Maneki

As promised - Maneki Neko, our sweet kitten.

Wind

Oh, there is something else - it was Very Windy in Brighton. And here is a proof:

Brighton Pics

Hurraaaa!! I have finished my Drops Tank!! Im so proud of myself. That has been the hardest thing i have done so far and i've done it. Spent most of last night weaving in the ends and correcting things. Now just to block it and its ready. Oh, i could just kiss myself!
Anyway, here are some pictures as promised:


So here we are. Today im starting on "Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl"
And here are some pictures from Brighton

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Its Super Leo!!!




So there, a mini holiday!

Struggling on.

My sweet cat Maneki has finally done it. She bit my circular needles in half. So i had to stop again, so tantalizingly close to completion. Im determined i will stay p today and finish the bloody thing.
We went to swimming pool on Sat, took Talik and Alex, neighbour's boy with us. On Sunday we went to Brighton. It was great - completely spontaneous. It is such a rare occasion to do anything spontaneous when you have a family. And we managed to leave the house so early that got there before 10am! It was so windy by the sea though that we spent most of the time in a little park next to the Pavilion. Leo had the best of time. I got him a candy sword and a little toy dragon so he spent most of the time running around trying to spear seagulls. It was great. And then he went on a sort of super bounce thing, where they strap you to some thick elastic ribbons. That was great as well because he was wearing his Superman t-shirt, fantastic coincidence. I'll post some pictures soon.
And now i have to brace myself because i have my least favorite client in the whole wide world. I can't stand her, her work or her edits. I just can't stand her because she is arrogant, self centered, egoistical, constant mind changing, forever backtracking, other people blaming, deadline ignoring, humorless beatch. And the worst of it is that i have to be nice to her, even if i have a volcano the size of Vesuvio in my heart. Last time i got a bit pissed off and got really told off.. And when your boss is your husband it doesn't stop at work, he is then grumpy at home as well. So i better brace myself for next 2 weeks or so.

Neverending knitting

Im still hanging on there, although yesterday i managed to only do a little bit of my top. I have binded the neck on the front bit. And i finally admit that kittens and knitting are not compatible. I had to take Maneki into another room and close the door. I know she was upset about it but if im EVER to finish this project, i cant have a wild kitten jumping all over me.
Yesterday we were so busy i didn't have time to even open internet. I had a client sitting on my head all day. I didn't mind it though, i quite like his work, he uses a lot of colors and textures in his images and i find that quite creative for fashion photographer.

Back to knitting

I have knitted a bit last night, i reckon im gonna finish my drops tank this week.
And, to my excitement, i got an answer from Tahki and they have sent me the pattern i was waiting for, it is diagonal slit pullover. Im happy. And i have won the beautiful Rowan DK yarn in rich violet on e-bay, perfect. There are more yarn im planning to bid on today, so fingers crossed.

Cycling

I have cycled all the way ( or should it be ALL THE WAY) last night. Thats about 8 miles. Most of it up the hill. So naturally i have a great sense of achievement. The only thing that tarnishes it is that cycling so far makes me so bloody sore. I don't know how those couriers do it, may be they have developed a callus or something. I even wear special cushioned lycra pants, still no use. I might have to invest in that ugly fat silicone seat. We'll see.

There is an interesting pattern i have noticed in my cycling behavior. When there are other cyclists on the road i try to overtake them, especially up the hill, because to be perfectly honest, im great up the hill. And sometimes i succeed, leaving them behind and thinking "ha, sucker! there i showed you on your big fancy bike." Or if its a girl: "Just give up, you flip flop wearing helmet law ignoring silly person." Nothing perplexes me more that girls riding their bike wearing flip flops and skirts, with no helmets. Every time i see one i just want to shout: "You are a gonner!" I mean we all know that car drivers want to kill all cyclists off. Or is it me being slightly paranoid again?
So anyway, then of course most of the time i get overtaken, not being very fast and riding a small Dahon 20" wheel, and i always think: "oh well, its not like i am competing anyway. And they are probably breaking the law going so fast." Its absurd because i know i was competing a minute ago, still my brain finds an excuse. It reminds me why i have given up my tarot cards. My dear friend gave me a pack of tarot cards few years ago and i got really into it for a while. It was ok when i did it for others, and only when i was doing it for myself i ran into the same kind of dilemma. When the cards were predicting great things i happily embraced it, totally believing it. However when the answer was not what i liked, i always thought to myself: " well i don't really believe in this things anyway, its is more of a game to me." After i noticed that pattern i decided to give it up all together. You ether believe it or not.
So i guess with cycling i have to embrace my competitive side and admit that i'm just not very fast. Most of the time. Yet.

