Week Ten: Just Look up and Relax

Ruddy car wreck. Ruddy Neapolitan who hit me. Ruddy delayed onset back pain. Enough to make one truly annoyed. Regardless, there's things need done and jobs need finished. So on with the dance, as they say. Aided by modern medicinal tactics. This week is all about the world as seen from one's back. Not in the 19th century euphemistic sense, mind you. More the "I've fallen and I can't get up" sense.

Day 1 (64): 10th of February
Minimal editorialisation this week. I'll keep that promise as much as possible. I do find it a stroke of genius what was passed to me at work for a suggested theme. This one was pretty basic. Took my ibuprofen and dropped (OK, settled slowly) to my back on the living room floor, camera in hand and kept it simple. Just an upside down shot of the window drapes.

Because I was unsure about that one, and because the other shot I took was truly stupid, here's the first again but in sepia.

Day 2 (65): 11th of February
Muscle relaxers are interesting and wonderful things. Going all gooey like people say one does when in love. But a bit more literally. That plus slurring words like a person with dysphasia or perhaps a drunk. Today's piccie came from a desire to experience the cool of the entry floor on the back. And not make you see seven photos of the same bit of ceiling. Thus, looking up the stairs. Note: the entry floor was not as nice as I thought, and I just noticed that I need to clean the floor again.

And the hall / stair light.

Day 3 (66): 12th of February
Eff this week. The snit reared its ugly head again (enabled by drugs and exhaustion), and I drafted an epic vent-mail to my best friend, with desired results. Best friends are wonderful for always being on one's side when one is feeling abused and generally mal-treated. They know when to offer advice and when to just be outraged and indignant along with one. Am a lucky gal. Oh, and finally found a good use for the Fisheye lens I've had for a while and never figured how best to employ....Observe. The boudoir...

I get far too much joy out of seeing my whole ceiling in one photo.

Day 4 (67): 13th of February
Hurrah for nice weather and Fisheye lenses. Though I've not yet sorted the absolutely best way to use the fool thing, am having a bit of fun with it. And my hammock. How I've missed it. See what I mean?

Day 5 (68): 14th of February
Happy Friday / Papa's Birthday / Valentine's Day! I just love the sweets that come from Hallmarky holidays like this. And the memories of getting my dad pink teddy bears for his birthday. Since the morale police stepped in and ruined the plan for a four-day w/end, and my trip to Paris fell apart, I see a lazy next few days, punctuated by physical therapy, alcohol therapy, and homework. And Photos. 

Another. I like the light.

One more view. Still cool light.

Day 6 (69): 15th of February
First of all...holy hand grenade. Just this guy. How cool and huge and cool is he?

Now, a cat's eye view of life outside.

So nice to hide in the bushes. The felines were simultaneously highly entertained, confused, and a bit indignant at my crawling about in the garden.

Day 7 (70): 16th of February
Got such poor results in the theme shots I decided to scrub it. Looked downward instead for a bit. And got this pile of stuff at a nearby farm, a shot I am strangely attached to. So much so I did two kinds of edits. A straight black and white...

And a faded photo from the past look.

And I got this great little set of gorgeous yellow springy flowers. The light was awful and too bright, so I had to monochrome-ish grey fade thing in the edit, but they are still v pretty.

So this week has been a strange, watching-someone-else-live-my-life sort. I've half a mind to be cross about it, but really, these things happen. Makes what will come in the future (whatever that is) all the better for not being this. So long, of course, as it ticks most of my various prerequisite blocks...  Here's to the future.

Week Eight: Don't Toy With Me

Had big plans for a shape-themed week, but as is my femaley and bloggery prerogative, I changed my mind when I got home. Have always been envious of those who take neat pictures of toys, and avoid the look of an eBay listing. Should probably provide a surgeon general's warning about the dork level associated with the toys below, but it seems a bit redundant. I will attempt to make the photos themselves not too lame, as a compensation. Will certainly wave the nerd flag, as well as the "I'm thirty but still have toys" flag. I have grownup toys as well (motorbike, nice camera, laptop, truck, money), but am not above kicking it with my bobbleheads and misc fan-related merchandise. One must have a modicum of shame in order to be snobbish about such things.

