Two Months and Counting

The P&P Weekly will be posted tomorrow instead of in its usual Monday slot due to a busy weekend.

Kim was a bridesmaid in her friend's wedding on Saturday so I got to meet a number of people that will be coming to ours. We saw some things that we might consider including in our plans, other things that wouldn't be "us," and had an all-in-all good time.

With the wedding this weekend, we both have been growing more excited about our own which is now exactly two months from today. As the groom got up to speak, he said how he wasn't at all nervous and I can honestly say that I'm not either. I can't wait!

As I wait for DHL to deliver the new laptop - it's out for delivery! - I will leave you with a shot I took on Friday of the tractor from the summer camp I went to as a kid and volunteered and worked at in college. (We're working on a video for them and I was down there last week gathering footage.)

Until then...

P&P Weekly: Break

Kim and I are in the process of moving into our first apartment together as we approach our wedding in October. So, as you can imagine, I've been busy carrying heavy things all weekend and didn't have the time or energy to write up the P&P Weekly for this week. Also, since my cable and internet won't be activated until this Friday, I couldn't even go online to see what everyone else was writing about in order to put it together, let alone post it.

With that said, I'll be writing from work this week so please bear with me as I make this transition.

In the meantime, please review the list of sites in the sidebar and see what my fellow bloggers have been posting!

Also, I've had a great response from a number of photographers interested in taking part in the upcoming photo project. We're up to 6 from various parts of the US and abroad. I don't want to exclude anyone and I want some representation from other countries so if you're interested, there's still time to participate. Also, if you have any themes or topics that you would like to see us cover, please leave a comment here.

Off-Topic

I apologize for this being a little off-topic but, if you want to be technical about it, this is a photo so...

Kim and I have been deep into planning for our upcoming wedding (October 13th!) and each time a detail is figured out or another element is taken care of we find ourselves filled with more excitement.

Kim got her dress a couple of weeks ago, I was measured for my tux the other day, we're in the process of registering (through a cool site called http://www.idofoundation.org/ which partners with stores to donate a percentage of the proceeds to a charity of our choice - we're leaning towards Doctors Without Borders), we met with my friend Meredith who will be officiating, and we've just ordered our wedding rings (above). We wanted something unique and different and that would fit well with her engagement ring.

There's still a lot of little (and not so little) details to work out but I feel pretty good about where we are with everything. As much as I am excited about "The Day" I am even more overjoyed by the fact that I'll be married to such a wonderful woman.

I'm Back!

It's been a whirlwind week here at Soup Questions HQ. On the Photoshop & Photography side, I just got back from Photoshop World in Boston where I learned a lot, I laughed a lot, and I got to meet a few of the blogroll members including Scott Kelby, Dave Cross, Matt Kloskowski, John Nack and a number of other Photoshop users from around the world - I bowled a few games with a guy from Belgium at the After Hours Party at Jillian's.

I'm still getting used to my new camera - the weight of the vertical grip made it difficult to get steady handheld shots - and I'm definitely not a fan of taking shots in a more rushed setting, since PS World is so hectic, so I'm not thrilled with how the people shots turned out. I'll be posting them in the coming days as well as a few shots more typical of my style. I will also be posting a tip or tutorial from each of the sessions I attended throughout the week. And the P&P Weekly will be posted tomorrow now that I've had a chance to recover a bit.On a more personal note, as I returned from Boston on Friday night, Kim surprised me by showing up at my apartment to welcome me home. We stayed up late talking and in the wee hours of Saturday morning I just couldn't wait any longer. I pulled out my grandmother's wedding ring, placed it on her finger, and the rest, as they say, is history! We haven't set a date yet but we're just so happy!

Russell Brown, Photoshop History, and Fun

Lately I've been eating up as many tutorials as I can about Photoshop CS3 and once again found myself over in the Tips & Techniques section of The Russell Brown Show watching a number of videos by Adobe's Senior Creative Director. While watching and listening to him work you just can't not be excited about Photoshop. It's just not possible.

Also, over at PhotoshopNews.com, Jeff Schewe offers an interesting visual history of Photoshop splash screens from pre-v1.0 thru CS2.

And finally, on a more personal note, after a number of changes in scheduling, destination, and overall logistics, Kim and I are beginning to plan a vacation to London and Paris for late summer. Late last fall I was thinking about a solo trip to Switzerland, then my best friend from college and I were discussing Greece but now she can't go - and the prices went way up - so Kim and I decided that Paris would be perfect. She hasn't done a whole lot of traveling, none abroad, and with her love of art and working toward her masters in Art Ed. Paris just seemed like the natural destination. We're also going to spend a day or two wandering around London and maybe catch a show.

Other than the obvious spots to see, does anyone have any suggestions for our trip? Little cafes with great food? Lesser-known places to visit? We'd love to hear them!

Fallingwater

“The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

Fallingwater Vacation

I am going to be out of town this week on a mini-vacation. Kim and I will be taking a few days to travel down to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in southwestern PA. (With a short stopover to meet, at least, her mom and her dog - who gets final approval of me!)

I visited Fallingwater back in 2004 but was on a tour that didn't allow me to take any photos inside the house. This time, we're taking the in-depth tour which, even though it starts at 8:30 (too early for a vacation), takes you into rooms not accessible on the regular tour and photography is also allowed. Because it's a guided tour, I won't have a great opportunity to take the time I would want to get shots, but at least I can have my camera. I'll be back late in the week and will definitely post some of my better shots.

Part of being on vacation means detachment from my computer. So, I will not be posting this week until I get back and because of everything I have to do today I will not be writing up the P&P Weekly for this week. Photoshop & Photography Blogroll members have been posting some really great stuff this week and we have a couple of new members so please take the time to visit their sites and check them out!

