Creative Mornings / Cincinnati Birthday Party

(This image is just from a walk this day and has nothing to do with anything.)

I’m woefully behind and there’s so much to fill in. Exciting things like getting a haircut, having dinner, buying a piece of art and then having three temporary crowns installed and two teeth extracted.

Before too many days slip through the cracks I’ll mention that I’m coming back to Creative Mornings / Cincinnati after I first took the stage and spoke WAY TOO LONG in 2013.

Our chapter is celebrating their 11th birthday and I’m joining with others to fill in some gaps and revel in the moment. I promise I will keep it much shorter this time but I also might be slurring (because of the teeth gaps).

Details here: CM/CIN Birthday Party!

(I’ve no idea what I’m going to say and it is less than 24 hours from now. Also, I am very nervous.)

A layer of difference

A while back I noticed the loop of spring photos and started to layer multiple exposures to shake up the moment. I tagged those experiments doubled.

Now I’m looking at another folder full of springtime blooms and seeing what can be done in post to make something that tickles some fancy.

In this instance, a blue sky is layered on top of a magnolia tree using a blending mode called “difference”. I’ve been using Photoshop since version 3.0 and still have no clue what all these blend modes do, so I have to try each one at a time. Adobe has descriptions but Jesús Ramirez goes deeper on this layer blending matter.

Anyway, that’s what I came up with today and sure, fine. If I took better photos, I wouldn’t have to bother.

The important thing here is that I got some steps in outside even though it was cold and windy.

For giggles, here’s the original, layered image and all the other blend modes below.

Unrelated tip of the hat to Merlin for today’s soundtrack reminder that Michael Penn is delightful.

Variants of Photoshop Layer Blend modes

Attempting to make the flowers last

I very much like having vases filled in the house but I’m always wondering what cut flowers last the longest. I’ve had really great experience with simple greenery that sticks around for months, but sometimes you want a little color.

These hydrangea have held up okay enough (though I do realize they’re not very colorful). I change the water and cut a little bit off the stems every few days to keep them happy.

Alstroemeria seem to go on for a good piece.

So do Lillies (I’m quick to pinch off the anther parts of the stamen as they open to keep things tidy).

In addition to these, some cursory searches suggest Chrysanthemums, Orchids, Carnations and Leucadendron top many lists for longevity. Making mental note for next time.

In the same room

Heather came in town to say goodbye to a dear family friend. We were happy to host her as she spent the days celebrating their life through a series of carefully planned events.

I’m reminded of the importance of getting one’s affairs in order.

We’d catch up at the end of each day. And though I’m in touch with Heather constantly and Zoom many times a week, it hits different when you’re in the same room.

Bonus photo as we passed her in the driveway returning from the Monet Experience:

Smiling woman with big scarf

The Monet Experience

My brother organized a trip to visit the Monet Experience downtown with our Aunt. We convened on a brisk Sunday at an old TJ Maxx that had most recently been transformed into a Van Gogh Experience that popped up during Covid. That exhibit stuck around for a long time and some leftovers remain — Van Gogh murals in the stairwells and branded crayons to name a few.

Remnants aside, it’s always nice to experience art but this whole thing had whiffs of the Wonka fiasco in Scotland. It all felt a little lackluster.

I would totally do it again, but only at a deep discount as there just wasn’t much context… Just a bunch of Claude Monet paintings printed or projected large in low resolution with scant details of time, location or subject details.

It wasn’t all bad, there was a coloring activity at the end — it just wasn’t worth the $40 price of admission.

The upside to all this was getting to spend time with our Aunt April. We grabbed lunch afterward and I found out what dish to bring to our upcoming Easter celebration.

She popped by the house afterward and I could see the gears turning as she eyed the potential for plants in our backyard. It needs help.

2024 St. Patrick’s Day Parade

The sun was shining and we had a good vantage of this years parade route through The Banks area of downtown.

