Duct Tape & WD-40

Favorite Photo Friday - Paint Pots in Yellowstone

Here is one of my favorite shots from Yellowstone. It is known as "paint pot" and it is one of several areas of boiling mud. I love this photo because it is so dynamic. There is so much energy to it. I also like the idea of abstract photography and this definitely falls into that category. By the way, I did not adjust the colors of this photo. It is really that reddish color.

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We have a contract on a house. I'm not going to say which one until we close because I think if I talk about it too soon, I will jinx it. Silly. I know. But you won't have to wait that long. Agent says we could close in as little as 30 days.  30 DAYS! You have no idea what I have to do to this house to get ready to move!

I told Gary that I'm in no hurry to close. I don't really want to own the house. I just want to know it is ours. Silly. I know.

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Which makes this weekend even more important. While Gary is away with the boys (our boys that is), I am going away with the girls. Three of us are headed to Clearwater Beach for some eating, drinking, sunning and creating - not necessarily in that order.

While I am away I will not worry about everything. I will not worry about everything. I will not worry about everything. I will not worry about everything. I will not worry about everything. Silly. I know.

A Vacation Video

A long time ago, people would go on vacation and take their film camera along. When they returned home they would have the film developed as slides. Then they would load the slides into the round tray of a projector and set up the screen. Finally they would invite all of their friends and neighbors over to their house to watch the slideshow. Anyone remember that?

Well, this is what we do in 2009. We shoot pictures with a digital camera, then choose our favorite photos right then and there. Then we upload them into iMovie and put them together with some music and titles. Finally, we upload them to YouTube for the whole world to see.

There are some pluses and minuses to this new way. 

Minus = no free snack and drinks. 

Plus = you don't have to sit through someone's boring vacation photos if you don't want to. 

Minus = no fellowship with friends and neighbors.

Plus = you can watch it in your underwear.

So now I present to you the Hudson family vacation 2009. It takes 5 minutes and 30 seconds of your life that you can never get back. You decide if it is worth it. And feel free to pick your nose while you are watching.

Where The Wild Things Are

We are on our way to Jellystone National Park

No, No. We are going here:

Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons.

Some bullet point thoughts about our upcoming trip.

• We will be back on June 10th. That may be a really long time or a really short time.

• We are renting a 31' RV. That works out to about 6 feet per person. Think about it.

• I have read that bears might attack cougars, so I am leaving my make-up and sexy, high heels at home.

• Speaking of bears, we have threatened the boys that if they are driving us crazy, we will lock them outside the RV with a box of raw meat.

• Keep an eye on the national headlines, we might make make the front page. Something like "Florida Mom Kills Husband and 3 Sons by Pushing Them Into Old Faithful."

• Looking forward to trying some Western Micro-Brews. Montana isn't a dry state is it?

I will be posting and twittering from the road, but we will in the wilderness. I may suffer from severe internet withdrawl.

Tired of Reading About My Dog?

Here is a post full of random crap and nonsense.

Sometimes I avoid posting to my blog because I am just so tired of looking at my banner that I can't even stand to open the page. Of course, when this happens, I should just make another banner. Sometimes banner ideas just come to me and I have to create it and post it pronto. Other times I just get stuck and put the whole thing off. 

Well guess what... there are now sites where you can purchase a banner for you blog for about $1.50. That's right. Things that I put lots of creative energy and many years of advance Photoshop knowledge into can be purchased for about the same price as a Super Big Gulp from 7-11.

I have resisted this new technology that makes Photoshop easy for your average 12 year old. Back in the day, Photoshop skill was a valuable commodity. I was paid well to add a building where one did not currently exist. I could fix the green water of a hotel pool. I taught classes about channels and curves. I could make a professional photographer's poorly lit model look fabulous. Now, you just click an "action" and it is all done for you.

Painstaking vector art that I created in Adobe Illustrator is now downloadable as a "brush" in Photoshop. 

What was once my career is now homework for a sixth grader.

For the longest time, I would not give in. "I don't care about your Itty Bitty actions, Kevin" I would say. "I will create my own. Thank you very much!"

But just like Eve biting that shiny red apple, I downloaded Pioneer Woman's free Photoshop Actions. Now I have forgotten how to adjust a photo without an action.

