120 - Ferris Wheel

This first photo is the one I've dedicated as photo number 120. I just like the way it turned out. Its dark and severe and overwhelming in its own way. It reminds me of how the carnival has always felt to me... dark... mysterious... foreboding.... intriguing...spooky...off putting... well and lots more words in that genre.

This next one was a very close runner up. It feels lighter to me. It feels like I am sure the carnival people want you to feel when you think of spending your money with them. Like a sunny day without care.

Given that, the first photo really embodies what has been in me since childhood.

There you go.

Have a wonderful weekend. I plan to.

Friday Miscellany; Just Read: Bright Lights Big Ass; And a spoiler (not necessarily in that order)

I haven't been writing much here lately. Seems the photographs take up much of my energy and there doesn't seem to be much left over for the wordy parts. I haven't posted today's photo, yet, and here's why. Because I took it yesterday and I don't have it with me to post. Ok, so, how does that work - - today's photo taken yesterday? Here's the story. Its Cinco de Mayo. And there is always a Cinco de Mayo fiesta on the waterfront. They have booths with food and games and stages for live music and carnival rides. They've been putting this fiesta together for five days. Each day, as I drive home over one of the bridges that span the waterfront (and the river), I see the ferris wheel being constructed and each day I say to myself, "Why don't you have your camera?!?" Well, yesterday, I remembered my camera and fortune smiled on me as a I drove onto the bridge, it was getting ready for a bridge lift letting water traffic through. I was stuck, sitting on the bridge in a very nice position to take a photo of the ferris wheel. I got several, I took them home and immediately checked them out. A couple fun ones. But, that was yesterday. I brought my camera today and I walked up on the bridge (our office is really close to the west end) and took some photos. Positive that I would get much better pics from the sidewalk and without the knowledge that I was sitting in traffic. The photos were no where near as interesting as those I took from the car. So, I'll post that photo from yesterday as if it was from today, because that was my intention, my goal and what I did my best to achieve. If I hadn't told you any of this, you'd never have known.

Next... I read several cooking/baking blogs. I love to cook and bake. I've been doing exponentially less of that lately, trying to cut my calories a bit and when I make something delicious, well, I want to eat it. Anway, I came across these home made pop-tarts from SmittenKitchen. They look divine!! I can smell them now. She lists some interesting versions and ways to make them either sweet or savory. Really, the filling positibilities are quite endless.

And, I finished Bright Lights Big Ass some time ago. I just realized this week that I hadn't completed my review (ha - "review" used very lightly). I liked the book. I have a couple friends who read it and they liked it more than I did. I may be a finicky reader or I'm just not as good at picking things out that the majority of people like. Did that make sense? Yes, I would recommend the book. It was funny and kitschy and a very easy read. It was light and didn't make your brain hurt with any sort of post reading pondering.

My weekend: Friends from Eugene will be here - very excited abou this. We'll do sushi tonight, not sure about activities tomorrow but it will include home made tamales and wine and a possible margarita. Very ready for the relaxation, or as my friend Catherine says "Chillaxin'"

Ciao bellas!!

Ok, here's a bonus shot. Yes, its the ferris wheel, but, I just could not get it to look like I wanted it to.

I would give it a grade C+. The one I'll put up later, from yesterday, I would grade as an A-. So, Wow! How excited must you be, waiting for that!!

Ok really this time - - Ciao!

119 - Barrel of Fun

Here's another photo that I've had in my mind for a couple weeks. I just couldn't get the angle, the light, the feeling, the emotion I was going for. Again, I just let go of my preconceived notions and let the photo tell me what it wanted. WOW! That sounded a bit more ethereal than I meant it to. What I mean is, I'm trying to live and let live and I think that I should try to apply that more to all aspects of my life, not just the people. Yes, photos can and do speak to you. Most forms of art do, in one way or another. Or, they don't speak to you and you move on to the next piece. Ok, starting to ramble.

Have a super Thursday. I'm going to try to do just that.

118 - Effervescence

I can't tell you how many times I've taken photos of the bubbles in my water. (Yes, I'm back on that kick.) The photos never, ever, ever turn out like I envision them. So, I decided to just funk it up with some dramatic color and contrast and call it good.

117 - white tulip

Just a tulip, near the end of its existence. Yet, still radiating beauty. Still bringing joy into the world. Still feeding those who rely on it.

116 Clover

I just liked the way it was two-toned, green and white, fuzzy and sharp.

Just Watched: The Invasion

We watched The Invasion with my brother and his wife last weekend. They had it on DVR and none of us had seen it. It stars Nicole Kidman, not my favorite actor of all time, but, she did a decent job in this film. Its a sort of spin of Invasion of the Body Snatchers from the 1950s (ish). I had never even heard of this movie and while that's pretty much the norm when it comes to, oh, just about all movies, this one actually bombed at the box office. I feel a bit better about not knowing now.

