I’ve been trying to get back into blogging more often. When I get a bit of time to do that I usually go online and look around at other blogs. Today I found this challenge: Weekly Prompts Color Challenge- Mainly Orange.
So, to join in I looked through some of my photo collection and found a few to fit. I tried to find some different ones, things you wouldn’t usually expect. Like an orange, or a pumpkin (though I did just have to throw that one in). 🙂
Chile cookofffresh carrots tulipsCrocoite mineral sample from AustraliaSingapore sunsetripe tomatophotos at the pumpkin patch
I didn’t realize how many different shades of orange there are in all the common things we see. I’d be interested in seeing how many others you can come up with. 🙂
Guanajuato, Mexico celebrates the city’s artistic and literary heritage during its yearly International Cervantes Festival. Beginning in 1972, this year it will be held Fri, Oct 11, 2024 – Sun, Oct 27, 2024.
Last year I showed up during the festival, unprepared. I had no idea it was going on. As I wandered around the winding cobblestone streets and passageways of the central area, I continually spotted references to Don Quixote. I wondered about his connection to the city.
The festival itself grew from the activities of Professor Espinosa at the University of Guanajuato in 1953. He put together a show and later a symposium devoted to Cervantes and his famous character Don Quixote. This caught the attention of the Mexican President which led the government to create the festival “to promote cultural, artistic and humanistic communication with other countries.”
Last year, there were events ongoing for 2 weeks at over a dozen different venues. Wandering characters dressed in period costumes welcomed visitors from around the world, passing out flyers and selling tickets.
Along with the usual roving mariachi bands to be found in any Mexican city of any size, there were musical ensembles playing classical, martial, and popular numbers for the free enjoyment of the citizens.
The festival seems to grow every year, with a good diversity of activities around the city. For example, in 2017 “2,367 artists from 35 different countries were invited to carry out more than 180 activities, of which 120 were scenic, 29 exhibitions and 37 academic activities in 51 forums.” Many of these activities are free in various parks and squares around town.
The Museo Iconográfico del Quijote is another example of the tie to Cervantes and Don Quixote in Guanajuato. It’s full of paintings, ceramics, sculptures, books, anything depicting Don Quixote- over 1000 items! The story goes that the founder Eulalio Ferrer Rodríguez traded a pack of cigarettes for a copy of Don Quixote de la Mancha while he was held prisoner in Spain during the civil war. The book was of such value to Eulalio that he later began collecting anything to do with Don Quixote and/or Cervantes.
After the war, Eulalio moved to Mexico and eventually- with the blessings of the Presidents of both Mexico and Spain- his collection became the museum which was gifted to the people of Guanajuato and Mexico. I spent a couple hours there, enjoying the serenity of the space and the evocative and expressive art. Some of the paintings were just amazing. If you are at all interested in art, Cervantes or Don Quixote I highly recommend a visit. It’s free on Tuesdays and only a couple of dollars otherwise.
The city itself is worth spending some time. Guanajuato is a World Heritage Site, with beautiful well preserved colonial architecture, unusual design features and interesting history. All that in addition to its compelling artistic and literary traditions. This post is specific for the Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Festival. Check out their site for this and other challenges. 🙂
I was scrolling through my emails the other day (I get a LOT of emails every day), when I clicked on an interesting link from gCaptain. For the first time ever, a cruise ship reached the North Pole of Inaccessibility. Looking at the picture there reminded me of the cruise I took to Antarctica a few years ago on the MS Roald Amundsen. We also plowed through the ice like that and we all got to get out and make snow angels where no one had ever been before. It was just amazing to be at the far end of the Earth like that still be so comfortable. I really enjoyed that cruise and hope to go back someday. 🙂
My cruise on the MS Roald Amundsen in Antarctica
Considering that the ship I’ve been sailing on lately is named the Point Nemo, I clicked around the net a little bit and found another article on Atlas Obscura (I bought a book of theirs a while back- they’ve got tons of really fascinating stuff they write about). Point Nemo (Latin for “nobody”) was named for the fact that it signifies the most remote spot on the planet. It’s also a nod to Jules Verne’s base for the Nautilus. It is called the oceanic point of inaccessibility, located at 48°52.6’S 123°23.6’W.
Point Nemo in Kodiak, AK early June 2024
It’s pretty far out in the middle of nowhere (pretty much like we are right now- a couple thousand miles SE of Hawaii). It’s 1451 nautical miles from land: North of Antarctica, S of tiny Ducie Island (‘near’ Pitcairn Islands) and SW of Motu Nui (near Easter Island).
Since it’s so remote, it’s a great place for dumping some of our ever increasing load of space debris. Not much chance of anything landing on top of somebody’s house, or a passing cruise ship or 737. It seems to be a favorite place for the Russians to send their old satellites. The most famous being the old Mir space station. Other countries also send their space junk there to the point it’s nicknamed the Spacecraft Cemetery with near 300 disposed of in the area since 1971.
