prevista

Good news end a bad week.

2008-05-11T10:54:00.001-07:00

For my basement flood -Good news. The only thing that got fried in the studio was the powersupply. I am grateful I didn't lose my computers after all. I washed my quilts and repacked them already. The one I was worried about, My everyday Angels, didn't get wet.

Staying up most of the night saturday helped keep down the damage. We were able to move things into the spare room. Everything else that was damaged was removed yesterday, and the industrial size fans did a great job overnight drying the walls and the floors. I love my insurance company.

The end in sight

2008-05-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

or nearly there.

The movies where all great. And I didn't get killed on my booklet. I will not advertise Jeans. Perhaps a broken piggy bank will work on the front, and I'll move the Jeans image to the inside.

I might add more pages, and have images with every step, and also, maybe reduce my text a little.

Look for some revisions on all my projects later this week, I'll try to post them as I complete them.

Wordlist

2008-05-07T04:08:00.000-07:00

Schifffahrtsgesellschaft
tschüß
Fahrvergnügen
Tatenort

Dulcinea
roble
nobleza
paraíso
lagartera
gilipollas

imagine
joy
love
dance
alliance

This was fun, especially since I already subscribe to several wordlist sites:

La palabra del día (the daily word) from http://www.elcastellano.org
My favorite word http://www.myfavoriteword.com/
Mein schönstes Deutsches Wort http://unsgermany.com/mein-sch-nstes-wort/index.php

There are entirely too many words to choose. My favorites, I'm not sure. All depends on my current mood.

Save a Buck or TWO - Final Project (THANK YOU!!!!)

2008-05-06T11:10:00.001-07:00

Victoria Richards- Booklet project –ProcessAudience: gainfully employed people.
How to save a buck or two
The majority of us do not have access to unlimited finances. When the unanticipated occurs, we often must juggle our money. An unexpected expense, such as a car repair, the replacement of an appliance or home improvement need, can send the average person into a financial black hole. Unplanned expenses may mean the need to use a credit card, or even worse skip one or more mortgage payments. Some people may ask relatives or friends for money, or borrow from a financial institution. A better solution is to plan for the unexpected and have a little, or large, nest egg. Saving money isn’t hard; however it requires commitment and discipline.

The first step to financial stability is to assess your situation. You have to establish where your money goes. For example, this morning you had $10.00. By the end of the day, you have $0.45 left, and no real incline where you spent the rest. To gain an idea of what you spend, keep a detailed record of EVERY expense. You must do this for several weeks. The record will help you identify where you spend money, how you spend it, and on what. You will see patterns of spending that help you with the next step.

Tip: Sample expenditure log (Graphic file)

Using your log, establish a budget. At the top of the budget page, note down your monthly income. Deduct from that sum your fixed monthly expenses: housing, utilities, cable, car payment, insurance and existing accounts (credit cards, loans). Next, write down the average sum of what you spent on necessities: food, cleaning and hygienic supplies, clothing and fuel. The last part of your budget is to note any discretionary expenses such as entertainment and leisure expenses.
NOTE: If your expenses equal more than your income-you have a serious financial problem, and you must immediately start cutting costs wherever possible.

Tip: Sample budget (Graphic file)

Assuming your income and expense balance are at equilibrium, this is where you identify where to cut costs to save money, and set short and long-term goals. Start small, and save what you can afford. Eliminate unnecessary expenses, but leave yourself some room to play. Most important, pay all your bills first and on time. Missing or late payments will affect your credit rating, and affect your ability to borrow money.

Where you can cut costs:
Stop smoking. A-pack-a-day habit costs $2,190 a year.
Limit your coffee. 1 cup daily Starbucks coffee costs $100.00 per month
No alcohol when eating out. 2 glasses of wine with dinner cost more than a bottle (4-6 glasses) retail.
Buy generic brands. Many generic brand items are equal in quality to name brand ones and usually retail for 10-25% less.
Use coupons, both for food items, and for retail stores. You can piggy bank the savings.
Evaluate your need, before making a credit card purchase. Pay cash whenever possible.

Stick to your budget. This is by far the most important step. Deviating from the budget, defeats the purpose of having one. Soon you’ll find yourself reading this book again from the start.

