Twilight - Stephenie Meyer

One whole month has gone by, and not a single blog posting! Time really flies!

I finally read Twilight. I can understand why it's so popular. Stephenie Meyer uses simple language, fewer descriptions and a lot more dialogue. The book is easy reading and can appeal to women of any age, mostly teenagers, I imagine. I like how she can evoke the atmosphere in Forks, the rain and the dreariness.

I find her characters a little bland, though (maybe caught in the dreariness of the atmosphere?). Bella is always supposed to be unpredictable...but she seems to be predictably bland (and of course, at times, in love) to me. Edward is always either being furious, or chuckling, or amused, or in anguish. He "chuckles" at the weirdest times, too. So, since Bella thinks she's bland, it is told from Bella's viewpoint, ergo, the characters seem a bit bland. So it all works together.

Three-fourths of the novel just sets mood, the rest races to a satisfying conclusion. It's good light reading. I'm looking forward to the sequels later.

My reading list is full. I'm getting confused what to read next.

The Not So Big House - Sarah Susanka

I borrowed this older edition from the local library, which I visited for the first time the other day. Even if I'm not an architect and have no experience at all with construction, building houses, or designing houses, I really liked this book and found it to be very informative and interesting.

We moved into our home last year. The home we bought is a typical colonial style home from a reputable builder. The house is built from a pre-made design, built exactly like our neighbor's and my neighbor's neighbor, ad infinitum . I know what the inside of the house right across the street, and at the end of the street, and on the house at the end of the block looks like.

Certain features of our home, I thought, were useless. Having lived in Japan, I liked smaller areas which utilized space well. Less walking ;p Here, we have a formal living and dining room area, which I thought were useless and considered converting into a library. It's still pretty empty right now, no shelves, no books. But we did put a piano where the formal living room is supposed to be, and that's about it.

It was interesting because Sarah Susanka wrote the same exact thing. There were some things I learned about homes in the U.S. First, formal living and dining areas had been left over from the traditional Victorian ethic. I completely agree with her. I think homes should be just the right size for a person's needs, to cut down on energy costs, too, and allow a better quality of life. I have seen homes with 10 different places to sit. What for?

Second, I learned that colonial type houses were cheaper to build. No wonder our house was so cut and dried! The more corners on the exterior, the higher the cost. It's interesting that a "not so big house" will cost just as much as a McMansion box! And no wonder more people would buy the McMansion. Who can really afford the luxury of having something so creatively and distinctively designed and customized? It's really a shame. I know I wish I could have a home like that, but I'm not creative enough to fix up our boring home to look like "me".

There are other interesting thoughts to ponder from her book. How we need both public and private spaces in our homes, how some couples fight because their homes have no privacy. It was all very enlightening.

I would recommend this book for anyone who loves homes, whether or not they are up for buying a new home, designing their own home, or just trying to figure out what their style is (like me), since I don't even know where to start from! This points out things that you only vaguely knew, but couldn't verbalize. You read it and nod and nod and agree, and realize that all this time, she says what you already knew in your heart to be true.

A Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore

I won "A Hint of Wicked" by Jennifer Haymore, from Gaby317's blog site "Starting Fresh" and tried reading it. Thank God it was something I won and not something I bought because I don't think I can go through the entire thing. I guess I'm just not so interested in themes involving one woman being in love with two men I am also no longer interested in reading soft porn with no plot. Then again, maybe I'm being unfair because I only read until the second chapter, but that is all I can stand right now. Thank you, Gaby317, and thank you Hatchett Books, for giving me the chance to read this. This is going on my paperbackswap books. I'm sure other people will find it more interesting than I did.

Book and Lens Swap

My father used to say that every place in the world is the same. There are good things and bad things; there are people who are polite or rude; kind neighbors and criminals; it really doesn't matter where you are. You can't expect to be happier somewhere else than where you're already at.

However, one thing I must say about the US that wasn't so apparent in other countries I have lived in, though, is that, they sure make it very easy for you to spend money! Especially with online shopping. I love Amazon. Ebay is okay, but you have to be careful because there are lots of scalpers in there, selling stuff without warranties for to much. I was hoping it would be one big garage sale, but people don't get online there to get rid of stuff.