It is not the first time I have resisted the dark side then skipped down the evil path with everyone else.

Call identifier? Horrible invasion of privacy! Now I don't answer the phone unless I recognize the number.

Call waiting? How rude! Now I've got to get it. It might be one of the kids.

Cell phone? Who is so important that they must be available every minute of the day? Apparently I think I am, because I would be lost without my iPhone.

So growing irritable with my old banner, yet unable to come up with a new idea, I caved and used a pre-made banner.  Want to hear something worse? I've got to do a new brochure (the first one I have done in about a year) for a client.. dare I say it.... pre-made brochure template. 

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I haven't lost all of my creativity. As a matter of fact, I have been creating a lot recently.  Check out my "Current Work" album on the right. Being at the Inspired Artist workshop has, well, Inspired me to actually do some stuff. I've started two quilts. I have an idea for a new painting and I did this:

I haven't done a scrapbook layout in forever. This one is all about the SEA 5th grade parents. I didn't really grow up with them.  It is more like I matured as a mom with them. I have known most of these people since Cole started 1st grade. Some I looked to for advice because they had older kids and had been there before. Some were clueless just like me. We found our way together. Some of these people will move on and I will most likely never see them again. Regarding some, that is not such a bad thing. Others have young ones at SEA and we have quite a few more years together. In any case, a big part of our lives is changing. I wanted to document that they were an important part of my life and they will be missed.

Wish You Were Here (If I hated you)

My husband is here. This is a shot of the pool area at Miami's Fountainebleau Hotel.

I will be headed to Williamsburg, VA with Cole's 5th grade class at 5:45 a.m. tomorrow morning.  I've decided to leave the laptop at home so I will be flying without a net (or the net, get it???) Don't worry, I've packed the essentials - iphone, underwear, vodka.

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Whenever I go out with my girlfriends (usually drinking!), our conversations eventually come around to this.  One of us says, "You know, I love my husband. I can't even imagine what I would do if something happened to him. But if anything ever did happen to him, I would NEVER get married again." and everyone else joins in agreeing whole heartedly. Sometimes we even wax poetically about life without a husband to serve.

Last time, however, a girl who isn't usually with us chimed in and said "I wouldn't get married again because I could never replace the husband I've got."

The conversation stopped dead and we all stared at her blankly. Finally I spoke up.

"How long have you been married?" I asked.

"Five years." was her reply.

"Oh", we all nodded and started smiling and talking again. That explained it.

Good Vibrations

Look! Big Ben, Parliament!

Look! Big Ben, Parliament!

Look! Big Ben, Parliament!

Look! Big Ben, Parliament!

Blog prize to the first person to tell me what movie that was from.

I know you have seen different versions of this photo a million times. But have you ever seen it acidified in Photoshop. I think not.

Feeling better. Getting back into things. The good life seems a distant memory. I think that there is a term for that - let me look it up.

Oh here it is: Stockholm Sydrome

–noun Psychiatry.

an emotional attachment to a captor formed by a hostage as a result of continuous stress, dependence, and a need to cooperate for survival.

Origin: 
after an incident in Stockholm in 1973, during which a bank employee became romantically attached to a robber who held her hostage

Yes, that about sums it up.

I had someone ask me today if I would go back to London anytime soon given the difficult time I had returning home?  My answer was "Yes! Absolutely! Without a doubt. I can have my bags packed in 15 minutes."

"But what if you couldn't afford to fly first class?" they continued.

"Well I'm sure I could sell something (a child?) to get the money." was my reply.

"What if all of the first class seats were booked for the next four years?"

"This is a stupid conversation and you're stupid, too!"

Although at one time last week I was thinking that perhaps my next trip should be to Kandahar, Afghanistan or maybe a freighter off the coast of Somalia. Then I would be extremely excited to come home.

Finally, today, this song seems to be resonating with me.

Yo! It's about that time

To bring forth the rhythm and the rhyme

It's "Good Vibrations" from Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. That's Mark Walberg for you infants out there. Wonder what ever happened to the Funky Bunch?

A Night of Farewells in London

Quickly chugging pints to make my goal of 600.  I knew my time here would go too quickly.  I'm leaving for Liverpool Street Station (they filmed scenes from the Elephant Man there) to meet Steve and his other Metropolitan police buddies.  They promise to give a proper send off.  Not too much of a party because I have to make my 9:30 a.m. flight which means I have to leave my hotel stupid early in the morning.  Oh well, won't be the first time I have left London with a hangover.  Hopefully it won't be the last time either!

