Susan Boyle

4.27.2009

If you haven't seen this yet, it's worth checking out. The judges' comments at the end are pretty snarky, but Boyle herself is impressive.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

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Pic of the day: Boots

4.20.2009

Messing around with my camera as I was reconditioning the leather on my boots.

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O-klahoma


My little brother, one Griffin Brown, just got into a PhD program at the University of Oklahoma. He battled off fierce competition ranking #2 out of 40 applicants.

Bonus: his tuition will be covered by the school, plus a monthly living stipend!

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Back from Gandy Goose

4.15.2009

The Natural 20's are back from Bend having achieved the record of 1-6. Not bad. Next tournament we are aiming for 2 wins.

Here are some photos:

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It's not me, it's you

4.08.2009

I've been feeling frustrated for a bit about the loss of saturation in the photos I upload to the web. I've tried all kinds of things, even boosting the saturation to unrealistic amounts. Today in my photoshop class I hit upon the real answer: Facebook and Blogspot have been squeezing the life blood out of my pictures.

Check out this web gallery I just made for class: http://sws.pcc.edu/student/CAS208_bgleason_24707/shellybrown53/project2/

A lot of the pictures are oversaturated because I was trying to compensate for any loss. But loaded directly onto a server, they actually look pretty vivid. I may actually go back in an desaturate some of them.

Victory!

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Apartment garden

4.05.2009

I am mourning the loss of a yard as I prepare for this year's planting. Cross your fingers, I might be able to get a community garden plot.


In the meantime, here are my poor overcrowded starts. Mini-cucumbers, kale, basil, rosemary, and I have two flowering plants next to my other window. I have been trying to figure out how to give them more space when today I hit upon a brilliant idea.


A brilliant idea involving sunflower butter.

I save all of my leftover plastic jars because the grocery co-ops let you bring them in for bulk goods. Unfortunately, I don't live close to one anymore, and my plastic jars have been piling up a bit. Today I pierced holes in the bottom of a few of them to make mini planters. Then I put them on casserole dishes so that the water that drains through doesn't go anywhere.


Voila! A sunflower butter pot:

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Google newsfeed: one of these things is not like the other

4.02.2009

Kind of ironic, no?

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Burns Dogs

4.01.2009

Ted Tellefson in Burns, OR was recently arrested for 100 counts of animal neglect. Apparently, he was a breeder and things got out of control, and when the sheriff investigated, these dogs were cramped together in filthy cages. I think that "things got out of control" is a generous way of describing the situation, but the man has agreed to surrender the dogs. Usually, animals are kept in isolation pending investigation, but because Tellefson has admitted guilt, the dogs are now being socialized and given an opportunity to learn to trust humans again.

At least, this is my understanding of the situation. I recently started to volunteer at the Oregon Humane Society, where they are currently housing 90 of the Burns dogs. Very few volunteers are allowed to work with these animals because they have been so badly traumatized, and the people at the Humane Society want to establish an environment where they can feel safe an comfortable. I am feeling both angry at the way this man treated these dogs and grateful that Oregon has such a wonderful Humane Society.

The Oregon Humane society adopts out 98% of their dogs and 95% of their cats, which is pretty incredible. They are recognized nationally for excelance. It's a community effort; they have over 1,000 volunteers. During the orientation, I sat next to a woman who was recently laid off. She told me that she she has been struggling to get a new job, but because she has more time now, she's spending some of it volunteering. Apparently, one upside of the recession is that there are now more volunteers than ever helping out with non-profits. So, while these organizations are having trouble raising money, the investment of human capital is at an all time high. I think its wonderful that so many people, who are themselves suffering, have made the effort to give to those in need.

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