I am currently trying very hard to declutter my house. As I found myself tired of sorting mountains of papers and bags of crap I decided to start on my Christmas decorations. Last year I was so busy with the ridiculous myriad of volunteers jobs at school I barely had time to do much. That will not be the case this year. I have new lights and they are up!
Although this is a work in progress that I started several years ago (I’d like all the letters to be the same size and perfectly spaced, but what an OCD nightmare that is) I am posting this for my Weekly Photo Challenge: Signs. For 2 reasons: It is un-perfect like me, and I love it. You don’t have to be perfect to enjoy life, and I am sharing this with you right now, in all it’s un-perfectness. I also will freely say, that I took the letters from various signs in images all over the internet. So not only did I not make the neon letters I didn’t take the photos either. But I did copy, paste, and crop to my hearts content. Hopefully I am not stepping on anyone’s copyright toes, forgive me if I am. I do own the butterfly which in real life is big (3′ x 2.5′ or so). I had it made for me, the artist is my friend Phil Radke, of PR SIgns and Service, sign guy, extraordinaire.
Ok, last of the three WPC’s I needed to catch up with: Zig Zag. Hmm. Kind of hard. Way harder than Summer Lovin’. It makes me think of rolling papers. Remember those? Well, I just looked and they still make them. Shows how much I know about rolling papers.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. A photo that shows Zig Zag……………………………………….Now, I am picturing Will Ferrell shouting, “Serpentine” while running from the dinosaur in a zig zag fashion in Land of the Lost. A very hilarious movie, btw. Crapballs. (Also a Will Ferrell line from that movie.)
Woo! Well, maybe not “Woo” per se, but it is kind of zig zaggy, in an up and down eye movement line following kind of way. Bear with me here. My dog Juni sleeps with interesting feet positions and this is as close as I am going to come to a Zig Zag photo today.
Summer Lovin’ is not a hard subject AT ALL! Well, it is hard in that there are so many things to love about summer, especially this one. But here are a few pretty, yet interesting, photos from our Beaver Island Trip. The abstract was a mistake. I was shooting my daughter in the sun reflection in the lake and the camera was totally out of focus. Oops. 😉 But I like it! Summer Lovin’, gosh is there anything better? I just don’t want this summer to end….
Since most of my photos are nature based, I went back to a super fun trip I took with my friend’s to Pittsburgh almost 2 years ago for some “Street Life”. I went to college in P-Town in the 80’s (where has the time gone??) and it was really great to visit again. It has changed quite a bit. It was much friendlier downtown (dahntahn) and cleaned up quite a bit. The arts are really flourishing everywhere, and on my old street (South Street) it was bumper to bumper with nightlife (young partying people ). Except for the latter, it was really refreshing! Pittsburgh is a great city to visit if you are looking for some urban fun without a really high ticket price. We didn’t get to do half the things I wanted to, so hopefully I go back soon!
I have a new toy. It is a microscope and camera attachment! Woo! Under the rationalization that my daughter needs it for a science experiment, I decided to go a little crazy. The kit I got came with a set of 50 pre made slides as well. From cotton to dandelions to fly wings to rabbit testis (omg, yes) it has a variety of things to see intimately. It is truly a treasure hunt! I like my new little microscope and slide set. I wish I could focus the camera a little better but I have issues with focus. 😉 In case you want one, I ordered from AmScope. They had GREAT customer service, prices, and fast shipping! Two thumbs up!
First off, I have missed my blog! Things happen, time used elsewhere, etc., etc. No excuses, just facts. Second, the photo challenge “Object” features a really cool phenomenon with snow that I have never seen before! Snow Rollers! The conditions need to be just right. Loose snow on top of a harder layer of snow and enough wind to get the ball rolling (haha)! At first when I saw them, I thought it was something the birds had done, or kids, but there were no footprints. Then, everyone said they were talking about them on the news! Well, I have NEVER seen them. And I even lived in Buffalo and Minnesota. So, I am pleased to show you the magnificent snow rollers. You can pick them up, they are light, but don’t fall apart. Too cool. I didn’t see them actually rolling. But you can see their paths. More blog catch-up tomorrow! I am tired after my big 2 hours of shoveling heavy, ice covered, snow today. I should sleep well.
I finally got some new blades for my utility knife. How many years I used this one, is anyone’s guess.It was used so long because it was my last one and the sheer fact that I didn’t want to drive to the hardware for just such a small purchase, never remembering them when I did have other purchases. Well, I finally bit the bullet and bought a 50 pack yesterday. That pack will most likely outlive me. My old blade is quite a work of art. I will say, it is quite easier to cut things with a sharp blade. 2 of the many things I have learned in life: Never buy crappy cheap tape and keep new blades handy. As a footnote, you know you are from a different generation when the symbol above (#) represents the word number or the pound sign, not a “hashtag”. Was the word hashtag around before tweeting? Hmm.
So similar, yet so different. The image on the left is from the sun shining through my window yesterday, on to some plastic, making the incredible reflections on the wall. It was really fun to move the plastic around and get different images. They really remind me more of skeletal shapes, but the movement is really cloud-like as well. I just had to stick them side by side. I just love stumbling upon great opportunities like that. What is that called? Kismet, fate (what’s the difference?), good luck, the beauty of stacking crap around your house and not putting it away? Yeah, the last one. 😉
I look forward to the Weekly Photo Challenge so much! I am very grateful to have such a fun and creative avenue to look forward to. This week’s challenge is no different! How fun, “The Hue of You”. I like saying it too. My photo is a perfect self portrait. The colors, the textures, the softness, the holes, the scratches, the layers. Sometimes a picture really can say 1000 words. Thank you, Weekly Photo Challenge!
ArtBea 