Mark Twain's Autobiography?

Thank you to Philip DeFranco. I found out that Mark Twain wrote an autobiography that he didn't want released for 100 years! But now that time is up and the first volume has been released. Here is an article from the New York Times about it, enjoy.

The price people expect to pay.

Being an artist and a fan of local small businesses, I hate going to Wal-Mart or most other large corporate shopping centers. However, with the state of the economy and the less than fabulous wages I am paid,it is some times necessary for me to shop there because the prices fit my budget.

The reason I dislike going there is because the prices are so low that they disillusion people into believing that that is the price they should expect to pay for anything.

We learned in class that the price of an object is not just some random number that you pull out of the air, it is a calculated number that is fair to both the maker and buyer. When trying to price a piece of art work the equation is price of materials + (# of hours put in the the work x your hourly wage) + mark up (optional) = price of art work. For instance when making a scarf the price of a skein of yarn is generally $6, you need about 2 to make a scarf so $12, a scarf takes about 2 hours to make and I charge $10 per hour, and I don't mark up my scarves. So a custom scarf from me would cost you $32. Why would anyone want to pay that when they can go to Wal-Mart and buy one for $5?

This video makes me laugh, it reminds me of every art fair I have ever been to. Please share your comments, I would love to hear them.

Saturday November 6, 2010 Aprox 2:00 AM

2:00 AM
Pain. At this point all I know is pain. Lots of pain. I feel like I'm going to vomit. I just crawled into bed, didn't even get to shut my eyes yet.

4:30 AM
Pain is finally subsiding but it is still there. Could it be another cyst?

6:30 AM
I am awake. The pain is still lingering....

7:30 AM
I wake up my boyfriend and tell him I am going to the hospital. He reluctantly gets out of bed and drives me in.

8:10 AM
We arrive at the hospital, I am checked in and taken straight to room number 19.



8:45 AM
Nurse finally arrives to take down my information. Still in pain.

9:05 AM
First sign of my doctor. He is older, long silvery gray hair. "we are going to get you an IV, draw some blood, give you some drugs, and do a pelvic exam to start off with."

9:30 AM
Dark blue and bright blue come in to the room. (the names my boyfriend gave the nurses based on their scrub colors) IV is in and blood is drawn followed by anti-nausea medication and Morphine.



9:35 AM
Pelvic exam.......

9:45 AM
Blood is re-drawn from my other arm because the IV catheter broke all the blood cells when they drew the first time.

10:45 AM
Blood results are back. I am healthy. But they still don't know what happened. Ultra sound department is called and I will be getting one done at 11:45 AM.

11:30 AM
I am hungry and thirsty. Boyfriend goes to ask nurse if I can have anything to drink. "No because we don't know if you need surgery or not yet so just sit tight."

11:32 AM
I am crying. My boyfriend wipes the tears from my face. "Everything is going to be ok sweetie. I am right here for you." Tears run down my cheeks and I breathe in heavily and pain rips through my stomach up my spine and into my chest. I am crying uncontrollably, pain continues to shoot through my body. He rolls me over on my side and runs his fingers though my hair. "I love you. Everything is going to be ok. I am right here."

11:45 AM
Nurse comes in and offers me more morphine. As she is getting the syringe ready another nurse comes in and wheels me off to ultra sound.

12:30 PM
Ultra sound is done, I am back in my room. The nurse comes in and gives me more Morphine. I ask her if I can have some water because I am thirsty. "They still don't know if you are going to have surgery today. But I will get you some ice chips to wet your mouth."

1:00 PM
Doctor comes in. "We are calling in an OB-GYN to look at your ultra sound pictures because we think it is either a ruptured hemorrhagic cyst or a twisted ovary."

2:00 PM
OB comes in. "Hi I'm going to go look at your ultra sound pictures and I will be back in a little bit to tell you whats going on."

2:20 PM
OB comes back. "It looks like you ruptured a cyst. I don't think it is twisted because your not sick enough for it to be twisted. Call me and schedule an appointment in two weeks so we can put you on hormone therapy so this doesn't happen to you again. I am going to discharge you with some pain meds. Feel better!"

2:45 PM
Nurse comes in and removes my IV and I am finally released.

Discover the Earth from your computer chair!

TrekEarth is a website with pictures from all over the world (even Green Bay Wisconsin!) Their moto is "Learning about the world through photography." It is a very interactive site, you can become a member and favorite pictures, share on Facebook, Twitter, and other sites, upload your own photos, comment on photos, and the list goes on! You can even search specific themes like fog, lakes, or sheep and it will bring up all the photos on the site with those images or themes.

If you choose to post your own photos be ready for some constructive criticism! This community takes photography very seriously and will critique everything from angle to lighting to composition. And if you alter your photos make sure you do it right as the Terms of Service has strict limitations on how you can enhance your photos in photo shop.

It is also a very diverse community. Users from all around the world are on this site and they comment in their own language sometimes.

Here is a link to one of my favorite photos from this site 3 Frogs and 4 Lillies I hope you enjoy exploring!

Musical Glasses

All I have to say is amazing!

Musical Glasses!