Round Robin Challenge: Gone

Ocean Beach, Near Cliff House, San Francisco
August 14th, 2013, 
Antique Filter

"A picture is a secret about a secret, the more it tells, the less you know."

~Diane Arbus



RRC: Gone

The Sutro Baths

I don't usually post photos that aren't mine for this challenge, in fact it is strongly frowned upon, but this time, just as a point of reference, the picture you see just above this paragraph are actually two photos I found on the Internet that demonstrate the amazing grace, architecture, beauty, and history of a bygone era in San Francisco. The time was the late 1800's, and the place was the Sutro Baths that were erected next to Cliff House, on the Great Highway. As you can see, it was a fantastic place, that featured state of the art innovation for the time. Today, all that remains of the once great public swimming pools, are the ruins, which I find really interesting as a historical point of interest!









Sutro Baths was built on the bluff, next door to Cliff House, had 7 pools, of fresh water and salt water, and it survived the 1906 earthquake, but eventually fell to the fluxing economy in the middle half of the 20th century. After it's closing, in 1966, the building was finally destroyed by fire. Which seems so sad to me. A building as impressive as it was, should still be there, reminding us of the wonderful time it was built in. I would give anything to have seen and photographed it, but the ruins are still very interesting to me! I find it to be an enchanting place, and I can almost hear the music that was playing during all those decades! Can you imagine how much the swim fashions alone changed over those 60 years?


"Photography is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality."

~Alfred Stieglitz

Sutro Baths History (National Park Service)

Sutro Baths (Wikipedia)

Okay, now that you have seen my post for the RRC, why not go and see what the other participating Robins have come up with! Just click the link at the beginning of the post to be redirected to the official Round Robin blog. Better yet... why don't you join us? I know Karen would be very pleased to have you join in!

:)

Mood: Happy/Nostalgic

~Me :)

25 Years + 10 Years + 1 Year = Life

"You know what my philosophy of life is? That it's important to have some laughs, but you got to suffer a little too, because otherwise you miss the whole thing."

~Woody Allen

25 Years: ON Love Beginning With The First Date...

Today is the day, in more ways than one! First things first! 25 years ago today, Alan and I went on our first official date! We had known each other since May of 1977, and at first we really couldn't stand each other, then he went off to collage, and I went off to collage, and we didn't see each other for quite a while, but while the both of us were off in different directions, we both grew up! When we met again in the early 80's, I had grown a little more patience about stuffy conservatives, and he was a little more open to the arguments of bleeding heart liberals such as myself!

LOL.

Ronald Reagan was the president at the time, and so understanding could only go so far!

We agreed to disagree about Ronald Reagan.

By the time the Reagan administration was over, I had converted Alan to a liberal. Thank you very much! LOL. Actually, I think it had less to do with me and my values, and more to do with Ronald Reagan himself. I really didn't have to do much, Alan saw the light all on his own! LOL.Which is kinda nice, because I don't think I would have ever married a conservative. It just wouldn't have worked. I found that out when I dated a minister for about 6 months, also during the Reagan administration! I call those years, my years of enlightenment!

Anyway, here we are 25 years later, and Alan and I are happily married, and we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of our first date, by going to see Woody Allen's newest film, Blue Jasmine. After the movie, we are going into San Francisco, to eat dinner at one of the restaurants featured in the film! It has been our plan, for over a year, to spend the day this way! We have enjoyed his films very much over the years, and it's a good way to spend this anniversary methinks!

Ellipsis: A Decade Of Life On A Blog...

There is another anniversary associated with this day... it's the 10th anniversary of my blog Ellipsis. It was 10 years ago, that I began this blog as my AOL Journal, Ellipsis. We all know that AOL Journals came and went, really too fast, but while I was there I made some really good friends, some of which I am still in contact with today. Karen, Patrick, Duane... I love you all! And there are many others who don't blog anymore, but I still correspond with from time to time.

I love all my pals, but I can't help but think of my friends that were lost to us, especially, Steven, who had begun his AOL Journal, just one day before I did, and was always one of my most supportive friends. He taught me so much about photography, and gave me so much good advice about blogging, I can't help but feel a little sad because I can't drop by his blog today, and say HI, like we always used to do on our blogging anniversaries.

