Wow… it’s been a while since I’ve written. So much has been going on in lab recently that I have really only had time to eat, sleep, and think about science. Whew…. sometimes things get crazy with grad school.
Anyway, some of the craziness ended on Friday when we had a huge lab cleanup to prepare for the big lab move next month. It was ridiculously epic. I was sooooo busy taking care of all the old expired chemicals we found in the weirdest places (thanks to the student I inherited my workspace from… NOT happy with him right now). After all of that, A and I took our giant stuffed sharks on a walk. While we were out playing with my camera and the sharks, one lady walked past us and asked us if we were taking our whales for a walk. A and I just looked at each other for a second and nodded as we passed. Then we burst out laughing… they’re sharks, not whales! Geez! Anyway, we (and the sharks) had so much fun this past weekend so I thought I would share some pictures – up there they are both sitting in a pine tree (obviously). Down there, there’s Fernando trying to eat an out of focus Prius and Gustav and me doing a silly dance…
Did you guys do anything fun this weekend? Have you seen any fun sharks? (Thanks Natalie for the picture last week. Totally made my day!)
Category: Nikon D80
Shark Friday
These past few weeks have been super busy for me mostly due to things going on in lab. However, while I was away in lab, my sharks got to have a lot of fun this week. First Banana Shark got to have Orange Julius and pie on Pi Day and then yesterday five of my sharks had the pleasure of chasing me around the apartment complex when I got home early from lab. These pictures were super fun for Cobalt and me to take… I have been planning this shoot for a while now. Unfortunately the sun got in our way a little bit (hence all the crazy flares) but no worries. We just might have to do it again… I had originally planned the shoot to use three people and not just two so we’ll just have to try it again… perhaps we’ll take the sharks to the park! :) I love Banana Shark in this bottom picture…
I hope you have good weekends!
Painting with the moon
Last night, Cobalt and I went out in search of auroras. We didn’t think CO would be cool enough to get auroras being pretty far south but we thought we would give it a try anyway. It turned out that even if there were auroras, the moon was soooooo bright that we probably wouldn’t have been able to see any anyway. Booo moon. But all hope was not lost! We hung out by moonlight and had ourselves a creepy (romantic?) hike above the town of Boulder. From that hike, I bring you our fun photography brainwave – moon painting! That’s right. This is the easiest kind of photography ever – You set your camera on a long exposure setting, point it at the moon and then run around! So what do you guys think? Awesome abstract art? Looks like a 3 year old did it? Reminds you of Ghostbusters? Let’s hear your comments! I kind of want to try it again and try to actually make shapes with the moon – like use your camera as a giant pencil? Hrmmm….
Below I used both the moon and Boulder for painting…
I hope you guys all have awesome weekends!
Cobalt’s Questions about Readings
Today’s post is written by Cobalt, obviously. Potassium still took the picture… and no we are not having a shark officiating our wedding… that would be… odd…
Hey folks,
Potassium is exhausted from work so she asked me to fill in for this Wedding Wednesday. I haven’t done blog writing in awhile so I’ll try not to suck. So we’ve been trying to figure out what to do with our ceremony and such, and I’ve been thinking about it as the “show” part of our little shindig. Vows are one thing, but what do we do with things such as readings? Potassium and I have our way that we like to do things and we are trying to find a way to makes the ceremony be us, but still solemn and nice. We don’t want it to be boring. I’ve been debating a little about readings. Are they worth doing? 1st Corinthians is nice and everything, but is it too cliché? Should we even care? If we didn’t have a reading would it be weird? What are some other ideas we should take a look at? I know this is a lot of questions, but we would like some ideas.
So whattaya think?
Chicken Plus Cactus = Love?
Today’s post is about nicknames. They’re fun and endearing generally. The nickname Potassium is actually one I gave myself back in high school (Really… at any given time since I was 17, I have had at least one website or blog, etc with “Potassium” in the name) but Cobalt has taken to calling me Chicken. I like it. For some reason I find it really endearing when he goes “What’s up Chicken?” or “You’re my favorite chicken…” because it’s so weird and also cute. It’s been really hard for me to come up with a cute but similarly endearing nickname for him. He mostly just makes weird faces and vetoes my suggestions… The other day, I told him his face was prickly like a prickly pear cactus and then said “Cactus….” and he didn’t seem too upset. So maybe? Cactus and Chicken?
What about you? Do people have fun, yet endearing, nicknames for you? Do you have fun, yet endearing, nicknames for others? Is there a nickname that you absolutely can’t stand when people use? :-/
About the pic: We actually do have cacti that grow here in Colorado but generally they are all wrinkled and depressing looking. This little guy is looking pretty good though. Maybe he’s protected by the pinecones in the grass surrounding him…
Boy Scouts and Tire swings: Part 1
This weekend, Cobalt and I got to spend a lot time with his/my soon to be niece and nephew so in honor of that, today and tomorrow will be dedicated to them! We’ll start with C because he is the oldest (had to pick some order so sorry A, you have to wait to tomorrow…)
Anyway, this weekend C and I got to spend some time tossing around a football and playing Skylanders (it looks pretty cool! I kind of want it…). Then we got to see him cross over from cub scouts to boy scouts! Yay C! So proud of you! :) This top picture is a pic of him still as a cub scout.