Continuing with the spacey theme, the actual location of Point Nemo is within a relatively few miles of H.P. Lovecraft’s R’lyeh, a “nightmare corpse city (…) built in measureless eons beyond history by the vast, loathsome shapes that seeped down from the dark stars”. The drowned city of Cthulhu…
I’ve read very little of Lovecraft’s work. I never really got into it, tho I do love reading and some of my favorites are scary stories. I love Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Joe Hill, Anne Rice, Clive Barker, Justin Cronin, George Orwell, Robin Cook- I could go on and on…
I love all kinds of weird stuff. I read constantly. All kinds of things, but my favorite genres are science fiction and fantasy, history, alternative history, science, philosophy, politics and social issues. The final weird thing about Point Nemo mentioned in the Atlas Obscura article of “the Bloop” was just the icing on the cake for me. I just had to write this post and share it to the rest of you. 🙂
After 3 months away from home sailing across the Pacific Ocean on the Point Nemo, I came back to find class 1 “minimal” hurricane Beryl had done more damage to my property than all the other storms (Alicia, Harvey, etc) combined for the last 30 years.
Onboard the ship, I could only see news reports of Houston/Galveston and Surfside Beach. The photos and videos looked bad. Big trees downed and flooding all around Houston. Lots of flooding at Surfside and a few houses looked totally demolished. Surfside is only about 10 miles from Freeport where all of my rental properties are located. I used to live there and a lot of my friends still do.
I didn’t worry about it too much since I’d never been flooded before and I didn’t have many trees around my rental properties (though I did at my own house- which had trees fall through the roof twice since I’ve lived there).
I was more worried about the power being out again. Last time we had a storm knock the power out, mine was out for weeks. I came home to a horrible stink, tried my best to clear out the freezer without puking, threw out a couple thousand dollars worth of meat- but still couldn’t salvage the thing and had to buy a new one.
I lucked out this time. My own house made it through with minimal damage. Siding and gutters blown off and a few big limbs down in the yard (but thankfully not on my roof). I felt grateful. I walked around the block every day and it looked like at least a category 4 came through. There were trees down everywhere- BIG trees! People had stacked up huge piles of soaked sheetrock, carpet and ruined furniture along the side of the road. Only 2 houses down from me, a huge tree fell over from a neighbors yard onto their house. It must’ve been about 5 ft in diameter. One big old oak tree. I thought it was only sitting on the back part of the house, but a few days later there was a demolition crew there tearing down the entire house. Even the foundation is gone. All that’s left is their backyard shed. I hope their insurance paid.
My town, Lake Jackson, TX is a “tree city USA” and very proud of their beautiful trees. Beryl took out a lot of them. A friend of had one demolish their garage- took out a couple of their cool old cars. All over town the maintenance crews were out with backhoes and chainsaws for weeks. It was still going on when I left for work 6 weeks later.
I spent my entire time at home trying to deal with the damages to my rental properties. I felt so demoralized. Almost every single unit was damaged. I’ve spent so much time and money over the last few years working to get them in good shape to rent out. This was supposed to be my retirement. I finally had everything almost finished. Just one apartment needed a little bit more work- 2-3 days worth- and it would be ready to rent. Then we were going to paint a couple to make them look like new on the outside, I already had the paint and everything was ready to go.
Then came Beryl.
My manager didn’t want me freaking out while I was at work on the ship (and couldn’t do anything but worry) so she didn’t tell me everything about all the damage that had been done. When I got home, a lot of the major stuff had already been dealt with: 6 roof leaks, 27 blown out windows, 2 doors blown out, soffit and fascia blown off 1 building which caused the ceilings to collapse in the upstairs and downstairs apartments and also flooded the downstairs apartment. They told me the water was just pouring in, had a few inches of water on the floor!
My maintenance man had already fixed the roof, door and windows in one house and repaired the drywall and carpets that were ruined. He’d also fixed the roof leaks and drywall in another apartment, fixed most of the other blown out windows and doors, everything was fixed in the downstairs apartment.
When I got home, I think I pissed off my manager a bit since I insisted on getting the soffit/fascia repaired before anything else. We had more rain coming and without repairs, the rain would ruin all the work we just did in the downstairs apartment.
The woman who was “renting” that apartment (who had stopped paying rent before the storm came) was threatening my maintenance man every day to the point he didn’t want to work on that building anymore. She was also calling the city to complain about how I was such a “slumlord” every day. I had her apartment fixed only1-2 days after the storm, we had to prioritize. Lucky for her I wasn’t waiting on insurance like most people had to. Her actions slowed down our work quite a bit- for her and everyone else in that building.
Oh yeah, she also cut her ceiling back down after we fixed it so she could splice into the electric we were using to repair the upstairs apartment since she had stopped paying her electric bills and got cut off by the electric company. So she was blasting her AC 24/7 and threatening the maintenance man “don’t touch my electric” every time he tried to work on something in the maintenance room (she had cameras watching).
