It's Always About Me, Isn't It?

After quite a long hiatus, I've decided I'm going to start writing again -- but not because I'm a writer...as my son clearly keeps reminding me - that, since I only write a blog (and sporadically at that) this does not a writer make.

I am doing this because I need to -- not because I want to -- altho I do...I did some inner soul searching and it IS actually more of a need. It's definitely right up there with me needing water, food, and air - I also need to have a voice - even if only a handful of people ever "hear" me.

Oh, I'm not remotely suggesting anything I have to say is ground-breaking or Earth-shattering - it's not even in the realm of mind-boggling. Head-shaking, perhaps...grimace-producing, sleep-inducing, and just plain whack -- yeah, a definite strong possibility.

And, be forewarned, they're about me. Everything is about me: my thoughts, my observations, my life, and my misconceptions -- and how things influence me in some way - and inspire me...at least enough to write about them.

So, despite what my son says about me...I remain steadfast in trying to convince myself that, if Shakespeare were alive today...not only would he be very, very, very old...but also "just" some blogger trying to have his voice heard as well -- albeit speaking it MUCH more eloquently than I ever could.

But, hey, he's also got a LOT more years doing this kind of thing than I ever had...so don't discount me just yet. 

(I felt like I had to do a quasi-biographical announcement as I haven't been around a while. While this might sound a bit silly, ludicrous, or just plain bombastic - I felt like a re-introduction of sorts was in order. So, there you have it.)

Challenging the Gold

When I was younger, one of my dreams was to write a book...the other was to win a gold medal at the Olympics. So far, I'm pretty much 0 for 0...which isn't bad considering some people out there who won a gold medal in the Olympics didn't really win gold ones...and some...they probably just keep in the box on their mantle behind that commemorative plate of Charles and Diana. (Hey...it's being held in London...I thought I'd "Brit" it up a bit.)

Each Olympics they basically give someone the incredible honour of designing that year's Olympic medal...and when you think of gold medals, you usually (if you are old like me) have the image of Mark Spitz' gold-laden chest indelibly stamped into your brain.

Some Olympic medals...eh...not all that photogenic.

This got me thinking (when I was talking to a friend) that I remember one of the medals a few years back which basically was this chunk of crystal. Yeah, crystal might be nice in chandeliers and fancy wine glasses...but, me personally, would have been highly let down if I won a gold medal predominantly made of high end glass. "Cheers!" Sigh...it's not only made of glass...but it's ugly. I spent a dozen years of my life training to win something I might break if I drop it?? Great. Thanks Olympic medal picker people...thanks for shattering my dream and making it look like something the luge gouged out.

After talking about that...and finding out how difficult it is to find a pictorial history of Olympic medals while the Olympics are in progress...I managed to find all the medals given out since the onset of the Modern Games...dating back to 1896. Talking about a let down - they gave the winner a silver coin and a laurel branch. The runners-up...only got the branch.

While branches wither and die...unfortunately, these medals live on...

Designed by Lalique -- Albertville's 1992 Winter Olympics medal:

I didn't know that "crop circles" was a Winter Olympic event...I'd have guessed it was a Summer one -- Grenoble 1968:

Sapporo, if I remember correctly, was where those cute little snow monkeys liked sitting in the hot springs. Apparently, they also designed their wacky Winter Olympics medals as well:

You thought monkeys designing medals was a bad idea, right? No, you are wrong...having your two-year-old kid design one on their Magna-Doodle is worse. I present to you, Lillehammer's 1994 Ski Jumping medal...if you look at the jumper as if they are going in the other direction...it looks like a Zombie on skis. While I'm thinking that would have been a really awesome medal design...they had others...for each of the Winter events. This one is, by far, the best:

Hey, cool...I always did wonder what they did with all those old Korean coins...kind of odd they gave them out at the 2006 Turin games in Italy, tho:

You can't really tell - but these Vancouver 2010 medals were all misshapen and did not lie flat...they were also made with recycled electronic waste materials for their base. I guess that's one way to get rid of your country's toxic garbage:

Nothing screams Olympic games like "naked guy on a medal", as after all, the ancient games were played in the nude. London's 1908 and Stockholm's 1912 games both featured identical full metal porn:

Not to be outdone in the porn category, the medal in the 1924 Paris Summer games...well, I'm sorry -- I'm just hoping that they are only shaking hands:

There was a long stretch of time where the medals showed more tasteful depictions of winning...but then the 1972 Munich games came and went with much heartbreak. While they will also be remembered by stellar performances by American swimmer, Mark Spitz, and Soviet gymnast, Olga Korbut, they will, unfortunately, always be marred by human tragedy and not "naked aliens on a medal" only tragedy, like they rightfully should have been:

Thanks to "BBC News - London 2012: Olympic Medals Timeline" for all the Olympic medal-abilia.  Go and check out the link -- it's absolutely fascinating and fun!

