And yet again I am playing catch up...serious catch up this time. Time seems to be my nemesis these days. No matter what I do, I cant seem to stay ahead of the game. I have a lot going on right now, things that are pulling me in what seems like a million different directions. The only way that I am maintaining even a tiny piece of sanity is to just take one step at a time and know that eventually I will get where I need to be.
I don't like the fact that I have neglected my blog. It has been a major part of my daily discipline for almost nine years. When I started feeling overwhelmed, I let it slide. I've never really been sure whether it was worth the time to post here every day or whether it was just an aspect of "belly button gazing." My very first blog post was about whether or not a personal blog was a narcissistic endeavor. Maybe it is, but I am grateful for the number of people who read what I have to show and tell. The thing that has given me the motivation to write this post and catch up with all the photos that I have missed is all the people who have told me that they miss seeing the daily photos and have sent me messages wondering if I am OK since I havent been posting.
My plate is still overly full, but I am going to make a commitment to keeping up with regular daily posts. Trying to post thirty-some days at once is a big task! Fortunately, I had taken a photo every day so I just had to collect them all.
I have not been completely irresponsible with writing. My friend Tracey and I are working together on a joint blog: www.pixelsplatesandlols.blogspot.com
And, Blueper B, Mister Guy, and I also writing together. You can visit us at www.blueperbblueprints.blogspot.com
Thank you everyone for your support!
54/365-3 Potential
"The Mighty Pencil"
As a writer and composer, my pencil is my best friend.
55/365-3 Jump
"Don"t Jump!"
Seven years ago, when my husband asked me out the first time, he sent an email expressing his feelings and concluded with "If you are not interested, just tell me to take a long walk off of a short pier." My only response at the time was , "Don't jump.!" That whole scenario was the first thing that came to mind when I saw today's prompt. We now celebrate "Don't Jump Day" every year. We got a laugh out of this picture this evening when he said that perhaps he should have taken his wedding ring off for this shot. He did not have one on on the original don't jump day:-)
56/365-3 Future Investment
"Past, Present" Future"
I began taking piano lessons when I was four years old. Barely able to read words let alone music and with tiny little hands, my first piano teacher was willing to invest her time and energy in my future. Little did she know back in 1965 that that willingness would lead to many, many more lessons as a pianist and clarinetist, countless hours of practice, three degrees in music, and a career as a professor of music theory and composition. Over my years of education, many many people invested in my future. As a teacher, I now pay it forward and invest that same time and energy in every student that I have the privilege of teaching and hope that I have the same positive impact on their futures that so many of my teachers had on me.
This photo doesn't really do this whole scenario justice, but this teaching gig sometimes gets in the way of my photography:-)
This photo doesn't really do this whole scenario justice, but this teaching gig sometimes gets in the way of my photography:-)
57/365-3 Engaged
"Bowls"
I was "engaged" in another project tonight that involved finding the perfect bowl. I love hand thrown pottery. Since I work in the department of fine arts, we have awesome student art sales each semester and I can stock up. I am "committed" to helping our art department and their students. The bowls have rings. That is as good as it is going to get tonight. The truth is, I just love pottery:-)
58/365-3 The Season
"Erin in February"
Last year I vowed to get a decent photo each month of my adult daughters. One of them lives with us. She's easy. This one now lives and works about 45 minutes away. It is not as easy with everyone's busy schedules to get hers done. Dallas is experiencing a "snow event" today so her office closed early so she decided to come spend the day with her mommy. Well, I think she really came to hang out with her sister, but we'll pretend. She was happy to let me take a few shots of her out in the snow.
59/365-3 Anticipation
"Snowballs"
Blueper B and Mister Guy had fun playing in the Texas snow today.
http://blueperbblueprints.blogspot.com
http://blueperbblueprints.blogspot.com
60/365-3 My Heritage
"Me and The Bear"
Heritage is a hard one for me right now as I am left cleaning out my parents' house, which had been my grandparents' home as well. It contains many years of both family and local history as my grandfather was quite the historian. I am not a materialistic person nor do I have room for a lot of "stuff" so I am carefully considering what I will keep and where to give other things so that they will be loved and appreciated. The one thing about which there was no question is this Teddy Bear. He was given to my mom when she was born in 1937. He was always in a special chair in "my room" at my grandparents house. The first thing I did on every visit was to go check on he bear. He is in Texas now. As I disassemble the home and lives of several generations it is fascinating to see what pulls at my heartstrings.
61/365-3 Vignettes
"Love You, Papa!"
