Thursday 28 February 2013

Nice Photo Card Wedding Invitations photos

Bliss's 2011 Wedding Fair Decoration .
photo card wedding invitations
Image by JAY ZHANG
2011 WEDDING FAIR at Hotel Inter Continental .
PHOTO by JayZhang .


Bliss's 2011 Wedding Fair Decoration .
photo card wedding invitations
Image by JAY ZHANG
2011 WEDDING FAIR at Hotel Inter Continental .
PHOTO by JayZhang .


Bliss's 2011 Wedding Fair Decoration .
photo card wedding invitations
Image by JAY ZHANG
2011 WEDDING FAIR at Hotel Inter Continental .
PHOTO by JayZhang .


Bliss's 2011 Wedding Fair Decoration .
photo card wedding invitations
Image by JAY ZHANG
2011 WEDDING FAIR at Hotel Inter Continental .
PHOTO by JayZhang .


Bliss's 2011 Wedding Fair Decoration .
photo card wedding invitations
Image by JAY ZHANG
2011 WEDDING FAIR at Hotel Inter Continental .
PHOTO by JayZhang .

Wishing you a peaceful and happy 2007!

Wishing you a peaceful and happy 2007!
happy new year photo card
Image by Unhindered by Talent
So, here's the finished card. It's a bit odd in that it has all three of us in it, which is a first since ever in his 13 years on our planet.

Many thanks to all our friends here on Flickr, who continue to provide such wonderful support, feedback, and comments. It is very much appreciated!

Top from left: WeatherGirl laughing at Christmas, Sub-Evil Boy being goofy in front of the computer, and me shooting my reflection on the train traveling south from Denali National Park (Alaska) last summer.

Middle from left: Sub-Evil boy huddling against the wind on an exposed hill top in Denali National Park last August, Sub-Evil at Pea Ridge National Military Park over Christmas, and WeatherGirl being silly in my office last April.

Bottom row from left: Sub-Evil crashing in the back of the bus from Anchorage up to Denali National Park last August, Sub-Evil and I performing his wondrous "Taco Man" at the Asian Student Association talent show in November, and Sub-Evil laughing while we were waiting for the Denali to Anchorage train to arrive.


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
happy new year photo card
Image by ckaiserca
1. Kisimul Castle, Castlebay, Isle of Barra - Scotland, 2. Posey Trapped? Not Really. . ., 3. Mini Bouquet, 4. The Stairwell O' Fame - Newmarket Theatre, 5. Glass from the Past, 6. Scottish Tablet, 7. Classics! 2, 8. Mini Moo Cards in Box,

9. Maya, 10. Hot Tamale, 11. Give me your answer do. . ., 12. Pedro Cortez Godtar, 13. Seeing the Past, 14. Musician's Ear Plugs, 15. Civil War Tin Type - Civil War Soldier, 16. Blackeyed Susans,

17. Polistes Wasps Focal Colour, 18. Hampden Pocket Watch Escapement, 19. Newmarket Old Town Hall Belfry Bent, 20. Posey, 21. Mini Moo Card Selection, 22. Polistes Wasps Closeup, 23. Hey! You're in My Light!, 24. Hebrew Louisville Tee-shirt,

25. Spiral, 26. Living Room Autostitch, 27. My Office - My Life, 28. Reese Bites, 29. Newmarket Old Town Hall (Revised), 30. 2001 Kentucky Derby Mint Julep Glass, 31. Hubcap Self-portrait, 32. Civil War Era Ambrotype - Gentleman,

33. Top O' The Stairs, 34. Maya, 35. Métro, 36. Maya, 37. Sterling Silver Mint Julep Cup, 38. Rainbow, 39. Newmarket Theatre Auditorium with Stage Lighting, 40. Camera Toss 001,

41. Posey, 42. WC's Mayan Princess, 43. Molly caught by the Flash, 44. Le marché Bonsecours, 45. Tree, 46. Lantana, 47. Aurora, ON CANADA, 48. Polistes Wasps at Home,

49. Cigar Smoke, 50. First photo with my new Lensbaby, 51. Mangosteen, 52. Refelection, 53. Billboard, 54. Lucie and Molly, 55. L’hôtel de ville, 56. Medic Alert 003,

57. Medic Alert 001, 58. ckaiserca, 59. Newmarket Old Town Hall, 60. Lantana Focal Colour, 61. Hampden Watch Escapement, 62. Pedro Cortez Godtar, 63. Spiral Two, 64. Brian and Bruce Good,

65. Hampden Watch Face, 66. Have a Cigar, 67. Some Other Spring, 68. Downtown Newmarket 030, 69. flickr Addict, 70. Dobro, 71. Fiddle, 72. Superman Crunch 2

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.


Take that, 2011!
happy new year photo card
Image by loco's photos
Happy New Year to all my Flickr friends! If I haven't already told you personally, I want to thank you all for the wonderful support and the incredible inspiration you've provided through this first year of my new hobby. I can't wait to see what 2012 brings! I look forward to seeing more of your photos!! Thank you all! :)



Merry Christmas
happy new year photo card
Image by supersam5
Lots of warm wishes to everyone on the occasion of Christmas. May Santa shower with loads of gifts and good cheer!!

Wishing everyone a very very Merry Christmas...

... and a Happy New Year 2007!! :-)


I have used two photos from Flickr users to create this card.
flickr.com/photos/22385015@N00/323870271/ for the Christmas angel and...
flickr.com/photos/piper/75559623/ for the snow flake.

Unlocked heck yes

Unlocked heck yes
photo insert card
Image by Steven Vance
It took a while, but I finally got it. I used a combination of applications for Windows and Mac.

Essentially, the steps for iPhone 3GS are:
1. Create a custom firmware (CFW) with: iPad baseband 06.15.00, hacktivation, jailbreak. I used sn0wbreeze 2.8 for Windows. (If you have iPhone 4, I think the same applications named below will work with iPhone 4, but ignore anything I say about the baseband.)
2. Put the iPhone in "pwned DFU mode" and use iTunes to load the CFW. The iPhone will attempt to restart but will never finish. (pwned DFU mode is different than regular DFU mode. It must be in pwned DFU mode to accept CFWs.)
3. Since iOS 5.0.1 is an "untethered jailbreak", you must boot with a program every time. So I used redsn0w 0.9.9b9 to do this, but for some reason it won't actually restart the phone. So then I use iBoot while the phone is still in a "receptive" mode.
4. Once it turns on, go through the setup process. You can restore from a backup via iTunes if you want (I did).
5. Go to Cydia and download ultrasn0w after adding the repository repo666.ultrasn0w.com. Install ultrasn0w and let the phone attempt to reboot (go back to setup 3, then to step 6).
6. Insert your SIM card and wait for the iPhone to find your new carrier!

The background photo is kind of dumb, it's the Eco Park parking garage on Kinzie and Clark Streets in River North, Chicago. The wind turbines make probably 10 revolutions a year.


Raw file storage
photo insert card
Image by selkovjr
Previous: Shooting the raw frames

Unloading the camera

The first thing I do when I come home is to unload the camera so it is ready for next time. The truth is, my camera's 2Gb card has never been even close to full, but I unload it nonetheless (if only because I am curious how well the last series of shots turned out.

Unloading the pictures in the right way is an important part of the process. Storing them so that they are easy to find and never get lost is a know-how that was earned through much trial and error.

I store all my raw images in one flat directory on a huge external drive, where they are indexed by the timestamp. I also store the edited versions of the raw images in another directory on the same drive. That way, I can easily replicate both the source and the results of my editing work for backup, and it is extremely easy to browse the entire collection using a thumbnail utility (I use Nautilus, which is part of Gnome).

However, I process the pictures in a directory tree organised by the place the pictures were taken or by the subject, rooted in my Documents folder. Each directory in the photo hierachy has a Makefile with processing instructions and two symlinks:

    raw → ../raw
    edited → ../edited

The top photo directory has the same symlinks, but in this case, they link to an actual mount point of my storage device:

    raw → /media/disk/Documents/photo/raw
    edited → /media/disk/Documents/photo/edited

Get it? The symlinks are chained all the way up to the photo root, and that's the only place where I need to switch them when I swap my storage devices, but I do not need to do that unless I migrate to a different device. I have configured my mount daemon in such a way that whenever I plug in the external device, it always gets mounted to the same mount point. When I work with the photos, I plug the device in. When I'm done, I unplug it. None of those bulky raw files or edited images ever hit my over-crowded system drive. On it, I only keep the instructions for what to do with the images (and even those get backed up to the same external drive).

Now, this wonderfully simple and convenient photo storage depends on a particular naming scheme. I want all my raw images to have a unique name and be ordered by creation time. The obvious way to do it is to make the timestamp part of the file name (remember I told you that keeping your camera clock current was important?)

