AMANDA'S BASKETS: WHAT IS GIMP AND OTHER PRESSING (?) QUESTIONS

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

WHAT IS GIMP AND OTHER PRESSING (?) QUESTIONS

The first of the storms rolled through here about two hours ago...lots of rain, thunder and lightening. The temperature did cool down but the humidity went way up - so the ac is on. At least the humidifier part. I opened the window in the kitchen while I was making something to eat. It was definitely cooler, but I felt like I was taking a shower in the kitchen the humidity was so high!!!

So, a couple questions have popped up. First of all, what is GIMP? I have talked about it before but in case you missed it, GIMP is the free, online, photoshop-type software. I am all for free software that is good.

Case in point, I use only OpenOffice as my word processing software. It does everything from spreadsheets, presentations, drawing, database, formula, templates and, of course, text editing. And it's free and works on my mac!!!

Well, GIMP is the same type of deal except it is like photoshop. I can do the basic photo editing but it has far more editing gizmos that, say iPhoto has in its basic software. Also, GIMP does layers - lots of them. I am not as proficient at that part, thus, I want to spend time learning.

And now you are wondering about juggling, right? Well, I found out about some tests that were done on folks my age (think 70) to see what, if anything improved memory. Both the tests were done with small populations but both did give some measurable evidence as to the benefits for the test participants.

First, mental activity. Participants were given things to do in a mental capacity such as crossword puzzles, word searches, reading and learning a new activity...in this case photoshop. The brain images indicated that the person learning photoshop did in fact increase brain activity including new pathways more than any of the other participants. (There's more too it than I am explaining but you get the idea.) And although the sample was small, I figured that it certainly couldn't hurt. And the bonus was that I would become proficient at using GIMP.

As to juggling, another test, again not a large sample, was done with physical activities. The question was basically what would happen if one learned a new physical trait such as juggling or writing with the non-dominant hand. Participants were to practice the activity for at least ten minutes every day for several weeks.

The outcome was that the brain decided that if the practice was going to continue, then it must make a 'muscle memory' for the activity which, again, increased the pathways in the brain. Count me in on this one also. I'm so bad at it that I am using bean bags so I don't have to go so far to retrieve the dropped ones...the balls kept rolling all over the place!!!

I am still enjoying my zentangling. Here are my latest two...

My whole thing with zentangles is that it takes me a long time. I can't knock one out in, say, an hour or two. Think more like three or four, even more if complicated. But I do enjoy making them, especially when I am listening to a game. Guess that sort of knocks out the meditative part, huh?

I managed to get the clothes situation organized...two folks in the apartment and one closet. But, it is a big walk-in one so it's all good.

Tomorrow, I am tackling fall decorations. The only downside is that I will have to pull out most of what is in the big hall closet to find the fall decoration boxes. But have no fear, those I will find because, as I have said before, fall is my favorite time of year.

Thanks for checking things out here...
Have a great day tomorrow...
Talk to you tomorrow evening...

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

MAGAZINE IDEAS

(New) One article in the Farmer's Almanac 2024 is a list of trends. One I knew about is the trend to downsize in just about every area. Another trend that I was surprised about was called ''The Human Library' which offers people on loan to talk about specific subjects. Finally, more folks are adding pets to their family and as a result, stores are adding more pet food, toys and medication to their offerings. There's also a nice garden article which suggests mixing vegetables and flowers together for success.

RECIPE IDEAS

Have you every made Cherry Dump Cake. It calls for 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling (21 ounces), a white cake mix, 1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted & 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans. In a 9 by 13 pan, spread both cans of cherry pie filling. Add the melted butter to the cake mix and break apart the resulting mixture and crumble it evenly over the pie filling. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Fast, easy and very delicious.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What if you want to establish better habits, then decide what habit you want to work on. Again, try an easier one first for that good feeling of success. Let's consider more exercise. Start small. Don't try to run a marathon right away. Set the amount of time, the type of exercise and when to do it to begin making sure that it is within your reach. If it works for you each week add a bit more. Walking is one of the best ways to get good overall movement but there are many exercise videos on YouTube of varying lengths and difficulty to check out. Change your exercise routines to eliminate getting bored. For hardcore exercise with weights, give yourself a day in-between to recover. Even on days you would rather not exercise, do it and see if you feel better. It takes an average of 66 days to establish a habit. Just think 66 days to establish a good habit for a lifetime. Sounds like a good thing to me...how about you?