This one falls into the category of "It's the thought that counts." I couldn't figure out how to get what I wanted.62/365-3 Where I Stand
"Feeling Lucky"
This is not at all where I started with today's photo. I originally enlisted my husband to stand with me when we got home from school today as I was glad to be home after the long day. I intended to include both of our feet in the frame, but managed to chop my feet off in this image. When I looked at the photos on the computer, this was my favorite. I hadn't even paid attention to his socks during the process of taking the pictures:-) I just wanted a photo of us standing together at home at the end of the day Maybe he feels lucky to be standing with me?? Haha. Probably not. I think he would have much rather have been watching the 5:00 news than having pictures of his feet taken:-) I'm lucky that he was willing to help.
63/365-3 Your 365
"Good Things"
I have been blessed with many good things throughout my life. As a product of the humanities, I receive great joy from anything having to do with literature, art, and, of course, music. Though I have always enjoyed taking pictures, I am relatively new to photography. It, especially through CY365, has given me yet another way to see and appreciate all the good that surrounds me. Had it not been for my CY365 journey, I never would have become fascinated by (addicted to) Lego minifigures. They are such a simple thing, yet they never cease to put a smile on my face whether through them being subjects of my photos or of someone else's. Add to all that coffee and my world is made even better!
Happy Birthday CY365!
Happy Birthday CY365!
64/365-3 Legacy
"Creative Energy"
First...I had to take my DSLR in to be cleaned so I am working with my phone. Second...this prompt was hard for me. I couldn't wrap my head around what legacy has been left to me, so I decided to go with what I am leaving. I texted my youngest daughter (22) and asked her what she thought I had given to her. Her response, "Creating things as stress release. Also, list making and punctuality." This is my picture of her response with help from Hipstamatic and Photo Studio.
65/365-3 Loved
"A Mother's Cookbook"
Since this is a second marriage for both my husband and I, neither of our mothers were living when we got married. We have afghans and quilts made by his mom as well as some paintings that she did, but it is her cookbooks that I really treasure. I love food and cookbooks, not those with fancy food requiring exotic ingredients, but those with recipes that a mother fed her family day in and day out. I love seeing the handwritten recipes shared with her by friends, the ones she clipped from the newspaper, the pages that have drips and spots on them as those pages must have been open often. These cookbooks offer a glimpse of the woman who raised my husband. There is also some interesting history - recipes from packaged food of the time (his mother died in 1980) and household tips from as early as the 1930's and 40's. My husband's mother and my grandmother were almost exactly the same age, but my dad was born when my grandmother was 20 and my husband was born when his mother was 40. It is kind of a weird juxtaposition of generations for me:-)
67/365-3 Green
"Cactus"
I am fascinated by the beauty of the cactus. This is one of my dad's that we brought home with us after he died.
68/365-3 Lime
"Layover in Philly"
It's not limes, fruit, zest, eye level, or macro, but it is Monday! We spent the day traveling from Dallas to Delaware. Blueper B and the Mister Guy enjoyed their layover in the Philadelphia airport.
Here's hoping for something green tomorrow!
Here's hoping for something green tomorrow!
69/365-3 Stems
"Eternal Light"
I started out photographing the stems, but ultimately, my focus shifted.
70/365-3 Turf
"Beach Grass"
There is no green turf around here today, but the brown beach grass was very pretty with the evening sun shining through it. My husband in the background taking photos with his phone (baby steps) was an added bonus for me.
71/365-3 Pokey
"Pokey"
At the risk of dating myself, here you have "Pokey."
72/365-3 On the Edge
"Glass"
I have been going through stuff at my dad's house all week. Today was china, silver, and cut glass. Realistically, how much of any of this stuff can anyone use? Apparently my grandmother and mother thought that the answer to that question was, "Quite a bit." I am trying tor keep a little for me and a little for each of my girls. It has been an overwhelming experience. This photo pretty much sums up what the world looks like to me right now.
73/365-3 Pi
"Phi, Not Pi"
We have been traveling all day. This is all there is at nearly 2am.
74/365-3 Patterns
"City Hall"
After being away all week, it is nice to be at home even though I am way behind in everything!!! Spring break just wasn't long enough. Though there is lots of interesting architecture in Dallas, I didn't have time to go to "the good places" today so I opted for our city hall. Interestingly, I have never photographed it, so I guess this was time and effort well spent.
