Focus
I am borrowing a very nice camera for work. I'll be returning to my regular (broken, fuzzy, cell phone) camera tomorrow, so I thought I'd grab the chance to explore how manual focus works. These are pictures from my Sunday morning walk.
#art & music
10 posts
- Read more → More from Shauna's Blog →
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100 beautiful things
Read more → More from Shauna's Blog →A while back, when I was still volunteering for Samaritans, I had a particularly rough evening. I don't remember why: might have had a long conversation with a desperate caller, or a run of calls from harassers. (Yes, that's a thing. A really unfortunate thing.) Or perhaps I was in a bad mood from something else entirely, some other aspect of my day. In any case, I decided to immerse myself in things that made me simply, inescapably happy. So I started this tumblr. I've added to it on and off ever since, whenever I come across something that makes me deeply happy to be alive. Like frost flowers:
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Campaign Songs
Read more → More from Shauna's Blog →On the six hour drive to New York City last week, my family somehow got on the topic of political campaign songs. Campaign songs today are pretty boring, because politicians just use popular music. Although it's kind of fun to watch Republicans try to find music made by artists who won't sue them to get them to stop using it.
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One time, at hackerspace freeschool camp...
Read more → More from Shauna's Blog →Just finished off my three weeks at camp with an afternoon of making chocolate gears, legos, and chess pieces using the latex molds we created during the week. The chocolate gears did not actually function as gears, so I am 0 for 1 on attempts for my friend Dan's moving wedding cake, but I'm going to try again with better gears. (Also on the list of ideas to try: a sterling engine made of rock candy, and a helium-filled fruit leather balloon. I still like the chocolate gears idea best, though.)
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The sopranos (and mezzo-sopranos, and contraltos)
Read more → More from Shauna's Blog →For whatever reason, much of the music that I've found and liked has been by men. My favorite singers/bands/acts - Andrew Bird, Sufjan Stevens, Great Lake Swimmers, Paul Simon/Simon & Garfunkel - are all dudes. Not very cool. So half the purpose of this post is to get you all to recommend me some lady singers and songwriters.
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You've Got a Song About Friendship
Read more → More from Shauna's Blog →I had friends over for Valentine's Day, as I frequently do, and this year I decided to make a playlist of songs about friendship, which were astonishingly hard to find. Although to be fair, I did exclude some songs 'cause I didn't like them, but I should have been overwhelmed by options! Anyway, here is the playlist:
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Cool, cool, cool.
Read more → More from Shauna's Blog →I like the word cool. Unlike other positive adjectives, like groovy, gnarly, or dope, it's been around for 50-150 years (depending on whether you count this use by Abraham Lincoln) and always stayed, well, *cool*.
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Musicals
Read more → More from Shauna's Blog →It's my birthday today! My present to myself is a quick, fun post.
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Same Song, Different Meaning
Read more → More from Shauna's Blog →I was at a parade a few days ago when the brass band marching by played what I'm sure they thought was the Battle Hymn of the Republic. What fewer people know is that the song was popularized during the Civil War with completely different lyrics:
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Swimming in Harmony
Read more → More from Shauna's Blog →The Great Lake Swimmers are one of my favorite bands, although I didn't really understand just how incredible they are until I got a chance to see them live. Sitting in the front row of a small theater is the best way to experience them - unless you can somehow convince them to play you a concert in the middle of the woods somewhere, or on a beach, or a mountaintop. Because the Great Lake Swimmers write love songs to, for, about nature.