Treats

After all the agro in the morning i have decided to treat myself. This is treat number 1:


I have read this before and some conversation recently made me remember about it. It is a great book, and Robert Sheckley was and is the best scifi writer ever. For me anyway.
And then there was

which i haven't read actually, but i am familiar with the writer and his other books i have read are great. I'd especially recommend Omon Ra, for all those who are interested in obscure and somewhat crazy references to USSR space era.
And to top all of my e-bay extravaganza i bought


Im so looking forward to this! This was one of the two CDs i bought for myself when i was 12. First one being Swordfish Trombone by Tom Waits. I don't know what it was but i always loved Tom Waits. Shame Colin hates him. But then i hate The Smiths. So i guess that evens it out.

And i have sincerely congratulated myself, because i have spent £3.50 on all three things, and that with postage. Thats what i call bargain hunting!

Another day another rant.

Im very proud of myself today, i have managed to finish the back straps on my top. It was hard, considering i had to fight off our tiny cat Maneki Neko, who was trying to attack my needles, falling over, running away only to come back to jump on me again and again. She is very sweet though. I will have to get some pictures of her soon.

Then there was this whole nanny issue today in the morning. Our adopted cousin who's staying with us at the moment, told me yesterday that my baby Unity sat on the sofa all day "shouting"and that gave him such a bad headache that he couldn't look for work on the internet. At first i didnt think about it, but then it suddenly dawned on me - why is Unity sitting "all day" on the sofa, when im paying nanny to take her out, entertain her and encourage her development in all sorts of ways?! So i had a massive pop at nanny, almost accusing her of not doing her job properly, telling her i was surprised at her behavior, and that it was unacceptable. She of course got very upset, i got upset, Colin got upset, and then Talik (the cousin) turns around and goes - "well may be it wasn't the whole day she sat on the sofa." I demanded the exact time, and it turned out she hardly sat on the sofa at all. He was just in a bad mood last night and exaggerated the whole thing to make an excuse for himself.
So i have apologized to nanny for misunderstanding. I think i'll get her a nice box of chocolates for emotional distress. And i hope Talik will learn from this experience that you cant expec't to say things without thinking and have no repercussions. Hehehe and he will have to make it up to her.

Dear Photographers

Dear Photographers!
Be nice to your retouchers!
If you are, if you bring us cookies and fruit, make us tea and ask us questions about our children, not to mention treat us to some nice hip hop or a latest CGI blockbuster update time to time, we will love you back. We will come towards you with outstretched arms and hug you and ask you about your mum's health. We will show you the latest thing in the nerdy world we call ours. But most importantly, we will make your pictures great. We will take pride in getting that last colour separation sorted, gently balancing out the skin, we will make the best mask for the hair and we will follow you on your brief and more, oh yeah, much more. We will turn your editorial into a Dior advertising campaign worth.
But if you are not... We will follow your brief. We will even smile at you and make you some tea. But dont expect any creative suggestions. No expertise for you. And when you turn around and ask - "Why my pictures look like THAT?" We will calmly reply : "This is what you wanted, this is to your brief. This is the before and after. If there is anything else you'd like me to do, you are more than welcome." And watch you trying to make the best out of your lack of ideas.
So, dear photographers, remember, retouchers are important part of your work. We are like expensive equipment. So treat us with respect and care and you'll get it right back.

