I have an opinion

It's been a while since I've vented on my blog.  I think the last time might have been back when Leno stole The Tonight Show back from Conan...TEAM CONAN!!!

Anyway, I think I might try to start writing little opinion posts... maybe...

So one of my favorite new websites is pinterest.com.  I love it!  If you don't know, it's another social media type of site.  You "pin" (or save) things you like onto different customized "pinboards".  They're pretty much visual lists of things.  Images you like, DIY projects you want to try, decorating and fashion inspiration.  You follow other peeps and can "pin" or "like" what they're pinning.  Everything you pin has a link to the site it came from.  So it's also visual bookmarking.  And this is GREAT for me, since I'm a very visual person, and my bookmarks list in Firefox ends up being pretty useless for me because by looking at the titles of the bookmarks, weeks or months later, I have no clue why I bookmarked that site. 

Sometimes I get sucked in on Pinterest for an hour or two.  But I tell myself that it's great inspiration for my photography, painting or decorating.  AND the DIY stuff will save me $$$!

So here's where the venting starts: A couple weeks ago, I saw this. (It's a picture of a baby with a string of plugged in Christmas/twinkly lights.  They're PLUGGED IN, and she's got them in her mouth.)  I was immediately HORRIFIED by this.  And I couldn't believe the number of times I was seeing it "re-pinned".  I finally pinned it myself- to a new pinboard I created called "NO".  I ranted a bit and added this link to a post I found on bloomberg.com.  (It explains the hazard that Christmas lights pose to kids due to the fact that: "Fifty-four percent of holiday lights tested in a U.S. study had more lead than regulators permit in children’s products, with some strands containing more than 30 times those levels.") So not only is there the fact that they're PLUGGED IN and the baby is chewing on a live electrical cord, there's the lead.

So.  NOT a very good idea to let your kids chew on them. 

Since I first saw this image a couple weeks ago, it pops up on Pinterest once in a while, with comments claiming it to be "cute", and a "possible Christmas card idea".  I cannot tell you how much this makes me crazy.  How do people not know this is a bad idea?  Every package of lights I've ever purchased comes with a warning to wash your hands after handling them due to the LEAD.  LEAD, people!  There's a reason why the U.S. banned lead paint in the seventies!!!  Kids/people were ingesting it and getting sick!  Here are some facts.

But what prompted me to write this post is that just now, I saw this picture.  (This time it's a photo of an adorable dog with the Christmas lights draped over him.)

I am completely horrified that this is seemingly becoming a trend.  Or maybe it has been a trend and I'm just seeing it now. 

I don't like to see things that endanger kids or animals.  Maybe people don't know about the lead content.  Or maybe the strings of lights in those photos don't have the high lead content.  But the viewer of those photos doesn't know that, and without knowing the possible risk, might try to re-create those photos for their holiday cards, and end up making their babies and pets sick.  I would hate to hear that story on the news.  And I don't mean to lecture, I just wanted to vent a bit, and maybe someone will see this info and think twice about re-creating those images. 

To end on a positive note, check out Pinterest!  So fun!  Come follow me!  And let me know if you need an invite!

Broken Heart

May Ann Licudine is an amazingly talented illustrator.  I stumbled onto her website last year, and she instantly became one of my favorite artists.  (I love her blog too!)

I love the detail and emotion in her images.  They are so sweet and playful and delicate and quirky and sometimes sad...

This is one of my favorites: 

Broken Heart by May Ann Licudine

fotocommunity.com

I have found yet another site to post photos on!  I've uploaded just a few images for now (including the one below of the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island).   I haven't explored the site much yet, but seems okay... why not?

fotocommunity.com

wonderbirds

Hallelujah

I was watching the Opening Ceremony last night while I was doing some photoshop on one of the roughly one hundred images that I just scanned.  I was mostly just listening while I worked.  Until k.d. lang started singing.

I'm not a k.d. lang fan at all, but when she started singing "Hallelujah", first, I didn't know who it was, then when I looked up, I couldn't believe who it was.  I was blown away.  Hers might be my favorite version of the song.

I wanted to post it here, but the International Olympic Committee apparently doesn't like to share, and several posted videos on youtube had already been taken down this morning.  I tried the nbc website, but my iBook apparently can't handle the new player that you're required to have in order to view any of the site's content.

I highly encourage you to check it out if you can find it.

Oprah and her moron audience.

I didn't see Oprah's interview with Big Jaw.  I only saw clips, and the "online exclusive"
40 minute-Post-Interview-Jay-Love-Fest that was posted on oprah.com

There was lots of "ERGH!" and "OH MY GOD!" and "BAH!" and "ARE YOU KIDDING ME???" directed at the little video playing on my laptop.  (I often talk at my TV too.  My mom used to say, "You get that from your grandfather."  I never knew him, and I kinda love the fact that we have something so silly in common.)

Anyway, about an hour later, I'm still riled up about this, but I cannot seem to put my thoughts into any kind of coherent order.  For now I'll just settle on simply saying that I'm riled.

WORST cover EVERRRRRRRRR

Did anyone see the Hotrats on Letterman the other night?
I was drifting off to sleep as the song began, and a few lines in, I recognized the lyrics, and I was instantly wide awake and HORRIFIED.  This has to be the WORST cover of a song EVER done in the history of the universe.

But that's just my opinion.

Hotrats on Letterman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIHp0vrvy_8

And now, how it's supposed to be done:

nbc execs must be on crack

Someone at nbc must not know what funny is.

It's such a shame that that someone makes programming decisions.  In my opinion, nbc's late night line up should be left just as it is.  The writing for both Conan and Jimmy is hilarious!  And it's so great to have Andy back with Conan!  And as you know from a previous post, The Real Housewives of Late Night is ridiculously funny!!!

The only thing (somewhat) funny on Leno's show is "jay walking" and "headlines".
You don't need to be funny to pull off those bits.  Anyone can talk to stupid people on a street, and hold up dumb headlines mounted to a board.  The brilliant thing about both Conan and Jimmy is, even when the joke bombs, it's STILL funny.  Same with Letterman for that matter.  Craig Ferguson too!

I'm sure I'll be ranting a bit more on this topic...

yet another site...

I've just uploaded my beach images to imagekind.com
after seeing how many hits my images are getting on RedBubble.com and fineartamerica.com, I looked into finding a site that gets a bit more traffic... imagekind has apparently been around for a bit, and is now owned by CafePress.
although I realize that I haven't been on redbubble and fineartamerica for that long, hopefully this one will be a bit more successful...

Coastguard Beach by Rachael DuMoulin