 

(I have been wondering if the 2012 London games' medals are the largest in diameter [85 mm], as they certainly take up a lot of chest space...but they are not -- the 2009 Turin games takes the top spot with 107 mm medals.  Also, not to take any glory away from Michael Phelps...but in my mind, Mark Spitz will always be remembered first.)

30 Days of Photographs II - Outtakes

Well, it's outtakes time! 

("What the heck are you talking about, Mariann?"  Go here and find out:  "30 Days of Photographs II"

I don't have a bunch of photos of different things all over the place as, if you were following along, all my photos were done while I was Ambien'd out...or my post was.  Most times, both.  As such, I don't have beautiful striking vistas and gorgeous architecture from area buildings.  The closest I got to that was when I ventured out with my son and took a photo of the "Bibb-Graves Bridge" in Wetumpka, Alabama, which was used on the set of the film "Big Fish".

So, these are going to be relatively boring.

Sorry.

I believe this one was originally done up as "Silence". I was trying to convey covering up the keys would render the piano silent. Yeah...it was stupid. But going thru them again I realized my cat was in the photo if you look at the reflection of the white object where the "Yamaha" logo is. I then realized I could have used it for "Mirror" - but I actually like my "Mirror" one...plus look at all the crap on the floor and all the cat fur all over the felt key cover thingy. Yeah...major Photoshopping there which cannot be done well on Ambien.





What can I say in my defense?  I like Martinis.  I was making a Pomtini one nite, days before "Nude" and I thought, "Hmmmm...'Sugar in the Raw'...raw...nude?  Yep...let's get this shot before I forget".  Then I remembered my "banned bottle of wine" and scrapped the whole "naked sugar" idea.  Plus, no matter how I arranged those items in the photo - it never looked unstaged.  Badly staged.  Very badly staged.

I forgot which theme this was for - I think it was for "Tragedy" - but it didn't turn out with the correct perspective.  What it is, is the gully next to my house which was formed when the Wetumpka meteor hit many, many, many years ago.  What we got (and I made my son take the photo as I don't like heights at all, plus it makes you get vertigo if you look down - it's really, really, really deep) was a crappy photo of kudzu with no real depth showing up.  Perhaps if there would have been a beaver in the bottom - it would have shown up better.

"Wheels" was the theme and this was the discarded photo.  Yeah...it's ugly.  The bricks are ugly...the desired pretty was lost when I took this photo as it was totally ugly.

"Wheels" again.  I redesigned the set-up as I really wanted that Lotus (third one back - center - totally obscured) in the foreground.  The bad thing is, the two really old vehicles (first two - center) here look much better in this photo than they did in the other photo...so, now you can see more detail on those two.  I am now happy.  :)

"Eeek eek eek!"  Can't you just hear the "Psycho" theme song when you see this photo?  No?  Neither could I.  (Psycho wallpaper job, maybe.) So, I scrapped that idea for "Fear" and replaced it with the "looking for the bogeyman beneath the bed" one instead.

I REALLY like this "Wood" one.  But it was just too up close and you didn't get the size of the wood and it was also too much detail for just "Wood" if you ask me...so I opted for the panned back one.  Glad I got to show you how pretty the curly bits were.

This one was for "Portrait" I think.  It might have been for "Fear"...or maybe it was "Wood".  Either way I didn't use it.  It's a Korean cabinet in the bedroom and that "face" always reminded me of Edvard Munch's "Scream".  Had there been a "Scream" theme...this is the one I would have used.

I originally took this one morning for "Moon" -- I thought it was such a pretty sky except for the fact all those crappy lines were in the way.  I wanted to show everyone how ugly the skyline is now - but I found that "by chance 'Moon' one" instead.  I was actually thinking of putting this one up for "Lines" - but I went with the statue instead.

