Bacon Lovers Beware!

Sike.

No Seriously.

I think everyone is taking this a little too seriously at such an early stage. Including my office, hand sanitizer is practically on every single desk. Can we review some numbers real quick?

Annual Flu Deaths in US: 36,000
Swine Flu Deaths in US: 1
Morons walking around with face masks: many.

In the past week alone I have heard some pretty crazy things.
- “Egypt reportedly is considering killing all pigs although there have been no reported cases of swine flu there.”
-"US sees first swine flu death"
- "Governments around the world are scrambling to prevent further outbreak."
-"By Tuesday, the swine flu outbreak in Mexico was suspected in 159 deaths and roughly 2,500 illnesses, Mexican health officials said."
- In Mexico "Citizens are asked to avoid large crowds, refrain from kissing, and stay at least six feet from one another."
-"Health Menace that has also Swept Germany onto the Roster of Afflicted Nations”
- “As a precaution, the military is banning travel to Mexico for nonessential personnel.”

This is kind of bringing it back for me. Let me think.
-Anthrax – Don’t open your mail?
-AIDS – Whatever you do avoid getting too close to someone with AIDS!
-Schizophrenia – It’s contagious.
-SARS – need I say more? Masks? Maybe I shouldn’t touch this one, a lot of people did die. Pretend I didn’t write it.
-Bird Flu – deploy the tamiflu!
-Small pox and polio – oh wait, just kidding, those were real.

That was all sarcasm if you couldn’t tell.

Sorry, the point is that the media is doing a STELLAR job at blowing this out of proportion. While there should be a genuine fear for a global pandemic, its just too soon. The swine flu is just a new strain of the seasonal flu. The symptoms are incredibly similar. We, the living, have managed to escape dying from that every year, right?

So, go wash your hands and stop freaking out.

Oink Oink.

Daffodils

These are growing outside of my house, or were growing I should say. They are pretty, and remind me that warm weather will soon be here to stay!

BTW

Rudy is doing much better.

Tailspin.

I know. I haven’t written or posted a photo in too long.

But in my defense, I was going to post some really, really awesome photos of Minute Maid Park yesterday when my computer crashed. Yep, brand new, pretty, pink, Dell XPS, died. I spent my evening, and when I say evening I actually mean 2am-4am since I was technically at real work, on the phone with Harold and then Jennifer from Dell Tech Support who basically informed me that my computer’s hard drive was faulty and they will be sending me a new one within the next 48 hours. In terms of backup, I didn’t have too much on it to begin with, but let this be a lesson to anyone with photos on their computer: BACK THEM UP. External hard drives are not even all that expensive and it would be so much better than losing them all to a faulty hard drive. The best one on the market right now is probably by CMS Products V2 Desktop Backup System at 1TB, TB!!!! It’s only $181. That is more space than will ever be necessary. Since most of my photos were personal, fun photos, I didn’t back them up. I would never take that chance with a client’s photos. But in all seriousness, with all the cheap external hard drives, there is no reason why anyone should lose anything these days.

Done with my rant. You will learn your lesson if you don’t do it. Promise.

Anyway, today, while I was driving to Noodles and Company near my work, I was thinking about what I could post about, since I no longer have photo editing software or photos for that matter, but then I got into a bit of a car accident and forgot what I really wanted to post about. Don’t be worried, I am ok, just the Silver Fox is a little banged up. She is hopefully going to the car doc soon, when I can afford it, or the woman who hit me fesses up so her insurance company can pay for it. Which, mind you, this happened today so maybe it won’t take that long as I have already submitted my claim and started the process.

I’m hoping this downward spiral ends soon. I feel like there is so much going wrong. But, I feel like I have a lot to look forward to in terms of photo work coming up so that should make my life a lot more joyful. Taking pictures makes me so unbelievably happy. :-)

Textures

Another one from my Old Ellicott City outing

She Really Has Gotten Bigger

Seriously, people, give me something else to takes photos of. You are going to get so sick of seeing how many photos I have taken of my dog. :-) Kidding. I have plenty coming up this Summer.

I Wish the Forecast for Tuesday was SUNNY!!!

But I guess this Sunny is the only thing I really need.

Happy Easter!

I know this may be a bit much, but I really cannot wait to have kids so I can decorate Easter eggs with them.

Hope it's a wonderful and beautiful day for all of you!

Rudy Update

Well, pour little Rudy dog is still sick. He had come home for a few days but had to go back to the doc for a second sugery. The connection they attempted to make with the first surgery broke down, as was feared, and another quarter inch of his small intestine was pulled up to make another connection. There really is nothing more that can be done if this doesn't work. The vet explained he would open him back up and see what he could do but the two options were he can put him to sleep on the table if there is nothing he can do or he can stitch him back up and send him home. Of course, knowing that Rudy is a fighter, and knowing the Rudy is my mom's baby, she insisted that he do whatever he could.