I also had another tenant who had a tree fall on her roof. I was told there was just minor damage, broke a window and some water got in that was causing mold to grow. She hadn’t been paying rent either, but my maintenance man had gone and fixed what he could for her a couple of times. She was moving out so when we went to take a look, we found the tree had done a lot more damage. Basically the entire back part of the house needs to be fixed and a window leak caused major damage in another room.
That’s the tree that fell on the roof, it basically destroyed that part of the house.
Another place I didn’t know was damaged except for a window and door turned out to have the entire ceiling come down in the kitchen and water damage practically everywhere.
SO. I’m back on the boat, waiting to hear back from the insurance agencies and my manager to hear what progress (if any) has been made. I knew rental property could be a hassle, but I really didn’t expect it to be this bad. I keep seeing stuff online about how landlords are just “evil”, out to just screw over the renters. Really? I don’t see it that way at all. I was a renter for decades and now I own rental property. I never felt that my landlords were screwing me, but I never rented a super top of the line place either. Maybe that would be different? My rents barely cover my expenses and so many tenants just screw me over- don’t pay rent, tear things up, etc. You really wouldn’t believe the conditions they leave. I wonder how in the hell anyone can live like that.
It’s pretty gross. I can tell you later. I have to get some sleep now…
We’re long gone from Alaska now. The Point Nemo left Dutch Harbor -our last port in Alaska- a few weeks ago- May 28 to be exact. This is really the first chance I’ve had to work on my computer. When the ship is constantly rolling around so much, it’s really too hard to concentrate on doing anything else but staying stable.
We had a nice break in Dutch Harbor. It took us about a week to get from Kodiak to Dutch Harbor and rough weather all the way. It was nice to spend a couple of days at the dock. We all got a chance to walk around town and relax a bit. Even the weather cooperated, it was actually pretty warm and sunny for most of our time there.
I really wanted to see the bears in Kodiak, but that will have to wait for another time. I did the next best thing and found Aleutian Life Tours to explore and learn more about Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island and Alaska.
Lynda, one half of Aleutian Life Tours (her husband Dennis is the other half) was kind enough to meet me at our boat to start the day. She asked me more about what I was interested in and then took off around the ‘Spit’ to take a look at some of the fishing boats docked down there and see if there might be some sea lions hauled out on the rocks. I didn’t see any of those, but there were a lot of eagles waiting for scraps from the boats.
We took a ride around town to see the old radio station and the small boat harbor where more of the fishing fleet docks. Some of the famous boats from “Deadliest Catch” dock there. I got a few good pictures there. We saw a few sea otters drifting around, but too far away for me to get any decent shots of them.
WWII Radio StationDeadliest Catch
On the way back, we stopped at a place where Dennis’ family used to live. I love to explore old buildings and hear about the old days and it was really interesting to hear how people used to live here.
We rode up to a hilltop for a nice view of the town, overlooking the Russian Bishops house (1882) and the Russian Orthodox Cathedral. Lynda explained how the building was shipped up here in pieces and put together when it got here, too bad the bishop never got to see it completed. He fell overboard on the way to Alaska and so never got to live in his house. Luckily his body was recovered and was buried in the graveyard outside the Cathedral of the Holy Ascension.
Bishops House (1882)Lynda overlooking Dutch HarborCathedral
The town was small, but was very neat and clean. One small park had the most trees I’ve seen around these islands, they’re very uncommon around here due to the high winds. The school and community center looked like new and plenty big enough for the whole town to enjoy.
I really enjoyed hearing about the local history and Lynda told me stories about her family and how they’d been there for generations- about being evacuated during WWII and even about how they dealt with the Russians. She even knew where to find an eagles nest where we could see the mother eagle feeding her chicks. Amazing to watch…
Mama eagle with 3 eaglets, if you can zoom in you can see them (they’re grey)
It was time for me to get back to the boat after a really wonderful day of exploring the island. I highly recommend Lynda for anyone wanting to explore Dutch Harbor. Next time I might have to get Dennis to take me out in their boat to find those sea lions and get a better look at those otters. 😉
It was a beautiful sunny day, the first one we’d seen in a while. I took advantage of the weather and decided to go for a walk around town. Since we were docked at the Ferry Terminal, the first thing I did was to visit the Kodiak Visitors Center right around in front.
Kodiak Ferry Terminal
The people there were very nice and helpful. They gave me some good ideas for things to do and answered a bunch of my questions. What I really wanted to do while in Kodiak was to see the world famous Kodiak bears. They told me it wasn’t really the best time to see them yet (they’re most active later in the year when the salmon are spawning). Since I was limited on time I didn’t bother trying to connect with a guide with a floatplane as they suggested.
Kodiak History Museum
I was looking forward to checking out the Kodiak History Museum, right across the street. I was disappointed to see that it was closed (only open Wed-Sat). I could only peek through the windows in the old house and take a walk around the grounds to see some statues and grave markers from hundreds of years ago. That led me around to the Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Church. This place is famous as being the oldest in the country- established in 1794. It’s characteristic blue onion domes are a reminder of the days when the Russians occupied Alaska. The parish priest was actually canonized and became a saint (Saint Herman) due to his efforts in behalf of the native Alutiiq people. His casket still remains here.
