MACRO-blogging on weather, apps, an iPhone feature, death and Halloween
I had more to write than I thought I did, so today's post can't be considered microblogging. As the title reads, I'm talking about the weather (a great opener to any conversation), iPhone apps, an iPhone feature, death and Halloween. It all ties together somehow....while reintroducing The Christopher Chronicles.
The Weather
It's currently 64 degrees outside, but inside I have the air conditioning running because of the humidity. Today is the first rain since last months hurricane. Behind this rain is a nice cool front again. That pretty much sums up the weather here until Spring - one cool/cold front after another with a random 80 degree day thrown in - typically on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentines Day or any day you want your hair to look nice.
Apps For That
The creators of Wordsalad asked me if I would like to review their new app Shapego. I love apps, so saying yes was a no brainer. I installed Shapego on my iPad and took the time to play around with it.
Back in January I had used a word cloud app to create the current cover of The Christopher Chronicles 2.0 and it was not an easy task. I had to use Photoshop to create the vector image of the boy, then import it into the app. Once I had completed the word cloud boy for the cover I realized I typed Granddaddy as Grand-daddy. I really wanted to change it but I would have had to start over. By that point it was perfect and I didn't think I could duplicate it just to remove a dash. It's so small you'd need a magnifying glass to see/find it.
So anyway, in using Shapego I only had to use this one app to create a word cloud using this pen graphic from my logo.
I pulled the pen from my pictures on my iPad and then typed in words that I wanted to use. The feature I like best about this new app is the Hex color picker. I was able to plug in all the shades of teal I use on my website for this design.
If you are in need of an app to create a word cloud for your business or blogging pleasure, Shapego is a great choice.
iPhone Features
So speaking of needing a magnifying glass... have you updated your iPhone to the iOS10 software? There's a cool magnifying glass feature. It's so much better than just using your camera and zooming in. To enable it, go to Settings/General/Accessibility/Magnifier and turn it on. Now whenever you need the magnifier, click the home button three times and there you have it. See my error now?
Death &Halloween
Halloween this year marked the 16th anniversary of Pop-Pop's death. I hope you know what it's like to have a best grandfather in the world. He was mine.
As a rule my family did not celebrate Halloween. I don't think it was so much because we didn't celebrate it, but more so because we were one of those health nut kind of vegetarian families. I got to go trick-or-treating once as a kid but I didn't get to keep the candy.
Trick-or-treating was fun. I was dressed as Dracula using a cape my grandmother made for me, baby powder as a pale skin foundation, Dracula teeth and lipstick around my mouth for blood. Not eating the candy made trick-or-treating not fun. I bet my parents ate some of it when I went to bed.
Fast forward to having a child of my own. We don't celebrate Halloween. I don't think it's so much the fact that we don't celebrate it but more so that this is the day that Pop-Pop died and I don't want to. We always do something else whatever night it falls on. We go out to eat and then come home and watch a movie. Christopher has had one Halloween costume but has never gone trick-or-treating.
From the first book of The Christopher Chronicles
Christopher has never been trick or treating but he certainly has heard of it by now. His McDonald's Happy Meal came in a trick-or-treat bucket...
“He said, “I know what this is for. It’s for a Halloween Easter hunt.””
— Age 5
This year I felt bad about the fact that he'd never been and I couldn't decide if our special night out was a good enough substitute to miss out on what his friends were participating in. I'll know when he grows up and has kids of his own. He may take his kid's trick-or-treating because he never got to.
When it comes to Pop-Pop's death... I can't celebrate Halloween.
This post is my contribution to the Finish the Sentence Friday writing prompt, "When it comes death..." via Finding Ninee.