Round Robin Challenge: It's Not Easy Being Green

"The one had leaves of dark green, that beneath were shining silver, and from each of his countless flowers a dew of silver light was ever falling, and the earth beneath was dappled with the shadows of his fluttering leaves."

J.R.R. Tolkien

I have changed my mind, several times in my 46 years, about what my favorite color is. I love pink, especially if it is paired with yellow, and the funny thing about that is, I can't really wear either color successfully. Both colors, on me, look hideous. I like the color mauve, and I do a little better with it then pink, but if given a choice, I will simply take purple. Purple has been my favorite color for a while now, but the thing about purple is there is very little that can go with it, so I will tend to go back to the color I wear most often, which is black, because I can wear just a splash of any color I want. But even black gets old after a while. What to do? What to do? I know! I will go back to the color I always go back to when I feel like I am in some type of transition... Green.

I love the color green. It is one of those colors that put me at ease, no matter what turmoil might be going around. I like photographing different shades of green, and of course, what would and afternoon be, without my green tea fix? I hadn't realized how much green was actually in my life, until I began to do this entry. I have green sheets on my bed right now. My favorite autumn sweater is green. Life wouldn't be worth living, if I didn't have my nightly vegetable, especially a crisp green salad. When I set out to find the green in my life, I discovered it is absolutely everywhere in my world. Maybe that is why I have been feeling a little more centered lately. Heck, even the cover for my Yoga mat has a deep green background, with tiny multicolored (but mostly green) dragonflies on it.

The lighthouse you see above, is one of my very favorites. It is the Walton Lighthouse, which is in Santa Cruz, just a short hop from the boardwalk area. It had some controversy a while back, when there was a movement to paint the bands around the top red, and replace the lantern with a clear one. Public outcry saved the unique green colors of the lighthouse, and now you see it in all it's lovely green splendor!

Here are some more of my favorite green things...

Late summer in Berkeley, still a little green left to enjoy as the seasons prepare to hand off to each other.

The gorgeous green cliffs along Highway 1.

The Luna Moth. I think it kinda looks like a ballerina. What do you think?

Is there such a thing as a white/slightly green tarantula?

YES! Brussels Sprouts are a favorite vegetable of mine in autumn and winter.

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Where did the idea for this challenge come from? Glad you asked. Our friend Julie, who can be found at the blog, Julie's Web Journal, submitted the idea of a green challenge for us. Be sure to go by her place and see what green things she posted for this challenge! And after you do, pay a visit to all the participating Robins! Let's be sure to show our support of one another, by paying each other a visit, and commenting. It's a great way to get to know one another! If you haven't played yet, there is still time. Just visit the official Round Robin blog for all the details!

Linking List

Julie... Julie's Web Journal
Posted!

Karen... Outpost Mavarin
Posted!

Carly... Ellipsis
Posted!

Wammy... The Ellis Family Cincinnati
Posted!

Gattina... Keyhole Pictures
Posted!

Martha... Perception
Posted!

Maryt... Work of the Poet


Marie... Photographs & Memories
Posted!
And... Photographs & Memories Too
Posted!

Maria... Maria's Space **Welcome New Member**


Valerie... Soulfully Blond **Welcome New Member**
Posted!

Jennifer Robin... Robin's Woods
Posted!

Vicki... Maraca
Posted!

Erin... Life of a College Student **Welcome New Member**
Posted!

Gina... Gina's Space
Posted!

Momma... Sandcastle Momma
Posted!

Em Dy... Captured Beat
Posted!

Ourhomeschool... Our Home School in the Woods
Posted!

Kiva... Eclectic Granny
Posted!

Steven... (sometimes)blog
Posted!

Connie... Far Side Of Fifty
Posted! **Welcome New Member**

Greg... Photo Trek
Posted! 09/21/08

Jeni... Friendphotog
Posted! 09/21/08

Just a reminder, there is still time to play the Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot. The week the topic is "Cheese." You have until 9:00 PM eastern time Sunday night to post your photo, and leave me the link.

-OndineMonet

The Gates Of Heaven

"Sunsets are so beautiful that they seem as if we are looking through the gates of Heaven"

-John Lubbock

Here is my last summer sunset for 2008! We had an unusually mild summer this year, there were only few days that I can were summer like. Even yesterday, when I took this photo, I was wearing gloves. Strange summer. The sunsets this year have been magnificent, I didn't photograph as many as I should have, but I plan to rectify that. I am hoping to make autumn, all about the sunsets! Wish me luck, now that I have said my plans out loud... lol... you just know something will try to stand in my way! We'll see.

So tell me, how was your summer in terms of the weather? Are you looking forward to autumn arriving? Tell me everything.

-OndineMonet
"Gates Of Heaven"
Point Montara Lighthouse
Montara, California
September 18th, 2008
Twilight

Martha's A-Z Photo Challenge: "M" Is For Morning Glory

"I think it pisses God off, if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it."