75/365-3 Markings
Tulips After Debussy"
After snow and ice ten days ago, today was a GORGEOUS 75 degrees. As I was walking home from work today, I noticed a big patch of pink tulips on one of the corners. I stopped and snapped a few photos with my phone thinking that I would walk back with my "big" camera later. That never happened. These tulips are certainly marks of spring. But more relevant to my day, I had been analyzing a piece by Debussy with my music theory students. That was the "markings" of my day so it seemed like a good idea to use the Waterlogue app and give the day's tulips sort of an impressionistic feel as a nod to Monsieur Debussy.
76//365-3 Repeat
"Return of the Shamrock Boxers"
So here is the explanation...three years ago (my first year doing CY365) the prompt was "shamrock." As is often the case, I was scrambling late at night for my POTD. In a moment of desperation, I photographed my husband in his shamrock boxers. It became quite the joke between us. So last year, when the prompt came up again, the shorts returned. Though this year had no "shamrock" prompt, today's "repeat, echo, repetition, replay" seemed a reasonable day to repeat the yearly shamrock boxer shorts photo.
77/365-3 Shadows
"Shadows and Tonality"
78/365-3 Stitched
"Stitches from the Heart"
I am from a family of knitters - my grandmother, my mother, my aunt, my daughters, me...and my mother-in-law, whom I never met. My husband's mother died when he was just 22. Though his "starter wife" (his words, not mine) also never knew his mother, she never wanted anything from his family in there home. So, things remained packed away until he and I married and completely remodeled the house. In a trunk we found the white afghan pictured here. His mom made afghans for people as wedding gifts. While she was sick, she made this one and left it behind for Weber so that he would have one when he married. I suppose it is mean to say that I'm glad his first wife never found it, but I'm glad she never found it:-) The little hedgehog I made my for my daughter many years ago. He still has a prominent place in her room. There is no greater gift than those that are handmade.
79/365-3 Polka Dots
"My Dots, My Way"
This kid has been connecting the dots her own way since the minute she came into this world!
80/365-3 Swirl
"Swirls of Chaos"
81/365-3 Step Outside
"Surprise"
went outside this evening with my macro lens to photograph the first of our irises that have bloomed, which I did, but then I caught the shadow of a tiny flower (weed) through this leaf. The fact that I even saw this is a miracle for this blind person LOL, so I figured I better photograph it; it must have captured my attention for a reason. There is something about it that draws me in, but I cant articulate what that is...maybe with time.
82/365-3 Weather
"Symbol of Sunshine"
Our weather was perfect today, but unfortunately the perfect picture to illustrate that eluded me. This is really just a weed, but it reminded me of sunshine so I went with it.
83/365-3 Run Down
"Sleeping Baby"
Some of the cuteness of this sleeping "baby" has worn off in 25 years, but this is what there is. Now that she is a "big girl" and working, she was run down and asleep on the couch at 8:30:-)
84/365-3 Go for a Drive
"Drive Time"
I know this is not the case, but sometimes I feel like I am the only one here who can't spend the entire day working on the "perfect" photo. When I read this morning's prompt, I just laughed. Go for a drive? On a Wednesday? Really? Not happening. Although I'm sure my students would have appreciate the day off:-) The only drive of any kind in my life today was the flash drive that I carry back and forth to school.
85/365-3 Escape from the Everyday
"Lesson Learned"
Vacation: Lesson Learned - To say that this week has been hellacious and tiring is an understatement. When I got home last night I was exhausted and, to add insult to injury, we discovered yesterday morning that we had plumbing issues that needed to be dealt with when got home. Grrr. So, last night, I had no energy or enthusiasm for anything, including my POTD. Not willing to be totally defeated, I sat down with a magazine and a cup of coffee and eventually snapped a few photos, none of which did anything for me, so I let it go. This morning, while I'm at home waiting for the plumber, I looked at the photos from yesterday. I just chuckled to myself and thought, "lesson learned." I think that this was a shot that I took just to check exposure. I find it funny how only the "living" in Southern Living shows. What's the saying, "Life is what happens while you are making plans." So this morning, I have had a good night's rest and my perception and attitude are improved. Again wisdom has come to me through my daily photo. My "vacation" was time to sit and thumb through a magazine, have a cup of coffee from a mug given to me by an awesome friend, and realize that today is a new day with new opportunities...and hopefully an unclogged drain.
86/365-3 Reflections
"Reflections of Spring"
Our bulbs are in full bloom!
87/365-3 Hanging
"Hanging on a Saturday"
I spent a lovely day hanging (shopping and eating) with my girls. The B&W conversion here is thanks to my little one not wanting to remove her shadow-casting ball cap and the harsh middle of the day sun. Sometimes you just gotta take what you can get. As these two get older, I take every opportunity to photograph them together as these times are fewer than they once were. Though three years apart, they have always been best friends.
