Thursday, May 11, 2017

Dear Kerby,

In the 90s I remember getting my first computer that ran Windows. It was not exactly mine, it was a family computer. The computer came with a small CD-ROM Binder. The binder included a few educational games like Gizmos and Gadgets, word processing/presentation software and the encyclopedia.

I greatly remember a disc from the Hallmark company. It could do about anything creative; cards, banners, certificates, and more. Later on I got tired of the presets and began using the blank pages to do my own thing. The main feature inserting clipart and some word art. Clipart is a way of saying pre-made illustrations. 

I was a fan of printing out anything an everything. The printer did not scare me. I was not afraid of ink. I graduated from the Hallmark into a few other programs that would make cards. The new program had a feature where you could edit the clipart. I spent many an hour recoloring the designs to get the right color. Ever seen a purple bear? Not exactly sure how many color schemes I went though or how many fonts I learned to like with this process.

By high school I still had a family computer. This computer change so much over the years as did my use of design programs. My dad knew of someone that could get us used copies of programs. I had Photoshop and Illustrator from Adobe. 98% of it was using Photoshop because I had acquired a few books on how to do some simple graphic techniques. I also had a photo magazine that had step-by-step instructions on how to edit photos. It showed how to crop photos and create different color effects. Little did I know that later on in my life I would be using Illustrator more than Photoshop.

My enjoyment of design and art came from a need to print especially custom greeting cards.

Talk to you later,
Bluelaugh

Clipart

Thursday, May 04, 2017

Dear Kerby,

All I can say is that it has been a while since I last wrote. I have had things going through my head that I have wanted to write you about things going on lately. It is more of me being afraid of telling you rather than being lazy and not writing. 

Here I go:

  • relationships
  • computers problems
  • design work
  • photography
  • exercise

With this being 2017 and I not being in a relationship I wanted to start over. I have been taking to some guys but never sure where it goes. They talk to me as if it is going to lead to a first date but they fade away. In the past week I found someone new to talk to. This one had lead to me going on a date/ hanging out with him in a few days. On the outside I am excited but on the inside I know not to get my hopes up.

Last year I had a computer problem with the new update. The Apple Store wiped my computer clean and did a clean install of the operating system. Since that incident I have been using Time Machine on my iMac. have not had to restore anything from it so far. 

In the past week I found out that I had an external drive start failing on me. The bad way to notice it is when files start to disappear. The Genius Bar at the Apple Store told me to put the files on the Mac hard drive itself. Time Machine will take care of backing up the files. In the future, I would like to get a new portable external drive. Not a priority because life changed and I hardly have a place to transport the files; not going to school any more. I would still like something portable for those large files.

I have been doing a little design work from time to time as always. I find little projects I do for people but noting that major at this point. I keep up with what I like to do.

Photography is also keeping me busy. I have had two shows so far to display work in and I am working on a third. All I can say is that creativity takes time. Executing the photograph is the main chunk of the project when you do things as I do. I hope one photo will sell. 

When feeling healthy I get back into exercising. I am sticking to the 5 days a week goal that I set for myself 95% of the time. It works for me as long as I watch what I eat and log it. My goal is to be more fit for a special event I have planned in June. Maybe, this goal makes me more fit.

Lately, I feel better about myself. Things can only get better.

Talk to you later,
Bluelaugh

Keeping On

© letters from bluelaugh 2008 Dapinder