"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair." ~Kahlil Gibran Round Robin Challenge: Big Hairy Deal
Yep, that is indeed Harry Hamlin. I don't think I could find a better choice for the main photograph in a photo post about HAIR that to show you HARRY HAMLIN! I had a wonderful time meeting the actor, a couple years ago, when Alan and I sat in the studio audience of the now cancelled Bay Area afternoon talk show, 7 Live. I will save the details for another post of how and when I was able to capture this particular photo, trust me it's an interesting story. Stay tuned to my blog, I will post about meeting Harry Hamlin sometime in October. But for now, let me show you some of my very favorite "HAIR" subjects...
Give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen Give me down to there, hair, shoulder length or longer Here baby, there, momma, everywhere, daddy, daddy Hair, flow it, show it Long as God can grow, my hair
~ Lyrics From "Hair"
#1. Beautiful Rodeo Horse... Rowell Ranch Rodeo Parade May 2012
#2. The Friendly Neighborhood Opossum Agatha Pendragon. I love opossums.
#3. The Common Hairstreak.
#4. Elvira Mistress of the Dark (Another of my celebrity photos_
#5. Heads On A Shelf. Don't you just love getting your hair done? :)
#6 A Beautiful Autumn Vanessa
#7. Brown Skipper
#8. A Furry or Hairy Aquatic Creature The Otter. When I first saw him sleeping on the water, I thought it was a disgarded rug. LOL.
#9. And Finally... Me. 2012. Not too bad for 50... right?
Okie Doke. That is my contribution to the current challenge. Now that you have seen mine, how about playing along with the challenge. I know Karen would love to have you come by. Simply click the link at the top of this post to be redirected to the RRC official blog where you will find all the information you need to play along. That is also where you will also find the links to the other participants. We have some awesome photographers in the community!
"Money may not buy happiness, but I would rather cry in a Jaguar than on a bus."
~Francoise Sagan
I wouldn't mind owning a Jaguar. That being said, I also don't mind driving a car that is actually within my means. That being said, my beloved Lilith, a 2007 Saturn ION is sending me scary, mean, nasty, little codes once again. As you might remember, earlier this year Alan and I spent close to $4,000 fixing her various boo-boos. It sucked, but I figured that now that all her peculiarities had been addressed, I would have several years of joyful, blissful driving.
(Insert personal cuss word of choice here) Personally, I prefer FUCK!
Okay, the writing is on the wall, it's time to give up the ghost. So. Hmmm. What to do? Where to go? What to price? Hmmmm again. Well, at least it's very nearly the autumn, and that means all car dealerships are beginning to hold "All Cars Must Go" sales, and "First Look" sales, so I decided to see what my options are. Here is what I found that out...
Meet The 2013 Chevy Spark (
Okay, here is the lowdown...
2013 Chevy Spark
Starting at $12,245
10 Airbags
85 HP
31.2 Cubic Feet Cargo Volume
38 MPG HWY
28 City
And it actually comes in some pretty nice colors. I like Pink Techno and Denim, but Jalapeno is fun to. But lets face it, the color has very little to do with anything. God I hate it when a car salesman comes out to greet Alan and I and the first question they ask me is, what color I like the best? Just once it would be amazing to have them ask me what kind of gas mileage I am shooting for. I guess that's just the hazard of being a drop dead gorgeous female! LOL. I look dumb. LOL. Actually, I am pretty sure only Alan and maybe an ex-boyfriend or two are the only ones who would describe me that way. LOL. But you get my drift.
I am already mourning my lovely Saturn ION Lilith. But the truth is we simply can't afford putting money into a car that was that poorly made. It has become a money pit. Alan works too hard for us to keep throwing our money away. I wish Saturn had remained the company they were when I bought my first Saturn back in the late 90's. Those cars preformed well, we got a lot out of them in terms of dependability and gas mileage, and Saturn had a good maintenance program that helped us keep them in good shape. Unfortunately, Saturn changed, seemingly overnight, when they stopped operating as an independent company from Pontiac. When our late 90's Saturns came to their natural end, we didn't hesitate to hit the local Saturn dealership for the next generation. That will always be the worst automotive mistake in our marriage.
I can't and don't want to dwell on it. I just want to quietly move on. I love inanimate objects, it's one of my worst character traits. I get attached to things that have NO way of loving me back. Stuffed animals, paintings and art, movies, but its different when you have a car that you are sure loves you. I believe (don't laugh) my cars have genuinely loved me back, and in Lilith's case she didn't mean to be a pain in the ass... it wasn't her fault... she built with substandard materials. There are no bad cars, only CROOKED CAR MANUFACTURERS. There is a long list of complaints about the later Saturn IONs, including all the various problems we have had. Someone else should be picking up the bill for these lemons, but that is not how the world works.
