Carolyn Erickson

Home >> October, 2008

A resource that rocks.

Posted on: Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 in: Freelance Writing

If you’re a freelance writer (or want to become one), let me remind you of a terrific resource. The Renegade Writer offers excellent advice for pros, tips on how to get started, and everything in between. There’s a great post up right now called “Tools You Should Have In Your Marketing Toolbox.” Go ahead and [...]

Meet Larry and Jack, the pumpkins.

Posted on: Monday, October 27th, 2008 in: Mommy Bloggin'

Every year I try to strike just the right note with Halloween decor. I like the festive, happy and fun aspects of the holiday, but skulls and daggers don’t fit well with the overall goal of making my home a haven of warmth and light.
With that in mind, my daughter and I went out in [...]

Oops.

Posted on: Sunday, October 26th, 2008 in: Photography

My goal with the photography course has been to post my assignment results every Sunday, but I was busy this weekend taking pictures of my jack-o-lantern masterpiece and, well, I forgot to do the assignment.
Lesson 4 includes two assignments with a film camera. I found a pretty neat old Canon point and shoot at Goodwill [...]

Lesson 3, Assignment 2: Depth of field

Posted on: Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 in: Uncategorized

You know how cool it looks when you get a subject in focus and a blurry background? Point and shoot cameras aren’t great for getting that effect, but it is possible under certain conditions.
Sometimes the effect is subtle. You can use it to highlight a particular part of your picture without completely obscuring the background [...]

Menu Plan Monday: It worked, so I’m doing it again.

Posted on: Monday, October 20th, 2008 in: Working from Home

Last week I posted a really simple, no-fuss menu for the week. I said it was an experiment, and if it worked I might do it again. It did work, and it worked well. So, as promised:
Monday - Chili (Leftover from the weekend. It will be even better today.)
Tuesday - Fruit to nuts (Fruit salad [...]

Lesson 3: Mooning you.

Posted on: Sunday, October 19th, 2008 in: Photography

The first assignment of lesson 3 asks that we take two shots of the same subject; one using the widest angle on our camera and one using the longest (i.e. zoom).
I’ve been waiting impatiently to show you these. I was pretty excited about the results. These were from three different days, but they were all taken at [...]

Meal Plan Monday Experiment

Posted on: Monday, October 13th, 2008 in: Uncategorized

Excuse me for a moment while I think out loud and try to figure out a perplexing problem here.
I might have mentioned this incessantly once or twice before. My “freelancer” brain and my “homemaker” brain exist galaxies apart from one another. Every afternoon, at about 3 p.m., I smash them together in the humongous Hadron [...]

Lesson 2: Aperture and shutter speed

Posted on: Sunday, October 12th, 2008 in: Photography, Stupid computer

Will be up in a moment. As soon as I find and resize the pics. Which reminds me of a good post on DPS about organizing photo files. Which I will also find in a few minutes. LOL. Looks like I need it!
…several hours, 2 unexpected guests, and 1 Internet connection problem later…
I experimented with slow shutter speeds [...]

Lesson 1 Abstract/Angles

Posted on: Sunday, October 5th, 2008 in: Photography

 
Very different from my previous Lesson 1 post. There’s more to the 1st assignment, so I’ll add to this post when I have it completed.
And here they are: more views of my hibiscus tree than you ever thought you wanted to see. I have to recommend this method, however. Every way you look at [...]

Is Ridicule the New Black?

Posted on: Friday, October 3rd, 2008 in: Uncategorized

Politics certainly has its share, and both sides have taken it to new heights this year.  Don’t bother with reasoned debate - let’s just discuss important things, like one candidate’s unfortunate jowls or another candidate’s name (rhymes with “Osama”). I’ve come to expect it in politics and GAH! even news journalism. Sad, but expected. It exists [...]