JPEG of the Week

~My niece~

~a little blond pixie with a splash of mischievousness~

~but I managed to capture a picture of her at rest~

~rare~

Everything Changes....

That doesn't mean I have to like it.

I posted this week that Picnik, the online photo editor that I know and love, had sent out an email letting users know that they will be shutting their virtual doors come April.

I've been pouting since.

And I'm in good company. There have been a rash on blog posts and articles that have hit the web as Picnik users wail and moan and try to figure out what the next best thing is. Centsational Girl posted a fantastic article earlier this week (thanks for the heads up, JT) with some possible options, along with the article I directed you to from c/net. I'm starting to dip my toe in the editing alternative pool and played around some today with Pixlr, an online service that seems to extend a little hope. Here's what I've noticed so far....

1. The Pixlr 'Express' editor does give you some quick options for fast overall effects...

When you first arrive on the Pixlr home page, you'll see a tab that encourages Picnik users to try 'Express' first. It's called Pixlr Express and it's a condensed menu of effects, filters and simple edit tools.

This screen shot above is a picture of 2 of 8 and a recent photo shoot I did with her. The Pixlr options for effects are named for people, so my brain is having to rewire from Picnik's 'Holga-ish' and 'Sepia' type designations to random people's names for the effect I'll looking for. But it's cute. And I figure in no time I'll be thinking "I need to 'Julia' that photo...".

2. Within the Pixlr Express version is an editing option called 'Overlay'. Which is neato.

There are photo embellishments that look like solar flares and rain and all kinds of cool stuff. It's a far greater menu of items than Picnik offers within this category. However, there is not a lot of control over where you can place these items on your photo. You can rotate it and move it a tiny bit side to side. But I wasn't able to control it fully and so 2 of 8 kept ending up with star bursts on her nose or forehead instead of, say, up in the left hand corner. I'll enjoy playing with this feature with photographs that have the right 'dimensions' for it, but would love to see greater control available for effect placement.

3. The 'Border' feature will bring great joy to my editing life. I can already tell.

I still miss me some Scrapblog. Remember Scrapblog? One of my other favorite photo online playthings that went the way that Picnik is going, which is buh-bye. But the 'borders' feature on the Pixlr Express page reminds me of the little flourishes and curly-cues I used to be able to adorn pictures with. The one above is called 'Rustic'. And I like it. And I'm ready to border some more stuff.

4. The full version of Pixlr reminds me a lot of GIMP. A lot.

Which is good. And bad. Because GIMP sometimes confounds the heck out of me. And sometimes not.
(GIMP is a free program available for download for your computer that is similar to Photoshop desk-top editing programs.)

I'm sure I'll be playing on the full version more in the coming weeks and will hopefully become more proficient.

5. Pixlr will save edited photos to Flickr. Which makes life a little easier.

It will also save to your computer. But for some reason, it doesn't save it to my computer with a jpeg designation, even though that's the file designation I gave it. It may just be some little hiccup or it may be user error on my part. But it does make me have to go an extra step in opening up the file on my computer.

All in, Pixlr reminds me of Picnik in some ways and makes the departure of Picnik all the more keen and sad for me. But the Pixlr express version has a feel to it which is similar to Picnik and I do like the idea of being able to commit GIMP-like edits in the full version of Pixlr while online.

And then there's the part where it's free. Free. So I don't want to look that gift horse in the mouth too closely, right?

I'll be checking out more of the Picnik-alternatives I've been seeing in the coming days. And I'm still holding out hope Picnik may miraculously change its mind.

A girl can dream. And still adapt.

My Baby's Music

Have I ever mentioned that 1 of 8 is quite the singer?

I haven't? Are you sure?

Let me remedy that.

1 of 8 can sing.

This is 1 of 8 doing all the vocals and her amazing Paris buddy LG on ukulele....and see if you can't help falling in love...
Can't Help Falling in Love by Spatzen

Nooooooo!!!!!

