Spatter

Photo Hunt - Nautical

bydamanti

I was wishing I had a nautical themed photo that also had some obvious Valentines Day motif, but no...so I decided on this.  Perhaps it can be made so by imagining a romantic get-away where these are waiting for you and your love to sail away on them!

I'll have little, if any, computer time this weekend...I'll try my best to catch up when I return home.

More Photo Hunters found here

Camera Critters - Red Shouldered Hawk

bydamanti 

A few weeks back I was out taking pictures at Wakodahatchee Wetlands and was lucky enough to spy this fella posing on a fence.   

More Camera Critters participants found here

Two Memes

Two more memes have come my way and I've decided to give each a go...I must be in the mood. 

The first comes via Rob and asks this question:  If you lived on a desert island and could only watch one film featuring each of the following starts, which film would you choose?  Difficult as it was in some cases to pick just one, here are my choices:

Cary Grant:                     Notorious
Humphrey Bogart:         Caine Mutiny 
James Stewart:              It's A Wonderful Life
Audrey Hepburn:            My Fair Lady
Katherine Hepburn:       The Lion In Winter
Marlene Dietrich:           Witness For The Prosecution
Clark Gable:                   Gone With The Wind
Ingrid Bergman:             Casablanca
Lauren Bacall:                The Big Sleep
Bing Crosby:                   White Christmas

Now comes the part where I add to the list.  I decided to choose Jack Nicholson, and his movie Chinatown.  Feel free to take part.  If you do, add your own star to the list.

The second meme comes via Becca and asks that I write ten candid things about myself.  Here goes:

1.    I like to have a plan.  While I'll be spontaneous, I generally function better with an outline
       of some sort
2.    I can get teary-eyed at the drop of a hat
3.    I don't like being interrupted when I'm focused on a job or project
4.    I'm a chocoholic
5.    I can't stand pushy people

6.    I feel only loosely connected to this world. If it comes down to a fight at the end of my
       life, I think I'll probably forfeit the game

7.    I believe that time and space will always be a mystery and a frustration to me.       
8.    I'm a seeker. I love to explore and I love to learn
9.    My favorite thing to study is history in every shape and form.
10.  I pretty much always see at least both sides of everything.

I think I'm really supposed to give more elaborate responses, but these are busy times and I'm leaving it as just a list.  I'm also being "disobedient" in that I never do the tagging that's supposed to be done.  As always, I just leave it up to you. 

The 4th Of The 4th

Country Dew tagged me to participate in this little photo meme:  take the fourth picture of the fourth folder of your digital photographs and tell about it.  Well, as luck would have it, this is what showed up:

Ahem.  This was taken in my dorm room at the University of West Florida circa 1973-1974.  That's my guitar and Everglades National Park poster in the background...and that fella?  Well the only name I remember is "Sugar".  Despite what it looks like, we weren't drunk when this shot was taken, but 'tis obvious we had spirits on hand and drinking was done. Sugar and I never really dated.  Actually, now that I think of it he might have been dating my roommate.  I'm not sure.  I do remember that he was a sweetie and  we had a lot of fun together.  Those were great times!

No tagging here, but if anyone wants to share in the fun, please do!

Photo Hunt: Glass

"Cornucopia"

Taken at the Chihuly exhibit at Miami's Fairchild Tropical Gardens

List Of Fours

Who am I? There are so many ways to answer. Bonnie  defined herself in part by answering this list of fours. I decided it'd be fun to do the same:

Jobs I've Had

• Bank Teller - back in the 70s South...it was about the only position available for women there and then.  It was a step up in pay from grocery store cashier, but not by much.

• Door To Door Sales - selling photo processing and albums to people who couldn't afford them: couples getting married and/or expecting babies. The details of this job warrant their very own post, but trust me, it wasn't profitable!

• Work Measurement Analyst - my first "professional" job...I worked for the Hartford Insurance Group and flew around to regional offices developing and implementing work standards. That's nice talk for time management. I was one of the good ones though...I always allowed lots of times for incidental activities.

• Jailer - in the business it's referred to as "Correctional Officer". I spent 25 years in a variety of assignments and positions. That kept things interesting. I should have kept notes!

Books I'd Read Over And Over

• Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
• The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz
• The Hobbit -J.R.R. Tolkien
• A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

Places I've Lived

• Fort Lauderdale, FL - where I grew up and where I now live in winter/spring.
• Atlanta, GA - a "town" that holds some of my best memories. I lived there in the late 70s
• New Orleans, LA - a brief stay...that was enough. I can't say I ever got into it.
• Floyd, VA - my summer home these days...a piece of heaven.

Books I'd Recommend (just four??!!)

• Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin
• The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
• The Devil In The White City - Erik Larson
• 1776 - David McCullough'

Places I've Been

• Pike's Peak
• Grand Canyon
• Europe
• Cape Breton/Prince Edward Island

People Who E-Mail Me Regularly

• Friends
• Microsoft, Adobe, et al
• Various bloggers via feeds
• Various payees via e-bills

Of My Favorite Foods

• Pasta
• Chocolate Ice Cream...oh, heck...chocolate in any form!
• Rice
• Berries

Of My Favorite Drinks

• Iced tea
• Red wine
• Single malt scotch
• Coffee

Places I'd Rather Be Right Now

• On a photo expedition
• In a comfy place chatting with friends
• At the beach listening to the surf and watching the pelicans
• Sitting on the deck at Blackberry Ridge

Things That Are Very Special To Me (note it's not "beings")

• My health
• The land and sea
• Critters
• Seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching

Things I'm Looking Forward To In 2008

• The end of the Bush administration...it can't come soon enough!
• My traveling to Utah's Grand Circle
• Visiting Chattanooga - I saw the choo-choo back in the 70s, but never explored the town.
• Spending time with friends near and far

Photo Hunt - Wooden

"Tug Hull"
From the Seeing Things gallery @ bydamanti      

 

 

 

My Little Quirks

I got an unexpected email the other day from Bonnie.  Bonnie's been a presence in the blogosphere...at least the part I see...ever since I started blogging. She apparently has boundless energy since she reads and writes voraciously and maintains several blogs to boot. The two I visit most are Books Around The States - where she and others identify/catalog books by their story's setting, and then, provide a synopsis of them;  and the other Weekend Wordsmith - where she provides a weekly prompt idea for writers. 

While Bonnie and I haven't had a lot of dialog between us, I've come to sense that she is someone who's a bit of a kindred spirit. So when her invitation to participate in a meme said: "...I hope you'll do it for me. I'd like to know you better", I didn't hesitate in accepting.

It's called "Quirky To The Power Of Six" where you list six quirky things about yourself.  Hmmmm.  I don't consider myself to be very quirky, but after a bit of thought, I came up with these:

1. I have a bit of an obsession with the care and handling of books and can get absolutely (but quietly) neurotic when lending them to others...especially paperbacks whose covers are easily bent or torn.  I cherish my books and treat them like fine pieces of crystal.  I try to convince myself that a worn book is a good thing...a sign of having been loved and something that gives it character...but so far, I can't quite get over the hump.  This is an especially curious quirk since I can't read a non-fiction work without highlighting it.  It's a carry-over from college days. But of course, the marking is mine, and it is very tidy!

2. I sometimes stare into the mirror...specifically, into my eyes...to see who's in there. 

3. I have an irrational terror of lighthouse ladders.  I can't bring myself to climb them...even when they're only five feet long, and even though I know that there's a beautiful vista awaiting me.  I always ascend the spiral stairs with the intention of conquering, but once there, I freeze.  One time as I stood at the base of a ladder paralyzed, I had to step aside to let dozens of youngsters pass by and up. I watched with envy...and was so perplexed at why they could do it and I couldn't that I came to tears. The one and only time I made it to the observation deck was at the Prince Edward Island lighthouse.  Two hunky firefighters who happened to be visiting there at the same time saw me hesitating and offered to have me get between them.   It was so wonderful to finally have the coastal wind in my face and to be able to enjoy the view. 

4. I tend to get fixated on 'what', 'where', 'when' and 'who' and their  interface with  'why' and 'how'. I can't not ponder the world around me.

5. I don't like to write with a pencil that's not absolutely sharp.

6. I'm an incessant planner. That's not to say I won't do something on the spur of the moment or change course mid-stream, but I like having a plan laid out...something to start with...about anything and everything.

Well, there they are.

As is my practice, I'm deviating from the meme's instructions by not tagging anyone specifically, but I invite anyone reading this to participate either by a post on a blog or a comment here.  For the bloggers, here's what you're supposed to do:

• link to the person who tagged you
• post the rules on your blog
• share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
• tag at least three people at the end of the post and link to their blogs
• let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

 

No Time To Be Humble

I was in the middle of packing for my trip to San Francisco, when I get a tag from my friend Colleen to be part of a meme that was circulating - to note five strengths about yourself as a writer.  An intriguing thought to ponder, but I was preoccupied and put it aside.  Well, as I walked from closet to suitcase and back it kept rolling around in my mind.  Before I knew it, five things popped into mind.

1. My writing is physically fit.  There's no flab, just meat.
2. My writing is easy to remember. This makes it something you can carry with you and recall when the situation fits.
3. My writing is honest.
4. My writing is free from boundaries of style and form. It's lack of structure gives the reader permission to be imperfect too.
5. My writing has breathing room.  There's plenty of space for the reader to fill in his/her own blanks.

I posted this list in Colleen's comments, not understanding the "meme game".  This post is correcting my error.  In the interim, I've read the lists of other's and have realized something interesting.  My list didn't refer to ME directly, but rather, my writing.  Could this be subliminal timidity of doing exactly what the meme intended - to talk about one's strengths?  Hmmm. 

So , Beth , Susan , me , and  Leanne are any of you game to do this?  Click here to get another list to work off of - I don't think mine is too helpful.  If you do join in, then post a link to your list here, trackback me, and pass it on to four others.