Revising History with Photoshop

Today I returned to Wimbledon.  I was at the sight of my 2008 victory over Serena Williams at the All England Lawn Tennis club. It felt so good to be back at Centre Court. I could almost hear the fans shouting "Lori! Lori! Lori!" and "USA!"  Winning Wimbledon was the best day of my life.

What? You don't remember me winning Wimbledon? Of course you do! I wore that cute sparkly white Nike tennis dress and my Nike shoes with my name stitched on them?  Really, you didn't know that was me?

Well here I'll show you.  They keep the leader board up all year until the next Wimbledon.  I took a picture of it.

Don't you see my name.  Here I'll show you a close up.

I can't wait to come back in June and defend my title.

Here's one more thing before I go.  I call this one "Looks Like a Movie Set From a Film about London"

When I Get Home You Can Call Me Malteser Butt

It's now become my routine to sleep in, breakfast in bed, then walk around a chosen area of town. Then I meet Steve and his friends for drinks, dinner, a show and more drinks.  Then I go back to my room and eat an entire package of Maltesers while watching American shows on British TV.

I would love to stay longer, but I fear developing Malteser Butt.

Today I went to Portobello Market for a few hours. I'm not really into antiques, but I thought I might come upon some crap and nonsense to carry home.

Did I ever!

A booth dedicated to printing.  I knew I shouldn't but I bought a type drawer and some woodblock type plus a type stamp of the RAF (Royal Air Force).  I also bought a couple of brooches that I will use in a class at the upcoming Inspired artist workshop.  Here is a photo of my bounty.

Going out to buy an extra suitcase tomorrow.

Here is a photo of my room.  It is HUGE by London (or any other big city) standards, but it is not as large as it is in the picture.  I used my wide angle lens to get everthing in and it distorts things.

Alright then, keep calm and carry on and mind the gap and all that rubish.  Good night.

I'm On My Way to India For 3 Weeks London for Five Days

Here I sit in the Virgin Atlantic Club Lounge at JFK airport waiting for my flight to London. It's hard to believe that this day has arrived. I've been planning this for a LONG time - about 19 years to be exact.

Actually about 15 years ago, I told Gary that I wanted to go to India for 3 weeks for my 40th birthday. It was supposed to be sort of a spiritual journey. It was going to be a time where I took stock of my life and made decisions about the future. I got the idea before Eat, Pray, Love. Only I wasn't going to stay in an Ashrim and I wouldn't be newly divorced. It would be a challenge to my every day existence and a check to see if I was still in the right place.

Most importantly, Gary couldn't complain about this trip because he had 15 YEARS to get used to the idea! I had 15 years to save up for the trip.

Well reality has a way of stepping in on one's plans. I am now 40 years old, but I am a mother of 3 young boys.  Going away for 3 weeks is simply not possible. Going to India at this time may even be dangerous. I can't risk it at this point in my life. I was not, however, ready to give up on my trip.

I have spent the last year contemplating a kinder, gentler, shorter (as in less than a week) version of my trip. I thought of an art retreat in Italy.  I looked into an art retreat in Washington State. But my heart kept saying London.

I spent my last semester of college in London and I haven't been back since.  If you had told me when I left in 1990 that it would be almost 20 years before I would come back. I know that I would have never left.  I love London.  But I also love Gary Hudson, and almost 20 years ago, he was waiting to marry me in the United States. I definitely made the right decision.

But London was never far from my mind. I often dream of it at night. Sometimes I have thought of just buying a ticket and going, but that is not the responsible thing to do.

But now I am 40. Now I have my trip. If it can't be India, then it must be London.

I will be gone for five days.  I am going alone.  And I hate to admit it, but it is a challenge to my every day existence. I'm not used to flying internationally. It is no longer comfortable for me. I fear all that as changed in 19 years.

But in about an hour I will be on my way across the pond.

Check back often because my hotel has wi-fi and I'll be posting pictures. Can you believe it? When I was there so long ago, Gary and I had to write letters. Snail mail!  We called each other once a week and our phone bill was $600 a month!