Directly across the street from us lived a couple who were almost the same age as my grandparents with kids ranging from their mid twenties down to a boy a year or so older than me. Eric was more socially awkward than Paul and he had a more than a little of that Lord of the Flies thing going for him. He would gather up a small group of followers and pick on the youngest or weakest in the group. I was usually not a part of this group – boys only. But I did have to deal with Eric on one occasion.
My youngest brother Ronnie (he told me in his 20’s he preferred “Ron” – I have been ignoring his wishes for over 20 years and last Christmas he capitulated and admitted he doesn’t mind the moniker) was the object of Eric’s derisions. Ron was about 7 and…
Around 1970 Pops started hanging out with a lodge buddy named Jim. While they were at lodge meetings on Friday nights the rest of our families hung out together. Soon we started spending weekends together. Jim’s oldest was named Ben. He was about my age and had been taking riding lessons. He had the loan of an experienced gymkhana pony and was competing in 4-H.
One Saturday we all went out to spend the day at the stables where Ben trained. Like any nine-year-old girl I was crazy about horses. I spent the whole day petting ponies and watching Ben practice barrel racing and pole bending on Sunshine, the 15-year-old welsh pony he was training on. As the day turned into evening, the owners of the stables hosted a neighborhood BBQ. Since ribeyes and Bud was on the menu, Pops was happy to stay and mingle with the neighbors. As…
Our house was a spec house – it was built by a builder hoping to sell it and to use it as a model to sell other houses. It had some nice custom features – mahogany cabinets, copper hardware, open modern floor plan. It was built in 1961 and had the clean lines of the tail end of the mid-century modern look. When we moved in it had light grey wool carpets with very fine colored pinstripes that emphasized the openness of the rooms. By the time my baby brother came along I remember mom looking for new carpet that was closer to the color of beer or iced tea.
Mom had been intrigued by the mediterranean style furniture was all the rage in the 60s. We rarely purchased new furniture. My grandparents had an upholstery shop and it was very common for someone to bring a piece into the…
The community I live in has festivals most weekends from April through October. It’s a way of drawing tourists to out tiny Victorian village. I usually stay far away unless the festival is about art or antique cars – or unless there is a parade, then I’m there:)
A few weeks ago it was the Jazz Festival. I had just returned home from a business trip and was thinking about what I could photograph on the weekend when I contacted my pal Judy. She asked if I was interested in going to a jazz concert at the Auditorium. I don’t know much about jazz beyond music appreciation classes in school and what I have seen on Treme, but it sounded like a good time to hang out so I decided to go. To tell the truth I thought about backing out all day, but I knew Judy really wanted to go.
The artist was Delfeayo Marsalis, I recognized the last name from his brother who used to be on the Tonight Show. I decided to take just my camera body and my portrait lens, I wanted something fast so I would not need to flash. I was glad to see that we were in the front row to the left – perfect spot to shoot or get close to the stage.
I took a few shots and was intrigued by the color – the lights were casting purple and yellow hues on the musicians and their instruments. I loved the colors and how they seemed to express the coolness and crispness of the sounds of the trombone.
About midway through the concert I decided to try the grainy film filter on my camera – just experimenting. There want a lot of light so I focused on trying to bring out just a bit of the mid tones. What I ended up with was something with a feeling of chiaroscuro. Highs and lows – a lot like the music.
What I discovered is that I like jazz, I liked it enough to put the camera down and just take it in. I even recognized Brer Rabbit on an episode of Treme.
I work at a large T-shirt manufacturing company. We screen print our own line of tees that are sold all over the world. While I spend my days working with the design team in what we affectionately call the “art cave” the action happens out in the shop. I have always been inspired by the colors of the ink and the industrial finishes of the machinery. One day while the print team was at lunch, I took a walk through the shop with my camera looking for color.
Orange smear
Ink on aluminum
Lights on for safety
Glitter Heart Screen
Aluminum Frame
Mesh Counts
Splatter
Adjustments
Press Station
Clean up
Ink Mixers
Color Choices
I have a practice of trying to shoot at least a little every single day. Some days there are no birds or deer or flowers in my path. Sometimes I have to find beauty where I am. I shot these on a grey winter day.
What inspires you when the flowers are all hidden away?