Day 1 (50): 27th of January
There are days when the world sneaks up behind a person and secretly drains the oomph right out. Not nice. And it seems always on those days there are all the meetings in all the different places. Found myself leaning against the railings on a stair and was not sure how long I'd been there. Enough whinging, though.  This I like to call "Tools of a good man's trade." That name came to me just as I hit the pickle button. Do wish either or both of these really did their fictional jobs. How brilliant would that be. If only we had more good men like the ones that wield these tools.

 A Black and White, for good measure, and for to get my skills with same improved.

This is all rather silly, but ah well. Somehow this edit made me sad. Amazing how changing the light balance and saturation can have that effect.

Day 2 (51): 28th of January
Recently several of my photos have won awards on Pixoto (a photo site wherein photographers vote on each others' work). Two that have been raking in appreciation for day, week, month, and year awards are sadly pics of my cats, but two pics from this 365 Project have done quite well as well, and one of my faves from the year just got a top 20% for 2013. Pondering how to take it (still learning to accept praise, OK?) but am working on the being flattered part. Nowhere near being a "good" photographer, but must be doing at least a few things right, at least part of the time. Note to self: sort out what that is. Setting scenes is something I need to do rather better, and that is part of the motivation / inspiration for the below. Somewhat recently I received the two items in the photos, and had a moment of insanity that resulted in the scenario you will witness. Took a few tries to get decent focus and light, and even tried the dreaded fisheye lens (a project for later). A scary twist on childhood icons (Pac-Man, PEZ, and Muppets). Poor guy... didn't see this happening. He just offered the nice yellow face a PEZ...

And really, there was nothing he could do... Pacman does have an insatiable appetite (it has been decades and he still chases pills / pill-shaped things).

Day 3 (52): 29th of January
Only a couple days into this theme and I am doing rather a lot of head scratching (though that may be related to elsewheres in my life). Am pondering how far to take it, and whether I will get anything out of it, skills-wise. Also may run a bit out of material. Thought I had more of my silly things here in Italy, but most apparently were either victims of the Great Goods Grab of 2012 or are in storage in Fallon, NV. Hmmmmm. The below set up is a bit of a re-attack on a previous shot. I'd originally wanted to do it outside, but by the time I got home it was dark and a bit miserable outside (and I was soon for beddie by). Thus, the in of doors, but there may be another attempt to take the toys outside. For now, shot one is Rainbow Dash attempting to mediate what could become a bad situation of "exterminate" vs "delete." Fingers crossed...

This is the schoolyard shot, with the Daleks gossiping about the Cyberman's new friend...SO uncool. We've all been on one side of this or the other...

Day 4 (53): 30th of January
Odd energy sort of a day. Lots of strange vibes everywhere I went. Sometimes wish I weren't such an emotion sponge. Must be because I bottle my own, so the Universe feels the need to affect me somehow... Naw. People just need to learn to keep it to themselves unless it serves a purpose. Hmmm. Yes. That sounds right. Excessive moodiness / miserygutsness is never necessary. Ah well. Moving on. Keeping things to the point, the below represents what it was like being a Mini driver. Particularly when in traffic with Large Vehicles. Like a nightmarish version of the Italian Job. With TIE Interceptors.

This was not the traffic they were looking for.

Day 5 (54): 31st of January
Sometimes the demands and expectations levied on a person are so obscure(d) that a body could simply not know they are there, never you mind what they are. This can complicate the task of satisfying same. My my. What a load of whinging. Should be ashamed of myself. Sorry about that. Here's a photo instead. I must've put these goggly eyes on nearly every surface within the house, but this is the least crap shot of the bunch. Nothing like goggly eyes and an excessive black and white edit to make a normal clothes cupboard look like something from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

Day 6 (55): 1st of February
W/ends that follow crap weeks are often, through no fault of their own, the victims of bad moods. Poor things. They just want to help. What we have below is my attempt to change up the backdrop and totally muddle all sorts of fictional characters. And play with light and focus a bit. In this case, I'm not sure that Toothless is on board with training against the Hulk. There are limits... not that the Doctor knows what those are...

