Lock

Traipsing

This weekend, we went for a couple of mini-hikes around Richmond.

Camera in purse, I didn't want to miss the opportunity for some nice shots before the leaves all fall.
My little brother took us around to some spots he knew, such as Belle Isle, where the water was a little too high to get more that 200 feet along the path.
(that's what happens when it rains heavily for a WEEK. Another result is that I'm still lovin up the sun, three days in to blue skies...)
Ward (my little brother, who's now much bigger than me. It's weird) was a trail blazer, checking out all of the soggy paths for me before I went forward. My shoe choice was not all that intelligent - loafers that squelch if I look at a puddle...
But, while resting, we did end up getting a shot or two for the signing book at the wedding.
Then, yesterday, we went to Maymont just to take pics for that reason and got just about nothin. Oh well, we'll try it again later this week.
Until then, I'll be working away, wishing I was closer to the blue skies than on the other side of a pane of glass, tethered to my laptop...
Today's quote:
"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going." ~Beverly Sills

Socal Soak up the Sunday

Malibu, CA

After grabbing smoothies to fight the sun-drunkenness dehydration (I still had a "hangover" by 5...)

T's Overlook

And just in case anyone wonders if we can see smoke from the fires burning here...

(these were taken from the 405 at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon)

Today's whiteboard quote:
"If one is out of touch with oneself, then one cannot touch others."
~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Weekend in Pictures

(Above: video chatting with the PA folks on Sunday evening)

Friday night karaoke

(no explanation needed for this, obviously)

(M and I at our booth at the Gas Lite in Santa Monica)

(A half hour later he MAY have sang Dancing in the Dark and I MAY have been onstage with him, Courtney Cox style)

(so ashamed....)

Saturday

(with friends a la maison RB on Saturday night)

Sunday

(he gets to eat a muffin, drink a coffee and read an interesting book (Blink, if you're curious). I get to read the DSM-IV desk reference and drink...hot...water. So much fun.)

Today's whiteboard quote:
"In order to be a realist you must believe in miracles."
~David Bon Gurion

ps: This is a 4-day work week for me. I'll tell you why tomorrow.
pps: I'll finally let go of my soon-to-be awesomeness that I've been talking about for awhile, this week. Wednesday, I think...

Snippet

Today's whiteboard quote:
"Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." ~Albert Einstein

That's about as much as I'll post today - it's a busy one, and that quote is gonna help me more than ever with my outlook, whew!

Oh, and this (a pic of M from our shoot a couple of weeks ago):

Teeter Totter

In the interest of occasionally dealing directly with things that relate to the title of this blog, here's an example for you. Yesterday I stepped into a firestorm on facebook when I posted a reply to a political article (namely, one about Obama's extending partial federal benefits to the same-sex partners of governmental workers....the article link was posted along with this remark: "the worst president ever.") I should have known the slippery slope I was embarking upon, but before thinking too deeply about it (because the point that I was about to make is one that the fact that it is routinely ignored is absolutely amazing to me), that one of the things that makes our country a free one, and has made it, since its beginning, a great one (a.k.a. the separation of church and state) is completely ignored on this issue, and that no one seems to care. Am I really the only one who thinks it doesn't make any sense to use religous viewpoints as basis for laws? I can't help but feel incredibly unsettled once religious beliefs start becoming law in this country which is supposed to embrace everyone, no matter what their race, creed, background, or religion is.

In fact, I could've sworn that the reason this country was founded in the first place was to escape religous tyranny.....

But anyway, back to the tightrope. Of course what I said provoked a buncha comments, at first agreeing with me, then strongly, strongly disagreeing and starting to quickly go bad. I actually walked away from my computer before the downslide happened, but by the time I saw the stream again a few hours later, people were insulting each other and calling each other names, and it was general craziness.

