My good friend and fellow writer extraordinaire, Kymberly Keaton, recently returned from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to pick her brains on all things Sewanee.
Before I get to the interview, here’s some background info on the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Founded in 1990 at The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, the conference sprang from the desire of Tennessee Williams to support creative writers. In fact, Williams’ estate partially underwrites the cost. Sewanee covers fiction, poetry, and playwrighting, drawing distinguished writers from those fields to serve as faculty members. Visiting writers, publishers, agents, and editors round out aspiring writers’ education and provide valuable connections for the future.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been redoing my website. I’ve moved the photography portion of my site to PhotoShelter, which has numerous wonderful features for photographers that I’ll get into in a separate post. One of these features is their website templates (called themes) that allow you to tweak the CSS or HTML code in order to personalize your site. I like the theme I chose a lot, but along with changing the background color, I also wanted to replace the border on the content box with one I created myself. Because my border was more complex than a single line, it needed to be saved as GIFs and linked to in the CSS code. I couldn’t find any instructions to do that on PhotoShelter, though, and when I posted a question about it in the forum, no one answered me. (That’s actually pretty unusual – it seems like there’s almost always someone who has a solution or comment to give.)
read more…
I found out last week that I won an Honorable Mention in Digital Graffiti, an art show taking place in the resort town of Alys Beach, FL, on June 6, 2009. Digital Graffiti is a different kind of art show, displaying video art projected on the white walls of the town’s buildings. Even though I already know I won’t be winning any money, I’m really pleased and excited to be part of it. I think it’s going to be a fun and fascinating show, judging by the photos and videos I’ve seen from last year. Hosting the show will be India Hicks, a fashion model, host of the Bravo series Top Design, and author of books on interior design and beauty. She’s also the daughter of famed interior designer David Hicks and the granddaughter of Lord Louis Mountbatten. In addition, VJ Shantell Martin will be performing. The artists themselves hail from a number of U.S. states, as well as Australia, Belgium, France, Mexico, England, and Italy. read more…
Welcome to the inaugural edition of my blog, Prose & ISOs. So what’s this blog about? Well, the “prose” part deals with writing, which I’m sure you’ve already figured out. “ISO” refers to the camera or film speed; for instance, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, and so on. (I’ve always wondered why it is that on my Canon 20D, the max setting is mysteriously named “H.” Like a character from a Bond film or something. It’s not like it doesn’t have an actual speed – it’s really ISO 3200, so why not just call it that? But I digress…) Anyway, while it’s true that I’m single, on this blog, ISO does not stand for “In Search Of,” as in: “Prince Charming ISO his Cinderella for candlelit dinners, long walks on the beach, and good times with puppies.” Well, okay, I MIGHT write something here about dating occasionally if I think it’s funny, informative, or otherwise blog-worthy. For the most part, though, the ISO portion of my blog is about photography.
Why these subjects, you wonder? Because I’m a writer and a photographer. A lot of what I write about will be news about what I’m up to, writing- and photography-wise. I’ll also talk about things of interest to either writers or photographers, like software I’ve tried, a good book I just read, etc. Of course, writers love to write about all sorts of things, so no doubt other subjects will sneak their way in. I’m especially likely to share funny stuff and good news from a variety of sources. Let’s face it, we’re constantly bombarded with negative news and messages from the media and other people, even ourselves. But life is not so black-and-white. You can’t have the yin without the yang. So I’ll be bringing you the yang.
There’s still more for me to cover, like who exactly I am. Also, I was going to write about my current website overhaul, PhotoShelter, and Memo Backup. However, I have to go cook some lentil coconut curry and get ready for the sweat lodge I’m going to tonight. Yes, really.
Happy Clicking,
Karen Joslin
(P.S. – Just in case you’re thinking that there should be an apostrophe between the “O” and the “s” in “ISOs,” no, there shouldn’t. It’s a plural, not a possessive. So please, everyone, stop the rampant misuse of apostrophes. The next time you’re tempted to write something like, “My CD’s totally rock,” take the apostrophe out. I’m begging you. I know it might look weird to you, but trust me on this one. Yes, even if your spelling and grammar check say it’s okay, because they can’t always distinguish correct usage. So just do it!)
© Karen Joslin, 2009
