inspired by gob from arrested development, i got ryan a gift certificate to go on a segway tour of atlanta for valentines day in 2008. with the certificate expiring soon, we went ahead and booked our 10 am tour during the winter blast of 2010. we bundled ourselves up and headed out on a three hour tour…

after the initial awkwardness, the segways were pretty easy to operate and really fun! the smirk, smile or laugh on people’s faces as you whizzed by was pretty hilarious. we felt futuristic! although we wish it hadn’t been soooo cold, it was pretty fun to spend the morning exploring our own city on a weird motorized personal transporter.

– words by gub & photos by ryan

we recently discovered these beautiful old harness and shoe factory buildings in buford, ga. now known as tannery row, the buildings have been re-adapted and are currently home to many businesses and an artist colony.

– words by gub & photos by ryan

6 months from today i’ll be 30. that’s crazy! today also happens to be my sister amy’s birthday. when i called to wish her a happy birthday she reminded me it’s my half birthday and i’ll be 30 soon. when we were younger we realized the 6 month difference and milked it for extra gifts out of our parents.

-ryan

i’m a person who enjoys keeping lists, although i think i mostly like scratching items off my lists. generally they are for errands and what not, but i have an ongoing list i like to call “things i should know.” it’s basically a list of random things i feel like i should know by this point in my life. it covers basic trivia, for instance what is a harvest moon? or interesting facts i’ve learned and forgotten, i.e. what are the different types of clouds? or intriguing childhood stuff i want to read about as an adult, like what really went down at the bermuda triangle?

when i have free time i try to look up and research the various items on my list. in this new category of the blog i will write about the interesting things i learn.

– ryan

types of full moon:
what exactly is a harvest moon? and i’m not talking about the neil young record. a harvest moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox, whether before or after. it normally happens in late september or early october. during this lunar period, the time between a sunset and moonrise is the shortest of the year. this short period of darkness allowed farmers to work late farming at the peak of harvest under an early bright moon, hence the name.

a hunter’s moon, or blood moon, is the first full moon after the harvest moon. it normally occurs in late october or early november. hunter’s used to take advantage of this early full moon to hunt late, especially migrating birds. they would stock up for the winter ahead. similar to the harvest moon, the hunter’s moon has a short time between sunset and moonrise.

you know the phrase, “once in a blue moon“? well, it actually gets its name from a lunar event that happens every 2 or 3 years. most lunar years have 12 full moons, which occur about once every month. the solar calendar has roughly 11 days more than the lunar year though. these days add up and every two or three years there is an extra full moon, or blue moon. the next blue moon is november 21, 2010. be sure to enjoy it, the next one won’t be for a couple of years.

for more reading on harvest, hunter’s, or blue moon:
harvest moon wiki page
hunter’s moon wiki page
blue moon wiki page

i learned how to colorize black & white photos with photoshop tonight. i thought the process looked really cool and wanted to post the results. the photos were taken by our friend miguel martinez. he is a really amazing photographer who works for the mundo hispánico. we were lucky enough to have him take our wedding photos!

-ryan

original black & white and colorized version:

we took a lot of photos last december for our friend kristen’s blog, beauty everyday, that she runs for r. wood studio ceramics. she was doing a post on southern homes decorated for the holidays. i really liked how our photos turned out so i’m posting them here in our first big photo entry. i’m also learning how to grid a bunch of photos while i make this post.

be sure to check out the handmade soap and shoe shine kit photos. we decided to create handmade gifts for our families since i was losing my job at the end of the year. we went with shoe shine kits in stained wooden boxes for the gentlemen and handmade soap with ceramic dishes for the ladies. gub had just taken a class on soap making and had access to the ceramic studio at her work, so it all came together.

– ryan

we set up rss feed and twitter links. you can find them to the right on the sidebar. i’m not sure if that’s something people want, i’m teaching myself how to blog and use wordpress as we go along. feel free to follow us on twitter or subscribe to our rss feed. or not. that’s cool too. i’m more so excited about the link icons i designed!

– ryan

rss feed & twitter links:

we’re finally getting this thing up and going. hopefully you can look forward to regular posts very soon!

-ryan & gub

preview from buford, ga photos: