Monthly Archives: December 2010

Recently the folks at Momversation asked me if I’d try a Canon PIXMA MG6120. Since I really enjoy my existing all in one, I figured I’d give the photo printer a try as well. Here’s the thing…

I am not a photographer.

I don’t even play a photographer on the internet. My photos suck. They are consistent and they are absolutely sucktastic. If you don’t believe me, check out my Flickr stream, add me as a contact, and we can hope and pray together that at this time next year I’ll have non-sucky pictures.

In the interim I take some pretty snazzy videos. You see last year I bought Mr. G a Canon 7D EOS for his birthday with a pretty snazzy lens too. He is in charge of all photography, but I love to play with it and take a little video. Which is awesome for sharing with family, but not so awesome for hanging things on the walls.

What surprised and delighted me about the Canon PIXMA MG6120 printer was that I could take my HD videos (you can use an EOS or a PowerShot), scroll through them, freeze on a frame that I liked and print just that frame. I absolutely love this for a zillion reasons (I’m pretty sure you can think of why). I am not someone who is accustomed to being in front of a still camera. I blink when the flash hits, I go to smile, but not too big or your eyes disappear, and guess what… all the warmth disappears. I look annoyed. Which is how I then feel looking at the pictures. Video is different. I like video, I love having video of events and of special moments in our lives. I can pick a dozen great pictures out of every video.

And now I can print them at home.

Here’s what you need to know about photo printing at home (this is literally my first ever experience with it). Things look a little yellower in print than on the computer screen. So all the times that I was taking my pictures and correcting the white balance to “warm them up” a little might look nice on the screen, but it does NOT look nice printed up.

Yes, I realize that you probably knew that. I did not.

My kids had a great time playing with the printer. They printed a stack of stills from some movies they’d made with friends. The set up is simple, really my nine year old hooked his laptop up without asking for help.

The printer itself is ridiculously easy to use. Canon calls it Intelligent Touch. I call it pretty. I won’t be printing photos every day, so I can fold everything shut like this and it is easy to dust. Unless you are running a photo studio out of your house, a photo printer needs to be easy to close up and to dust.

A special thanks to Vickie for creating this fabulous ornament. I love that the picture is in black and white and it looks like a negative. It reminds me of high school photo class, and how I’d stare at negatives and wonder what they’d end up looking like. I’m pretty sure everyone knows that if I was left to my own I’d create something perfect for Craftastrophe.

I have a little advice for first time photo printers (yes, it’s ridiculous that this is my first time). Buy some cheap paper and print some small pictures. It takes a little tinkering to get a good sense of what a 5×7 really looks like, or how those blurry edges look on paper. If you’re like me and you’ve been outsourcing all of your paper printing, set aside an hour to just play with it before you pop in the good paper (which can cost about a dollar a sheet).

One of the really cool things about Canon printers is that when they’re running low on ink you’ll get a little pop up on your screen letting you know which color you need to buy, and it links you right over to the right place to purchase it online. Respecting my time will make me love you forever.

Arrgghhh

I tried not to. My friend Joanne is so much better than I, but I love technology so it’s no surprise my kids do too.

Join the Momversation with Mindy, Rebecca and me. Will you be giving tech this year? I did.

Dad. Go read something else. Now. Maybe Oatmeal.

Everyone else, we’re going to have to talk about menstruation.

Earlier this week I posted about the pink string on Kotex brand tampons, and how confusing pink can be. The twitter DM’s started pretty quickly.

Why aren’t you using a diva cup?

Eww gross, get a Diva Cup.

Don’t you know anything? You need a Diva Cup.

Ladies, in addition to tampons and pads for your menses, there are cups. Although the Diva Cup has made quite a splash with the bloggers, there are many other brands Soft Cup, Moon Cup, Lady Cup, Femmecup, and  Miacup are just a few.

Cups all seem to do the same thing. They collect your flow. You insert these things and collect away for up to 12 hours.