So, before I dump my new pictures into their permanent storage, I rename them. Using the camera -generated file names is not only inconvenient, but is also risky. I have lost a bunch of images as a result of inserting a new flash card into the camera. The file naming scheme was automatically reset, and when I unloaded the new pictures into the storage, the old ones with the same names got overwritten. Never again. Here's what I do:

- copy the files into a temp directory

    plug the camera in (USB) — it gets mounted to /media/camera
    mkdir tmp
    cp -iv /media/camera/DCIM/101OLYMP/P62*ORF tmp # just an example
    rm -rf /media/camera/DCIM
    umount /media/camera

- Rename the files

    exiftool "-FileName<DateTimeOriginal" -d "%y%m%d_%H%M%S.%%e" tmp

What this does is take the timestamp from each file in ./tmp and write it into the file name in the specified format. For example:

    P62005.ORF ⇒ 080427_195321.ORF

As you can see, the only part of the original name that I keep is the file suffix. I have two different cameras and they use different suffixes when they create files on their media, so by keeping the suffix intact, I can easily tell which camera create which file. It is not necessary because the timestamp guarantees uniqueness (did I tell you to keep your clock current?), but it is a convenience that I got to favour with time.

After this, the files can be copied to their permanent storage directory, where they will happily coexist with the old files. It does not matter what creation times the files have; they can always be sorted by name and viewed in the order they were shot.

Next: Decoding the raw files


Centralia Hardware Company 1907
photo insert card
Image by McMillan Memorial Library (Historical Collections)
www.mcmillanlibrary.org/taylor/photos/photo128.JPG
In the middle picture and also the card insert to the left, is shown the Centralia Hardware building as a single store in those days. The insert at the left of it shows the same hardware store but in addition to it is the two story frame building that Mr. Nash was used as a warehouse. This is the same frame building referred to as the Post Office, H. W. Jackson built. This insert card is dated 1907.


Invitation Set
photo insert card
Image by carriejeberhardt
Our wedding invitations, inserts and thank you cards.

Designed and printed by www.MyUglyKitty.com. Photo also by MyUglyKitty.com.


Cholie modeling
photo insert card
Image by '|'||'| '|'[]||{
My niece. We were taking photos to insert in our Christmas card.

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Cool Photo Card Templates images

This image is honored as Wikipdia Picture of the Day 28 July 2009 (Best of 3) Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) mother with nursing pup in the Morro Bay harbor
photo card templates
Image by mikebaird
This image is honored as Wikipdia Picture of the Day 28 July 2009

Do you want to use one of my images?

(Best of 3) Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) mother with nursing pup in the Morro Bay harbor, Morro Bay, CA. 27 Oct. 2008. Michael "Mike" L. Baird, Canon 1D Mark III, 600mm f/4 IS with circular polarizer, on tripod.

17 July 2009 Creative Commons use note

24 July 2009: Self-promotion - (and NEW RELATED CLASS - see below) - I was honored to get one of my sea otter with pup images www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/2979351573/ be selected as Wikipedia Picture of the Day for 28 July 2009 as seen at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:POTD/2009-07-28
Six of my sea otter images are used on the Wikipedia Sea Otter definition page at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_otter
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sea_otter_nursing02.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sea-otter-morro-bay_13.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sea-otter-bay_11.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sea_otter_with_injured_nose.JPG
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Four_sea_otters.JPG
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sea_otter_cropped.jpg

Related to this placement is the fact that I will be giving a class on how to popularize your images at Flickr and Wikipedia and Wikimedia at the Morro Photo Expo morrophoto.com/ on Sat. Oct. 24, 2009 2:00 - 3:30PM.
This class was just recently added because registrations are exceeding expectations - if you have already signed up for the expo morrophoto.com/schedule.shtml and want to attend this class morrophoto.com/a-flickr.shtml you can contact Dawn Beattie Dawn_Beattie[@}charter.net and ask to be added).

Flickr: A Radical New Social Networking Paradigm for Photo Sharing with Mike Baird
Why share? "A photo taken but not shared might just as well have never been taken." Learning from others. Giving versus getting in a social networking context. Preserving your Intellectual Property rights (IP), copyrights. Creative Commons licensing. Getting your photos recognized, featured, popularized. Understanding the proprietary Flickr measure of "Interestingness." Using Groups and Pools. Getting and giving critique. Netiquette - how to be a good Flickr citizen. Cloud computing trend: processing, storing, and distributing your digital photos entirely online and independent of any personal computer. Photographer's rights to take and use photos. Perpetual image hosting - Flickr promises to never erase an image! What does that mean in terms of your legacy?
Photographer Michael "Mike" L. Baird is an avid and some say addicted Flickr user, having migrated most of his Internet photo presentation sites (bairdphotos.com, stealthispicture.com, digitalchocolate.org, BirdsOfMorroBay.com...) onto Flickr, which you can find via flickr.bairdphotos.com. Mike wants to infect you with his same interest. At Flickr, Mike hosts about 5000 Morro Bay-related images which have been viewed over two million times, averaging 4000 views a day. His "most interesting" images have each garnered 20,000 views and 400 comments, and appear in 60 groups, and some are linked to or purposed with attribution from up to 200 different external sites. Because of Flickr and the related Creative Commons revolution, hundreds of his images have now been used in educational settings including State Park, National Marine Sanctuary, National Estuary Program, etc. kiosks and displays, books, pamphlets, interpretive signs, rescue cards, Coast Guard murals, birding resource sites, etc.
In this presentation Mike hopes to get you excited about the possibility of projecting your photography further into the digital universe. Many of us do not realize it, but our legacy may well be represented by only those bits we leave behind on the Internet. In 500 years, what will Google and Flickr say about you?

Used in this Mother Jones article
m.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/02/how-exxon-valdez-oi...


OrigamiPod : Let's start!
photo card templates
Image by hawkexpress
Origami (折り紙) means a folding paper in Japanese. And a pod is an 5x3 index card holder that plays a keyrole in the PoIC system. Let's make it by ourselves :)

Print the template on 3 sheets of A4 size paper. A paper should not be too thin or too thick. Find appropriate paper that bears open-close action of the accordion.

# I found a paper I use here was still thin. Choose thicker paper like this when you try. ;)

Ref . : @blog, OrigamiPod : icPod for everyone

News! : The OrigamiPod is Introduced on www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/paper-accordion-or... :))



Day 41: The Metro Art
photo card templates
Image by Najwa Marafie - Free Photographer
Stockholm Public Transport - SL
Transportation in Stockholm is efficient, convenient and safe. Moreover, Stockholmers protect their beautiful environment. As a result, many of the downtown buses run on environmentally friendly fuels such as ethanol. Stockholm Public Transport, SL, runs the buses, subway, commuter trains, trams and some of the ferry lines in Stockholm county.

Travelling by the Stockholm subway system is the easiest way to get around town. The Stockholm subway is also called the longest art exhibit in the world, since many of the stations are richly adorned by various artists.

Stockholm is divided into three zones, and the zone tickets are valid for multiple trips within one hour. Tickets can be purchased at the SL Center, subway turnstile booths, Pressbyrå shops, ticket machines or by SMS. You can’t pay cash for tickets on the buses in Stockholm. Most bus stops have ticket machines that accept both coins and cards.

A punch ticket is the best choice if you’re not making many trips. Buying a 1- 3- or 7-day card is also a good solution. These give you free travel in all zones during their validity period. Another alternative is the Stockholm card, which gives you free travel and free admission to 75 museums and attractions in the city. The card comes in 24-, 48- and 72-hour denominations.

A marvelous way to discover Stockholm is to take buses number 47 and 69. Number 47 goes out to Djurgården, with attractions such as Skansen and the Vasa Museum, and number 69 goes out to Gärdet, where Kaknästornet (the Kaknäs tower) is located.

You can also take Stockholm public transportation in to downtown from Arlanda and Bromma airports. Bus number 583 runs from Arlanda to Märsta, where you pick up the subway to downtown. Bus number 110 runs from Bromma airport to Alvik, where it’s easy to take the subway in to the city.

Guided tours of the Metro art
Guided tours of the Metro art from June 16
[2009-05-29] With its 90 stations adorned with art, sculptures and installations, the Stockholm’s Metro is said to be the longest art exhibition in the world.

Between June 16 and August 29 guided tours of the Metro art take place every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 3 pm.

Tuesdays: Art and architecture of the Blue line
Starting from SL Travel Centre at Fridhemsplan

Thursdays: Art and architecture of the Green line
Starting from SL Travel Centre at the Sergels torg exit, T-Centralen

Saturdays: Art and architecture of the Red line
Starting from SL Travel Centre at the Sergels torg exit, T-Centralen

All you need to join in is a valid ticket to travel.

Would you like to sneak a peak? Check out the artguide in the Art and architecture section.



Location: Solna Station - Stockholm - Sweden

Copyright Reserved 2009 ©
Mobile: +965 66 383 666
e-mail: N_Studio@live.com
-----------------------------------------------
Gear: FUJIFILM FinePix S5Pro

Exposure Time: HDR

F-Number: 11

Focal Length: 14 mm

Lens: Nikon 14 mm - f/2.8

ISO: 100

Exposure Program: Manual

Tripod: Yes

Rate my photo: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


DIY Desktop Studio AKA Foamboard Box and Masking Tape
photo card templates
Image by Sprogz
I've wanted a desktop "enclosure" to take macros and suchlike whilst isolating the background clutter that also occupies my desktop for quite some time now.

Today, 05 Jan 2011 I finally constructed one.

I took inspiration from this classic article strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-s... but instead of cardboard (had real trouble finding a reasonable-sized cardboard box, got impatient and used foamboard).

I purchased all the bits from a local Hobbycraft store.

A3 5-sheet pack of white foamboard, £11.99. Could have saved myself this if I'd found the right-sized cardboard box. Oh well, I'll make a larger one when I find the right-sized cardboard box.

A1 sheet of 90g tracing paper, £1.58.

