some thoughts + a walk in the park

well, hello there. how about a list?

1. the other day I decided to wander around our local park and shoot some self portraits. you see, I had really been hoping to get some good pictures of myself while we were in Bali. but it turns out that I have had the autofocus turned off since the photo workshop I went to in September. [yeah, uh, oops.] and so any time I handed my camera to someone it came out wrong. I also was shooting in full manual- the first vacation I've ever done so. but the weather was changing so quickly between clouds and sun, and it was so hard to tell on the back display what was going on, I ended up overexposing a lot of my photos. [not that anyone but me really notices or cares, but still.]

so things being as they are, I spent a few hours with my tripod and remote wandering the park. which isn't really a bad thing. time spent outside, practicing something I enjoy, and of course being pleased with the results. and strangely I did not get as many gaping stares as I thought I would.

sometimes I feel awkward shooting self-portraits, but also about posting them. but it just seems like the natural blogger thing to do, right?

2. everyone has been talking about modern calligraphy. including me. I had a book with calligraphy markers when I was in middle school - but I'm interested in something more advanced and a little more modern. I had dreams of signing up for this skillshare class... Melyssa and Beka and Amanda even gave me advice on where to get supplies. I went out searching and found not quite what I need here [but there were a TON of brush calligraphy supplies.] I'm still curious to try taking it up again one day, but for now I think I should be focusing on writing my book and playing with my current 87 hobbies... and maybe pick up supplies while I'm in the States later this year.

3. a few weeks ago Husband and I got real phones again. and by real I mean of course iPhones because our previous phone situation was a shared pay-as-you-go old school Nokia which required 10 minutes and 3 tries to successfully send a text message.

I know I can live without a smartphone, but having one makes life so much easier. like when you are driving around on your scooter and are trying to find your way somewhere you can use the maps. or when Husband is buying food and wants to look up a brand to make sure I'm not allergic to it. or for this novel thing called phone calls in which you can talk to said Husband from anywhere instead of worrying and feeling the need to stay close to the apartment and internet [and thus Facebook since that is otherwise your main form of communication.]

I still forget my phone is real sometimes, especially since I used to carry our service-less old iPhone around to snap photos and Instagram whenever I could find some wifi. but I'm ok with not being completely connected at all times.

4. in related news, I'm becoming obsessed with an app called duolingo. it's this amazing language learning tool disguised as a game. you lose hearts for wrong answers, and get xp points and level up as you practice. [sounds like Pokemon, now that I think about it.] right now Husband and I are brushing up on Spanish, but they have several languages to choose from and are developing even more. the best part is - it's free. and you can use it on your computer, phone, or tablet.

the second best part? I spent 5 minutes today practicing phrases I would actually use such as "I drink wine"/ "Yo bebo vino." and "I am writing a book" / "Yo escribo un libro."

5. a few housekeeping items, or more like blogkeeping items: you may have noticed I've tweaked my design a bit and you can now find links to my new facebook page and google plus on the sidebar. I realize what I am supposed to say here is "like my page!" and "add me to your circles!" but honestly, different kinds of readers like to follow in different ways - I won't be offended if you choose to keep on what you're doing and ignore that.

for anyone who had signed up for email subscriptions and is wondering why they stopped but now are again showing up in your mailbox? well, thanks to some investigation on feedburner and some verification from my mother [thanks, Mom!] the problem has been solved. carry on.

I've also opened up a new sponsorship option called the traveling novelist. this includes a large sidebar ad and the opportunity for you to write a guest post on ink + adventure. handing my blog over to someone else does make me a little bit nervous. but I hope it will help introduce you to some lovely people while I'm busy entertaining visitors and hopping around the globe these next few months. if you're interested in being one of those lovely people, the first 3 to book will get 30% off with the code: WRITEMEUP.

phew. and I think that about covers it. hope you're all having a wonderful week!