For a long time now, I've used Flickr and Picnik in combination for my photo uploads and editing. I've used these services heavily in my blogging and can jet around pretty quickly.

For a little while, my Flickr and Picnik accounts weren't playing together very well (which yielded this post in which I waxed poetic...), but they seemed to get things patched back up and I've been happily uploading and editing since.

Until I got a little news from the Picnik people.

Picnik is closing April 19th.

Finito. Done. Closed.

I am not happy.

It reminds me of when I fell in love with this one body lotion and declared it my scent for life. And then they stopped making it.

So I've been doing a little sleuthing about what will be next for me in my online photo editing. I found this great blog post on c/net that has three great options. Give it a gander and see if it helps your Picnik demise.

Awesome Freebie!

I think I may see daylight!

I seem to be pretty much recovered from the mystery virus of last week. We're back from the iHollywood Convention, having arrived home to a clean house, thanks to the hard work of some magical OctaElves....

And then I find out about this little jewel.

Lysa TerKeurst has released the first session of her DVD teaching series that goes along with her book Made to Crave....for free! I can't wait to get to see this amazing gal in action in person February 3rd at Immerse Austin! Be sure and get your tickets today! And watch this....

Liberation...With a Sprinkle of Guilt

What a wonderful, crazy, sickly, busy week.

Sheesh.

I've been immersed in Immerse Austin, loving and fretting and worrying and fulfilled by all the details and planning and phone calls and meetings. Most of the kids came down with a major tummy bug at the beginning of the week...which went to the middle of the week....right up until I came down with a raging fever yesterday afternoon and the threat of nausea myself. My precious aunt was supposed to come see me today, and we had to wave her off, not wanting to infect her.

Lovely.

2 of 8 has a major dance convention this weekend. Mike's been up to his eyeballs in business. 1 of 8 started back at the university this week. Between all the barfing and new beginnings and events, it's been a swirl.

And so I made a decision.

A big one for me.

After almost 4 and a half years of posting to this blog Every Single Day, I didn't.

I didn't.

It was bizarre. And liberating.  And a truly deliberated decision on my part.

And I felt a bit guilty.

But then I had to think about 'Why guilt'?

Those of you who are regular readers know that I don't mind at all sharing our ups and downs and achievements and challenges. Anyone who comes to my house knows that sometimes you can use the guest bathroom. And sometimes you can't. Running a household of 10 people comes with mess and crazy schedules and multiple things left half undone. And it's okay with me for folks to know that. I've made my peace with it.

But maybe, in some little corner of my ego, I wanted to appear to at least have it together enough to post everyday. Even if it was just a quote. Or a verse. Or a picture. But my life kicked my ego tail this week.

I'm thinking it was good for me.

Once I gave myself permission to let it go a bit. And feel a little guilt over it. And then move on.

There is incredible discipline and benefit to consistency. To stick to the workout schedule. To stay on the healthy eating plan. To journal, to schedule.

To post.

And then, every now and then, there may be benefit to letting the consistency go. And it may actually take some discipline to do it.

And maybe it's good for us. Every now and then.

Good Times, Good Info

Many thanks for all the suggestions from yesterday's post! The majority of the crew seems to be on the mend. 3 of 8 got it the worst, but is finally able to hold down soup. He calls me at intervals on his cell phone from upstairs to update me on his condition. 7 of 8 took the barf dive today...but I must brag. She actually managed to, uh, contain herself to a bowl. Very advanced for a 4 year old, if I do say so myself.

The house is perfumed with bleach and I'm using Lysol as a body spray. I recommend the 'Fresh Linen' scent for a light, clean, slightly antiseptic perfume aura.

Oh, and I sprayed a bunch of stuff with hydrogen peroxide.

And I took Benadryl last night.

And so far I have been spared.

Okay, enough avoidance. I must go back to the pile of laundry, laundry, laundry.