"Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going don't take anything too seriously, it'll all work out in the end."
-David Niven
The weather was perfect last Thursday, so Alan and I decided to go to Santa Cruz. It was a good day to spend relaxing at the beach, and relax we did. Have you ever taken a nap on the beach? It's a lot of fun to close your eyes, and hear nothing the but sound of fun happening all around you. Ahhhhhhhhh... that's the stuff! After a bit of a snooze, we enjoyed a performance by the Moscow Circus. Combining comedy, romance, acrobatics, and performance art, the Moscow circus was an awesome little show. They played two 45-minute shows, one at noon and the other one at 3:00 pm. I hope they comeback to the boardwalk next year, I would love to see them again. :) It was a good day for a date.
"In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer."
-Albert Camus
Weekend Assignment #178: It's hot. Everywhere. Really hot. Counteract it with a cool and refreshing photo or story. Yes, we've done something like this before. And, if you recall, it worked. Also, it's easy and it's too hot to do anything complicated. So, lets do it again (just, you know, don't reuse stuff that you've already posted along this line before).
Extra Credit: Would you rather be too hot or too cold?
Lake Tahoe, Nevada, is one of my favorite places to go in the winter. We don't get snow very often in the Bay Area, and if we do, it rarely lasts longer than 24 hours, so if I want to see snow, we usually take a ride up to Tahoe. It's beautiful there in any season, but it is especially tranquil and lovely in winter. These photos were taken earlier this year, in March, just before spring. The sun and snow made everything kind of twinkle. It was so relaxing to sit next to the lake, and just take it all in. :) I am learning to really love winter, especially under the right conditions. :)
"People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they are happy."
-Anton Chekhov
Extra Credit: I would much rather be too cold, then too hot, but both come with their challenges. I don't tend to think straight if the weather is too warm, but with the winter, comes a good deal of pain in my joints from Fibromyalgia. Still, I enjoy snuggling with Elvis, under a big, cozy blanket, so I will take the winter. :)
-OndineMonet " A Late Winter's Day In Tahoe" North Lake Tahoe, Nevada March, 2007 Afternoon
"Health food may be good for the conscience, but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better."
-Robert Redford
So far, so good. I went to see the surgeon last Monday, and the news was a bit mixed. First of all, I will need to see two additional doctors. Sigh. I am ok, but I am just kind of going with the flow at this point. It seems I need to see a plastic surgeon, because of all the skin grafts I will need, after they remove my glands and lymph nodes. So, no surgery date is scheduled yet, and my next appointment, which will be with the new surgeon, will be at the end of August. It feels like things are being dragged out, but I think that is just me feeling anxious about everything in general. Over all, I am dealing just fine. I have stopped worrying about the actual surgery, it just doesn't seem productive at this point. Worrying is rarely productive I suppose, but it does have it's place. I am learning to let myself have the wiggins, for a day or two, but while I am in the worry mode, I also try to research the source of the fear. That always make me feel better. So, as far as the surgery goes, it is just a case of hurry up and wait... you know how that is. :)
I am doing well with my new eating habits as a diabetic. Too be honest, not a lot has changed for me. I always loved vegetables and fruits, and when I did have meat it was generally turkey or chicken. Although I will admit to having the occasional juicy hamburger obsession. LOL. I LOVE fast food. Sigh. That has been the biggest change in my diet, cutting the fast food runs, especially the late night ones. LOL. I am keeping a nutrition diary now, for keeping count of my total daily intake of calories, fats, sugars and carbohydrates. I am not really dieting, but rather eating with more awareness of what I am actually putting in my body, and making the food count for something. Take the lunch in the above photo, as an example...
