Blog Changes

I'm sure you've noticed my lack of postings in the past few weeks. My energy hasn't been there for it, and thus I've taken a break and given some thought as to how I'll proceed with it from here. I hate to let this blog go, as it's been around in some form for almost five years. But there is a time and place for everything and as my interests and needs change, so too will my public forum for them.

For the record, I know I'm going about this whole blogging thing ALL wrong.  Blogs should have a specific focus or cohesive theme in order to be successful. So say all the pundits, anyway. Well guess what I say to that? 

Me, to that:  TTTHHHHPPPPTTT   

I've been taking pictures of people for the past several months--to the detriment of my gun pictures, frankly--and I continue to greatly enjoy doing so.  It's a natural progression, I think.  Social worker to "photographer"* to focusing a good portion of my energies on those around me.  

Some people I don't spend much time with at all.  Some, however, are willing to honor me with their stories but I tend to condense these tales for the Facebook audience for a variety of reasons. So for now the more compelling stories I hear I will flesh out over here. I won't put a number on how often I do so or the days I do so, but you'll know when it happens if you're following the people blog over there or on Tumblr. I still may throw in personal observations but it will likely be in the context of profiling other people. 

As for my next photo project? Well, I'm back to a picture a day starting October 1, 2012. I'm not going to force a subject matter this time, though. What I am going to say is I must take at least one photo a day for one year in a thoughtful, deliberate manner. Thus I will enter my third year into photography, my second year into DSLR photography, with purpose. I will post them to Flickr of course, and if I feature any of them here, it will be on Mondays.  

As always, thanks for following along. Have a great Friday!

Say you: Wait!! What about your stated goal of getting The Bloggess to notice you? 

Say me: Didn't you know? I'm a quitter.  


*I had a subject tell me where to stand for better lighting just yesterday, which was sorta humiliating.  I'm hardly an actual photographer.

I'm Shamelessly Promoting Myself Today

Random thoughts for this holiday weekend. (For most, anyway. I'm actually working Monday night.) 


1. Would someone please explain to me why anyone on earth would wear a beanie with a beard knitted to it? 


1. Ignore that link up there. I find it highly annoying when websites make you become a member before letting you in the site. I rank it up there with websites that force you to listen to music when you stumble upon them. To this day, I don't understand the thinking behind that. If I want to listen to music, I'll find my own. I SORTA get it with a musician's website, but only a bit. Why force me to listen to your music? Just offer me options and I'll listen all by myself, thank you. 


2. Would someone please explain to me why anyone on earth would wear a beanie with a beard attached to it? Never mind. You know what? If I saw someone wearing one of these things on the street, I would stop him or her immediately and ask for a photo. Walk on, bearded-beanie-wearing free-spirit. Walk on. 


3. I just heard an NPR clip on Eurovision. It's a singing contest in continental Europe, but that's not my point. My point is that it's taking place in Azerbaijan. 


Never heard of it, have you?  


Me either.  


God, we're such Americans.  


Let's change that shall we? I think I'll feature a region or city every week. We all could use some education about places that are not our own, right?  I won't go into the minutia of the place, just where it's located, the population and one random fact.  


Ready?  


Here I go:  


BAKU!  


Capital city of....can you guess?  


That's right. Azerbaijan.  


Population: approximately 1.1 million


Random fact: The locale for Eurovision 2012.  


Geography lessons!  This is the kind of service you can't get from The Bloggess. 


4. On The Bloggess: Ttttthhhhppppttttt. Book tour. Articles written for The Church of Oprah Magazine. Features on one of my favorite NPR shows.  Simply no time at all to devote to The Little People who make her world possible. Simply NO TIME to take one simple picture of herself with a weasel (I've even lowered my standards) for one of her supporters. Even though Wil Wheaton and Matthew Broderick posed with random objects for her. (BTW, Wil Wheaton is quickly becoming my new boyfriend. I follow him on Tumblr. I luff him.) 


I even found Beyonce a boyfriend!


And still she ignores me. 


Whatever. 


Be. The. Stoat!! I'm not giving up. YOU HEAR THAT, JENNY LAWSON? 


5. Hey!! You can follow ME on Tumblr. too. See that radio button up top? How about that? But wait, there's more. My people blog, which is all about celebrating humanity via my shamelessly poaching an idea from one Humans of New York, has been up and running for a while. And now I'm on Facebook too.  Wheeeee!!!!   


