Autumn Leaf Of The Day #11

 

"Summer makes me drowsy, autumn makes me sing, 

winter's pretty lousy, but I hate the spring."

 

~Dorothy Parker 

 

Well, we know how Dorothy felt about autumn, don't we?

 

I feel exactly as she does, about every single season!

 

 

The Morning After...

"Perhaps the most important skill in photography is learning which images to show."

~Leslie Dean Brown

Is it a tree ghost? No. Is it a plastic bag ghost? No. Is it a spider web? No. So what is it? 

You tell me!

Oh, okay, if you must know... it's a sheer camisole. Someone got lucky last night!

Outside a Starbucks.

LOL.

It wasn't me!

But...

Good for them!

;)

"You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think."

~Dorothy Parker

Mood: Inspired.

~Me :)

Slurpppppp...

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."

~Ernest Hemingway

I am exhausted tonight. You see, some people who engage in the domestically traditional self abuse that is called Spring Cleaning, do it in, oh, say... April, perhaps May. But I am a nonconformist, so I engage in that form of self abuse in October. Every October! Without fail! And in the case of this year, that day was yesterday, so I am exhausted today, which is how Fibromyalgia works... it gets you 24 hours after you spend the day cleaning. I am okay mind you, sometimes being exhausted is a very good thing! This Friday... Spring Cleaning In Autumn Part 2! So until tomorrow, I will leave you with this...

I like to have a martini,
Two at the very most.
After three I am under the table,
After four I'm under my host.

~Dorothy Parker, The Collected Dorothy Parker

Mood: Really Tired/Happy

~Me :)

The Folly Of Giving Up

"Resume"

Razors pain you
Rivers are damp
Acids stain you
And drugs cause cramp
Guns aren't lawful
Nooses give
Gas smells awful
You might as well live.

~Dorothy Parker

I was very sad to hear about the suicide of country singer Mindy McCready. I wasn't really a fan, I only know a couple of her songs, but I appreciated what I heard. To be honest, I knew more about her personal life, and demons, than I did about her talent. But just because I didn't know much about her talent, doesn't mean it didn't hurt when I heard she had died. We are so lucky to have talent as a part of what makes us... well... us. Those in the arts that share their gifts with the world, make every single day better on earth. No matter what's happening, the arts can help one begin to heal. I knew this for sure on the afternoon of September 11, 2001, when the Ethereal Musician, you know the sax player in my neighborhood, began to play America on his horn. The wasn't a sound outside. No birds seemed to be in the trees. No planes taking off from Oakland airport in the sky, no sounds of children playing. Everyone was inside, glued to the TV, all except for the musician... healing himself, and his neighbors, through music.

In the spring of 2001 I was in a bad place psychologically speaking. I was very near giving up. I wanted for it to just happen. A meteor hit me. An accidental case of extreme food poisoning. Get hit by a bus. Something. Anything that could just let me leave my life behind. Anything to make the pain stop. Honestly, I am not sure exactly why I am alive now, because at the time, I didn't do myself any favors. Depression and Anhedonia had a complete hold on me, and I was in so much pain, I couldn't feel anymore. I don't even really remember that time with Elvis. I was THAT disconnected. I was that way for about 2 years or so, then one day Alan got my cameras out, and said go find something new and I tried. Failed. Tried again. Started a blog, this blog, and baby steps later, here I am. It took one day at a time, and like a person standing on the ledge of a building, it took... not... looking... down.

I finally healed. Through Alan and Elvis's love and patience. Through my online friendships. I healed because of Alan putting the camera in my hand. When I was ill I had NO IDEA that one day I would be standing on the corner of Lexington and 20th in San Francisco, watching Woody Allen making cinema magic. I didn't know until years later that he had also had a bout with Anhedonia, and that Anhedonia was the working title of Annie Hall. But he worked through it, and didn't give up. And I think about him sometimes when I have moments where I revisit the option of giving up. He didn't give up, and because of that, I have had many, many happy hours watching his brilliant movies. I don't just admire him for his talent... I admire him for his ability to not give up.

Suicide. It should be a four letter word. I heard once that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. That couldn't be more true or accurate. Suicide gives those rooting for your downfall a lot of power. It robs you of all the moments of excitement and joy you can't even imagine happening. It hurts those who truly love you for the rest of their lives. The folly of suicide is the fact that you can't hold those who will mourn you, and help them heal. The act itself is personal selfishness on a catastrophic level, that never allows for I am sorry. Mindy McCready couldn't see beyond the pain. I know what that's like. But thank God, I made it out alive, because if you would have told me back in 2001 that I would be standing on a corner, in San Francisco, on a mild August day, watching Woody Allen filming a movie, and making inadvertent eye contact no less, I would have said... "You're nuttier than me!"