Holy Russian Orthodox Church- oldest in the countryInterior
I took a few photos outside and took a quick look inside, but they were holding Sunday services so I didn’t stick around too long. I would have liked a closer look at some of the icons and other religious objects inside but not enough to hang around through the entire ceremony. Outside they were preparing a bar-b-que and I stopped to ask a few questions. “What is there to do around here on a Sunday morning?”. “Well, you could join us for a bar-b-que”, the men told me. “There’s not much else”, they said. But they did tell me about some nice trails for hiking and recommended a couple of restaurants for later (it was still even too early for lunch).
Up the block was a small park celebrating the original Alutiiq people, the Alutiiq Ancestors’ Memorial. A unique gateway led into the park, insides covered with small metallic salmon- an indication of how important these fish were for them. It was a nice place to rest for a few minutes and read about some of the native people and their history.
Continuing up the street, I was looking for the Alutiiq Museum. I was interested in learning more about the history and culture of the native people here. Sadly, it was closed for renovations until 2025.
I circled back around, hoping to visit the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, but it was closed too (only open Tues-Sat 12-16). I was getting discouraged on finding much to do with my time here.
Giant Kodiak bear statue outside the visitors center (Star of Kodiak in the background)Kodiak Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center in Kodiak, AK
I decided to take a walk around the harbor and maybe see some fish being unloaded. Fishing is a big business in Kodiak (and Alaska in general). Kodiak is home base to over 2000 fishing vessels. They fish for salmon, herring, halibut, cod, pollock, and (of course ) crabs.
Kodiak fishing fleet
The boardwalk was quiet and lined with plaques explaining about the harbor and fishing industry of Kodiak. I stopped to talk to a group of local fishermen enjoying their morning coffees and smokes. They were in high spirits and looking forward to a good catch. I wished them good luck and continued to the end of the boardwalk and over across the street to the Ace Hardware (where I was looking for a few items).
Across the harbor is a shopping center with a few popular bars and restaurants. My crew had already told me how they enjoyed their time at Tony’s. It was still too early for me to want lunch, but I checked out the menus they had posted at Henry’s Great Alaskan (and couldn’t believe the prices!).
Henry’s Great Alaskan menus- check out those prices!!
Wandering back to the boat, I noticed a few interesting murals/photos posted around town. They’re part of an exhibit of the Kodiak Maritime Museum that I was really interested in. They have those QR codes where you can scan them with your smartphone and find out more information. Too bad I couldn’t get that to work on my phone.
Next to Trident Seafoods is a big parking lot for the harbor, with a boat ramp and an exhibit of the old canneries. There’s also a little boat there with an interesting story. the “Thelma C“. She was a typical salmon seine boat, maybe the last survivor of this type of vessel. Saved by the people of Alaska and the Kodiak Maritime Museum.
explaining the story of the Thelma CThelma C
All in all, a good mornings walk. I needed to get back to the boat. Hope to be able to come back to Kodiak again in time to see the bears. 🙂
I’m coming back. I’m working on trying to fix all the problems that popped up while I was away.
I have no idea what happened. Does anyone else have these random problems with their blog? Blog disappearing from the web? Widgets not working right? Not able to update the site?
I just went to a site called “fixmysite.com” and looking to get their help to fix everything. I’m hoping they won’t ask much of me since I have no idea what they were talking about in the confirmation email they just sent me.
It’s been a long time. I’ve debated just giving up and letting the blog go, but when the renewal notice came in recently I decided to keep it.
I haven’t been blogging because I haven’t felt like writing. I haven’t felt like doing much of anything at all. It’s been really, really hard for me to get motivated to do anything. If you’re been following me for any length of time, I’m sure you can guess why.
One reason I started this blog was to try to build an audience for my work. My writing, photography and art. Another was to ‘meet’ people online, from all around the world to have interesting conversations.
I haven’t had much success with the first goal, I’ve never made a dime from anything to do with my blog. I have kept on hoping to find a way to earn some income here, whether from directly selling a painting or photo to someone who sees something they like, or someone likes what I’m writing and gets in touch to see if I can do anything for them, or even figuring out how to put some relevant ads on here (instead of the ridiculous crap they’ve been putting up- I’m pretty sure no one here is really interested in those ads for skin creams or the diet pills that ‘really work’).
I’ve had much better luck with the second goal: to meet interesting people around the world and learn from each other about all kinds of things. I really was hoping for more back and forth discussion, but maybe a blog is not the right place for that? Facebook seems to get all of that sort of action.
I don’t want to scare off anybody, but I’ve decided that sometimes I do really want to just go at it on here. I want a place to express my thoughts and not have them censored. Facebook and Twitter are getting to be really bad about that sort of thing.
So. I hope if you’re still hanging in there, following me and looking forward to seeing whatever I may post, that you won’t get scared off by what I’m fixin’ to do.