Credit card Knowledge: To pay off $8000 in debt making the minimum payment (approx. 2 %) on your bill would take 54 years, and cost you $31,000 in payments. Committing to a set payment of $160 a month (The first payment equals the 2% minimum payment) will pay off the debt in 8 years and would cost you $15,000. These calculations assume an 18% interest rate. Rates can be as high as 35% (http://www.debtsmart.com).

Periodically reassess your situation. For example, if your car needs repair, you will have to adjust your budget; or you paid the balance on a credit card and now have additional resources to add to your savings. Keep track of your progress. Continue to track your expenses and adjust your budget.

Try this, it’s easy.

Tear Out or Fold out: Blank budget, Blank expenditure log

I saw this on a truck on the Beltway

2008-05-06T04:50:00.000-07:00

How would you like driving around with this message on your vehicle. Not bad enough it was on the back, when I passed this poor fella, there it was 20 feet long and 8 feet high on the side of the truck as well.

Cinco de Mayo Poster

2008-05-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, so anyone care to comment...

Not only is the layout (WOW) not the best, the translation is just as awful....

Alphabet Soup

2008-05-02T05:13:00.000-07:00

I came across the following picturebook in Flash,

http://www.bemboszoo.com/

Check it out. Enjoy.

Project 5 - Tell A Story - Text

2008-04-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Here is the narration to my story: first frame, and last frame of flash movie.

Title: Free fall. By Victoria Richards.

(MUSIC: Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire: Winter Theme 2:45 Hedwig 1:55 - I may change this selection, not sure yet how the melody marries with my images)

Ever since childhood, Bea wished to fly like an eagle.

Each night, her father made her soar before bedtime.

She’d swing highest on the playground

and Ride the Ferris Wheel to be high off the ground.

Today, her dream would come true

and she would fly like the eagle

Free-fall from 10,000 feet.

Anxiously she approached the idling plane

and handed her ticket to the attendant.

She took the only available seat next to another adrenalin junkie.

“Is this your first time?” he asked her.

Incapable of talkin, she nodded.

He told her it was his fourth and not to worry.

The engines roared, and the plane moved slowly.

As the plane gained momentum and took off, her stomach gave an anxious lurch.

The attendant announced, “two minutes to altitude, prepare to deploy.”

Sweat was beading on her forehead, and started to run down her temples.

The others jumped.

Now it was her turn.

She hung on to the frame... and let go.

(FLYING)

(ROLLING)

(FALLING)

She pulled the ripcord.

Nothing happened. (FALLING)

(PANIC)

She pulled the spare.

Something deployed, tangled, and covered her face.

She ripped at it.

The ground was getting close,

Oh, so close!

No time, not even to scream.

(THUD)

(CLOUD)

(END MUSIC)

(CLOUD LIFTS, FALLEN OUT OF BED)

CREDITS.

Hooray!

2008-04-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

It pays to complain,

The last post finally made that ^%&*(##%DS&^ post disappear.

Now I can post the updated stuff, I hope.

This Blog

2008-04-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

I am not sure what I dislike more (not to use the word hate) blogging, or working with Flash after months of not looking at the software.

Take my previous post, for example (project 5 - text). I realized that the text was not the latest version. I attempted to edit the post, resave it, repost it, delete it, you name it I did it. NOTHING. The stupid wrong text is still there, and won't go away. AAAAAAGH!!!!!!

Flash .... Flash..... Let's not talk about Flash. Well, lunch is over, got to get back to work.

It's at times like this, that I appreciate working on a 50 page acrobat document in Arabic. So much easier than blogging, or Flash!

Quilting

2008-04-27T10:14:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned yesterday during show and tell, quilting is one of my hobbies.

Creating geometric shapes with pieces of fabric is fascinating, more fascinating is creating art pieces with geometric shapes (follow the link to see)

http://www.lenorecrawford.com/

Quilting requires an extremely detailed process, I find it relaxing and once I finish a top I have a huge sense of accomplishment. Aside from reading, quilting is my favorite thing.

This is my quilt titled "trip around the world in red, white and blue" . It is made of 2334 pieces - 2202-1" squares and 132-1" half squares. The finished size is 48"x60". I used approximately 60 different fabrics.

Telling a story

2008-04-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

This flash project is by far the most fun project of this semester (for me, anyway). I just wish we had more time.