Several pieces of A1 150gsm coloured card; white, black, green, blue and red. £1.99 each.

Finally, a roll of masking tape that I had laying around the house.

I marked a 35mm-ish border around two A3 pieces of foamboard, cut out the middle inside this border with a Stanley knife (be careful) and stuck them to a third piece (the back) which I did not cut a hole in using masking tape.

I placed another A3 piece of foamboard across the top, marked where it needed cutting to fit snugly on top and then cut it. I then marked the same 35mm border around the edge of this now squarish piece and again cut out the middle. I then stuck it on top with masking tape.

I used the pieces of foamboard I cut out as templates on the big A1 sheet of tracing paper adding about 15mm overlap and simply cut out the tracing paper with scissors. I then stuck them over the holes in the sides and top with masking tape - that way I can remove them if I want to shoot directly into the box from the side.

I cut a strip of white 150gsm card the same width as the box, laid the box on its back, placed the card on the back right up to the top and then simply stood the box up. The card just bent seamlessly at the back as you can see in the photo.

I cut a black piece of card too. This is the first shot I took with the black card backdrop firing a Canon 430 EX II through the left-hand "window" and a reflector (actually the unused fifth piece of white foamboard) inside the box on the right-hand side.

www.flickr.com/photos/sprogz/5328342164/

I kept the bottom of the box uncovered so I could place it over the top of things outside when the weather's better. You can still place it on the unused fifth piece of foamboard to temporarily create a base if you really want to.

Plus, all the off-cuts of white foamboard can be used as reflectors, gobos or whatever.

Apologies that this shot is more "arty" and less about the construction details. I'm sorry, I just can't help myself.

O.o

Nice Photo Card Announcements photos

Baby Shower Invitation
photo card announcements
Image by blush printables


Baby Shower Invitation
photo card announcements
Image by blush printables


Baby Shower Invitation
photo card announcements
Image by blush printables


Baby Shower Invitation
photo card announcements
Image by blush printables

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Nice Thank You Card With Photo photos


thank you card with photo
Image by swirlingthoughts
Neutral gray card stock, 4bar size, with matching envelope. One of my bead images on Fuji Crystal Archive paper inside... a perfect little thank you for one of your Etsy buddies or a crafty friend.



Lost + Found / 20070925.850SD.IS.0754 / SML
thank you card with photo
Image by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML
See Uncovered treasures to see what I found!

SML Thank You: Lori Casey

I would like to thank Lori Casey for finding my bag in an NYC cab, uncovering countless treasures / necessities for me. I am in awe with how amazing people can be. Folks: we are talking about a city with millions of people here... and *nothing* was lost!

This made for a very happy birthday gift :)

Related SML
SML Life
SML Thank You

SML Copyright Notice
©2007 See-ming Lee / SML Flickr / SML Universe. All rights reserved.


Robin Lawn, place unknown [post card 68]
thank you card with photo
Image by Universal Pops
Thank you for your views and comments; they are very much appreciated.

This is a real photo post card probably before 1920, a way to let friends and family in other places know what sort of home one had. Robin Lawn is the name of the house, but the date and location are unknown. This picturesque bungalow has shingle siding and a steep shingled roof, the slope of the front broken up by a prominent cluster of dormer windows. On the side of the home that’s visible is a single-shoulder stone chimney. The 6/1 sash windows are not large. The entry is not visible but is possibly complemented by a lattice-structure attached to the wide front eave. At the rear is a porte-cochère (with automobile).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. If you use this image on your web site, you need to provide a link to this photo.

Monday 25 February 2013

Vagner poses for new ID card photo

Vagner poses for new ID card photo
photo id card printer
Image by Thomas Locke Hobbs
The booth may say Polaroid but they guy uses a digital camera and then prints up the photos on an inkjet printer


Students Using Library Card Catalog, 1953
photo id card printer
Image by Benedictine University
Collection: Benedictine University Archives, Benedictine University Library

Title: April 2012 Photo of the Month: [Students using library card catalog, 1953]

Date: 1953

Place: North America: U.S.; Lisle, IL; Benedictine Hall, Library

Type: 5x7 Photograph

Description:
Ben U’s library began in a small room in the northeast corner of Benedictine (Ben) Hall and by 1915 had expanded to two rooms containing about 7000 volumes between them. The faculty, recognizing that the college needed more and better resources to support its academic programs, led a 1918 effort to select and purchase several thousand additional volumes. In 1922, Rev. Adolph Hrdlicka, O.S.B., was appointed College Librarian. Under his leadership over the next five decades, the library greatly expanded its services and collections and received national recognition as one of the best small Catholic college libraries.

In 1927, the library moved to the ground floor of Ben Hall (later the South Cafeteria / Ben Central area ) to accommodate growth in collections and staff and to provide more study space for students. It remained there until the newly constructed Lownik Library (now Lownik Hall) opened in 1963. Lownik provided more study space as well as “state of the art” tools such as card catalogs and, eventually, computers. In 2001, the library moved again to Kindlon Hall of Learning where its offerings now include 200,000 print and electronic books, access to over 30,000 print and electronic periodicals, computers, printers, and group study rooms. The card catalog, however, is a thing of the past. In summer 2012, the library will again undergo a move as its space in Kindlon is remodeled.

Photo ID: s-1556

Photographer: unknown

There are no known U.S. copyright restrictions on this image. The digital file is owned by the Benedictine University Library which is making it freely available through a Creative Commons license with the request that the Library be credited as its source.

Click here to visit Benedictine University's
Archives & Special Collections site.


My Home Office III
photo id card printer
Image by TranceMist
This is my home office. I work from here daily, except when I'm traveling.

We moved here in May (2007) and it's taken me a while to get things put together and cleaned up.

Quite a step up from my previous office which was considerably smaller and more cramped.

Not pictured here is the Optra S PS laser printer, Canon IP4300 photo printer, a couple of Gigabit Ethernet switches and an Apple Airport 802.11g, one of several I've deployed in this house and my neighbor's in a WDS roaming configuration.

See also my home studio.

[View LARGE on black]


my cubicle
photo id card printer
Image by veo_
You can view this larger: www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=313195373&size=o


Automated Postal Center and new Priority Mail box display
photo id card printer
Image by Aranami
The automated postal center is a custom-made platform by Wincor-Nixdorf based on one of their indoor ATM designs (a version of which can often be seen as a Chase ATM inside certain Target stores). It has an online internet-based connection that, according to the guy servicing it, interacts with postal systems in Washington D.C. through a secure connection.

The scale on the left was custom made just for the Post Office. It can support up to 200lbs, is accurate to a fraction of an ounce and is legal for trade. The scale is the big metal square on the left, there are also ruler markings embossed onto the metal edging on the platform.

There are three thermal label printers on the bottom. The leftmost slot dispenses package labels, these are the common 4"x6" vertical labels you see with the address and confirmation barcodes. The one labeled "forms" in the middle dispenses a combined Return Receipt and Certified Mail labels; the same label prints if you buy any of these services, and it has instructions on how to tear off and apply only the one's you've paid for. Both of these print from rolls.

The "postage" slot underneath the screen dispenses 18-stamp "ATM stamp" panes of Forever Stamps. It can also dispense other denominations of stamps as IBI-stamps on tiny slips of sticker paper that are about 1.5" by 3". The IBI (Information Based Indicia) stamps have an DataMatrix barcode similar to the ones seen on the 4"x6" labels and on postage meters, however, these stamps can be used at any time.

Like PC postage stamps, APC stamps identify packages from a "known mailer" and may be used to mail items over 13 ounces without taking the package to a retail counter. This is because the APC takes your photo and only accepts credit/debit cards.

The camera is the black square under the screen in the center of the APC, and captures a still image when you reach the payment options screen. These images are retained for an unknown amount of time (the postal employee said he didn't know how long) to deter fraud and prohibited materials. The APC also has software that measures the image and will not let you proceed to the payment screen if the image is too dark or the camera is not functional. So if you want to anonymously mail a bunch of fireworks and illegal drugs with your boss's credit card, you're out of luck.

Available services include:
Sending Domestic mail at most retail rates, including Package Services, First Class, Priority and Express, as long as it fits in the special chute at the right
Sending International mail for envelopes containing documents and correspondence only
Delivery Confirmation, Insured Mail, Certified Mail, Return receipt (electronic and physical)
Calculating rates for any package you are allowed to send with the APC
Sending packages with partial postage already on it (minimum purchase .00)
Buying sheets of 18 Forever stamps
Buying variable-denominated IBI postage stamps (minimum total .00)
Renew PO Box

Postal services that the APC does NOT provide:
Signature Confirmation (why?) - you may purchase a similar Return Receipt Electronic service only with Certified Mail or Insurance Over 0
International packages
Registered Mail
PO Box Application (available on the web, present ID to pick up keys)
Money Orders, DineroSeguro or any other financial services
Any packages that do not fit completed in the chute

Note: APC doesn't take cash. There is a minimum purchase for credit card transactions.

Nice Family Christmas Card Photo Ideas photos

father like daughter
family christmas card photo ideas
Image by cookieevans5
Ethan and Eiya.
The idea was to have Ehtan make the same face as his daughter for the picture. Now that she's started making noises, I think it would be good to get a recording of them making the same noises together as well so that it can be sent along with the photo in one of those christmas cards with that have self-recorded messages.