-Alice Walker

I can't believe we have already arrived at the letter "M" in Martha's A-Z Photo Challenge! But we are indeed here, and I found it difficult to narrow things down to just one "M." I think I came across more items I could have used with this letter, then most of the other ones. If I hadn't narrowed things down, I would probably have a dozen or so pictures with this entry. Mountains, M&M's, Meat, Morning, Monkeys, Music, the possibilities were endless. In the end, I chose the Morning Glory that is growing in abundance along my garden fence this year. I am noticing it more, I think, because for my birthday we bought a really lovely garden swing, and I have been spending a lot of time out there reading. I love how the Morning Glory takes on a different appearance depending on what time of day you are enjoying it. And that color. I can understand why purple is a royal color!

Be sure to go by Martha's journal, "Perception" to see her "M" photo, and find the links to the other participants in her A-Z Photo Challenge. It's not too late to play along, so go ahead... go play! Its fun!

-OndineMonet
"Morning Glory"
Berkeley, California
September 15th, 2008
Morning

A Day Spent In The Surreal

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living."

-Dr. Seuss

Ever have one of those days when nothing seems quite right? Kind of like you are living in the same world as everyone else, and yet you are half a step behind the natural flow of things? It's during those times that coincidences tend to occur. When you experience deja vu, over and over again. It's when you might just glimpse a specter out of the corner of your eye, or a funny light in the sky, that could just be someone from some far off community in space about to pay you, specifically, a visit.. You trip over invisible objects, and misplace your keys, only to find them later in a place you looked a dozen times. On days like the one I am describing, you just know you are moving through time and space, and for all practical purposes, it's completely out of your control as to who, or what, might cross your path.

I was having that kind of day a while back. I was running into walls, and forgetting to shut doors. Twice I picked up the phone to call someone, only to hear them saying "Hello, Hello," into the receiver. I had picked up the phone, before it even rang! I found a box of old love letters, quite by accident, written to me by an old flame, who I had dreamed about the night before. I called and asked Alan what he wanted for dinner that night, and without saying a word to him about what I was hungry for, he said "Yankee Pot Roast." The very thing I had been hungry for all day. It seemed that during all this missteps, there was something serendipitous also occurring. I was experiencing a phenomena of sorts. I was in both the right place, and the wrong place at the same time.

I got through the day with only a few silly bruises to remind me of the day, and as twilight was approaching I was glad that the day was nearly through. Most of the day I had felt so uncomfortable, and out of place, that it had made me feel weary. It was all quite spooky, and at one point I realized that more then anything else, I had felt as if I wasn't gliding through time, so much as time was stuttering, and I was the only one who noticed it. That's not exactly something you want to say to the person next to you in line at the grocery store. "Excuse me stranger, do you feel like maybe we are hurling through time out of control, and by the way, did you just feel that stutter? I had a chance to ask the person behind me in line at Lucky's just that question, but I had been distracted by the fact that the total for my groceries came up to $106.90.

I was ready to be home after that. I was done with that day. So, in an effort to shake off the wiggins, I put on some nice music on my care stereo. I am tired of the mixed CD I made a while back, so instead opted for the KFRC (106.9) instead. Classic hits from the 60's, 70's and 80's. As I started to leave the parking lot of the store, Huey Lewis and the News began to play, "The Power Of Love." That was the favorite song of the boyfriend who had wrote me the love letters I had found earlier that day, and who I had dreamed about the previous night. I hadn't thought of him in years, and now he was solidly in my thoughts. It wasn't really love between us, but it was a solid infatuation to be sure. He took me to see the movie, "Back To The Future" which of course is the movie in which this song is featured.

About half way through the song, and about five miles from home, I saw a silver car pull out from a side street, and move in front of me, and it was... you guessed it... a DELOREAN! I had to smile. Neat! How weird had this day had been! Wonderfully quirky, with the exception of the running into walls, but now, this bit of fantasy, things seemed to going full circle. Hmmm... given all the coincidences, could it maybehaps be Marty McFly in that car? Is Doc Brown somewhere nearby? Maybe it was Doc Brown in the car! Or maybe it was simply a case of being in the right place, at the right time to see one of the only 6,500 Delorean's that are believed to still exist!

In any case, it was fun to follow that car, and maybe daydream for a bit that I could be caught in the wake of it's possible trip through time, even for just a moment or two. After all, I had been traveling through time all day! Alas, as the car pulled onto HWY 13, and out of my sight. I was back to the present again, and almost immediately, everything, including time, seemed to correct itself. For the rest of the evening, everything seemed back to normal, it seems my day of the surreal had ended. As weary as the day had left me, I would have experienced it all again for that little bit of fantastic distraction. Hmmm... I wonder if the old flame had thought about me too that day? I don't really want to know the answer to that question, it's much more fun to wonder. That's what fantasies are for... right?

-OndineMonet
"Back To The Future Of The Past"
Berkeley, California
Sometime In The Past

Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot #3: Cheese Please!

"Many's the long night I've dreamed of cheese, toasted mostly."