Once again. Poor Toothless seems unsure about this... Hulk just wants to ride the dragon (not like that, mind you... although...). And sorry about the funny shadows. The light trick was not so good this time.

Day 7 (56): 2nd of February
The day of the Superb Owl. Am on the fence about who I care to win. Love my NFC, and I'd love for my Niners to have lost the Playoffs to the team that eventually won. However, it is hard to root for the Seasquawks... Ah well. We'll see. Game doesn't even come on here until midnight and change. And I have prep for the week to do and do not get the late start that everyone else is allowed. So, photos. Legos are brilliant. Therefore the following. A clone trooper just out on his rounds. First the snails. Insert joke here...

Come on! Of all the times to spring an ambush.Do you see the blaster?

That dealt with, a little misunderstanding about a chest full of gold... and a huge looming orange feline in the background...

Do we really need to involve the cops? I wasn't trying to steal anything!

And to top it all off... speeding? Really? How fast do you think this thing goes? Of course I have permits for the weapons...Lemmie just see...

In summation, this was an interesting experiment. As usual, some shots came out pretty great, and others not so much. In a week where my experiences can only be described with melodramatic terms (and as such I will spare you the gory details), I suppose such can only be expected. If my writing back in the day reflected my moods, it only follows that my photos would do the same. Better luck next week, no? Here's hoping. 

Week Seven: Love Letters

Was on the fence about whether to pick a theme this week or just photograph things in general. Then decided to just try another theme, as it forces me to challenge my Eye. Have been a child of the written word all my years. Learned to read young, thanks to my wonderful mother reading wonderful poems and stories of all kinds to my brother and I every night from the Begining (Best Beloved). And have loved both reading and writing with a passion. Still blast through books at the speed of thought. Thus the theme of letters. Either letters on things or things in life that look like letters. Quite the array. And do us both a favour by skipping day five. I'm not proud of that.

Day 1 (43): 20th of January
Still in Romania. And last night, the Battery in my Olympus died. I brought a second one, but it holds a charge like a big baby. Fitting that the day we are to go see the second largest government building in the world, I will be rolling the dice with Baby Wimpy McNocharge and then relying on the iPhone. Ah well. Serves me right for not having three batteries. Or just remembering the charger. If any of you out in Blogverse feel the urge to see Romania / Bulgaria (which I highly recommend), you simply must use this guy Valentin who showed us around. Went way above and beyond the call of duty, taking us places we'd not normally see, paying for food and beverages (even one meal that he just thought was not up to standards). Today he was not on the bill to take us anywhere, but took his own vehicle and time to show us around Bucharest a bit and go to lunch and then to the airport. Genuinely nice fellow. Whilst enjoying this stroll about Bucharest, got these piccies of cool letters. First some Cyrillic on a grave marker.

Then this graffiti. Not sure what it says. Besides "NECRO ->"

Day 2 (44): 21st of January
Every week should start on Tuesdays. Got stuck in training all day. And as usual, much was repeat from previous classes I've attended. They never tell you these things before the training starts. That said, I suppose there have been useful tidbits of information that I'd not have gotten otherwise. Remembering again that I themed myself in to letters, I've gone all abstract or something, and found things shaped like the letter X. Like the letters that sponsored Sesame Street. Granted, this is a bit of a cheat and was motivated partly by poor timing and lack of creativity. That said, I think the ones I've chosen are decent. Amazing how much one can get out of so little. I have a ceiling fan or two, so here is one. Love the shadow that light makes.

And here is my floor. I have tiles. They are square.

