The air is cool, the sun is shining and the roses are in bloom. Jesse and I took our dog for a walk at the Lake Harriet rose garden this weekend. Now is the prime time to visit the garden, all the roses are in bloom. It’s beautiful. Here is a sampling of the photos I took.

The car ride on the way to the park. He has his head stuck out (smelling) the whole way.

Beautiful.

Here's my dog eating a rose when I just wanted him to sit by the roses so I could take his photo.

Nice, Toby.

I love to photograph bees.

This is one of my favorite shots from the day. Back-lit grass and burst of sun.

Sometimes I think dying flowers are just as pretty. Love the papery texture of the petal.

Same thing here.

I'm not sure what kind of flower this is, but it reminds me of fireworks.

Cute.

Beetle mating season?

Here is my first person account. Jesse and I pulled up to the studio at about 2:30 pm on Sunday afternoon. Little did we know what we were about to witness. As I got out of the car, I exclaimed, “Are those two fighting over there?”

Jesse looked, and surprised he replied, “Looks like they are; that’s weird.”

I exclaimed, “What should we do?”

Jesse replied, “There isn’t anything we can do. The one in the yellow jacket looks really dangerous.”

Now the two were now rolling on the ground, I could tell the one wearing yellow was biting. The one in cream was in flight mode, he just wanted to get away. And he did—briefly—but the yellow one caught up and continued the assault. They fought and tumbled on the ground. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen. The one in the yellow jacket was winning. Although the one in cream put up a good fight, I could tell he was getting tired.

Just when I thought the one in cream was going to yell, “Uncle!” the unbelievable happened. The one in yellow started dismembering the one in cream. First biting off one wing, then another, until it had bitten off all the wings! Then the wasp bit off the moth’s head. Next it sliced clear through the middle of the body, separating the thorax from the abdomen. The wasp picked up a piece of the body and flew away with it. He returned five minutes later to retrieve the head. He even tried to carry away the wings.

I’m terrified of yellow-jackets, but I carefully took the photographs below to share this insect homicide with you. I now know the thrill and rush a National Geographic photographer feels.

This is just after the moth flew away trying to escape, but the wasp caught up and took him down.

The fight continues, the moth is getting tired. Moth is fully intact at this point.

A couple of legs and a wing have been gnawed off. You can see the fear in the moth's big, black eyes. He knows he is done for.

Decapitated.

The wasp is about to take flight with the thorax. Notice the head of the moth to the left of the wasp (triangular in shape with one antenna intact).

Soon, the wasp will return to carry off the other body parts.

Poor typography is one of my biggest pet peeves. (You already know this if you’ve read my article on hyphens, en-dashes and em-dashes). I cringe when I find punctuation misused and abused in publications. Ninety degree typewriter quotes should never be used anywhere ever again. Typewriters are—like—SO 1960. Quotation marks and apostrophes should never be used to note measurements. Shudder. Today I show the difference between: correct quotation marks (+ apostrophe), typewriter quotation marks and prime marks.

Rule number 1: Don’t mistake correct quotation marks for typewriter quotation marks.

Fonts shown here: the serif font is Adobe Garamond and the sans serif font is Interstate.

Rule number 2: Use prime marks when noting feet, inches, hours and minutes.

As you see illustrated here, prime marks are not quotation marks. Prime marks distinguish themselves with a steep angle, no curly cues and point down to the left.

The key command to make a single prime mark on the Mac is shift + option + e. To make a double prime mark press shift + option + g. The single prime mark is commonly used to note feet and hours while the double prime mark is used to note inches and minutes. Further reading about the prime marks can be found on wikipedia.

(If anyone knows the key commands to make prime marks on the PC, will you leave it in the comments? Thanks!)

My dog loves to hang out under my bed. I know it’s a normal dog thing to do, they like the feeling of being enclosed. (Like if they were hanging out in a den in the wild.) Usually I just see the Toby’s back end stick out of the bed (which always makes me chuckle). Today, when I finished styling my hair, and called for him to join me downstairs, his back end was sticking out one side of the bed and he peaked his little face out underneath the bed skirt! It was so cute and funny, that I commanded him to wait while I retreived my camera so I could take these photos to share with you. There’s nothing like a cute, cuddly pooch to put a smile on your face!

Barnes & Noble is a store I frequent. I can easily spend hours there. Not only do I love looking at all the book cover designs, but I love seeing the printing techniques publishers use to grab our attention. Foil. Embossing. Special paper. Die cuts. The size and shape of books. Illustrations. Typefaces. Colors.

After I’m finished oogling book covers (and I definitely judge them) I make my way to the magazine rack and then to the design and art section. The best part about Barnes & Noble is the freedom to browse, which sometimes means paging through a magazine cover to cover. Some people might visit Barnes & Noble just to browse (not to buy), much like one could do in a library. But I always walk away with a purchase. Today I bought How magazine and Design It Yourself by Ellen Lupton. Happy reading to me!

Today I spent my afternoon hanging out at a local Caribou Coffee shop for a summer art fair. I met some great artists—check out their work! To visit each artist’s website, click the photo. Or email the artist for more information.

Art by: Lisa Valley 20x20 digital art printed on canvas. For Sale $395 (send purchase inquiries to lisa@lisavalley.com)

Art by: Lisa Paul dog portraits www.lisapahlpaintings.com

Jewelry by: SHE Designs. Available for sale at: Whymsy, Krista Artista, Local Motion, Something Original or email shexclusive@gmail.com

Art by: Pieter J. Sibal www.pieterjsibal.blogspot.com

Art by: Kasie Gonczy email kasie_gonczy@mcad.edu

Jewelry by: SBG Designs www.sbgdesigns.com

Pottery by: Brian Johnson email brian_d_johnson3@msn.com

Jewelry by: Rolanda Taylor-Enroth www.3geminisjewelry.etsy.com

Art by: Kjirsten Hanson www.custommosaiccreation.etsy.com

Art by: Britt Howe www.coroflot.com/britthowe

Art by: Kim Jones email wildrosecottagestudio@yahoo.com

Art by: Marcy Lynn www.marcylynncollection.blogspot.com

Jewelry by: Sue Close email s-close@comcast.net

Art by: Andrew Schatz http://student.mcad.edu/~aschatz/index.php