6. That's it. I got nothing else. 


7. I lied. I'm going to be in another art show! Check it out! 


Song of the week: 

Introducing....

Sometimes I think I should live on a farm. I find all farm animals fascinating in a ridiculous kind of way, and every time I encounter them I want to take them home with me. 


Never mind that I live in the middle of town. A goat would look totally cool hanging out in my backyard.  


Seriously.  


How can you not love goats? 


Or sheep? 


Or COWS?  


Cows are awesome. 


I mean, they're huge and sorta terrify me when I see them up close but every time I initially encounter them my brain interprets them as kittens and I just want to snuggle them and bring one home with me. 


Plus bonus! Milk. 


And don't you DARE go there.  


I'm not a vegetarian, but NO cow of mine would end up on my table. 


Nope. I would name her Mable and she would be my pet forever and ever. I would put a bell around her neck and she would be the talk of the town and hand out candy to all the (read: two) goblins who knock on my door on Halloween. Good thing I have a king-sized bed, because I imagine they take up a lot of room sleeping and I need my space at night. 


Say you: What about The Geek? Where would he sleep? 

Say me: Who?   


Look! I can prove to you how much I love cows. Check out the wallpaper on my phone: 

I took this on an Amish farm 2 years ago.  I named the cow iRonnie.  

Which brings me to my new dream pet. 


As I noted the other day, I met him at a local greenhouse and I was stunned. As soon as I saw him, I knew he could be Beyonce's boyfriend.* I also knew he could bring to my blog a certain...je ne c'est quoi...that it needed. 
I swore to myself I would go back and get his picture because he's the most spectacular thing ever.**


You'll see why in just a minute. 


But first let me tell you how difficult it was getting him on "film." He wasn't elusive so much as cameraphobic. Any time I got even remotely close to him with my gizmo, he took off like a bullet. Naturally he would go hide out UNDER all the Lllllloooonnnngggg plant tables, which did nothing for my planned photo exhibition but amplify the fact that 1) my knees aren't getting any younger and 2) I seriously need a camera that takes better pictures in low lighting. If nothing else, I need to invest in a better flash instead of using the crappy on-board one.*** 


I digress.  


I stalked him. For almost an hour. I tried to get him out in the open. I tried to get him eating. I tried to set up shots beforehand and catch him on the move for a groovy "action shot." But he seemed to always be one step ahead of me. Anytime he was still for just a moment, I had naturally chosen to take a break and put the camera down just prior, forcing me to scramble and try and catch him. Therefore for all of my efforts most of what I captured looked like this:

Cheeky bastard. 


After following him around for nearly an hour, and getting mocked by the Mexican work force (they were talking in Spanish, but I know parody when I hear it) I finally caught him. 


It was worth it.  


The woman at the nursery called him "the stupidest bird" but I think that just adds to his charm. My friends, meet Larry, The Rooster Who Dons an Andy Warhol Wig.  

I want one.  WANT.  My birthday is in May.  

He's now the Trench Warfare (too) mascot. ->


UPDATE:  


I have a fan! She's also an old friend, but she a is regular here in my trench and OMG I could totally kiss her right now. Which is an appropriate response considering the whole Beyonce + Larry = Hart thing I've got going on right now.  


Just LOOK what she did!  

Thanks, Deirdre! 

*See? This is the kind of devoted reader I am. I find genuine companions for your metal yard ornaments. You WANT me following your blog.  


**So much so, that as soon as I post this entry he's going to be my new cover photo on my Facebook page. 


***YES, Geek Man. I went to the camera shop. Thppt. 

Eat ALL the Chocolate! (+ Roosters)

I do believe it's not unreasonable to devote an entire to entry to fact that eating chocolate might make you thinner.  


You read that correctly.  


I'm not lying!  


So, in honor of this happy fact, I'm linking back to my recipe for The Best Cookie on the Planet. Which you will want to make TODAY and share with all your friends put in Easter baskets next week and have for breakfast lunch and dinner since eating chocolate three times a day is the new Weight Watchers.  


Go forth and consume Ghiradellis. Specifically the dark chcolate squares embellished with sea salt and almonds.   


Now! 


I totally lied.  