This seems great, and it seems that with the Soft Cup you can even have intercourse, but I see two big issues.

Removal and Birth Control.

I’m sure it’s really great to not have to buy tampons, but from the reviews I’m reading there’s still a need for pads just in case. Not to be gross, but just in case what? What happens when you need to empty the cup? What if you aren’t home, do you just walk to the sink at a public washroom with a hand full of grossness… I really can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want their menses to be disposable. We don’t have to reuse everything.

I’m green. I’m just not this green.

My understanding was that you cannot use the cup with an IUD, but now they seem to be saying you can use both, but ask your doctor first.

If there is any chance of the cup ruining my IUD I’m out. I waited my entire adult life to have unprotected sex, then I got married and had sex to have babies. The IUD lets me have a sex life without trying to make a baby or hoping that I haven’t. I am not giving up an IUD for anything in the world.

That being said, I’m forever grateful to the Diva Cup for getting the mom bloggers on board. Tanis’ son mistook it for a nipple insert, Elly found out that she has a large sized vagina, and Annika picked one up only to find out that she was pregnant and wouldn’t be needing it for at least 40 weeks. Even if I don’t love (even the idea of) the product like Cathy does, I can love the hilarity it brings to the blogosphere.

I was 16 years old in 1986 when I met Mona. Mona was friends with my then boyfriend, she was 22 and recently widowed. Her husband had died of AIDS, she had it. I remember hugging Mona, but still feeling nervous about it. Before I was 17 she had called me at home from the hospital. She said she had pancreatitis and she felt like she was dying.

I never heard from Mona again. I assume she died, probably not that week.

I met Gene when I was 17. He was my best friend’s brother. He was HIV positive. He drove an enormous blue convertible and would park it in random places and we’d all hop out of the car and dance to “Losing My Religion” at the loudest possible volume.

I met Steven and Frank when I was 19. Steven and I were instantly joined at the hip. We loved each other. He’d tell me about his sisters back home and how much I reminded them of him. We got our puppies at the same time, we did our hair and nails together, we danced until the sun came up, and we held hands all the time.

Frank died when I was 21. His parents did not want Steven at the funeral. They were cruel to everyone from West Hollywood and angry with Frank for being gay.

Gene died of AIDS when I was 23, sort of. He was dying, there was nothing left to him, so he hurried it along with a bag full of pills. It made sense at the time, and everyone was excruciatingly careful to not help him. We wouldn’t even pick up his prescriptions for him. We didn’t want to be called murderers.

We sat at his bedside, a dozen of us, and sang “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore” while Gene ate poison applesauce that he’d prepared himself. For another dozen hours men laid in bed with him chanting Ohm. When Gene stopped breathing we called the funeral home and left his body for them.

When Steven died in 2007 part of me died with him.

This morning my brother sent me an email. It read:

http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/cgi/content/abstract/blood-2010-09-309591v1

Read the last sentence of the abstract.

I sat at my desk and cried. I never thought this would happen in my lifetime.

In conclusion, our results strongly suggest that cure of HIV has been achieved in this patient.

And I think I actually want to be on the show.

I can’t really tell you about it, there isn’t a whole lot to say, except that I walked into my appointment and the Casting Producer who I had the appointment with was nice. NICE. She was also wearing pink cashmere, which means that I’m destined to be on the show, and the Casting Director had that most fabulous curly hair that reminded me of my own before I had kids. Most importantly, she made up some lame excuse to not shake hands. Which I love.

Imagine a week of filming with executives that don’t want to shake hands. It’s almost as good as the swine flu.

Of course during the taped interview I had to scratch my nose, like twice, and then I offered to shake hands with the Casting Producer…. you know, the one with the pretty sweater.

Here’s hoping y’all will be seeing me on the old fashioned tee vee too.

As if the Giants Vikings matchup needed more drama.

The Metrodome has collapsed under the weight of the extraordinary snowfall. Luckily Fox had some cameras rolling. The anchors describe it as something that James Cameron would make.

It’s absolutely incredible.