Then we came home and drew pictures. Here is a picture of the pac shark he drew for me (sorry… it’s a funky cell phone pic):
Finally, a little note for C – C, you are an awesome kid. You are super creative and an amazing artist. I love playing video games and drawing with you. I am so excited to be part of your family. :)
Colorado has beautiful sunsets
Yesterday, Cobalt and I witnessed the most beautiful sunset! Unfortunately I was driving at the time but fortunately I had my DSLR in the car and Cobalt was ready to take pictures! It was kind of a fun experience with me driving and being like “Oooooo! Take a picture of this! Oooooo…” while Cobalt manipulated the camera and got the pictures. I like being a photography team with you, Cobalt! About a half an hour later, I got even more ideas for fun pictures but alas… still driving. Funny how driving brings out my creative side… In this top picture we see a monster hidden in the clouds… Do you see it?!
Below is another one of our pictures – this one is purely Cobalt-inspired and his favorite of our series…
Do you ever get super creative while you are driving? Are you excited that it’s Friday? Are you going to watch the Oscars on Sunday?
The cow’s upside down again…
Cobalt and I are having our second premarital counseling session this coming weekend. At the end of the first one, we had to take a test about ourselves and our relationship (how we deal with money, planning for the future, etc). Now this time we are going to discuss the areas that the test said where we are compatible and incompatible and then come up with plans on how to handle things when the incompatible areas pop up. I am kind of intrigued, excited, and nervous about this upcoming session. Where are our weakest points? Where are our strongest points? How will we learn to bring up sensitive topics? I hope this is helpful for making our relationship even stronger. :D
So… the picture… well in our first session, our counselor mentioned a couple he knew that had a stuffed cow prominently displayed in the house. Whenever one of them was upset and needed to talk to the other, they would turn the cow over – on its side if things were bad but not terrible and on its back if things needed to be discussed immediately. In this way, the second person could see the cow and know that their spouse is upset. This spares the first person the awkwardness of having to admit that he/she is upset and allows the second person to jump right in and ask the question “What’s wrong?” It’s kind of an awesome system if you ask me. Think about when you are upset and how hard it is for you to admit that something is wrong and how much you are just hoping your spouse/partner/boyfriend/girlfriend/whatever will just pick up on it and ask you about it. No longer! Just turn over the cow. Think about when you feel weird but you don’t know why or what it means or how to bring it up… turn over the cow. Problem solved. Now your spouse/partner/boyfriend/girlfriend/whatever can just ask you. They understand how you feel (based on the cow’s position) and now they can start the conversation.
I think it is neat. Cobalt and I were inspired and actually have this cow in our house though to date we have not actually used it… But we could…
What about you guys? Do you have creative ways to solve conflicts or attack iffy topics? How do you make sure that everyone is happy and feels like their voices are heard?
Soaring back to photography
Last weekend was full of fun and friends! We got to see a bunch of friends we haven't seen in a while and there was much catching up. Speaking of catching up, I also got to the chance to catch up with my DSLR (and my photography friends here in Boulder too). My poor Nikon D80 hasn't been on a shooting adventure in ages so this weekend, we headed up a trail by our houses and took our cameras for a spin.
It was interesting trying to get the creative juices flowing after not doing shooting adventures in a while. I definitely have gotten better at using my camera (I was shooting in manual mode the whole time and was decent at figuring out good settings for the lighting conditions around) but I was thinking waaaaay too much instead of just taking pictures! Part of it is that I really want my pictures to have a signature or a particular style. I feel like right now my pictures are just pictures. I want people to look at my pictures and go "yeah… Potassium took these pictures…" but I don't know how to do that. I guess just keep taking pictures… No more months between photo outings for me!
So yeah… this picture. I was creeping up to these birds in a bush (they were totally aware of me so I wouldn't actually call it "creeping" I guess…) and they kept hopping farther away from me. Eventually, they got tired of my seemingly endless interest in them and this one took off, conveniently flying past my friend G on the way. I like that G is not totally in focus, but enough in focus that you can get his facial expression…
What do you guys think? How do you get a "signature" for your art? How do you keep working at your hobby when you aren't feeling super creative? :)
A Presidents’ Day Urban Legend!
Hello! In honor of Presidents’ Day, I thought I would share a President Urban Legend with you… see what you think…
George Washington was really a vampire. Look at this picture! See how he holds his mouth… Some say that his mouth was uncomfortable because he had wooden teeth but that’s actually not true! Actually, he is attempting to hide his fangs from view. But if you look carefully, you can see his left fang peeking out from under his lip in this picture… No it was not photoshopped. Check your dollar bills, people!
Anyway, it makes sense, right? Think about it some more… The picture of him standing so stoically on that icy crossing of the Delaware river… What mere human could withstand the cold like that?! Clearly he was a vampire…
Fun, yeah?
Okay now it’s your turn. What crazy urban legends do you know* about our presidents?
*In case you were unaware, I totally made that one about George Washington up so you can do the same with your urban legends. Let’s celebrate our presidents by coming up with silly stories about them! :)
Potassium Photography 