Day 3 (45): 22nd of January
More training, and when one is in a foul disposition, the prospect of same becomes a bit daunting. Have reached the point in the month where all things dribbling slowly from day to day have finally accumulated and threaten to make like a Naples pothole and swallow me whole. A bit melodramatic, I know, but that is just that. Not really helped by the fact that the day started poorly, with the hot water on the fritz, then forgetting the thing I was going to bring to work, then forgetting to bring gas coupons so I can fuel up on the way home, then getting bitten in the heel by the metal turnstyle through which I pass to enter work. All that before 0530. Thank the Green Man for short weeks. This day can suck it / stuff it up its jumper / etc. Any hoo. Photos. Right. Letters. these are v dark, but they are letter-ish. Tried to make an L out of a thing on my wall, but it was silly. Too much so even for me. So there is this. It is my stair railings. Like a T.

And another. It is a bit of a table. Also a T... and dusty... hmmm must find duster thing...

Day 4 (46): 23rd of January
Spending more time away from my office than in it gives me a new perspective. That perspective allows me to understand that I like my office and dislike meetings that take me all over Christendom (and up and down the same zillion stairs). Such a revelation. Like realising that some people are rather absurd. Or that crime indeed does not pay. Or even that it was all JUST A DREAM?!?!?! So sorry. It has been that sort of day. Thus the motivation / inspiration for the below shots. Oh, the things we can do with seemingly innocuous storage baskets (conveniently marked so as to not lose sight of their purpose in life - if only all things were suchly marked)...such as focus on one's years...

Or indeed one's emotions. Bottled or no. And this is not an admission of a violent personality. Just a photo. Hold off calling the nice young men in their clean white suits.

Day 5 (47): 24th of January
I'll not detail the details of my day, for plausible deniability reasons. Suffice it to say I learned a lot about myself and my minio-, no... those under my comm-, er, orde-, hmm...direction. And really none of it was awkward or embarrassing. Which takes a bit of the fun out of it, but I suppose that cannot be helped. Have had the theme music from Full House stuck in my head. And demonstrated that I have far too much trivial knowledge from that particular show. Ah well. As an adult I can look back and see it for what it was. Really not bad family TV, and with plenty of Saget humour surreptitiously inserted for parental enjoyment. Might want to skip to tomorrow's photo. I'll not make this seem cooler than it is. Was fully lacking in ideas. But had a scarf. Took many versions, and none were any better than this one... Lovely HD camera takes a lovely look at my hairs that do seem to be everywhere...

Day 6 (48): 25th of January
Many things need doing on the w/ends. Especially when one spends other w/ends galavanting about the continent. That being so, a Naughty Nellie will still find time for doing not v much for a bit. Can be therapeutic for us Introverts to spend time in an introverted fashion. Even if that involves running errands without speaking a word to another human. Which is how it ought be, really. Errands are to be finished, not interrupted by or shared with random strangers. My, how perfectly antisocial of her! Yes. But it is better than having terrifyingly awkward conversations. The following was seen whilst I erranded. Am oddly attached to it for an unknowable reason. It ticks the "letters" block by having both an I and a V in it, but really I cannot say why I like it. I just do.

Here it is again in greyscale. Because I like it, that's why.

And this lovely ancient ladder up against a tree in the nearby field also speaks volumes. Whether I've captured them is up for a short debate, but it does look like an H. And has great texture.

Day 7 (49): 26th of January
I've invented a new hairstyle. I call it the Wu Man Chu. It came about as I was enjoying the latest episode of Call the Midwife and had my rather long hair hanging equally on both sides of my head. The next obvious step was to braid the two sections under my chin, creating a sort of necktie down my front. Looks a bit like something worn for ceremonial purposes on an Amazonian-esque planet far away. Or like the product of idle hands and a strange mind. Would be less bad if I'd not left it in, but I braided it like that about four hours ago. Good thing I've neither roommates nor visitors. The letter sponsoring today is A. Because it is First. And was the first letter of my nickname as a wee thing (and still today). Played with the tripod in front of the wall, then hung the good old sheer green shower curtain as a backdrop. The below was the result of a 200 ISO and a 15 second exposure. Thus the strange light and colour. All washed out is neat and required no post-production to achieve. And there are three As going on in the picture. Ta da.

And a more close up version. Tried to make it unique, as A is an important letter.

