Wait... Monetery?

 

“Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a

 new day with no mistakes in it yet?” 

 

~L.M. Montgomery 

 

Honestly, I should never blog when tired, drunk or sleepy. The other day I titled a blog post, A Winter's Day In Monterey, or so I thought. What I actually titled it was, A Winter's Day In Monetery. A simple slip up, but nonetheless embarrassing. I can provide tons of reasons for my error, and excuses too, but I know I just need to slow down and proofread before I hit the little publish button. It's what would be best for everybody. Unless there is such a place as Monetery, California. It definitely sounds like it could be a real place. Don't you think? Maybe it's just off Rodeo drive or something. In any case, I am thinking of running for mayor or princess of Monetery. Do I have your vote? 

 

 

Happy New Year! MAKE MISTAKES!

 

"I  hope in this year to come, you make mistakes.

 

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're DOING SOMETHING.

 

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make NEW MISTAKES. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work, or family or life. 

 

Whatever it is you're scared of doing, DO IT.

 

Make mistakes, next year and forever."

 

~Neil Gaiman

 

Welcome to 2021!

 

Alan and I wish you a happy and safe New Year!

 

Note: I will be back Tuesday, with a brand new blogging schedule for 2021!

 

Autumn, Less Than Perfect

 Autumn

"The autumn comes, a maiden fair

In slenderness and grace,

With nodding rice stems in her hair

And lilies in her face.

In flowers of grasses she is clad;

And she moves along,

Birds greet her with cooting glad

Like bracelets' tinkling song." 

~Kaildasa

That photograph went so wrong! But in all fairness, I was taking the photo out of a moving car, that was going 50mph! I can usually get some really good photos as we drive along the countryside, and even in the city, but on this day in October, I wasn't getting many breaks with lighting or the twists and turns in the road. It just was, what it was. This is not a wonderful landscape photograph, but it is just clear enough to be not only a really cool mistake, but a half way decent work of Impressionist photography, don't you think? How is that for a little glass half-full rationale?

 #84 Leaf Of The Day

December 14th 2018

Photographed November 21st 2018

Stockton, California

Samsung

~Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Brian Williams Lied

"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees, and the stars. 

In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul."

~Max Ehrmann

This year, 2015, is turning out to be no more rational, no more explainable, than last year was. Something clicked in me last year, early in the year, as we transitioned from one disaster to another, which made me believe that one day, perhaps midnight on New Year's Eve, everything would suddenly make sense. Plane crashes, gifted people overdosing, police shooting unarmed children. Planes shot down from the sky. Suicide. Not one bit of it made sense to me. NOT ONE BIT!

So, I had a million or so questions, and very few answers. I had high hopes for 2015. As the clock struck midnight, suddenly, everything would fall into place, every question would be answered. How could my thinking be so immature? Of course the answers wouldn't just come to me, or anyone else for that matter. Life doesn't make any sense, starting with each defying the odds of being conceived, and actually making it into the world we share? What was I thinking? NOTHING MAKES SENSE!

I remember when it used to, but then again, I think I recall the same lament from my parents! But when they complained, I took them aside and explained the Walkman to them, and the remote, and answering machines, and VCRs and microwave ovens and so on.

So, I am going to pretend you, my followers, are my children and ask you...

Q. Why did Brian Williams have to tell that stupid lie?

I always liked him.

I still like him. He's human. But now he is a little more human then he used to be.

Mood: Quiet

~Me :)

 

Irony Conveniently Located

"With every mistake, we must surely be learning."

~George Harrison

I spotted this scene about a year ago, while I was out running errands. I was at a stop light, and as I sat there, just kind of starring off into space, something about the small strip mall had my attention, but at first I wasn't quite sure what about it was that had my interest. I was kind of an odd feeling! Then Alan began to laugh... "Hey, look at that, well that's certainly convenient! Do you think the nachos leave spots all that often?" "Umm... what? I asked Alan. "Here... let me pull up a little." Said he. LOL. Okay... that was it! The signs, slightly hidden from my perspective, but in clear sight from Alan's, told the whole story, and it all unfolded in a matter of  1/2 minutes. Now just think of all the times you have had an unfortunate accident with some nachos, or any delicious finger food for that matter, now tell me, was a cleaners that close by?

Thank goodness for conveniently located cleaners... oh and Tide sticks. Personally, not being a super lucky person, I never leave home without them! :)

"Irony is fates most common figure of speech."

~Maggie Stiefvater, Linger

Mood: Silly

~Me :)

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 64~ Ooops!

"Exerperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes."


~Oscar Wilde


LOL. Ooops might be an understatement. I was out with my camera a while back, when I saw this pretty bird, so I thought it would be a good time to get in some practice with action shots. As you can see, it didn't exactly turn out as I hoped it would, in fact it was way off. As frustrated as I was, I couldn't help but see the humor in the situation. LOL. You see, this bird had been buzzing me, and my lunch, while I was enjoying a really pleasant day at Chrissy Field in San Francisco.

After about 25 minutes of solid buzzing, I decided to get the camera out and give the pesky bird the attention he was apparently demanding. I got it out, got my settings a fixed and ready, and what do you think Mr. Bird did? He came to a landing almost directly behind me on the picnic table behind me... LOL... where he settled in and refused to fly for the remainder of the time I was there! When things like this happen, I am pretty sure it is a message from the gods of photography saying... meh... you aren't so great!


Well, it could be, you never know about these things. LOL.

Anyway, Alan and I did have a good laugh about it, and as it turns out it's kind of a fun photo... don't you think? I mean you can tell it's a bird, and if you look really close, you can see one of the bird's eyes, and his beak. See. Wings, skinny bird feet. One eye and a beak. Yep, that's a bird. Right? LOL.


Sure it is.

"Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave."

~Mary Tyler Moore


:) By the way, Chrissy Field is absolutely gorgeous, and one of the best places to visit in San Francisco. It is great place to do some birding as well as enjoy the view of the Golden Gate Bridge. If you ever come to San Francisco... don't miss it!


~Me :)

Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot #113: Ooops

"Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave."

-Mary Tyler Moore












EMPS #113: OOOPS! NOW CLOSED!
Hmmm... it would seem that the above photo is a little bit too large for this entry... OOOPS! You get the idea here, right? I am looking for some OOOPS. OOOPS are also called MISTAKES, FOLLIES, FOIBLES, AND ERRORS. All will do just fine for the purposes of this assignment. Think outside the box on this one. Go for the OOOPS!

Extra Credit: Show me something PERFECT!


Guidelines for Assignment Submission...

1.The EMPS closes each Sunday evening at 9:00 PM (ET). No submissions will be accepted after that time.

2. Submit your entry by getting your photo, uploading it to you blog or website, and then comeback here and leave me your link in the comment thread. PLEASE REMEMBER... THE LINK YOU LEAVE MUST GO BACK TO AN ENTRY WHICH IS SPECIFIC TO THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT! A general link to your site will not do and will not be added to the list of those participating the following Monday. HYPERLINKS ARE NOT ACCEPTED!

3. Please be sure to provide a link back to the assignment in your submission, so your readers can find the assignment and join us. Everyone is welcome to play along!

4. Please keep in mind that the image you submit for the EMPS assignment, must be your own original photography. NO LIFTING!

Please Note: I have set aside two days during the week for visiting your submissions. Thursday and Sunday, so look for me then!


-Carly

It's A Chihuahua Stupid!

"Anyone who has never made a mistake, has never tried anything new."

-Albert Einstein



I took a couple days off from blogging this week, to relax a little bit, do some errands and take care of some business IRL (in real life). It was good to step away from the computer and just breathe a little. Alan had Tuesday and Wednesday off, so we were to spend both days together. We tried to do all the errands on Tuesday, so that we could have Wednesday free to have fun. We got almost everything done, except for some banking I needed to do. So, that meant that Wednesday was all ours!

Over breakfast Wednesday morning, I asked Alan what he wanted to do. "How about we finally go to the glaze studio?" Yikes... the glaze studio! I don't know why, but I have been avoiding doing that for at least 2 years. It sounded like fun, but I always came up with some reason to avoid trying it. Who knows why. Alan thought it would be fun and different to go there and make a plate or a bowl or a mug, but it just didn't really seem like something I wanted to do. But since we take turns choosing what we do together on his days off, and it was his turn to choose, I decided to be a good Joe and so off to the pottery shop we went.

It was a smallish shop, but the selection was nice, and the room was really well lit and bright. Alan chose a mug off the shelf on cleaned pottery, and I browsed a bit, finally deciding on a small cat figurine. I thought it would be fun to paint a little Dylan that I could put on my desk. I had it all worked out in my head. A figurine of Dylan this time, and I would make one of Hendrix on my next visit. Yep, it was a plan! I picked out the colors, the brushes, and a stencil of the Chinese symbol for Peace & Balance. I thought it would be creative, and a nice tribute to Dylan, to put that on the back of the kitty, to represent what Dylan means to me. He is a very peaceful creature, and when we cuddle I feel comfortable and balanced.

Excellent. It was a plan!

As I painted my kitty, we talked about what we might do the rest of the day. It was getting close to lunchtime, and I was beginning to feel hungry, so I suggested that when we were done, it might be nice to go out for a nice lunch of burritos or maybe a Taco salad. He agreed. Again it was a plan. I don't know why, but I was really hungry for Mexican food. Yummy.

Just as I was putting the finishing touches on my kitty, Alan remarked on how big the ears were on my figurine were. I hadn't noticed, but when I looked closer, I saw that they were... kinda large for a cat. Oh well, Dylan has big pink ears, so that would make it all the more realistic! Right? When we took our pieces to the counter to pay for them, the lady smiled and rang them up.

"Let's see... 1 large coffee mug, and 1 Chihuahua figurine."

Chihuahua?

"It's a Chihuahua figurine, not a cat?" I asked.

"Ummm... yes... It's a Chihuahua," snickered the lady at the glaze studio.

Well... that explains my hunger for Mexican food!

ROFL.

I really need to get out of the house more often!



I can't even tell the difference between a cat and a chihuahua!

Alan and I laughed and laughed at my mistake. It felt good to poke fun at my silly myself. I swear, that little dog, looked like a cat to me! I will get the piece back in a couple weeks, and I will post a photo of it. You'll see. A Mexican dog, painted to look like an orange tabby cat, with the Chinese symbol of Peace and Balance on it's back! LOL. It's an original Carly to be sure.

:)


Stay Tuned!


-Carly