There just aren’t words…. 

It took about 16 hours of reading, but I just finished HP7.  All I can say is, I was sort of off-base in my predictions, but then again, I was right on the money with them.

Confused?  Then go!  Read!  Now!

I’m just grateful that I managed to read the whole story before anyone spoiled it for me.  Andrew is only about halfway done, so hopefully he will finish it tomorrow so we can discuss it.

I hope those of you who were as excited as I was to read the final book found it as amazing and enthralling as I did.  I also hope those of you who have not yet finished, aren’t spoiled before you complete it.  Now, get to it!

For some crazy reason, we decided to go stand in line to buy Deathy Hallows at Wal-Mart around 11:30pm Friday night.  There were probably 100 people in line in front of us, and I expected to be waiting for more than an hour.  Shockingly, we had purchased the book and were heading to the car by 12:11am.  I never thought I’d say this in my lifetime, but dang – way to go, Wal-Mart! 

There was a cool excitement in the air and I’m really glad we decided to go to the midnight launch.  I wonder how long it will be before another book is as anticipated, as revered, as desired as HP7?

I came across an article from Newsweek, posted on MSN.com, called Stop Setting Alarms on my Biological Clock. 

I was particularly intruiged by the content, and especially by the comments and responses to it.  The author, Carrie Friedman, makes some poingant comments to the ladies out there who think we childless adult women have some sort of reduced place in society because we’re not carrying around a bunch of kids everwhere we go.

As someone who has been told she cannot bear a child, I am tired of having this basic conversation with every strange mother I meet:

“Do you have kids?  No?  Aren’t you married?  Oh, you are!  Are you two just not ready yet?  No?  Well you should have them now while you’re young.  Oh, you can’t have kids?  Oh I’m so SORRY!  Oh, well you could always adopt.  Have you thought about that route?  My [sister's cousin's friend's chiropractor's son] just adopted from [some random foreign country].  Oh, you decided to wait?  Oh kids are great.  You really shouldn’t wait any longer.  You’re just not complete without them.”

Gee, thanks for the assessment.

Now, stop harrassing me for making a life choice that is different from yours, and go teach your kid some manners.

Oh, you don’t have any?  You really should get some.  You’re rude without them.

Andrew and I made two different sized homemade lightboxes tonight, out of PVC and a white sheet.  We used three desk lamps and clip lights to light up the subject from the sides and the top.  For the background, we used a piece of thin white posterboard. 

Using a 55mm lens at f36 at 3.2 seconds, I captured the image of a small pewter dragon.  After placing a piece of 12″x12″ black granite down, I then captured the reflection of this squishy brain toy at f36 at 5 seconds. 

I think I need to find more interesting subjects…

If you’re looking for some very inspiring photographic art, head over to Splutphoto.com.  The images are breathtaking… and a little nuts, too!

If I had to choose a favorite, I think it would be Dino Run.

There’s a sweet tutorial in Issue 23 (pp 40-43) of Photoshop Creative.  I simply love the magazine, and have posted previous trials on the blog here and here. 

This month’s topic is layer modes, masks and gradients.  The skill level required is beginner, and the time listed is two hours.  So, I thought I’d give it a try.  It looks hard, because it IS hard.

The photo came from istockphoto.com, and the final image was topped with the Ink Outlines filter in Photoshop CS2.

Little did I know that it would take me almost six hours…  Thanks, Andrew, for helping me with the mask concept, explaining the wacky Pen tool and figuring out the Stroke paths.

Andrew and I are considering an Alaskan cruise in Summer 2008.  We have never been on a cruise before and are not sure what to look for when booking.  We are hoping to do a 7-8 day adventure.  Cruise line, room type, month to travel, one way vs. round trip…  There are too many options!

If you have any suggestions for us, we would love to hear them!

Yes, I know.  I’m almost 30 years old, but I just can’t help myself. 

I’m in love with Webkinz.

If you’ve never heard of Webkinz, let me give you the abbreviated 411.  You go to the local gift shop and buy a Webkinz stuffed animal.  You open the tag which is tied to the foot.  You log onto www.Webkinz.com and adopt your pet online.  Then you spend countless hours, days even, playing games, feeding your pet, buying it furniture and dressing it up like a cowgirl.

If you’re lucky enough like me to have two neices playing on Webkinz, you can send them presents and letters and visit their pal’s homes when you’re both online.  At least I have a partial excuse for spending hours upon hours collecting Kinzcash and concocting secret recipes in my virtual sandwich maker.  It’s all about spoiling my neices with virtual presents….  Yeah!  That’s it!

Webkinz.com: It’s cute, it’s fun, it’s easy… It’s absolutely addicting!