i filmed the snow melting on our back deck after the recent snow storm. the camera went for 3 days and i put together this time-lapse piece from the footage.

– ryan

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

a few weeks ago i mentioned that gub and i really enjoy paint by numbers, especially vintage ones. i gathered some of the paintings from our personal collection to display.

two of the paintings are cutouts in the shape of the usa, made by stephen & shauna from something’s hiding in here. they were on display in the hand.craft.it festival gub and i curated with our friend kristen. the exhibit featured 16 of these paintings in a grid, which looked really awesome. we ended up buying a couple of the paintings when the exhibit ended! be sure to check out their etsy store for great goodies!

– ryan

we had another snow day in atlanta! twice in a month is quite crazy for the south. gub and i tried to stay warm while enjoying the beautiful scenery. i ended up taking a ton of photos and filmed a time lapse of the snow storm.

– words & photos/video by ryan

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

gubby and i were recently admiring a lebowski fest sticker with a silhouette of nixon bowling. it got us wondering about the nixon poster hanging in the dude’s apartment in the big lebowski. was it just a joke? did nixon really like to bowl?

after a little research, it turns out the white house has had a bowling alley since the truman era! the original two lane alley was a birthday gift for truman in 1947 and was located on the ground floor of the west wing. although truman did not like to bowl, his staff took full advantage and had a league. in 1955 the lanes were moved to the old executive office building. the space was needed for more important needs, like becoming a mimeograph room and later the situation room.

the current white house bowling alley is located in the basement under the north portico, which is the fancy front entrance to the white house. it was built in 1969 by president and mrs. nixon, who were both avid bowlers, hence the dude’s poster. the one lane alley was supposedly paid for by friends, but who knows with nixon. you can’t help but feel patriotic knowing the president has a private bowling alley!

check out a bunch of great photos of the white house bowling alley!

– ryan

gub and i have always had an appreciation for paint by numbers. we love the look and style of the paintings, especially the vintage ones in their original wooden frames. i have also always enjoyed working on paint by numbers. i find the process extremely fun and peaceful. i try to work on them when i have free time, although it’s been awhile since i finished one. i have a stack of half finished paintings waiting to be completed.

over the last couple of years i got into making what i call “partially painted” pieces. it’s basically painting only certain images on a paint by number so the lined background is still visible. when you fill up the entire canvas you lose the cool design element created by the lines and numbers.

be sure to check out this great history of paint by numbers!

– words & paintings 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: