renee and elliott

Can you tell which photos are of Ariana and  which ones are of Elliott? Leave a comment with your guesses.

I would like to take a moment to reciprocate Renee’s public acknowledgment. I love you Renee. You opened my eyes to the infinite capacity to feel and express love for another human.

We met in June of 2005 through an online dating site called Webdate™. We had both grown discouraged with online dating. Renee was ready to move back to Tennessee and start her life over… again.

I had first heard about Webdate™ in 2003 at my high school reunion. One of my classmates was Abe Smilowitz,  president and COO of Webdate™. Abe, if you happen to reading, thanks! I met the woman of my dreams through your site.

Photo of the Week will return next week, or whenever I feel like making it return.

The wireless mouse I use was starting to act up. It was moving slowly, and soon it froze. I tried a variety of things:

• Change the battery
• Press the reset button on the mouse and the receiver
• Move metal objects away from the receiver

I thought I was being punished by the Apple gods for using a Microsoft mouse and keyboard for my Mac. As a last-ditch effort, I shot a little compressed air at the little red light on the underside of the mouse. Voila! It worked! Now my mouse is fully functional again.

Your optical mouse needs some maintenance too. The wonky ball and roller mechanism is gone, but the laser lens needs to be clean and unobstructed for the mouse to work properly.

If you found this tip helpful, or if I saved you from buying a new mouse, please consider making a donation.

We’ve been occupied. You have to go out and live life to blog about it. We attended the Toastmasters holiday party on Saturday and we went to Hollywood Beach on Sunday. It was Ariana’s first trip to the beach. We didn’t swim, but the quirky/sleepy vibe of Hollywood Beach makes for more varied people-watching. It’s not just about French-Canadians in their Speedos.

Our attention is of course, focused on Twilli (Ariana’s new nickname), and our two other blogs. 21st Century Dad got a design makeover, and some new content was written. Renee’s efforts have been divided between driving traffic to 21st Century Parenting, and doing some work for clients.

As much as you enjoy reading ReneeAndElliott.com, there’s no central theme, except us. It’s the “monkey mind” swinging from tree to tree in the forest of thoughts. Elliott shares some photos while Renee lets you take a peek inside her mind.

The 21st Century blogs are clearly focused on parenting. Some posts related to parenting made their way on to ReneeAndElliott.com in the early days, but the need for a parenting related site became obvious very soon after we launched this site. We want to share our successes (and our failures) as parents. ReneeAndElliott.com remains the playground for us to share our lives, our images, our words.

Renee and I went to check out Art Basel this past Thursday night. We couldn’t find parking in the Design District, so we utilized the Midtown Miami parking garage. Before heading out, we ducked in to Target to buy diapers. Renee snapped this photo as I was paying for the diapers (and the half dozen other assorted items).

I taught Renee about the wonderful world of wide angle lenses (or the wide zoom setting on your camera) and how to manipulate it for creative effect. The zoom control on your camera is not meant to replace your feet. Use the zoom to control perspective first, then framing.

Next time you take pictures, play with the zoom setting. Use a wide setting and get close to your subject. Take a few steps back and use the telephoto setting to make your subject about the same size in the frame. You’ll get two dramatically different photographs.

For portraits and headshots, the long end of the zoom setting will give you a more flattering perspective. Conversely, this is why you look terrible on your webcam (aside from the sub-optimal lighting). The lens on your webcam is a wide angle.

If you enjoy looking at my photos or find my photo tips helpful, please consider making a donation.

YouTube is a great way to waste several hours of your time. But is it wasting if we’re genuinely entertained? The first time I saw Gerry Phillips on YouTube, I laughed non-stop for about half an hour.

Gerry covers a wide variety of musical styles. Some of the songs he plays are more mainstream while others would only be known to “music nerds” like me. It’s really amazing to hear him play the more complex pieces like Flight of the Bumblebee (or as he calls it, Fart of the Bumblebee).

You can hear some more of his performances that are apropos for the season here and here.

-Elliott

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This past March, we took a trip to Italy. Austin’s art teacher did all the legwork to arrange it with EF Tours. The price was incredible so we could not pass it up. Renee and Austin had never been out of the U.S. (unless you count their time living in Miami-Dade County). Italy is on our long list of places to visit.

Italy is fascinating to Americans because so much of who we are as Americans has its roots in ancient Rome. This influence runs through our government, our culture, and our language. I recently attended a hockey game, and could not help but notice the parallels between our modern game of hockey and the gladiators. Sports arenas also share similar design concepts with this storied edifice.

I looked for the tightest composition I could without making the building unidentifiable. The mid-afternoon sun on a clear day cast defined shadows and brought out the texture in the stone. I used a circular polarizing filter to increase contrast and saturation.

If you enjoy looking at my photos or find my photo tips helpful, please consider making a donation.

My generation (generation X or Y… I can’t quite figure it out) has been raised to value the all importance of one’s CAREER. We were told, “Go to school and get a good education so you can get a good job, and you’re set for life!”. We have been raised by a generation who still believes in corporate America. (Even though there have been many career casualties — aka “pink slips” — in this generation. It often happens, “coincidentally”, just before these people get to retire and enjoy their pension.

But the climate of Corporate America has changed in the last two decades. Professionals are no longer being taken care of by the corporate machine. This whole scenario warrants its own diatribe. We’ll discuss it in detail another time.

I really want to talk about the difference between a career and a CALLING. We all know there’s a difference between a JOB and a CAREER. Yet many people are content with “a good job”. Others take pride in the growth and development of the all-important career. Maybe this career was the natural progression from your education. Or maybe it’s in a completely different field. (And you justify not “using your education” because the money is good, the location is good… or whatever the case may be.) But how many people can honestly say they were born to do what they’re currently occupied doing?

A CALLING is that thing that you were BORN to do. It’s that thing that has been in the back (or front) of your mind since you were a child. A few people are lucky enough to find their way ONTO this path early. More often, it takes some sort of existential crisis to wake a person up to the fact that they’re NOT fulfilling that duty. And most people endure several such crises before they awake to, and answer this calling.

I’ve been in the process of this awakening for a couple of years. For as much as I’d like to say it’s all “love and light”, I cannot honestly say this is always the case. I get flashes of brilliance. These keep me on track. Most of the time, I fight entropy. But even though it takes a higher initial investment of intention to maintain the higher road, it always proves to be more nourishing to the soul.

My calling is all about VISION. It encompasses aesthetic (design, color, art, geometry, photographic composition), perceptic (interpersonal, circumstantial, practical) and systematic (seeing patterns and processes). This is the broad interpretation. I believe it is necessary to first find the general vicinity of the calling, especially if one’s interests and talents are diverse. Now I am trying to narrow it down to 2 or 3 symbiotic activities that I can run either simultaneously, or parallel to one another.

I am also becoming more interested with forming alliances with other professionals who are fulfilling THEIR duty to their higher call. I realize that if I’m born to do something specific, I should do THAT THING, and not worry about being good at EVERYTHING!

The greater challenge is to let go of, or DELEGATE, the other activities. Obviously, things like accounting cannot be let go of. This is the perfect opportunity to enlist someone to fulfill their calling! It is really a simple notion. But it is one that is so easy to overlook. In the age of INDEPENDENCE, we have become resistant to seeking assistance.

I have already lived most of my “career objectives”. But I am still left knowing that I have yet to truly pursue my calling. This has been the subject of much deliberation and intention examination. I then take inventory. I have worked (jobs, not careers OR callings) in retail, consumer finance, law and clerical. I have successfully navigated career paths in graphic design, web design, web art direction, project management, as an architectural and interior design assistant, and even as the vice president of our own graphic and web design business!

Yet, there was always something missing. Despite the success I have enjoyed in these areas, I still did not feel fulfilled. For a long time, I thought I was just being finicky. But when asked if I would continue these careers if I was not being PAID, I had to say, “No way, Jose!”

I believe we have the responsibility to not only pursue our passions, but to also SHARE our abilities. In this way, we will have more happy and fulfilled individuals, all helping one another AND being compensated for it.

Answer the call! Share your gift! Enjoy watching your loved ones thrive!

**How are you living your calling? Please leave a comment about your calling**

I would like to take a moment to appreciate my beloved publicly.

Yesterday was his birthday. He has been so patient and kind to me… even during the tough times, when most people would’ve thrown in the towel.

He told me that he stopped caring about his own birthday after 21. But since Twilli (our new nickname for Ariana) was born, I suspect he may find more significance in his own birthday.

Yet, despite his relative bday indifference, he ended up 2 tickets to tonight’s NHL Panthers hockey game (thanks, Scott!), a yummy dinner at Scruby’s BBQ, and big smiles from Twilli.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOVE! :-*
renee

*Please leave a comment if your attitude toward your own birthday changed when you had a child.*

We adopted Portnoy last year. A friend of ours took in three strays and found homes for them. One of them found his way into our lives. He has been nothing but lovable, playful, and very well mannered for the past year.

Portnoy is named after Mike Portnoy, the drummer from my favorite band, Dream Theater. Ever since I discovered Dream Theater, I thought Portnoy would be a great name for a cat.

Pet photos get a bad rap, and rightfully so. They are often taken at eye level looking down with harsh on-camera flash. They are out of focus, motion-blurred, and composed poorly. Dogs are slightly more cooperative than cats. Many animals don’t like flash.

Fortunately, I have the equipment, knowledge, and patience to achieve better results. I captured this goofy expression with my Nikon D80. I aimed the flash unit straight up to bounce the light off the ceiling. This lights the scene evenly, as if no flash was used at all. I got down on the floor to his level. Patience is what makes or breaks pet photos. You have to sit and wait like a sniper.

If you enjoy looking at my photos or found my pet photo tips helpful, please consider making a donation.