So, the doc opened him back up and did a couple things differently and Rudy is still alive, and seems to be improving. If he is still looking good by Saturday, we can get more hopeful about his future.

Just wanted to send you all an update. Thanks for all your thoughts!

Julie's Bridal Shower

Hi Internet! Have you all met my best friend Julie? I called her Weaner for short.

She lets me take pictures of her a lot. And a few weeks ago, I was able to snap a few at her Bridal Shower. Yes, Opie, her fiance, came too. It made for good fun.

This is the cute couple.



I took a lot of photos. But I think I was using someone else's camera to take them because by the time I got home and put them on my computer, there were not any of the set up. The decorations were very pretty. Everything was black and green, the colors of the wedding, with damask print everything. My job was alcohol. I made some splendid mimosas which Jules is enjoying in her pretty pink and plastic flute in the photo up yonder.

Moving right long. Here are the bridesmaids. I look awful! AWFUL I SAY! It was a bad day, I didn't feel so hot, couldn't wear the pants I wanted to because I was wearing a huge boot on my foot. Ugh, I looked awful and was pretty damn embarrassed. But that doesn't matter, the bride is mad gorgeous. Wish you could see her cute green shoes! Jules coordinates everything so well. (Note: I think my hair is naturally, obviously, since I lack the funds to do anything creative to it,getting way too dark. Need some sun.)



She got some awesome gifts. This is one of my favs. Yes, she is joining the Partridge family.



And I love her face in this one. I wanted one of these so bad. I'm glad she go hers. Her face is as if to say "I know, right?" after someone tells her how awesome it is.



No clue... I just press the buttons. But it sort of reminds me of American Gothic.



The thing I love about Opie is that he can make Julie laugh so much. Laughter is so important, especially in relationships. Him being able to make her happy and laugh makes me think that everything is going to be just peachy for them.



And this, well, this is why boys aren't invited to places where naughty things might show up... Yes, it is underwear...on his head.



The big day is so close! I cannot wait to be standing up there with you, Jules!!

Some New Tunage

I'm on a kick again... Ya know, when I get tired of all my old music, and need new awesome stuff. I do the same thing with clothes. Most girls do.

Oh wait, before I show you my music, because I know people like my mom don't care about the music I put on here, first... a photo! Because a post from me is not really complete without one. Right?

I have been playing with my new Photoshop CS3! And even purchased actions from Totally Rad Actions! which is going to change the way I look at photos entirely.

Here's the pic, ain't it pretty? I can almost hear it:



Oh fine...one more.



Now, listen to my music.

This is what is currently on my iPod.

Eric Hutchinson - Rock 'n' Roll


The Decemberists - Los Angeles, I'm Yours


Manic Street Preachers - Ocean Spray

Army 10-Miler

What have I done?

This broken foot thing has really made me want to become more active. Like, I went out and purchased hiking boots active. And even starting telling my friends crazy things like my new goal is to run a marathon????? Who am I?????

This morning, my friend Steve, emailed me info about the Army 10-Miler. And what did I do? I registered for it.

My favorite part of registering was the button I had to acknowledge saying that if I do not reach the 5 mile marker by 9:35, which would be a 15 minute mile pace, I would be escorted to the finish line and not be allowed to complete the race. Ha! That will so be me.

So, Mom, on your birthday this year, I am going to wake up at the butt crack of dawn and run 10 miles. And Daren, be glad I am running in something Army related.

Old Ellicott City/Courthouse

My mom works at the Howard County Circuit Court. She has a big blank wall behind her desk that needs filled with something artsy so, I am being creative with this one. I can't tell you exactly what I am doing yet, mostly because I am not 100% sure either (if you have suggestions let me know), but it will somehow involved these photos, among others I have taken.

These photos actually make me think she works in someplace haunted. Not exactly sure that was the feel I was going for. But then again, it's a courthouse. How much more creative can I get without going inside?













These are some pics from Main Street in Old Ellicott City that I would like to incorporate as well.









What do ya think?

PS Update on Rudy tomorrow.

Say a Little Prayer for Our Rudy Dog!

I got a sad email from my mom yesterday. This cute little pup ate a washcloth. A whole washcloth (which is far from abnormal because he sometimes poops out whole socks). But this time is a lot more serious. Rudy underwent surgery yesterday where over 3 feet of his small intestine had to be removed because threads from the washrag destroyed it. The vet was able to stitch his small intestine back to his stomach but there is so little of it left that he is not so optimistic about this pup's future. He stated that Rudy will not be able to digest the nutrients he needs and therefore will be severely underweight and shorten his life expectancy a lot.

The good news is that, according to my mom, he made it through the night and was walking a bit this morning. So, please, say a little prayer for this cute little pup!