I miss you Steven.

So, this day has a lot of really good, happy memories attached to it, but some bittersweet ones as well. Still, I look forward to August 23rd every year! And while I might just be a bit blue,  I am so thankful for all the wonderful, fun, happy memories that make this day in the universe so special for me. It's a good day. I am a happy girl.

How To Star In A Woody Allen Movie Without Really Trying...

Okay, so I will be posting my review of Blue Jasmine, and my critique of the restaurant we are eating at tomorrow night in my Ellipsis post on Sunday, because tomorrow, Saturday, is the next round of the Round Robin Challenges: Gone. If you can play along, be sure to, because this could just be one of the best subjects yet! Karen has been doing a magnificent job with the challenges, so if you haven't played in a while... or ever... come on and join us! I know Karen would love to have you!

It was just about a year ago this week that Alan and I were in full swing, following Woody Allen around San Francisco. It's an odd feeling seeing him in person, let alone as he works his movie making magic. It can make one feel as if you are in a Woody Allen movie! It's hard to explain, but I will try to convey what it's like when I do my reviews on Sunday, so you will just have to stay tuned!

Yes.

Stay Tuned!

"It's a wonderful thing to be able to create your own world whenever you want to."

~Woody Allen

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Porcupines, Ball Lightning And Policemen

"If lightning is the anger of the gods, then the gods are concerned mostly about trees."

~Lao Tzu

Who knew that these beautiful, puffy, peach colored clouds would be producing large, violent, fits of energy, in just a few hours later! It should be odd, but no, it's actually normal! God has a very strange idea of normal methinks!

"If it moves, fondle it... except porcupines, ball lightning, and policemen."

~Unknown

Okay, that's my randomosity for the week! Not as exciting as Shark Week, but not as dull as a Cream Cheese Sandwich on white Wonder Bread. Keep that in mind!

:)

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Betwixt And Between

"Be hole, be dust, be dream, be wind. Be night, be dark, be wish, be mind. Now slip, now slide, now move unseen. Above, beneath, betwixt, between."

~Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book

The trees are beginning to show their autumn color. It's like they are as done with this summer as I am. Fortunately, in a month, September 22nd, at 10:29 P.M. EDT, to be exact, it will be officially autumn, but I think I am already there!

It's kinda feeling a bit spooky too! Yesterday we had a pretty awesome lighting show around the Bay Area. No thunder... just lots of lightning. We don't get that very often, maybe once a year at the most, so it was nice to sit outside, with no worry about getting rained on, and watch the fireworks.

I snapped a few photos to see if I could capture the lightning, but no, I wasn't quite quick enough. But I did manage to capture the above photo. It's kinda spooky. I know I must have somehow caught some random light source, but for the life of me, I don't know how?

We have no lights like that, and I don't remember any lights shining as the photo was taken. So, is it a perfectly matched set of common orbs? Or is it the kind of orbs attached to spirit photography? I don't have any idea, but the speculation is a lot of fun! Halloween, after all, is my favorite holiday!

:)

Here ghostie, ghostie, ghostie!

"It's easier to dismiss ghosts in the daylight."

 ~Patricia Briggs, Dragon Bones

Mood: Silly

~Me :)

NOTE: After checking my folder, I found that this photo was taken last Saturday, and not Monday of this week. There were similar weather conditions on both days. Late afternoon overcast, and random lightning. 

On The Other Side Of The Door

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."

~Albert Einstein

I came across this door a couple weeks ago, while out on one of my drives. It is at the top of a house, and if you look very close, it seems to go nowhere. But wouldn't it be interesting if instead of going nowhere, it went everywhere?

The idea of time travel doesn't interest me too much. After all, we are constantly moving in time. Okay, so it's mostly forward, but I have to tell you, I spend a lot of time in the past in one way or another! Perhaps too much!

Music. Classic TV shows. Retro Chic clothing. Sepia Photographs. Old Movies. History. God, I think if I could have one perfect year, all reality shows would suddenly disappear, and there would be nothing on TV older than 1979. But hey, the music would be groovy baby! LOL.

But I know that if I had a year like that, I would miss REM, and the Barenaked Ladies terribly. I would miss the ladies of the Real Housewives Of (you name it), God help me, and probably the thing I would miss most of all... my digital cameras.