I managed to get back offshore. I’m actually on a drill ship off the coast of Guyana (South America). I’ll write more about that soon. As usual, I don’t have a lot of time or internet access to be able to blog much from out here, but I will try to post more often than I have been lately (that shouldn’t be hard at all). 😉
Please comment and let me know what you’re up to and your thoughts on this. I’m really hoping to get back into the online community (I still miss the old wordpress).
I’ve been at work the last couple of weeks (finally), so I haven’t been able to get online much. We just got back in to the dock and my phone started working again. Things have slowed down a bit now, so I’m taking the opportunity to check out the blogosphere and found Cee’s Flower of the Day challenge for today. So here’s my orchid shot…
I always enjoy these photography challenges whenever I see them. I love to see the beautiful photos everyone posts, and I like to share mine too. 🙂
Here’s the link to this week’s challenge- Leading Lines.
And here are a few of my photos.
#Vernadsky Station, Antarcticainterior of the Cathedral on Plaza de Armas, Santiago Chileboardwalks leading to the ‘tents’-Mpingo Ridge Tanzaniathis one’s leading right out of the photo 🙂 Cancun, Mexicogazebo on Lake Ponchartrain, at Fountainbleau State Park LA
I hope you like my photos, if you click the links in the captions, you can find out more about them. 🙂
Here’s my entry for Cee’s B&W Photo Challenge: Hot or Cold Things. I was very lucky this year to go on a trip to Antarctica. I’ve been dreaming of a trip like this for decades. I had a fantastic cruise on the MS Roald Amundsen with Hurtigruten cruises. Here are a few photos. It was definitely COLD! 😉
We were very lucky with the weather so far. It was very changeable, but most of the time so far was pretty nice. Sunny without much wind. This was our first real meeting with “authentic Antarctic weather” according to our captain.
The weather eventually got better and it was more enjoyable to hang around and watch these funny little guys. More on that later…
When you’re 90 years old, what do you suppose will matter most to you? My health, and especially my mental state. I would hate to live to be 90 years old and too sick to get out and do any of the things I enjoy. I would rather be dead than lose my mind (or the use of my body).
What’s the best way to spend a rainy afternoon? Reading a good book.
What is one thing you don’t understand about yourself? How do I manage to accomplish everything I set out to do (eventually) EXCEPT lose weight?
When was the last time you tried something to look ‘cool’ (hip), but it ended in utter embarrassment? Details? I’m trying to remember the last time I tried to ‘look cool’. I really can’t. It’s been decades since I’ve tried to do anything to impress anybody that way. I can’t even remember doing that when I was young. I never really thought that way. Always just “take me the way I am, or screw it”. Too many people in the world to worry about acting to impress.
And I like this one from last week so will include it here…
If you’d like, please list five things that are priceless to you. Freedom, liberty, friends, ability to travel, books.
I had another photo challenge come up in my Reader tonight. This one is the Tuesday Photo Challenge hosted on the Dutch Goes the Photo page. This week’s theme is: Overhead.
I took these 3 photos in Paris last winter. This first one is the ceiling over a stairway at the Palace of Versailles just outside Paris.
Hard to believe they spend so much time and effort on a ceiling, big contrast to modern times, right? The next one is also at the Palace of Versailles.
And, looking up at the Eiffel Tower. I spent much more time looking at it from this angle than I spent at the top. The line was hours long. I’ll never make that mistake again. Totally NOT worth it!
Head on over to the challenge and see what everybody’s come up with. 🙂
I meant to get this done earlier, but a lot’s been going on the last couple of days. I found this “Friendly Friday” blog challenge last week and made a post for it. This week there’s a different host and a different subject.
It’s already Thursday so they’ll probably come out with something new tomorrow. Check out everybody’s posts for sunrise this week. Here’s mine…
I was able to fulfill another bucket list fantasy- ballooning over the incredible landscape of Cappadocia. We floated silently around rock spires and canyons, with only the occasional burst of the burner to give us more height and the clicks of the dozens of cameras.
We headed out before dawn so we’d be in the air to see the sun rise. it was spectacular. My photos don’t do it justice at all. We slowly drifted down where the ground team met us in a dry field to pack up the balloon while we had a champagne toast to celebrate our morning.
Here’s something a little different. It’s a song about the British Navy’s battle of Trafalgar with France and Spain off the coast of Spain. I’ve been reading some of my Sea History magazines and they sometimes write about stuff like this.
I wonder how many Brits will know this song? Spaniards? Any readers out there heard this one before? I’m not that much into military history, but even I remember hearing about that battle, cool that they wrote a song about it. 😉
Farewell Shanty On the twenty-first of October, before the rising sun We formed a line for action, boys, at twelve o’clock begun. Brave Nelson to his men did say “The Lord will prosper us this day. Give them the broadside; fire away, on board a man-of-war.”
Chorus: Let him die in Peace, God bless you all, On board a man-of-war. Let him die in Peace, God bless you all, On board a man-of-war.
