...About As Smart As A Box Of Hangers

 

"Change is coming, she whispered to the bugs

 bouncing off her window. You can't escape it."

 

~A. Lynn

Itsy's Ugly 

 

Alan and I were visiting Berkeley, a couple months ago, and as we drove down Ashby, I was snapping photos of everything I saw. I missed Berkeley a lot, so visiting was nice, and there is always something to see! Ordinarily when we visit, I spend, for the most part, in Tilden park. It's so pretty there, and it relaxes me to enjoy the trees and the wildlife. But on this day, I wanted to visit other parts of town, and so I decided that I really needed to visit Gladys, who lives on Ashby. You remember Gladys? She is my gorgeous friend (sculpture) who lives with her friends, in a strange little house with a lot of windows. Oh well, see below. If you know me, or have been reading this blog, then you know her, if you are new here, after you see her photo, if you have questions, feel free to ask.

 

 Anyway, it was on that day that I spotted a box of hangers, just sitting by the side of the street. I snapped the photo, with no real idea how I would use it one day, and promptly filed it away in my brain. Well, yesterday, as the crazy unfolded, I, for whatever reason, began to think about the box of hangers, and how Rudy Guiliani is about as smart as a random box of hangers, sitting by the side of the road. See, the perfect photo for the perfect situation and post. Let that be a lesson to you, never pass up a chance to photograph a box of hangers! 

 

Elle Magazine

Did You See Rudy Guiliani's Hair Dye Running Down His Face?

Because Twitter Sure Did! 

 

Gladys

~Carly

Stockton, California

Art About Town: Sacramento: Capitol Electrical Box Art

 

"Take heart and dive into the quiet maturity of autumn."

 

~Sir Kristian Goldmund Aumann

 

I don't know how mature you can call this autumn, but here we are. As you might expect, Donald Trump is still refusing to admit Joe Biden won the election. He's still hold up in Washington D.C., pouting and drowning in Fox News and listening to the advice of former New York City Mayor, Rudy Guiliani, and listening to the advice of, soon to be convicted felon, Steve Bannon, so everything is pretty much normal. Well, normal as measured by the last 4 years. As Trump moved through his, on the job training for his position of emperor of all he surveys, life has moved into a kind of a, well, living nightmare of abnormal. It's been exhausting. So, maturity, and normal, I never realized how comforting those words are. Funny the things we take for granted.

On a side Note...

 The U.S. just passed 250,000 dead of Covid-19 yesterday.

 

My heart is broken. My guess is it will break several more times again before President-Elect Biden takes office. Thank God I have art to give me strength.

Art About Town: Sacramento, California

Capitol Art Box

"Statues And Lights"

By Sam Sellers

November 1st 2020

Nikon

~Carly

Stockton, California

November 19th 2020

 

Sunny Days/Rainly Days

 

"How can you understand something is really beautiful? Very simple: When that thing comes out of your life, you start desperately waiting for it to come back! And autumn's beauty is such a beauty!"

 

~Mehmet Murat ildan

 

I'm stressed out. I just am. So, how about I don't yammer on about how I feel. How about just leaves. Just leaves.

 

~Carly

Stockton, California

November 18th 2020

Arlo

 

"Don't you imagine the leaves dream now

how comfortable it will be to touch

the earth instead of the nothingness of the air and the endless

freshets of wind? And don't you think the trees, especially those with mossy hollows, are beginning to look for the birds that will come...

six, a dozen... to sleep inside their bodies?

And don't you hear the goldenrod whispering goodbye,

the everlasting being crowned with the first tuffets of snow?

 

The pond stiffens and the white field over which

the fox runs so quickly brings out

it's long blue shadows. The wind wags

its many tails. And in the evening

the piled firewood shifts a little

longing to be on its way." 