I love stories.

As a child, I grew up with Max and Moritz, Till Eulenspiegel and Pippi Langstrumpf, and the Fairy tales by the brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen.

I loved reading stories about adventures or pirates and treasure, like in Shipwreck (Howard Pease), Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson), The Sea-wolf (Jack London), Jungle Book (Kipling), and my favorite of all Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn (Twain).

If I had to guess how many books I have read in my life, I would have to say several hundred.

I am looking at several hundred now, lined up on my bookshelfs - books by Cervantes, Shakespeare, Heinrich Heine, Tolstoy, Solzhenitsyn, Agatha Christie, Enid Blyton, Stephen King, Tolkien, Goethe, Rowling. And then there are the several dozen non-fiction lining the shelves.

I guess, we can add books to my collectables list.

At some point, I plan on reading everything I have again. Hope I have enough time...

Collectables

2008-04-27T08:23:00.001-07:00

(Stacey, this is for you, so you don't have to look at my McD's ad any longer.)

I have tons of collections, most of them from many years ago.

Coins
stamps
spoons
porcelain and stoneware plates
miniatures
crystal boxes
crystal bells

I have stopped collecting most of these, except for spoons. I still buy a spoon whenever I visit a place I have never been. My last spoon came from Canada. Unfortunately, the spoons they sell now, are pretty worthless. I have beautiful antique spoons made of pewter and silver. My favorite is one made of porcelain I bought in Holland.

For the most part, the coins I have are just coins in distribution. I do have some mint proof sets from the United States, and some commemorative coins from Europe. Since most European nations have moved to the use of the Euro, I feel I have some interesting pieces.

I stopped cataloging stamps about 20 years ago. I have a set of East German stamps which are worth quite a bit, unfortunetely the set is incomplete, and I am not sure I will be able to complete it.

My favorite collection are my bells. Having lived in Germany for over 20 years, I had access to some of the most famous crystal manufactures. My favorite bell is a simple bell I received as a going away gift from the wives organization of my ex-husbands military unit when I left Germany. My second favorite is a bohemian green crystal bell with 24 karat gold border.

I guess every item we collect has a specific design element to it.

For coins, someone has to design the image and typography, same for stamps. For other collectables like the spoons and the crystal boxes, there are optical and structural nuances which must be observed. Design is everywhere, when you open your car door, a lable on a ketchup bottle, the writing on the wall.

Show and Tell - Compare/Contrast

2008-03-19T12:41:00.001-07:00

I found this ad in Family Fun Magazine (May 2007). I found it interesting because the front of the page (on the left) did not indicate a sponsor. The flip side, has a regular image of a new salad available at McDonalds.

Show and Tell - Ad Campaign

2008-03-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

I got to class late, and wasn't able to show my ads. I know we are supposed to read all these magazines about different things. To be honest, I have flipped through some of them, but I really stick with the one's I already get, Time, Newsweek, Bon appétit, Layers, NAPP, Information week, Cooking Light, Government News, PC World and Computerworld.

The Ads I picked where for IBM (they actually appeared in time magazine, in the last three or four issues. They are sort of corky/funny. The pictures show some type of chaos, or infrastructure problem, and offer the solution by using new technology.

Strange Things people throw away

2008-03-17T18:30:00.001-07:00

I find the strangest things on the road when I walk my dog. No, I do not pick them up (except if it is money). When I came across an egg this morning, I thought I make a list for the blog.
Yes, this morning, as I was walking Seven (actaully my Rot/Pitbull 80 lb monster was dragging me down the road) I came across a chicken egg. It was just sitting there on the side of the road. Seven, always curious, sniffed at it, and simply kept walking. I guess it was not as interesting as other things we have encountered during our daily outings.

Some examples of what Seven and I have found:

A prestine ink pen inscribed
"President George W Bush
visit to Anne Arundel Community College
March 2, 2oo05"
I can only think someone doesn't like the President too much, why else would they throw away a perfectly good pen?

$7.53 in bills and loose change. Seven really enjoyed the cow bone I bought him.

My neighbors wallet. He was very happy when I returned it. Seven got another cow bone from him.

6 right handed and one left handed gloves, none matched.

Socks. This one is unusual, or maybe not?

T-shirts.