However, it turns out that I am turning into such a lens junkie. The list of lenses I am drooling over has expanded to the 85 mm f/1.4, and of course, the 14-24mm f/2.8, the 24-70 mm f/2.8, and the 70-200 mm f/2.8. David Busch calls the last 3 the "magic three," and the 85 mm f/1.4 the best lens, a "legend" in portrait photography. All of those lenses together will set me back about US$4,000. I really don't have that much money, considering that I need to have a car yet, and I would, of course, need a car to get around for my photo shoots, right? Aside from the errands. Of course, I have to tell myself over and over, that all the photographers are right when they say that it's not the camera, but the man behind the camera who would take the best pictures. So, it really shouldn't matter what camera I have or lens. What I should do is going out there to develop my skill and my craft. Another option is to buy the lenses as cheap as I can find them, and if I don't like them (or don't use them), then sell them. In the same way, I should learn how to process photos, too. I suppose that I really can't expect the lens to do everything. I must say, I'm lazy. It's more fun to just shoot and shoot, than to sit behind a monitor correcting and editing a shot!

So now, I am going back to reading books again, to become that "photographer" behind the camera, through studying digital photography and practicing with my fancy camera (that is apparently, already obsolete, according to KR..sniff). It's sort of hard to read ebooks on digital photography because you can't really see what they mean when they compare one picture to another, using different camera settings. A real book will be better because the colors will be sharper. Of course, maybe it will be different if they make ebooks 1080p and you view it on a 1080p screen. But then, you can kiss portability goodbye!

I digress. Anyway, now, I am buying some books and, to cut down on the clutter, posting them on www.paperbackswap.org after I read them so that I can get credits and "order" books for free. I was hoping to save money that way, since I'm really so broke now. The idea behind the site is that, you should post 10 books to get 1 credit, and send out an ordered book for another credit. Apparently, you need 2 credits to order a book, but you only get 1 credit if someone were to order your books. I'm wondering if it is all worth it. I've had 2 out of the 3 books I posted ordered a few hours after I got them, and I can't even order a book yet. So that means I have to pay for postage first before I can get to borrow anything, and I'm not so sure people would post up their digital photography books. I can buy some used books, just from the postage cost, plus, I lose my books. The local library might have been a better option. I should go and pay it a visit soon.

Top 100 - Simplified Tips and Tricks

I finished reading Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks, Digital Photography 2nd ed. on the plane. Such a simple book with lots of pictures, but it's good because I find that digital photography books can be hard when you're learning on your own and are starting from zero. Until you start familiarizing yourself with the camera and the concepts, it can all go over your head. I'm sure that once I've read some books over and over, it will all get simpler. I think that there is no shame in starting from a dummies book, or an extremely simplified book, and going on from there.

I noticed that a 3rd edition had already been released. It's worth getting and reading over and over, especially when certain things just don't stick to your head!

Photography - First Steps

I would like to try to take photos again. I am not a very good photographer, but I would like to learn, though! I hope somehow, that I can bring in my own personal taste and eye into the pictures I take.

So far, I think I have all the required equipment. I have had a Nikon D80 for the past 2 years and 3 nice lenses (nikon 24-120 mm, nikon 50 mm 1.4F, and a nikon 18-35 mm). My favorite, so far, is the nikon 24-120 mm. That's the one I use all the time.

I also bought a tripod from Radioshack. It's a Targus 66" silver tripod, on sale for only $19.99. Another thing to be happy about is the point and shoot camera I bought, a Canon SD880 IS, which I picked up from Amazon for $240.99. It's not that cheap. I think it was on sale at dell.com last December for about $199+. I really need a camera I can take around with me all the time, though. I love my D80, but it's so big that I might break my back carrying it!

I am out of practice, though. I had not been very good to begin with, but a huge camera and heavy tomes are not valid excuses for continuing to practice! Thus, I finally gave in and got that point and shoot.

I would like to take some classes, but with the ongoing recession and my inability to get a job, I think I should try to make do with what I have. As part of my self-study, the following books are in my reading list:

Starting Photography 5th ed., by Langford & Andrews
The Art of Digital Photography - by John Hedgecoe

Perhaps, as part of my personal course, I will try to post a picture at least once a week.

It is a windy day here in DC. I wonder if the wind will carry a good shot with it?