Christmas 2011 Wish List

I have been getting a lot of questions from people as to what to get me and/or Dave for Christmas. So like last year, I decided the best thing to do is to make a wish list.

Dave’s Wish List:
The Book of Cain
Diablo Archive
Archer TV series (Season 1, 2 and/or 3)
Bob’s Burgers TV Series
Movies: Bon Cop bad Cop, Hanna
Sin War Trilogy eBooks (Google eBooks; #1, #2, #3)
Gift Cards: Google eBooks, EB Games, Future Shop, Amazon, etc.

Steph’s Wish List:
Once again, I have broken it down into Camera and non-Camera related items.

Camera Wish List:
4’ wide white paper background;
8’ wide white, black or grey paper backgrounds
~4’x6’ piece of high quality black velour fabric
Bowen's softboxes
Radio trigger system (compatible with Bowen's 400 lights & Nikon D3s camera)
Bowen's battery pack
AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens
AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 G ED Lens
AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED Lens
AF Fisheye-Nikkor 16mm f/2.8D Lens
Photo paper (Epson Premium Photo Paper [4+ stars], 8 1/2"x11")
Computer ink (for the Epson Artisan 800 all-in-one printer - code 98)
small white/gold reflector (maximum 10" or so but folds smaller - example).
Photo Books (Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop, HDR Photography Photo Workshop, Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers; A Professional image editor’s guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC, Photo Recipes Live: Behind the Scenes: Your Guide to Today’s Most Popular Lighting Techniques)
Variable Neutral Density Filter, 77mm
Lens Cap Strap Holder, 77mm
Handy-Dandy Camera Strap

Everything Else Wishlist:
gift cards (Ricki's, Henry's, thecamerastore.com, Amazon, Lululemon, Photojojo)
picture frames (8x10 or larger, compilation frames);
Movies (Gnomeo and Juliet, Winnie-the-Pooh Movie, The Little Mermaid, Life After People, Sandra Bullock/Hugh Grant/Julia Roberts/Drew Barrymore movies)
TV Series (Being Erica, Powerpuff Girls, Beverly Hills 90210, Charmed)
National Geographic Magazine Slipcases for Years 2008 onwards
Nikon Lens Mug
Time Lapse Camera
OPI Nail Polish (you can find a list of colours I already have here. There aren’t many specific colours I want, but I would like the Natural Nail Strengthener, Any colour of Shatter, A bright orange colour, pastel pink, traditional bright red, pastel green, a plain white, a light grey colour, a taupe like colour, a true black colour, anything from the Femme de Cirque Line)
OPI nail polish case like the one below:

For any of the books, movies or TV series listed in my list above, you can find them in my Amazon Wish List.

My list seems (and is) much longer than Dave’s but once you widdle out the thing that people are not going to buy me (like the very expensive camera lenses and lighting equipment), it isn’t that big.

Lost in Austen

Lost in Austen is a BBC miniseries that has been airing on TVO lately. I watched it for the first time when Dave as in Toronto for work and watched it again when he was in Brockville for work. Well, to be honest, both times I have watched it, I have only actually seen the third installment of the four part series. It is basically Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, with a twist. The main character is a modern woman who absolutely loves the Austen novel. During a somewhat peculiar time in her life, she ends up trading places with the heroin from the novel, Elizabeth Bennett. She then spends the rest of the show trying to fix the plot of the novel, but inevitably and quite predictably, messes it up even more.

I know it sounds slightly cheesy and ridiculous and some even say blasphemous as it is messing with such a popular book, but it is a really charming story with great actors and witty writing. Since I had only ever seen the third part, I decided to buy it from Amazon.ca and am so happy I did. I ended up staying up very late the night it was delivered watching this really great British romance. I strongly recommend it to anyone who loves that period of book or movie.

One Minute Writer #14

Write about a childhood memory related to reading.

When I was little, my dad read to me most every night. I remember lying in my bed with him sitting on the edge with the giant fairy tale book in his hands. I would pick out which story I wanted to hear and he would read it to me over the course of a couple of nights. I don't remember any specific details, but the peaceful image is stored in my memory bank.

Today...

Today is officially the first day of spring and to reward us for a long, cold winter Mother Nature has delivered us ... a freaking cold Spring day. Anyway, the spring equinox is basically the day when both sides of the Earth receive the same amount of light, in other words the Earth isn't tilting above or below the equator. Neato huh?!


Spring is not my favourite season, as discussed in a previous post, but it is up there. I am not a huge fan of the heat in the summer, or the blistering cold of the Ottawa winter. Spring leads to the tulips and other flowers and generally pretty things, which I love so much as it is slowly but surely getting to the point where I can go outside and take photos pretty much whenever I want.

Today is also the 40th anniversary of the Hungry Caterpillar, the book by Eric Carle. Admittedly I didn't know his name until Google told me, but I definitely remember this book. It was everywhere when I was growing up. My family didn't own a copy that I know of, but it was at school and daycare and most of the babysitters had it as did the majority of my friends. The book follows a little caterpillar growing from egg to cocoon to a beautiful butterfly as it munches away all the time teaching children good nutrition and other valuable information.