urn:lj:insanejournal.com:atom1:_jems__jems__jems_jems00@gmail.com_jems_2012-08-16T18:37:53Zurn:lj:insanejournal.com:atom1:_jems_:47928Vacation!2012-08-16T18:37:53Z2012-08-16T18:37:53ZSo, I got back from Tenerife about three weeks ago, but I've been putting off posting because I wanted to post some images and my Photoshop is completely shot (and my computer isn't far behind). Of course, since I just bought a new couch, I can't afford a new computer and the accompanying Photoshop until next month at the earliest. <a name="cutid1"></a> So screw it! Unedited photos it is!<br /><br />Caveat: with a lot (ALL) of these, I was experimenting with light and shutter speeds and stuff, so they're images that will probably look tons better after they've been tinkered with a bit. But I think some of these, especially the sunset shots (all of which were taken after the actual sun had set! Go figure!), look pretty cool in their raw state (NB: these photos are not actually raw, but the jpg versions of the raw images).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 018" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 018" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1522376/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><font size="-2">Our terrace was HUGE.</font><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 662" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 662" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1524322/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 636" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 636" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1523948/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 467" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 467" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1523273/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><br /><b>I played around with my new wide-angle lens quite a lot...</b><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 317" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 317" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1523191/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 083" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 083" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1522726/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 043" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 043" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1522540/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 275" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 275" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1527137/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 279" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 279" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1526902/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><b>These are basically all the same shot, but I pretty much loved all of them.</b><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 1055" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 1055" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1526578/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 1046" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 1046" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1526475/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 1043" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 1043" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1526255/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 1031" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 1031" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1525922/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 1030" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 1030" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1525713/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 1028" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 1028" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1525327/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 1002" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 1002" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1525148/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 824" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 824" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1524922/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br /><img alt="teneriffa 2012 697" border="0" title="teneriffa 2012 697" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/1002576/1524515/900.jpg" width="900" /><br /><br />Oh yeah...AND OUR TERRACE HAD A FREAKIN' OCEAN VIEW. It was pretty awesome. Less awesome was not having a tripod, because setting the camera down on the terrace wall and just hoping for a good sunset shot meant a lot (A LOT) of duds.<br /><br />(That island you see between the palm trees in that last image is La Gomera, which is currently burning to the ground. Eeek!)<br /><br /><br /></div><br />Also, that camera bag I bought turned out to be even more awesome than I thought, because the short straps are juuuuust long enough to make it possible to carry the bag like a backpack. MOST AWESOME CAMERA BAG IN EXISTENCE.<br /><br /><br /><br />On vacation, I read nine books (I think. Most of them were my reread of Harry Potter), watched seven seasons of television (<b>Lost Girl</b> season 2, which I <i>loved</i>, <b>Teen Wolf</b> season 1 and some of season 2, which I'm extremely meh about and which I haven't even bothered to catch up on since I came back, <b>The Walking Dead</b> season 1, which actually started to get interesting towards the end and which I will catch up on...some day, <b>10 Things I Hate About You</b>, which I enjoyed okay, but I wish they had focused less on Bianca, who bored me, as well as three seasons of <b>Design Star</b>), and managed to burn myself <i>on the very last day</i>. How I managed to burn myself on the last day when I didn't burn myself at all in the three previous weeks I'll never know, but burn myself I did.<br /><br /><br /><hr><br />When I got back I spent the rest of my vacation catching up on TV:<br /><br /><a name="cutid2"></a><b>Bunheads</b><br />I really like Michelle and some of the bunheads, but I have nowhere near the affection for her that I did Lorelai even this early in the Gilmore Girl run. My main complaint about this show is that there is nothing to 'ship.<br /><br />It is my favorite show of the summer season though, and I wish there were more than 10 episodes.