Pretty Sunday

It's Springtime and I'm called in different directions: the sun, the house, and the camera.

The sun:  Our yard is a weedy meadow, front and back. I want to enjoy the space, raise chickens and herbs

but

The house:  now that the rains have stopped and we can raise high the windows (if not the roof beams), I want to clean and paint and organize

but

The camera: my brain wants to make pictures.  Frankly, I'm afraid that if I put down the camera and turn my attention to other things, it'll be another 20 years before I pick it up again. 

So

Screw it.

Here's what my camera did in a room that needs to be gutted, rebuilt and painted:

Mama's Got a New Pair of Shoes

and Frida Kahlo socks!

My girl tried to steal my shoes.  And so it begins.

Planning

'Nuff said.

"True life is lived when tiny changes occur." --Tolstoy

Flickr got me the other day.  It reported on FB that I had uploaded 100 photos when I hadn't.  I had uploaded a big chunk but not 100.  (Also, I often delete photos after the upload -- it's a good way to compare them and choose the one I like the best -- but Flickr doesn't report that.)

Some excellent photographers upload only one or two photos at a time.  How do they do that?  Pick just one?  So that's my goal.  To pick the best of the best and put it here.  I will learn restraint.  My husband will be so pleased. 

Today there is just nothing better than my girl.

This is a story about love

"Mom, can we stop talking and turn off the radio?  I want to think."
"Okay.  Will you tell me what you were thinking about after you think it?"
"Sure."
Silence.
Later: "What were you thinking about?"
"Well, I started telling myself a story.  I was sitting under an apple tree.  Maybe it was a pear tree.  Then I thought maybe it was an orange tree.  I like oranges but they make my tongue bumpy. By the time I was finished thinking, I was trying to decide which I like better, pandas or koalas.  Is bamboo a vegetable?"

Little Houses, Little Houses

The older I get, the more fascinated I am by the mundane.  Walking the red carpet may be more interesting, but flossing your teeth every day may be the harder thing to do.

I love finding homes and front yards like these and recording the image.  They're soothing. Nothing fancy.  Calm. Basic.  Easy to care for. Not a lot of fuss.  Straightforward: what you see is what you get.  

These houses do not wear their hearts on their sleeves. They don't communicate a whole lot about what's inside.

These are the cocoons, not the butterflies.

While there's no subterfuge, there's still a little mystery.

Don't Want To

clean up the kitchen. 

Yesterday's Dump Run

The El Cerrito dump has got to be the nicest looking dump on the planet.

And what is wrong with this picture?  Organic lettuce packaged in PLASTIC?  Wtf?  Berkeley Bowl plastic containers not recyclable in Berkeley?  Doh. I remain disturbed that my efforts are in vain and that this stuff ends up in landfill somewhere.  Will make a concerted effort not to bring plastic home.  Yes.

Got Lost in Flickr again

My to-do list calls.  Nothing's getting crossed off that damn list.  Shower.  Fuck it.  Ponytail. Dump run?  Who needs a shower to go to the dump anyway?

Through Erin Vey's Flickr stream, I found this woman:  http://www.susannahconway.com/ Fascinating and worth following.  She does these e-courses on self discovery through photography.  That sounds hokey but the results look beautiful.

Anyway.  I'm going. To the dump.  I'll prove it later.

Here's another image from yesterday.  I'm hung up on the flaws.  My camera needs a good cleaning and I need to carry a damp rag with me.  lol.

In Progress

Playing around with those birds . . . I may have to switch to film or borrow a camera.

Photos on the Wall with Wine

On the record:  My first show since hanging in the hallway for weekly review in college.  Then we did it on  clothesline with clothespins and they hung for a week until the next review.  I would stop by and visit them then.  I've advance from the clothesline but am still doing the visiting thing periodically.

Score!

Swingin' (8x10v)
Originally uploaded by seeing.things

Nabbed this gorgeous photo on metallic paper at the Looking Glass Photo swap today. Check out Melanie's other photos on her website or flickr stream: www.melaniealexandra.com

Got lost in Flickr today

It was really beautiful in there.  Really I should have been doing something more productive.  Gardening, for example.  Here's an old photo of a Shirley Alexander Watt garden I fell in love with on the Park Day School Tour in 2002. Just for fun and inspiration.

Too fabulous to leave it at just one.  Two more?

She creates place out of air. Here's the last one or two, or more:

Bitch and Soothe

While I love that people like my pictures on Flickr, it really frosts when they use them without asking.  Then, to make matters worse, they insist on requests for using their images as their work is copyrighted.  Hey!  Mine is too.  WTF?  This computer-age photography thing can be really confusing.  There's very little money changing hands for good work but everyone wants to use images.  If you have the answer to this dilemma, please let me know.

(This arises from someone using the Air Stream photo below in a mosaic and posting it on Flickr with not a by-your-leave.  Argh. Now the weird thing is that I can bitch about it here but not to the person who did this because you don't call someone out when they've paid you a compliment, right?)

Enough of that.  On my route to and from school drop off in the mornings, I've seen colors that intrigued.  These are just houses, yards, on either Sacramento or California Streets.

Air Stream Love

This is the first Air Stream to cross my  path since last summer.  It hasn't been used in awhile; the interior is unfinished. 

And it has a view!

Chasing the Fog Again

I drove up into the hills this morning, looking for that foggy softness.  Yesterday would have been better but I had other things on my agenda.

The fog was breaking up but there was still plenty to like.