Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Prepare the basil for freezing. Freeze the basil by starting a pesto sauce. Freeze the basil as is. Freeze the basil using a milk carton.

Answer: Clean and dry the basil:  First, remove all leaves from the stems. If you're going to try out the second freezing method, then you will probably want to leave some of the buds intact. The stems should be discarded. Rinse the leaves thoroughly, taking care not to bruise them. Finally, remove excess water from the leaves by using a salad spinner or laying them out on towels to dry. Place 1 or 2 handfuls of the basil in your food processor, then chop or purée the basil leaves with extra virgin olive oil and a bit of salt. Coating the basil pieces with oil protects them from air so they can maintain their color and flavor. Pour the purée into small air-tight containers and add some extra olive oil on top. After defrosting the purée, re-process adding your favorite pesto ingredients. This method takes a little more time, but is still an easy way to freeze basil. This method keeps whole individual leaves or plant buds intact to use as garnish.  Put prepared leaves and buds on trays in the freezer for about one to two hours. Once they are frozen, put them into airtight containers. Do not overcrowd them because they will lose their shape. After defrosting for use, you can julienne the leaves or use them whole as garnish on pasta dishes or soups. This method is the easiest of all the freezing methods.  Simply pack the leaves into a cleaned out milk carton with the top cut down. Seal the top closed. Use quart (950ml) sized cartons and then put the sealed carton inside a Ziploc baggy to make it air-tight. When you want to use the basil for cooking, cut off a slice of the carton and re-store the remainder as it was. The frozen leaves are great to use in sauces.


Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Duplicate your original image layer to get a spare copy for your silhouette. Use the Pen Tool (P) for the most exact, perfect outlines to make silhouettes from. Use the Magic Wand (W) tool to separate a simple 1-2 color background. Use the remaining selection tools to trace out simple objects. Ctrl-Click on a layer from the layers menu to automatically select it. Use "Refine Edge" to get the perfect selection.

Answer: To make a professional quality silhouette, you'll need to take a little time to effectively select the object you're silhouetting. Since some of these techniques require deleting or altering the original image, it is best to just duplicate the layer now and leave the original with it's little padlock, preventing you from ruining it. To duplicate a layer, simply right-click it in the layers panel, then select "Duplicate Layer..." The Pen tool is, in many ways, Photoshop's most powerful too, though it takes getting used to. Select it from the menu, or press P, then click to create little points around your outline. When you complete the entire selection, you'll have a "Path," or solid line around your entire image. When done, simply right-click on the path and choose "Make Selection."  If you're working with a very curvy shape, try the "Free Form Pen Tool," found by clicking and holding the Pen Tool in the toolbox. The pen tool is perfectly precise, but only if you know how to handle it. Take some time to experiment with it, especially with curves. It will trace the best shape for you, with practice. For example, say you've got a woman standing against a mostly blue sky, and you want to silhouette her. Instead of selecting her, you can select the sky behind her, removing it from the layer. Simply use the Magic Wand to select the background, the delete it away to leave just the silhouetted object. Change the tolerance at the top bar to make the Wand more or less precise. A higher number (75-100) selected a wider range of colors while a low tolerance (like 1-10) will only select very similarly colored pixels. The most intuitive tools for creating selections, these generally require a steady hand and some patience, though they are easy to use. For all of them, simply click and drag around the object with your tool to create a selection. You can add more to a selection by holding Ctrl/Cmd when you click, or subtract from a selection by holding Alt/Opt.   Quick Selection: Looks like a paintbrush with a circular dotted line around the brush. This object selects everything roughly the same color or clarity, following the edges of shapes.  Lasso Tools: You have a lot of options here, each of which requires you click the mouse, then manually trace out the object. Clicking again creates an anchor point while completing the circle or shape ends the section.  Shaped Selections: Looks like a dotted square, but you can click and hold it for more shapes. This simply allows you to easy create geometric shaped selection. When used with Ctrl/Cmd or Alt/Opt, a good way to add or subtract little bits from the selection to refine it. If you have an isolated object you want to silhouette, and it's already in its own dedicated layer, Photoshop will trace it for you. Simple hold the Ctrl or ⌘ Cmd key and click the little picture of the layer -- your selection edge will appear automatically. This menu is a powerful tool to make subtle changes to your selection. Open it up through "Selection" → "Refine Edge." From there, you have a variety of options:   Radius: Allows you to shrink the edge of the selection.  Smooth: Rounds and smooths out points and corners.  Feather: Blurs the edges of everything.  Contrast: Makes the selection more pointed and sharp -- the inverse of "smoothing."  Shift Edge: Grows or shrinks the selection by percentage.


Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Try to calm your nerves so you can engage people. Put your phone away when you get to the party. Make eye contact Tell jokes Ask people questions about themselves. Move around the party to talk to more people. Try not to drink too much.

Answer:
In order for you to be fun at a party, you need to be having fun at a party. If you’re a nervous wreck, you won’t want to talk to other people or participate in any of the activities of the party. Take a moment to calm your nerves before you start to interact with people at the party.  Take some deep breaths if you start to feel anxious.  Focus your thoughts on the present and the positive aspects of being at a fun party. Consider getting a drink to loosen up. You need to keep your phone on you in case someone is trying to contact you, but you don’t want to be glued to it and miss out on the party. People will also think that you’re disinterested and aren’t any fun. When you arrive, put your phone in your pocket or purse so you can have fun at the party.  Turn your ringer on loud so you can hear your phone. Set your phone to vibrate if you don’t want your ringer to go off during the party and embarrass you. when you talk to people. Give people your full attention when they’re talking to you so they know you’re listening to them. If you’re constantly looking around the party while someone is answering you, then they’ll think that you’re rude and you don’t care about what they have to say. People will think that you’re more fun if they feel like you like them and value their opinions. to loosen people up. Jokes are an easy way to break the ice and get people comfortable around you. People will have more fun if they’re relaxed and loose. Don’t be afraid to make jokes at your own expense, either. It shows people that you’re silly and fun.  Try making cheesy impressions of people at the party, but don’t tease people too much or hurt their feelings. Tell the corniest joke or most awful pun that you know. People love to talk about themselves, so an easy way to get them talking to and having fun with you is to simply let them do it. Whether you’re on the dance floor, next to the chips and dip, or even away from the music, asking someone at the party about their life and what they like to do for fun is a surefire way to make yourself fun.  You can start with basic questions like, “So, what do you do for a living?” That will usually get the ball rolling and allows you to ask follow-up questions. If a song is playing, ask them if they know the song or like the music. Even if they don’t like it, it gets a conversation started. Try asking something personal and specific like, “What is your biggest fear?” People may get a kick out an engaging question as opposed to the small talk that often occurs at parties. Visit all of the different spaces of the party and talk to the different people and groups of people. If you stand in one spot or section of the party, you’ll limit the people you meet and the fun that you have.  People will remember you if you work your way around the party to have fun with them. Ignore the impulse to stay in one spot with familiar people and get out of your comfort zone to have a little fun! It’s a party, you should have fun, but be sure to drink in moderation. Alcohol is a great way to loosen people up and have fun, but nobody likes a sloppy drunk person at a party. Be sure to drink plenty of water in addition to any alcohol that you consume.