Week Thirty-One: The Things She Carried

...and that, Best Beloved, is how the Leopard got its spots. Oh, hello there! Welcome back to the blog. We have a lovely installment for you this week. Full of dreams and imagination and memories and strange things. Alright, truth be told, this week is all about those things I find any and every time I decide to initiate a Great Purge. Doesn't always happen in the spring/summer, but does happen on a fairly regular basis. As I've moved hither and yon, I've accumulated rather a lot of stuff. Some of that stuff is useful and meaningful, but most of it is the byproduct of my tendencies to ferret away frightfully useful things that may or may not be needed or wanted at a later date. These, Dear Readers, are my skeletons. Please don't judge me too harshly...

Day 1 (211): 7th of July
Best thing about this week? Other than the mere four days of work required, the leaving on a jet plane and heading west young man is the highlight. By late evening on Saturday, I'll be safe in the bosom of the ancestral home where things make sense and I can bask in the glow of denial. Makes all other Life silliness bearable in the interim. Also motivates the Purge, as some things will be carried back Stateside for donation or destruction. Turns out I have some rather odd things in the running for Purge. Both impulse buys and strange things with unknown origins. For example, one hideous uncomfortable pair of sun specks (yes I tried them on), and one odd Happy Meal-looking bobble head toy that I know I've had for at least two moves, but I've not the foggiest from whence it came, or really even why it exists at all...

Then of course we have the pile of things that have either not been touched for years or have just far outlived their purpose. Here we have some ancient burgled airplane headphones, the charger from a Nokia I had in college, an underwater film camera (film still in it...), the charger/sync station from my 2006 Dell palm pilot (it was free and has since disappeared), and finally a 2012 planner (with not a single mark in it). Who does this?

Day 2 (212): 8th of July
An unfortunate side effect of digging in drawers is that the hits just keep on coming. One odd discovery begets another and so on. The heap of long expired birth control gave way to three cans of unused film and more odd bits of paper than I care to detail. Furthermore, found a stack of C4ISR magazines from 2011 (gosh I'm nerdy), a v rusty slinky, a random thing of lavender tea (probably stolen from a Hong Kong hotel considering the chinese lettering), gun oil, and not one but two packs of (expired) dollar store C batteries.

My many deployments and travels have resulted in the accumulation of much foreign currency, such as Japanese, Malaysian, Korean, Singaporean, Emirati, etc. Don't even get me started on the amount of Djiboutian Francs I still have. So much Monopoly money. At some point I acquired some odd plastic christmas toys with parachutes. And at the bottom you'll find a beaded bracelet I made a million years ago when having beaded bracelets was just the coolest.

Day 3 (213): 9th of July
As a wanderer of the world, I stay in many hotels, be they on ships, bases, or in normal towns. I also take things from hotels. Like keys (that I forget to shred), and apparently coffee singles, sugar, and pens. Sadly this is but a small portion of the amount I've discovered throughout the Purge.

Good Lord. It just keeps going. Must be a compulsion. Who needs this many notepads?

Day 4 (214): 10th of July
Nope. Nothing exciting in life at the moment (is there ever?) But honestly, what is this? A bag of marble-y things (with a hole in it so they can spill all over the place), and a scary finger puppet.

Good news, readers - I have graduated from places. And apparently needed several hat tassels to do so. Was I wearing three hats upon my high school graduation? And two after University? Good grief.

Day 5 (215): 11th of July
Hello. My name is Rodeo and I am a pack rat. If you give a Rodeo a little container, she will fill it with whatever will fit. For example, what to do with a Jelly Belly tin? Why not fill it with nothing but pennies, a pair of earrings, a marble-y thing, and movie ticked stubs from 2009.

I do tend to buy a lot of notebooks. It is a compulsion. Some of these have nothing in them, and some have loads of chicken scratch and doodles (apparently I have long been a doodler).

Day 6 (216): 12th of July
Ahhhh Business Class... America Bound! No more to say. But the things on the chopper this time are t-shirts. A great stack. Either impulse buys, grab bag buys, or random too-big shirts I'd have happily rocked at the age of 8, when I figured the bigger a shirt was, the better (thanks, '80s). Also some dresses that are either too big, too small (I've been many a size in my life), or too hard to explain (try things on, people!). All are getting their own bag for carriage back home. For photo purposes, my collection of nail polish that I've not used in rather a long time. So many colours.