Sigh.
I am ready to move on. It's going to be fun. Well, at least until the inevitable buyers remorse sets in. I really like the Chevy Spark, and so does Alan, and so does Car And Driver magazine. Okay, I am good to go, but one thing... with my fear of fire, I just wish it wasn't called a SPARK.
Barnabus Collins: How soon can the horses be ready?
Elizabeth Stoddard: We don't have horses... we have a Chevy.
~From the Tim Burton's Dark Shadows
Note: Here is a little music for you. I have had "Get It On" (Bang A Gong) in my head since I saw the movie Dark Shadows earlier this year. One thing... I get what the song is about, but, um... "a hubcap diamond star halo?" Odd... very odd methinks.
Get It On (Bang A Gong) By T Rex
~Me :)
Now, go and pay a visit to my pal JR. He has been a faithful participant of my APAD project, with perfect attendance. He is awesome. Both as a friend and an amazing photographer. Go check out his blog.
"The moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It's always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it's a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections."
~Tehereh Mafi, Shatter Me
I love photographing the moon. During an eclipse. When it shines brightly in the early morning. When it's crystal clear. When it's partly cloudy. Any time I get the chance... I love photographing the moon. I like to read the Farmer's Almanac, and learn about lunar trivia and lore. I love spooky movies, some of my favorite being werewolf movies, especially the old black and white ones. The newer ones don't seem to have the same charm as that the old ones do. Shrug. I suppose it's because I grew up watching the black and white ones, but I find all the special effects in the new ones distracting and somehow it becomes about the effects, and not about the moon itself, or the way it plays with the humans, and the earth it watches over. I like that I can let my imagination run wild under a full moon, and yet I know it's nothing more than a million year old pattern of existence. And every day event. That's a comforting thought, but not very romantic. LOL. I don't dwell on it because I am an easy girl to please. Just give me a camera, and I will find happiness.
:)
"The moon does not fight. It attacks no one. It does not worry. It does not try to crush others. It keeps it's course, but by its very nature, it gently influences. What other body could pull an entire ocean from shore to shore? The moon is faithful to it's nature and its power is never diminished."
~Deng Ming-Dao, Everyday Tao: Living With Balance And Harmony
~Me :)
And Now, Please Take A Few Minutes And Pay A Visit To My Friend JR's Blog, He Is An Awesome Photographer, And You Will Enjoy Your Visit There Very Much. :)
"A weird in which we are alive. We can travel anywhere we want, even to other planets. And for what? To sit day after day, declining in morale and hope."
~ Philip K. Dick, The Man In The High Castle
I tool this photo in the late summer of, I believe, 2005. I only had a moment to decide if I wanted to do the photo, as we sat at a red light in San Francisco. In the moment I couldn't decide if I was invading his privacy, or, if by doing so, would make him feel worse than he clearly already did. For whatever reason, he was alone, and clearly in despair. I heard myself think the word despair in my mind, and at that moment I snapped the picture. It left me with a lot of sadness afterwards. But at the same time, and in many ways, I knew I had photographed something profound, almost like I saw the lesson, or perhaps saw the meaning of the momentary play, that I had just seen.
It has not been lost on me that my camera has provided me many different ways off seeing the world. The good... following a film idol around as he makes cinema magic, the BAD... the mean spirited hatred of opposing opinions, and the UGLY...the protest signs on the Cal Berkeley Campus which had pictures of the atrocities Bust/Cheney war... and yes... the PROFOUND... the day to day life of the homeless. It's their pictures that I can't always bring myself to share here, but there are times that I feel that they need to be seen, and acknowledged.
Please take a look at the whole picture, if you feel comfortable doing so, and tell me what you see. Tell me how you feel. Tell me your impression. Every time I look at it, I see something different that moves my impression of it along like a kind of evolution. He is dressed in fairly new clothing, despite the rip in the jacket. He is wearing nice polished shoes... and socks... you don't see that often on the homeless. He has a large cart that belongs to him, and holds what is probably his only world positions. He is sitting on the bench, with a bottle of alcohol next to him... and a glass with a dark beverage inside it. Also something you rarely see, a homeless drinking from a glass, as if he couldn't forget his manners.
It seems that he was very new to his circumstance... and it had devastated him. I state the obvious. I know what I feel about it, and I will never forget him. Just a couple years later, Alan and I would go through one of our worst times in our marriage, financially speaking, and here we are, a few years later back to something resembling a more normal life. We are among the lucky ones. I thank God almost every day that we made the decision to not have children. I have seen the devastation this economy has had on families. Friends. Losing houses. Not having enough to eat, even with 2 paychecks. Sigh.
