Olympic Colour and High Definition Life

Does anyone else think that these are the MOST colourful Olympics ever? Amazing colour, and amazing colour combinations. From the venues to the computer graphics - that big serpenty gold dragon graphic that CBC is using is AWESOME - I want to take him home! And the costumes. From the opening ceremonies (ok, hands up those who hadn't figured out the kid was lip-syncing from watching it - get HD - you won't miss that sort of thing again) when the team in those "Ack!" uniforms rolled in - near the beginning - big green suits that looked like they had grown some kind of green moss - (we just looked at each other and said - "Well - they won't be wearing those to any other event in the real world after!") - to the gymnasts in their extraordinary colours, and sparklies - notice the rhinestones! And even embroidery, on the Chinese gymnasts' costumes - guess that makes a statement about something - cheap labour, I suspect. Is it me, or are rhinestones new to the Olympic costumes. Maybe it's just the HD.

Actually - the TV we have is not quite HD - it is ED - which is still much higher resolution than regular TV- which is dreadful. But still - seeing stuff in better detail has changed the way I watch television. I will occasionally even watch a sport! - as I can see what is going on. Regular TV is like watching life with those drops the optometrist puts in your eyes - utterly frustrating.

Ok - here's where I have to make this all relevant to beads somehow. Well - we do have the glorious colours and the inspiration they might be. But it occurs to me that if you find beading to not be as pleasant as it might be, you might want to try magnification. I can't work any more without the jeweler's magnifiers (Optivisor) that I have that sit on my head, swing down, and make everything larger than life. I can thread a needle, close a crimp, do a headpin wrap, and I can see! Ok, I can see flaws too, imperfect wraps and minor defects in beads, but you can get over that - either get pickier, or look at it without the magnifiers.

So, if you are hunting for the holes in your beads, can't see where to open the jumprings, can't get the needle threaded, and have to use your fingers to figure out if the wrap is tight, then you might want to try using magnification. If you world looks like the first pic, instead of the second . . . yep, the first one's not bad, I'll grant you that. The second is much sharper! And larger.

The optivisor is one option. There are others, including lights with magnifiers. The method of focusing is different too - you have to move your hands or the item you are focusing on up into position. Don't move your head or the lens, move the object.

And don't worry about wimping out - even if you are young and aren't experiencing the inevitable aging eyes - there's a lot to be said for being able to really see what you are doing. There's a whole, new, fascinating world out there, just waiting for you to come and explore it in it's tiny detail!