Saturday, October 03, 2009

Round Robin Challenge: In Motion

From For Ellipsis


"All motion is cyclic. It circulates to the limits of it's possibilities and then returns to it's starting point."

-Robert Collier

RRC: In Motion
Suggested by Vicki of the blog Maraca and by Terri of the blog, Ways I see The World.

This time around, it's all about motion! I have to admit, due to my computer woes, I had to dip into my archives in order to participate. It's been a heck of a year between breaking my digital camera getting broken on January 1st, and my computer's display driver going out last month, but I have to admit, I did enjoy looking back on some of my better motion shots from the last few years. Here, have a look...

A second look at Jellyfish from the Monterey Bay Aquarium...

From For Ellipsis


Dinner at Johnny Rockets...

From For Ellipsis


A man surfing under the Golden Gate Bridge, near Fort Point, San Francisco. It was taken the weekend of the famous Maverick's Surfing contest, perhaps he was training for that!

From For Ellipsis


There are so many Monarch butterflies in the Pacific Grove preserve that you can just aim your camera up to the sky and capture a multitude flying this way and that!

From For Ellipsis


I just had to show one more jellyfish...

From For Ellipsis


Ok, now you have seen my "In Motion" photographs, be sure to visit the other great photographers we have in the land. Just follow the links below...

Linking List

Vicki... Maraca
Posted!

Terri... Ways I see The World


Karen... Outpost Mavarin
Posted!

Gattina... Keyhole Pictures
Posted!

Carly... Ellipsis
Posted!

Linda... Mommy's Treasures


Nancy... Nancy Luvs Pix
Posted!

Suzanne R... SuzyQ421's Photo Blog
Posted!

Jama... Sweet Memories
Posted!

Carolyn... Ford Family Photos


boliyou... Endomental
Posted!

Lana G... Above The Clouds
Posted!

Margaret... Facts From A Fact Woman
Posted!

Ellen b... The Happy Wonderer
Posted!

Teena... It's all about me!
Posted!

Peggy... Holmespun Fun Memes and Themes
Posted!

Michelle Rambling Woods ~ Taking The Road Less Traveled
Posted!

Annie... Annie's Home
Posted!

Duane... Meanwhile
Posted!

Hip Chick...Hip Chick's Photos
Posted! 10/04/09

Maria...
Maria Tradgardsblog- Garden With Love
Posted! 10/04/09

There is still time to play along with the challenge, but if you can't this time, be sure to check the official Round Robin blog on Sunday to learn the topic of our next Round Robin challenge. Hope to see you for our next challenge. :)

-Carly

Friday, October 02, 2009

Unscaring Myself: Meet The European Garden Spider

From For Ellipsis


"If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive."

-American Quaker Saying

I keep seeing this spider when I am on my walks in Tilden Park. It scares the wits out of me, but that's no big news in that I am arachnophobic! LOL. Anyway, I hate being afraid, I hate not understanding things that frighten me, so I decided to look up what kind of horribly scary, no doubt highly dangerous spider it might be. To my delight, I found out that it is a simple European Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus). Spooky looking to be sure, but about as harmless as my kitty Dylan. Whew! I feel much better now... but I hope I never find one inside the house!

:)

I guess it's always better to face your fears!

Carly

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Ghosts...

From For Ellipsis


"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly at night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow that runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset."

-Crowfoot

I believe in ghosts, but I have never felt one in the little home I currently live in. Nothing spooky has happened here, well, accept for the night back in November of 2003 when Alan and I heard that strange high pitched noise in the back yard. On that night I am sure there was something other worldly close by. As we turned out all the lights inside, to get a better look out at the yard, Elvis got up onto the bed, looked toward the bedroom window, stood up on his back feet, and pointed with his right paw toward the direction the sound came from. It was an eerie sight. One I will never forget. I had not seem him do that before that night, and he never did it after that. It honestly looked like he could see something out in the yard, that Alan and I couldn't. We never heard that sound again.

In fact nothing remotely spooky has happened since, but the last couple days, as I was sitting at my computer, I could have sworn I saw a shadow cross the room behind me. A large, black shadow. Now I know that the sun casts a slightly different light in autumn, it's something that I look forward to, but this shadow seems a little different from the ones that I usually see. I am not afraid, but I am curious. I have always wanted to witness a full body apparition for myself, but in truth, if I actually did see one I think it might not be so much interesting as terrifying. LOL. It's one thing to investigate a haunted house, but to live in one, well, I don't think so! Well, maybe if it were a nice ghost, or maybe a protective one like Capt. Daniel Gregg from The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. I could live with that. Why I wouldn't even call Jason and Grant from Ghost Hunters. If that were the case.

I don't know... maybe it is my overactive imagination needing an outlet. Maybe it is because we are coming up on my very favorite holiday, Halloween, I don't know, it just feels like the big shadow isn't just a shadow. You know? In any case, I am beginning to get used to the shadow, so maybe I should be thinking about naming it. LOL. What do you call a shadow? Harry? Well that would never work if the shadow turns out to be a female shadow... that would just make it angry. Hmm... what to do, what to do... Maybe I will just stick with YOU for now, and wait until it either shows a feminine side or masculine side. YIKES... how would it be to find out it likes wearing my clothing... LOL. I could wake up one morning to find a disembodied spirit wearing my Spanx! Now there is a visual!

