FAQ Friday, the Mythbusters edition

Welcome to this week's edition of FAQ Friday, where I will answer your questions about burro behavior, the 2011 calendar, and the tattoo experience. Most importantly, I will attempt to dispel any and all myths about my housekeeping.

When I showed you these pictures of sweet Rosebud, many of you, upon seeing her reflection in the dresser, assumed I lived in a dustfree environment and kept a spotless house. HA! You want to know why there isn't any dust on the dresser? Here is why:Post-processing: 1. Cropped; 2. Added an adjustment layer and bumped up the exposure on the cats and dresser by .87; 3. Adjusted the color outside the window to be a little warmer; 4. Used PW's Define and Sharpen action at 25%; 4. Used MCP's Touch of Darkness action to darken the top edge and top corners.

My three little dustmops, when they're not leaving a trail of cat hair all over the house, love to sleep on the dresser because of the gentle cross-breeze that flows through the open window. They take the dust with them when they go. Please believe me when I tell you my house is otherwise one giant dust bunny rolling across the floor, except for the 5 minutes immediately following a vigorous vacuuming.

The burrito brothers' behavior continues to amaze.

From Brenda:
Q. I wonder if this is the nature of burros or are they so docile because of the time you invest in them? Do you ever see bad sides, grouchy moods (in them, I mean)?
A. I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that burros and donkeys are, by nature, some of the most gentle and docile creatures to walk the face of the earth. Bad sides? George and Alan don't have them. These two may be more friendly than some other burros by virtue of the time I spend with them, but I believe all burros and donkeys are sweet and peaceful by nature. If they exhibit behavior to the contrary, it's because some human messed them up along the way.

From Pat:
Q. Does one think the other has found a hidden treasure so he wants some of the action too?
A. George and Alan were looking for tasty roots in this set of pictures. When one would find some, the other would come over to investigate. Two heads are better than one when it comes to finding snacks in the desert.

From Breathe:
Q. Will you be doing a calendar again? I'd like to reserve mine now.
A. I'm thinking I may not have a choice? The first year I published a calendar, I used Café Press. It was easy because they did all the order taking and fulfillment, but the calendar was expensive. Last year, I had a bunch printed and processed the orders myself. It was a p.i.t.a., but the calendars were cheap. So this year, I've got to come up with a Plan C. I'll try not to disappoint.

Now about that tattoo...

From Carolynn:
Q. Seriously? It didn't hurt? On your ankle?
A. It did not hurt, really! Apparently I have enough padding on the inside of my ankle to absorb whatever discomfort that tattoo machine could dish out.

From Lilla:
Q. Did you partake of one of your scrumptious margaritas before the appointment???
A. Before, no. After... there might have been a few adult beverages involved. It was a festive occasion!

From Gaina:
Q. Just out of interest why were you advised against the white ink?
A. Mainly because it may not have shown up very well on my skin color. I also read that the tattoo artist would have to free-hand it instead of using a stencil because the stencil ink would have mixed with the white ink, resulting in a pink tattoo.

From deejbrown
Q. Why did you choose inside left ankle as your site?
A. This tattoo was for me, so I wanted it to be in a place where I could see it, yet not be so public that I'd have to explain it to strangers every time I went to Walmart.

My inner geek came out this week once I discovered the mouseover trick to display before-and-after pictures...

From Maura:
Q. Like that before and after trick.... Where did you learn it?
A. Shadowhouse Creations posted this tutorial. It seems complicated if you're not used to looking at html code, but it boils down to a copy and paste. Try it!