Yes! Red Panda

Hummingbirds!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:37:00 +0000

Wow, y'all! Today as I was walking into work I saw what I thought was a leaf on the sidewalk. Usually a step on all the leaves I see downtown, just in case they are crunchy (stepping on crunchy leaves will always be fun, no matter how old I am). Well it's a good thing I took a closer look at this leaf before crunching it, because it turns out it was a hummingbird!

I've never seen a hummingbird downtown before. He was just sitting on the sidewalk. I bent down, and strangely, he let me touch him. I gently scooped him up into my hand and he perched on one of my fingers. He let me just carry him around downtown, never trying to fly away or anything. I figured he was hurt or sick. I brought him up to my office so I could do some research. His name was Pochipo. :)

Turns out, it's hummingbird migrating season. Hummingbirds will often fly into windows and stun themselves. This little guy was sitting in direct sunlight on the sidewalk and I think he was overheated and stunned. He cooled off for maybe five minutes in my office and I decided to walk him over to capitol hill where there are trees and flowers and grass instead of sidewalk and concrete and glass. Now that he was rested, cooled off, and un-stunned, he flew out of my hand and was a happy little hummingbird back where he belongs. Hooray!

Then as I was walking back to my office, there was ANOTHER hummingbird on the sidewalk! His wings were splayed out. You can see how tiny hummingbirds are.

He was also in direct sunlight on the sidewalk, and he was hot and stunned. His wings weren't broken or anything, and he tucked them in shortly after I picked him up. I walked him over to capitol hill, and held him in the shade for a while so he could cool down and regain hummingbird consciousness without being stepped on or ran over. It took a few minutes, but then he was good to go! Another hummingbird rescued from the unsafe downtown streets. Hopefully they are headed back on their migratory route safe and sound now, avoiding skyscrapers this time around.

Let them...

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:38:00 +0000

1. Make cake.

2. Eat cake.

3. ???

4. Profit

My Addiction Detox Week

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 02:15:00 +0000

Next week, July 25th through July 31st, I will give up everything I can think of that I might be addicted to.

Luckily, I never got into drugs or cigarettes, but I find my life has been consumed by a few things (mostly the internet) and I'd like to spend my time in a way that I know will be more fulfilling to me if I just give it a chance.

For the detox week, no:

Coffee/Caffeine.
This will be hard. I consume caffeine multiple times each day to get me through my day. I know that if I just get more sleep I won't need it, although I'm not looking forward to the headaches from withdrawal.

Chocolate/Snacks.
Yeah, I eat chocolate almost every afternoon. I'll be better off to give it up (and maybe I'll lose a pound). I will plan my meals mindfully.

The Internet.
No email, no endless blog feeds, no webcomics, no facebook, no twitter, no flickr, no etsy. I am wasting my life on the internet. I usually idle away hours online while I procrastinate doing other more important things. I will not check my email/RSS on my phone constantly either. It's become such a habit to immediately pull out my phone if I'm waiting in a line or something of the sort. This week I am breaking my digital chain. I only watch television I download from the internet, so I will also not watch any TV.

Shopping.
I spend way too much money on things I do not need. I abhor the fact that shopping is something I do for recreation. This week I will only purchase things I need to live, or for specific projects I'm working on during the week.

I'm also addicted to my car but I don't feel like I'm in good enough shape to ride my bike everywhere yet (especially since it only has one gear and it is hard to get up hills). I will make an effort to ride my bicycle to destinations within two miles of my house, however, to step in the right direction. Gotta start somewhere!

Things I WILL do:

Ride my bike, read books about bikes, learn how to fix bikes, do my handlebar tape.
Read books and zines! I've got a big backlog of things to read. I tell myself I don't have enough time to read, but I do!
Spend time with my boyfriend.
Fix up and spray paint a medicine cabinet that will become my new spice rack.
Learn Reason and make some music.
Clean/organize my house! Yep, all of it!
Walk in the woods.
Cook healthy meals.
Get enough sleep.
Anything else I want to (that doesn't involve the above restrictions, of course)!

