Let me Photoshop you. Pleeeeeze?!

So, I looked at an old paystub, and I started out at the BCB at $8/hour. Then I got a raise to $8.25. Then Cali min. wage went up 50 cents, and my pay went to $8.75. Then for some bizarre reason, the BCB cut me a check this summer for a week's worth of vacation pay and the like, even though I hadn't worked there since the beginning of the year, and they paid me $9/hour for it. And my new paystub for last week? $9.25. I thought I'd gotten a 50 cent raise no one thought to mention to me, but then I saw the vacay pay for 9, and I don't know what to think. And on top of THAT, they took out money for my health insurance and dental from the last check, despite the fact I'm paying for COBRA for dental and don't have health insurance with them anymore, on accounta I went temporary.

I'm so confused. And wondering if I have to keep paying for COBRA and if I maybe have health insurance again, or if they're just taking money out, and if I try to use my old insurance card, I won't be able to...what UP with that? Curiouser and curiouser.

I need to go to bed, because it's already 11:26, and I have to get up at 5:30 for work in the a.m. It's nice only working 3 days a week, because by Day 3, I'm pretty exhausted from all the cumulative lack of sleep, but I wish I was working more. It was supposed to be 5 days.

When I finish tomorrow, I get to go cast my historic vote for the first black man running for president. :) I'd rather be voting for the first woman, but that's not because I like either one more, just all the hype around Obama really turns me off. I'm waiting for the man to walk on water and then turn the stuff into wine. I kinda won't be surprised if he turns out to be the anti-christ, they hype around him is so huge. I'm just saying.

I took Napoleon to the barkpark today, and it was adorable. :) He's such a cute little dog. So earnest. :) I started doing this thing someone told me about where you pick up your puppy and hold him against you so that he's on his back or halfway on his back, and you rub his belly and chest until he relaxes, and then after a few minutes, you turn him loose again. It teaches them that you are in charge and they are part of your pack. I call it puppy time, and Napoleon loves it. So does Razzle, but Napoleon just gets way into it. He fell asleep on Ty while they were having puppy time tonight. So adorable it just melts your whole heart. :) Razzle looks like he's grinning when he gets puppy time. Napoleon looks like all's right with the world.

And now, a picture of me I photoshopped the hell out of. I did it because someone else I know did it, and I wanted to see how good I was at it. It's based on the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, namely the short film Dove did called Evolution, where they showed how the advertising/marketing industry distorts what women really look like in order to sell product.

This is what I started with, color corrected (the original was yellow because I shot it in low light):



This is what I turned it into. I removed blemishes, airbrushed, lifted, tucked, resized, changed color, and processed the everlovin' crap out of it. This one hasn't been processed much, but I had done all the other stuff, for sure. All I need to do is figure out how to get the skin smooth and lovely without the airbrushed look. There are actions for that, but so far I haven't found one I really like that does enough to smooth the skin without whacking everything else out too, with Gaussian blur. If you airbrush too much, you *have* to go the high key route, or it looks too painted.



And my personal favorites are these. Most people look awesome in high key, I have to say. These are actioned to death. I kinda think I might have skillz. I got lazy with the nostril being blurry (I ended up smudging it because liquify did really weird stuff to the shape of my nose). My nostrils are whack. The right one is waaaaay huge. It's freakish.





The lion's share of processing these was via a set of actions by Lakshal Perera, available here. I highly recommend them. :)

If you want me to PS you into glamour oblivion, please send me a picture of you (preferably 6x8 or 6x9 and around 100dpi). I would love the practice. It's fun to do, but I can only look at my own face for so long before it starts to look like a Picasso.

Happy voting!
Katie