Weekend in my family is the most manic time of all. On Saturday i had my hair cut and straightened. Its nice to look pretty and groomed for a change. The hairdresser though, well she just didnt find me funny. I tried and tried, but with no result. Mmmm was the best i got. When i got home, i told Colin about it to which he replied: "Well, you do have a peculiar sense of humor."
Peculiar? I suppose. At least i amuse myself.

And then there was a manic preparation for Grandma's Unity party. Cake was iced, salad was made, fruit salad was prepared, also i made a quiche for lunch and to top it all up I HAVE CLEANED THE COOKER!!! And all of that before midday. I know, im great.
One thing i didn't find time to do this weekend was knitting. There were so many things to do, i don't even remember myself sitting down. Oh, on Sunday we watched The Kite Runner. Im still not sure if i liked it. I found it extremely disturbing.
Today is gonna be an easy day. A breather before the nightmare begins all over tomorrow. Anyway, we'll see. Here is a picture of the green carrot cake.

Conversation

My husband Colin ( who is a retoucher as well) :
Great job! That head looks much better.
Me:
Yeah, now i need to deal with that cyan in highlights. And it is too hot.
Colin:
What about the drop off on hands?
Me:
Lets just get rid of that magenta and brighten the whole thing up.

Aaaaah, romantic chatter has taken up a whole new meaning.

Friday 13

Today as it happens is my sister's birthday, she is 26. I have invited her and her husband to mine for dinner on Sunday, im making my famous chicken lime and ginger hotpot. Im also gonna make a cake today, a carrot cake, partly because i was requested to do so by our wonderful adopted grandma Unity, and partly because it really is the easiest cake to make. I think i might make the icing green this time.
I finally have taken some pictures of my Drops Top, which is so close to completion it hurts. Even though i didn't do any knitting last night because Heroes was on. And what a splendid episode it was indeed! Absolutely mind bogging. I think Heroes is my favorite show EVER. It just responds to everything i have dreamed of when i was a little (and a bit nerdy) girl.
Anyway, back to Drops Top



that is how it looks now. Im a little unclear on how to dec the armholes, but hey, what the worst that can happen, i just might have to redo it couple of times.

And of course my main occupation: another day another young mediocre model needs to be made to look like she is the most beautiful woman in the world. Its funny, someone asked me once - does it bother you to look at these beautiful girls day after day, does it make you feel inferior? And you know what - it really doesn't. Nobody's perfect thats what i say. In all my 8 years of retouching i have not seen an absolutely perfect woman. There is always things that can be done to make someone appear better. So perfect - now thats just a made up term. Perfect is just what any one person at one time considers attractive, the symbiosis of proportions, light, shadow, colour and tone. I had one photographer shouting "i hate boobs! Take those things off her!!" about a 14 year model with hardly anything that even vaguely reminded of "boobs". I have completely reshaped human face, not only changing the proportion of the existing face, but "comping" bits from other faces, not even the same girl. As a matter of fact, i have created a completely different persons from bits of other people, all in the name of perfection. So really, im happy with the way i am. And if im not- well gym is just around the corner.

What happends when your 3 year old gets hold of your digital camera

So young and already a genius. I can just see his pictures huge in Tate Modern ;0)

Today i pretty much succeeded in doing no work at all, just looking at pretty pictures of knitting projects and salivating over yarns on ebay. I have this urge to buy yarn, a lot of yarn, and trying to justify it by constantly looking for patterns i can knit.

Oh, and my Drop Tank is coming along nicely, i'm up to armpits now and have not made any mistakes so yoohoo, soon i will rule the world.. or was it finish the top..

I suspect my husband does not share my enthusiasm for knitting. I got that feeling whilst telling him about the next project im planning, that involves the famous Missoni yarn and that other pretty shiny purple yarn that i got from Not Just Yarn on ebay. May be it was that look of a desperate boredom that was written all over his face.. or may be it was the fact that he tried to change the subject to ferns that still haven't been delivered from the plant nursery.

And now i have to get back to this guys photos, and not to be blunt or anything, id rather gnaw my own leg off than look at this amateur crap again...Some so called photographers should just give up. I mean, i fell asleep twice, hitting my head on the graphic tablet. Twice!!