Christmas Photo 2002
family christmas card photo ideas
Image by SimonM.
As was the trend back then, I decided it would a nice idea to take a family photo and send it to friends overseas instead of a Christmas card. Photo taken at Adam's Basin on the Isle of Capri.


Shine, Give, Share, Christmas Theme 2011
family christmas card photo ideas
Image by Princess Stand in the Rain
White House Christmas – Shine, Give, Share

The theme for the White House Christmas 2011 is Shine, Give, Share – celebrating the countless ways we can lift up those around us, put our best self forward in the spirit of the season, spend time with friends and family, celebrate the joy of giving to others, and share our blessings with all.

Shine, Give, Share Décor – The theme translates to the holiday décor on several levels. There is the literal translation through the use of shiny elements – star motifs, quartz and metallics like copper, aluminum and mirrored paper. There is also a conceptual connection – we’re inviting visitors to give their thanks to members of our military, and have once again invited guest artists to share their talents working with the White House. This year’s décor also includes handmade decorations crafted from simple materials – paper, felt, and even recycled cans. These are projects that anyone can do at home using readily available materials that are inexpensive or free.

East Visitor Entrance – Decorated with silver garland and the Shine, Give, Share banner, the East Wing Lobby captures the warmth of the holidays and welcomes visitors from across our country.

East Landing – On the East Landing, the Gold Star Families Tree pays tribute to those who gave their lives in service to our Nation and to the families who continue to carry their proud legacy forward. Photos of these fallen heroes and messages from their loved ones honor their courageous service, and remind us of the great sacrifices made for our freedom. Visitors can write notes to servicemembers showing their thanks and visiting Gold Star Families will have the opportunity to inscribe a ceramic gold star with a personalized note to decorate the tree. Honoring Gold Star Families in this fashion was the First Lady’s idea, and the tree was decorated by Gold Star families who volunteered their time this holiday season.

East Garden Room – Bright jewel tones, playful paper trees, and colorful felt garland help set the scene for the charming topiary of the First Family’s dog in the East Garden Room. Bo can be found in almost every room, from large topiaries to small ornaments.

Vermeil Room – In the Vermeil Room, seasonal greenery trims the mantel and the gilded silver, for which the room is named, shines in the light from the trees in each window. The glowing warmth of this room reminds us of the hospitality and remarkable contributions of all our First Ladies, seven of whom are portrayed in the artwork adorning the walls.

Library – In the Library, a room filled with over 2,700 books, there is a display of replicated holiday cards, letters, and seasonal memorabilia dating back to the Eisenhower Administration.

China Room – The George W. Bush State China is displayed in the China Room, set for a wonderful holiday gathering in celebration of the time-honored tradition of sharing meals with our families and friends.

East Room – The East Room, the largest in the White House, has transformed into a wintery scene set with shimmering quartz ornaments and paper leaves decorate four Christmas trees. Since 1835, when President Andrew Jackson created an indoor winter wonderland for children—complete with a c

Green Room – Handcrafted, glittering trees made of recycled aluminum decorate the Green Room, drawing attention to the timeless elegance of this storied space. Throughout much of its existence, the Green Room has served as a parlor for teas and receptions. President Thomas Jefferson used it as a dining room, and President John Quincy Adams named it the Green Drawing Room in 1825 for the color of the draperies and upholsteries.

Blue Room – The centerpiece of the Blue Room is the official White House Christmas tree—a breathtaking 18-foot-6-inch balsam fir from Neshkoro, Wisconsin—which features holiday cards created by military children. Collected from United States military installations around the world, these thoughtful and poignant cards honor their parents serving in uniform. Medals, badges, and patches from all of the military branches are displayed on ornaments, historic military images are displayed with volunteer made pinecone frames and ribbons inspired by the Armed Forces colors represent the brave women and men who protect our Nation and defend our freedom.

Red Room – A lush arrangement of seasonal flowers, fruit, and foliage, set in a handmade cranberry-covered vase, continues the holiday tradition of including cranberries in the Red Room.

State Dining Room – In the State Dining Room, coral and tangerine beaded fruit, along with shimmering ruby ornaments on each of the trees, offer a feast for the eyes. Displayed on the eagle-pedestal side table, the White House gingerbread house has been a favorite holiday tradition since the 1960s. Weighing approximately 400 pounds, this accurate replica of the White House took about 2 months to make.

Entrance Hall and Cross Hall – The season’s splendor surrounds the glittering Entrance Hall. Translucent crystal snowflakes drift from the ceiling and silver pinecone clusters dangle from the trees, bringing to mind the beauty of a winter landscape and encouraging us to give thanks for nature’s simple inspirations.

Cool Valentine S Day Photo Card images

valentine's day heart cards
valentine s day photo card
Image by elana's pantry
This year, my younger son, E decided to sew his Valentines. His teacher asked each child to bring in just five “cards” to exchange, so I think he’ll be up to this little project of his, which you can see taking shape in the photo above.

More valentines day goodness at www.elanaspantry.com/


Love
valentine s day photo card
Image by graham_alton
Over recent years we've been cooking up something suitable sickly for Valentine's Day. I've also taken to producing a card via photographic imagery, mostly involving using someone else's picture (with permission) and perhaps modifying it before using it on a customised card. This year I decided to make my own picture too.

Created by taking four individual pictures and merging the result. In a darkened room, on a white wall I drew out the shape of each letter with a laser pointer pen repeatedly while shooting a long exposure of the area. As expected, the result is a black background but with the red light captured. I had to experiment a little to get the right settings, counter to what I expected a medium aperture worked best (around F8 or F9 sort of area) where I would have though a wide aperture better. Exposure time was around 15 seconds.

With a wide aperture there was too much colour bleeding and the entire background started to turn red, particularly when really wide down around F1.8. With a particularly narrow aperture there wasn't enough sensitivity and the writing looked naff.

Timing wise, a really long exposure didn't help as it's difficult to trace over the same area of wall with the laser pen so a longer exposure simply allowed more time for things to go wrong so I found the best approach was to opt for the shortest time you can get away with for a decent effect.

An interesting little project and I think Beth liked the result.


2-14-2006
valentine s day photo card
Image by Camera Wences
Valentine's Day cards and flowers

Nice Photo Holder Card photos

Whats in my camera bag 52/365
photo holder card
Image by Louish Pixel
Follow Me: Facebook | Twitter | Louish·com (Photography Tutorials & More)

**UPDATE** - 2011-MAY-13
Since this photo I posted a few months ago, I've already added a few more gems to my bag. I now have 4x Alienbees B800's instead of 2 shown in the photo. I have a Canon 24-70mm 2.8L, Canon 85mm f/1.2, two more spider holsters (so 4 total now), and 2x new carbon fiber manfrotto tripods.

The best way to list everything in this photo would be to use notes. So make sure (on flickr) you run your mouse over the photo to see the notes tagged in the image.

You can download the original, un-resized version here, its 26MB, and 18045x13255 pixels:
www.louish.com/tutorials/052_download.jpg

Strobist Info: 300w with shoot through umbrella on left and right. each item shot separately on white floor then merged in photoshop.

My Favorite "Must Have" accessories from above:

1. Manfrotto 244RC Variable Friction Magic Arm
2. Manfrotto 122B & 003 Backlight stand (mini foldable lightstand)
3. Manfrotto Superclamps
4. Photoflex Telescopic Litedisc Holder (For Lights), at least 1, you don't need 4. I bought 4 cause I loved it so much and I have only used maybe 2 at a time.
5. RadioPopper JrX
6. Tamrac 5788 Evolution 8 Backpack (This is the brown backpack in the upper left corner, I took this on a vacation and was able to fit 2 DSLRs, 9 lenses including the 70-200, 1 Macbook Air, 2 iPads, Batteries and chargers, GoPros, Memory card readers and cards, RadioPoppers, 2x Speedlites, and more. That backpack fits a BUNCH of stuff)
7. Spider Holsters, especially if you ever use 2 cameras at the same time, in that case, get 2.
8. Eneloop Batteries

This favorites list of course does not included lenses, lights or cameras. If I had to only choose a couple lenses, I would choose the 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro and the 16-35mm, (The 15mm Fisheye is great too). If I had to only keep a couple lights, I'd keep the speedlites cause they are portable. If I had to choose 1 camera, it would be the 5D Mark II.



bounce card + gel holder + CTO gel + 430EX + speedstrap
photo holder card
Image by LightChaser: Luis Cruz
A bunch of glamour shots of my latest DIY projects. Instructions are all over the web, but I've also put a bunch of them over here.

Who says DIY gear looks cheap?

for Strobists:
- 430EX in frame triggered by Cactus trigger
- slaved SB-800 + 5 cm. grid on camera left
- bounce card on camera right


Buisiness Card
photo holder card
Image by Ramen Junkie
How bad is my camera? I took like 15 pictures of these at verious times and locations and none of them came out satisfactory enough. It's not that it's a good camera, it's just been acting really stupid lately and not working properly. It takes black pictures all the time and sometimes theyhave a red or green hue to them. Half the tim they come out too fuzy. The display doesn't work properly anymore either.

I don't see why, I've only taken close to 6,000 photos with it.

Anyway, they gave me buisiness cards at work. Like 200 of them. I don't know what I'm going to do with these. So far I've given one to my wife and used 6 to build a little buisiness card holder for my desk (none of those pics came out, stupid camera).

