Portland Temple

I'm still editing the wedding pictures. I have yet to start on editing the reception pictures. I'm definitely learning as I go, here. But for now, here are some shots of the Portland Temple grounds.

Birthday Deals Update #2

Being unsure whether I'll be in Utah during the rest of August once I head out of town, I tried to come up with a tricky way to use my Tucano's coupon before I leave. Turns out it's not good for take-out or to-go. Bummer. The point, of course, is for me to bring people with me who will spend money. You do have to buy a meal of equal or greater value to get a free meal.

Usually, these rules are absolutely no biggy (usually, I either just split the cost of one meal--since the second is free--with a friend who wants to go help me use my coupon, or friends will offer to take me, which is a decent deal for them 'cause they don't actually have to buy me a meal *wink*), but since I'm trying to find a quick way to use it last-minute, these rules are frustrating my hunger for free food. :-)

Birthday Deals Update

Well, Melting Pot was a dud. All it is is a free dessert, same as you get for signing up, and I didn't bother reading the small print on the coupon for the free dessert: it's only good when you buy a combo meal for two or a four-course meal for one. You know how much that costs? Bleh. I have no such fundage, and that really just amounts to a "free dessert" like you get at most restaurants (this one just happens to be really expensive, so the dessert is probably worth more too), so I'm removing the Melting Pot from my list of deals. Sad day.

Entrenchment

Hey, Utah Anti-Mormons, making sure people know you're not LDS needn't mean being crude, immodest, cantankerous, unkempt, disdainful and bitter towards religion, or promiscuous.

Hey, "Utah Mormons", making sure people know you're faithful LDS needn't mean being haughty, frumpy, artificially perky, robotic, disdainful and bitter towards dissidents, or prudish.

Today's Harvest

A few more big'ns, and I'm making homemade spaghetti sauce. One of my sweet basil plants survived the drought of negligence enough that it's now regrowing some leaves, so I'm hoping I can use it, too.

The Job Hunt

I'm finally getting back to it: the hunt for a job. I hate job-hunting, but I'm trying to convince myself it's a fun game, like solving a really complex puzzle. It's not working.

I've been checking Craig's List for all kinds of jobs in various places, especially admin and food/service/hospitality. I've been checking in on some of the companies I'd like to work for. I'm finding some leads. And I'll be looking at Utah Jobs today. I guess it's not so bad.

In the process, though, I'm using some cost-of-living comparison calculators, and it's interesting to see how they compare and what they say. For example, the job listings I've found in Lubbock pay far better than the listings in Salt Lake and Provo, and the cost of living is supposedly similar to or lower than that of Salt Lake/Provo, yet at least one calculator says I'd experience a drop in disposable income because it says the average salary is lower. Maybe there's less of a gap between salaried and wage-earning positions? I dunno. But it's interesting, anyway.

Calculators:

• Salary.com
  
• CNN Money
  
• Bankrate.com

Backyard Photoshoot

While picking tomatoes in the back yard, I thought the handful looked really cool, with the yellow and red tomatoes of three varieties all intermingled, so I grabbed my camera, and thus began my self-challenge of finding photo ops in the back yard: anything interesting or photo-worthy that I might overlook when going about daily business. I went a little crazy, but it's always fun to see what I can find, and it's nice to capture some details from a certain time, and it's a fun way to practice different shutter speeds, lenses, apertures, angles, lighting, keeping an eye out for color and texture, blah blah blah.

I realize that these are mostly not especially "marketable" photos, and it'd add energy and interest to have people using or interacting with what's pictured, but there's something I like about the idea of all the interest, beauty, and human influence found in one back yard whether or not anyone is appreciating or noticing it.





Heh, I had to smile while taking this one. Tomato still life.


Stalk of corn, or as I like to call it: Muppet plant.

























I call this one "survivor", because it shows my one plant which survived the terrible drought (AKA me forgetting to water my herb garden for most of a week): the strawberries.


This one is a picture of "Voleville", the compost pile.