And wouldn't the joke have been on me?

I would have missed that sunset over Angel Island. Isn't it just about perfect?

I really do wish Mindy hadn't given up.

"Inventory"

Four be the things I am wiser to know...
Idleness, sorrow, a friend and foe.
Four be the things I'd been better without...
Love, curiosity, freckles and doubt.
Three things I shall never attain...
Envy, content, and sufficient champagne.
Three be the things I shall have till I die...
Laughter and hope and sock in the eye.

~Dorothy Parker

Mood: Quiet But Thankful

~Me :)

A Photo For 6 Months: Day 152~ ... Said The Bitch To The PussyFighter

"The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue."

~Dorothy Parker

 

Not everybody thinks I am the bees knees. But that's okay. I would rather go to my grave being called a BITCH than being called a doormat, or worse, a PUSSYFIGHTER! I have a neighbor who likes to try and play neighbor against neighbor. He talks to some of us like we are dirt. If he sees something he wants, like someone else's parking place, he takes it. He let's his dog bark for sometimes 8 hours at a time, knowing how unsettling it can be. He has been told... many, many times to put the dog in when he leaves by the property management, but he doesn't and in fact never even tries to quiet the dog, now that he knows it disturbs some of us. Late last summer I had finally had enough, and told him off... loudly...with verbs and nouns...maybe even a expletive or two...or three.

 It was accurate, and no one came to his rescue. Lawnmowers stopped mowing. Birds stopped birding. Dogs stopped barking. It just got quiet. Really, really quiet. Later that day I found a booklet from the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on my doorstep, and I am pretty sure I hear the Ethereal Musician playing The Bitch Is Back on his saxophone. LOL. Not kidding. So, when I saw this fabric the other day at the fabric store, I just knew I had to have it! I think it would make a nice skirt. And fair warning.

Now, for why I call him a PUSSYFIGHTER. He is a little over 30 and by the time I was done telling him off, he had called his mother to call me and tell me off. She didn't get very far.

He is renting his own apartment and he had to call... his mother?

I am not a confrontational person. Neither is Alan. If things could have been handled differently, it's the way we would have preferred to go, but I it wasn't working out being reasonable. Should I have let the brat bug me to that point? No. Would I change anything? No. Bottom lining things, I would rather die someday with self esteem against a bully, then have the word DOORMAT written in my obituary one day. 

It was the first argument I have had with a neighbor... ever! And now I carry the name BITCH.

Good For Me! :)

"Don't look at me in that tone of voice."

~Dorothy Parker


~ME :)


Today's Link Comes To Us From My Friend JR. :)

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/10/apadf6-150.html

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 150~ The First Bite

"Ducking for apples... change one letter and it's the story of my life."

~Dorothy Parker

Alan and I went to Apple Hill last week, guess which bite of autumn we tried first?

That's right... a crisp, fresh Gala apple. Next came a ripe, sweet, juicy, insanely delicious Bartlet pear.

I love this season.

More to come... stay tuned.

~Me :)

Today's Link...

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/10/apadf6-148.html

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Postermaking

"There is entirely too much charm around, and something must be done about it."

-Dorothy Parker

For this week's Photo Shoot i thought we might have a little fun with the concept:

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Make a poster of a favorite picture. You can make a fast and easy "poster" using the Motivator online application here - just upload or link to the photo you want to use, and then type in your text. Any photo is game. However, as I've highlighted the Motivator before (although not in a Photo Shoot), don't recycle the posters you may have made before.

-John Scalzi

ROFLMAO! I love Golden Gate Park sometimes! Last summer, on a particularly beautiful day, Alan and I decided to go into San Francisco, and have lunch in the park. We chose the grounds of the Conservatory of Flowers to enjoy the day. It was really beautiful that day, and the temperature seemed to bring the fun out in everyone. This guy was no exception. He was walking along, when all of a sudden, he did a handstand. Perfectly I might add. When he landed on his feet once again, he gave a happy little chuckle and continued on. :) Doesn't it just make your day to see someone having fun, and enjoying a carefree moment? I'm so glad I finally found a way to use this photo, it always makes me smile. Thank you anonymous guy... whoever you are!

-OndineMonet
"Too Cute Anonymous Guy"
Conservatory of Flowers
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
Summer, 2006