A box, and as we walked along, scattered bathroom things (razor, soap dish, mouthwash, tampon box, condoms - you get the idea?) - Someone was either ticked off and tossed it, or maybe they were moving and forgot to tie down the box, or maybe they were ticked off and tossed it out the window. I gathered everything and put it in the box, and put the box on the side of the road. Later that evening when Seven took me for a my daily drag, the box was gone. I hope the owner found it.

The most unusual thing, to date, was the egg. A chicken egg. Wild.

Well Happy St. Patrick's day. I am tired, and have to work on reworking Project 3 now.

This is seven resting after he drags me through the neighborhood

Project 3 - Total miss

2008-03-17T18:16:00.000-07:00

Well. I gess I did my worst yet. NOthing to it. Rething concept. I really dislike this part of the assignment. Blogging is not my thing.

Project 2 - Profile

2008-03-11T15:16:00.000-07:00

(Picture coming soon)

My project is about Alan Whatley. Alan was named volunteer of the year by his local Raven's roost. He really does a lot:

The Polar bear plunge
Takes inner city kids skying
Works actively for the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation (he is presenting the annual awards tonight, at Martin's West)
Repair bicycles to be donated to needy children through St. Vincent Center
Helps provide meals for underprivileged families during Thanksgiving and Christmas

I could probably keep listing things. Alan is a really fun guy. I am lucky to know him, and to be able to share time with an exceptionally generous person.

Six Word Profiles

2008-03-11T15:12:00.001-07:00

Have suitcase, no money. Can't travel.

Opened door, stepped out and breathed.

Mi vida está llena de extrañezas. (My life is full of oddities.)

Project 1, Phase 4

2008-03-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

Guanábana, often called the Watermelon of the tropics, mimics its very distant cousin in skin color, shape, and flavor. It even has large amounts of brown seeds like most watermelons.
The oval to heart-shaped fruit can grow up to 12 inches in length and weigh as much as 15 lbs. The fresh pulp of the Guanábana is very refreshing, and can produce large amounts of juice, just like a Watermelon. Both fruits can be a welcomed snack during a hot summer day. The fresh pulp has a variety of uses: it can be eaten directly, or processed for use in ice cream, juices, marmalade, and yogurt. Unripe fruit can be cooked and served as a savory side. Guanábana is high in carbohydrates, and has substantial amounts of Vitamins C, B1, and B2.

The Yellow Watermelon is a summer favorite, known for its fresh taste and thirst-quenching abilities.

There are several distinct differences between Yellow Watermelon and Guanábana. Watermelons are the fruits of dry-land vine plants; Guanábanas grow on trees and prefer a tropical climate. Watermelons have smooth skin; Guanábanas are covered with soft prickly spikes. Yellow Watermelon will stay fresh for weeks when stored in a cool, dark, dry place. Guanábana will spoil quickly once picked.
The taste of the Watermelon is nuances sweeter than a Guanábana and its flesh is crispy rather than creamy. Aside from being consumed raw, its juice can be used to make refreshing drinks and jellies. Watermelon is a great source of Potassium and Vitamins A and C, low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and Sodium.

Compare/Contrast

2008-03-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

This was too weird to pass up. What are the odds? One blackbird surrounded by seagulls.

Just For Fun

2008-03-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

I carry a small digital in my car, often hang my hand out the window and just randomly capture my environment. I find the results refreshing, amusing, bizarre...

Inspiration

2008-03-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

As far as things that Inspire me:

My kids, their talents and their encouragement. Here is to you, Vic, Ric (and your beautiful minds)

Back online

2008-03-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

Technology is great. I'm back. Love that line. Everytime I put it to paper I picture Jack Nicholson looking through the busted door. REDRUM. REDRUM. Great Movie. The book was, of course, much more intensely scary.

The Assignment - Fruit, fruit and more fruit...

2008-02-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

So many fruits to pick, so little time to try them all.
I opted for these two. Nothing really in common (I have had both, and LOVE them) and I liked the way these two pictures were similar.

Soursop (Annona muricata) Other names: Guyabano, Guanabana and Yellow Watermelon

prevista - foresee in English

2008-02-06T10:08:00.000-08:00

prevista - conjugación de prever
prever - Disponer o preparar medios contra futuras contingencias.

Foresee - Have means or prepare for future contingencies