And sure, it's only a week. But it'll be a week to see how different my life can be. Maybe I CAN live without coffee. Maybe I DON'T need to read those 400 blog posts each day. Maybe my mind will be more focused without constant distraction. Maybe I can find entertainment in the world around me instead of in a fake world inside a box.

Wish me luck!

Handmade Highlight - madhatterceramics

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 13:58:00 +0000

madhatterceramics on etsy loves creating pieces inspired by Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Their favorite pieces merge form and function - they are artfully designed objects that can be used in everyday life.

I just bought this mug. Isn't it great? You can never have too many mugs in life. There's always more coffee and tea.

Here are some things that are still available for purchase. :)

And stop by madhatterceramics.etsy.com for even more. :)

How to combine fireworks photos in Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 05:01:00 +0000

So you went out to the Independence Day celebration in your town and took a bunch of fireworks pictures. Great! A lot of your pictures, you'll notice, are of just one or two "explosions" in each shot, yes? Here's how to combine those pictures in photoshop to produce one image with lots of explosions. It's easy!

Open up Photoshop (I'm using Photoshop CS4 Extended).

Click File > Scripts > Load files into Stack. Check the box to align the images (if you have any background besides just black sky), but not to create a smart object.

You'll get one image with each of your photos in its own layer. On each layer, set the blending mode to "Screen".

In each separate layer, use the move tool to position each firework explosion so you can see it well.

Voila! Instant grand finale!

Happy 4th!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 14:33:00 +0000

Did you know that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died July 4, 1826? I didn't know this until yesterday and found it intriguing.

Nashville has fireworks on the 2nd, 3rd, AND 4th! The 4th it's choreographed with the Nashville Symphony and it's crazy awesome! Yesterday my boyfriend and I rode our bikes downtown for a picnic on the pedestrian bridge to watch the fireworks, and as part of the LGRAB summer games!

We got there right around sunset time. Note the General Jackson showboat! The night was actually the 25th birthday celebration for the General Jackson.

Isn't my boyfriend cute? :)

Waiting for the sun to go down.

After an hour of waiting through some horrendous country music (Does anyone who is actually from Nashville like country?), it was fireworks time!

That is a composite image of four fireworks pictures from last night. In my next post I'll tell you how to layer up your fireworks pictures in photoshop for optimal awesomeness.

<3

The Red Panda 1000 Sales Sale!!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:50:00 +0000

As of writing this post, I've sold 992 things over at http://redpanda.etsy.com! I truly appreciate each and every one of my customers that makes running this business worthwhile. The kind words of your feedback keep me going!

I'd LOVE to make it to the big 1000 sales mark by the end of July. To push things along, how does a sale sound? How does 20% off + Free Shipping sound? Sounds good to me!

Take 20% off ALL products at http://redpanda.etsy.com for the entire month of July.
All items will ship for free worldwide as well!

Simply add your items to your cart at etsy. In the message to seller box, put code "Happy 1000!". Wait for a revised invoice before paying. Hooray!

Some awesome things you can pick up:

Was $55 + shipping, on sale for $44 with free shipping.

Was $85 + shipping, on sale for $68 with free shipping.

Now's a great time to pick up a set or two of stitch markers for you or your knitting friends. Usually $13 in the US, you can get them for $8 in July.

Handmade Highlight - mmsomewhere

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:00:00 +0000

I've recently become completely enamored with bicycles. They can solve tons of America's problems (I'll write a fleshed out post on this later). As you know, I also love etsy so I went browsing on etsy for awesome bicycle related things and added a ton of great items to my favorites.

One of the first things I actually purchased was this wallet from mmsomewhere. Isn't it awesome?