Realising I've gone a bit border-heavy this week, as well as heavy on post-editing. Not that I've any problem with that. Am not a snob about "pure" photos. There are many out there who are just bloody brilliant enough to get the perfect light and colour balance etc etc at the time. Am not one of them. And am OK with that. Besides, I like making things look different than the way they normally do. It is part of what I see in my head before hitting the pickle button. Besides, I've been called contrary my whole life. My photos really ought reflect that. 

Week Five: Five O'Clock Right Here

Maybe it is all the time travel-themed things I've watched / read / listened to lately, or maybe it is just the feeling that I live and die by a bleeding clock, but the v well-defined theme for this week will be Time. Not like Hootie's Time. Not Closing Time, either. Not even Time after Time. But Time is On My Side (yes it is) and while my forays into fotos this week were not spectacular, I think there've been worse. Have been Thematically Challenged much of my adult life, so it is just a struggle I shall continue in silence (except for the sound the keys make as I type).

Day 1 (29): 6th of January
Fitting that a blog themed of time starts with a day during which that infernal clock makes me want to commit atrocities of an indiscriminate nature. I've officially reached the point at which I am no longer happy with so much down time. Have nearly exhausted my "housework" list at work, and busywork for the sake of busywork is just not in my nature. Holiday periods are all well and good, but really. Enough is enough. Give me some boring tasker or short-turn requirement, PLEASE! Being at work for practically just the sake of being there gets old. I asked my boss if I could leave half an hour early the other day. He said, "Only if you make up the time." I said, "OK. It's 35 past 50."
Any rate, in keeping with that, here is a gimmicky clock I bought a while back that looks all melty / Dali-y. I've tried photographing it before, but had minimal success. Outside seems like an interesting place to find a novelty clock...

Plus sunset. Even more of a novelty? Bah. Forget the clock... Pretty clouds...

Day 2 (30): 7th of January
I guess that a truly Grown Up Person knows their own schedule. Not this GUP.  It is far more fun to arrive at work at 0530 blissfully unawares that one needn't be there till 0800, because one has to be there until 2000. Why have a 10 or 12 hour day when there are 14.5 hour days out there in the world, unloved and unappreciated? The late hour of my return home is the reason the below shot looks the way it does. That, and it is I suppose fitting that a blog focused on time has (at least) one shot that falls short due to a lack of the stuff. At least that is my excuse. My version of a GUP occasionally makes poor excuses. Just not in the presence of the D-Bag jar (at least not always, or intentionally). Observe, if you will, the time upon the face. It is incorrect. I did not roll back this clock when that was the thing to do. And I will not. Because then I'd have to roll it back forward in a couple of months. It is a boring clock.

Even with a non-boring angle. It cannot help itself. Jiggly second hand shows I used a single second exposure... interesting.

Day 3 (31): 8th of January
Was reading today about the ways in which the Victorians had it right when it comes to dating. The things referenced included were a) the grooming ritual; b) dancing; c) walks; d) chaperoned dates; and e) romantic gestures. Am a rather old fashioned person when it comes to romance and courtship, so I can get on board with most of that, but I'm a bit of a nincompoop about some of the details (fancying up, mostly). Do like the idea of an old-style courtship, but not necessarily chaperoned dates, though it might stave off some poor choices... The notion of two people falling wildly and madly in love and running away into the night, regardless of family disapproval was not so common for the upper and middle class. Which is a bit of a shame, but I suppose courting and marriage were more career moves, or socio-political arrangements, for the wealthy to stay wealthy. The poor of the world had more freedom to be rakish and wantonly non-snooty about things. Despite that rather random thought train, in keeping with the fact that this is as always a photo blog, I took piccies of a new 2014 calendar, and none really came out, so I gave up on that. Really the best I got was of an old fridge magnet 2013 calendar I only had because I opened a letter from a realtor, only to realise it was not for me, but there was a handy calendar in it so I wasted not. For to want not, you see?.