Quality, no? Clearly I use these all the time...

Golly, Claire's?? Why? And When?

Day 7 (217): 13th of July
Erasers... so many erasers. This must have been a thing when I was just a wee young lass.

Yes. Polaroid. So much Polaroid. This one still has 3 photos left in the film.

Most importantly, I carry my memories. Daw... Gosh we look young.

My skeletons. And this has only been the tip of a large, frightening iceberg. Necessary evils, indeed. 

Week Thirty: Rhymes with Smilight

Realised I completely missed the fact that I hit day 200 last week. One of those moments that seems momentous and deserving of celebratory social media. But really not. A quiet "good job, old girl" to myself I think is more fitting. In tune with realising that I am fully on the downslope of this madcap project (yes I'm giving it more credit than it's due), I did all my photo-taking in the waning hours of daylight. Not just sunsets, mind you (not yet ready to re-resort to that tired old trope). Just worked on getting the light right for some rather domestic outdoor-y shots. hip hip.

Day 1 (204): 30th of June
Sometimes necessity truly is the mother of things. Like invention. And ingenuity. And photo themes. Brain death led to nearly not taking photos, so I figured on keeping things dusky. Not using the other word for the end of the day because unintentionally seeing the film by that name scarred me for life. And almost ruined my region of choice (the PNW). Sparkly vampires my arse. Stroppy metal fence design agrees.

Certain Felines. V needy, this one is. I go outside and have an instant shadow.

Flowers have it too easy. They just look nice all the time.

But even weeds can look nice in the right light... no?

Day 2 (205): 1st of July
New month (again... how do these things keep happening?). No new thoughts on matters. Not yet, any rate. Life seems to require Decisions. Big Decisions (thus the big D). Decisions that seem simple in concept but terrifying in possible execution. Curse being a Grown Up.

Check out these purple things. Notice the subtle subject change.

Seriously. Badass purple things (probably weeds).

Day 3 (206): 2nd of July
This day is a turd. I've not been sleeping much this week and as such have been ignoring my string of alarms and forcing mad dashing in the first thing. At least that worked in my favour today as I knew I'd be at the Work until rather late (thanks, meeting set around the schedule of People in the States). At least that did fit with planned late evening shots. This time focused on neighbour property (they weren't there, so I was a bit less dodgy).

Vineyards everywhere.

Really everywhere.

Day 4 (207): 3rd of July
Murphy's Law still ruleth the land. Get stuck with a 12 hour watch on the day before a four-day w/end (wherein it follows everyone leaves early). And it was another of those days that lead a body to think she has become Doreen the switchboard operator. You'd think people would be wise enough to leave their silly questions until after the long w/end. Spare those of us stuck answering them. Ah well. Block checked for another month or so. Here are photos of palm trees.

Alright, really just palm tree trunks. But ooh light.

Day 5 (208): 4th of July
Feels like a Saturday. About as productive. But only if you then subtract any productivity at all. I really ought go back to carrying a notebook for all my deep and/or brilliant and/or amazing thoughts. I know I have them, but somehow when it comes time to prove it to you, Dear Internet, I come up short. All I can tell you for certain on this my home nation's birthday, is that there is officially no sexy way to get out of a hammock. If one wants to use loafing in a hammock to seduce someone, that someone best not see one get in or get out. Witnesses should only see the portion where one is doing the loafing. If a cat is capable of laughter or ironic thought, I was quite the show for one today.

Happy American Independence Day.

Or Happy July 4th, if that is more your speed.

Day 6 (209): 5th of July
Really too unmotivated to provide excess commentary on this set. My lawn is in rather desperate need of a mow (reference yesterday's photos).

Plant part. Please note cat hair from cat that walked by just before I pressed the pickle button.

