The Silent "I"

Can't Scrapbook? Make a Poster

I used to be a scrapbooking maniac.  I compiled, cropped, and journaled thousands of photos into big, bulky photo albums.  After I started taking digital pictures and blogging, I found myself doing less and less scrapbooking.  I started just using my photos for blog posts and occasionally printing them out when my mom whined loud enough about never getting to see her grandson growing up.  Other than that, my photos are just hanging out on my harddrive.

Yesterday, my friends at the Silicon Valley Moms Blog invited me to an event sponsored by HP at a nearby Long's Drugstore to make a photo poster.  To be honest, I wasn't expecting much, but Techmama's very brave husband offered free babysitting for my son and her three boys, so we ventured over together.  I had uploaded some of my favorite photos of our trip to Greenland last year onto a flash drive, and thought I would make something for Alex's room.  They offered us a free poster for mombloggers and friends, so I had nothing to lose.  Plus, I needed some shampoo, so going to the drugstore was on my list of errands for the day anyway.

We were greeted by a number of friendly reps from HP, who were standing by a photo machine kiosk, ready to help us turn our pictures into a 16x20 poster.  Beth went first, and it took her about 10 minutes to load in the pictures, choose a background color, and shuffle her photos into a pattern that she liked.  It took another 15 minutes or so to print out, and the quality was pretty amazing.  The photo collage was printed out on heavy, photo-quality paper with a matte finish and looked very professional.

I had a little technical difficulty with mine, because the Sandisk flashdrive I won from Socal Mom's giveaway last week was new and contained some kind of software that the machine couldn't read.  They ended up making a CD for me on another machine, and when that didn't work, they loaded my pictures onto another flashdrive and we were good to go.  They HP reps said this glitch will be fixed with a software upgrade soon, and that the machines should be able to read any of the newer flashdrives in the future.  For now, it's best to take in a CD, an older flashdrive, or any memory card from your camera to make a poster.

After we got the pictures uploaded, the touchscreen led me through a series of easy steps of choosing photos, cropping them, choosing a color background, and then a series of "shuffles" that put the pictures in various places in a collage format.  You can't choose the exact placement of your photos, which is either a blessing or a curse, depending on how you look at it.  I could imaging myself spending hours standing in front of the machine, changing sizes, moving pictures around, and not being able to decide how to format the thing.  With the shuffle, the software makes the decisions for you, and you can hit the shuffle button as long as you want to, until you get the right configuration.  I think I went through about a dozen different variations before I hit on two or three I really liked. 

I loved how easy it was to use the machine, and the quality of the end product.  I ended up buying a frame and hanging it in the living room, instead of pinning it up in Alex's room as I had planned.  I could definitely see making something like this for a teacher gift, a grandparent gift, or to commemorate a very special event.  The machine also makes lovely calendars, photobooks, and greeting cards.  To find a location of one of the HP photo machines near you, click here.

Now, I'm wondering what I'm going to do with all that scrapbooking equipment I have stored in the closet...

MOMocrats Pilot Podcast

Stefania, Joanne and I recorded the first-ever MOMocrats podcast today.  I think it went well.  I was a little nervous to start, but got into the groove pretty quickly.  We scheduled it for 45 minutes because I was worried that an hour seemed too long.  It turned out that we had more to talk about than we had time!

Take a listen by clicking below and let me know what you think of the format.

Giveaway on MOMocrats

                                       This week, we're having a very cool giveaway on MOMocrats.  Come on over and check it out!  You can enter anytime between now and Thursday, May 1 at noon Pacific Time.  You know you want that Barack Obama purse from Snaptotes, now don't you?  Or the Hillary Clinton clutch?  Totally cute and will match almost any outfit.

Tonight, I'm meeting California First Lady, Maria Shriver.  I'll report in tomorrow on how it goes.  Thanks to my pals at Silicon Valley Moms Blog for arranging this  meeting!

Marriage and The Vortex of Doom

Our family took a short cruise up the Sea of Cortez in Mexico in January, just before school resumed.  It was a wonderful nature cruise that offered up-close glimpses of wildlife, hiking, snorkeling, and sea kayaking. 

I'm not a person who enjoys water.  I can tread water, but going out in deep water causes me to panic, due to some early childhood trauma involving my dad throwing me in a lake in an attempt to teach me using the old "sink or swim method."  I sank.  Like a rock wearing a toolbelt.  I don't like inhaling saltwater, so snorkeling has never held much appeal to me either.

Frank and Alex, on the other hand, are like a couple of friendly, inquisitive sea mammals and would rather snorkel than walk on land any day.  I was feeling a little left behind sitting on the beach with my People magazine, and so when the opportunity to kayak came along, I decided to "feel the fear and do it anyway."  I trusted that my husband would save me if we tipped over, and felt pretty sure that I wouldn't drown with the industrial-strength inflatable life vest I had strapped on my chest.

Neither Frank or I had ever been sea kayaking before this trip. Alex was happily building sandcastles with a half dozen or so other kids from our boat, and one of the other moms agreed to keep an eye on him.  So, we squeezed ourselves into a 2-person kayak and paddled out to sea.

We made it out of the protected lagoon with ease, gliding on top of the water as sea birds swooped down to feed on fish swimming near the surface.  It was beautiful and calm, with a light breeze making ripples in the water.  We could see other kayakers out in ocean, paddling along with no problem.  There was something very serene about gliding along on top of the azur water, surrounding by ocean and craggy mountain peaks.  Though we could see other people in the distance, the two of us were alone in our little boat, calmly paddling out to sea to face the unknown.

MOMocrats Kristen & Liz on TV Today

MOMocrats Contributors Liz and Kristen will be appearing on The View From the Bay, a local San Francisco Talk Show at 3 pm Pacific this afternoon or on a live-stream here.  They won't be talking politics this time around, but will be talking about another topic near and dear to all MOMocrats' hearts:  Unique Mother's Day Gifts.  Tune in for tips on cool gifts to shower your MOMocrat with this Mother's Day.

Wonder if they will feature the SnapTotes Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton purses?  Those are sure to be on all our wishlists.

 

Dear George Stephanopoulos, When Did You Become Such a Tool?

Dear George,

Hey! Remember me?  We went to college together.  We met on a very unfortunate blind date, which I think ended with you calling me a communist and me calling you something that rhymes with "ick". Bygones, I hope.

Still, as I got to know you a little in college from our intersecting circles of friends, I started to think that you were probably one of the brightest people I knew in a college full of brainiacs.  I mean, dude, Barack Obama himself graduated the year I did, one year after you.  Did you know him?  I didn't, but I imagine the two of you furiously debating during Zbigniew Brzezinski's honors seminar on Cold War Politics or having a brewski at the West End. Maybe not. 

I watched your career with interest, from your creation of the now archetypal preppy-but-earnest Presidential aide (Michael J. Fox played you to Michael Douglas' President in some movie or another), to reading your book about how the Clintons made you turn to antidepressants and C-list actresses for comfort, to your rise through the TV news ranks from cub reporter to Sunday morning show host.  I've always told people with a little bit of pride, "I knew that guy when he was just a short Greek guy with good hair and a lot of ambition."