Hologram Folder

So I'm sloooowly working at trying to get my guest room/library/everything else room into shape and decided to go through an old crate of folders. My packrat tendencies mean that 1990s Julie left me a crate full of old art sketches and word sketches and random school papers. (OK several plastic bins, but I'm going through the crate for now.)

Perhaps most pathetic were the sad attempts at "morgue files" I pieced together in the mid-90s.  In the days before the Internet contained almost everything you needed to know, some experts suggested you clip photos from magazines and newspapers to inspire you and help you with art projects and the like. So now I have about 15 folders with helpful labels like "Costumes" and "Kids," all containing between 1 and 6 clippings from newspapers and magazines.

But my files weren't a complete waste.  While sorting through my old papers, I stumbled across a folder simply labeled "Holograms."

Yes. "Holograms."

How great is that?!

Also, I had a Disneyland folder!  (Though the below picture is from...well...another Disneyland folder I had, because I'm lazy...)

Oh, 1990s Julie, how could I be irritated at you for hoarding ephemera?  I forgive you. Actually...I think I love you.

Disneyland Dream Suite

So I've never been in the Disneyland Dream Suite and never will be there...but here's the most amazing trip report I've ever seen on it!

http://micechat.com/forums/disneyland-resort/171427-joes-epic-overnight-disneyland-dream-suite-trip-report-lots-pictures-2.html

As for writing, the main thing is to plow along, I think, and not get distracted by the Internet.

D'oh! I did pretty well at lunch today and my story finally seems to be progressing. One big part of writing is not only giving your characters a goal, but giving them goals the reader can care about. One of the problems I had was that my main character had a goal, but not one that was very interesting...so I upped the stakes.

Not wanting to die is a less abstract goal!

Happy Belated Birthday, Pirates of the Caribbean!

Pirates of the Caribbean is 45...yesterday!

It's nearly impossible to get a good photograph inside the ride without a high-end camera.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

(As long as I don't have to hurt anyone or steal anything.)

Monday - A New View INSIDE the Sailing Ship Columbia - Part 2

Happy Arizona Statehood day! 99 years!

So last week I showed off some pretty spiffy shots from inside the Sailing Ship Columbia. And I noted that the spindles in the windows of the displays seem to hinder getting a good shot........

......unless your camera (and wrists!) are thin enough! I discovered my Panasonic Lumix would fit through the bars fine, so I put my camera wriststrap on, put my thin wrists between some spindles, and got to shooting!


I believe this is a little cupboard for silverware/etc.





Doctor or mate's cabin?




I think this is from the next cabin:







No, the head is not accessible to guests.




And of course the place I'd love to live! Captain's quarters!




Here you can see the spindles, and how little I could see.






And, a few more cabins, I believe on the other (starboard?) side of the ship.

Monday - A New View INSIDE the Sailing Ship Columbia - Part 1

So one of my great loves is Disneyland, and I also love (the fantasy ideal of) pirates and privateers.

Sail boldly forth into the wilderness on a full-scale replica of a majestic 3-masted ship from the 18th century. Sailing Ship Columbia recreates the grand pioneering adventures of the famous vessel that discovered the Columbia River and became the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe.

--Disneyland website

How could I not love this?



At one point in time they had sails (not sure if they ever let them down)--but they got in the way and I reckon weren't helpful for Fantasmic! (a nighttime show that re-dresses the Columbia as a pirate ship!). Now, the masts are bare, which aids visibility, but makes the Columbia move a bit like a ghost ship...



The top of the ship is where most people hang out, as the ship floats past Frontierland, New Orleans Square, and Critter Country. (Also lets me try out my zoom lens.)





But, you can go below deck to what is supposed to be a recreation of what the real Columbia would have looked like back when it was doing fur trading.






Either the stair lighting is not exactly historical, or those mean 1700s fur traders kidnapped a lot of tiny pixies.



Looking up above from below deck. Good reason to be careful when wearing a skirt...





The displays in the center of the ship are gently roped off to keep them undisturbed. (Being a ship AND at Disneyland, of course everything is glued down.)



Easy to get a good view of the galley:





But for some reason, Disney seems concerned about people climbing in the bunks, so they're rather aggressively roped off, making a good picture near impossible.



From the shadows, it appears I put my camera through the ropes here?


And even worse, the beautiful (tiny!) cabins and such around the ship are blocked by doors with large wooden spindles to block your view.

They look fairly historically-accurate, but they're also view-blockers...

Or are they? Check back next Monday and we'll see!


Close up on the map on the desk