Last one - and not too soon, right?  This one was a photo of my creepy dolls for "Devil".  I'm not sure which photo was creepier...I think the one where they aren't meant to look creepy...as they are creepy enough on their own.  This is my lame attempt at "really dark and creepy".

So, there you have it - my outtakes that didn't make the cut for the reasons listed.

Again...I thank Ziva and Mike for inviting me to join their non-contest.  :)



(I apologize in advance if the spacing is all wonky - I am tired of redoing my blog a million times since Blogger revamped their site - and this has already given me such headaches with the photos being larger than the width of my blog...but, once the post gets old - the entire photo shows, so check back in a few days.)

Day 30: The Devil

This is the last day of our adventure into photography with Ziva and her friends.  I have had a lot of fun playing (altho I took it seriously) and I had a lot of respect for what each person managed to muddle thru each and every day.  Now, before I get mushy...please look at my fellow non-contestants...and don't forget to thank Ziva for coming up with this idea...

MikeWJ, Nicky and Mike, Mo, Meleah, John, aka nonamedufus, Bryan, aka Unfinished Person, Malisa, Nora, LaughingMom, Tanya, Elizabeth A., 00dozo, Cheryl, Kristen, Katherine, and, last -- but definitely not least, Ziva.

Day 30 --  The Devil:

Allow me to quote a couple lines from one of my favourite films:

Pete: I've always wondered, what's the devil look like?


Ulysses Everett McGill: Well, there are all manner of lesser imps and demons, Pete, but the great Satan hisself is red and scaly with a bifurcated tail, and he carries a hay fork.


Tommy Johnson: Oh, no. No, sir. He's white, as white as Mariann's dolls, with empty eyes and a big hollow head.

Okay, I took a little liberty with that last line up there from "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" But I only did it to prove a point.

Look for yourself if you don't believe me:

Notice the white area around the one doll on the left with the wonky eye.  I took about three sets of six or seven photos each (damn camera battery)...and that was the only photo which showed that little whispy emanation...all the others were clear as a bell.  Yes, be afraid...be very afraid.

 

A little back story. Long ago when I was growing up, my mother had this little hard plastic doll which never had any clothes on. She would keep it in her bureau which had nine drawers...three rows of three. When I would go into her bedroom, usually only when I was mad in order to "un-pom-pom" one of the hundreds of tiny white pom-poms on her bedspread (always in an inconspicuous space - I thought), I would sneak a peek inside that middle top drawer...and "it" was always in there staring back at me. It creeped the hell out of me. This same scenario went on for more years than I remember. Then one day I was rummaging in the kitchen drawers and there "it" was!

Well, that sealed the deal there...I was never the same again. Years later, when I asked my mother about the doll, she believed it was from some U.S. effort to help support the Korean War. The doll did have short straight black hair...I don't think it was like real hair...it was like a plastic cap...the same material as the rest of the body.

I always thought there was a soul associated with that doll. It always gave me the same image in my little girl head as I was growing up. Someone died...someone's soul was trapped inside - and now it was "living" in a drawer in my house - apparently making the rounds from room to room.  I have no clue what happened to that doll - but, to this day, from time to time I think of "her" and wonder where "she" ended up.

Now, I was a Barbie girl - I loved Barbie and I still do. But larger dolls...no way.

Just like the little shiny hard plastic Korean doll...the larger Victorian era dolls...scare me. They always have. I'm certain they always will.

My mother bought me those two dolls (above) from an antique store years ago. I could not touch them. Moving them tonite to take their photos...was, to anyone not aware of my "issue", an act of comedy I'm sure. The kids don't like them, either...but that didn't stop my son from turning the lights out when I was taking their photos and asking me why I put them in the hallway behind me. I also would not be left alone when I took the photographs...and when I was done, my daughter asked me to remove them from her room as quickly as possible.

My son speculated that I've never gotten rid of them because they are "going to know" and "revenge me somehow for getting rid of them" - and you know what? He's absolutely right. I can't do it. They will "get mad". You don't want to get dolls mad which are home to little demons. As long as the little demons stay inside the dolls...it's okay I guess. But you are never to get the devil dolls mad...that's when they will show their true faces: red and scaly...and with a bifurcated tail.

 

(Lastly, I had such a blast doing this for the past 30 days...and I want to thank each and every one of you...especially Ziva and Mike...for inviting me to participate.  Thank you all...so much.)