The balance that I try to keep (which is one of the reasons that I don't comment much on these type of subjects) is one that on one hand, lets me stay true to my innermost values (which involve always speaking with respect and compassion for everyone, no matter who I'm talking to and what their beliefs are), while still standing up for what I believe in (which, honestly, generally is basically the same thing). A conversation that is coming with as much fiery impetus as that one was has a high likelihood of quickly dissolving into "you're stupid." "You're stupider." "Your mom," and so on. In fact, that's exactly what happened (with different words, but with the same spirit). I really can't get behind that. And, for that matter, it's a little difficult for me to understand why anyone would if they're conscious of what they're doing. Perhaps that's it - once a nerve gets touched, people forget what they're saying (and typing), and unfortunately, not only is it appropriate in the media nowadays to sling hate (in various disguises - both light and heavy ones), but that's what often gets hits and comments and calls-in and the like.

I'll settle for a small readership, thanks. I'd rather not sell out to what I see as one of the biggest problems in our world right now - the lack of empathy that everyone doesn't think the way that you do, and, even more of a novel concept, that this is okay.

And that's what I think.

On another note, I had my lovely sister be a model for me yesterday on my ongoing journey to master my camera's settings. Here's a peek at what we got:
And on a third note, I'm making the 4-hour drive Saturday morning to go see this guy:Daddy Brown (and Rikki, the parrot. That guy had better be snug in his cage when I arrive, I've never met him but hear he's posessive and I would prefer to still have all my fingers by Monday...)

Today's whiteboard quote:
"One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure."
~William Feather

Random Pictures and Fun Facts

I've been tagged by m'girl PDO, so here goes:

The tenth picture in the first folder under 'pictures':T and I being silly at a tiny and minimally gross dive bar about a ten minute walk from our house. The four roomies had been sitting at a table, having drinks, and playing on the PhotoPop machine for about an hour and a half, so that explains the pervading goofiness.

Now, the second part of the tag - 10 things about myself:
1) The texture of onions creeps me out (canNOT handle it)
2) I've been skydiving twice (once tandem, once AFF)
3) My sister's been skydiving over 500 times (although I don't know if that counts as a fact about me, but it's my blog and I can do what I want)
4) I have absolutely no cold tolerance, although I was raised in VA. Doesn't make sense to me either. ("You're obviously descended from a tropical people", T says when he feels my frigid feet on an 80 degree afternoon. Don't know whether that's a complement or not...)
5) I drink my water out of a recycled glass Tazo Tea bottle (very green of me! And it stays cold unlike it would if in plastic and doesn't taste like metal unlike it would in a stainless steel bottle)
6) I have blonde hair on my arms and no idea how I lucked out on that one considering how dark my hair and skin is (yessss)
7) I have two master's degrees and, at the moment, don't use either of them
8) My favorite ice cream flavor is cookies and cream
9) I heard "Brick" by Ben Folds Five on the radio last week and it totally made me cry (tears streaming, who knew? I've heard that song 5 zillion times and nothin), and...
10) I'm an ordained minister (yep, seriously! I've even officiated at a wedding. And no, I didn't get my ordination in order to officiate at the wedding...)

And by the way, there's a new Pink Spoon snippet up. You can go see it here...

And on another note, here's another picture from the shoot last week:

Heavy

Today I feel horrid (physically, that is).

I feel heavy and yucky.

From past experience, I know that the only cure would be to lay in bed all day, drifting in and out of sleep as the misty sunlight falls across the blankets from the shaded window (it's a hormonal thing. Girls, you know what I mean).

However, I'm a working girl (not that kind) so this staying in bed all day business isn't possible. Wednesday is my busy day. So I'll be drugging up and stumbling along, trying not to think about it.

But T brought me flowers last week and they're finally blooming, which makes me happy.Maybe I'll take a sick day and sleep all day tomorrow instead....

Today's whiteboard quote:
"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."
~Margaret Thatcher

Muse

Learning the settings on your new camera is easy when you have a model as awesome as mine...



"Happiness is the ability to recognize it." ~Carolyn Wells

Bow Chicka Wow Wow

This is my new camera.
...or in other words, my new lover.

My fingers dance along its smooth body as I figure out which buttons to push to make both of us oh so happy.

I learn more about it everyday, as it is complex enough to make me work but gorgeously simple enough that I have full confidence of cracking every combination and hidden setting...

(oh yeah, right there...)

What does this mean?

No one is safe.

Prepare to have a blog overloaded by pictures.

Well, sometimes.

A girl has to keep her old lovers happy too (as in, the keyboard. You have to remember who's been good to you).