My History with Apple (Computer) Inc.

My History with Apple (Computer) Inc.
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Image by Adam Kuban
Edwin Tofslie created this visual. On his site, he says, "A visual I created to show the evolution of most all Apple products created over the past 30 years. This was created to show the evolution of the form factor and industrial design of the products, not to show every single model or upgrade Apple has launched."

I grabbed it and thought I'd use it to make a history of my Apple purchases. From left to right, top to bottom:

The Apple ][c I must have gotten this in 1985 or '86 (when I was 10 or 11). I remember wanting this computer *so bad* after using the Apple ][e in grade school. I remember going to the Apple dealer (er, excuse me, the Apple authorized reseller) in Olathe, Kansas—The Bottom Line—and drooling over the computers there. I was an overweight kid, so my parents made me a deal: Lose X many pounds, and they would buy the computer. I lost a little weight, but not the specified amount. Still, I think my parents were swayed by my argument that it was an educational tool and an investment in my future. I learned to type on this machine, using a program with a little wizard who did magic according to how well you did. I also discovered Zork (never did finish) and Wishbringer (finished, 'cause it was easier). A couple years later, I got into the Bard's Tale series. This was supposed to be a "portable" computer, hence the "c" for "compact." The machine itself had a handle on the back that folded down to prop up the computer or folded away into the body. You could carry the computer around, but the monitor was one heavy summbitch. Consequently, it never left the living room, where it sat on the desk toward the back of the room. I loved this little machine! I used it until about 9th grade (1989) and then didn't do much with computers at all in high school. By the time I got another computer, see below, they had (OMG!) something new called a hard drive. Hmm...

Macintosh Performa 6220CD: OK, the one pictured here is from the Performa series. I had a 6220CD, which was a pizza-box configuration. My parents helped me buy it, and we got it from Best Buy, of all places. Best Buy! Can you believe that? That was in, oh, 1995, maybe '96, during the dark Gil Amelio years. Anyway, at that time, I think Apple had a glut of products, and the 6220CD was one of the machines Apple made for the casual market—hence the Best Buy thing. It had a 75 MHz PowerPC 603 processor, 16 MB of RAM, a 1 GB hard drive, and a TV/Video card. It came with a little remote, and you could run cable or a broadcast antenna into the thing.

I got this either during my junior year or first senior year of college (I had two senior years because I switched majors), after I discovered the internet in the auxiliary computer center in Strong Hall at KU. I remember bringing this thing home and having one of my roommates kinda freak out a little bit—"Oh man, Adam. I can't believe there's a computer in our house." He wasn't excited; he was a bit disdainful. At the time, he was kind of a hippie in a very minor way, and I think he saw computers as something evil. Sometimes, I think he was right; but mostly, I love computers. That roommate now is totally into computers and has a pretty nice top-of-the-line Powerbook.

Anyway, I got on the internet and thought it was the coolest thing ever! "Oh my god! You can look up Beastie Boys trivia on the web! This is *so* cool!" I discovered MUDs and MOOs with this machine and made my first webpage that probably had a URL like cc.ukans.edu/falcon/~tomodell. Tomodell was my username (self-chosen) and was after my old high-school history teacher, Tom O'Dell.

In May 1997, I brought this machine with me to Oregon, where I used it to keep in touch with friends back in Kansas and in Japan. It was on this machine that I created a short-lived collaborative humor site (now defunct) called lusciousjackass.com and also had a sort of short-lived group blog that some friends and I did. They'd send me emails, and I'd sit there in the common space of our loft, drinking PBR, and post them in reverse chronological order. I also took out the domain www.hatchback.net/ in '98 and have had it since.

This was also the machine that I created the proto version of Slice on. It was originally going to be a photocopied 'zine, and I laid out the mock-up pages in QuarkXPress on this computer.

iMac Rev B: After convincing my parents to buy an iMac Rev A, I liked theirs so much I bought the Rev B. This must have been in late '98 or so. I don't remember doing anything remarkable on this machine. I replaced it rather quickly with an ...

iBook (clamshell, in Tangerine): I bought this one in 2000, shortly before moving to New York City. I didn't want to lug the iMac cross-country, and I left it with my girlfriend at the time, who didn't have a computer. She used it so we could keep in touch as we tried the whole long-distance dating thing. That didn't work out, and the iMac made its way out east. I sold the iMac on eBay and continued to use the iBook. I remember doing freelance copy-editing on it in my Bay Ridge apartment, sitting on an inflatable mattress because I had no furniture and couldn't afford to buy any. Later, when I got a crappy chair from IKEA, I would sit and work at this lame console table–cum-desk that the previous tenant left in the apartment. I kept this this machine until 2003, when I bought my ...

iBook G3: I bought this one in late August or early September of 2003, shortly before creating Slice. I didn't buy it to build Slice, though. I bought it because I had recently gotten cable broadband and wanted a new machine that took full advantage of the fast connection! Little did I know I was getting a piece of shit. I got the last of the G3 Dual USB iBooks, the ones with the faulty logic board problem. I still own it, and it's on its fourth logic board(!!!!) and second hard drive. Apple was good enough to replace all my logic boards for free under a special program, but I had to eat the cost of a new HD for it. I'm letting a friend borrow this computer right now.

I have a certain fondness for this machine, as it fostered the creation of Slice and A Hamburger Today. It's been to San Francisco, where it left its cold machine heart; Kansas; Florida; the Jersey Shore; and Amsterdam, where it visited the Red Light District and picked up a virus (just kidding). It also has a cool In-N-Out sticker on it. I used it until February 2005, when its first hard drive crashed. After four logic boards, I gave up and bought an ...

iMac G5 (17-inch): Unfortunately, this was the first generation of the flat-screen stand iMacs, and it had a problem: excessive fan noise. This machine worked like a dream at first, but after a firmware update pretty early on, the HD cooling fan started running at top speed under the lightest of processor loads. Because of a lame fan design, the thing sounds like a DustBuster. It is highly unpleasant to work in front of for any length of time. I appreciated the large screen and the speed, but when it came time for me to visit Kansas for Christmas 2005, I had the iBook G3's HD repaired and went back to using it. But the iBook G3 was getting mighty sluggish, so it was great when I joined Serious Eats in October 2006 and the company provided me with a ...

MacBook 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo: I'm typing this history on this machine now. It's loaded with 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive—basically, it's maxed out. It's been a good little machine, except the white keyboard and casing get dirty. I would have liked the black MacBook, but the advisers setting us up with machines said they cost extra, so my boss, Ed, and I both got white machines. This one is missing the cool In-N-Out sticker, mostly because I don't want to gum up company property.

That's it for the Apple computers. But I also purchased ...

iPod 3rd Generation: Actually, my dad bought this one for me when he came to visit. (Thanks, Dad!) This is the one with the four buttons at top and fixed touch wheel. It worked well and I even developed "piPod" for it, a little set of files that rested in the Notes folder that told you where to get good pizza in NYC. That little "app" brought Slice a lot of attention. This iPod served me well until the day I was visiting my friend Janice, sitting up on her apartment rooftop on a weak chair. The leg broke, and I fell, cracking the LCD display. The pod still worked—I just couldn't see what it was playing. I got by for a while, then did without, then bought a ...

iPod Photo (60GB): This was the top-of-the-line iPod for, oh, about 2 months. Then the damn iPod video model came out. Ugh! Apple made such a big deal about how, with mine, they were all going to have color screens!!! Woo-dee-fucking-doo. They were probably just trying to get rid of all their small color screens before switching to the video iPod. Anyway, this is my iPod today. I haven't upgraded to video iPod or the iPhone—yet. I'm sure I'll move to the iPhone one day, but not until after the first generation. I've learned my lesson.

And, I forgot the peripherals! ...

Pro Mouse (White): Purchased pretty soon after it became available, to make laptop computing easier when using my iBook G3 at home. This mouse served me fine until the Mighty Mouse came out.

Mighty Mouse: I was lured by the 360° scroll wheel. The scroll wheel worked like a charm while it lasted. Unfortunately, it gums up with dirt pretty easily, and despite the suggested cleaning routine, mine never started working again. I liked the added two-button feature (finally, Apple! Took you fucking long enough to bow your head and admit that MS had something here). But it didn't work well. It never really did sense when I was applying pressure to the left or right sides of the mouse. I replaced it with a non-Apple product. A Microsoft Intellimouse. My MS mouse is AWESOME.

Airport Express: Works like magic! I love being wireless anywhere in my apartment and out in my garden on nice days. I like that I can stream music to my stereo. I only wish it could stream regular non-iTunes sound to the stereo as well.

Claire says I should now "add up all the money [I've] given to Steve Jobs throughout the years," but I just can't. I don't remember the retail price of some of these machines, plus, I'd be too depressed :(

[July 19]

UPDATE (In honor of Steve's leaving Apple) - 8/25/2011

Since I first posted this -- my most popular image on Flickr by a landslide -- I have used/owned even more Apple products...

Macbook Mid-2010: Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo, 2.4Ghz, 4GB RAM I can't remember exactly when I started using this one. It was probably shortly before or after my wedding. I think I had been complaining loud enough at Serious Eats about my previous MacBook's slowness and crashiness. One day a shipment of new laptops showed up and I got one. This machine served fairly faithfully and well but did get a bit slow before I finally left Serious Eats in May 2011. I've always had the experience that Macs work very well for a while but then seem to begin to slow down. Maybe because I gum them up with too much crap. Anyway, I turned this computer back in to the company on leaving and bought myself a ...