<br /><br /><a name="cutid3"></a><b>The Newsroom</b><br />I'm totally enjoying this, all the while bracing for something heinous to happen. You know, Sorkin!heinous, where he does something that completely ruins the show, not plot!heinous, where things go bad for the characters. That I can actually handle. Sorkin's personal brand of heinous? Not so much. <br /><br /><a name="cutid4"></a><b>Suits</b><br />I don't know what it is about Suits that appeals to me so when I'm nowhere even close to a Harvey/Mike 'shipper, but I find it completely delightful. Especially the women! Which I'm pretty sure means I'm watching this show wrong. Heh! <br /><br /><a name="cutid5"></a><b>Rookie Blue</b><br />Could Andy and Sam get any cuter? I kinda love them a whole lot this season. <br /><br />You know what I didn't love? HAVING TO WAIT TWO WEEKS TO FIND OUT IF GAIL WAS OKAY. Like seriously, that was mean. Especially because I could have caught up with some other show first and not have had to wait that long if I'd only known what rat bastards they were.<br /><br />And killing Jerry kind of broke my heart. Not because of any great affection for him, but because Traci had finally opened up and I could actually see why they worked together. And then SPLAT. 'Ship roadkill. <br /><br />I also watched <b>Leverage</b> season 4 (seriously, the only reasons to watch this show are Hardison-Parker-Eliot. The others could go in the wood chipper for all I care) and The Closer season 7 (which ended well, I think. I tried the first episode of <b>Major Crimes</b>, but it could barely hold my attention.) <br /><br />Actually, I've watched a ton of other stuff, but I'm already bored typing out my vague thoughts about things. What I need is a freakin' 'ship to obsess about! Does anything this fall look promising?<br /><br /><hr><br /><br />Oh hey, did you hear? ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT STARTED SHOOTING. Eeeeee, so excited!urn:lj:insanejournal.com:atom1:_jems_:45242Penny can!2011-04-27T18:39:38Z2011-04-27T18:39:38ZI got back from my island vacation a couple of weeks ago, but hiatus doldrums have put the kibosch on my posting anything. Basically, it all boils down to this: <a name="cutid1"></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>What I Did on My Spring Vacation</b><br /><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/pic/008187hd" title=""><br /><br /></div><br /><br />Sunshine? Check!<br />Parasol? Check!<br />eReader? Check!<br />Diet coke [not pictured]? Check!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I hadn't really been inspired to post until I was emailed the link to this today: <a name="cutid2"></a>Jersey Shore transcripts as read by actors from Oscar Wilde's Importance of Being Earnest.<br /><br /><lj-embed id="5" /><br /><br /><lj-embed id="6" /><br /><br /><lj-embed id="7" /><br /><br /><lj-embed id="8" /><br /><br /><lj-embed id="9" /><br /><br /><br />YOU'RE WELCOME. WHO SAYS PEOPLE NO LONGER MAKE GREAT ART?<br /><br /><hr><br />I caught up on my shows in three days, though pretty much the only thing that aired during my absence was a bunch of reality shows. And The Good Wife, for some reason. My reactions, in short:<br /><br /><a name="cutid3"></a><b>Top Chef</b><br />Good. I'm glad Blaise won. Yes, he was cocky, but as long as you've got the skill to back it up, I'm okay with cocky. Speaking of which....<br /><br /><a name="cutid4"></a><b>Survivor</b><br />Rob Mariano, you evil genius! I want him to make it to the end so bad you don't even know (not least of all because I know my interest will fizzle out to nothing if he's ousted and I'm enjoying this season tons and tons). I think the key here is playing the immunity idol at the right moment.<br /><br /><a name="cutid5"></a><b>Extreme Couponing</b><br />I can't believe I'm watching a show about couponing. And enjoying it! Well, except for the people who say that their couponing skills are a gift from god and god wanted them to have all this free stuff, etc, etc. That's creepy as fuck. As is... <br /><br /><a name="cutid6"></a><b>The Amazing Race</b><br />Mallory's constant prayers: so over it. Every time she's not eliminated I cry a few bitter tears (sorry, but that means you have to go too, Gary). <br /><br />And speaking of bitter tears, oh no, not the Cowboys! Sniff! I knew they wouldn't last and considering the way they've been sucking at travel this race I'm actually kind of amazed they lasted this long, but it's still heartwrenching to have to say goodbye to them.<br /><br />Now, the Goths can leave anytime. Well, Kent can leave.<br /><br />Hey, I know, why don't Vyxsin and Gary team up and leave their annoying team members by the wayside? That would work wonders for me. Especially since the Globetrotters can't be far behind the Cowboys.<br /><br /><a name="cutid7"></a><b>Cougar Town</b><br />I wouldn't mind if they spent entire episodes doing this:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/_jems_/pic/0081pz8h" title=""><br /><b><font size="-2">Penny can!</font></b><br /><br /></div><br /><br />(Again!)<br /><br />Because that's just how entertaining these characters have become. Hey, remember when this show sucked for like the first five episodes? Thank god they got over that, right? <br /><br /><br /><br />I can't believe there's only one more episode of The Good Wife left! And it's not for another two weeks! I watched the preview and OMG! <lj-cut text="Spoil yourself at will.> Peter! Moved to his own apartment! Actual repercussions and Alicia -- *gasp* -- NOT forgiving him for his swinish behavior! It's like Christmas in season finale form!
The one thing I feared about the whole Kalinda/Peter thing was that Alicia would put all the blame on Kalinda and forgive Peter again (I hate it when women blame the other woman instead of, you know, THE GUY WHO ACTUALLY MADE PROMISES TO THEM TO STAY FAITHFUL).
Of course, with Alicia I can totally understand her having issues with Kalinda now too, but at least in her case it will hopefully be grounded in the fact that Kalinda withheld this vital information that would have impacted her marriage and their friendship.
And yet, I can totally see why Kalinda wouldn't say anything. In the beginning there would be no reason. And in a new friendship there is such a thing as too much honesty. I think where Kalinda went wrong was when they whole thing floated up to the surface and instead of facing the music, she tried to bury it even further. Nothing good ever comes of that.
I just really hope that Kalinda and Alicia's friendship survives this storm. And that Peter and Alicia's marriage doesn't. </lj-cut>