Aeternus-Spero

...oh wait, we already all knew that...  

I have so many problems with how DDs are chosen.  I would LOVE to elaborate, but I don't have the time for a lengthy entry.  Perhaps a series is in order?

In any case, my beef today, is with photographs that have been taken by someone else than the poster of the photo.  The person who posts the photo in their account is usually the model (and sometimes the model is the makeup, hair and wardrobe artist, but more likely than not the wardrobe is entirely absent), and the photographer is often credited in the description...they may or may not have a DA account, however.

The PROBLEM arises when such a deviation is awarded a DD, and the mindless populace hurls about comments such as "Really awesome lighting," "What camera did u use?" or "omg sucha kewl photo i wish i could take kewl photos lol!!1"  Seriously.  The deviant that posted it put it under the category of PHOTOGRAPHY, so what else are people supposed to think, even though they didn't even take the dang photo??

What we need is a separate category for models to post pictures of themselves, so people can understand that the deviant being celebrated is a model, not a photographer.  So many of the "kewl" photos that receive DDs are posted by the models.  While it takes a lot of work to be a model, it takes even more to know how to take the photo, to be behind the lens instead of simpering in front of it.  Giving the model the credit for the photo (and especially rewarding such dishonesty with a DD) is preposterous.  Don't credit the model; s/he's how and who s/he is naturally.  Many of these deviations are also riddled with comments related to the attractiveness of the model, which has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the photo.  Unbelievable.  People have to study and practice to be a photographer; models are generally just naturally who they are, and if they've been put through some serious bodmod to make themselves particularly unusual, then the modifier should get the credit, unless the model designed it, as in a tattoo...

Seriously.  I'm sick of the models getting credit for the photographer's work.

On the other hand, there may be models who can envision the photo that they want taken and do everything to make it happen besides click the shutter.  They may set up the environment, do the styling, the lighting, everything--though it's hard to see what effects the light will have on the subject when the subject is both behind and in front of the lens.

Most models, however, are just there for the photographer to work with, to dress (or not) in whatever environment and with whatever lighting to create the shot that they want.  The models are just a part of the piece.  Sure, they deserve credit for giving their time (and possibly their artistic insight).  But a model posting a picture of themselves under "photography" is like a person who took a cool photo of an outfit they saw at the Renaissance Faire under "Textiles > Costumes."  And we all know how often that happens and how annoying it is.

Okay, I'm done ranting.  I'm just surprised someone hasn't done anything about this yet.

Just in case anyone wants to hear about it, I'm going to chat about our garden for a bit.  It's really amazing how far everything's come along; I'm mostly writing about it so we can remember what we did when and how it was doing...and I know some of you geeks might appreciate hearing about it.

Well, when we got back from Vegas (Oh yeah; Jared and I went there for a family reunion, very fun!), we found our garden looking like we were growing a bunch of green fireworks!    And in just under a week, we've gotten so much rain and sun that it's growing even more--unbelievable.  We have video uploaded on Youtube too, if you want to see for yourself!

When we transplanted our tomato plants, Jared said that we should put these water shields around them, to keep them warm.  It actually really seemed to help, but if any of you are going to grow tomatoes, remember this: don't let them be inside the water shields for much longer than two weeks, depending on weather.  Check them often, because at that point they get really big and may either get too cramped in the shields or they might just get fried by all the heat.  Fortunately, we only had two or three plants that were still in water shields when we left for Vegas, and the other ones are doing splendidly.  Today, we staked them: we put little aluminum wire frames around them so they can climb easier.  

Our corn is really high...they have a saying about corn: "knee high by the fourth of July," is how it's supposed to go.  Man, by that time it's going to be at least up to my hips, I'm telling you.  Though, with all that rain came wind, and since it's at the top of a little rise in our yarn, our garden's been getting blasted by wind, and the corn kind of looks like a comb-over.    But it'll be okay.  

The beets are coming along; nice and leafy, and you can see a few of them, about two inches in diameter.  We're supposed to harvest them at three inches.  The green onions are great, too; we've been eating them for a while, hehe, adding them to salads, soups, whatever!  It's getting so that we need to harvest them before they grow much more, though.  It's like an onion forest, because we're also growing sweet yellow onions.  The onions we purchased as bulbs--easiest things in the world, and they were actually really cheap.  

The peppers were transplanted a few weeks back, and they're doin' just fine; nice lil' sprouts.  (Geez, did an accent slip in there?)  The carrots look really fluffy on top, but Jared told me to pull one to see how they were, and it was just a tiny little thing!  Eep!  So we replanted it.  Our beans are looking good, except they may have gotten a little neglected when we were gone, and so the younger leaves look kind of withered and some of the earlier leaves look a bit fried...whether by sun or insect, we may never know.  But hey, that's what happens when you leave your brother-in-law in charge of the garden...the beans get neglected.  

One of the most exciting things is the spinach!  It's so amazingly delicious!  We've been having a lot of salad lately, using spinach plucked minutes before with a little balsamic vinegar, fresh strawberries, oil and dried cranberries--mmMMmm!  

Although, the kale is something I didn't expect to be so prolific!    It's rather an enormous hunk of green that towers and bushes over everything else.  I'm looking forward to making some zuppa toscana with it sometime--a little Italian sausage, a little cream, a little chicken stock and kale, and you've got a nice soup going on!    The kale is actually pretty yummy right now, even though it's a winter crop...I think we'll probably replant the kale in the fall for another crop, since it's reportedly super hardy.

Ah yeah, and the swiss chard is good too--it's another leafy green, so if anyone feels like they haven't been getting enough of their vitamins and minerals lately, come on over!  This breed of chard is multicolored, so their veins are either white, yellow or red--very colorful and festive.

Our basil is doing quite nicely too...we had our first leaves of it last night, when I made a little hors d'oeuvres.  They consisted of rosemary focaccia with slices of fresh mozzarella and thinly sliced roma tomatoes, topped with smoked prosciutto and basil drenched in olive oil, salt and pepper.  Awesome!!  Basil is so wonderfully fragrant.

As for the rest of our herbs, we have a few mint coming up, the oregano's doing nicely, the rosemary's a little slow, and the lavender is getting there.  The parsley is positively poofy, the chives are coming along, and the sage looks really good.  I think we'll have to wait quite a bit before sampling any of those, except for perhaps the sage.



In other news, my good friend Stephanie is coming to visit in a week, arriving on the fourth of July, and she's planning on making dinner for Jared and I for our first anniversary.  We'll be doing the grand tour  of Ellsworth, the Twin Cities, and all the fun places in River Falls--and of course, doing a ton of cooking with all the backyard delicacies!

Anyway, I love you all and hope you're doing well.  Ciao for now!

Oh yeah!  Almost forgot!

Just kidding, I've been so busy subbing and all the past few months...yikes.  I'm actually supposed to be studying for my PRAXIS exam on Wednesday, but I actually think I have it under control for the most part, so no big deal there.  I thought I'd submit my Revelation necklaces that I've been trying to get right for, oh I don't know, two years or more now?

Well, my break is over; I'm going to go over math again.  Can you believe it?  Remembering algebra from high school is not as fun as you might think!