Immediately after purchase, mmsomewhere sent me a convo to say she was out of town and when the wallet would ship, as noted in her shop announcement. (I love good seller communication like this.) Then a few days later she said she was back early and shipped the wallet out the next day. It got here super quick, and it was a fabulous transaction! Plus the wallet is great. I love how all the compartments on the inside are clear. It just looks really awesome.

Here are some more things from mmsomewhere that you can choose. I love the highly saturated colors in everything. She takes all the pictures herself, plus there's free shipping. What's not to love? I highly recommend her shop. :)

Home

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:59:00 +0000

As you may recall, the house I was moving into flooded in the Nashville floods of May 2010. Now the water has receded, our house has been repaired, and we've been moved in for a few weeks now. Hooray!
My favorite part? The train in the sky across the street from my house. :)

We live right beside a park, so I'm always seeing wildlife/interesting bugs. Here's a cute caterpillar that fell off my porch yesterday.

There's a police car on my block for at least some amount of time every day. Never does anything, just sits on my street. I have no idea why.

I like abandoned buildings. This office is very different from the kinds of abandoned buildings I like. It's just the empty office floor underneath the floor in the building I work in downtown. Love the floor to ceiling windows. Too bad nobody gets to work here!

It has some great views!

This is the new eco-friendly version of Deaderick Street that was completed in Nashville recently. I like it!

Flickr Finds Friday - ~ Aaron Reed ~

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:00:00 +0000

2 Degrees Of Separation by ~ Aaron Reed ~

Here's something to cool you down as we head into summer. :)

Flickr Finds Friday - Jane in Colour

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Soap Film 3 by Jane in Colour

Soap is so pretty.

Flickr Finds Friday - earthmagnified

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Always The Hero by earthmagnified

I love pretty much every picture in earthmagnified's photostream. Definitely my kinda photography.

Summertime in Tennessee

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 03:21:00 +0000

I've lived in Tennessee (specifically the Nashville area) my entire life. I love it! We spent all this weekend moving to East Nashville, and are finally getting settled in. Here are some pictures I took today!

Lightning bugs are nature's fireworks!
(8 exposure stack) (Next time I'll bring a flashlight to be able to adequately focus)

What do you call these things? We've always called them grand daddy long legs.
My boyfriend actually took this picture; I did the editing. Teamwork!

My back yard is made of clover.

And if you look closely, you'll find some of these!

Flickr Finds Friday - david.kittos

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Strawberry splash in a spoon by david.kittos

This guy knows flashes. I love his low key work, too.

BP

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Fri, 28 May 2010 23:37:00 +0000

Via Urban Velo

Flickr Finds Friday - greg westfall.

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:00:00 +0000

me and my shadow by greg westfall.

What makes this amazing is the title. Isn't it crazy how a title can change the way you see a picture?

Flickr Finds Friday - .clαrαα

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Somewhere Close To End by .clαrαα

The most wonderful thing.

Flickr Finds Friday - Me.Ex.Mu

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Veiled by Me.Ex.Mu

I love that you can barely see through the green

Flickr Finds Friday - pho-Tony

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:00:00 +0000

tape traces by pho-Tony

The colors and the lines and the texture

Nashville Flooding

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Tue, 04 May 2010 02:12:00 +0000

As you probably know, Nashville is in the middle of some serious flooding. At least seventeen people have died. The Opryland Hotel and the Opry Mills mall are completely flooded; lots of downtown Nashville has been evacuated due to the rising Cumberland River overflowing its banks.

Here are a few pictures I took today.

So I'm moving here next weekend. The water was too deep for me to feel comfortable wading in (it would be at least crotch high here; there are steps and a porch that lead up to the door) so I don't know if the water actually got inside. I just hope the water level doesn't go up further before it goes back down. I guess that's what I get for choosing a house on "Riverside Drive". At least none of my important things were there, and everyone is safe, though.

The view from my front window at about 7:30 a.m. on 5/3/10

There were literally people kayaking in my front yard.

