A Whiter Shade Of Pale

"To stop the flow of music, would be like the stopping of time itself. Incredible and inconceivable."

-Aaron Copland

At times last week, I had the song, "A Whiter Shade Of Pale," going around in my head. The version by Annie Lennox. I'm not sure why, I don't think I have heard the song in over a year, I don't know, maybe it was playing as background music on some show I have watched recently, and it got store away in my brain, anyway, it was haunting me, so much so that I began to be really aware of the color white in my photography. It was everywhere last week. You can't, and probably shouldn't, try to fight it when you suddenly find yourself attracted to a song, or a color. Just relax and go with it. Here is what I found. I wasn't really looking for these sights, they just kept presenting themselves. I wonder if there is any hidden meaning in the song or the color for me. Is my muse trying to tell me something, or was I just going where life, and the camera, took me?

A Whiter Shade Of Pale
By Procolharum (Annie Lennox Version)

We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor
I was feeling kind of seasick
The crowd called for more
And the room was hummin' harder
As the ceiling flew away
And when we called out for another drink
But the waiter brought a tray

And so it was later
As the miller told his tale
That her face at first was just ghostly
Turned a whiter shade of pale.

You said, "There is no reason,
And the truth is plain to see."
But I wander through my playin' cards
Would not let him be
One of the sixteen vestal virgins
Who were leaving for the coast
And although my eyes were open
They might just as well been closed

And so it was later
As the miller told his tale
That her face at first was just ghostly
Turned a whiter shade of pale.
A whiter shade of pale
Turned a whiter shade of pale
A whiter shade of pale.

A Bride In The Park

A Perfect Rose

Point Montara

So tell me, when you spend the day with a camera, do you find yourself drifting along with whatever comes your way? Do you go in search of specific subjects, or do you just let the day unfold naturally? Do certain colors catch your eye?

"Music and silence combine strongly, because music is done with silence, and silence is full of music."

-Marcel Marceau

-OndineMonet
"White Cosmos"
Conservatory Of Flowers"
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
August, 2007
Afternoon

John Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #181: Two Truths One Lie

"The greatest enemy of any of our truths, many be the rest of our truths."

-William James

Weekend Assignment#181: Present three facts about yourself. Have two of them be true. Have one of them be false. Encourage people to guess which one is the false one. When do you reveal the false one? On Monday. In a new entry (I'll be linking to your original post). You'll get two visits for the price of one!

Extra Credit: Have you lied about something today (aside from the Weekend Assignment)? You don't have to say what the lie was. Just whether you've lied today. Little white lies count.

-John Scalzi (By The Way)

Jeepers, I have been blogging over four years John, there may not be anything new to learn about me. Hmmmmm. Scratching my head...Oh... I know...

Two Truths And A Lie

1. I am the youngest of three children, and my spouse is also the youngest of 3.

2. My favorite bird is the pelican.

3. My eyes are green with little flecks of purple.

Alrightly then readers, have you been paying attention? Do you know which ones are true and which one is a lie? Guesses anyone? As John instructed, comeback here to Ellipsis on Monday, to read the reveal. :)

Extra Credit: Nope, I cannot tell a lie, I did no lying yesterday. :) Nope, not me!

"Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized. In the first, it is ridiculed, in the second it is opposed, in the third it is regarded as self-evident.

-Arthur Schopenhauer

Click here to read my follow-up entry. :)

-OndineMonet
"Pelican Cliff"
Pismo Beach, California
October 12, 2006
Late Afternoon

If It's Not One Thing It's Your Mother!

"Some people are afraid of what they might find if they try to analyze themselves too much, but you have to crawl into your wounds to discover where your fears are. Once the bleeding starts, the cleansing begins."

-Tori Amos

Tomorrow

Yesterday, Wednesday, was my last day in therapy. It has been a once a week look into myself, for over seven years. It was an intense time to be sure, but had I not given myself chance to heal, after the event which shall remain nameless happened, I am not too sure I would be alive today to write this entry. I had been in therapy on and off for most of my life, and had worked with 44 different therapists, then one day I met Sarah, who was my therapist for the last three years, and who I saw for the last time yesterday. Of all the therapists I have worked with, Sarah is the one who gave me the strongest hand up from despair. When I met her three years ago, I was still so inside myself. Little by little we worked through those hurtful moments from long ago, and some from not so long ago, that life has handed me. The broken family relationships, the trust issues, the broken heart moments, the frustration with world events, and to some degree, the original cause of my break. She helped me overcome the terror of the day the the world caved in... and the pain of the months and years that followed.

Where The Hurt Sat

I will miss Sarah very much, but I finally feel that I am back to being not just me, but perhaps the best version of me that's ever been. With seven years of intense therapy behind me, the time has come to start using those coping methods I have learned to start standing on my own two feet. I know that at some point I may need to go back to therapy, because lets face it, life has a way of pushing us through doors, without necessarily asking if we want to go through them. LOL. Like when we lose someone we love so much, or we find ourselves in a position to change jobs, or when we somehow start believing that life is just plain unfair... and we don't know what to do. :( Somehow, however, I think I can cope with the future better now, then at any point previously in my life. Partly because I have personally matured, partly because I have learned a lesson or two, but mostly because I now know I deserve the best life I can make for myself. Gone are those ghosts who liked to tell me I was worthless, and talentless. They have been proven wrong, they have been proven liars!