And It was delicious. The chicken was from leftover from my dinner at Sizzler the night before, I added some Mrs. Dash to the broccoli, and then just took my time enjoying my lunch. :) But like I said, it wasn't a lot different from what I would have eaten anyway. :) Next Wednesday, August 15th, I have a class on diabetic basics, which also includes a whole hour devoted to nutrition. That is the class where I will also learn how to use my OneTouch Ultra meter. All I know right now is that I will be checking my blood sugar, three times a day, for the rest of my life. Ok, that part isn't so easy, and I am a little tender sometimes about it, but heck, life is a series of new challenges and opportunities, it's up to us what we do with them. Right? Frankly... I am considering myself a lucky girl for the chance to grow, and for the amazing support I have from Alan and Elvis. And who knows, maybe through this adventure, I will become a food photographer. Tee Hee. :)
-OndineMonet "Lunch With Carly" Berkeley, California August 6th, 2007 Noon
"Models are there to look like mannequins, not like real people. Art and illusion are supposed to be fantasy."
-Grace Jones
Some are shy looking, some look like they are anything but shy. Some look bored. Some look like the flower children from the "Summer of Love." Some have no heads or legs, but they are all gorgeous representations of the many moods and style we ladies have. LOL. I love mannequins. They intrigue me. I guess it was a certain episode of the Twilight Zone, that first peaked my interest in them. In the episode, the mannequins in a department store were allowed to come alive, and live as a human for only one 24 hour period, once a year. What an interesting thought. Imagine if you will, meeting a stranger on the street or maybe even at Starbucks, and they seem perfectly normal, but in reality, they harbor a deep, dark secret. They are actually a mannequin! It's not all that silly a notion is it? I mean, we all have deep, dark secrets... right? (Insert spooky music here). Bwhahahahahahahahahaha! :) Have you ever met a plastic person?
Opening Narration...
Express elevator to the ninth floor of a department store, carrying Miss Marsha White on a most prosaic, ordinary, run of the mill errand. Miss Marsha White on the ninth floor, specialties department, looking for a gold thimble. The odds are she'll find it, but there are even better odds that she'll find something else, because this isn't just a department store. This happens to be the Twilight Zone.
Closing Narration...
Marsha White in her normal and natural state... but it makes you wonder, doesn't it? Just how normal are we? Just who are the people we nod our hellos to as we pass on the street? A rather good question to ask, particularly in the Twilight Zone.
-The Twilight Zone, The After Hours, June 10th, 1960
Be sure to visit all the particpating Robins. Just follow the links below! :) And be sure to pay a visit to the official Round Robin blog on Thursday of this week, to find out the subject of our next challenge! :)
"My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying."
-Ed Furgol
Your Monday Photo Shoot: Take a picture of, or in, a cemetery. Your local cemetery is a good, but if you've been to, say, Paris, to see Jim Morrison's grave, or took some arty shots of an ornate headstone elsewhere, something like that works too.
I don't find this subject morbid at all. As a matter of fact, I find cemeteries fascinating. I have been photographing them for years. Whenever I get the chance I try to visit different cemeteries, around the Bay Area. I am hoping to maybe get across the bay, sometime this coming autumn, to the town of Colma, which is just outside San Francisco. 73% of the town land is made up of cemeteries, and according to Wikipedia, there are 17 in all, including one pet cemetery. Why so many cemeteries you ask? Well, see, an ordinance was passed in California, in the late 1880's that prohibited burials anywhere, other then in established and recognized city or county cemeteries.
By the time this law passed, the gold rush had begun in California, which brought an influx of new citizens to California, and the city of San Francisco. But with the new population, also came disease and the city was also affected by the Pandemic of the early 20th century. With all the cemeteries in San Francisco filled, and new area just south of the city was designated for the new cemeteries. Colma, became the "City of the Dead." Among some of the most famous buried there is Wyatt Earp. His grave can be found in the "Hills of Eternity" cemetery. I am hoping to do a more in depth posting about the town, sometime soon, so stay tuned. For now however, I have some shots from other cemeteries I have come across in my travels. Hope you find them interesting. :)
El Carmelo Cemetery, Pacific Grove, California
Golden Gate Cemetery, Presidio, San Francisco, Ca.
Silver Terrace Cemetery, Virginia City, Nevada
Mount Saint Joseph Cemetery, Hayward, California
Note: The Silver Terrace Cemetery is reputed to be haunted. You can read about it here.