From broadside to broadside our cannonballs did fly. Like hailstones, the small shot, around the deck did lie. Our masts and rigging were shot away, besides some thousands on that day Were killed and wounded in the fray, on board a man-of-war. Chorus
May heaven reward Lord Nelson, likewise protect his men. Nineteen sails of the combined fleet were sunk and taken in. The Achille blew up amongst them all, which made the French for mercy call. Nelson was slain by a musket ball, on board a man-of-war. Chorus
There’s many a brave commander, with grief he shook his head But yet their grief had no relief, for Nelson he lay dead. It was a fatal musket ball that caused our hero for to fall. He cried `Fight on. God bless you all’, on board a man of war. Chorus
Let’s hope this glorious battle will surely bring a peace, And that our trade in England may flourish and increase. Our ships from port to port go free and turn the hearts of our enemy. To Nelson’s death and victory, on board a man-of-war. Chorus Let him die in Peace.
“Odd Ball Photos are those great photos that you take which really don’t seem to fit into a common category. We’ve all taken them and like them, because we just can’t hit delete and get rid of them. If you have any of those type of photos, this challenge is for you.”
Check out the link, see what everyone’s posting and join in the fun. 🙂
Cee has more challenges this week. I saw this one and had to jump in. Here’s the rules from Cee…
“This week the topic is Close Up of Flowers. Any flower will do. It can be a natural flower, artificial, or even handmade. Just get as close as you can with your favorite camera, and lens, if you have an interchangeable lenses. Macros are allowed too.”
A single waterlily, details are beautiful
Take a look at Cee’s blog and see what everyone’s posting. There are some real beauties. 🙂
What happened to all my bloggers? I was looking back through some of my old email and noticed I used to have quite a few cool blogs delivered straight to my email. I really used to enjoy seeing them pop up every day.
I don’t usually get the chance to work on my blog when I’m offshore, but I can almost always check my email so I prefer to sign up and get my daily dose that way. I saved some of them in my email when I thought they were really good, something I might look at again.
The Daily Post, Harsh Reality, The Culture Monk, Sass & Balderdash, Bucket List Publications, SFoxWriting’s, Southern Fried Science, Northierthanthou, Don Charisma, etc. What happened to them all?
I don’t see them any more. I don’t see most of them in my WordPress Reader any more either (the ones with the links are the only ones I could still find when I searched). I wonder what happened? Are they all still out there somewhere? Some of them were very busy, they had hundreds of thousands of followers and lots of posts and interactions.
Did all those bloggers just get tired of blogging and give it up?
I found another photo challenge thanks to Cee.She has compiled a whole list of them. This one is a ‘photo adventure’ from the Little Pieces of Me blog. It’s going on for a whole month. You can post once, or as many times as you want. This month, the theme is…
bo·keh/bōˈkā/nounPHOTOGRAPHY
the visual quality of the out-of-focus areas of a photographic image, especially as rendered by a particular lens.
I usually try to get my subjects in focus. I get blurry photos a lot more than I’d like. The point with bokeh is to leave the background (usually) out of focus. Sometimes, even the whole photo out of focus looks good.
I’ve been trying lately to practice doing this. I don’t really know what I’m doing with my camera, so when the photo turns out good I’m always happily surprised.
I usually use a point and shoot camera. Just because it’s easy to carry around with me. I usually keep it in my pocket all the time when I’m out and about. Some people can take really great photos with their phone, but my phone is not one of those.
When I know I’m going somewhere I will be taking a lot of pictures, I take my good cameras with me. I love my Sony NEX-5R even though it’s old and should probably be upgraded. It’s much lighter than my other cameras and takes great pictures, even in low light.
Here’s my entry to the challenge. I took this one with the Sony camera.
I may be able to come up with more later. 😉 If you want to join in and see what everyone else is doing, click the link here.
I don’t have any asparagus around the house to photograph, tho I do have some out in my garden. It’s not nearly ready to harvest yet, and it doesn’t match the color swatch anyways. I’ve looked through my photo stash and this is what I’ve come up with for Jennifer’s Color Your World Challenge for this week- Asparagus…
Most of what I found were of some type of plant/vegetation, but some were man-made. I found this display of tiny dinosaurs at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
This asparagus colored plate (with delicious entree) was served to us at the Lemala Mpingo Ridge Camp in Tanzania.
I always enjoy these challenges. It’s fun to try to come up with something to enter and to see all the different ideas people have to play along. If you want to see the rest of the Color Your World series and see what’s coming up in the future, click this link.
I had just written a really good, long post about this book I just finished reading. “Beyond Beautiful– (A practical guide to being happy, confident, and you in a looks- obsessed world)” by Anuschka Rees. WordPress deleted the whole thing as I was adding the photo! I don’t know if I can do it justice at this point. 🙁
I finished the book in just a couple of hours. It’s only 185 pages long. It would’ve taken me longer if I had taken the time to do all of the ‘exercises’. I don’t think they would’ve helped me much. I’ve already got to the point of ‘don’t give a damn what other people think’.