This version of the snatchers, had an interesting take. There weren't pods and new people taking the place of people, it was that humans were invaded by microscopic invaders without their ever really knowing it, you know, until it was too late and then they were happy about it. The usual drama ensues, implausible car chases, interesting techniques of flashing forward in bits to quicken the pace of the movie and still sort of give you all the bits of information you need to imagine how the story goes and then the ending. I won't ruin it for you.

In the end, it was okay. Not great. But not totally wishing I had done something else with that time either.

Just Watched: Wallace and Gromit - A Matter of Loaf and Death

Do you like Wallace and Gromit? I never had watched it until I met Mister. They are claymation movies about a British guy who loves cheese and his dog, Gromit, who has the brains in the pair. They have whacky adventures and the humor is quite adult but still something kids enjoy. I found this 30 minute film "A Matter of Loaf and Death" when I was looking into what films I should put on my "to watch" list and saw that it had been nominated for an oscar in the 'short animated film' category. It didn't win, but I wanted to watch it anyway.

We watched it this weekend with my family and I think everyone enjoyed it. I know that I did. The main human character, Wallce, meets a woman and her poodle and falls in love. Its up to the ever suspicious Gromit to figure out her devious motives.

It reminded me that I need to re-watch some of the others. I think Mister actually has them in our library.

114 - Bridge; & 115 - Waves

We spent the weekend with my brother on the coast. Always a fun and relaxing time. On Saturday morning, we headed out for a hike in the dunes, or rather, dunes adjacent. It was a trail my brother had hiked a short ways on a month or so ago. He thought that hiking further on the trail would be fun, partially in the shade and partly on the dunes in the sun. A nice balance. When we got there, the "trail" was a bit overgrown, but, no big deal. Unfortunately, the further we hiked, the worse the overgrownness became. At certain points, we were literally crawling on all fours. It actually was pretty fun. We aborted that mission and went out to the beach. We walked along a bluff path which used to be (in the good old days) just a dirt trail used by very few people, but today is a barked path. Anyway, we walked out along the bluff and watched the waves crash for over an hour.

This is the North Bend bridge. Its really quite pretty. If you grew up in the area as I did, you may have felt this was the northern most outpost of the town. Once you crossed that bridge heading north, it seemed the possibilities were.... more. Maybe that was just me. Today, as I drive south across that bridge, heading toward my family, I realize the possibilities really lie on both ends of the bridge. They are just different, one not better than the other, both having positive (and negative, but I don't want to focus on that) feelings and connotations.

Glad to be visiting, time flies much too quickly. Glad to be home again.

113 - Bird's eye view

My office is on the top floor of our building. Today, we are having concrete poured for earthquake preparedness. I could not resist reaching out over the edge of the deck railing and snapping this pic. Not a photo to write home to mother about, but, still, not a perspective you would normally have. Am I right? There you go, the top of a concrete truck. You are very welcome.

112 - Art

I work for a man who is a serious art collector. All the walls in the office, in fact on our entire floor of the building and on some of the walls on other floors too, oh and in the lobby, and completely filling his rather large home and a ton in storage and oh, yeah, almost forgot he has pieces on loan to various museums and even more pieces he has purchased but not received yet because the galleries want to keep them hanging.......breathe..... very long sentence there. Well, I'm calling it a sentence, so we'll go with that. Anyway, I really liked the piece of art on the wall as a backdrop to a pretty mundane stalk of eucalyptus. I hope you enjoy it too.

Clematis Overload

Ok, let's just get this out of the way right now.

#1 - I love, love, love clematis

#2 - My clematis, the one that I have, is blooming its heart out right now

#3 - I've been out there since before it bloomed, waiting for it to bloom and taking photos, so

#4 - Now that it has bloomed out, I have a ton of photos.

Now, most of the time, I'm struggling to get one good, decent photo for the day for my project 365. But, right now, I have so many that I want to share. I'm actually having a difficult time choosing which photo to share this week. And then there's the fact that I've only shared like one clematis photo so far because other stuff has come up in life worth photographing.

So, here goes. These are not edited. They are the photos straight out of the camera over the last few days. I could 'punch' them up, make them more dreamy, sharp, brilliant, stunning, shiny, but, didn't want to take the time. Just needed to share as soon as possible, without delay, and all that. So, here they are, for your enjoyment. Imagine some great song of your choosing to go along with the slide show.

Bon appetite!!

I particularly love this next one. Like, really really like it.