-OndineMonet El Carmelo Cemetery, Pacific Grove, California Autumn, 2006
"Humor is perhaps a sense of intellectual perspective: an awareness that some things are really important, others not;and that the two kinds are most oddly jumbled in everyday affairs."
-Christopher Morley
Ho Hum. I am off to see the surgeon later today, so I am, well, stressed. LOL. Actually, my case of the wiggins isn't all that bad, because this will be more of a fact finding appointment. The surgeon will only be looking at the areas of interest, looking at my chart, and discussing why this will or will not be the best thing for me. Simple. Right? Then why do I fully expect my surgeon to walk into the examining room, looking like the love child of Norman Bates, and Freddie Kruger? LOL. Especially since my doctor is a woman! LOL.
Well, that notion might be all those spooky movies I love so much influencing me. Did you ever see Coma? Now that movie will make you think twice before having elective surgery. LOL. Not that I mind being an organ donor. With the exception of my eyes. I don't think I want to donate them, because I have always had the unreasonable fear that I couldn't see to find my way to all those hunting's I am planning on doing. LOL. I think it would be fun to be a ghost, and do all kinds of mischief. Nothing too spooky, just silly little hauntings. Like say, moving someones potted plants around, or hiding the dog food. Or even better... clipping their toenails... when they aren't' looking! LOL. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. ;)
Ok, I know I am getting a bit dark humored here, so in an effort to lighten both my mood and yours, how about a YouTube video. It is one of my favorite episodes of "The Pink Panther." Episode #81 "Pink Phink." I have loved this episode since I was a little girl. It always makes me smile. So play the video, and laugh out loud, it's a great way to start the week. :) I will update this entry, after I talk to the surgeon, and know how things are going. :) Either way... it will be ok. :)
"Humor is merely tragedy standing on it's head with it's pants torn."
"A whole stack of memories never equals one little hope."
-Charles Schulz
For the past two summers, the town of Santa Rosa, has come alive with sculptures of the Peanuts gang. The first year was devoted to Charlie Brown, last year it was the summer of Woodstock, and for this year, the final year for the series, it was all about Joe Cool, AKA Snoopy. I have loved making the trek to Santa Rosa, to photograph this amazing exhibit, and I am going to miss them next summer. I was hoping that they would eventually get around to other characters, especially Lucy. The sculptures are on display throughout the town. There are 95 total! The search for them around town, is a wonderful chance to spend time in one of the most beautiful Northern California cities, and it seems like everyone grows roses there, in every imaginable color and variety.
If you don't make it up there this summer to see the statues, then certainly try to make it to the Charles Schulz Museum. It is a place of happiness. You can feel his spirit all about the place, even as a statue of Charlie Brown greets you just outside the door. Once inside, the lobby has a wonderful over sized Peanuts comic strip on the wall, and plenty of exhibits, programs, workshops and films to enjoy. Across the street is the Redwood Home Ice Arena/Snoopy's Home Ice, and the Warm Puppy Cafe, where according to my information map, Charles Schulz ate his breakfast each day, before he sat down to work on each of his Peanuts comics. He live in Santa Rosa, for 42 of his 50 year career. He obviously saw the immense beauty of the city of Santa Rosa. I didn't photograph as many of the statues as I wanted to the other day, but they will be on display through September 21, so maybe I will get back up there. I hope so. :)
"I think I've discovered the secret of life - you just hang around until you get used to it."
-Charles M. Schulz
Snoopy's Joe Cool Summer. Enjoy! :)
"Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use." -Charles M. Schulz
"Joe Masterpiece"
"No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem"
"World Famous Novelist"
"Joe The Coolest Conservationist"
"Shakespeare Snoopy"
"Beagle Ridge"
"A Snoop Bis"
"Joe Brakeman Cool"
"Pucker Up Sweetie"
"Cool Reflections"
"Impressionist Snoopy"
"Cool The World"
Charlie Brown Greets You!
Charles M Schulz's Hollywood Walk of Fame star, which is located outside the Empire Ice Arena.
The Charles M. Schulz Museum
"I know the answer! The answer lies within the heart of all mankind! The answer is twelve? I think I am in the wrong building."