MacBook Air 11-inch, 1.6Ghz/4GB RAM/156GB SSD: The smallest MacBook Air maxed out on processor, RAM, and solid state drive. This machine is beautiful. When I look back at my old iBook, I can't believe the same company made both these machines -- or that that iBook itself was considered great design at one point. Frankly, I don't know how Apple can improve on the aesthetics of the current MacBook Air line. I suppose in minor ways, but as is, it seems almost perfect. So far, fingers crossed, I've had no problems with this machine. It's a little sluggish editing RAW photos, but that's to be expected. I bought it knowing I wouldn't be able to do HARDCORE photo- or video-editing. And that's fine. That's about all I need for the blogging I do these days.

iPod Nano, 3rd generation: I don't even remember why I bought this. At some point my iPod Photo must have died. I don't even remember how or why or what I did with its carcass. I loved the size and format of this Nano -- it's the squat one with the color screen. Before they switched back to the long, narrow stick. I still have it but don't use it. That's because in August 2009 I finally broke down and bought an ...

iPhone 3Gs: And, holy crap, did it change my life. For the better, for the worse. I love having all the information a truly smart smartphone provides at my fingertips. But I do have to admit that I am addicted to it. I'm not even making light there. I truly have a hard time not futzing with the device. I know it's rude to do so during dinner with my wife or out at the bar with friends, but I cannot help it. That is how it has changed my life for the worse. For the better, I absolutely love the GPS navigation app I downloaded for it, which I can't imagine driving without again. And I like being able to look up restaurant advice on the go. At some point, I got caught in the rain with this one, and that began its demise. I killed it the rest of the way by leaving it on the windowsill in the shower and then forgetting about it while turning on the water. (I was listening to NPR while trimming my beard in front of the grooming mirror in the shower ... then stepped out to put the trimmer away and clean up the tub before turning on the faucet... D'OH!) ... Even that didn't kill this iPhone dead, though. I was able to do the rice trick and revive it, but it slowly deteriorated until it started shutting off and asking for full restores. After restoring it 7 times in 2 days, it died.... NEXT!

iPhone 4, 16GB: Even though I had the 32GB 3Gs, I stepped it down to the 16GB for my current (8/24/2011) iPhone. It wasn't worth the extra money for the extra memory. I hadn't maxed out my previous iPhone anyway. LOVE the Retina display and the massively improved camera on this one. Other than that, not much of a difference over the 3Gs.

Thanks, Steve Jobs, for designing all these amazing products. Even though I have had some issues with some of them, they are beautiful, elegant machines that are intuitive and a pleasure to work with. I can't imagine having to use the alternatives (er, actually I can, because I use a shitastic PC at work).


Mike Baird in PFD. Three-Day Kayak and Hiking Tour of the Channel Islands (San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz)
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Image by mikebaird
Another snapshot for my Mother who likes to get AmazingMail photo cards from me every week . Mike Baird in PFD. Three-Day Kayak and Hiking Tour of the Channel Islands (San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz - see www.nps.gov/chis/ ) in Southern California, 02-04 July 2009. Five of us from the Morro Bay, CA kayakmorrobay Yahoo! Group (Mike Baird, Steve Cohen, Rouvaishyana, Betty Tegner, Ron Gabel) joined eight others on a Truthaquatics (Santa Barbara, CA - see truthaquatics.com ) adventure outing that may have been the best vacation I've ever taken. Leaving Santa Barbara harbor at 4AM, we arrived at San Miguel Island's Cuyler Harbor, opposite beautiful Prince Island, and hiked to Harris Point on San Miguel the first day, July 2, 2009, under the leadership and interpretation of the most affable and knowledgeable Sabine Faulhaber, a volunteer for the Channel Islands National Park Service, who is a German University of California Materials Dept. graduate student who had just finished her degree. Endemic plant life and many Chumash archeological sites abounded. Remnants of the Chumash civilization can still be seen in thousands of “shell middens” on the island. San Miguel Island is the only known place in the world where 4 different species of seals and sea lions breed and up to 6 species can be found. Also on Day one, July 2, 2009, we paddled a few caves near our Santa Miguel harbor mooring. On Day two in the morning, July 3, 2009, we paddled caves, arches, coves, and beaches along Santa Rosa Island near Bechers Bay and Torrey Pines. That afternoon, we paddled Santa Cruz Island, including the legendary Painted Cave, one of the largest and deepest sea caves in the world. Painted Cave, is on the northwest coastline of Santa Cruz, and is so named because of its colorful rock types, lichens, and algaes. Painted Cave is a quarter-mile long and 100 feet wide, with an entrance ceiling of 160 feet. It was within the halls of this "cathedral" created by nature's raw power of wind and water that I experienced what could only be called a religious experience while listening to the amazing voice of Rouvaishyana sing opera and perform a chant in Hebrew, lighting up the chamber's darkness with pure emotion, which brought tears to my eyes for the joy for being alive and present amidst such magnificence. That evening we made an unscheduled turbulent round-trip back to Santa Barbara to replace a burned out water pump that disabled the generator required for operation of the boat. On Day three, July 4, 2009, by now very confident in our equipment and abilities, we paddled a number of caves and arches in turbulent surf amongst wash rocks and swells. We returned to Santa Barbara late afternoon on July 4th, 2009. Thanks to Rouvaishyana for arranging such a magnificent experience. I have taken the liberty to add some comments made by Rouvaishyana after the trip: "San Miguel Island was a real treat. As you know, I had been expecting foggy, windy weather so it was a treat to hike across the sunny, yet eerily barren plains with great views of the ocean all around. A late-afternoon paddle was the perfect way to end our first day. The long coastal paddle at Santa Rosa Island was perfect for all of us. Lots of exploring, long-distance cruising, thousands of sea lions, and a bald eagle to top it off! It's great that the captain saw fit to trust us to our own strengths and abilities. I knew we could do it. The afternoon paddle at Santa Cruz was even more challenging in some ways, with the need to travel into a 15-knot headwind, though not even for half an hour. Painted Cave was the grand prize, the realization of more than 10 years of dreaming, and only a real storm would have kept me from making it there. Sea caves have long held a mystique for me, and for many people, representing the unknown, entrances into the innards of the earth, places of unique rock formations and hidden life, and even as sacred places. Painted Cave is the greatest and deepest of them all in the ocean world. What a privilege to explore it with others by kayak, and it was just as gratifying that Betty and Sabine, our naturalist, were able to come by Zodiac after being turned back by winds. I didn't mind the unplanned return trip to Santa Barbara, and I found the motion of the sea to be an aid to sleep and relaxation. This was especially true the following morning, when we went back to the east end of Santa Cruz Island. We became an elite group of paddlers when the captain dropped us off at Potato Harbor, announcing that he didn't recommend that day's paddle to anyone except experienced sea kayakers, which we all are. By the way, I learned from reading that Ron is correct about the rocks in that harbor being volcanic. Santa Cruz Island in general is underlain by a layer of basalt and agglomerate volcanic rocks, with shale and other sedimentary rocks on top. The sea cave explorations that day were wonderful, and the clear water an inspiration."


Planning the booth ~ 3 of 3 photos
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Image by Urban Woodswalker
Show preparation in progress. Location: my living room 1.5 days before the show.

Table cloth will be added, more rearranging to be done, and product inventory added for sale. Its a good thing I bought 2 6 foot tables when they were on sale...as this one goes back...its damaged right out of the box.

Don't forget the chairs, sunscreen, food and water, sales receipt book, and a healthy happy helper if possible. I also will be crafting on site...so more tools and supplies will be added. And the bags, business cards...price tags...on and on it goes.

No, I do not have enough inventory (which is ALWAYS the rant of every person doing these events)...but I figure, this is my first street fair, and only my second show ever. I will make the best and learn what I can, and have a great time of it regardless of the bottom line. I am amped for a great weekend! Part of it is making contacts, and networking and handing out business cards. Its not just about sales anyways.

FINIS


Culture, Tourism and the Self: Travels in name and space
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Image by timtak
Yuji Nakanishi, professor of Tourism at Rikkyou University, points out that “Japanese tend to associate tourism with historical landmarks, but foreigners are interested in people’s lives and their lifestyles,” he said. “Places like the fish market were never really considered a tourist site until quite recently, so both sides are really confused (Tanikawa, 2009).”

"A shop owner told me in an interview: ‘Tourists from China and Japan: here in the morning full of them, but they arrive, five minutes, and run away; they have their own schedule, take a picture and hurry; they don’t stay longer; they have ten minutes to see the church, twenty to see the museum, ten to go in another place.’ These tourists are seemingly not interested in cultural heritage but in collecting the icons of that culture." (Parmeggiani et al., 2010, p110)

Japanese tourists do different things. How should we make sense of them?

Summary
Japanese travel to places for symbols where they themselves provide the sights from the imagination or bodily via auto-photography, whereas Western tourists go places for sights which they interpret and narrate in their thoughts and words. The purpose in each case, of going all that way to experience otherness, is to return to an experience of self undiluted by other.

