Wild Things (Photo By Request) And The Leaf Of The Day

"I like this place and could willingly wast my time in it."

~Shakespeare

It's Thursday, and therefore time for an all new #PhotoByRequest challenge on Twitter. This week Karen chose the topic of, "Wild Things." Here again we have another series of photos from last Saturday, only this time it is about the simple nature of the end of summer, and the last of the ugly grass type hedges growing along Castro Valley boulevard. I have no idea what it's called, because I have pretty much hated it my whole life, but the other day the hedges were casting some cool shadows, and the colors were nice against the colors in the background. Anyway, it was the last day of summer... almost... and these had gone to seed, so I decided it might just work for this week's topic!

And now... 

 Leaf Of The Day #4

Leaf Of The Day #4

September 21st, 2019

Cull Canyon

Nikon

Mood: Happy

Me :)

E Pluribus Unum

"Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half have never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half."

~Gore Vidal

Screening History

Again, a there is a little autumn magic involved in my photo jaunt last Saturday. I am not kidding. I had already left the park and gone for some lunch, when I got the idea to go back and look for some afternoon shadows. When I got there, I got out of the car and began to walk. I was looking over a small slope at the natural, late afternoon shadows. As is often the case, the sun was still way to bright to be able to capture the light and dark the way I wanted to, so I got ready to leave.

As I was walking back to the car, I was looking almost straight down. I do that often, because one never know what can be found. That point was proved last Saturday when I spotted an upside down penny, with the words E. Pluribus Unum, staring straight back at me! It made me smile, and believe it or not, I hadn't seen this particular design! How that's possible, I don't know. Either I haven't been paying attention, or I just haven't come across one. Either way, as I said, it made me smile.

Tonight I am smiling for different reasons, but the penny is still relevant to my mood. You see, yesterday, Nancy Pelosi gave her formal endorsement for an official Impeachment investigation, into Donald Trump and his administration, over his involvement in possible attempts of using tax dollars to extort the Ukraine. He apparently withheld humanitarian funds, in lieu of the government of the Ukraine digging up any and all political dirt on Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden.

It's just one more action of a sick and demented human being. Frankly, I never thought any impeachment investigation would take place, despite his having confessed to obvious Obstruction of Justice, and Robert Mueller having indicated both in his report, which I read cover to cover by the way, and in his in-person testimony, that had Donald Trump not been the President of the United States, he would have been subject to criminal prosecution. Mueller declined to do so, because of Justice Department policy that indicates the opinion that a sitting president cannot be, or should not be prosecuted.

One of Trump's personal lawyers once said that he was against his client speaking directly with Robert Mueller during the investigation because Trump couldn't follow his advice about following a script. Trump likes to go off on long riffs, and consume the conversation. Not a bad strategy in the world of Real Estate perhaps, but when it comes to speaking with authorities, it's not a good idea. I am not lawyer, but even I know, less is more! It was the lawyer's contention that if Trump spoke to Mueller directly, he'd end up in an orange jumpsuit.

 That has always been apparent to me, and now even more. Trump couldn't shut up on that phone call with the President of the Ukraine, and he's in trouble. While this incident probably won't end up with him in an orange jumpsuit, it will make him especially vulnerable to prosecution on any crimes he may have committed both before and after he took office. He can't stop his bitchy whiny tweeting, he can't stop committing, at least illegally adjacent crimes, and he cannot understand what America is about. I'd feel sorry for him if... nah fuck it... there is NO circumstance that could make me feel sorry for him. And because he is now, today, acting like a cornered animal, I won't feel safe until he is no longer president.

One thing, according to lore...

find a penny pick it up, 

all day long you'll have good luck.

... but is it a bad idea to pick up an upside down penny? You know I am a big believer in curses. Especially money related curses. So, did I just jinx everything?

Penny Luck

#3 Leaf Of The Day

September 25th, 2019

Photographed September 21st, 2019

Cull Canyon

Nikon 

Mood: Quiet

~Me

 

Do You Remember The 21st Night Of September

"Do you remember the 21st night of September?

