Author: Annie

I scribble words onto the screen, I capture the images I see, I look for beauty in everyday life. I’ve been a sailor, a project manager, a tech writer, a programmer, and since May 2016, I have been a vagabond traveling in a 17-foot travel trailer.

Sunday Serenity: Memories

Posted on by Annie

One of my ongoing projects is curating my photography output to a manageable size (I currently have over 15,000 images in my LIghtroom library). I’m finding that I have to wait a while after I leave a place to cull the photos I took there. An image can look great at first, but the longer I live with it, the more I can see the composition isn’t quite right, or it’s too generic, or it simply doesn’t hold its own against other images of the same place. I suppose the same can be said about memories. Facebook has a feature…

Read more

Fungus: Form and Texture

Posted on by Annie

In between watching the erratic progress of the storm known as Florence and wondering where I was going to have to retreat to next, I became obsessed with the collection of fungi on a tree stump a short stroll from my campsite. The textures are beautiful, and I’m not doing them justice in this post. This is a detail from the biggest one in the photo above. Layers and layers of petals. The form is a treat, too. Wide curves with colors echoing the arc right down to where each petal attaches to the main branch. This bell-shaped petal was…

Read more

Weekly Update: Sep 12, 2018

Posted on by Annie

What’s that quotation? “May you live in interesting times.” Yeah, that’s the one. I’m definitely having a few interesting weeks. To quickly wrap up the saga of the broken-down Mac, it’s all good now. Pro tip: Find an Authorized Apple Service Center and then check their google reviews. Turns out that’s way better than the Genius Bar at the Apple Store. Thanks, Ten Plus Systems in Raleigh, NC, you guys rock; got my Mac back in shape in a few hours. I had exactly one day to enjoy that peace and quiet. Ah, it was lovely. The dam at Kerr…

Read more

Sunday Serenity: Patience

Posted on by Annie

Nothing tries my patience like tech problems. So when my MacBook Pro, where I do all my photography work, decided to hang then not reboot, it became a test. Was I going to let loose my temper and frustration? Or would I take that deep breath I always say I’m going to when circumstances conspire to tempt me into fire and fury? I let myself have 90 seconds of fire and fury, pissed at the Mac for crashing, at myself for not doing backups every night (or at least after a big work session), and at the universe for bringing…

Read more

Martinsville Speedway

Posted on by Annie

Let’s just say this post really has an audience of one: my brother. We talked about Martinsville when we were hanging out at Bristol, and how my dad would always call it “the paperclip” track because it’s got long straightways and tight corners. Same half-mile distance as Bristol, but different as night and day. Martinsville is open and long, not ringed all the way around with seating. At Bristol, I had to pay to take a tour to get on the track. Martinsville? I just drove up to the turn 4 gate and parked, then walked right onto the track…

Read more