What you see above is a picture of a cough drop... with an affirmation on the outside of the wrapper. It's a Hall's strawberry cough drop to be exact! I hadn't had cough drops for a while, even while being sick because all brands of cough drops contain sucrose. Because of my Fibromyalgia, I can't have anything containing sucrose. It gives Fibro sufferers, such as myself, unworldly gas! I don't like experiencing unworldly gas, so I usually just cough until the coughing runs it's course.
But with this current cold, the coughing was really persistent and it was making my back and sides hurt to try to soldier through, so I broke down and used the cough drops. They were tastier than I remembered, and while they did indeed give me gas, it wasn't as uncomfortable as the constant coughing. And wonderful hubby that I have didn't even complain about my air concerts, he just wanted to help me feel better! Gosh I love that man!
And look at that, an affirmation for when I am better!
Well... here we are at the start of a brand new year! 2016 is going to be a wild ride. We have a national election coming up in the autumn. The Super Bowl will be played in San Francisco in February, and between those events all kinds of possibilities! I hope to do a lot more photography in 2016! 2015 was a very strange year, with the move and all, but I am settled in now, so the adventure is rip for the taking! I am beginning this year in better health. As you might have noticed I have posted to this blog in about a week because of a nasty head cold that Alan and I gave each other for Christmas. LOL. Funny, I began 2015 with food poisoning, and ended it with a head cold. Bah HUMBUG! LOL.
I will not look back on 2015 very fondly, but it wasn't a total loss either. We have a nice house, and every single day I come to appreciate a love it more. I still don't know if we will swing it, but for now the future, in this house, seems viable and more than possible. I am learning to let go of what happen, I am even trying to forgive, but it can't be rushed. I have to let it all come around to a conclusion in it's own time. Sigh. Forgiveness is possible, and in fact healthy, but not if it is rushed. Time. Now. In the moment. I can't look back. The past can't be changed. Moving On.
But first, let's look back at December, 2015, in pictures!
I have some amazing news to share about Christmas, so be sure to comeback tomorrow. Just a hint for now... I got the most amazing Christmas present ever! And the best part is, you can't buy it in any store!
"Problems are not stops signs, they're guidelines." ~Dr. Robert Schuller I slept late yesterday... really late. I am not sure why. Well, I was up until about 2:00 A.M. working on some editing, but that isn't all that late for me. I am a night owl, always have been, so I don't think that was it. I went to bed, and I had been asleep for about 3 hours, when Alan's alarm went off. BUZZZZZZZ! LOL. I hear it nearly every morning, and we usually talk for a few minutes, then I go back to sleep, which I did yesterday as well... so, I don't think that was it. About an hour later, Joey began crying to be let out to play. I don't let him out to play until much later in the day, when I can supervise the hilarity. We are all still learning our way, so it's just better to keep an eye on things. I got up and held him and we cooed with each other for about 20 minutes, then put him back in his box in the kitchen, and went back to bed.
3 hours later the phone rang, it was the doctor's office cancelling an appointment. I didn't know that at the time, and they left no message, just the caller ID. So, I had to call them back to find out what the call was about, then call Alan to have him call them and reschedule his appointment. Sigh. I then decided to get up, but before I did I was going to just shut my eyes for a couple more moments. Maybe listen to CNN in the nice warm bed... 6 hours later, at 2:15 p.m. the phone rang! It was Alan who was now on his way home. "Sheesh, who the hell is calling now?" I thought to myself. Imagine my embarrassment at it being the afternoon, and had he not called, I would have still been sleeping!
Now this morning, at 3:07 AM EST I am still awake, but feeling a bit feverish. Could I be catching the first cold of the 2014? It's not that I mind a good cold once in a while. A nice fever is a euphoria like no other, but I am still a bit amazed about the 6 week coughing yucky-blechs from last spring! I have been uncomfortable, but a deep cough, that leaves you pretty much unable to breathe for 6 weeks is something I sincerely hope I never experience again! And I probably won't. If I am sick now, or about to be, it just feels like your average, run of the mill, yucky-blechs. Yeah... that's it... I have the YUCKY-BLECHS! If I do have something, I hope it doesn't last long, I have two big football games to get excited about this weekend! Go Eagles! Go 49ers! My two favorite teams! I love them both! But no matter who I cheer on it's going to feel a little like running a red light... it will just be wrong! Never let anyone ever tell you that you can only fall in love with one person... or ;) ... one football team. You can love them both for different reasons! LOL. Decisions! Decisions! Love is a whole other kind of sick. Darn YUCKY-BLECHS! ;) Mood: Silly ~Me :)
"Above all, life for a photographer cannot be a matter of indifference."
~Robert Frank
I like the quote I chose for today's post. I think it fits my life as a progressive, and my life as a photographer. It fits a lot of decisions I make when it comes to actually clicking the shutter. Most of the time I prefer pure instinct, but in order to get better at what I try to accomplish with the camera, I have to schedule myself to practice with settings and light. Light! Oy... light can be your best friend, and just when you think you understand each other, the odd natural filter like a cloud or a flock of geese soaring over can change how you think about everything. Photographing fireworks is a lot like constantly trying to make a good impression. You have to get it right the first time, because there is NO forgiveness available.
Photographing anything in San Francisco, especially outdoors, comes with a unique challenge. In a word... angles. San Francisco is a love story, built on a million or so earthquakes. I swear, there are NO even angles remaining in the city. Nothing seems to really line up. My meter can read that I, and my camera, are perched equally straight on a hill, STRAIGHT, or even on a perfectly mostly flat surface and yet nope, some off angle is hiding somewhere, waiting for me to come along. Invariably there will be something out of whack! To the right. To the left. Something. I want and need to do more work with hills this year. Hills facing up and hills facing looking down. Stairs to. There are so many stairs in San Francisco... all of them present some challenges for the amateur photographer.
But challenges are good! I am thankful that I continue to be challenged by something I love so much!
I have not, and will not cease growing as a person, as long as I have photography to challenge me. And what's great about that is that as I adjust how I feel about lighting, I think I remain a little more open minded about the other challenges that haunt my brain. The ones that don't have much to do with photography. It all works out at the end of the day, and if for some reason I can't find the correct angle or lighting moment, or manage to screw in the right light bulb, there is always new opportunities the next day to get it all right!
My two great loves. Photography and Progressive Politics.
