American Gods--free :)

I almost forgot! For a while you can read American Gods online for free!

Of course, you could also walk, or bike, or drive, to your local library and borrow a copy. Check out Anansi Boys while you're at it. It's sort of a sequel. Kind of. Anyway, it's excellent.

Worms!

This is one time when I can point to my sister and say "She started it!" without hearing any protest from her.

In fact, she'll probably brag about it. Several years ago, she got interested in organic gardening, took some classes, and started a worm bin. I was initially fairly neutral about the whole thing. I'd put my garbage in the pail if I remembered, but I left the tending to her.

Except, of course, she left from time to time & I ended up in charge of the garden and, thus, the worms. I got hooked. Maybe I'm easy to please, but the quiet change from apple cores, banana peels, rice-that's-been-in-the-fridge-too-long, and general gunk into rich, dark soil continues to fascinate me. I like peeking in to see what's going on, and I love having nutrient-rich soil to put on my plants.

It's usually pretty much automatic, too. In several years of worm composting--and of doing it wrong (kind of, see below)--we've had only a handful of problems.

In fact, it's our most recent "problem" that prompted this post; we've been getting too good at giving the garbage to the worms rather than dumping it down the garbage disposal and have outpaced the worms; some of the garbage has been outright rotting rather than composting--When things are in balance, it's a pretty seamless transition from scraps to dirt with little to no "yuck" in between.

So, I spent part of yesterday afternoon setting up a new bin. This is where we have the "wrong" setup: The bin is a large, plastic trunk with some holes punched into it for air and something underneath to catch drips. We're not always terribly consistent about the ratio of leaves or paper to garbage, either, which can, but doesn't usually, cause problems. Honestly, if we really *did* chop up the garbage like some of the instructions demand, the composting simply wouldn't happen. And, like I said, our arrangement mostly works quite well.

The bin layout is on the left. The smaller garbage cans are used for holding leaves & other garden waste. The worms munch on those, too.

The picture on the right is the new bin.
Both bins are usually kept covered; I've the lids off in order to arrange things and to let them get some air.


It's quite satisfying, really, sitting out in the sun, setting up a new worm-home, transferring leaves and shredded paper in, and feeling just a bit smug about doing something "good for the environment."

I don't suppose this post by itself will convert you into vermiculturists (or whatever the correct term is), but should you happen to be in the area, and happen to be interested, I've got some nice, red worms you can have to start with; don't worry, this batch is bedded down in leaves--you won't have to take our garbage home with you.

Oh, and whether or not you're interested in composting, I recommend The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms by Amy Stewart. It's a well-written, fascinating book. I suggest picking up Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful, also by Amy Stewart, while you're at it. It has nothing to do with earthworms, but it's equally well-written. Try your local library before going to the bookstore to buy it; you can read a lot more books that way!

Mushrooms! Oh, and Photoshop Too

No...I won't be writing three posts every day. I am not sure I'll even make one every day.

However, I wanted to burble just a little bit about my class. When we started, the teacher said we would not be learning a lot about Photoshop as the focus was going to be on photography, something that suited me just fine.

And, really, the focus has been on the pictures, something which continues to suit me just fine. However, one person's definition of "a lot" differs from another's, and I think we are learning "a lot" about Photoshop. I'm finally starting to understand Layers, for example, and they are a whole lot of fun. One can, for example, take a perfectly ordinary picture of some mushrooms







mess with it a bit and make it black and white










and then--here's the really fun part--alter the layer's transparency to get something else again.

I knew before, kind of, how to get a black and white image out of a colored one, though only through desaturating,






but that third option.... That's just fun.

Photography: Doing Things Backwards

Confession time: I'm doing all this photography stuff backward, kind of.

I spent several years happily running around with my camera, just taking pictures and picking up bits and pieces about composition here and there. It would be inaccurate to say that I am self taught, since with three painters in the family, there is inevitably some conversation about color, composition, light, and other pictorial elements.

However, I don't know a whole lot about the actual camera, at least, not yet. I've been using the "Auto" setting for 99% of my pictures. And, mostly, it's worked.

But lately... Lately I've been getting antsy. You know--auto is wonderful, but it's also really, really bossy.

Ever tried to take a picture of a dragonfly while the camera kept insisting that the twig it was sitting on was more important? Or wanting to get blur *on*purpose* rather than simply hoping that the motion will turn out right? Or taking a night-time photo while the camera says there is not enough light? Trust me, it's frustrating.

So, I am now finally taking a photography class, learning more about composition and learning how to take charge of my camera.

It's great fun!

It's also taking time and energy. That is one reason that I'm dialing back on my ArtID account for now--those of you who've been there will notice that instead of forty-some pictures, there are now only about six showing. That's probably not going to be permanent, but for the time being, I need to stop and think about shutter speed & Photoshop, and printing, and matte cutting, and a whole passel of other things, many of which I probably have not even thought of yet. ArtID has helped me see that I really *am* serious about this whole picture-taking thing, but right now, I need to concentrate on learning more about what it is I'm doing.

I'll be posting the odd picture here, though, and I'll try to rotate the display on ArtID with some degree of regularity (Ok, that's not much of a promise, really, more a fancy way of saying "I'll change the pictures sometimes").

Bookwyrme Burbles

So, here I am starting my third blog!

I've one on myspace, and one on ArtID, and now this one.

This one is going to be more accessible than the myspace one, I think & more general than the ArtID which is very subject specific. So, here is the place I'll burble--about photography, yes, but also about sewing, gardening, Sherlock Holmes, modding, and whatever else comes to mind.

Welcome!