LOL. That's why I don't spend a lot of time wishing I were back in time, or ahead in time for that matter! I am doing all I can to keep up with the here and now. Hell, I just learned what the HELL Wifi is, and why I can no longer do without it!

So what does that leave?

Inter-dimensional travel? Sure. Why not! In another dimension, I am taller, I have a tastefully decorated apartment on the upper west side of Manhattan. Alan and I have already retired, and we chase public art around all the boroughs that make up New York City. It's autumn always! And I never get tired of it because not only does the temperature flux just enough to keep it interesting, but the leaves fall from the trees, but regenerate within the same three months.

But that would be my experience. Maybe for Alan it would be completely different, but I would be there, and I would be happy if he was. Inter-diminsional travel is probably different for everyone, and as individualized as a set of fingerprints. Maybe? Could be? Perhaps?

Who knows?

I am not sure if I would go through that door, even if I could. This time. This place. Here and now has a lot going for it. Time moves forward so quickly. I swear I was just 21, now I am 51. Not that I mind it, but it did go by really fast. Like Mary Engelbreit says, "Time Flies Whether You Are Having Fun Or Not."

So true.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning."

~Albert Einstein

Mood: Curious

~Me :)

Art About Town: South San Francisco (Orange Memorial Park Sculpture Garden)

"Best Friends" By Corinne Hartley
Orange Memorial Park Sculpture Garden
South San Francisco, California

"I dreamt we walked together along the shore. We made satisfying small talk and laughed. This morning I found sand in my shoe and a seashell in my pocket. Was I only dreaming?"

~Maya Angelou

 



I love that public art can be found in all kinds of communities, and all kinds of places. There was a day when you had to visit a museum to see amazing sculptures and murals, and now is there art everywhere from special sculpture parks, like where I found this one, to out of the way places! If you look really close, you might also find a special sculpture in industrial parks as well! Hey, an industrial park is just another kind of park... right? :)

Anyway, a couple weeks ago, Alan and I had an absolute blast visiting Orange Memorial Park's Sculpture Garden, in the city of South San Francisco. It's fairly close to SFO, and the planes departing fly fairly low over the park, so it can be kind of exciting to see them taking off for destinations unknown. 

It's just one more element that makes this park so special. As parks go, Orange Memorial Park is pretty good sized, and there is plenty of parking and activities to participate in. But you know where I was, right? I was wandering in the lovely special sculpture park towards the back of the grounds. There were several wonderful pieces that really resonated with me, but this one really stood out! Its so sweet, and so romantic!"Best Friends" by artist, Corinne Hartley.

How could it not be my very favorite, I was appreciating it alongside my best friend Alan. He is amazing to come along with me on these little public art jaunts of mine. He does most of the driving, and I do the navigating... sometimes successfully! LOL. Oh but we always have fun, whether we get to our destination or not! LOL. And no matter what, we always fun finding something unexpected along the way!

I met Alan when I was 13, and I am so glad I married my best friend!

"One thing was certain: he was my one. Most people go on their whole lives and never find their one, but I found mine. I found him when I was twelve-years old."

~Jennifer Edlund


Mood: Happy

~Me :)

You've Got Butterflies

"I once read a story about a butterfly in the subway, and today, I saw one. It got on at 42nd, and off at 59th, where, I assume it was going to Bloomingdales to buy a hat that will turn out to be a mistake... as almost all hats are."

~Nora Ephron, Delia Ephron and Nikolaus Laszlo, You've Got Mail



Aren't they amazing? I have been enjoying our visits to the Conservatory Of Flowers in Golden Gate Park this summer, very much! They have a bigger variety of beautiful butterflies this time around, and each time we visit it is like we are visiting for the very first time! I can't help but smile when discovering a butterfly that I haven't seen before!

This summer has been a sad one. So many young people lost to the world for one reason or another. I will be so relieved when it is finally gone, and thankfully, there are signs here and there of autumn. It's only a heartbeat away, and I am looking toward it, rather than dwell too much in all the sadness. Life is too short to take up residence in the sadness... just ask the butterfly!

Mood: Content

~Me :)