Love was changin' the minds of pretenders

While chasing the clouds away

Our hearts were ringing

In the key that our souls were singing

As we danced in the night

Remember how the stars stole the night away."

Earth, Wind And Fire

"September"

Isn't she pretty? It just so happens I spotted this pretty lady this past Saturday, September 21st, while out doing some leaf peeping, and picking up some take-out from my favorite Italian deli, in Castro Valley. She was standing in the window of the DeJa Blue hair salon, which is a few doors down from Lucca's deli. She made me smile. Yellow and purple are beautiful autumn colors, and on that late summer day, and it seemed to me that she was ready to party! 

Was the party in honor of the end of summer, or the beginning of autumn? Who Knows? All I knew was, I was sure that after closing time, she would come to life like the mannequins in Xanadu did, and party! All my favorite things, in one shot, coming together organically. Music. Strange and surprising photo opportunities, and of course, it was September 21st, so how do I not think of, Earth Wind and Fire, and that awesome song? Now, let's not forget that I also had with me my favorite sandwich! The magic was already beginning!

Leaf Of The Day #2

September 24th, 2019

Photographed September 21st, 2019

Cull Canyon

Nikon

~Mood: Happy

~Me :)

 

 

The Ethereal Corrective... Welcome To Autumn 2019

"But when fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and then fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done since he saw you."

~Stephen King

Salem's Lot

It's here, and all is right with the world. We no it isn't. And I imagine things will be getting a lot worse, before they get any better, just like out of a horror novel, but it's a strange kind of okay, because today it's autumn again. The Equinox. A day that seems to me, to always feel a little more special than other days. I don't know if it's relief that comes from just knowing the painful heat is about to end, or if it's knowing another year has been handed it's official walking papers, but something, always, feels profoundly different to me. More so than if it was a simple matter of one season turning into the next. I swear I can feel the moment it happens. The moment autumn is born into another year! Hopefully there will be something magical that will happen, to lessen the despair the world is feeling. Maybe the slant of light, or ethereal corrective, will shut Trump's mouth for one afternoon, who knows? But even if that doesn't happen, it's still the first day of autumn, and all is right in that world.

And if it's the first day of autumn, it's time for the Leaf Of The Day project to begin again. It wouldn't be autumn for me without that day every year! And so it begins...

Autumn Leaf Of The Day

2019

#1 Leaf Of The Day

September 23rd 2019

Cull Canyon

Nikon

Mood: Happy

~Me  :)

 

Werewolf? Therewolf!

"The doctor once told me I feel too much.

 I said, so does god, that's why you can see the

 Grand Canyon from the moon."

~Andrea Gibson

After having missed photographing the full moons for several months, for several reasons, I decided to photograph last night's full moon. It was a full moon, on Friday the 13th. I couldn't pass that up. There are a lot of facts about this full moon, but the most interesting one, at least to me, is that it's a Harvest Moon that was 14% smaller than other Harvest moons. There is a perfectly good reason for it, but I'm not going to do your homework for you, you will just have to click the link below to find out why. Stuff is weird. Or it's normal. I don't know which any more. Anyway, be on the lookout for werewolves. No kidding, do it!

Read why here > Five Harvest Moon Facts

Mood: Tired
 ~ Me

 

Photo By Request... "Signs"

Golden Gate Bridge

Westbound Gate

Marin County

August 24th 2019

"When you are near the middle of your life, often God will do outrageous things to knock you back on course."

~Francesca Lia Block

Wasteland

Today's #PhotoByRequest challenge is "Signs". I absolutely love the topic because so much can be done with it! You can photograph a literal sign that is interesting in some way, or you can reach for the metaphorical, which would require explanation, at least as far as to oneself. I guess it's a matter of ones comfort zone. As luck would have it, when Alan and I visited the Golden Gate a couple weeks ago, I came across more than one sign. Most are self explanatory. I also had quite a few archived photos I want to share as well. I enjoy looking for signs in the universe, for some reason no matter how cryptic, or how long I have to ponder their meaning, I always seem to come away better off for having noticed what the unseen was trying to tell me.

