Hummingbirds!

Wow, y'all! Today as I was walking into work I saw what I thought was a leaf on the sidewalk. Usually a step on all the leaves I see downtown, just in case they are crunchy (stepping on crunchy leaves will always be fun, no matter how old I am). Well it's a good thing I took a closer look at this leaf before crunching it, because it turns out it was a hummingbird!

I've never seen a hummingbird downtown before. He was just sitting on the sidewalk. I bent down, and strangely, he let me touch him. I gently scooped him up into my hand and he perched on one of my fingers. He let me just carry him around downtown, never trying to fly away or anything. I figured he was hurt or sick. I brought him up to my office so I could do some research. His name was Pochipo. :)

Turns out, it's hummingbird migrating season. Hummingbirds will often fly into windows and stun themselves. This little guy was sitting in direct sunlight on the sidewalk and I think he was overheated and stunned. He cooled off for maybe five minutes in my office and I decided to walk him over to capitol hill where there are trees and flowers and grass instead of sidewalk and concrete and glass. Now that he was rested, cooled off, and un-stunned, he flew out of my hand and was a happy little hummingbird back where he belongs. Hooray!

Then as I was walking back to my office, there was ANOTHER hummingbird on the sidewalk! His wings were splayed out. You can see how tiny hummingbirds are.
























He was also in direct sunlight on the sidewalk, and he was hot and stunned. His wings weren't broken or anything, and he tucked them in shortly after I picked him up. I walked him over to capitol hill, and held him in the shade for a while so he could cool down and regain hummingbird consciousness without being stepped on or ran over. It took a few minutes, but then he was good to go! Another hummingbird rescued from the unsafe downtown streets. Hopefully they are headed back on their migratory route safe and sound now, avoiding skyscrapers this time around.

Let them...

1. Make cake.

2. Eat cake.

3. ???

4. Profit

My Addiction Detox Week

Next week, July 25th through July 31st, I will give up everything I can think of that I might be addicted to.

Luckily, I never got into drugs or cigarettes, but I find my life has been consumed by a few things (mostly the internet) and I'd like to spend my time in a way that I know will be more fulfilling to me if I just give it a chance.

For the detox week, no:

Coffee/Caffeine.
This will be hard. I consume caffeine multiple times each day to get me through my day. I know that if I just get more sleep I won't need it, although I'm not looking forward to the headaches from withdrawal.

Chocolate/Snacks.
Yeah, I eat chocolate almost every afternoon. I'll be better off to give it up (and maybe I'll lose a pound). I will plan my meals mindfully.

The Internet.
No email, no endless blog feeds, no webcomics, no facebook, no twitter, no flickr, no etsy. I am wasting my life on the internet. I usually idle away hours online while I procrastinate doing other more important things. I will not check my email/RSS on my phone constantly either. It's become such a habit to immediately pull out my phone if I'm waiting in a line or something of the sort. This week I am breaking my digital chain. I only watch television I download from the internet, so I will also not watch any TV.

Shopping.
I spend way too much money on things I do not need. I abhor the fact that shopping is something I do for recreation. This week I will only purchase things I need to live, or for specific projects I'm working on during the week.

I'm also addicted to my car but I don't feel like I'm in good enough shape to ride my bike everywhere yet (especially since it only has one gear and it is hard to get up hills). I will make an effort to ride my bicycle to destinations within two miles of my house, however, to step in the right direction. Gotta start somewhere!


Things I WILL do:

Ride my bike, read books about bikes, learn how to fix bikes, do my handlebar tape.
Read books and zines! I've got a big backlog of things to read. I tell myself I don't have enough time to read, but I do!
Spend time with my boyfriend.
Fix up and spray paint a medicine cabinet that will become my new spice rack.
Learn Reason and make some music.
Clean/organize my house! Yep, all of it!
Walk in the woods.
Cook healthy meals.
Get enough sleep.
Anything else I want to (that doesn't involve the above restrictions, of course)!


And sure, it's only a week. But it'll be a week to see how different my life can be. Maybe I CAN live without coffee. Maybe I DON'T need to read those 400 blog posts each day. Maybe my mind will be more focused without constant distraction. Maybe I can find entertainment in the world around me instead of in a fake world inside a box.

Wish me luck!

Handmade Highlight - madhatterceramics

madhatterceramics on etsy loves creating pieces inspired by Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Their favorite pieces merge form and function - they are artfully designed objects that can be used in everyday life.

I just bought this mug. Isn't it great? You can never have too many mugs in life. There's always more coffee and tea.


Here are some things that are still available for purchase. :)







And stop by madhatterceramics.etsy.com for even more. :)

How to combine fireworks photos in Photoshop

So you went out to the Independence Day celebration in your town and took a bunch of fireworks pictures. Great! A lot of your pictures, you'll notice, are of just one or two "explosions" in each shot, yes? Here's how to combine those pictures in photoshop to produce one image with lots of explosions. It's easy!

Open up Photoshop (I'm using Photoshop CS4 Extended).

Click File > Scripts > Load files into Stack. Check the box to align the images (if you have any background besides just black sky), but not to create a smart object.

You'll get one image with each of your photos in its own layer. On each layer, set the blending mode to "Screen".

In each separate layer, use the move tool to position each firework explosion so you can see it well.

Voila! Instant grand finale!

Happy 4th!

Did you know that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died July 4, 1826? I didn't know this until yesterday and found it intriguing.

Nashville has fireworks on the 2nd, 3rd, AND 4th! The 4th it's choreographed with the Nashville Symphony and it's crazy awesome! Yesterday my boyfriend and I rode our bikes downtown for a picnic on the pedestrian bridge to watch the fireworks, and as part of the LGRAB summer games!






We got there right around sunset time. Note the General Jackson showboat! The night was actually the 25th birthday celebration for the General Jackson.




Isn't my boyfriend cute? :)



Waiting for the sun to go down.



After an hour of waiting through some horrendous country music (Does anyone who is actually from Nashville like country?), it was fireworks time!


That is a composite image of four fireworks pictures from last night. In my next post I'll tell you how to layer up your fireworks pictures in photoshop for optimal awesomeness.

<3

The Red Panda 1000 Sales Sale!!

As of writing this post, I've sold 992 things over at http://redpanda.etsy.com! I truly appreciate each and every one of my customers that makes running this business worthwhile. The kind words of your feedback keep me going!

I'd LOVE to make it to the big 1000 sales mark by the end of July. To push things along, how does a sale sound? How does 20% off + Free Shipping sound? Sounds good to me!

Take 20% off ALL products at http://redpanda.etsy.com for the entire month of July.
All items will ship for free worldwide as well!

Simply add your items to your cart at etsy. In the message to seller box, put code "Happy 1000!". Wait for a revised invoice before paying. Hooray!

Some awesome things you can pick up:

Was $55 + shipping, on sale for $44 with free shipping.




Was $85 + shipping, on sale for $68 with free shipping.


Now's a great time to pick up a set or two of stitch markers for you or your knitting friends. Usually $13 in the US, you can get them for $8 in July.