I'm not devoting the entire blog entry to chocolate, because it's important to address my encounter with a rooster the other day: 

He yelled at me. I've decided roosters, as a lot, are bastards.

He lives at a local greenhouse with about 20 buddies.


A rooster frat house, if you will.  


And I'm going back because how can one possibly turn down the opportunity to take pictures of roosters? 


There's one in particular that I MUST capture on pixels because...well...I'll leave you hanging for now.  Just trust me when I tell you it's essential.  


And THIS, my friends, is why The Bloggess should pose with a taxidermied stoat for my blog.* 


Because I found a boyfriend for Beyonce and I'll prove it as soon as I get his picture. 


UPDATED 15 minutes later: OMG. So relevant. 


Song of the week**: 

*You see what I did there?
**I'm TOTALLY making this song my blog's theme song. I can do it even if I don't have a metal rooster in my yard.  

Random Thoughts

1) You know what I've discovered a few years ago because of the magic that is Facebook?  


There are people in this world that like Peeps. 


Correction: There are people in this world that LOVE Peeps.


It gets worse: There are people in this world who intentionally leave out Peeps until they're stale and THEN consume them.  


Say you: Haven't you discussed this before? You're recycling material. 


Say me: it never ceases to amaze me, the love people have for Peeps. It's like watching a train wreck. Or an episode of Jersey Girls. Whichever. 


PLUS, it's good knowledge for safe keeping. Just tuck it away. When you're having a really bad day, when you discover you've got a flat tire, the dog pooped in your bedroom, the boss told you you had to come in on Saturday and you're not only out of meds, but Diet Coke as well, you can always pull it out and say to yourself: "It could be worse. I could actually like to eat stale Peeps."


2) I don't even know why I go to Pinterest. The front page is nothing more than a mish-mash of Vogue and Martha Stewart with a dash of the Food Network all thrown onto one, easy access space. The entire site is essentially designed to send ordinary women into a spiraling depression with merely the click of a mouse. 


Let's be clear here: My food will never look that pretty, I will never own a a home that looks, inside or out, anything like the homes depicted in those pictures, my lawn is currently peppered with dandelions and those irritating purple weed thingies that pop up every year at this time, and I am WAY past having a designer wardrobe, let alone a designer body to don such clothing. 


To wit: the jeans I am currently wearing have stains on the knees from when I was out taking pictures earlier this week. I noticed them last night when I was getting a pedicure. And yes, I put them right back on this morning. 


Take that, Mademoiselle.**


I don't even own a cute little dog. Mine's an 85-pound galoot. 


So I mostly post stuff to my board of amusing images. I recently discovered there are 128 people following that board. Which makes me feel like I'm not alone in my growing ambivalence towards Pinterest.* 


3)I am, however, completely jazzed about a few photographs I took this week. Which is a perfect segue to pimp my photo blog on Tumblr.  
But I'll post the photos here, too.  


First up, an old pottery friend lives not far from me in a fabulous, three story, pre WWII home. You know, the kind of house I'll never have? His. But I don't begrudge him because of his dogs. Who hang out on the second story roof when the weather's nice: 

Meet Miranda (on the left) and Lacey. Boozer is the nefarious-contriving feline observing from the balcony. Boozer wins for having one of the best cat names I've ever heard. It ranks up there with Ferris Mewler.


Here's another shot. I took this one before Boozer arrived: 

I was going to put a witty caption here, but I can't think of one. 

And here's one I took later on in the week. It was after a call, so I was lurking around the city at 2 in the morning. I love my new tripod. 

For those of you in the OKC area, I was standing across the street from Little Flower Church for this vantage point.  


4)My family and I consider ourselves intellectuals. This is why there's no hating on Facebook. It keeps our cognitively stimulating discussions ever present, even over vast distances: 

click for larger view

5) Did you see how I interjected The Blogess' cat up there? Clever, right? I have not given up on my crusade to get her to pose with a taxidermied stoat for my blog. 


Because I am the stoat. Come on, Jenny. Pay it forward. Don't be too big for the little people. I'll mail you twine if you do. Pinky swear. ->


Song of the week: 

*I forgot what I was going to say, so never mind. 
**Is that magazine still even around? You know what? I don't think it is. Score for the out-dated pop culture reference! *fist pump*