Photoshop

Today I discovered the fun of photo manipulation on photoshop. I've used it a lot for photo editing, (fix lighting, remove trees sticking out of peoples heads, stuff like that), but never actually drastically changed an image. Tonight I scratched the surface of the manipulate things in can do with just my photoshop elements. I did these dogs tonight. Originally they were in a grassy field. This wasn't too complex, I only used about ten layers, and it took me only about two hours, but I really like how it turned out.

I've really want to take up digital painting, but that's impossible at the moment with my touch pad on my laptop. Now I've found something to entertain me while I save up for my graphics tablet.
I'm planning on eventually taking one of my pictures of my pony and somehow turning her into a ninja pony. How awesome would that be?

The great enigma

Since I posted about my dog last time, why not do my horse this time?
So, you probably don't know this, but my horse is very confident in herself. Almost nothing in life actually scares her (with the exception of cows and chicken wire), though that doesn't prevent her from spooking at stuff for the heck of it. I like to describe her as a conniving feminist diplomat. This pony has got an agenda. She mess everything, up play with all the other horse's minds, and worm her way to the top, all while staying friends with everybody. She makes herd dynamics very interesting with the things she does to the other horses. For example, sometimes if she's bored she'll play "chicken" by running straight towards another horse that's laying down to make them get up. Now, she'd never actually run them over but they don't know that.
        I'm telling this to make a point that my pony is very sure of herself, and a bit of a "lone wolf" around the other horses. She rather independant. She likes people, attention, and working (though she doesn't think she does) but she's not like those insecure horses that won't take a step if they aren't sure your sure. She can take care of herself, thank you very much.
Here's the enigma: My horse gets upset when she thinks people are angry at her. It doesn't help that I kid you not, my horse is a perfectionist. She gets mad at herself when she doesn't do things right.
      My trainer just sold one of her horses, and took another one on trial. She was working with the new horse, who had absolutely no ground manners. This new horse also was kind of dull. She wasn't listening, and my trainer had to wallop her with whip to get her to pay attention. (I want to point out right now that she was not beating this horse, and the whip she was using was a dressage whip. She had given the horse a chance to listen without being smacked, and the horse was totally fine). She also was saying "WHOA" very intensely.
Poor Jazmyne got so upset. She was so confused she thought my trainer was mad at HER. The whole time I was warming up she was very stressed, and got all "worrisome" every time the new horse was reprimanded. The new horse finally was stopping when asked, so she got put away. I had my trainer come and tell Jazmyne that she was a good girl, because my horse got so upset. As soon as my trainer "approved" her, she relaxed and was all normal again. I thought it was really wierd how much that reprimanding bothered her, even though it wasn't directed at her.
My horse wouldn't do that for everyone, but she really respects my trainer, and I couldn't believe how upset she got because she thought my trainer was mad at her.
I know it seems like I'm anthropomorphizing a bit, but if you were there you would understand. It's crazy how multifaceted and diffrent each animal's personality is.

Awesome Sauce Animals: Meet Ellie

Since today is my dog's birthday, I think it is appropriate to do my blog post on her. I've owned my cockapoo Ellie since she was ten months, and today she turns six years old. I got her in 2006 about a month after my 13 year old cocker spaniel, Keyosha (don't ask, she came with the name), had died. Our friends had gotten Ellie, but their other dog and her just did not get along, so to make a long story short, I got Ellie.  Ellie was abused as a puppy, so she was scared of men. In fact, she wouldn't even approach my dad for two years, but know she can often be found next to him on the couch mooching some pets. 

Ellie and me are best buds. I'm definitely her "person." She sleeps with me, and I'm pretty much they only one she'll listen to for obedience commands. She always wants to be where ever the people are, and loves to go on trips to grandma's and grandpa's at the lake.

I compete with Ellie in obedience (Graduate Novice), agility (Novice), rally (excellent (highest) level), showmanship, and team obedience. We've won lots of trophies in agility and rally, and we've been on the cover of the winner's circle. We've done pretty well in obedience and have won several classes, but right now, Ellie keeps breaking her out of sight stays at competition, so we've yet to qualify in Grad novice. She's very energetic about working as long as she's having fun. She loves agility in particular, and often likes to go run the course by herself. She especially loves the teeter totter and the chute (tunnel with a collapsed fabric chute on the exit end), and the a-frame. The only thing she doesn't like is showmanship, she tries to take a nap because she thinks its boring, but if she's actually awake we do quite well in showmanship as well.

Very much the social butterfly, you can find Ellie trying to make friends with every dog she meets, and trying to get pets from any kids and women she meets, and most men after she warms up to them, though she's terrified of cats.

She loves snow, water, and seagulls, and just wants to be part of the action whether you're sitting around the camp fire or playing a round of ninja. She'll let little kids hug her, tug on her ears or whatever. If they're annoying her, she'll just get up and move, she doesn't have an aggressive bone in her body. I've taken her to lots of 4-H functions, and she loves all the attention she gets from the little kids, and they love it when she does all her tricks.

She's the best dog ever, she's my dog in a million and I love her to pieces.

 

Ellie in resignation after I wrapped her leg with my horse wraps

 

Romping at the dog park

Waiting to run in agility. I wish I had a picture of an agility run on my computer. Ellie competes at 8", though normally when she jumps, she majorly over clears it and normally jumps over where the 20" bar would go.

The fish with legs and his friends

My argument is that the following story makes absolutely no sense,

The Fish with Legs and His Friends

by The Furry Fairy Alfonso the long haired

The fish that  had five legs jumped out of the motor boat and pulled his sandwich out of his metal lunch box. "What a fine day", he said with a twitch of his fin. All of a sudden a vat of sulfuric acid fell from the sky and onto the seven legged fish. He lost three of his legs and was in a lot of pain so he had to go to the hospital. The surgeon came and put stuff on his legs and he ended up dying because he wasn't in water and I don't know why he had legs or was walking anyways.
His friend Mildred the stuffed animate penguin organized his funeral service. She turned it into a tropical themed luau party, and they ended up frying him up in a dish of fish and chips after the doctors deemed him safe to eat. The served him with a side dish of a garlic and dill dipping sauce, but Mildred the stuffed animate penguin ended up choking on one of his bones for her inconsideration of her friends deceased body.  She died too, so they ended up chucking her body into the ocean because the didn't want to pay for a coffin and a proper burial in a cemetary.
The five/seven legged fish that died from the acid bath had a really crummy group of friends. THey ended up being arrested for distrubing the peace when the public heard about their disrespectful actions. There was a trail and they were all convicted of reallly sucking at the skill of being even a decent friend because they ate him after he suffered a violent death. They were thrown into prison and forced to work on the kitchen staff for the rest of their lives.

THE END