I got flowers today!

I got to work a few minutes late today, grouchy from the long line at Carl's Jr., which is why I was late, only to find THESE on my desk!

Aren't they pretty?

Here's a close-up of the funky accent flowers.

They're from T. Lindsay Baker, author of American Windmills, one of "my" books. We just received the books in the warehouse. I've never had an author send me flowers when they were pleased with the book! Usually I hear about it through Marketing or some other roundabout way. Whatta guy!

Miniature scenery

Moss on rocks . . .

in the Gilcrease Museum gardens.

Redbud

Playing with depth of field.

Finally, sunshine!

The best windowsill in the house for an early-morning sunbath.

Cat posture translation: "Dammit, she's got that camera out again!! Well, not even that can distract me from my sunshine. I'll just stick my butt in the air. Hah! Photograph that!"

Demented photographer/cat mom: "Awww! Fluffy shot!" *click*

If she could read the internet, she would HATE me.

Under the Wire

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

New shoes!!!!!

Cute!!!!!!

Mackerel Sky

I love mackerel skies. The patterns that form in the clouds are so fascinating, and they usually change very quickly. Then there's also the possibility of a gorgeous sunset with tons of color. This one didn't go into much color, but the play of light and shadow was awesome.

More than you ever wanted to know about mackerel skies.

Earlier in the day.

Mackerel sky overhead.

Mackerel sky at sunset.

A bit of music trivia: the band Cowboy Junkies mentions a mackerel sky in their "Anniversay Song."

The dog days of . . . spring?

This past weekend I went to my parents' house in Healdton, Oklahoma. It's a little town down around Ardmore, or between Loco and Hennepin, as my step-dad likes to say. In other words, it's right smack dab in the middle of nowhere. But it's really pretty there! I would have taken lots of landscape pictures if it weren't for the gloomy grey skies. We're having an unusual gloomy and cold spell this spring. I do like the weather, but it's not exactly conducive to photography!

I tried out the camera on an always-difficult subject--the dogs. My mom has five dogs. But the silly things won't get along in their custom-built pen, so two of them have to be staked out. Don't worry about them, they're much happier that way than in the pen with Jake. Only Patches likes Jake. Then there's Blackie, who actually lives down the street but likes us better. She's the only one allowed to roam because she's the only one who knows how to stay out of trouble!

Unfortunately, even on the "kids and pets" setting, the dogs are a bit faster than the camera. Let's blame it on the gloomy weather, shall we?

This is Patches.
She thought she was gonna get to go for a walk!

Patches again, rattling the gate.
The black dog (left) is Jake.

Here's Jack eating one of his milkbones.

This is Blackie, a.k.a. "Shivers."

She prefers summertime.

Book launch: Some of Tim's Stories, by S. E. Hinton

On Friday, March 30, I drove up to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the book launch of Some of Tim's Stories by S. E. Hinton. Of all the books I've worked on here at OU Press, this is definitely the biggest. It's an excellent book by a writer you might know; she also wrote The Outsiders, which literally defined the genre of young adult fiction and is one of the best-selling YA books of all time. I can't believe I actually edited a book by S. E. Hinton! (Psst--if you read it and find a mistake, please don't tell me!)

Believe it or not, this was the first launch party I have attended for an OUP book, as most aren't launched in Oklahoma. I drove through what felt like a landbound hurricane to get to there, and I was so flustered by the time I arrived that it didn't occur to me to set the camera on "Indoor" to counteract the yellow-tinged lights. Oops! I tinkered with them a little to fix the coloring somewhat. As for the size, that's to respect the author's privacy.

The crowd at the Q and A session.


S. E. Hinton signing autographs.


Teresa Miller (right), director of the
Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers,
and the editor of the Oklahoma Storytellers
series, which includes Some of Tim's Stories.
On the left is a good friend of S. E. Hinton.

The beginning

What happens when a diehard 35mm-film-lovin' amateur photographer gets a digital camera? Well, she misses the darkroom, that's for sure, but then she hasn't had access to one in a long, long time. And she looks quite silly learning to use the LCD screen rather than the viewfinder. But the best part is realizing that it won't cost $15 to show off that whole series of extreme close-ups of the cat. What? Kitty was being really cute!

So since I've already revealed my obsession with photographing the poor cat, who has started giving me dirty looks as soon as she hears the camera turn on, I'll kick off this photo blog with one of my favorite pictures of her. It's nothing technically spectacular, but don't you just wish you could nap like this, all day long with a fresh spring breeze pouring in the open window?

Zoe