Day 29: Lines

On top of my piano is some sort of sailor or rescuer - a bronze statue with the lights where the flowers are done by Emile Bruchon. I found out what he was called one day - but I have long forgot.

The only reason he fits into this theme is because he is carrying a line attached to a life-saving ring. You can't see if very well...one is in one hand...the other is - in the other.  In fact...he doesn't even look like a statue - more like a painting - but again, I can assure you he is all statue.

I liked this shot because somehow he got all surreal and was lit up with colours that are not on the statue. He is bronze, after all. But there's all shades of colours - and trust me...they aren't there. In fact, he is rather a dark colour - but he looks very pale in this shot.  Because of that - we left him stay in all his technicolour majesty.

So, that's my photo for "lines"...the oddest thing I could think of - and I know I'm running late. It was the camera's fault - it would not let me take more than one photo at a time. Very frustrating.

Day 29 -- Lines

 

(The metronone serves no purpose in this shot - I took it away in subsequent shots but those didn't have him all peacock-shaded.)

Please also check out the work of my fellow non-contestants...and don't forget to thank Ziva for coming up with this idea...

MikeWJ, Nicky and Mike, Mo, Meleah, John, aka nonamedufus, Bryan, aka Unfinished Person, Malisa, Nora, LaughingMom, Tanya, Elizabeth A., 00dozo, Cheryl, Kristen, Katherine, and, last -- but definitely not least, Ziva.

Day 28: Outlier

I have to admit I am a total dolt. You see, I am probably the only one participating in this non-contest who had no clue what an "outlier" was. I knew I was in trouble when both my kids knew what it was - and knew how to pronounce it...I still want to pronounce it like you would "uglier"...and not "liar".

When I looked it up - I still had no clue - that's now clueless I was. All those years of doing "It Pays to Increase Your Word Power" in Reader's Digest...and the ONLY word they apparently left off - was this one. Then I had an idea: I'll do up a SCRABBLE game - and use up a bunch of words (or variants) which we've done here at Ziva's photofest. So, I did it - and I put OUTLIER off to the side, all by itself, but attached to another word. My kids came over and mocked me.

THEM: "It can't be connected...it's an outlier - it has to be separate."

ME: "It has to be connected...it's SCRABBLE...the words have to be connected."

THEM: "You just don't get it, do you?"

ME: "Apparently not...explain it to me again."

THEM: "For example - if you have a bunch of kids..."

ME: "Where am I going to get a bunch of kids? I have to make up something with the stuff IN my house."

THEM: "Ugh!"

ME: "Ugh!"

Then my son suggested I get the plastic pull tabs of all the orange juices and other juices that we've been saving up for the past year - saving for no reason whatsoever...altho someone started to put happy faces on them...and to put happy faces on all of them - except for one with an unhappy face drawn on instead...and that one shall remain far isolated from the others.

I thought that idea was stupid. I wanted to do my SCRABBLE one - I friggen put all the words in there without cheating one damn time.

So...I Google'd. Right on the first image page is a bunch of happy faces...except for one, which was off by itself, with an unhappy face on it. They looked remarkably similar to the juice pull tabs.

Now I don't know about you - but that's just plain bizarre. What are the odds, right? I mean, seriously, what do they have to be??

So...I'm going to be different in a way...I'm going to remain with my first idea...even if I did acquiesce (yeah, THAT word was in Reader's Digest) and not connect OUTLIER (which I still think is stupid as all get out). So, in a way, I'm being an outlier? Right?

Right??

Forget it - I still don't get it.

Day 28 -- Outlier:



Two items I must point out:  1) We did not have to remain in/around our house as part of the rules -- I did because I either took the photo or did the write-up after ingesting Ambien (it was my "experiment").  2) The word "pill" here refers only to me (see above).



Please don't forget to look at everyone else's photographs:

MikeWJ, Nicky and Mike, Mo, Meleah, John, aka nonamedufus, Bryan, aka Unfinished Person, Malisa, Nora, LaughingMom, Tanya, Elizabeth A., 00dozo, Cheryl, Kristen, Katherine, and, last -- but definitely not least, Ziva.

Day 27: Nude

Well, I know everyone has been waiting for "Nude" Day...and it's finally here. I, too, have been waiting for "Nude" Day - but much longer than anyone else. More after the introductions of my fellow non-contestants...and don't forget to thank Ziva for coming up with this idea...

