Weekend Assignment #262: New Again

Let's get right to this week's topic:

Weekend Assignment #262: Spring, and especially Easter, is a time of renewal, of new life after a time of darkness and decay (think of the long nights, and all those fallen leaves!). What is new - or renewed in your life this spring?

Extra Credit: Is spring cleaning part of your family's annual routine?

I'm going to make my own answer uncharacteristically brief for now, although I may expand upon it later. I have a friend - never mind who - with whom I had a quarrel around Christmas. Since then I haven't managed to make myself go see her, partly because I was angry, but mostly because I was ashamed of myself, for arguing and for staying away so long. I'm determined to go see her today, to put things right and renew our friendship. Wish me luck.

And spring cleaning? Um, no. We do occasionally do major cleaning projects - and when I say "we," I mostly mean John - but they're not annual or seasonal.

Your turn! Are you planting new flowers in your garden? Starting a new job? Renovating a bathroom? Darning socks? Whatever it is, please tell us about it in your blog, and be sure to leave a link to this blog in your entry, and a link to your entry in the comments below. I'll be back in a week with the results. Meanwhile...

For Weekend Assignment #261: Have You Done Your Homework?, I asked about your promptness, or lack thereof, in doing homework assignments and other tasks, then and now. Only two of you got this assignment done on time:

Julie said...

Oh, it depended on the assignment and how I felt about the class. Some assignments I couldn't wait to dig into. Some wouldn't get done until the last minute. And the reason varied. I tend to spit stuff our better when I've studied for a test at the last minute, so there was a LOT of that going on. Some things (like my law classes) required three or for readings before the material would soak in, so the sooner I got started, the more times I'd be able to read the assignment.

Mike said...

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I never did my homework early. Oh, it's due on April 25th? Okay, I'll start it on the 23rd. I'll have plenty of time. Of course, when I actually start it on April 24th, well that "plenty of time" turns into: holy crap this is a big project! Why?! Why, didn't I start it sooner? Why?!!!!

I'm still running low on "guest professor" suggestions for these Weekend Assignments, so I ask again: please, please, please email me some new ones. Thanks!

Karen

Monday Photo Shoot: Multicolorful! Plus Your "New" Photos

As promised, here are the results of last week's Monday Photo Shoot. It was a light turnout, but I have high hopes for this week. What's this week's topic? That will be revealed in this very entry, right after the links for last week.

The topic was "What's New?" and I asked you to show us something new:

Julie celebrated the New Year with her annual "confetti shot."

Whee! Martha and the kids got a new Wii from Santa!

Astaryth got a new book of equine photography - surprisingly new, in fact.

Becky shows us how happy Max is on his new rocking horse.

That's it! As I say, it's a light turnout, what with the holiday and the fact that it was my first attempt to continue this John Scalzi meme. Now, on to this week's topic. At various times Scalzi asked us to shoot something in one specific color or another. This time out, let's mix them up, shall we?

New Monday Photo Shoot #2: Show us something colorful. I don't mean a little colorful, or just one color. Let's see something that has three or more colors in it, something just about guaranteed to provoke the reaction, "Wow! That's really colorful!"

Here's mine:





Yes, I'm subjecting you to yet another Safeway sunset. This one took place tonight, and was the most colorful I've seen in a long time. Yes, I cheated on the saturation on that last shot, but not by much.

Your turn! Post a picture of something multicolored, and then come back here and leave a link in comments so we can all take a look. To keep things simple and consistent, I'll post the results in the early morning hours of Monday the 14th, so you have until Sunday night to post your entry and leave your link. You can use HTML to make a live link, or just paste it in as text. And no, you no longer need a Blogger ID to leave a comment.

Have fun!

Karen

Your Substitute Monday Photo Shoot: What's New?

As you should all know by now, today (Monday, December 31st, 2007) was John Scalzi's last day blogging for AOL on By the Way. A number of people have said they were going to miss John's Monday Photo Shoots, and a few have asked me whether anyone will be picking up the slack, and assigning them in John's stead. MPS addict that I am, I'm willing to give it a shot. How about you?

Here's how this will work: I will post an entry every Monday with that week's subject. (After this week, it will be early Monday AM, not Monday night.) If you want to join in, take your picture, post it to your blog or journal, and leave a link in the comments to the original entry here. On Thursday night, I'll do a follow-up entry just as John did, linking back to everyone who participated. Simple, no? Then let's get started!

Your Substitute Monday Photo Shoot #1: What's New? In honor of the new year, show us something new. It can be a gift you got over the holidays, something you gave yourself, or even something that symbolizes the New Year to you. If it's new, it'll do!

Here's mine:


This is the coolest Christmas present I got this year: the 25th Anniversary Illustrated Collector's Edition of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. It's one of my favorite books of all time. It's also one of my favorite tv shows and spoken word records, several of my favorite audio tapes, my very favorite radio show and my second favorite towel. It's not remotely my favorite film, but one can't have everything.


I have the text of the first Hitchhiker's book in several editions as it is, but this one is pretty special. It's full of visual reproductions of annotated scripts, behind the scenes photos from the various productions, merchandise, flyers and fan memorabilia. Love it! (And yes, I realize the above photo isn't terribly good from a technical standpoint. The glare off glossy paper gets me every time!)

Your turn! Take a picture of something new, post it to your blog, and come back here and leave your link. You have until midnight Thursday night, when I will compile the roundup of links. Remember, your participation or lack thereof will determine whether there's still a Monday Photo Shoot in the weeks ahead. And if someone else wants to take it over, please let me know so we can coordinate. Thanks!

Karen