That's just one more reason I am happy to always have my camera in my hand. My camera helps me learn more about myself, and see a part of life I would have otherwise missed. My camera helps me stay in the moment, as opposed to dwelling in the past. As for the quote I chose for this post, well, I have found that sentiment to be absolutely true. Like in 2015, when we were forced to move to the Central Valley. Lordy, I wouldn't have moved here by choice, but here I am. Probably forever. God, and the whole universe, decided to throw a shit storm and suck me up into it, and Stockton just happened to be where I landed. Never, ever, say NEVER when God is within earshot!

 Signs... (New)

Emotional Signs

Golden Gate Bridge

Westbound Marin County Side

Archived Signs

Bodega Bay, California

We'll Miss You Robin

Tribute to Robin Williams

The Punch Line

San Francisco, California

 Robin Williams Tunnel

Marin County, California

August 24th 2019

I miss Robin so much, but I always smile when I see this sign. We in the Bay Area will never forget that man. He was special.

Fisherman's Wharf

San Francisco

You can't visit San Francisco without seeing this sign!

New York Hotel

Stockton, California

Can you believe those prices?

Dublin, California

Self Explanatory

 "Live To Serve Man"

 A Public Art prank by the Billboard Liberation Front

Read all about this sign/public art piece

 by clicking the title above.

 Pier 14

One of the most beautiful spots along the Embarcadero

 Cal Berkeley Campus

Berkeley California

Autumn 2007

 Reno, Nevada

Autumn 2006

Zanesville, Ohio

October 1992

How often do you get to chose

 whether or not you venture down the road to HELL!

Do you see signs, or just signs? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment thread. I would love to hear from you!

~Mood: Happy
~Me  :)

Clouds Like Hot Air Balloons

"There was a star riding through clouds one night,

 and I said to the star, 'consume me'."

~Virginia Woolf

The Waves

Since last December, I have been looking skyward during storms, because I have seen some of the most interesting cloud types and formations since moving out to the valley, than probably in the entire time I lived in the Bay Area! Its probably due to the air being so different out here. Its moist at times because of the San Joaquin Delta, but at times its a little drier too. Weird. It takes a little getting used to, because I know when the humidity goes up, so does the chance for my newly acquired medical complaint, Migraines. I lucked out the other day, during a really hot day some clouds formed overhead and dropped great big icy droplets. The situation  had all the potential to bring with it the perfect recipe for a headache, but didn't. I just got to enjoy the beautiful clouds, that kinda looked like hot air balloons. It was nice.

~Mood: Happy

~Me  :)

San Francisco

"Where there is love, there is life."

~Mahatma Ghandi 

I was losing my mind last week, when a few really nice things happened to turn things around. First a few folks dropped by on Twitter to be supportive and kind, thank you Susan and Lynda, and then Alan took me home, to the Golden Gate Bridge. Here I am a few days later, and I feel alive again. I love that city, and I really love that bridge! And my goodness, it's nice to be cared about.

Dinner from Tony's Cable Car made wasn't bad either!

After dinner it was time to head home, by way of Marin County, and the Robin Williams Tunnel. I will miss him forever. Sigh. He was a gift to this world.

~Mood: Happy
~Me  :)

And Other Stuff

"That's the worst thing isn't it? Charlie said,

 Things that act alive but aren't."

~Scott Cawthon

The Silver Eyes

I took this photo so long ago, I had a hard time remembering which camera I used. It was my Kodak. Anyway, this post is to fill you in on some other things I have been while on blogging break. Recently, Karen and I started a brand new photo challenge, but this time rather than on Blogger or in the blogging community, it's on Twitter exclusively. Photo By Request or if you are on the Twitter platform itself, its #PhotoByRequest because Twitter is all about the hashtag! This week's subject is "Toys" and it's our third round! We post on Thursdays, and you are invited, just show up with your photo posted to your timeline, and the hashtag. Easy peasy. It's going to be fun! I am looking forward to having a challenge, to maybe inspire me to keep picking up the camera even in the difficult times. Maybe I can get back to blogging full time again. I think it would be healthier than drifting from one negative thought to another.