Of course I’ve always known how ‘looks-obsessed’ we are in this country. I’m fat. I know that. I’ve been fat since I was about 13 years old. I’ve tried every diet in the book. I’ve gone so far as to have my teeth wired shut, and even now I’ve got the lap band (it’s not working either).
It sucks to have random strangers yell insults at you when you’re walking to school, or trying to have fun at the beach (“hey, it’s a beached whale”, etc). After all these years, I’ve gotten a lot better at ignoring all those idiots. But yes, of course it still hurt. It hurt even more when my grandmother would tell me how my “face is so pretty”, like the rest of me was not.
I used to tell myself “if people don’t like me the way I am, then they can just go f*&k themselves!”. I still think that way, even more so now. At this point I could give a damn what other people think of my opinions, my fashion sense, my choice of car, or my looks.
What I got out of the book, what really surprised me, is how Rees states that pretty much every woman has such insecurities. Such poor body image. I have to think this is just an American issue. I find it hard to believe some poor woman struggling to survive on $1-2 a day in the slums of India or the wilds of Africa would obsess about how she’s not able to shave her legs ever day (or even her pits). That nobody would ever like her, that she’d be shunned by society.
It’s amazing to me to hear that so many women are so concerned about how other people see them that they’ll obsess about every little imperfection. I mean really, no one is perfect! No one! And who has the time, energy, or money to spend on the attempt to make yourself ‘perfect’?
But apparently a lot of women do this. It’s not just shaving their legs, fixing their hair, putting on makeup every day. It’s all that and more! Botox for the lips, liposuction for the belly, boob jobs and butt jobs and on and on and on.
Can you believe, they’re even doing surgery on their vaginas? To make themselves ‘attractive’ ‘down there’.
Women are spending a fortune on this crap! In order to feel good about themselves with all this insane social brainwashing going on all around us constantly.
WHY are so many women falling into this trap? Rees mentions advertising and how social media has been making it worse lately.
I have to admit, when I was younger I bowed to social pressure. I did try shaving my legs (I do still shave my pits). I used to wear makeup and wear something other than shorts, flip-flops and t-shirt if I was going out somewhere ‘fancy’. I still might do that if I ever go out somewhere ‘fancy’ (which doesn’t happen much at all these days). I gave up shaving my legs a long time ago, never did see the point to that.
I’ve never plucked my eyebrows, I’ve never used hair removal products, never used skin whitening stuff, rarely use lotions or cremes, almost never do my nails. My boobs and my butt are plenty big enough.
My thing is my weight. I’ve done just about all the things you can do to lose weight, including the teeth wiring and lap band. Thank god I never solved that problem so I could move on to the rest.
That’s another major point I got from the book: you fix one thing only to find something else bothers you and then you have to go on to obsess about that thing until you fix it.
Why can’t we just get over this whole idea that looks are what’s most important?
I’ve noticed this obsession is very obvious in America. Everyone is all about looks. They look at your clothes, your car, your house, your yard, and judge you. I don’t see that kind of thing anywhere else. Is this just an American thing? Or is it common in other places around the world? Any comments?
I’ve been stuck at home since my last job got cut short (again). I get antsy when I’m not working for months at a time. I start freaking out about money and bills, then start feeling trapped and depressed and don’t feel like doing much of anything at all. Since October, I’ve only had 5 weeks of work and it’s looking pretty slim for the next few weeks as well. 🙁
I’ve been trying to keep busy. I go see a movie to cheer up if there’s anything decent playing. I’ve stopped going to my usual (entertaining and interesting) Tuesday night political meetings since they’re just so frustrating now. I go to art class on Tuesdays (this morning was the last one for a while- the teacher is taking a break). I may start going to ‘open studio’ instead. It’s on Wednesdays, or Monday nights.
I’m getting around to doing things I’ve been putting off: I was working in the yard til it got too hot, working on my taxes, re-reading books I’ve been saving before deciding if I can now bear to get rid of them, uploading some photos to the stock agencies.
Here are a few examples…
Herd of buffalo in the SerengetiLilac breasted rollerPalace of Versailles from the rear Pair of pink tulipsFresh, organic vegetables at a farmers market
Stock photography- like the blogging, was supposed to be a side gig. A way to earn some income when I wasn’t able to get offshore. I hate to say it, but neither one has worked out that way. Both take a hell of a lot of work to keep up with. So far, I’ve earned a grand total of $7.83 on Bigstock and $6.46 on Dreamstime. A big, fat $0.00 from the blogs.
My thought was to sidestep the editors. To get my work out in front of the public where I figured at least some people would like it enough to buy something. I know it’s possible to earn an income from both blogging and from photography. I know people personally who are doing both.
I wish I knew their secrets. It seems the main issue is how to attract attention? How to be found among the 81 million on Bigstock alone? Or the 500 million ++ blogs in the world?
Just curious, does anyone you know earn anything from either stock photography or blogging? If so, do you know how?