A few days ago in the village near our beach house, a rainy day, a group of Japanese tourists went from community centre to Buddhist temple, to road side shrine, collecting stamps as part of one of those uniquely Japanese "stamp rallies." No one came to the beach in front of our house. The panoramic view of inland sea, with gulls and fishing boats and its setting sun was of no interest to them. Likewise, this jaded old Westerner can not think of a more boring, more pointless tourism experience than a traipsing around a grey landscape collecting the blotchy red imprints left by a set of rubber stamps.

As Urry (2002) famously argues, Western tourism is about going to see something. This form of tourism has a very long tradition. The picture above left is from a stained glass window in Canterbury Cathedral, England (Wells, 2002, p127, Crown Copyright NMR), the destination of Medieval Christian pilgrimage. Wells, and more famously the anthropologist Victor Turner (Turner & Turner, 1995) have argued that there is a visual bias to Christian pilgrimage, or that the destination of Christian pilgrimage is a located image, such as stained glass, a sacred image or icon.

That the Japanese word for tourism, Kankou is often glossed as "seeing the sights" persuades us that Japanese tourist too are interested in going to see. In fact the would "Kankou" originates n the Tao-Te-Ching which argues that rulers should travel to other countries so as to gain information on how better to rule their own. The passage which introduces the word "kankou" is a recommendation not to travellers but to hosts to " indicate (shiimesu) the (high)lights of your country." Even on a literal reading, "Kankou" (Japanese tourism) is about going to places where things are explained (note 0).

The stamp rally has its origins in the proof of visitation required of Japanese pilgrims during the Tokugawa period (Graburn, 1983; Reader, 2005), but before that Japanese accumulated pieces of paper stamped with sacred symbols for more than one thousand years. The religious act of Shinto, far more than prayer, is a form of pilgrimage, shrine-visiting, mairi or moude, a movement of the worshipper. And at the shrine, before amulets and sacred stamped pieces of card were distributed symbols: first branches of trees and stones, later stamped pieces of paper. The destinations provided the names. The destinations were the named places, the "meisho". But did Japanese pilgrimage destinations provide the sights?

Not only in the stamp rally but in many forms of Japanese tourism is the sight strangely eschewed. I can remember my disappointment when taken to the the ancient seat of regional government at Dazaifu to find only an empty field. Japanese tourists visit castle towns, such as the most famous, Hagi, where there is NO CASTLE TO BE SEEN! They visit ruins ('of identity' see Hudson, 1999; Plutschow, 1981) such as that visited by Matsuo Basho, where there is NOTHING to be SEEN at all. Hudson, citing Plutschow (1981, p22) argues that, "Basho' choice of ato (ruin) was itself derived from the medieval Japanese tradition of travel diaries, wherein the significance of a place was determined by its history - its location in time, rather than by geography."

Traditionally shrines, the destination Japanese par excellence contained a prototypical meibutsu, the God-body (goshintai) of the shrine that might be a mirror, sword, jewel, or sacred stone but it was *forbidden to see this item*. The goshintai was situated symbolically . It was wrapped up in layer upon layer of cloth, box, inner shrine, out shrine and shrine walls (Hendry, 1995; Pilgrim, 1986; Bachnik & Quinn, 1994) partly to ensure that it was never seen at all. Shrines have the structure of an onion. The visitor may never become aware that there is anything at their centre, other than the fact that the visitor knows that something is there, symbolically. After all, shrines are the prototypical, great and famous, named place (meisho).

According to an informant, a Japanese tour guide, the vast majority of Japanese tourists visiting Ise Shrine today, visit the woods around the shrine, see at most its outer walls, and the souvenir shop, and the car park. Japanese tourists have thronged to Ise for centuries (especially inspired by stories of sacred symbols falling from the sky (fudaori), but without special appointment they do not see the shrine itself, much less the holy of hollies, the mirror of the sun goddess, the goshintai, prototypical named-thing (meibutsu) at its centre. Even those that do have special dispensation to enter the outer walls of Ise Shrine will be faced with that which Guichard-Anguis (2007) describes as the biggest difference between pilgrimage to Ise compared with that in Europe; the shrine building itself will have been rebuilt within the last twenty years. Even though Japanese are noted for their fondness of historical attractions, not only do they go to visit empty sites or 'ruins', the Japanese rebuild even the old sites and buildings anew. This is not just in the case of Ise Shrine but also in the case of Japanese homes, and Castles such as Osaka castle, as bewailed by XYZ.

The fact that sights are not so important as named significance may also explain the lack of attention to the maintenance of visual "authenticity," even in places such as Tokyo. Tomomitsu-Tomasson (2005) a research student in sociology, expresses her disappointment at arriving in Kyoto with a quote from Kerr's damning portrait of the dark side of Japan (2002).

“How must Kyoto appear to one who has never visited here? Passersby clad in kimono going to and fro along quiet narrow streets between temples, rows of houses with black wooden lattices, glimpsed over tiled roofs the mountains covered with cherry blossoms, streams trickling at one’s feet….the traveler’s expectations must be high – until the moment when he alights from the Bullet train. He leaves the station, catches his first sight of Kyoto Tower, and from there on it is all shattered dreams. Kyoto Hotel cuts off the view of the Higashiyama hills, and big signs on cheap clothing stores hide Mount Daimonji.Red; vending machines are lined up in front of the temples. It’s the same miserable scenery you see everywhere in Japan, and the same people oblivious to it all” (Professor Tayama Reishi direct quote) (Kerr 2001:164/65). in Tomomitsu-Tomasson (2005), p 4.

In my new home town of Yamaguchi I have written about how sad it is that less is done to maintain traditional urban architecture such as in Tatekouji Street, since it is this type of sight, that is the essence of a tourist attraction and destination. That Japanese are happy to visit Kyoto and Yamaguchi without demanding visual authenticity is again a result of their relative lack of interest in the visual dimension of tourist destinations.

Finally, it just seems to me that the Japanese are not so interested in views. The fact that I continue to live in an more recently purchases house with excellent views, or that I have a panoramic view from the window where I now write drives this home. I feel considerable empathy with the words of the Blondie song, "All I want is a room with a view," and seek to live in places which command a view. In Japan, however it is said that "high places attract smoke and stupid people," and while the high places may be elevated social positions, I think that it may also apply to the more literal interpretation. Perhaps part of my preference for views is my stupid desire to look down on things and other people.

Why do Japanese go to these symbolically significant named-places places, rather to interpret visual sites?

It seems to me that the answer can be found in theories of the Western, and Japanese self.

Here I should have a long introduction to (cross cultural psychology)
Origins in Triandis' Hofestede' collectivism
Markus and Kitayama turn around
Heine rejection of the need for self regard
Oyserman/Takano/Yamagishi attacks on collectivism
Hong YY and more so, Nisbett/Masuda cognitive turn
Kim and Non-Linguistic thought, and in her second paper on that topic on self expression, the non-linguistic self

And then ask what, phenomenologically is the self in the West and Japan like? What is it like to have an independent self? What is felt to be self? What is felt to be not self? How can one have a "interdependent self" what does hat feel like? What phenomena are felt to be self in that situation?

And then me (ha!)

For the Westerner, the self is the self narrative. Tourists of the MacCannelian or Cullerian kind visit and play ethnographer or semiologist (MacCannell, 1976; Culler, 1988) regarding the sights that they see. The Western tourists provides the narrative because they are narrative and the sight is the otherness which they attempt to interpret. To these tourists the things that they see are signs but they are signs which have the structure of an alibi (Culler, 1988; Barthes,1972), signing off to a meaning which the tourist, in their phonetic inner narrative, provides. The Western tourists may take of photo of the sight, or better still purchase a photo upon the reverse of which she will narrate herself in this location. The Western tourist goes to see and say. Like ethnologists or anthropologists they use the phenomenological technique of bracketing away preconceptions (the more other unusual, opaque to the interpretations that they have to hand that a sight is the more that task is performed for them) and then they make pronouncement upon the sights that they see. This transcendental meditation employed by Western Anthropologists and Tourists alike, can be described in the following way,

From this new transcendental standpoint Husserl maintained that the manifold stream of contingent world-objects could be perceived in a new way, giving 'a new kind of experience: transcendental experience'. The transcendental ego because a 'disinterested onlooker' whose only motive is neutrally to describe 'what he sees, purely as seen, as what is seen and seen in such and such a manner' (Rayment-Pickard, 2003)

Japanese tourists on the other hand do not go to provide symbols about sights, but to provide sights or images regarding symbolic locations. The symbolic sites visited by Japanese tourists, the named places, the named things, do not have the structure of the alibi (see Hansen, 1993) but are the signs themselves. That Japanese tourists go to places with literary, historical, named significant, that they vistic symbolic geographies as been ascribed (as all things Japanese always are) to their "groupism," and also, in the face of Westernisation, to their nostalgic desire to return to their historical routes, to their self. This latter interpretation hits the mark I think because the Japanese self is a space (Kanjin; Hamaguchi, 1997) , a primordial space (Nishida 1993; Watsuji 1979; see Mochizuki, 2006) a mirror (Kurozumi). When the self is a space, then the concept of travel presents inherent difficulties. How can space travel? I argue that the Japanese tourists' interest in historical, literary, or otherwise famous named-places, and named-things is because it is not the place but the name that they are visiting. The Japanese travel to places precisely because they are "encrusted with renown,&quot (Culler); and are all the more happy if as at shrines, or ruins, their is nothing to see because it is in the space of their mind that they provide the images to go with the otherness of the symbols that they are visiting. Indeed in a sense they do see that holy of holies, the mirror of the sun goddess in the internal space that is the Japanese mind.