This was my house this morning, before the water rose even more. At this point there was not water inside.

The Cumberland River way over its banks

This is Barclay Avenue in East Nashville at about 6:00 p.m. on 5/3/10. It's the road adjacent to my house.

My thoughts go out to all those affected worse than I was.

Flickr Finds Friday - NARIBIS

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:00:00 +0000

\_ by NARIBIS

Ooh. So perfectly captured. I would just spend all day here. climb.explore.photograph

Flickr Finds Friday - RaSeLaSeD - Il Pinguino

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Stairway to stack by RaSeLaSeD - Il Pinguino

Lines + symmetry + industry = <3

Flickr Finds Friday - coloursknits

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:00:00 +0000

transparency by coloursknits

Soft and beautiful

This morning sucks so far

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:26:00 +0000

So you always read not to post your negativity online, right? Well I want to talk about my morning, so please skip ahead if you are so inclined. :/

This morning I woke up at 5:45. Usually I wake up at around 7:45 with just enough time to check my emails before heading out the door to work. I figured I'd use my two hours productively. I've got a copper bracelet that I need to shine up, but no vinegar. I've also had a sore throat the past few days, so I decided to go to the 24 hour grocery store and pick up some vinegar, medicine, and maybe juice and a piece of fruit.

Recently I got this totally awesome business card holder from UNEARTHED on etsy.

It's amazing isn't it? It's the perfect size for business cards, my ID, and some cash.

I put just those items in just that business card case and headed out to the grocery store. I picked out my purchases (including some delicious cherry vanilla soda) and headed to the register.

Unbeknownst to me, I had set down my business card holder probably while looking at granola bars or something. Long story short, it was lost somewhere in the store. I retraced my steps, checked customer service, but it was nowhere to be found. So now I've lost my $45 brand new business card case, twenty bucks in cash, and my driver's license, and I've got twenty dollars worth of groceries (and medicine that I could really use) and no money.

I wrote down my contact information for in case somebody turned in the card holder, and decided to head back home and get more money so I can get the groceries. I tell the checkout person to hold my items. I head home and quickly pick up my full wallet.

In the five minutes this takes, there has been a shift change and the new person at the register has no idea where my groceries are, and has no idea I've lost my business card case. I wait around for five minutes while the new lady tries to get the last-shift-guy to answer a page to enlighten us as to where my groceries are. I literally told him I would be back in five minutes to pay for my things, which I was, and my things were gone.

Finally he comes to the front and thank god no one put back my selections. As I'm scanning my items at the self checkout, when I get to the medicine, it asks me to show my ID to the cashier. Yes, the ID that is somewhere in the store, but lost fifteen minutes prior to the transaction. I suppose I finally look 18 though (I'm almost 23 now and strangers in elevators still sometimes ask me what I'm doing in a skyscraper downtown, and shouldn't I be in school?), because the lady can see that I'm visibly frustrated and upset and sick and just types in something so it says I'm 18 (the one good thing of the morning).

I finish scanning everything, and when I go to pay, I only have fifteen dollars in my actual wallet (read: not enough money to pay for everything, which I would have had had I not lost my twenty dollars previously). I've been trying to use only cash to pay for things as I'm saving all my other money for when I move soon. I ended up using my debit card to pay for the rest, which I really did not like. (But I would have liked asking the cashier to take some of my things out of my order even less. How pride injuring.)

Once I got in my car and was halfway home, I realized I forgot the vinegar, the whole original purpose of the trip. That was a great way to top everything off.

SO that's my morning. Now it's 7:49 and I've got to head to work.

But I guess it's not that bad. At least I don't have cancer and I have access to clean water and I'm not getting bombed and it's finally SPRING. So I'll take a deep breath and hopefully my day gets better from here on out.

Flickr Finds Friday - shimmer & glow

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:00:00 +0000

rain by shimmer & glow

I just adore this. Everything about it.