Camera Crazy

There are less than 3 weeks until our cruise. I am in planning mode. Actually, I've been in planning mode since January. I am officially in the list stage of planning mode. To-do list. To-bring list. To-buy list. Part of my to-bring list is a camera which is pretty standard. But when you're me, it's more complicated than that.

How MANY cameras should I bring? And which ones??

The list of possible combinations is as follows:

On our honeymoon, we brought two. This one and this one.

This was due mainly because I hate my current compact camera. It's about 4 years old [ancient!!] and the functions drive me crazy and the quality is subpar. Jericho has a more current but basic Canon that I use when I feel like throwing mine out the window.

The second camera to consider is this- the water-proof camera. We'll be snorkeling and swimming with stingrays so this is pretty much a given.

I also have my baby. My Canon SLR. Along with its two lenses.

And then there's this beaut. My Holga. Used for capturing pictures with one-of-a-kind vignetting and lighting affects. It wouldn't be the only camera I bring but could produce some pretty rad stuff from the trip. [Note: this camera is small, very light and plastic and cost me about $30 so I really don't care what happens to it.]

You can see my dilemma here. This is our one year anniversary trip. It will be filled with vivid, beautiful scenery [to include ourselves]. I don't want to miss capturing everything at its digital fullness, so I lean toward the SLR. But I don't want to carry around a big camera everywhere we go or risk getting it stolen or broken. If I bring something smaller, I risk getting sucky and more basic pictures but it's easier to tote around.

The other down side to bringing the SLR is that when I bring this somewhere, most of my experience is seen through the camera lens. I take more time to see/do things and sometimes ignore people [i.e. Jericho]. Therefore, I offer up this compromise.

If I bring this, I could capture high quality pictures while also having something small and easy to carry around and operate. [And when I say "bring" I mean buy then bring.] In conclusion, "camera" should apparently be added to all three of my lists:

1. To-bring: camera
2. To-do: convince J that it's the best plan of action to buy the new Canon compact
3. To-buy: buy new camera

On second thought, I think I'll switch the order of #2 and #3.

This is why you're fat

Why does that bread look so crusty, you ask?? It's because it's not bread. It's FRIED FREAKING CHICKEN! Yes America. This is how fat we are. A normal bun of bread just won't do anymore. [Mind you, the buns are mostly fake, refined ingredients but nonetheless, they didn't deep fry the buns]. The commercial on television is particularly exciting. They show consumers rejoicing their heart-attack-prone-hearts out over this new "anticipated" sandwich. Apparently, someone has been writing in to KFC complaining about the burden of the bun and the idea of replacing the sliced bread with sliced fried chicken is the greatest thing since sliced... well, nevermind. Maybe it was all those Atkins nuts out there. But even then, they couldn't have the fried option. For those more health-conscious, they do offer a grilled chicken option instead of the fillet. Thank you, I feel much better.

For the commercial and nutritional information: go here. 

This is Huge

There are a few [or many] things that men don't understand about women. One is the ability to lay motionless by the pool for hours. Another is the joy we get from shopping. For me it's been compounding factors lately: really awesome new spring lines and the fact that I actually like the way I look in clothes now. I basically have to sit on my hands to keep from internet shopping. The following are among the few new clothes purchases of late.  For those that don't know me well, don't understand the hugeness of these purchases. For those of you that do. This. Is. Huge.

They're pink! How proud are you?!?

For at least ten years, I hardly owned a single thing that was pink. As a tomboy child, pink was the antithesis of everything that being a tomboy stood for. Even after I grew out of the tomboy stage, I guess the aversion to pink just stuck. Not only that, but it really looked horrible on me. Once in college, my roommates made me try on something pink so they could see for themselves. It was confirmed and I went on in my anti-pink ways. Recently, I discovered that pink is good for something for someone with my complexion- it makes me look awesomely tan. So I tried a few pink suits this season and was giddy with my tanness. The rest kind of rolled from there. I have broken my war against pink. I don't *love* it yet. I still plan on buying my [one day] daughters yellow and purple outfits so they don't look like I hose them down with pepto bismal every morning. But I'm easing up just a bit. And that is huge.

Dream Bag

Sometimes when I get bored, I dream. In my dreams, I'm super creative and accomplish all these fantastically cool endeavors like taking a pottery class and being a weekend mountain biker and writing books by the dozen. I also have this pretend world where I'm this stellar, yet humble, photographer with subtle and understated artistic abilities. "Why thank you. [Blush] No, I'm not a photographer. It's just a hobby. My creative energy is so copious, it radiates from me without even really trying." And when I'm this photographer, I have this bag. 

I carry it around town on my serene, solitary photo shoots. [And by "town" I mean, the quaint, funky town with fences and fruits stands where I will, of course, be living when I'm this photographer/writer/biker/hiker/explorer]. It perfectly fits my novels and creative-thoughts notebooks and granola in addition to all my photo equipment. 

Isn't it perfect? My little make-believe world is only complete if I have this camera bag. Until that time, I'm still just some random twenty-something with a wannabe hobby. And no cool green camera bag.

Spreadable Hazelnuts

Yesterday, I baked. I haven't baked anything since Christmas. I was going through withdrawals. Being in diet-mode all year so far, I haven't really wanted to bake up a storm of goodies I can't eat. [I still can't eat the banana bread, but Jericho can]. I was cleaning out my freezer and realized I still had some frozen bananas stashed away for eventual banana bread. I've been making the same recipe for years and decided maybe I should try something different. I found a recipe from RecipeGirl.com that includes Nutella. Who doesn't love Nutella? My new favorite thing about Nutella is this new commercial with the mom creating tasty, "nutritious" breakfasts for her kids by giving them Nutella to put on their toast. They are actually hawking Nutella as a way to get your kids to eat a healthy breakfast. Seriously? It's like telling your kids to put a tomato on their double cheeseburger to get their vegetables. It amuses me every time. "Hey kids! Come eat liquid hazelnut chocolate for breakfast and you'll be so much healthier than those loser kids that eat fruit and oatmeal!" 

Behold: this is my Nutella swirled banana bread. I made two loaves. One for Jericho for his lunches and one to bring to work. I put on no pretenses that my bread is healthy. Banana- good. Hazelnuts- good. Sugar,  HFCS, butter, white flour- not good. But put it all together and it's fantastic!!