MikeWJ, Nicky and Mike, Mo, Meleah, John, aka nonamedufus, Bryan, aka Unfinished Person, Malisa, Nora, LaughingMom, Tanya, Elizabeth A., 00dozo, Cheryl, Kristen, Katherine, and, last -- but definitely not least, Ziva.


Day 27 -- Nude:

Back in August of 2009 the powers that be which reside on the Alabama Alcohol Committee got their panties in a wad...over the lack of panties. A French bicycle ad from the 1800s was a tad too racy to slap on a product which is only sold to people over 21. And the thing is, as you can plainly see...it's not in a suggestive, full-on, horny-porny pose. It's just a drawing of a naked nymph...but, Alabama stated that children would see these wine bottles in stores (so, keep your kid away when you buy your alcohol) and their little brains could not handle a side-view of a stylized art depiction of a nude lady. What you are seeing here is a tiny button of a nipple and a somewhat Rubenesque tushie. Yeah...too much for the people at the Legislature and Alabama's Board of Alcohol Commission to wrap its dirty little heads around - so they banned it so we wouldn't be able to wrap our dirty little hands around any bottle in the state of Alabama...ever.

But...as you see...I have one! I bought it in Atlanta - and it's probably illegal for me to own it in my state...but that's just the rebel...or actually, the yankee...that I am. I am keeping my nude nymph'd bottle and giggle like a displaced New Jersian schoolgirl each time I look at it and think back about how this controversy was blown completely out of proportion and more than a tad too insane in this day and age. After all, heaven forbid someone drink a bottle of wine without a naked chick on the label and they end up butt naked; at least with this bottle -- there was truth in advertising, right?  "If you drink this wine you might get as naked as this labelled lady...don't say we didn't warn you!"
 

But I guess it's easier to walk around with your eyes totally open but your mind totally shut when you make the rules in this state.

Cheers!

Day 26: My Toothbrush

Believe it or not I've actually been looking forward to the "My Toothbrush" theme and you'll see why in a minute.

Until then, please peruse the photography participants:

MikeWJ, Nicky and Mike, Mo, Meleah, John, aka nonamedufus, Bryan, aka Unfinished Person, Malisa, Nora, LaughingMom, Tanya, Elizabeth A., 00dozo, Cheryl, Kristen, Katherine, and, last -- but definitely not least, Ziva.


Day 26 --  My Toothbrush:

As you can probably tell...my toothbrush (the pink one) is in the bathroom trash can. In there is also my son's toothbrush. We threw them away as WE AREN'T SICK ANYMORE! Woohoooo! If you don't know you are supposed to toss your toothbrush after a cold or flu...you do now. Face it, you wouldn't keep reusing the same tissue over and over again - brushing your teeth with the same germy toothbrush you had been using while you were sick - is pretty much like swallowing a big cup of saved phlegm -- only, well, not as gross.


On that happy note...there you have it - and now you know why I've been so looking forward to photographing my toothbrush. :)

Day 25: The Future

I was going to slap some sunglasses on, snap a few...and then talk about that "My future's so bright...I gotta wear shades" song. But that idea, while holding some merit in my head, was pretty stupid.  That being said, someone here probably used that idea and now I just stuck my foot in my mouth...and I'm not that nimble anymore, so you damn well better be impressed.

I also don't take photos of my kids and put them on the Internet, so the future as being my kids...was right out.

But first, let's get to Ziva's "30 Days of Photographs II" non-contest and all the other people who have been devoted or crazy enough to go thru this process every day. A sense of photographical (is that a word) accomplishment has been made by these fine, alibeit insane, people:

MikeWJ, Nicky and Mike, Mo, Meleah, John, aka nonamedufus, Bryan, aka Unfinished Person, Malisa, Nora, LaughingMom, Tanya, Elizabeth A., 00dozo, Cheryl, Kristen, Katherine, and, last -- but definitely not least, Ziva.


Day 25 --  The Future:

Now, the only other thing I thought about were those 1950s sci-fi films...and this flashlight-like thingy that I bought a couple years ago. Each time I look at it, it reminds me of "The War of the Words" (the original version -- don't even make go there...there is no remake...there's only the one). Specifically speaking, it reminds me of the all-seeing scary "eye on a stalk" alien drone which was in the movie. So, I did my best to set it up all nicely and took a few photos, hoping one would convey a nostalgic futuristic slant on things.