Sarah

Sarah... thank you so much for all you have done for me. For all your guidance, especially in the last 8 months. Thank you for understanding me when I cried so hard... lol... I wasn't even sure of what I had said...lol... and most of all, thank you for sharing your gift of healing. I wish you much happiness.
:)

"Freud: If it's not one thing, it's your mother." - Robin Williams


-OndineMonet
"Wednesdays With The Lamp"
Berkeley, California
August, 2007
11:00 AM

Slow Dancing With The Full Sturgeon Moon

Please click on the above image to see the larger version.

"Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of the tree."

-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The amazing moon. It was thrilling to sit in the calm and quiet of my garden, and photograph the moon as it went through the stages of last night's lunar eclipse. The shadows in the yard, and the ghostly dance in the sky, at times, made me feel that there was someone, or something watching me. There probably was... lol... maybe some creature of the night who was also watching the strange red illumination in the sky. Sigh. :) Still, I felt both alone, and also one of many, because I am sure I wasn't the only moon gazer last night. I am sure I had many friends, under the same big night sky, sharing the eclipse with me. And anyway, I had my two best four legged friends by my side most of the night. Elvis to my right, and Thomas the opossum to my left, and of course, there was the man in the moon watching over me. :)

"There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the discompassionatness of a disembodied soul, and something of it's inconceivable mystery."

-Joseph Conrad

The Eclipse Of The Full Sturgeon Moon

"I'm standing on the moon with nothing better to do, with a lovely view of heaven, but I'd rather be with you."

-Unknown

"It is one of life's bitterest truths that bedtime so often arrives just when things are getting really interesting."

-Lemony Snicket

Farmer's Almanac - Astronomy


-OndineMonet
"The Full Sturgeon Moon"
My Garden
Berkeley, California
August 28th, 2007
After Midnight

The Nice Matters Award

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that new world is born."

-Anais Nin

I woke up to quite a surprise last Sunday, which came from my friend Suzanne. She gave me a Nice Matters Award. It was such an honor to be thought of, it really touched my heart. Sometimes, as I sit here and write in my little blog, I wonder if what I have to say is relevant. I wonder if I touch on the right variety of topics, and sometimes I wonder if my photos are interesting enough to share. At times they feel so common to me. Suzanne made me feel really good about being a blogger, and really thankful to be her friend. :)

I came across her blog, New Suzanne R's Life, by chance one day, about a year-and-a-half ago, and from the first words I read, I knew I had found someone special. I left her a comment, and from there a friendship was born. It sounds easy, but sometimes I feel quite shy about saying hello. Suzanne said hello back, and then just let me be me. :) She is a marvelous blogger, and a talented lady with the camera, if you have ever seen her photos you will know this to be true. But above all else, she is courage personified. I admire her strength, and I count on her kindness. Thank you Suzanne, for seeing something special in me, to give me that cool little award.

Now, I would like to pass on the good karma to some fabulous lady bloggers, who touch me with their talent, wit and strength. All these ladies have been in the land for quite a while, so you might already know about their blogs, but even if you read them often, take just a moment to recognize how wonderfully inspiring each of them are just by being themselves, and by sharing their experiences with all of us through their blogs...

Vicki - Maraca

Natalie - Interface

Nancy - Nancy Luvs Pix

Laura - Adventures In Juggling

Jessica - QuickSilver Dreams

Karen - Outpost Mavarin

Ladies, I am passing this award on to you. :)Please take a moment and visit each blog. You will be glad you did. You ladies ROCK!

"Strangers are just friends waiting to happen."

-Unknown

-OndineMonet
"Happy Flowers"
Rose Garden
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
August 8, 2007
Afternoon

Meet Mr. Thomas Wagnall

"Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet."

-Colette

I have a new friend. His name is Thomas, and he is a gorgeous, fully grown male opossum. :) He and his friend, Madelyn first showed up at my back door, about two weeks ago, and since that time we have been getting to know each other. Thomas comes by more often then Maddie does, but every once in a while she can be seen up near the pear tree, munching on the fruit that has fallen to the ground. I love having these adorable creatures in the yard, they are very good friends who keep the garden ship-shape by ridding it of annoying slugs, snails and ants. They also tend to eat the spiders, which hang about outside the house. I can do without spiders, and to my delight, I haven't seen a single one since they began showing up in the yard. These two opossums are adults, so it will take a lot longer to build up their trust, but it will be worth it. They are the kindest, most gentle creatures in the world, but they are terribly misunderstood. If you would like to learn about opossums, see the links below. :)

Awesome Opossums

National Opossum Society



-OndineMonet
"Mr. Thomas Wagnall"
Berkeley, California
August 25th, 2007
Late Evening

The Friday Fill-In... On Sunday

"Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul."

-Oscar Wilde

This is my second week playing the Friday Fill-In... it's really fun, but you know how much I enjoy Internet memes. You should play along also. You can find a blank form here. This week it is all about the senses. :)

Friday Fill-In #34: The Senses

1. I see new cosmos blossoms in my flower garden.
2. I hear an opossum eating crunchy dog food, that I set out for him. :)
3. I touch Elvis's whiskers on my feet. He likes to sit on my feet late at night.
4. I taste chocolate dipped strawberries. I can have 2! :)
5. I smell night blooming Jasmine. It's beautiful.
6. I sense the rest of 2007 has to go better... right?
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to putting a movie on the DVD player, tomorrow my plans include laundry and Sunday, I want to do some sewing on Elvis's Halloween costume! :) I can't wait to show him off! :)

If you do play, be sure to go to Janet's blog and leave her a link, so she can come and visit you! Oh, and leave me one also please. :)

-OndineMonet
"The Sunbather"
Berkeley, California
August 25, 2007
Late Afternoon