Round Robin Challenge: Theaters

Berkeley Repatory Theater, Berkeley, Ca

"You need three things in the theater... the play, the actors, and the audience. And each must give something."

~Kenneth Haigh

RRC: Theaters.

Theaters. The THEATER is pure magic to me, whether I am attending an amazing play, or a wonderful movie. In any case, a trip to the THEATER is at least 2 hours of relief from the real world. It's a marvelous escape and I love it! I always marvel at the architecture of the buildings, and I enjoy reading about their individual historical presences. There is a lot to appreciate about going to a movie or play, and I always go home smiling after the show has ended because a wonderful new memory has been made, just by going to the THEATER! :)

The Grand Lake
Oakland, California

I was an uncredited extra in the Brad Pitt movie, Moneyball. This is the theater in Oakland where they held the movie premiere. I wasn't able to be there to watch all the movie stars arrive, but I did get to see local coverage on the news. :) Oh my, it looked like fun! The Grand Lake is a gorgeous theater that has inspired me many times over the years.







United Artists
Berkeley, California

I just love the Art Deco styling of this theater!



Regal IMAX
Dublin, Ca (Hacienda Crossing)

One of our favorite theaters to watch a great movie!



I thought it would be fun to add some popcorn to this post, because who doesn't love popcorn at the theater? ;)



Finally...

The Fremont
San Luis Obispo, Ca

The Fremont, in San Luis Obispo, California, is one of the last Streamline Moderne theaters built by architect S. Charles Lee. It is a gorgeous theater day or night, but at nighttime it is particularly lovely. I had some wonderful evening photos that I took of it back in the mid 1990's, but unfortunately they were lost when our storage room was burglarized a while back. That's okay, I will hopefully be able to visit SLO sometime later this year or perhaps next year, and I will do a new series of photos to share! I would love to attend the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival later this year! Doesn't that sound like fun?



Okay, now that you have seen my post about THEATERS, be sure to visit the other Round Robin participants! Just click the link at the beginning of this post to be redirected to the official Round Robin blog. You can find all the information there!

~Me :)

The Butterfly's World

Great Southern White (Ascia monuste)


"I almost wish we were butterflies and liv'd but three summer days... three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain."

~John Keats, Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats To Fanny Brawne

Please forgive the photographs from the archives, but Thursday was a long day. Not a bad day mind you, but a busy one. I was engaged in a all the tedious tasks that I had been putting off. It felt good to feel normal. My body has been put through it's paces since the first of the year, and my Fibromyalgia seems to be running my life to a degree, and stress always exacerbates things. But the sun was warm, and the garden is getting off to a slow, but healthy start so it made things easier to take! It also helped to get a little good news from Alan as he was on the way out the door for work. It seems the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park will be opening a new butterfly exhibit in early May! I love photographing butterflies, so I am really looking forward to seeing what my current cameras can do in that setting.

 Indoor shooting has it's pluses and minuses as you probably know. I am really looking forward to that exhibit, but I wish my friend Steven were here to give me some advice. I loved sharing my photos with him, and I know I will be thinking of him when I visit the Conservatory. Still, I can remember his advice sometimes, just as if he were right there... coaching me along. (Smile) He is still my friend, and one day we will meet on the other side, and hopefully there are cameras in Heaven, because I still have a lot of questions for him! LOL.

Here is a favorite photo I took several years ago at the Conservatory of Flowers Butterfly Exhibit several years ago...



Such a delicate Little Yellow ( Pyrisitia lisa) butterfly, not even the size of my thumb. :)

I think after yesterday's gray post, I am looking for color again! :) And how can you not smile in the presence of a Little Yellow butterfly going about it's life, completely unaware of all of the harsh human realities? Lucky her!

:)

Mood: Hopeful

~Me :)

And This To Shall Pass

"Gray skies are just clouds passing by."

~Duke Ellington

Okay, so my mood has been a bit dark this week. Among all the anguish and pain of the happenings in Boston, are the everyday irritations that seem a lot bigger and more powerful than they actually are. I know it's true, and yet... (silence). My problems seem petty compared to what some have gone through this week, and yet as I try to consider they're pain, rather and wallowing in self pity, I only come back to the same answer my dear late friend June would always say in times like this...

"AND THIS TO SHALL PASS"

On a slightly different note, I love gray San Francisco days. There is something quiet about it that allows me to think about things on a different level. It's a good thing I think. Sometimes one has to stop for a moment and just reflect or face falling down from sheer exhaustion. Gray days are good days for me. The quiet mist in the air. The clouds. The fog moving through the Golden Gate. The joy of wearing my favorite brown sweater one more day before summer encroaches on spring.

AND THIS TO SHALL PASS.

Mood: Quiet

~Me :)

Fuzzy Blossoms

"The sun was warm but the wind was chill. You know how it is with an April day."

~Robert Frost

The sun was ridiculously cheerful yesterday. My mood not so much. But I appreciated the beauty everywhere all the same. You know how it goes after a tragedy like what happened in Boston, you get up the next day and suddenly the sky has never been so blue, and the pink fuzzy blossoms never so soft and pink, and a little while later in the day you realize it doesn't honor those lost, to take life, and it's simple earthly gifts for granted. Right? The next day in April will come along and it's a blessing, so don't take it for granted, or forget to appreciate it.

Mood: Quiet

~Me :)

With Love For Boston

"When one person is missing, the whole world seems empty."

~Pat Schweibert, Tear Soup: A Recipe For Healing After Loss

To The People Of Boston...

I send my love, prayers, and healing light for the days and the weeks ahead. I wish I had something profound to say that would instantly take your grief away, but I can't, all I can do is send you my support and love so you know you always have a friend in me. I grieve with you. I wish I could do more.

((((((((((BOSTON))))))))

With Love...

~Carly

Utility Box Meet Art... Art Meet Utility Box

"Enthusiasm is the electricity of life. How do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit."

~Gordon Parks

I love this fairly new art form of communities painting utility boxes. I spotted this one in downtown Hayward. Hayward began painting the utility boxes to fight growing graffiti, and now there are over 30 boxes throughout the city, making it a prettier place! And they aren't just in Hayward, I have been seeing painted boxes throughout the Bay Area in the last few years, and the list of participating cities is only growing! Personally, I love them, I think they add a nice splash of color to the landscape! Cute isn't it? I will have more of these soon, I want to make a whole day of it and see how many I can photograph.

Stay Tuned!

Mood: Hopeful

~Me :)

In Berkeley

"It's been said that men think only about sex and food. And some men, like my uncle Lester, thank about sex with food. Needless to say the church has ordered him to cease bringing his own food to the potlucks."

~Jarod Kintz, This Book Is Not For Sale

I don't know why I don't do more photography in Berkeley, in my opinion it has some of the most beautiful buildings in the Bay Area. And it has a ton of difference churches, as you might expect of a collage town. This church, The First Congregational Church Of Berkeley, is one of my very favorites to photograph. It just has a gentle vibe about it, of course I suppose some might say that's God. LOL. Perhaps. All I know is that I have taken a few photos of it over the years, and I am always happy with the end result of what I was trying to capture. It is especially beautiful in autumn, but then, isn't everything?

Mood: Inspired

~Me :)