And my lovely bear Harley who likes when I sandwich myself against the fence between the ferns and azaleas and native bleeding hearts, trying not to tromple anything. He finds himself on the fence top by my head and I pet him and he's happy.

Wow, I'm rambly...

111 - Pink is the new drama

I thought I was clever. In the end, I'm hoping that's what counts.

Today is administrative professionals day. I have two staff who I try to always remember to buy flowers for..... for which I always try to remember to buy flowers...... whichever version you like, your choice today. Anyway, I adore gerberas and I also figured they'd make great photography. Both admins got gerbera bouquets.

No cards, no candy, no gift certificates. Its been a tough year for all.

City Walk - #1

City Walk number one from the book - Swan Island loop. What you need to know is that Mister and I did not decide to do a City Walk on Sunday until mid-morning Sunday - after sleeping in, after breakfast, after two grocery stores and after inviting family over for dinner at 6:00 and telling them I would make potato salad. That said, we only got in half our City Walk. At about the half way point, we decided that we should probably head back toward the car because we were going to be cutting it close in getting home and making food for guests and also it was full on sun out and the second portion of the walk had no shade and I was already sunburned from the day before. If that doesn't make you want to read further, I'm not sure what will. Ahem. So, the Kenton Neighborhood in North Portland. One of the older portions of our fair city. Named for one of the founders, Kenwood, but later they found out that there was another portion of the larger city already with that moniker so chaned it to Kenton.

This Paul Bunyon character was in a small pavillion which had other industry relics. Although, we never did see the relics. The book said they were there, we were relic challenged.

The Kenton district was the largest meat packing/producing in the Pacific NW. It was on the river and at the heart of the rail lines. The first industrialists bought many acres of land and instead of building and leasing homes to the workers, they did a novel thing and partitioned the bare land and sold it to the workers who built their own homes. Most of the homes were far smaller than 900 square feet - back in the day.

Eventually, the advent of refrigerated trucks made transporting meat so much easier that being at the hub of the rail lines wasn't so important. The butcher shops could then be located just about anywhere which spelled doom for the Kenton area. Soon the downtown area was nothing more than seedy bars and homeless people. The Kenton area has been the focus of revitalization and is becoming a unique trendy place to live and play.

This poppy was in a barrel outside a restaurant bar in downtown Kenton. It was fabulous. I don't think I truly caught its beauty.

This is an old firestation. Mister didn't really know I was going to take his picture, he just sort of turned around and I had the camera pointed in his direction. So, please ignore the slight scowl.

Bleeding hearts in the median by a home. I've been searching for bleeding hearts to photograph and there was an entire patch of them. So delicate and lovely.

This is the view as we walked along the bluff with Swan Island below us. Swan Island was named, well, because there used to be a lot of swans there. Industry moves in and the swans disappear - go figure.

Here is the bluff path. Not so exciting in the photo, but the grass on the left was bright beautiful green and on the right was flaming red. At first we were amazed at the contrast and how pretty it was then later realized the grass was probably red because it had been poisoned. Poison can be pretty is maybe the lesson.

C This is the industrial area where we were supposed to finish up our walk. As you can see, much sun, no shade. Our walk ended up being about the same physical distance, we just skipped the second portion of the circle. There is a park down on Swan Island, McCarthy?, and we'll probably finish the second arc on another day.

Here is a grand home built by, hmmm, can't remember the man's name. He was the son of the main founder of the area. The photo doesn't do it justice, huuuuuge lot of land and very large home.

The dogwoods were EVERY where and so pretty in pink. I took lots of photos of them. I just need a better camera and lens to be abel to capture the grandeur. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

Another City Walk soon as Spring and Summer are here.

110 - Mower

I've had this mower for years and years. My dad gave it to me. We have that kind of connection. I am pretty certain it was my grandfather's, but even as I type it, it doesn't make much sense. I'm pretty sure my grandfather had a huge, huge, huge lawn. I would personally be not so much inclined to mow a huge lawn with this type of mower, but then again, those were different days. I never actually used this mower, oh, I tried, but it is very old, very heavy and has very dull blades and is rusty, rusty, rusty. So, as soon as I figured out that my new treasure wouldn't actually mow my lawn, I went out and purchased a new version of the push-mower and loved mowing my lawn without using fossil fuels or electricity and also loved not adding to the noise pollution of the summer. Then again, there is something soothing about hearing a lawn mower from a distance on a warm summer day -- the smell of newly mown grass and the mower sound -- makes me want to have a .... oh, what's that drink that is half iced tea and half lemonade...? You know the one. Those things make me want one of those drinks and a lawn chair and my sunglasses and a nap.

Ok, that's that. I'm going to sift through my City Walk photos so I can actually get that posted before the new year arrives.

