Nina Lewis

Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

Travel back in time with me circa the mid 1960s.  My father, who normally had his pictures processed as 35 mm slides, came home with a new invention. (For my sarcastic children who may be reading this blog, yes, we had electricity and, yes, we had indoor plumbing at the time . . .)  This new invention was a Polaroid camera.

Sunday after church, Dad would shepherd us outside to stand in front of the pink climbing rose bush.  Dressed in our Sunday best and our hair curly from sleeping with pink sponge curlers wound in our hair, we shyly grinned (yes, I was, and still am shy, contrary to popular belief) while Dad snapped our picture.  We huddled around Dad eagerly watching our picture appear.  It was magic.

Fast forward to this year. I just found out that Polaroid is shutting down its film manufacturing lines and abandoning the technology that made the company famous. No more instant film.  Living in a world with digital cameras and phones that take pictures, am I surprised?  No.  Am I saddened?  A wee bit.

My grandson will probably never see a real Polaroid picture.  He might not even know Polaroid pictures existed.  This little bit of photography history might fade away (as did the Polaroid pictures over time) into oblivion or be relegated only to museum displays about the history of photography.

Please.  A moment of silence to honor the passing of such innovative technology.

Thank you.

However, to preserve the ‘look’ of Polaroid pictures, you can download a free software from Poladroid (did you catch that clever name??) that creates Poaroid like pictures.  Like these:

It’s a fun little application to use. And did I say it was free? It is available for Mac OS 10.4 (and later versions) with the Windows version currently in alpha testing.

Maybe if I create enough of these pictures and save them, then Spencer will understand about Polaroid pictures.

Maybe.

I am working on an assignment for my IPT class.  (Question: why do we have to do homework over a holiday???)

So, if you happen to see this  page, there will not be anything exciting to read.  Just a link to a podcast.

In a little while, this page will disappear.  It will go away.  It will vanish into thin air.  And that will mean that I am finished with my homework.
Gabcast! NinaLewis.com #2

See Tyler.

See Lisa.

Funny Tyler.

Funny Lisa

Funny, funny Tyler. Funny, funny Lisa.

This was the blooper video when Tyler and Lisa were filming Shoofly Pie for me. Check out the ‘real’ thing on my Grandma Ideas site. (That’s funny, too!)

Since today is Veteran’s Day, I’ve changed my theme design to be patriotic. I’ve loved all things patriotic. For years. Long before it became popular to be patriotic.

I’ve been thinking of my father today. He served in the Marine Corps during World War II. He joined about half a year before it ended. After basic training, he was sent to the Aleutian Islands where he served as the bugle boy for his company. He had to learn 150 different melody calls — for getting up in the morning, for going to bed, for going to lunch, for going to the bathroom, for EVERYTHING!

I’m also thinking of my father-in-law who served in the army for several years. He was based in Texas and worked as a mechanic. My mother-in-law was able to live down there, too, while he served there. They made life-long friends with people that they met there.

Our family salutes these two great men and their military service for our country.

Several years ago, I read the book Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley. It was a phenomenal book. I highly recommend it. It made me realize that had my father enlisted about 3 months earlier, he could have been sent to Iwo Jima — and the chances of his dying there would have been great which meant that I possibly wouldn’t have been born.

The movie by the same title is one that I recommend, too. It was very well done.

I will be forever grateful to them — and to all of those in all of the armed services — for their defending of our country. May God bless them, every one.

The cutest grandson in the world has turned into a vampire.  Eat your heart out, Edward.