~Mood: Okay

~Me

Monday, Monday... Can't Trust That Day

"Sometimes souls don't need words to communicate. They  speak with each other through signs, symbols, deep feelings and poetry!"

 ~Avijeet Das

And old fashioned forms of communication from the 1980's.

Cool isn't it? Alan and I went on a ride to San Francisco last Saturday, and we spotted this pair of gems at the Vista Point, on the Marin County side, of the Golden Gate. It really made me laugh because, frankly, I hadn't seen a phone like this in ages! Isn't it something? I'll be looking for more of them when vacation starts in October. I have been missing the 70's and 80's very much, especially the last few years, so spotting these made for a nice surprise. I had no idea they were still a thing!  When I saw them, there was something so wonderfully nostalgic in that moment, that I kinda felt for a minute like I was back home. You know? Back when life didn't move so damn fast, and things stayed the same, until you were ready to say, "okay... I'm ready, lets go." Believe it or not, there was such a day. I remember it. Don't laugh. I do. I think it was a Monday. There problem is, that by the time that last Monday that made sense occurred, it was followed by the next Monday that changed everything. Like the song says, Monday, Monday... can't trust that day." I wonder if 1980 would have been on the other end, if I had answered it?

 

Again? So Soon? 16 Years!

"If you chase anything in life, chase the things that get you excited about living. Chase the things that give you hope happiness and a glimpse of a better life. Chase the things that make you want to be a better person. Chase the things that inspire you think, create and live joyfully. Chase the things that reinforce in your soul that you can make a difference. Chase the things that make you want to transform your soul from selfish to selfless. When you chase that kind of storm, you are chasing rainbows."

~Shannon L. Alder

16 years. That's how old this blog is! 16 years! Wow, that's a long time to stick with a project on the Internet. Sometimes I wonder why I do it? I know, I know, to display my photographs. Yes, true, I do love posting them, and the feedback has always meant a lot to me. I became a much better, amateur photographer, because of that help, but is there anything more? This type of blogging, after all, died a quiet death a long time ago, with the invention of platforms like Twitter. Even social media sites like Facebook allow for mostly conversation and spreading fake news, but not so much long-form rants, raves and other generalized opinion spouting.

But here I am. My last blog post reached 9 folks apparently, but I have every confidence that in the Fall, when I begin the leaf project, things will pick up. But is it still worth my time to devote so much verbiage to this blog, or should I rely on Twitter for that? Twitter does help me clear the daily spider webs Trump spins, but some days it seems like more than I can deal with. Especially when my Fibromyalgia is acting up. Oh well, I think I contemplate this every year, and every year I shrug and move on, not giving it another thought, until yet another anniversary comes around. I suppose I am living in a HELL cycle. LOL. Anyway, isn't life one big HELL cycle? At least I enjoy mine! Mostly. 

Moving on, lets discuss what I've been up to that last 6 months or so. Baking! I have done a lot of baking! It has been good for me to get into the kitchen and try out new recipes that I never had taken the time to try. Cookies. Cake. Fudge. Turnovers. Pie crusts. You name it, I've given it a go! One of my absolute favorite recipes is for Focaccia. Yummy. I like making Focaccia bread, which is a lot like the one I grew up eating on special occasions. Lucca's made it, and I loved it. Very simple. Pizza sauce, on pillow soft bread, brushed with olive oil, then topped with cheeses, fresh herbs, and a little garlic. Yum. I took photos of all of my creations, and I have them below, and to my surprise they turned out kinda nice. One of the nicest comments I got for those photos, was someone calling them porn! I laughed and then owned the fact that this is as close to porn worthy as I will ever be at this point in life! That's life! Right?

 Anyway, enough chatting, onto the porn, but first, the quote I chose for this post says it all. Whatever I do, I need to commit to it fully, and if I find I can't, for whatever reason, it's better to end things on a positive note and move on. This blog should inspire me, and luckily I can say, it still does. As frustrated as I am right at this moment, autumn is coming, and I will be okay when I see the first of the leaves, and drink in the amazing air of my favorite mountain counties. Life right now is all about staying focused, with my eyes on the prize. Baking helps that goal, so baking I do.