-Robert Louis Stevenson

EMPS #3: Cheese Please! NOW CLOSED!
For this week's photo shoot assignment, I thought it would be fun to get creative with one of my favorite things... CHEESE! There are literally, hundreds of different kinds of cheese, and I am pretty sure I love them all, so this week, it's all about CHEESE PLEASE!

**After you post your photo shoot entry, come back here and leave me the direct link to your entry. NO HYPERLINKS PLEASE!

**Please check your link carefully. Keep in mind, that it is your responsibility to submit your link information correctly. The link you leave me, is the link I will post!

**You have until 9:00 PM Eastern time next Sunday to submit your entry. After that time this challenge will be closed!

LINKING LIST FOR EMPS #2: "Water In Motion" 9/8/08

NOW CLOSED!

1. Karen, shares a fond memory of her dog, Tuffy, playing "The Water Game" with a garden hose.

2. Greg, photographed water moving majestically in a stream.

3. T.J., gets artistic with droplets of water, while keeping up with her grandson.

4. Vicki, was "making a splash" with waves she photographed while out on her boat.

5. Steven, paid a visit to Longwood Gardens, and shows us water coming from a birdbath, that looks like a silver ribbons.

6. Jama, takes us back to the beach!

7. Ahh... Laura brings us water from a faucet. "Drip Drop, Drip Drop."

8. Sandcastle Momma, shows us a series of photos featuring some serious waves, and one in particular seems to be chasing a Heron.

9. Martha, displays three scenes of water in motion, one by way of a waterfall, and two at the beach!

10. Tammy posted two photographs of her favorite decorative sprinkler in her garden. Beautiful!

You guys submitted some really great photos this week, I enjoyed them very much. Now, as I said last week... "I am ready to see more!" GO BE PHOTOGRAPHERS, GO GET THE PHOTO, and I will see you back here on Ellipsis in one week with a brand new EMPS assignment!

Photo Tip #3: Look For Lines
Use shadows and natural lighting to create interesting lines within your photos.

-Carly

And The Emmy Goes To...

"To refuse awards is another way of accepting them with more noise than is normal."

-Peter Ustinov

Well, one week from tonight I will put on my high heels, my one evening dress, and I will pop some Pizza Rolls in the oven, then settle in to watch the 60th annual Emmy Awards. I miss the days of my friend June holding her silly awards parties. She didn't always hold an Emmy Award party, but she never missed the Academy Awards... not ever! I thought about holding a shindig, but in the end, I thought it would be fun to just watch the show with my favorite date, Elvis. Alan has to work, so it is just me and my elegant little friend for the evening. That's ok, how many ladies can say that they will be dining with a man in a tuxedo next Sunday night? Tee Hee. My boy never let's me down!

As for the show itself, I must admit to being somewhat bored in recent years. I think if asked to name my favorite moment from past shows, I would have to go all the way back to 2001, when Ellen DeGeneres hosted it, right after the terrorist strike on 9/11. She made me laugh... and laugh... and laugh again. We all needed that, but I haven't been really, truly entertained since then. Am I being too critical? Have you enjoyed the Emmy's the last few years? If so, sing out in the comments, tell me what you think!

As for the nominees this year, I am a bit amazed that more awards weren't offered to what I consider the best new show of the year last year, Pushing Daisies. It was new, creative, and beautifully filmed. Unfortunately, I think it was lost a good bit when the writer's strike hit, as were many other shows I think should have gotten a nod, such as Private Practice, and Big Bang Theory. As for the reality catagory, how could they have possibly overlooked, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, or Hell's Kitchen? Sigh. The unfairness of it all! :)

So tell me, in the following categories, who will you be rooting for? Here are my Picks...

Outstanding Comedy Series

30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
The Office
Two And A Half Men - X

Outstanding Drama Series

Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost - X
Mad Men

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series

Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
Tony Shalhoub (Monk)
Steve Carrell (The Office)
Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) - X
Charlie Sheen (Two And A Half Men)

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series

James Spader (Boston Legal) - X
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
Michael C. Hall (Dexter)
Hugh Laurie (House)
Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment)
Jon Hamm (Mad Men)

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series

Tina Fey (30 Rock) - X
Julie Louie-Dreyfus (New Adventures Of Old Christine)
Christina Applegate (Samantha Who?)
America Ferrera (Ugly Betty)
Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds)

Outstanding Actress In A Drama Series

Sall Field (Brothers And Sisters) - X
Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)
Glenn Close (Damages)
Mariska Hargitay (Law And Order: SVU)
Holly Hunter (Saving Grace)

Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series

The Colbert Report
The Daily Show with John Stewart
Late Show with David Letterman - X
Real Time with Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Reality Program

Antiques Roadshow
Dirty Jobs
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Intervention
Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List - X

Outstanding Reality Competition Program

The Amazing Race
American Idol
Dancing With The Stars - X
Project Runway
Top Chef

Outstanding Made For Television Movie

Bernard and Doris
Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
A Raisin In The Sun
Recount - X

So tell me, what do you think? Will this be a good year for the Emmy Awards? Are your favorites among the contenders? If so, who are you rooting for? Will you be watching the show with me, or do you just hate awards shows? Tell me everything!

-OndineMonet