I spent an hour with Photoshop, turning a photo into interweaving strips, as in this tutorial.
http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/photo-strips/
My result was pretty darn good. My daughter passes by and casually observed "That looks just like something I can do on PaintShopPro with a button." A BUTTON? No way. Way. She pulled up PSP slapped a photo on the screen, applied a WEAVE filter, and accomplished in thirty seconds what I cobbled together in an hour.
THWACK, THUNK, THUD.
That's the sound of me smacking my head on the wall and collapsing in a frustrated heap.
All is not wasted. I learned that Photoshop also had external filters that can be added in. I learned about grids, and a bunch of shortcut keys that I will never use again.
Subject change. Youtube. I'm having just as much fun learning about Photoshop as I do watching Youtube tutorials about Photoshop techniques. Donny at "yousuckatphotoshop" has a unique way of presenting what ordinarily is tedious "click here, drag this" tutorials wrapped in a wry humorous story about his ex-wife.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YNfBF2xvhaE
I was engrossed in the tutorials just to hear the patter. And I learned a good many lessons in the process. Isn't that what education should be about? Even if you don't want to learn Photoshop, it's worth the price of admission to hear his comedy routine. I he had a Paypal button, I would contribute.
Subject change again. Mirrors and Bumps. Two years ago, DH decided to buy a bunch of dirt, which the delivery guys promptly dumped on the lawn. We moved God knows how much dirt (a ton?) by shovel and wheelbarrow, from point A to point B. Don't ask. After a week of shovelling dirt, I discovered a thick ridge on one side of my back that was not on the other side. That bump was a muscle. Apparently, whilst shoveling, I favored my right over my left arm.
In my DVD Gil exercise session, I caught myself in the mirror at a different angle for the first time. I noticed some interesting bumps. All that time I was whining to myself that "I can't do one more rep of this, I give up." yet continued to do it for one more rep. It paid off in bumps. I have something I never had even in my younger years: I have definite shoulder muscles!
And you know what the dumbest advantage of all this exercise is ... I discovered that I can braid my hair behind my head, without tiring my triceps. That, and I carrying heavy trash out to the garbage can without having to hug it next to my body. That is a good thing. Modern life has no real use for bumps. I know, it builds bone density, and all that good stuff.
Mirrors. I used to think that exercise people were fairly vain to surround themselves with mirrors. For me, the two mirrors allow me not only to hold myself in correct form, but it helps me to dissassociate my self from my body. I don't have the mental focus to move myself, but I can watch that body in the mirror, and force it to do one more rep.
Back to the grindstone.
