suddenly everything is a little more beautiful

That's how I feel with this new camera. The images are so focused and, what's the word, electric? They're so much more alive than photos taken with a standard compact digital camera.

Business is slow today, and Evelyn is still at Gma & pa's, and J is at work, so I'm taking advantage of this to begin practicing, capturing garage sale junk in all of its glory:

                                      

And our pets, for not only do we require large household items and electronics, but animals as well:

Yoko,  saved from the street by my parents, June '10

Ono, adopted from Petsmart, Feb. '11

Remmy (Remington), somehow acquired by Jason, summer '09

June (Juniper), bought from pet store, Oct. '10

Name Change (and a cat!)

As soon as I finish this post, I am changing the title of my blog. I originally chose "Kaleidoscope" because I've always enjoyed the feel of the word in my mouth, and also because life is always changing, moving, like when you look into a kaleidoscope. But, I've realized that the word is perhaps a bit too common (many blogs of all sorts share the name) and doesn't say a whole lot about what my blog is about (what IS my blog about....?) The new title, "Here and Now," is more accurate.... What is here and now? I am here now, you are here now, life is here now. This is the only life we have, so be here now. Hey--like the Mason Jennings song! (I really did just think of that).

In other exciting news, my parents are on their way to our house with..... a cat! I guess this cat followed my mom home from a walk, and my parents would love to keep it but they have two dogs (who would be very jealous of the cat) and my dad and sister are both allergic. The cat is already de-clawed and therefore is an indoor cat. In my childhood, I was obsessed with cats. Really, I had books about how to communicate with cats. I had two cats once, a mom and her son, but we had to give them away (family allergies, moving, etc.). Now, after 11 years, I will again have a cat! Yippee!

p.s. I do feel a little bad knowing that the cat probably belonged to someone else, but we are thinking someone dropped her off in the neighborhood to find new owners (that happens often now when people have to move out of their foreclosed homes into apartments, etc). She'd been hanging at my parents' place for a few days, and my dad called the local vets and stuff, and no one was missing a gray cat.

p.p.s. we've named the cat Yoko.