I could say a lot about the events of the last week or so. But I won't. I will just say...
I believe this photo should be required viewing for all presidential candidates.
I believe this image is the point. The point of everything.
"Summer, after all, is a time when wonderful things can happen to quiet people. For those few months, you're not required to be who everyone things you are, and that cut grass smell in the air and the chance to dive into the deep end of a pool give you a courage you have the rest of the. You can be grateful and easy, with no eyes on you, and no past. Summer just opens the door and lets you out."
~Deb Caletti, Honey, Baby Sweetheart
Is there anything sadder than an empty carnival? When I pass scenes like this, I sometimes wonder if maybe there are ghosts riding on the Farris wheel, and perhaps tossing rings in the pursuit of stuffed poodles. LOL. Yes, I am ghost obsessed, but you have to understand, there is cinnamon brooms everywhere, and there are pumpkins beginning to turn orange in the fields in Half Moon Bay and Marin County. And YUM... isn't hot spiced apple cider amazing on a cool autumn morning?
Shoot... lookie there... I am all but ignoring my point. Summer's End. Summer has grown on me in recent years, in fact I have to admit I kinda love it. Or maybe it's the older I get the more I take less for granted. Summer has it's charm, and now that I have given it a chance, I do find it's ending sad. Like no other season, including autumn, you can feel a distinct mourning about it in the air. Fitting I suppose that the very next season gives us one last amazing burst of color and flavor.
When I think about the things I have taken for granted, I want to spend every day making up for lost time. If only my energy level were as enthusiastic as my creativity! LOL.
"I discovered windows one afternoon, and after that, nothing was ever the same."
~Anne Spollen
The day I discovered the window, it felt like I had discovered all windows. It is very special. It is a window in the parlor of the Point Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove, California. Of all the lighthouses I have visited in my travels, this one is my very favorite, well at least it is in the 3 anyway. A little secret, I think I say that about every lighthouse I visit, but the history of this particular one is so amazing, I couldn't help but fall in love with it.
On the day we visited, in 2005, we were able to take a self-guided tour of the inside. There were rooms we were allowed to walk around in an explore, and there were ones cordoned off, like the parlor, which is where this window is located. The parlor is a beautiful room, filled with lovely antiques, but for me it was all about the window. I fell in love with how the light came through it, autumn never lets me down. (Smile).
I wasn't having the best time that week, I was a bit sad, so Alan decided a short day trip to Monterey, Pacific Grove, and Carmel might just be what the doctor ordered. He was so right. It is amazing there, there is so much natural beauty, it is impossible for a bad mood, or any kind of sadness to last long,. He and I are both history buffs, so visiting here was a natural choice.
The lighthouse has been shining a light on the Monterey coast since 1855, and it has had a number of keepers, but the two keepers that really made an impression on me were Allen Luce, who Robert Louise Stevens wrote about in regards to the wonderful hospitality he received there, and the second being Mrs. Emily Fish, known as the (Socialite Keeper) because of her love of entertaining, who took over in 1893, and served until 1914. She was the keeper the day the great San Francisco earthquake hit, and had to manage the damage to the lens of the lighthouse and structural damage to the tower.
When I saw the window, with that gorgeous late autumn afternoon light coming through it, I could almost see Robert Louis Stevenson standing at it, gazing out on the blue Pacific Ocean. It's always surprising me, how different each lighthouse is in terms of it's history and impact on the weary traveler.
Some lighthouses have a dark feel to them. Definately uninviting to be sure. Some seem lonely. Some seem unloved and forgotten about, but not this one. It has a fun, welcoming vibe to it. I adore it. I really need to go back soon, hopefully next month and pay it a visit. Perhaps I will bring a book along, and just pause for a little bit on one of the benches, and just enjoy how lovely it is there. I feel really good just thinking about it. It's so much fun to contemplate who might have stood right there, making plans, or maybe just enjoying the warmth of the sunlight coming through the window.
"A certain man once lost a diamond cuff-link in the wide blue sea, and twenty years later, on the exact day, a Friday apparently, he was eating a large fish... but there was no diamond inside. That's what I like about coincidence."
~Vladimir Nabokov
"Why are our days numbered and not, say, lettered?"
~Woody Allen
Well, it's official, Woody is back in New York City. He was spotted last Tuesday, the 11th, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Sigh. I had a ball last month, but I am mourning it a bit now because I know it will probably never happen again. I know, I know, be thankful for the fun I had, and don't be selfish, but... sigh... it was the thrill of a lifetime and I would like to stalk... I mean watch... him make movie magic again one day. Hello Mega Millions Lottery Gods? LOL Until then, Woody and I will always have the corner of Claremont Boulevard and Ulloa Street in San Francisco.