Something I hadn’t noticed during previous years were the groups of families marching as clans. The Gallaghers, Brogans, Harts, Donnellons and O’Donnells to name a few. It was near endless. No clue how I missed these contingencies before.

I’ve 72 more photos from the afternoon, but if I sort through them it will take ages. Imagine a bunch of shamrocks, bagpipes, bands, dancers, Shriners, lots of smiles and a bunch of Deloreans.

2024 Auto Show: The OMG I finally saw the new VW Bus Edition

19 years ago VW showed off the first concept for a reimagined Microbus. Road & Track has a great rundown of that revival with all the other concepts that followed over the years.

As long as I can remember I’ve dreamed of owning a VW bus… Traveling with laptop and camera, capturing the world, experiencing new places, visiting friends old and new.

Now that this electric ID. Buzz will soon be hitting dealership lots, I’m less gung-ho. Electric vehicles aren’t suited for road trips. I like having a toilet. And worst of all those horrible capacitive controls VW has been introducing (and subsequently phasing out).

But still, I gasped when rounding the bend and saw one IRL at the auto show.

It’s CHONKY. (It is a minivan after all.)

But it also has a vibe.

I’m starting to wonder… Once the infrastructure builds out, there are bound to be toilets near all those charging stations…

ID. Buzz side view

The rest of the auto show was filled with manufacturers chasing the SCREENS EVERYWHERE approach and it’s just so tiresome and unsafe.

Second best thing on the floor: The Hyundai Santa Fe update looks intriguing in its Land Rover Defender disguise.

Worst in show? The Nissan ARIYA climate “controls.”

Nissan ARIYA climate controls

Bits of spring

Closing out the week with preparation for a houseguest. The next few days are potentially packed with things to do and see.

Otherwise, not much to report other than the joy of seeing bits of spring come forth to life, even if the evenings are way too chilly to break out the patio furniture.

New record store

Tom has the ability to find any record store within a multi-state radius. He mentioned a new one called Sessions had just opened in Oakley. We stopped in to take a look around.

I used to keep track of my small record collection and a wishlist with Discogs — leaning on that data whenever I found myself in these moments. At some point notifications got out of control and I deleted the app. Now I glaze over bins of vinyl wondering, “Do I already have that?”

So this evening I reset my Discogs password, turned off all notifications and started to update the collection.

I created a list in Notes with an alphabetized checklist of albums I’d like to find next time I’m out and about.

I’ve this grand notion to move away from digital music during dinner prep. I’ve been doing it recently and it complements the vibe and cadence of the process.

Comin thru

Long day. Long week. And it’s only Wednesday!

Even with the dense days, I’ve been making time to walk, outside, every day. My doctor prescribed it after my annual physical on Monday. All my foot/ankle woes put me on the path to visit a specialist, but first, why not try a holistic approach?

So a minimum 20 minutes a day, I must get up and out and about.

Gosh I hope I can do this long enough to make it a natural habit.

Dune: Part Two

We sorely missed not seeing the last first Dune in a theater — it was so well done, even when it was gut-wrenching. Plus also? The grain of it — sci-fi doesn’t often feel so analog… palpable… humanistic? Every detail, thoughtfully designed.

The goal was to catch the sequel before Kung Fu Panda 4 takes over the biggest of screens.

Dune 2 picks right up where things let off and then sifts in all sorts of directions until things blur from velocity. It was longer. There were a lot of names to remember. And it was epic.

Spoiler if you’ve not seen the first flick:

My only complaints: Jason Momoa did not secretly survive and Oscar Isaac did not appear as a ghost.

Making stock from scratch

Sourcing images for clients is becoming extra frustrating with the rise of AI, and it was already frustrating before. Adobe has particularly leaned into the generative technology, including said images by default in searches and not allowing to save preferences for the future.

Every once in a while I’ll spend a little extra time and print something out and fire up the camera to create an image.

Invariably I knew what I made would not be selected but I have fun doing it — at the end of the day, that’s the win.

Before I removed the background noise:

colorful target with a single map pin