This blog is just amazing, it’s built from the memoir of photojournalist Gene Barnes who worked for NBC in the 50s and 60s. This post shows an amazing set of towers but also gives a sense of Gene’s working method.
Rodia darted over and stood threateningly in front of me, shaking his finger, speaking excitedly in broken English. “You, you think you poody. You no poody. You think you poody, but you’re not. Sure, you poody on the outside. Inside you stink like hell!”
We wanted Sam to cooperate while we shot a story on his towers. Sam wasn’t buying it. We tried to cajole Sam into climbing up just a few feet and act like he was working on the tower. Sam steadfastly refused, ranting “No. No. No.” Then he’d storm off to a shed which served as his living quarters.
After a while he would emerge and ignore us. He was beset by his own tribe of devils — he was nuts. We’d try again and Sam would become enraged and storm back into the shed…
I’ll admit it, I’m an early adopter. I was one of those fools in line when the first iPhone was released. I didn’t camp out all night but I was right there with the campers mid-morning. I got my first iPhone the day before a road trip for work. To the amazement of anyone I could get to pay attention to me, I was able to set up my email on the interstate between Memphis and Birmingham. I checked on the movies playing near our hotel, I was the official weatherman. I had the whole freaking Internet in the palm of my hand. My life would never be the same.
For the next couple of years I was the official information friend. What’s the number of the local restaurant? How late is the library open? What movies are playing this week? What is the Kelley Blue Book value in that used Jeep we saw? I could answer any questions with a few seconds of thumb typing.
Now all my friends have iPhones. We all have access to every bit of info out there instantly. They may all be on board, but I’m convinced I’m still the most excited about updates and new features – a bonifide geek.
So what’s new that I’m already enjoying while you are debating taking the time to download?
Siri is now your bitch – ask her to open apps, find a restaurant, update your Facebook status. Hopefully she has finally figured out the meaning of life.
Speaking of Facebook – it’s everywhere, integrated into lots of apps. Upload from your photo album without opening the FB app. Now you can connect without even bothering to connect.
Turn-by-turn directions with traffic – of course I live in a village of 2200 people, traffic is not much of an issue.
Of course their are lots of cool nuanced changes to Safari, FaceTime, Mail, and every other native app. These are all nice and helpful.
My favorite new feature is in the camera though. Now I am not one to ditch my “real” camera for a smartphone, but the upgrade now features a panorama – now I can take you on a wide-angle, fish-eyed tour of the Stone House and the Bird Feeder Buffet!
This is what I get to see everyday at the end of my driveway…
Note – when taking panorama shots with happy dogs you may find the same dog pictured several times. It took 3 tries to get the center terrier to be in the shot only once. Also, my Jeep is actually facing the house, but in the land of panorama it’s rotated 90 degrees.
This is my hallway. My walls are all inch thick beadboard and the logs in the center are actually slabs I installed like tiles to repair a 4’x8′ opening the previous owner cut in the bedroom wall. All these trees died in my yard. Cutting the slabs and gluing them in place took an entire winter. I can be a bit OCD at times.
This is my wrap-around porch. I’m standing in the corner. This is why I bought this house. I can eat supper out here 6 months of the year. I have ceiling fans and a fire pit so I’m covered no matter the weather. All those trees out there are mine. I can see Missouri from my porch.
This is the Bird Buffet – this is a patio that I had built a few years ago. It’s off an old sleeping porch that I now use as a mudroom and photographer hiding spot.
Sure it’s just a novelty and these are not shots that I would offer as my best stuff, but it is pretty darn cool! iOS 6 has been available for less that 8 hours and I’m already posting about it from my updated iPad using photos taken from my updated iPhone. Technology is amazing. Life is good.
A photo I took last night of the Blue Moon – Issac almost denied me a chance to see it
Last night the blue moon waxed nostalgic for me. I have seen the flags at half staff all week and have thought a lot about a night long ago at my Grandma’s house.
My Grandparents at Lake Mead – circa 1969
On July 20th 1969 my Pop and Grandpa were away doing assay work on their mining claim up in northern Nevada. Grandma, who lived a couple of doors down the street came into our house about dinner time and asked my mom why the TV wasn’t on. When Pop was away my Mom loved to turn off the TV, turn on the stereo and get lost in a book. She was enjoying the peace and quiet, reading on the couch.