PS

Can you believe I'm all the way to photograph number 109!?!?! I am truly shocked and amazed. I didn't know I had it in me.

109 - Clematis

My clematis are blooming. I adore all the flowers but I would have to say that clematis is right up there in the top three of my favorites. Not only are they one of my favs, but, they are right in my yard so they are an easy subject. Get ready to be inundated with clematis this week, just warning you now.

And, by way of useless information, this photos (other than the framing) is sooc. As you probably have noticed, I've gone a bit crazee with the Photoshop. I just like to call it progress and learning and expanding my horizons.

How are you!?

106 - tulip deconstructed; 107 - RW&B; 108 - lilac (can't you just smell them...)

Wow, what a great weekend! We had sun, high haze and sun. Fabulous! I got my first sunburn of the year. I'm hoping its my last. A nice red ring around my neck and on my chest. Its really hard to remember that sunscreen is necessary when its mostly high thin clouds and you haven't seen the sun for 6 months. Maybe its just me. So, some early tulips are nearing their end. I found this beautiful bright red one with only one petal still hanging at a precarious angle and thought it would make a great photo. Well, it didn't. So, I turned it into what you see below. I think it turned out really fun. This flower I think is some form of poppy. It was blue in the center. I don't see too many blue flowers. There's all manner of purple flowers out there, but I so rarely see blue. Is that just me?

Yesterday Mister and I went on another City Walk. It was so gorgeous outside and there are tulips and azaleas and bleeding hearts and lilacs and good heavens, so many colorful flowers and bushes and trees everywhere. The dogwood are in full bloom everywhere here. I'll try to put up the three photos I took on our walk in the next few days. I like doing the City Walks, but I'm finding I don't like to recap it in writing. There's usually too much to write about and then I realize I've missed something about the walk and then the post ends up being long and probably boring to anyone but me. I'm not really much of a 'writer', I'm more of a rambler. And I'm ok with that.

Ok, so, in that light, I should stop rambling and move on with my day and let you do likewise.

Have a great week.

105 - Lucky #13

This photo is actually from the weekend, but, its still a photo I took, so I'm ok with its out-of-orderness. Brother and Sis-in-law were here over the weekend and we had a fabulous time. Let me see, they arrived Friday night, we talked for maybe an hour or so (can't remember) then went to bed. ... Ok, now that you've come down from the high of THAT adventure... Saturday was a Costco run, then a stop at the liquor store because we decided to have margaritas and a stop at the grocery to pick up stuff for lime chicken tacos (which were a complete hit - if I can say that since I was the one who made them - with a ton of help from sis-in-law). Oh, we made margaritas, drank margaritas, played dominos, took photos, hung out, chatted, went for a walk, ate food and that was our day. Doesn't seem like much, but we had fun.

I hope you have a marvelous weekend! I'd love to hear all about your adventures too. Even if it is just Costco and the liquor store ;)

365 - 103 Salt & 104 Bomber

The salted rim of a margarita. I don't drink them very often. Now I remember why.

A WWII bomber plane that flew overhead.

Nothing more exciting than that today.

365 - 102 - Kiwi in bowl

I like kiwi. You may be seeing different variations on the kiwi theme this week. I feel myself being transfixed each time I cut into one. Do you peel them? I don't. I think I'm not normal on this account.

365 - 99, 100 & 101

I know I'm late to the game, but I am really loving 30 Rock. Do you watch that? I Netflix it so I can watch while I'm on my elliptical. Makes the time fly right by. So if you hear me say "blurg", you'll know why. Its that time of year! One of my favs. I get to inundate you with flower photos. They rarely disappoint. At least, that's my feeling. Budding clematis Huckleberry and bleeding hearts.

I had to crawl into someone's front yard for this shot.

Red-Tinged Yellow Tulips

Two more tulip photos taken yesterday. I had a really hard time choosing between these two and the one I posted - red one. I love this time of year.

365 - 98

Flowers are popping everywhere, except our yard! Check out the subtle stripes in the petals of this beauty. Wonderful weekends to all!

365 - 97

Rosemary from our yard. Its so wonderful, blooms a lot, not just in the Spring and Summer. That is when the blooms are best. You walk by this plant and you get a slight scent of rosemary. You rub up against it, either on purpose or on accident, and you smell like a light breeze of rosemary for a long time.

365 - 96 - REVISED

I changed this photo from the one below to the one above. I'm still not happy with it, but, I may be slightly happier with the color version.

Then again, I just don't think I like this photo.

Orchids.

That's all I have today.

Have a good one.

365 - 95 - Power Outage

Monday evening we had a power outage due to the stormy weather. Our power never goes out. So we went out to dinner and lit candles and had a fire and life went on.