Day 4 (32): 9th of January
Spent a considerable amount of time today discussing and demonstrating accents. By considerable, I suppose I just mean more than one might expect for such a thing and curiously in more than one setting. Regardless, odd how such things end up linked. Still kind of wish I'd gotten a degree in linguistics; would make my discussions and explanations about accent differences more legitimate and technical. Not that there is anything wrong with my statements of "it's more singsongy" or "it's more spongy" or the ever-popular "it has a bit less stuff in it." Who knows. Everyone has to have their party trick / super power. And while I cannot fly or open champagne bottles with a knife, I can mimic accents. Not voices, mind you. Still my funny voice, just with varied accent and diction. Hmm. What does that have to do with time? Nothing really. But this photo does, and that is the point, isn't it?

Do love this fob watch. I wish I wore garments more regularly that facilitated the wearing of same.

Day 5 (33): 10th of January
Another Friday. There do seem to be rather a lot of them. I am looking back wishing I'd thought at the start of this week of adding a colour element to the time theme, i.e. Monday=Blue, Tuesday=Grey (Wednesday, too). Thursday, well, I really don't care about you (does that have a colour?). But Friday, I'm in... well you know the rest. There are those weeks wherein one lives simply for the last of the workdays. This is one of them. Due not to excess amounts of stress, nor to Big W/end Plans. Nope. This week just has a feel to it - one that says "things are not as they ought be." The best response to such a sense is to simply get over it and get it over with. Must say, though, I hadn't realised how out of sorts not having my things in order had put me. But having a full tank in the bike and a car that is safe to drive (i.e. have full escape options available) has me feeling more at ease than I'd noticed I'd not been. Does that make sense? I imagine so. Enough, any rate. This is another clock. It looks neat. Proves it is five o'clock somewhere...just not here anymore.
A nose walks into a bar and asks for a drink.
The bartender says, "Sorry, I can't serve you. You're already off your face."

Day 6 (34): 11th of January
Wait. They're going to put a clock on the leaning tower of Pisa. That way it'll have both the time and the inclination... No? Nothing? Oh all right. One of these days I may even see the dreaded tower. Problem is that there's not much else in the area, and while it is a short hop from Florence, I generally would rather stay in Florence. Decisions, decisions. Not much else to say. Just going to show the photo. Another clock. This one less boring than the one from Tuesday. And this one is showing the correct time. But only because I bought it after the time change.

Day 7 (35): 12th of January
Figures. Always comes too late (for what, I'm not sure). If I had a time machine or tame time traveler, Sunday would never come too late. Time Travel does exist, I just discovered it next week. Sorry for that. The light this morning was really interesting. All foggy and smoky as it so often is. Got some interesting pics of it, but as I type I'm debating posting one of them as they don't fit the theme. May change my mind by the time I publish the blog, in which case, one will be below. If not, I've teased you and for that I'm (sort of) sorry. What did the butcher say when he backed into the meat-grinder? Looks like I'm getting a little behind in my work! Not sorry for that, however. Nope. Not even a little. Decided to wave the nerd flag in keeping with my tastes and the theme this week. For that reason I put all my sundry TARDIS things together and had a studio-y go with them (the TARDIS is a time machine, for those of you out of the nerd-loop). While the overall shoot looked a bit too "I'm selling things on ebay" (which I most certainly am not) for this blog, suffice it to say it was a pretty impressive assortment. Lunch boxes, USB ports, safes, coasters, toys, a wooly hat with strings, a mug... the list goes on. What I will make you see is just one that I think worked well. Was using a borrowed contraption that puts a series of filters on the end of the lens to futz with the light. Will be something I need to play with more to really understand. Any rate... my time machine.

And the pesky finish. I know that the whole point of this blog thing is to get better at photography, but it certainly seems that I've gotten a bit worse. Especially in the joke department. Not sure if that is because I've stepped away from pre-sets on the camera and focused more on playing with the settings, or if I genuinely have gotten less capable. The jokes are... well there's really no excuse for them. They must be late to the Christmas Cracker auditions. Hopefully (for your sake as well as mine) over the next forty-some-odd weeks, that trend will swing back the proper direction - both trends, really. I've a feeling that themes I choose will rather often start out as good ideas and sometimes not quite hit the mark in execution. But sometimes, the stars will align and the gods will take pity.