kdlb-pad

where to put my photos?

I'm having a hard time picking where I want to store my photos.  I've used many different options in the past, but now with a new camera (in late March) and a new option (Comet), I'm rethinking again.

• Initially, I used a MT blog.  Snap! was an early example (before many people had photoblogs) of how to use MT to store photos, and the tutorial that went along with it still is regularly visited.  The photoblog itself is sorely neglected, though, so I won't go back to using that process when there are easier options.
  
• Lately, I've been using TypePad.  The main blog for moblogging, and photo albums for real photos with my camera.  I'd been using the iPhoto plugin to easily transfer into albums, but when I switched computers recently, it wasn't working and it's not available to download right now to try reinstalling.
• Now I'm thinking about Comet (of course) because then I can share with my family separately from my friends.  There are some drawbacks to that though, because my photos are taken at a large size by my camera and so I'll have to resize them if I want them to show nice on the screen.  That takes an extra step.  And there's not an ideal mac method for bulk uploading like windows yet.  But the privacy and collections ability are really awesome.
  
• Or I could use Flickr and then pull them into Comet.  There is at least one iPhoto to Flickr plugins (FlickrExport, and i found another one but it ended up being a dead link).  I don't think that the flickr world cares to see some of the stuff I want to upload though.  And I only have a free flickr acct., so I'd probably run into some limits.
  

So yeah, I have a least a few sets of photos, including some from today, that I'm trying to decide on.  :)  Any thoughts from my friends out there in the Comet world?  What works well for you?

Bridge

Mon 05/29/2006 13:22 Image(182)

Mon 05/29/2006 13:24 Image(183)

Going over the bridge of the gods.

out drivin'

Mon 05/29/2006 12:26 Image(181)

Note the fashionable candy bracelet, all ready for eating on our driving ;)

What's the best thing about 3-day weekends?

Mid-morning naps, it's absolutely the best thing about 3-day weekends!

What's your favorite song of 2006?

What's your favorite song of 2006?

yes, i'm doing this one a little behind, but it was a good question and I missed it being busy originally!

I just sorted in iTunes by year, and come to find out, I have NO songs from 2006.

Under My Skin

So I looked for what my favorite song is overall, not just in 2006.  iTunes also tells me that the song I've played most is Fall to Pieces by Avril Lavigne.  Of course, that's over all time, but that's only a little over a year because that's how old this music library is (when I switched from PC to Mac).  So that probably means it's actually the one I like the most out of my whole collection, no matter which year it's from.

I would have guessed my favorite would be a Sarah McLachlan song, but I guess I own a lot more of those, so the counts are more spread out between them all (like Posession, I have 2 or 3 versions!)

Sorting my "wanted!" playlist (a playlist where I drag 30 second clips from the store to remind myself I'd like to buy them) has several from this year: P!nk's Long Way to Happy and Stupid Girls (off her new album), and Nickelback's Savin' Me.

Bleed Like Me

None of my very favorite artists have had an album out this year.  That probably has impacted me.  AND the fact that I can buy awesome old songs one at a time from iTunes has contributed a bit.  So I shuffle my library and listen to it all the time rather than the radio.  Which means I don't hear the new songs very often!  My last purchase in January *did* have multiple albums from 2005, so I'm not *that* far behind. ;)  (t.A.T.u., Ashlee Simpson, and Garbage along with other random tracks...)

I guess I should be trying harder at finding new music instead of being happy with what I have. :D  Can we have a re-do on this question in 6 months and see how it ended up? :)

yummy dessert recipe

The Cake Mix Doctor

When I saw this recipe in my newest cookbook (Christmas from my mother-in-law), I thought it looked so good.  I had E stop and get the ingredients so we could make it that night.

But then it had to cool, so we watched some tv, and can you believe it? we totally forgot to go back down and eat it until 9pm.  Which was too late, so we waited until the next day. :)

Blackberry Almond Squares

• 1 package yellow cake mix with pudding
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1/2 cup finely chopped almonds (with skins or blanched)
• 1 1/3 cups blackberry jam (12 oz jar)
  
• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1 large egg
  

1. Preheat oven to 350, and set aside an ungreased 13x9" baking pan.
2. Place the cake mix, melted butter, and almonds in a large mixing bowl.  Blend on low speed for a few minutes, stopping and scraping at the end.  The mixture should be crumbly.  Reserve 1 cup for the topping.  Transfer the remaining crust mixture to the pan.  Using your fingertips, press the mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan so that it reaches all sides.  Spread the preserves over the crust.  Set the pan aside.
3. For the filling, place the cream cheese in the same mixing bowl used to prepare the crust, and with the same beaters (no need to clean either) blend with an electric mixer on low speed until creamy.  Stop and add sugar, flour, almond extract, and egg. Spread filling with spatula over preserves so that it covers the entire surface.  Scatter the remaining crust mixture over the preserves.  Place the pan in the oven.
4. Bake the cake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is set, 33 to 35 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.

The original recipe used apricot preserves.  I had a jar of safeway blackberry jam that wasn't opened so we used that.  The main problem with that was that it was seedy, so we'll try something a little less seed filled last time.  I think it would be great with blueberry or peach. :)  The sidenote suggests that another option would be walnuts or pecans (and vanilla instead of almond extract).... I did really like the almonds though!

Final Fantasy VII meets Robot Chicken

Robot Chicken, Vol. 1

Robot Chicken is a hilarious show.  I guess E and I are just the right age to laugh at these jokes.  Admittedly, we don't get them all, but many of them are so funny that I almost cry laughing.

I mainly started watching because of Seth Green.  I think he's great, and not just because he was on Buffy.  That helps though, I'm a true whedonesquer apparently with my fangirlyness of every alumni of his shows.  I digress... We started tivo-ing maybe a month ago?

Robot Chicken Final Fantasy 7

This weekend, one of the skits was the cast of Final Fantasy VII working at a burger joint.  Seeing that description on the tivo made me laugh because I just finished FF7 last month.  (yes, really, I know it's an old game, but it's one of E's favorites, and I had to play with the expectation of the Advent Children movie coming out).

So when looking at how I could test out YouTube, of course I had to search for this skit.  OMG, it's even funnier rewatching when I'm not sitting there trying to stop laughing quick enough to see what's going on. :D  E said afterwards that only people who have played the game would really enjoy it, and he's right, but there are a lot of geeks on Comet now, so maybe some of you would giggle at the idea of this too.

New theme for me!

Fleur-purple-thumbnail-wtt

I *love* this blog design.  Even if everybody and their sister put it on their blog, I'd still use it.  :D

It's all perfect and lavendery and green and purple, and with flowerys on it.  How can I not love it?!  Oh, and can't forget the nice font.  VERY cool.

What's your favorite theme?  Have you been to the design tab lately? :)

Silly self-video!

I found out my phone does video easy. Of course I wanted to try it out with this new release!

The hardest part was finding something to video while we were out. I gave in and finally video'd myself!

kristine-at-bridge.3gp

My favorite season...

Summer is near. What's your favorite season?

I am a big fan of the Spring.  When the flowers start to bud on the trees, and the rain begins to subside a bit (hey, it's washington, it still rains into the spring quite a bit!)... but it's not just gray all the time.  That makes me very happy, and so I happily look forward to the spring.  Plus, it's just the right temperature. 

Of course, it can't hurt that my birthday is in April.  ;)  That may influence my favorite season answer a bit!