Grandma offered to take us all off her hands for the night and walked us down the street and sat us on the floor in front of the TV. No admonitions about sitting too close to the TV on this night. She sat my brothers and I down a couple of feet from the screen.
This is a book about the moon landing put out by CBS – I love the crater filled cover.
She sat on the floor with us as we watched in wonder as two men stepped onto the surface of the moon. My brothers seemed to be fading, falling asleep. She whispered into my ear that this was something I would remember for the rest of my life. I told her that I wanted to be an astronaut, but they were all boys. She told me that I could be anything I wanted to be.
Time Magazine Cover – July 25th 1969
Before I fell asleep that night she carried me out to the back yard where we looked up at the moon together and told Neil and Buzz goodnight.
I think I can see Tranquility Base
Safe journey Neil, Grandma was right, I will never forget that night.
Hilarious guide to a wide variety of creative ways to botch your photos. For every way, and various combinations, the author provides examples from his family album, as well as detailed instructions on how to create each particular effect. As a bonus he delivers an artistic critique of each type of photo.
In the technical part of the book we encounter such old favourites as fuzzy, over- / underexposed or ill-framed photos – including the popular road-photo, but also highlights such as the thumb-snap or the discoloured photo.
The more challenging chapters on subject matter provide insight into how to create empty, crowded or confused photos. A dedicated chapter explains how to ruin portraits. My particular favourites are the photo-triste (sad) and photo-camouflage.
While I cannot claim to be a master of the botched photo, I consider myself a gifted amateur, and…
About 8 years ago I was shopping in Fayetteville, Arkansas at Petco. A friend and I had made a “dog food run” from Eureka Springs about 40 miles away. On this particular Saturday there was a Dog Adoption Fair in the parking lot out front by a group called Save Our Strays. I own a couple of Jack Russell Terriers so my eye stopped on an odd-shaped terrier in a kennel cage. She had a smaller head than my Jacks, but a much larger body. She was shaking like a leaf – this is not typical terrier behavior – they are more likely to pace or verbalize nervousness. I also noticed that she was no puppy. Most of the dogs there that day seemed to be cute little puppies. I stopped to ask some details and learned that this group visited the local shelter every Saturday and picked up all the dogs they could haul that were scheduled to be put down on the following Tuesday. My heart sank! I told her I would think about it while I shopped – I stepped inside the store and mentally went back and forth – I already had 2 terriers – plenty of dogs for me. Did I want the extra responsibility? Would it detract from my other pups? By the time I checked out I had picked out a collar – she was coming home with me. After all I had terrier experience and she was an older dog. I could give her a good life.
I headed out to the parking lot to find the volunteers loading up their tables and empty cages – I stepped over to ask about who might have adopted the terrier. “Nobody, we sent her back to the shelter about 10 minutes ago.” Again my heart sank. We tried to get the driver on his cell and left messages at the shelter – but it was after 5 and there would be no one there until Monday. I told the lady that I would write a check for the adoption fee right now if it were possible to get to her. I told her that I lived 40+ miles away and would be willing to make the trip as soon as possible.
Long-story-short the woman arranged to retrieve the girl Monday morning, she had her checked by a vet, groomed and took her home – by Wednesday I was headed west after work to pick her up. I had a brand new car and owning terriers I know what the shedding is like so I covered the seats with a soft plaid blanket and headed out. The woman told me that she had learned that the terrier was picked up on the roadside near the airport – apparently dumped. No one had called to claim her or report her missing. The vet had told her that she was likely a rat terrier and was about 6 years old. He thought that she had delivered pups sometime in the last year.
I loaded her into my rig and headed home – she sat like she was sitting upright in a chair and she watched me closely all the way home.
I adopted this dog without ever touching her. What was I thinking? I got her to the house and let her loose in the house and introduced her to the other dogs and I saw the terrier in her come to the forefront – she was playing with my pups who were both about a year old and she was playing with them like a momma dog – lowering her head and extending her legs forward. My male was twirling – he was clearly crazy about his new housemate. My female twirled around me – she decided right from the start to pretend that there was no new dog. She focused totally on me – being the one closest to me at all times. To this day the two sleep next to each other and face in opposite directions. That younger pup has yet to show any affection – she doesn’t hate her, she just prefers to pretend she doesn’t exist.