Day 7 (210): 6th of July
Painted my self in a bit of a corner with this theme. Means I have to wait till late to take the last photo. Thus a late publishing of blog. Mostly because it takes so bloody long for my fool internet to upload huge photos. But I'm having a gas playing country music at great volume all day; some while I was being lazy, some while working on my Great Shit Purge of 2014 (minimal progress so far). Finally, as the sun sinks lower, the only self portrait I will risk.

Do I mean Skylight? Highlight? Lo-fi-light? Bauxite? Lite-Brite?

Week Twenty-Nine: OK, Do This

So a fellow photography enthusiast (he's rather better than I) recommended an app called OKDOTHIS, which is all about inspiring people to do more and flex their photography muses. If you are interested, check it out here. I went all projecty on it and it made for an interesting inspiration challenge. See the results below.

Day 1 (197): 23rd of June
This day's Do was to "Go on a walk and create a floral arrangement from the flowers that you forage." Admittedly, I did not go all that far on my walk, but I did indeed make an arrangement. And a cat who was trying to assist in my endeavours eventually wandered off to clean his face in disgust (in the background of the shot).

Merry. Not much more to say.

Day 2 (198): 24th of June
Poking around in the available Dos, I found one that asked me to "Go all Nat Geo on your backyard." In an effort to not call pictures of cats or flowers Nat Geo material, I looked closer and found this guy. No idea where he came from, but there he was, just chilling.

Day 3 (199): 25th of June
Tea time. Easy, and right up my alley. This Do just said "Tea Time (tea cups, tea leaves, tea dresses and parties... Show us your best depiction of tea). I have one or two or fifty mugs in my cupboard, so I chose a selection of the ones closest to the front. Plus a particular favourite type of tea, my tweazers and bag holder, and even the kettle in the background.

Day 4 (200): 26th of June
I used to carry around a notebook all the time. Now I mostly just use them at work. The Do for today asked that I "Let us peek inside your notebook," and luckily I had one full of unclassified things sitting on the sofa. Note the awful penmanship...

Day 5 (201): 27th of June
"Shoot the sun through foliage." Ok. That I can do. All iPhoneto, this one (didn't have the fancy cam with me). And really, I squatted down by a bush, and shot looking up.

Day 6 (202): 28th of June
Today I was torn. I elected to follow the "do of the day" which was "Roofline Envelope: Upside down symmetrical pitched rooflines that are cropped to look like envelopes." However, the rugby game in the evening deserved to be featured - especially because the NATO team actually won. So I dug and founf both "Rugby" and "Action photography. Take a photo of something or someone in motion." My roofline is really an upskirt of my eaves, but close enough.

Rugby.

Motion / action. Gosh I miss playing rugby...

Day 7 (203): 29th of June
Wanted to keep it simple to end the week, and found a Do that only asked for "A picture of something that means the world to you, but nothing to anyone else." Pretty simple, what with Flipper still following me around the world. He's been with me since my English grandmother gave him to me before she died (I was maybe five?). Such a nice bloke, Flipper is. Not the best photo, but full of love.

Lots of iPhoneto work this week. Partly because the OKDOTHIS app is on the phone, and partly because the mobile shots just sometimes looked better. 

Week Twenty-One: Targets of Opportunity

I may have found my muse. Or if not my muse, at least someplace it has been. There is a bit of creative residue here. At least I hope that is what it is. Other residues are possible, but let's not think about that. Mostly on-base shots but that makes sense, as that is my environment of late. Went a bit nuts taking pics in NYC, and travel snafus caused a delay in my uploading the good ones. Ah well. All is well.

Day 1 (141): 28th of April
So when they told me "You're going to Virginia Beach" I had two thoughts. One was related to the glorious exodus from the grind in Crazy Land to a place with decent spring weather. The other may have involved the phrase "Bloody Virginia Beach" (or something similar). What I was not expecting was that the weather here would be startlingly similar to the wet dreary sogginess of Naples. But alas, such are the whims of the gods. Did make for some neat photo ops, like this rather empty pool on base Oceana.

And the drip drip drip of water on the asphalt.

