Faces

The new iPhoto '09 available for mac has an interesting feature called "Faces". After you begin to name a few faces iPhoto will begin to recognize the face in the other photos in your library. The program will group them together and you click on them to confirm that the person is who the computer thinks they are. I just went through and did all the pictures for myself, and the computer was extremely accurate. I was clicking away confirming all the pictures of me in my iPhoto so fast I kind of went into a daze. All the different "Travis" faces flashed before my eyes: different haircuts, different lengths of facial hair, tan, pasty, sunglasses, hats....... I was convinced iPhoto had figured me out, until I stopped over a picture toward the end. My mouse pointer froze over the face.

It was a picture of Abbey and I on our wedding day, surrounded by my extended family. What made me stop was that the program did not put the little "Travis" box around my face... it was centered on someone else in the group on the right side of the picture under the flowers. My late grandfather Joseph Klein. I sat there for a moment looking at his face, remembering him, his hands, the way he would whistle while doing yard-work or cooking on the grill. 

I thought about how people live on through their children and grandchildren, passing on genetic information to the next generation. Part of him is part of me, and this computer program recognized it, whatever it was.

I clicked confirm.

Getting Ready for Spring

Well, I had Monday off and figured I should take advantage of the cool weather and get the garden ready for the spring. Bailey was at the vet getting a dip treatment, so I knew I could actually get some work done without a little shadow following me around the whole backyard. I pulled up everything except the garlic and added the compost I had been cooking since the summer. 

Here's a pic of Shady hiding in the broccoli before I pulled them up. Technically they were still making heads, but I have plans for this space in the next few weeks. Into the compost bin they go!

Here is my harvest of mesclun lettuce. De-lish!

Nearly-done compost makes a great topping for the garden. The big stuff stays on top as an organic mulch and the little stuff gets washed down into the soil, adding nutrients and organic material, the plants will love it!.

What could not be eaten from the pulled up garden was the first thing to go in the compost bin. The end is only the beginning. Next spring this will be part of the compost that is spread. The chemicals and molecules that are created by the bacteria will help build the new plants, so nothing is wasted! Did you know that in San Francisco they have green garbage cans where you can put compost-able items? This stuff does not need to go in a bag and put in the land-fill! Monday night Abbey and I drove around the neighborhood picking up bags of raked leaves people had set on the sidewalk. My compost bin is now bulging at the seams!

Here are the freshly composted gardens, fertilized and ready for planting. All I need to do is figure out what to grow and where to grow it! 

Bailey

Meet Bailey, our chocolate gift for Valentines!