I put the other pups outside and decided to spend the rest of the evening bonding – and thinking of a name for my new old girl. About naming – I don’t worry about finding a clever or dog-like name – I tend to think that these things reveal themselves. So laid out that same blanket from the car on my couch and sat down. The girl snuggled up along side my leg and stayed there all night. If I got up she followed me, when I sat back down she snuggled in. When I showered she sat on the bathroom rug and waited – where I went she went. I decided to call her Velcro that first night – and she’s been sticking by my side ever since.
I’m not sure about her politics – but she’ll stick it out.
Velcro has some peculiarities.
First – she eats bugs…lots of bugs. She digs up grubs in the spring. She waits by mud dabber nests for the young to hatch – a tasty treat. Tonight when I came home she was eating honey bees near the water dish.
Velcro digs…a lot. Grub extraction is a messy business. In addition to bugs Velcro digs up moles and pack rats. I used to have new topsoil trucked in every summer, but at this point she’s 14 years old (more or less) and I’m never going to have a flat lawn while she’s on this side of the rainbow bridge. She’s a digger, but I’ve learned to be OK with that.
Velcro hard at work on Grub Removal
Hard at work being busy
Velcro sits funny – nothing wrong with this, but she sometimes looks like a charm school reject.
Velcro takes sitting very seriously
Velcro will only sit on the couch if there’s a blanket – in fact she will sit anywhere there is a blanket whether you want her to or not. Unfortunately she sheds like most terriers and I have decided the best thing I can do is own a high-capacity washer.
If there’s a blanket it must be for me!
Lounging is hard work.
When not on the couch Velcro loves grass. Unfortunately with the drought this year there hasn’t been much – but when the bluegrass is green, she’s got her belly in it.
Velcro almost disappears in the grass.
She almost flattens her thick body into the turf – when I mow she stays ahead of me, enjoying the deep grass as long as possible. She does not care for new-mown grass.
Velcro looking out across the mountaintop.
She’s spotted something that may be enticing enough for her to get up.
Velcro hunts by stealth. My other terriers bark and squeal at every animal that enters their space. Squirrels, snakes, deer, rabbits. With the exception of snakes, they never catch a thing – I think that’s because snakes are deaf – anyway, Velcro stalks her prey like a cat. She hunkers down in the grass and crawls closer and closer. This tubby, lazy girl has caught a rabbit, 4 squirrels, and a pack rat – and that’s just this month. She is a snake killer too – although a bite from a pygmy rattler nearly did her in about 6 years ago – she’s never been bitten since.
Soaking in the sunshine
Velcro does some other odd things. She loves to eat persimmons – and that’s OK by me because I have 2 trees and can’t stand them. She digs through the snow to eat them in the winter. I have 2 trees so there are always plenty. She tries to steal matches from the fireplace and I have caught her sneaking down the hallway with one – no idea what she wants with them. She also steals Sunshine’s toys – Sunshine is my goldendoodle pictured below with her. She doesn’t play with toys and has never had any interest in them – but she steals his and puts them on the blanket with her.
Friends don’t let friends keep their toys.
She’s always a momma dog. About three winters ago I fostered a standard poodle for 6 weeks. It had been rescued from the woods at about 12 weeks old. We thought it might have been outside on her own for almost a month. Velcro adored her. When I went to work I would put the poodle in a large crate and leave Velcro in the same room – she would sleep right by the kennel door – never leaving the pup alone. By the third day she was staying in the crate with the pup. She cleaned it and it followed her everywhere – I really believe she socialized that pup enough to make her adoptable.
Lounging on the porch
Apart from these idiosyncrasies she’s a pretty normal dog. I often wonder why she was dumped and why she does the things she does. Does she insist on a blanket because she was left alone in the cold, or is a blanket the key to our first bonding moment? Does she hunt and eat all those things because she was abandoned and left to starve by someone she trusted – so now she eats up just in case I let her down too? Does she behave like a mother to the others because she was once a mother to some pups that she still misses? Was she dumped because she was not as cute and cuddly as those pups? Did she dig too much, shed too much, anything too much?
What mystery lies behind those eyes?
I’ll never know the answer to these questions, but I do know that as I watch her sleep on that same blanket I threw over my car seat 8 years ago that I will do my best to never let her down. I promised her a good life and I’m going to make sure she gets it. I hope she keeps digging for a long, long time.
the eff stop 