PrettyTiny Film Company Pic-A-Week *2024*! (#37, Sept. 14)

[davidd]

Yeah, I'm seriously considering stopping after today, myself.

I wish I had some of Alice's "Drink Me" potion and could shrink myself down to nothingness. I'm sure things are more interesting and logical at the sub-atomic level.

Is the Dolly Market forum looking all janky for you? When I try to go to the site I get a message about an eired safety certificate. The address in the browser header bar has a big red NOT SECURE notification. Then the home page is just text. After clicking on the text links on the messed-up home page, the rest of the site looks okay... at the moment.

[Alliecat]

I meant, I don’t think I can “do” another half a year as in, doing Life, the way things are right here at the moment, not just photos.  … Photos, I could do.

Yes, I saw the security certificate too. It was on my laptop; I can’t remember if it was on my phone. It looks OK on the phone right now. I didn’t see the messed up homepage. I just had to go through several warnings about how unsafe it would be to proceed. I suppose if it keeps up “someone“ will have to message Christopher, AGAIN.

[davidd]

I meant, I don’t think I can “do” another half a year as in, doing Life, the way things are right here at the moment, not just photos.  … Photos, I could do.

Yes, I saw the security certificate too. It was on my laptop; I can’t remember if it was on my phone. It looks OK on the phone right now. I didn’t see the messed up homepage. I just had to go through several warnings about how unsafe it would be to proceed. I suppose if it keeps up “someone“ will have to message Christopher, AGAIN.

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The page distortion is getting worse. I'll send Christopher a message here in a moment.

The silly Doll-a-Day thing contributed to my getting through the damned COVID baloney. As you say, "Photos, I could do." Okay, so keep doing that, and figure out the other stuff as you go.

[EDIT] - message sent to Christopher

[Alliecat]

Wellll.... I SHOT the photo earlier in the week.... HOW is it pushing midnight on Saturday night again before I manage to POST it?
I cannot BELIEVE another week is gone.
Auwe!!!

Anyway, here's Aloalo with the zinnias I got for one of my planter boxes. I don't know why I wasn't that enthused about zinnias, as there wasn't much selection at the garden shop; but these are really nice.

[davidd]

Those look like fantastically wonderful flowers, and the shapes of the petals nicely correspond to the style of Alo's flower leis.

This is a wonderful example of a "doll with flowers" photo, with the matching textures as mentioned, and the green in her dress mirroring the various green shads and textures in the leaves.

I agree, the past week seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye. Here in the States there was a holiday, and holidays always mess with my perception of time. Even though the holiday was on Thursday, it's one of those that become an extremely long holiday weekend (for the lucky few whose employers offer them the option) that lasts from Thursday through the following Monday. Reality might start kicking in again by Tuesday... by which time next week will be nearly half over.

[Alliecat]

Thanks for the nice comments   
...and unlike Alo's famous magic Hawaiian garden shoot, we managed not to lose any of her kupe'e

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Well WOW, I managed to take photos early in the week!  AND post them!!! 
Some days I can almost see how things used to be around here... It doesn't last though.  Everywhere I look in this house there are things that need to be done, but sometimes you just need a mental health break.  It was nice to focus on pictures again.  And Sofia has the most fiddly and easily-lose-able accessories, so taking her out requires a lot of mindfulness.
More pix on her thread.

[davidd]

I love this series of pics! I think this one is my favorite, although the one where she's standing in what looks like a secret crevice in the rocks looks good, too.

That's such a cool figure! I really should have got one!

The "man hands" do not look nearly as over-large or manly in these pictures. I think maybe the "man hands effect" is a result of "fashion dolls" having undersized hands (especially relative to their heads), and of working at miniature scale, so the visual appearance of "foreshortening" is exaggerated.

Anyway, she's a really nice figure, well posed here in an appropriate setting!

You really DO live in a nice place, and I'm glad you had "moments" this week that were "less bad."

[Alliecat]

Thank you
I was careful to hide her wrist joints wherever possible because they seemed to make her hands look a little bigger.

...

Well, back to tail-end-of-the-week posting, >sigh< 
Again, I SHOT it earlier... but didn't get it posted cos the week took an unusual turn with a surprise house-sit.  With 2 days' notice Handyman Guy's wife asked if I'd mind their cat & dog for 3 days.  And since they're not Trusted Housesitters members I'm getting paid for this one
So I get to be out of my crummy anxiety-inducing neighbourhood but I'm only 3 km up the road    So I can run home and water the garden etc.  It is not quiet here either; the traffic on the main road is a constant roar all day.  It starts around 6 a.m. for the ferry.  And yes, loads of dump trucks too, from a harbour dredging project.  Auwe.
First sit with a dog, and she is very well-behaved and went jogging with me twice.  Plus a pretty kitty who is an enormous FLOOF.

