Skillz (A Few Kinds)

And yes, I did just commit the heinous crime of spelling something with a Z instead of an S. May the grammar gods forgive me.

So, I've discovered Photoshop. And wow, it's fun! Part of my final portfolio for my InDesign class includes a photo album, and I've been applying some of the skills we've learned. Some of them are alright. I'm not inclined to go showing them off. Not when other people do this for a living. But I do like this one:

This was the original image. Our family had some professional photos taken during Christmas break. (yep, that's right, we're barefoot at Christmas. Love Texas.) I had a hard time finding a photo to fix up, since the photographer was really good, so I just looked at playing around with it a little.

I straightened the horizon line, cropped it in to focus more on us, beefed up the exposure a little bit to make it glow, and changed the color to sepia. And WOW! I really like it. :) My teacher looked at it and said it would be a good canvas-painting-ish picture. One of those big hang-over-the-mantelpiece family pictures. That's a nice compliment coming from her.

Also, she commented that she wouldn't ever be able to get her family to hold hands like that. Maybe we're just weird, but our family has always been fairly comfortable with physical contact. I'm slowly discovering that a lot of people aren't like that. Brian and I alone baffled a lot of our friends, who couldn't quite believe we were that close to each other.

But it's always been this way. As far back as I can remember, it's been tradition for me to have the seat next to Dad during movie nights, curled up under the blanket he has over his lap with my head on his shoulder. I used to nap with him on Sundays, too. My mom has long-standing fame as the bed-monster and child-mauler at bedtimes (even my friends know! Just ask Qait...). Her hugs are famously rib-cracking. Jess and I used to stay up late at night brushing hair, giving backscratches, and sometimes (though somewhat rarely) lying in the same bed together just talking.

And I have this really tender memory of Brian taking care of me when I was sick. I'm the kind of person who finds physical contact comforting when I'm sick. I know some people are anti-touch when they don't feel well, but I've never been that way. Anyway, I had my head on my mom's lap one evening while she stroked my hair to distract me from whatever raging illness I had. She had to get up and do something, and so I of course moaned a little when she started to leave. Just as she got up, though, Brian slipped into her spot and put my head on his lap, continuing right where Mom had left off.

I guess I've been spoiled. My family is very close. I always took it for granted, growing up with them, but I'm starting to realize how lucky I am that I have the relationships with them that I do. They're my best friends. I've moved around a lot, and friends fade into and out of my life so often (with a couple of notable exceptions). As a result, I've come to rely on the one constant I have in life: my family. I'm so glad I have them. :)