1. Chocolate Chip Brownie
2. Cinnamon Roll
3. Lemon Snowball Cookie
4. Maple Roll
5. Cheese Focaccia Pizza Bread
6. Chocolate Mint Fudge
7. Christian Dior's Apricot Mousse 
8. Banana Fritters

And that is what I have been up to. I will be posting more often as we move closer to the first day of autumn. Look for me on Tuesday and Thursdays. I have another fun thing to share, about what I've been up to, but you will have to comeback on Tuesday to find out what it is!

( evil laugh )

~Mood: Happy
~Me

From The Truly Ridiculous To The Truly Macabre

"On a creep scale from

 Hello Kitty to Cthulhu, I award it a Freddy Krueger"

~Granuaile MacTiernan

The last few days have been sufficiently, macabre. I haven't bothered to write about current events in ages, mostly because current events no longer take place in the quaint old fashioned way of bits, bites, and booms that tended to randomly occur over days, weeks, or months. Instead, we now have hourly events of bytes booms and bangs, thanks in no small part to Twitter, and the charmingly loose senile orange toddler with nuclear devices as his only friends... no not the biscuit or football... but rather his damn mouth and Twitter fingers, Donald John Trump. 

That's right. The woman who bitched. Pissed. Moaned. Groaned. Spit, and generally lost her shit about every move made by George W. Bush, finally gave up. Trump broke me. I decided to let history keep track of life in the political world, because I simply couldn't keep up with whatever shocking misstep, intellectual fart, or social fuck-up he produced, let alone follow the endless line of cabinet miscreant slam dancing, he demanded be choreographed in the White House, and sometimes near the White House, at any given moment, on any given day. Enough! I had some depression to nurture! It's not like Bush made me any younger. And as for Obama... he made me lazy. Life was reasonably boring, quiet and non-eventful with him as president.

But enough of the reminiscing, and onto the macabre event that sent me back to blogging, if only for this post. History will remember the name, Jeffrey Epstein, like it has remembered the names of so many other notorious evil spirits of the past. History will unite him forever with other convicted pedophiles, and for what he was most recently charged with, human trafficking of under-aged girls. History will remember that he apparently provided many powerful men with these girls, which will forever unite those men with him. You are the company you keep! 

Prime Ministers. Kings. Presidents. Governors. And Donald Trump kept close company with Epstein. Many men visited Epstein's private island and flew in his airplane and private helicopter. He owned an apartment in Trump Tower, and partied often with Donald Trump. Does that act alone prove guilt of pedophilia? Does it mean any man on the list engaged in anything illegal? No, but I assume absolute proof, one way or the other, will be provided beyond a doubt one day. As the women come forward, and point directly at these men, it will all be laid bare, for all to see, but when it does, it will have to be without Jeffrey Epstein, because he was found unresponsive in his cell last Saturday morning, and later declared dead.

At the moment it's being called an apparent suicide. But there are folks on both sides of the political aisle, who want it to be murder so bad they can taste the dead body in their mouths. Conspiracy theories abound! Hillary must have done it! COUNT THE CLINTON MURDER VICTIMS! A.G. BARR DID IT TO SAVE TRUMP! "Jeffrey was scared, so he killed himself." "The guards hated pedophiles, so they did it." Twitter, was all atwitter, Sunday night, with the possibilities. Not much consideration given to his victims and what comes next for them, however, just one macabre theory after another about a dead man, with pictures of his lifeless, slightly cyanotic body lying on a gurney in a hospital in Manhattan, to provide proof that something happened on the second Saturday in August, In The Year Of Our Lord, 2019.

I'll keep you posted, unless history gets to it first!

~Mood: Quiet
~Me

Happy? 4th Of July

"Where freedom is there is my nation."

~Benjamin Franklin

One this Independence day

I just want to say to you, my faithful readers and friends...

I FUCKING HATE DONALD TRUMP!

Oh well, America had a good run! 

See you, hopefully, August 23rd, when I officially open Ellipsis for the autumn and winter seasons. 

I hope.

~Carly