So, there you have it...my retro-futuristic flashlight. I think even HG Wells himself might like it -- especially if it were dark.

Day 24: Crowd

The theme today didn't go as I planned.  For some reason my camera refused to work at my daughter's "National Honor Society Induction Ceremony: last nite...and all the photos came out as little X's.  Nice keepsakes, nonetheless, I am sure.  So, I had to improvise this morning...but first...

...go look at my fellow non-contestants...and don't forget to thank Ziva for coming up with this idea...

MikeWJ, Nicky and Mike, Mo, Meleah, John, aka nonamedufus, Bryan, aka Unfinished Person, Malisa, Nora, LaughingMom, Tanya, Elizabeth A., 00dozo, Cheryl, Kristen, Katherine, and, last -- but definitely not least, Ziva.

Day 24:  Crowd

It's that time of year again - when we drain the pool because we are too lazy to keep it clean during the off season. It's also cheaper to just drain it and put new water in it - and more sanitary, because this is what gets into your pool at the end of the season if you let it accumulate and rot.


There are also about fifty frogs crowded in there which all jump into the murky depths once they see anything approaching. There's probably also about a zillion frog eggs in there by now, too...and those water boatmen...you can bet there's a whole crowd of those things in there just waiting to shear off your skin if you are stupid enough to pick one up and put it in your hand because it "swims cute".


The leaves and pinestraw go without saying...you can definitely see there's enough crowded in there to make a fine smelly paste of waste debris. Ahhh...take a deep breath...nothing smells like Spring like the bottom of a vase of flowers left too long in the water; magnify that intense pervasive "perfume" and you might get a partial idea of what must be decomposting their little body parts away, en masse, to ensure a place in that last foot of precious water. And right about tomorrow...the mosquito larvae will decide to take up residence (if they haven't already)...and speaking of crowds...there'll be millions of their little wiggly selves pushing thru the waterworld to enter the airy world...and nothing can dispel a human crowd so quickly as a whole swarm of hungry mosquitoes in search of that first blood feed.


Yep...just to look at that photo and think there's nothing in there...is pretty ludicrous. By square inch, it has more useable real estate than any one of Donald Trump's properties...and many, many, many more squatters.



Day 23: Fish Tales

Today's theme, "Fish Tales", left me with an absolute nothing for an idea...and that nothing of an idea stayed with me until one dawned on me as "the photography group" (the participants here) sent around an email mentioning that today was not "Crowd" day -- but "Fish Tales" day.  I was responding to that email last nite when I had an epiphany of sorts...so I got dressed and asked my son to drive me to town in case there would be monsters and criminals waiting near the woods for me...it was right about midnite, after all. 

The strange thing was...he agreed.

More after...but first the introductions of our participants and their page links: 

MikeWJ, Nicky and Mike, Mo, Meleah, John, aka nonamedufus, Bryan, aka Unfinished Person, Malisa, Nora, LaughingMom, Tanya, Elizabeth A., 00dozo, Cheryl, Kristen, Katherine, and, last -- but definitely not least, Ziva.

 

Day 23:  Fish Tales...



They say...that if a person is brave, or foolish enough, to climb onto the Bibb-Graves Bridge shortly after midnite when the whole town is still...and snap a photo...good luck will follow them home and everywhere after that. I knew of a person once who had so much good luck after doing just that...only he snapped a whole lot of moving pictures instead - that a film of theirs was nominated for a bunch of film awards...from the soundtrack right on down to make-up. Can you imagine that? They must not have done it at midnite, tho, because they didn't win a one of 'em. But, still, you can't deny the fact that just being nominated was pretty darn near as close to winning as you can get. And almost winning a whole bunch of awards is about as lucky as one man can get.

So, one day, if you want good luck to follow you home...do as I...and Tim Burton did...and head on over to Wetumpka, Alabama, where they filmed a goodly portion of that "Big Fish" movie. And while it is a big fish tale in one way, in a whole other way...it ain't.

Day 22: Portrait

Welcome to Day 22 of Ziva's "30 Days of Photographs II" non-contest.Today's theme was "Portrait".  Since I already did a "Tissue and Pills" portrait the other day for "White" -- I felt redoing it and making the unhappy face a little happier just wasn't going to cut it.