Day 2 (142): 29th of April
One great thing about being in a classroom environment is that my schedule shifts for the better. my 0530 start becomes a 0830 start, and my 1600 finish shifts to a 1430 or at worst 1500 end. Gives me time to do things like the little bit of exercise my fool spine will allow. And wander about taking photos. Found this softball field on base with these silly stupid low benches in the dugout. Why do they do that for fully grown people? Most adults who actually play softball are not the kind who are good at getting off the ground easily. Asking them to sit on a bench six inches off the ground is a bit cruel.

At the same field I realised that I was returning to the scene of a past crime. In this very outfield, I got hit in the face by a line drive from a friend's bat (still have the scar over my right eye). Witnesses said my feet left the ground and I was essentially airborne before my limp body crashed to the grass.

Day 3 (143): 30th of April
More crummy weather. Have I mentioned that I am not the biggest fan of the Hampton Roads area? And excessively tall people in my class who have excessively twattish personalities. And who put their digits on my computer screen in order to tell me where to click and exactly what to type. That is the sort of behaviour that will result in loss of said digits, especially when I am hypoglycaemic. This pinecone is more relaxing. I forgot how much I like pinecones. Italy doesn't have them. Probably because it also doesn't have pine trees.

Not sure why I took this.

Day 4 (144): 1st of May
Gosh I wish I had more exciting things to say this week. But really the fact that the only things I've had to worry about are studying and learning and keeping up physical therapy is wonderful beyond what I can say. And today the Aussies proposed a class drink-up in the afternoon by the beach. The turnout was not great but really that just meant there was more for those of us that showed up. Even the weather cooperated. It was cloudy but dry and just the right temp to not need jackets. Silly details, I know, but that is what makes it, right? Check out the beach. No edits required.

Love was apparently in the air... again no edits required.

Then it got even better with the sunset.

Day 5 (145): 2nd of May
We finished with class at lunch. Best class ever. Probably won't fail next week's test. But I'll worry about that later. I've got two plane rides this w/end on which I can study. I promise I will. Really. No, really. Ooh! Look at the springy little fleurs...

They look even cooler in B&W.

Day 6 (146): 3rd of May
Off to NYC today. For the first time ever. Meeting my old college roommate this afternoon (after she sees a Yankees game... bless). Only been by NYC (gone over the bridge from Jersey), so this will be brilliant and intimidating. I'm totally going to rock the tourist thing. And try not to get robbed. But Naples has trained me for just this occasion. The day was pretty great. Went to a bar owned by my friend's landlord and had nice burger and beers. Got to see the inside of a TriBeCa loft (also owned by said landlords). Must be nice to be absurdly wealthy. Here is a placeholder (maybe) of a nice sight for this enthusiast's eyes.

And here is the bar. They sprayed over part of the B so it is now called the Ear. Brilliant.

Day 7 (147): 4th of May
Quite the romp about the city for Star Wars Day. Started in TriBeCa and walked to the water and down to the Freedom Tower and 9/11 memorial. Really not a bad day for walking all over the place. The memorial was really pretty neat. When I get the photos uploaded from the camera, they will show it. Played with shots of the water, but the best ones were of the tower itself and of the list of names (they put flowers in the names on that person's birthday). Also had lovely crispy eel in a nice little place in Chinatown, had mediocre coffee and rather ice-creamy gelato in a Little Italy cafe, saw Times Square, and got my pin from the Hard Rock. Then went to the Columbia University Film Festival for the premiere of a film I helped produce. Nice little event, even if some of the films were a bit hard to fully grasp. All in all a success. My flights... not so much. Got cancelled from my original flight and put on one for the morning, but managed to get on a flight to Charlottesville, which is a three hour drive from Norfolk. That means that I'll be getting into bed around 0330 or thereabouts. Thus the placeholders. Like this one from the inside of a NYC subway.

And this one of a tulip outside the fancy loft. New York has lots of tulips.

Feel bad taking out the placeholders, but here are some more tulips. Loved this purple.

And here are the ground zero shots. First Freedom Tower.

Now a nice shot of some names. Of all the shots this was my fave.

And finally, my best Bridge shot.

Really sorry about the use of placeholders. I hate that. But blame Delta. This always happens when I fly with them. Promise when I get the technology back, I'll fix it.
Update: All fixed, but left the placeholders because it is not their fault I was foiled.