Aug
09
Posted by: Josh
One of the mind-wobbling things about being a parent is getting to watch your kids’ strange personalities (and they are ALL strange) unfurl. Bill Cosby was so RIGHT, kids say some crazy shit. I’d love to have ALL of it on video, but these days, the best we can do to keep up with all of the ridiculous things that come out of Eleanor’s mouth is to record the gems on the Twitters, but honestly they’re the tip of the iceberg. A mammoth, icy block of nonsense floating around in her head that regularly gouges holes in the cruise liner of our days.
As it turns out, my baby girl is an insult comic. Yup, we got little Don Rickles laying it on us every day now. How did it come to this?
For a long time now Eleanor has been aware of the power of comedy. This should not be a surprise. The wife and I probably value humor over all other traits (which may explain why we’re always broke). So naturally, Eleanor gets the best reactions from Mommy & Daddy when she does something funny.
Unfortunately, this has recently backfired on us, as Eleanor has discovered the bluer side of comedy.
Eleanor: “You’re a poopy!” (slow grin)
Me: “What?!”
Eleanor: (maniacal laughter) “You’re a poopy poop!”
That’s right. I’ve spent literally YEARS cleaning her dirty diapers, and I’M the poopy poop. So okay, I really don’t mind being a poopy poop. In fact, I think it’s pretty hilarious that we gave birth to Triumph the insult comic dog, but not everybody finds this dialogue as charming as we do. Visions of her adolescence are starting to concern me:
Eleanor’s first boyfriend: “I.. I just wanted you to know.. I love you.”
E: “Pansy. Wanna get some ice cream?”
God, that sounds eerily familiar.
Aug
06
My trusty Canon Rebel XTi with my Canon 50mm 1.8 lens have been very good to me. The camera is among the best of the starter DSLRs and the lens is a fantastic first prime lens. I’ve loved them both and been happy with the images I’ve shot with them, but lately I’ve really felt that my skills have progressed far beyond the capabilities of my equipment.
The images are just not quite to the quality that I want them to be. There is a flatness to them that I’m not thrilled about. The images that I see in my mind are not quite the ones being captured by my camera. I hate to say it, but my XTi has been holding me back.
So, we decided that with the official launch of my photography business, and as an anniversary gift to me, it was time for an upgrade. Enter the 50D:
And the 50mm 1.4:
The 50D is the first in Canon’s line of professional quality DSLRs and the 50mm 1.4 is a big step up from my 1.8. I am beyond excited about this upgrade! I’m shooting all of our vacation excursions this week with it and I can’t wait to show you all what it can do. Although, I have to say, the controls are a lot different from my XTi so I’m using this week to get used to them and I’m not as quick at getting my settings right. You have to be quick when you’re shooting Eleanor. But more on that soon!
Aside from improving my own photo quality, I’m really excited about the upgrade because Josh now has my old stuff to learn on. He’s been wanting to learn, but I’m ALWAYS using my camera. So now he can grab the XTi when I have my 50D! Fun for the whole family!
Aug
05
A couple weeks back I tweeted that some big things were about to happen. Well, those things are here and I’m excited to share with you all.
First, was the launching of my photography business website. It launched on Monday and it is gorgeous, all Josh’s handiwork. Check it out if you haven’t already!
Next, I have upgraded cameras! This is a super big deal for me. The new one arrived on Monday and I love it! You’ll hear more about it in tomorrow’s Fabulous Friday post.
And now, we’re on vacation! This is the first vacation we have had in three years. Truly, we haven’t taken a day off together in all that time. So we’re doing it up on a small budget-friendly scale. We’re keeping Eleanor out of school today and tomorrow. Today we’ll hit up the Natural History Museum, tomorrow the Aquarium of the Pacific. Then Saturday is the big, big deal!
Eleanor will be having a sleepover at her Aunt MoMo and Uncle Christian’s house and Josh and I will be heading to Riverside to stay for a night at the historic Mission Inn to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary. This is the first night we’ll spend without Eleanor since she was born. It’s going to be awesome!
Then maybe a beach trip on Sunday. Then Eleanor is back to school on Monday and Josh and I will be having a fun day with just the two of us. We haven’t decided what we’ll do, but maybe some Museums or something.
So excited about the next five days! We are going to have so much fun! I’ll be blogging all about it soon!