Here’s another of Cee’s photography challenges to join. This one is for the Flower of the Day- May 26th- Bearded Iris.
I just took this photo the other day. Couldn’t help pulling out my i-Pod at the grocery store and snapping shots of all the gorgeous colorful flowers. 😉
Cee’s Black and White Challenge’s topic for this week is: small subjects.
Here’s the kind of thing she’s looking for…
Black and white photography
Sepia tones (browns)
Selective color with the majority of the photo being in black and white
Desaturated – very little color tone left in your photo
So, here’s my entry…
I was up in Galveston a while ago. Wandering around town with a friend after dropping off some of my paintings at the From the Heart Gallery where I’ve been trying to sell some of my art. We were enjoying looking at all the historical buildings, taking lots of photos, and window shopping. I took these photos in one of the antique shops around the Strand. Just a bunch of little china statues of cute little buildings.
I took this photo at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. It’s labeled as a “sandstone concretion”. I really loved looking at all its twists and turns. I always enjoy this museum, they have a great exhibit on insects and a butterfly ‘garden’, and they have frequent very interesting lectures and presentations.
I haven’t been keeping up with blogging as much as I’d like lately. Part of the reason is I got some work last week and had very little internet access. The other reason is that it takes so much time to do a post justice (especially since they came out with the new WordPress style) and I just haven’t been able to get motivated.
I’ve been home for a few days now. My last job was cut from 3 weeks down to just one week. I’ve been able to rest up and now have the time to check into the blogging world again. First up in my reader was this post from Melanie and her sparksfromacombustiblemind blog.
Is it better to suspect something (bad or hurtful) and not know or to have your worst fears confirmed by sure knowledge? I would rather know for sure. I figure that way I can at least try to do something about the situation. Then again, there are so many things I just can’t do anything about. All the things going on in this country (and the world) make me sick! If I think about it, it makes me miserable. Sad, frustrated, angry, depressed, mean and just miserable. Sometimes I think it would be better to live in ignorance. I’m sure I would be much happier to not know all the things I do know. 🙁
What makes you laugh aloud? Crack up? Laugh until your sides split? When was the last time you had a great big belly laugh? Watching a funny movie, like something from the 3 Stooges or the Marx Brothers or Mel Brooks.
Here’s a screen shot of what gave me the last big belly laugh…
“Boat hack #117 – Form two Little Debbie brownies into a shit shape. Wipe toilet paper across it so the crime scene looks legit. Strategically place in head and sit back and watch your crew blame each other and argue over who cleans it up. Film and post if possible”
I saw that yesterday in a Facebook page I follow- Offshore Supply Boats & Crew Boats. Maybe you have to have some experience working offshore in the Gulf of Mexico to get it, but I cracked up laughing.
Maybe I’m just weird, and still have a juvenile sense of humor, but I really enjoy a good shit-fart-sex joke. The more disgusting, the better. 😉
Do you suppose Noah had woodpeckers in the ark? If he did, where did he keep them? Apologies to the Darwinians in the crowd…this is merely for fun, okay? Great question! I am a “Darwinist”, but have thought about stuff like this many times. One of the reasons I’m a “Darwinist” and not a follower of the Bible. If that story is true, he must’ve had some woodpeckers in there- all kinds of woodpeckers. Some of those guys can really do a lot of damage. I imagine they would’ve put a real hurtin’ on that old ark by the time the floods settled down. Maybe Noah fashioned a special metal lined cabin for them all?
Why is “Charlie” short for “Charles when they are the same number of letters? Another good question! Why is Billie short for Bill (or William)?
What happened in your world this past week that made you feel thankful, joyful or grateful? I am so thankful I got even that short week’s worth of work! It gives me at least a couple of weeks breathing time before I start really worrying about paying the bills again!
Here’s my choice for the Ragtag Daily Prompt. The subject is “bench“. I took this photo a couple of years ago on a trip to Turkey. I love all the history and beautiful art and architecture there. This is one of the courtyards inside the huge Topkapi Palace. The benches surround a fountain with rose bushes all around it.
People always come up with such interesting posts for these challenges. If you want to check it out, click the link above, or right here.
I love a good photo challenge. Here’s one from Amy and The World Is A Book blog. Here’s what she says about it
This week, I am hosting L-A Photo Challenge. I hope you’ll join me and share what “less is more” means to you. Looking forward to reading your interpretation, e.g. how you focus on a subject when you take a photo of a landscape, building, person, or your pet, and perhaps how you simplify your life style. Make a link (ping back) here and remember to tag your post Lens Artists so followers/ readers can find you.
Here are a couple of my photos on the theme of ‘less is more’ or simplicity…
A single waterlily, details and patterns are beautifulnice linesentire parade was so busy-chaotic- details are interestingclose-up of daylily adds interesting textureinteresting expression and textures on this vulture
You can see I like to concentrate in my photos on the details. I tend to do that in life too. It probably works better in photography. 😉
If you’d like to check out everybody’s posts or join in yourself, just click the link at the top of my post, or right here. 🙂
