March 2011

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Succulence!

March 27, 2011 by osteoderm | No comments

Home Depot had a sale on 2″ potted succulents over the weekend, and I just couldn’t resist. Normally I try to be more thoughtful and deliberate with my plant purchases, but this time I went a little overboard. But hey, at least I managed to avoid buying any of the crazy beautiful blue Phals they had on sale too, right?

I’ve made two great little planters of my purchases. I had planned on one, but it ultimately seemed more prudent to separate the Lithops into their own pot. I looked around for some funky shallow pots or pans to hold the plants, but ended up going for plain and reliable in the form of a pair of terracotta “bulb pots”. The 8″ pot holds:

  • 2 non-specific Lithops
  • 2 Split Rock Pleiospilos nelii
  • 1 Baby Toes Fenestraria aurantiaca
  • 1 Tiger Jaws Faucaria tigrina

Of this planting, the Tiger Jaws seems the odd one out, but everything about its native habitat and root structure make me feel it belongs here.

 

 

The 10″ pot holds:

  • 1 Sedum rubrotinctum
  • 1 Sedum rubrotinctum v. Aurora
  • 1 Sedum nussbaumeranium
  • 1 Cremnosedum v. Little Gem
  • 1 Anacampseros lubbersii
  • 1 Anacampseros rufescens
  • 1 Anacampseros telephiastrum variegata
  • 1 Echeveria v. Dondo
  • 1 Pachyveria v. Royal Flush
  • 1 Rainbow Elephant Bush Portulacaria afra v. Variegata
  • 1 Jade Plant Crassula argentea
  • 1 Haworthia mirabilis mundula

Of the second pot, the Haworthia is the odd one; it has the thick “windowpane” leaves of a Lithops, but a hardier root structure and evident flower spike. I potted up with a 50/50 (by volume) mix of generic “Cactus & Palm” potting soil and Perlite. While I appreciate that summer is a dormant time for many of these species, I’m really going to enjoy watching them fill out their post, moving them around to keep them in the sun and out of the rain!

i have your content right here

March 23, 2011 by osteoderm | 1 comment

My expanding foray into web-development is starting to make my head hurt. On tomorrow morning’s schedule is a meeting to “reassess and discuss”… good grief! Even before the shit has properly hit the fan, I can tell this project has all the momentum of a turd headed straight down the toilet. I really should have taken better note of those warning sings! Namely:

  • When a client sends over a poorly-prepared, incongruent, and disorganized folder of material, accompanied with an email stating that the product model names/numbers “are probably going to change… we can call them anything.” Um, am I laying-out a website, or completely re-branding your company?
  • The client says, “Do whatever you want with the material; I don’t care.” Yes, your level of care and concern is obvious.
  • The client requests a non-disclosure agreement; okay, no problem… but can you send me one that doesn’t still have “Fill In Blank Here” still appended all over it?
  • The client shows me several $20k+ websites he’d like to emulate, then provides me with a handful of embedded 400px images with which to build an immersive landing page. Are you kidding me?

The greatest facepalm aspect of the whole deal is this: the client is a decent guy, a partner of a great source of referrals, and insisted on paying up-front (which I clumsily failed to refuse). Now, I feel like I owe this poor guy something… like a chef who has been pre-paid to create some grand feast from customer-supplied ingredients, only to find the kitchen stocked with nothing but crusty mayonnaise and freezer-burnt fish-sticks, while hungry guests mutter and fidget with their silverware in the dining-room through the door.

Meanwhile… I have these other dream clients, who come to me with clear vision, organized quality content, and great enthusiasm for close collaboration. Like Julia Child inviting you over to whip up some Coq au Vin with friends.