I had a great idea of taking a photo of a photo of the King of Belgium which was given to my grandfather by the King himself (apparently they knew each other) but my daughter made the determination that a portrait is more of a close up facial thing...and good old Albert or Leopold or whoever it was sitting at his desk from 20 paces away wasn't going to constitute portraiture.  I still debated this in my head back and forth as I thought it would be kinda nifty.

The only other option I really had was a charcoal pencil drawing of my grandmother whom I was always told I resembled (but I didn't want to do the split face thing again)...so that's the one I went with. But first off, please check with these fine people to visit their even finer blogs...with handsome photographs you will undoubtedly automatically be smitten with...then check mine out after the list:

MikeWJ, Nicky and Mike, Mo, Meleah, John, aka nonamedufus, Bryan, aka Unfinished Person, Malisa, Nora, LaughingMom, Tanya, Elizabeth A., 00dozo, Cheryl, Kristen, Katherine, and, last -- but definitely not least, Ziva.

 

Day 22 --  Portrait:

This is a portrait of my grandmother, Albertina Maria Van Marsenille, drawn by either a brother or an uncle named Emile Van Marsenille.  As the drawing was done in 1909, I am not certain if she was still a maiden lady or now a Mrs. Van Haute.  As my mother was born in 1918 (the exact day the Romanovs were all executed), and she had older and younger siblings...I'm not sure where exactly 1909 falls in that timeline.  I would believe my grandmother would be in her very early 20s at the very most in that portrait.

I then spent the next couple hours rummaging thru many old photos and paperwork written in Flemish to try to determine various other information.  It was, to me, fascinating.  I've tried going on those geneology sites before - but all leads to Belgium never seem to pan out to anything.  Yes, if you had American relatives, no problem; ones from Belgium and Czechoslovakia...good luck.  If you know how to delve into those records...please, if you wouldn't mind, clue me in...I've never had anything of value pop up.  I am sure I could possibly contact my relatives in Belgium...but I'm not sure if any of my mother's siblings are even still alive.  Unfortunately, death has a way of rendering you permanently silent.  It would be great to get more information firsthand...maybe one day.

Anyway, I enjoyed my time-travelling very much thanks to Ziva's little non-contest here.  :)

Day 21: Moon

I have a friend who is a photographer and I asked him a couple weeks ago when the best time of day it was to get a photo. He told me it was between 5:00-6:00 a.m. So, the other day I'm going out to get the previous day's mail (I sleep strange hours) and I noticed the moon was out and it was between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. I went back inside the house and took my allotted five to seven photos before my camera battery loses its charge and I walked back inside satisfied one of them might be in focus.
I wanted to show the moon against a background of antiquated ugliness...i.e., the power lines that stretch across what would otherwise be a really nice view of the moon. Sure, I could move a foot or two over and the lines wouldn't be in the photo - but then again I wouldn't be able to show how friggen ugly my obstructed view of the sky was.
But, before I get any further along in my story and max out my 250 word limit (ssssh...I only count the stuff BELOW the photo in my word count)...go on over to these "30 Days of Photography II" participants and see what they came up with for todays theme (ugh...because Blogger.com screwed up formatting today and auto-upgraded me...I cannot get the "auto-linker" to link without doing them all manually again, and honestly, I'm still sick...so, please go here to see a list/link to each person:  Ziva's Inferno

Day 21:  Moon...

So...I knew today was "moon day" and I went into my little camera card to fetch a photo out and I'm scrolling thru the approximately one-half million shots of kitties and ferrets and glasses of Martinis...when I ran across one which caught my eye. It was the one I took from inside my house on "From an Ant's Perspective" day.
I think there is a moon in the photo - and because I took it totally by accident, I thought it would be nifty to post it up. I didn't crop the photo or anything - because I wanted the moon to be shown in my "totally by accident" shot. You know, kind of like how they managed to get a man up on the moon...totally by accident (or, for people who totally disbelieve the whole "moon-landing" thing because I saw the space capsule they used in one of their early moon missions at NASA's Space Camp in Huntsville...and there's no way in hell -- other than in a MacGyver episode, that seven rolls of tin foil, a radio from a 1968 VW, and an Erector Set missing some key pieces -- made it all the way to the moon and back).