Also, something for all you Photoshop addicts out there, I should have a profile coming for Matt Kloskowski within the next week or two so be on the lookout for that!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Kim & Jason - Self Portrait, 2/12/07

A New Year

My parents took me out to dinner tonight for my birthday and my mom asked me about the hopes and wishes I have for this next year.

There a various levels of that response. On the one hand, I hope that I can keep to a more regular schedule for writing here - everyday that I'm not out of town or otherwise away from my computer if possible. I hope that I will go out and shoot more photos. I hope that the business does well. I hope to grow in my knowledge and skills.

I have things I can plan on and look forward to this year - at least in the next few months. At the end of the month my dad and I will be going down to NYC for a couple of days to shoot some interviews for a video project we're working on. In April I'll be heading to Photoshop World in Boston, my first time going for the full event. (By the way, if any of you will be there, let me know and we can try to meet up at some point.) And I'm in the process of planning a vacation to Greece with my best friend from college for early May (thanks for the continuing advice, Michael).

But that's not quite what she meant, I know. I'm sure what she meant was for me to talk about what I personally hope to come out of this next year of my life. When I look back on my 26th year in another 26 years, how would I like to remember it? All I can say is that my wish for this year is that it will be one that is filled with the blossoming and deepening friendships, with personal growth and self-discovery, with greater understanding, and with as much peace and love as possible. And I wish the same for everyone.

I recall a fitting entry I wrote a few years ago in my personal journal just before I left for Semester at Sea:

Life has so much yet to teach me, I pray that I'm open enough to learn from it. May my days to come be filled with more joy than pain, more laughter than tears, more love than hate. May I live a life that is full of life - with no regrets!

I could say more, maybe even be more detailed... but then it wouldn't come true!

Summer Romances

They're shooting stars, a spectacular moment of light in the heavens, fleeting glimpse of eternity, and in a flash they're gone.

On a Personal Note

Thus far I have only mentioned in passing that I have been seeing someone. Almost a month and a half ago I met Kim. She is a first-year art education graduate student at Syracuse University. We have similar temperaments, interests, senses of humor, and we spend as much time together as our schedules allow - given that they are very different from each other.

She's intelligent, a talented artist, sweet, caring, beautiful, she makes me smile and laugh, she is just an all-around wonderful person and I am humbled that she would want to be with me.

It's been tough these past few weeks as I've been working out of town and she's been in the midst of papers, presentations and midterms along with the demands of work and life but I feel as though we've forged a strong foundation and I look forward to see where this will lead.

A Little Off

This has felt like an odd week for me. I've been at least a day off everyday. Because I had Monday off, Tuesday felt like Monday, Wednesday felt like Thursday, yesterday felt like Friday, today sort of feels like Friday but I'm working tomorrow too which makes it feel like Thursday again. There's just something wrong with that!

It's been tough to find balance in my life lately, too. I've recently started seeing someone and though things are going great between us, our schedules don't line up as neatly as we would like. As I wrote in my last post, I've been doing a lot of tasks at work that require little, if any creativity. Over the next 3 weeks I'll be out of town three different times so it will be tough to find much rest - though the time off to compensate for it will definitely help - and, again, it won't be on the really creative side of things.

It's funny how it all works out. As things begin to go well in one area, something else comes along to take some of the wind out of your sails. At the same time, when you're really feeling the stress of life, something - or someone - enters in to help turn things around.

Tomorrow we will be finishing up interviews for a stewardship video for a local church. This church has gone through a series of changes in its 40 year lifespan, always faithfully risking to move forward, whether it's something big or only a little at a time. People who were youth and young adults when the church started are now the parents and grandparents of the current youth - the focus of their current stewardship drive. It's cyclical. Life, in all its incarnations, finds balance. And I'm trying to reach that balance in my own life too.

One of my favorite aspects of Eastern religions is the desire to live in harmony with nature and to walk a line of moderation between any extremes. Whether it's the Middle Way between self-indulgence and self-denial or trying to leave a place better than you found it. It's about doing the best you can; it's about trying to contribute to the greater good without getting in the way or bringing it down around you.

It's been a little tedious and tiresome in certain areas of my life - though never dull - and I have longed, for so long, to find rest and the fullness of life, to find balance. Out of nowhere, in amazing ways things are starting to change and grow and move closer to that sense of equilibrium for me. The adjustments may keep me a little off for awhile but I can feel things start falling into place. And for that I'm thankful.

Burned Out

I know I haven't really written anything substantive in a couple of weeks but things have been pretty hectic at work lately and I've been left feeling quite spent.

We just finished putting together an electronic version of a client's annual journal/yearbook. The way we planned to create it led to a number of issues when combined with the client's desires and the limitations of using two particular programs together. Every day we would work through one issue and be faced with another hiding right behind it as we tried to reconcile the project based on the solution to the previous problem.

Then, on Wednesday we had a "Eureka" moment and figured out how to basically start building the journal over again in a slightly different way that made all the issues disappear. Then, at the end of the day on Friday - just before we were to drop the sample into FedEx to the client - we go to print the face of the CD and the alignment is off and we spend a couple of hours banging our heads against the wall trying to make the new printer do what we want, perfectly. (And my level of frustration that had been building for the past couple of weeks and my total burn out left me feeling so wasted that I almost had nothing left.)

Long story short, I calmed down, we worked through it, and the final product is on its way. Assuming everything checks out - and it should, we tested it enough - over the next few weeks we'll be in the process of duplicating, printing, and packing 3,000 copies of this thing. We timed how long it takes to copy and print and we figure it will take us about 100 hours to do it with the two of us working pretty steadily.

All I can say is thank God for the long weekend to try and regain some semblance of sanity after such a stressful week.