Kansas Dresners
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Winteresque
¶ Saturday, February 17, 2007 0 comments 
 | Winter here is mostly wet. Max, however, loves rain, so that's good. There's a lot of covered wandering space at the University, but when properly equipped, that doesn't limit Max in the slightest. | |
 | On our recent wanderings we found an unoccupied classroom for Max to explore. Here's a perspective neither students nor professors usually get! | |
 | Yesterday, a school holiday, Max woke up and decided to dress warmly, in solidarity with his cousins (or something). | |
 | Not one to waste an opportunity, he pointed out that he was perfectly outfitted for a trip up the mountain to the Mauna Kea visitor center at 9000 feet. | |
 | Neither the cold nor the thin air dampened his spirits -- the astronaut snacks helped! | |
 | This is a silversword plant. I was looking at some other people's pictures when I realized that some of my "failed" attempts to get texture instead of color might work better in monochrome. |
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Friends and Fun
¶ Thursday, February 15, 2007 0 comments
 | Nothing like finding an old toy after a long hiatus.... |
 | Max is still really enjoying dance, and has a particular friend now. |
 | Max's friends came over, and he broke out the old Halloween costumes. |
 | Max and Halcy in the wading pool. It's not warm enough for water games, really, but it makes a great "fort." |
 | I know the resolution's weak, but I loved the expression. |
Natural -- including Multi-legged -- Beauty
What set of Dresner pictures would be complete without some flowers and bugs and stuff?
¶ Thursday, February 15, 2007 0 comments
 | From a downtown flowerbox. Not sure what these purple things are, but they're pretty common these days. Cute, too. |
 | My next photographic quest is flying things. It's not easy with an autofocus camera, but I'm still trying. Anyway, sometimes I get lucky and they land in good light. This is a butterfly in our backyard, and they've been driving me nuts for weeks with their constant unphotographable flitting.... |
 | Last week we let Max lead us around the University, found this. Lovely smell, too. |
 | This guy is about an inch, toe to toe. |
 | This guy is a touch smaller. I suspect that they're immature Yellow Garden Spiders. |
 | I'm teaching a night class this semester, 2 and 3/4 hours, once a week. Got lucky during the break. |
 | If you can't catch 'em in flight, find 'em when they're dead. I didn't do it: I suspect it flew into one of our hermetically sealed and sterile staircases and couldn't get out. That's where I found it. |
 | I can't tell you how many pictures I've taken trying to get a good shot of the crabs at Liliuokalani park, but it's a lot. |
Messing Around
¶ Thursday, February 15, 2007 0 comments
 | We did a picnic dinner over at Ainaola park a few weeks ago, right at the tail end of our unseasonal dry spell. |
 | Max wanted Woody to see how much fun he was having. |
 | When waiting in the car, Max has taken to lying on the back shelf. He won't fit much longer. |
 | Silly fun after seeing a recital of his friends. |
 | Odd hood ornament spotted in the parking lot at Ken's. Not sure what they're trying to say, but they're sure saying it! From the condition of the bear, either they only put it on in good weather, or it was a fairly new feature. |
Makahiki Luau
Makahiki is the a Hawaiian festival season, tied to the Pleiades and to the rains. Max's kinderhale joined forces with a Hawaiian school to celebrate.
¶ Thursday, February 15, 2007 0 comments
 | Woody did a song with the kids: this is their last (only, actually) practice in the Kinderhale yard. |
 | Another shot of Max and his classmates. |
 | The centerpiece of the celebration was the thanksgiving offerings of foods, etc. Max wasn't going to be part of this group, but there was a last-minute opening, so he and his fellow "twinkling star" (not sure if they're ready for 1st grade next year, but considering it) got to be part. |
 | Kukui nut tops are a traditional entertainment. |
 | We're not sure which parent constructed these, but they went really quick. The nut necklace that Max is wearing was made by him. The week before, they practiced on a whole bunch of them, so he's got another necklace with over a half-dozen polished nuts on it. |
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Photoshopping
Max has been having fun with Photoshop: over the last few weeks we've been painstakingly coloring one of his favorite pictures, and I'm learning a lot about what Adobe can do in the process. Max prefers the full color version; I like the shaded one.
¶ Sunday, February 04, 2007 0 comments
| Before |  |
| After |  |
| Half-tone |  |