-Charles M. Schulz
"Big sisters are the crabgrass in the lawn of life."
"Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put an orgy in my office, and I wouldn't look up. Well, maybe once."
-Isaac Asimov
This was a fun moment last week. It was absolutely gorgeous in Golden Gate Park, the dahlias are really putting on a show, and there were a few winged creatures flying about. Especially the bumble bees. I am still pursuing my goal for the summer, of capturing a perfect photo of a bumble in mid flight. It came close a few times last week, but it was really windy, and that made it almost impossible. I caught a few, but either they were too far away in the photo, or they were out of focus, or I would get just a part of the bee. A leg here, a head shot there. LOL. It was a lot of fun, but it was a lot of work, especially after a particularly rough therapy session with Sarah. Therapy is a lot of work too.
I really didn't mind the work of either though, because they balance each other quite nicely. Both sides of my brain get a workout. LOL My concentration was pretty high that day, and it was an intense moment when I settled in on this flower, with the bumble bee in the center. I had been watching it for about 5 minutes, floating in and out of the other dahlias, and I thought I had my timing down, as to when it would lift off. I steadied myself, leaned in, and just as I thought she might take to flight, I took the photo. LOL. She of course didn't move, but as I went click, a lovely skipper butterfly, zoomed past the bee, the flower, and my lens. Tee Hee. I had to laugh, because it was amazingly fun to capture the skipper in flight, but at the same time, it also felt a bit like I had stepped into a Roadrunner cartoon, and I was the coyote. As the skipper flew by, I could almost hear... "Beep, Beep!" ROFL.
-OndineMonet "Beep Beep" Golden Gate Park San Francisco, California Aug 1, 2007 Afternoon
"Remember, man does not live by bread alone: sometimes he needs a little buttering up."
-John C. Maxwell
Over the last month or so, there's been a downturn in the participation with the Weekend Assignments - enough so that I think it's worth taking a momentary break from the usual format to check in with you folks about your thoughts on the feature.
We've been doing the Weekend Assignments for over three years now, which is a good long time for anything to be going on in the blog world. But with any long-running feature, it's worth looking at it to see what can be done - or if anything need be done - to improve it.
Weekend Assignment #177:Are you happy with the Weekend Assignments as they are? Do you have suggestions on improving them? Should we continue the Weekend Assignments, or try something new? Remember, the reason I do the Weekend Assignments is so you'll have something fun to write about over the weekend. It's dependent on you guys, basically. I want to know where you are with it.
-John Scalzi (By The Way)
Dear Blogfather
I enjoy the Weekend Assignments very much, I always have. I look forward to stepping out of my own programed blog world, and stepping into each new challenge you provide us. I have always viewed the assignments as a learning experiment in what it's like to write on demand. Not that you demand anyone participate, but indeed you provide a way to stretch our writing wings a bit more then we would probably do on our own. :) The Weekend Assignments have been good for me. I think I have grown as a blogger as a result of doing them. And isn't that the goal of any challenge? To grow as a person in some way. :)
I have participated in almost every single one of the 177 Weekend Assignments, with the exception of ones with subjects I felt I may have already covered recently on Ellipsis, or if I feel that I have nothing in particular to add to the general theme of the assignment. Once in a while, it has seemed like you have repeated an assignment theme within what I felt was too close a period of time, but that has been a rarity. I can only speak for myself of course, but I want you to know that I look forward to the assignments, and the chance to sometimes have to research a topic that I might have perhaps not delved into, if left to my own imagination.
One great example would be when you asked us to write a Haiku. Oh my. Poetry has never been one of my strengths. I was really nervous about even trying to meet the assignment, but I gave it a try anyway, and to my surprise, I found I enjoyed it very much. :) Thank you for that. I am a happy camper with the assignments, but I would like to suggest new ways we could possibly do some assignments, just to shake things up a bit.
1. I think a monthly Haiku would be fun. There are million or so topics you could challenge us with.
2. How about one week out of the month, we could tie the Monday Photo Shoot, to the following Weekend Assignment of the same week.Kind of like, take a picture... write a story, either fictional or real, that ties in with the photo. :)
3. Remember when you asked us who our Super Hero alter egos would be? How about the flip side? Who would our dastardly inner villains be? There are a lot of assignments that you could offer us an either or option on.
There, I just presented a few ideas to consider. You know, I have been blogging almost 4 years now, and one trend I have seen consistently, was that my hit counter and comments always drop during the summer months. I really believe that is why you have been seeing a lower then average turn out for the assignments. It can be discouraging to put thought into an entry, and not receive any feedback or participation. It happens. Just hang in there, and know we are still out there, looking forward to each new assignment. :) Please keep bringing them to us. :)
Always, Carly :)
-OndineMonet "Summer Smiles" Santa Rosa, California August 2, 2007 Afternoon
"Nerves and butterflies are fine - they're a physical sign that you're mentally ready and eager. You have to get the butterflies to fly in formation, that's the trick."
-Steve Bull
I have been experiencing some butterflies recently. The stress has been coming in waves. I don't know, a lot is going on for me I suppose, and I only have three more sessions with Sarah, before I officially retire from therapy. Sometimes when the stress gets bad, I wonder how long it will be before I go back to therapy, as opposed to standing on my own two feet, and apply what I have learned when times get rough. As bad as those moments of self-doubt can be, I know that I will be ok. I tell myself that I am not alone, and that everything I am experiencing, while new to me, isn't any different then what many others have gone through as well. Thank goodness those dark moments don't come around all that often. For the most part I have been visiting websites with information about diabetes, and learning for myself, at my own pace, what comes next.
Yesterday, I got a call from my doctor's office, telling me that she had ordered my new, OneTouch Ultra-2 starter kit, contains the meter, the test strips and the lancets. It was ready for pick-up at the Kaiser Pharmacy, so all I had to do was pick it up. Sigh. I had a full day planned, which is almost always so on Wednesdays, so I decided to pick it up on my way home from San Francisco. I needed my day in Golden Gate Park. It is my down time, after therapy. So, off I went to my appointment with Sarah, ready to face the fear of the day, learning to work my new glucose meter. I had some butterflies in my stomach most of the day, I know it won't be all that bad learning to work the meter, the fear I have is if I fail somehow. If my diabetes gets worse, even if I do the best I can to watch my intakes of sugars and carbohydrates. Sometimes, it has crossed my mind not to eat at all, because how can I go wrong that way? LOL. Yeah... I know... that would be pretty dumb. :)
So anyway, I planned out my dinner, which was take-out from Boston Market. Alan never asks me to cook on Wednesdays. :) I chose lean Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potato Casserole, and some veggies. I looked up the nutrition guide on the Internet before I left the house, so I could pick up something that would fit within my dietary guidelines. Isn't it neat the age we live in? We have it so much easier now then ever before, for most things. That is another thing helping me feel better about my situation, the fact that I can do a little research, and plan what to eat before I leave the house. No worries that I am about to consume something that will be very, very, bad for me. LOL.
Everything was all set. I started my day, and put the fear of picking up the meter behind me, for most of the day. I had a few butterfly moments, a couple big ones, but like the above quote, I was reminded that I was alive, and aware of the new challenge. By the time I got to the pharmacy, I was all set to pick it up, and have a consultation with the pharmacist, where I assumed they would teach me how to use the kit. LOL. Nope. When I got to the consultation window, the pharmacist told me that I needed to bring the kit to my diabetes class, which is on August 15th. Silly me. I should have realized that is when I would be learning how to use the meter. Jeepers... I need to get a grip. LOL. It's strange being diagnosed with diabetes, everything seems like it has to change right this minute. All these changes have to occur right now... and yet... there is time to go slow, and learn your way. So that's what I am doing, going slow, and learning my way. Tonight, for the first time in a couple weeks, I feel like the butterflies are flying in formation.
:)
-OndineMonet Cabbage White Butterfly Dahlia Garden Golden Gate Park San Francisco, California August 1st, 2007 Afternoon
"Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going don't take anything too seriously, it'll all work out in the end."