Lacan argues that the self is at the presumed intersection of linguistic self signification -self narration, and visual self reflection, mirrorings and imagingings. Neither the symbolic nor the imaginary can say or see itself. The word can not enunciate the enunciated even in time since it is always delayed, defered (Derrida, 1998), never the person that it was what the attempt was started. Husserl's "living present" is always already gone. Likewise, the minds eye is unable to see itself. It requires the admixture of an other, the image of oneself, the name of oneself for each to enable the self to wrap around upon itself and self itself into self hood. This admixture is to be kept to a minimum. The self image in the West is external, when identified a sign of vanity or 'narcissism'. The word or symbol in Japan is external, and when internalised an impurity of mind (See Kim, 2002).

In either case, these essential impurities or 'supplements,' which are both required to complete and are additional to self(Derrida, 1998) are washed away in the experience of tourism when the Western and Japanese tourist meets the other as image or symbol respectively. The transcendental meditation for the Japanese tourist, at the British Museum, at the Named Place ruin of a famous castle, at the walls of Ise Shrine, becomes a interested visualiser of the place hidden in time, behind those walls. Souzou ga fukuramu. Images spring to mind. And even as the "Kankou" they shut their eyes to the world (Hitomi wo Tojiru) and call to mind the glory of the place they are visiting and in that experience, see themselves as the visual space, place or soul, that they believe themselves to be.

If either the Western tourist leaves something of himself it narratival. He signs a guest book. He narrates himself on a postcard (postcards are not sold for writing upon in Japan but only as packs, as symbolic souvenirs).

The Japanese tourist on the other hand provides the images, not just in her own mind, but also in the form of auto-photography so central to the tourism experience in Japan.

These differences have important implications for the tourist industries catering to Western and Japanese tourists.

When serving Japanese tourists it is important to provide the names, the narrative the guidebooks (which Japanese tourists themselves prepare in relative abundance), the words. They must also be provided the opportunity to provide images: above all to to imagine, and also to photograph themselves. Tourist destinations that do not have words related to them (iware no nai) are not of interest. Japanese tourist travel all the way to the lake district in the North of England, ignoring the beauty of the Powys hills completely, because the former have no literature - no words associated with them. They avoid the markets of London concentrating on the British museum and tower since the latter are redolent with renown. Japanese tourism providers need to counter the ocular turn of contemporary tourism theory and as the Japanese policy paper at the start of the ”tourism-oriented country" advocates a return to the original meaning of Kankou, or rather the provision of Kankou, which is not merely in the gaze directed, but in the of indication of facts, of nominal, symbolic entities.

"When promoting tourism it is therefore essential to return to this [etymological] origin of tourism, and create revolution in the very notion of tourism. The origin of tourism is not just looking at famous places and scenery, or seeing the sights, in regard to the the things that the local population feel happy about, to the things that the inhabitants of a certain land feel proud of and "indicating these highlights." (note 1)

Those especially in Japan however, who are catering to Western tourists should be aware that a place does not need to have a name for the Western tourist to want to visit it. In fact it helps if (other than the "markers" to find it) the destination is un-named "authentic" since the Western visitor provides the words. He is the words that he provides. These ethnographic, phenomenological tourists want to narrate, pronounce, theorise (what I am now doing) about the things that they see and in so doing they (I make myself shiver) have a transcendental experience of who they are, the words that drift across the universe of 'exterior' visual phenomena. Give us a view, any view, something to speak about, a picture and postcard, a picture postcard, above all give us something to see and some means by which they can narrate and we will be happy. There are such opportunities in every Japanese village not only the famous ones. Western tourist go to see spaces and places, and there is (or should be) much more for them to see. Alas at present, or until recently, the Japanese presume that their visitors are also Japanese and "indicate the highlights" (Kankou) or show the Named-places only. Very recently, there is a trend to promote regional tourism resources which do not have a name, this geographical tourism (shock!) had to be given a neologism "jitabi," since the very concept of simply going to see a place was alien to the Japanese.

Finally the above theoretical position resolves the problem how tourists can be going in search of authenticity (MacCannell, 1986) even in blatantly inauthentic "post tourism" (Urry, 2002) sites: on tour we bring ourselves to confront the other of the self, we find our self in maximal authenticity.

Bibliography created using Zotero
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Barthes, R. (1972). Mythologies. (A. Lavers, Trans.). Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Culler, J. D. (1988). Framing the sign. Univ. of Oklahoma Pr.
Derrida, J. (1998). Of grammatology. JHU Press.
Rayment-Pickard, H. (2003). Impossible God: Derrida’s theology. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Graburn, N. H. H. (1983). To pray, pay and play: the cultural structure of Japanese domestic tourism. Université de droit, d’économie et des sciences, Centre des hautes études touristiques.
Guichard-Anguis, S. (2009). The Culture of Travel (tabi no bunka) and Japanese Tourism. In A. Guichard-Anguis, O. Moon, & M. R. del Alisal (Eds.), Japanese Tourism and Travel Culture (1st ed., pp. 1–18). Routledge.
Kerr, A. (2002). Dogs and Demons: Tales from the Dark Side of Japan. Hill and Wang.
Hamaguchi, E. 恵俊浜口. (1982). 間人主義の社会日本(The Japanese Society of Spatial-Personism my trans). 東洋経済新報社.
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Hudson, M. (1999). Ruins of identity: ethnogenesis in the Japanese Islands. University of Hawaii Press.
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MacCannell, D. (1976). The tourist: A new theory of the leisure class. Univ of California Pr.
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Mochizuki, T. (2006). Climate and Ethics: Ethical Implications of Watsuji Tetsuro’s Concepts:‘ Climate’ and‘ Climaticity’. Philosophia Osaka, 1, 43–55. Retrieved from ir.library.osaka-u.ac.jp/metadb/up/LIBPHILOO/po_01_043.pdf
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note o
「易経」の「観国之光利用賓于王」(「国の光を観しめす(みるとも読む)、もって王の賓たるに用いるによろし」と読む)、すなわち「国」とは、当時の中国の状況からみてひとつの地域を表し「光」とは、地域のすぐれたものないし特色を意味するとされる。
The [relevant passage] of the Tao Te Ching reads "*Indicating* [Shimesu, Kanagmiru] the lights of the country are good to use as hospitality for a king". where country mean the localities of contemporary China, and "lights" [highlights] refer to the superior or special things of that locality. (my translation, my emphasis, and my comments in brackets).

note 1
観光立国の推進に当たっては、まずはこうした「観光の原点」に立ち返ること、つまり「観光」概念の革新が必要になる。観光の原点は、ただ単に名所や風景などの「光を見る」ことだけではなく、一つの地域に住む人々がその地に住むことに誇りをもつことができ、幸せを感じられることによって、その地域が「光を示す」ことにある。 「国の光を観る」 −観光の原点−

note 2
I think that the primordial space of the Japanese self (Nishida's ba), or the "climate" (Wasuji's fudo) can best be understood from a Western perspective as the "Field of Vision" (Mach, 1897). The visual field pictured in Mach's self portrait is usually seen, if existing at all, as being a form of barrier ("veil" "tain" or "hymen") between self and the world. To the Japanese this field, this primordial space, however, is the pure experience of self (Nishida, Zen no kenkyuu), as self-inseparable-from-spatial-other. This Japanese self is however separate from the world of symbols but, Japanese need the admixture of symbol, the name, their own name, for the Japanese child to believe that the their body houses this ephemeral mirror. In Japan it is precisely the linguistic which is public (Nakashima, 1997) and space, place and vision which as private as it gets. Taking a balanced view, neither images nor language are more private than the other, both requiring an other to have meaning, but it took Westerners almost two millenia to realise that language is meaningless if private (Wittgenstein, 1973).


You spent how much for Valentines' Day?
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Wishing all flickr friends the best on Valentines' Day - at no monetary cost - : }

Americans will spend .6 billion this year for Valentine's Day.
According to the survey, the average person who celebrates Valentine’s Day will spend 6. Men are doing most of the spending - 9 on average. The survey said women are spending dollars.

51 percent of people who celebrate will buy candy.
36 percent will buy flowers.
36 percent will take someone out on an evening date.
19 percent will give someone jewelry.
13 percent will give a gift card as a present.


The NRF polled more than 9,000 lovebirds and found that the average person planned to spend on their spouse or significant other, up from last year. Additionally, shoppers were expected to shell out an average of .25 on their children, parents or other family members; .92 on their friends; and .52 on their pets.

That's right: their pets. According to a separate survey of 6,000 pet owners, conducted by Petplan pet insurance, 78% said they'd spend money on Valentine's Day treats for their furry friends. About 62% of pet parents said they'd drop up to ; 27%, as much as ; and 11%, even more.

And it's not only retailers and pets who are expected to see a boost this week. Another surprising group that routinely enjoys a bit of a windfall around Valentine's Day?

Divorce lawyers.

Divorce filings rise about 40% this time of year, says data from Avvo, a site that rates and ranks lawyers. And lawyers are capitalizing on the trend. One firm in West Virginia, for example, attracts potential clients by announcing a contest to give away a free divorce. Unhappy spouses in the state need only visit Webb Law's website and fill out a form – the person with the most compelling reason for needing a free divorce, wins


Detail from frieze around door