Anyway, I spotted this bee from the doorway and was able to grab Roxann and get a few pix before it left.  None are super sharp but not bad for hand-held with a moving target 

[davidd]

Ooh, a giant GIGANTIC bumblebee among the snapdragons! Neat!

My grandparents grew snapdragons when I was a wee lad. I liked watching the bees crawl in and out of the "dragon mouths."

Nice that you managed a "mini getaway" for a day or three!

[Alliecat]

I get a kick out of the bees climbing in too.  And these smell soooooo nice!  Especially the dark red ones.  If you could distill and bottle that scent to drink it would be the sweetest bliss-inducing nectar.

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Straggling in at the end of the week again.  As long as I'm still awake, it's still "this week".  There's some kind of horrendous time warp going on or something... that these weeks are flying by so fast and I am not making any meaningful progress toward something better.  Sigh.
But -- I took dolly photos!!  Because priorities, right???!!
Introducing Yuki, who joined the crew this week.  She brightened up another "ugh" of a week and gave me a mental-health afternoon out.  She and Samantha will have an extra sisterly bond as both were PUDDLE photo contest prizes 

[davidd]

Oh, wow! Congratulations on a new arrival... and the price was right!

And yuuuge congrats on another worthy contest win!

Is that the outfit she came in? Kind of an Asian warrior pirate mod rocker all rolled in to one!

Looks like a really nice beach! Is that within walking distance of the Alliecat Estate?

Yeah, I totally get'cha about the "not making any meaningful progress" while the weeks fly by.

[Alliecat]

Thank you!
Yes, that's her stock outfit. She's a samurai. It's from the same anime thing as Daesani, "Sengoku Basara". Which I have never seen and know nothing about. I wonder what the real Date Masamune would have said about the anime, let alone a doll, a GIRL doll, named for him He had a seafaring connection so that was cool to learn about. I have to look up Sanada Yukimura sometime. I guess I'll have to get Daesani's stock outfit out and spend forEVER getting her into it so they can have some pix together before I find out what other outfits might suit Yuki.
No, the beach isn't walking distance. About 10-15 minutes' drive.

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Well, I made it before Saturday this week. July 29 & 30 are the anniversaries of Daesani & Petra's arrivals. TEN YEARS!! I had given up on Petra on eBay when I lost out on her auction (which was going around a 2nd time) and in the meantime I found Dae also on eBay. I got her shipped to Maine for cheaper shipping and some visiting friends brought her, and then in the meantime Petra went around a 3rd time (only time I like non-paying bidders!) and I got her, and she arrived in the mailbox the next day. So I always think they are great pals as the first 2 full-size Pullips in the crew.
These aren't great because the light was going but I was determined to shoot the pic on one of the 2 days.

[davidd]

Maybe I like the look of these pix because of the fading light. I do most of my photos in low light so it is a look to which I have become accustomed.. The colours end up really saturated, although there's often a lot of digital noise. Ah well, it adds a sense of "gritty realism" to the sweet scenes!

I love the Hawaiian outfits, particularly the postcard/postmark one! So fun! The blue one looks like something people in Hawaii would actually wear.

I'm impressed that you remember when your dolly friends arrived, both the year and the exact date!

The daisy pic is sweet. It's nice that the girls are still friends after all this time.

[Alliecat]

Thank you! 
I wish I had kept track of the dates for all of them. I can make a rough guess based on when the first photos were taken, but it would be fun to have anniversary dates for all. I didn’t start because I didn’t ex-pect to have so many! 

……

Squeakin in at midnight on Saturday night again – sheesh. I don’t know where the days are going. Wait, yes I do. Half the day sleeping and half dragging along in overwhelm.
All the full-size crew are packed in a tote tub until the realtor gets a living-room photo on Monday. She said they “draw the eye”. 
So anyway here’s Marika filling in and I really should take more photos of her. Having all the little pieces fall off is a bit of a deterrent, but she is better than the fake Nendoroids who fall apart if you look at them.
Dad made the frame and I took the photo on a night at anchor on the ’HMS’ Rose back in 1999.

Marika & Rose pic small by Alliecat09, on Flickr

[davidd]

Your dad made the frame? He was quite skilled and talented, and had an excellent eye for wood grain and stains! I love the grain in the circular section!

The foto looks superb, and is a perfect subject for framing in this way.

As you have probably noticed by my comment on Flickr, I'm captivated by your little Nendoroid pirate.

Wait... what's this you say? The crew is packing up, and a realtor will be taking photos? Are you actually getting serious about listing your house? Serious, as in, you're going ahead with it? No wonder you're feeling like you're in constant Overwhelm Mode.