Opinions, opinions... do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever seen a shadow you couldn't explain? What happens after this life? Do we stay or do we go? Do you like TV shows about the paranormal? By the way, there is a nifty new show about ghosts on the Biography channel this week called, Celebrity Ghost Stories. I plan to pop a big bowl of popcorn, pour a Caramel Apple Cider, grab my kitties, and invite my shadow to join us for the show! LOL. Alan has to work, so I will be... yikes... all alone!

:)

-Carly


Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Fluttering About The Yard

From For Ellipsis


"We are like butterflies, we flutter or a day and think it's forever."

-Carl Sagan

Gulf Fritillary...

From For Ellipsis


I had lunch outside in the back yard yesterday, and while I was out there I was treated to not only watching Hendrix and Dylan playing kitten games, but also the presence of at least three different types of butterflies happily fluttering about. That makes for a good day!

Common White Checkered...

From For Ellipsis


From For Ellipsis


From For Ellipsis


It looks like it will be a good autumn for butterflies, and that makes me smile, because in a few weeks we are going to see the Monarchs in Pacific Grove. I love visiting the preserve each year, who wouldn't love walking among thousands of butterflies with the Pacific ocean just a few short blocks away! Awww... paradise. I can't wait!

:)

-Carly

Monday, September 28, 2009

Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot #57: Weeds.










"A WEED is but an unloved flower."

-Ella Wilcox












EMPS# 57: WEEDS.
One of my favorite Round Robin topics ever was "WEEDS." Let's revisit that idea and make this week all about WEEDS. You know what to do, grab your cameras and show me the softer side of this misunderstood flower.

Extra Credit: Show me a WEED that would look nice in a flower arrangement!

**PLEASE READ**
You have until next Sunday evening at 9:00 PM ET to get your photo, and come back here with the direct link back to it. Please remember, it must be a link which goes back to an entry specific to this week's photo shoot assignment. A general link to your blog, journal or website won't do. NO HYPERLINKS ACCEPTED!

Linking List for EMPS #56: Welcome To Autumn (Leaves Or Flowers) 09/21/09

NOW CLOSED!

1. Vicki

2. Hip Chick

3. Suzanne

4. Jama

5. Greg

6. Liz

7. Mike

8. Karen


Thanks for playing everyone, and for your continued support of this project! See you next week with an all new photography assignment.

:)

-Carly

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Coming To You Live... And Now In XP!

From For Ellipsis


"To err is human, but to really foul things up it takes a computer."

-Farmer's Almanac, 1978

In an entry earlier this week, I shared with you a little about my current computer woes. If you didn't get the chance to read that entry, I will give it to you in a nutshell... a main display driver has gone out on the computer I bought just about 18 months ago... ERRRRGGGG! As bad as it is to have your relatively new computer give out, it could be worse. On the positive side of things, I do have my old computer as a back up while I do some shopping around for a new one. That's a good thing. After all, my back-up... putt-putt... computer is running lovely, uncomplicated, Windows XP Premium Home Edition. God I miss that operating system! VISTA SUCKS! I hated it from day one, but I was willing to learn my way around, and did so with the purchase of the book, "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Windows Vista." I highly recommend that book, as it will save you lots and lots of gray hair! Honestly, there should be some kind of support group!

So I am back to the basics and I don't mind waiting until I can find the exact right computer for us. A ton of storage room for my digital photographs, and plenty of speed and gooey display goodness for the gamer that is Alan. Well, both of us like to play games on the computer. He likes the strategy games like Two Worlds and Total War, while I like to climb into the world of the SIMS. I have been wanting to get the new SIMS3, now it just means it will be on my Christmas wish list. Christmas is just around the corner... yikes... how did that happen?

I expect the next few months will go by quickly. I will be busy enough getting my files on this computer in shape, and transferring them to an external hard drive. In an odd way, I am finding most of this task not so much daunting as, well, relaxing. I have enjoyed visiting my archives and looking over photos that I either overlooked or disregarded for whatever reason. Then there are the ones that loved dearly, like the two I used for this entry. The one above brings with it a nice memory of standing on a little bridge in the middle of Reno, Nevada, and taking a photo of a beautiful stream that runs through the middle of town. It was a cold day in October, and yet the sun was really hot. A typical autumn day, and yet that moment was anything but typical. If you really love photography, you know the feeling you get when you know you have found a great subject and everything just comes together. :) That is a good feeling.

From For Ellipsis


The second photo took more then a little patience... and courage to get. I have had a lifelong fear of spiders. All spiders. So one day, while walking in Tilden Park, I came across this icky... yikes... spider. You would think I would have ran the other way, but instead I took his picture because as gruesome as it was, it was also so very photogenic. To this day I am not sure what kind of spider it might be, whether or not it is dangerous, I don't have the nerve to look it up, but I do admire it's strange beauty. I love photography, and I love using that artistry to overcome my fears. It's a good thing to face up to what frightens you. Strong is better. I like strong.

:)

Opinions, opinions...
I am anxiously awaiting the release of Mircrosoft's Windows 7 operating system. How about you? Will you upgrade to it? Did you like Vista? Did you downgrade to Windows XP like some folks did? Tell me about your computer experiences, have you ever had a computer die after a relatively short time? Tell me everything.

-Carly