My children think I’m a geek.  When compared to my friends and peers of the female persuasion, I have to admit that yes, indeedy, I am rather geekish.  So, what’s a body to do when she comes across a site that converts pictures into ASCII code? Why, give it a whirl, of course!

Take a look.  What do you think?  I think the ASCII code pictures are rather charming, if I do say so myself!

Isn’t this totally cool? It’s amazing how you can recognize the picture even though it is programming code instead of picture pixels.

(This is so radical I think that the next time I wake up at 2:00 a.m. and can’t go back to sleep, I’ll ponder how this all works. I might even wake up Grandpa to have an in-depth conversation about it. What do you say about that, Grandpa?  Huh?  What’s that?  You know, if you’d stop grumbling in your beard, I’d be able to understand you better . . .)

You don’t have to be a tech whizzard to do this.  You don’t need to be moderately geeky.  (Is there any such thing as moderately geeky, I ask you?)  If you are reading this, you have ample technology skill to create some ASCII pictures yourself.  (See, a website does all of the work for you.)

Photo2Text.com is where you go to create these types of pictures.  You simple browse to the picture you want to upload and click submit. You’ll need to enter in a nickname.  (You’ll see why in a moment.)

Then, you have the option of downloading a text file that can be opened in TextEdit on a Mac or Notepad on a Windows machine.  You’ll also have the URL that you can share with others to see what you have created.  (The URL has your personal nickname that you selected — so that people will see YOUR picture and not somebody else’s.)

Here are a couple of ways how you can use this idea with your grandchildren:

• Invite your grandchild over.  Take some simple pictures of the two of you to submit.  Print out the picture from TextEdit or Notepade.
• Have your grandchild bring a couple of digital pictures (of their family, friends, their pet) to turn into ASCII code.  Print up and give to friends or family members.
• Make a photo album of several ASCII pictures.
• Do a ‘through the years’ photo album of your grandchild using their school pictures turned into ASCII pictures.
• Get a mat board that has cut-outs for two pictures and frame a copy of the original photo and the ASCII code.  Or, do a collage of your grandchild using original pictures of family members or  cousins or friends and the ASCII photos.
• YOU create the ASCII picture and then e-mail or snail mail it to your grandchild.
• If your grandchildren live far away, e-mail them the URL.  Then, have them e-mail you a copy of the pictures that they create.
• Turn pictures of you and grandpa into ASCII code and snail mail them to your grandchildren.  Whether or not they live close by or far away, getting a letter in the mail with one of these pictures would be great fun for your grandchildren.

A while back, I received an e-mail from another grandma who suggested that I put my picture on my site.  That was a great suggestion!  So, here’s a picture of me holding sweet Kaylissa on the day that she was born.  Don’t we look lovely?