The truth is, in real life Twila doesn't have any wrinkles. She's Twila. She's beautiful. But I was looking for photographs to use in our newsletter, and they were blown up on my 27" monitor. A picture of Twila appeared and I squinted and thought, "My goodness. Is that a wrinkle?" So I decided to heal it with PhotoShop. No matter that the pictures in our newsletter this year are 2" x 2" so there is no way a mark would show, even if it were a bite from a great white shark. I wanted to test my PhotoShop prowess (which is, actually, non-existent). Finally I figured out how to use the healing brush, I eradicated the line, and then proudly showed my work to Twila. Little did I realize at the time that it was an ACK moment.
Twila is wrong to imply she's vain, though. She isn't. She's just... hmmm, what's the word? Oh yes, female. Here's an example. I'd finished a rough draft of the newsletter and I proudly showed it to Twila. The very last photograph, where our signatures will go, was perfect. It was taken at the Macy's parade. Twila and I were next to each other and smiling broadly, appropriately attired in scarves and other winter clothing. When Twila turned the newsletter over and saw that picture, she picked up a red pen and started slashing the photo with lines, each one accompanied by a "NO!"
"Twila," I protested, "you look beautiful in that picture."
Slash, "NO!" Slash, "NO!" Slash, "NO!"
Now that nice picture has been replaced by one of Twila and me wearing, of all things, Indian (subcontinent, not Comanche) attire. How appropriate for Christmas. :p
3 comments:
Channeling Paul Harvey?
When I was born, my dad worked for Richfield Oil at the Ellwood distribution center in Goleta, CA. He once told me that it was the first place in the continental US which was shelled by the Japanese in WWII.
Years later, I was listening to the radio, when Paul Harvey mentioned that fact and proceeded to tell "the rest of the story." If you're interested, you can read the full story here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Ellwood
I immediately called my dad to tell him the news, and he said that when he worked there, they had the shell fragments in a small display case. Someday, I'd like to stop by and see if they still have the display.
Very interesting story, Carl. And as you probably know, that event had much to do with the moving of the Japanese Language Schools (where my father studied) inland, because the Nisei (and others of Japanese descent) who taught the classes were no longer permitted in Berkeley.
Actually, I didn't know until I was reading Wikipedia this morning that the Ellwood incident is what precipitated the creation of the Japanese internment camps.
It wasn't our finest hour. Hopefully, some day we'll be able to look back on our collective response to the 9-11 attack (Patriot Act, warrantless wiretaps, TSA madness, Abu Ghraib, etc.) and realize that we did it again. It would be sad if this is the world we left our kids.
Post a Comment