 

~Mary Oliver

Song For Autumn

 

Covid-19 Update 

Every single prediction came true, just as I believed it would from the beginning. And I believe predictive models will too. That means it will be perhaps another 200,000 dead by March 1st, and if that does happen, I am not sure if I will be here to see another autumn. And worse, will I lose my darling? I love him. Very much. I'm not going there. It's unimaginable. All I know is, things in the world better change! I hate it, but beginning tomorrow new restrictive measures will be implemented in California, and while I hate that it's necessary at this point, I applaud the move by the governor. Governor Newsom is even considering imposing curfews. Not sure how that will work, but I will be taking my last holiday grocery trip this week, and will be back home, well before dark. Holidays. The word almost sounds obscene. I better do plenty of photographs while I shop, because who knows when I will be able to venture into another store. What is so fucking hard about wearing a mask? How can there not be laws preventing what Donald Trump has done? And is doing? And I haven't even mentioned he sought what his options were for launching a war with Iran! Oops. I just did! Will he plunge the United States into war, just to fuck with Joe Biden? Nah... that doesn't sound like him at all! I wonder if he realizes that once he leaves office, he no longer has access to the bunker?

On the other hand, isn't Arlo adorable? If you're wondering, I turn to poetry and comforting stuff when I am sad and frightened. I still have a small stuffed cat I bought at the San Jose Manetta Airport, when Alan and I flew back east in 1992. Lordy I hate flying in the big planes. So, sometimes I cling to a stuffed animal. Who doesn't? Is there a poem or stuffed bear big enough to handle what's coming? I don't know, but I know Arlo helps me. How do you not smile, when you see that silly face, and his sweater, which doesn't quite fit?

John Hopkins

~Carly

November 17th 2020

Stockton, California

 

Diamonds On The Weeds

 

"Sometimes I am the winter tree,

 and most of these times, a gathering of autumn leaves."

 

~Goitsemang Mvula

 

It looks like tiny diamonds, but what it actually is, is a small weed, with dew from yesterday's fog, glistening on it's fine thread branches. It was a beautiful, no actually, stunning, autumn day. It had just enough clouds, light rain, and fog to make my photographs really nice. I was a very happy person, but it wasn't lost on me that soon I will be doing a lot more photos like this one, as the autumn season officially slips into it's own demise. Seasons come and go, and I only have a little over a month left in this one. I don't hate winter, it has it's place, the only thing that I don't like about it is that the leaves aren't there anymore lift my spirits and warm me inside, but this coming winter already has a bone chilling veil to it, that is intruding on this autumn, as if it carries a grudge for the hope the autumn provided this year. It feels jealous to me. Maybe it's that Trump is refusing to concede the race, and every day he wakes for the sole desire of making life as painful for everyone, but his sycophants and cultists, delivered in his usual wintry posture. 

 

The inauguration is January 20th, will winter make our bare bones ache, or will it be a warm winter sun easing our minds, as the chilly winds blow past us? It's hard not knowing which it will be. There were protesters outside Secretary Of State Clinton's house last night, shouting their usual childish refrain, "lock her up." An old cry, but I fear everlasting. It all makes me so sad. This isn't politics anymore, it's something else, something dark and scary. Something tragic. It makes me depressed for what could come next. I am really brave on Twitter though, counseling others to ignore Cheeto-Hitler, to not give him the attention he seeks.

 

I'm a hypocrite telling them what to do, because I'm terrified too. It just hurts to hear how much pain they are in. The Cult of Trump won't be going away any time soon, but neither will the will of the 78,781,258 who just want to wake up to something other than a school yard bully who pitches mean tweets like spitballs. Maybe ignoring it is unrealistic at this point, but wallowing in it is unhealthy. It's a kind opioid, and the withdrawal will be painful. It's hard to make the decision to let go. It get it. As I have said, I am going to attempt my recovery, from casual political observation, by taking more photographs at ground level, lets see how long that lasts before the vomiting, chills and shakes, force me back into giving a shit.

This Matters.

 

 ~Carly

Stockton, California

November 16th 2020

Autumn In The Mist Morn

 

"I saw old autumn in the misty morn,

Stand shadow less like silence, listening

To silence, for no lonely bird would sing 

into his ear from woods forlorn

Nor lowly hedge nor solitary thorn

Shaking his languid locks all dewy bright

With tangled gossamer that fell by night,

Pearling his coronet of golden corn." 

 

~Thomas Hood 

 

Yesterday was the first truly cold, foggy day of autumn 2020. It lifted my mood, heart and creativity to very happy levels. I did a lot of photos, and I hope to do more later today. I think I might be, happy.

 

~Carly

Stockton California

November 15th 2020

Autumn Can't Heal Everything

  "Everything seems sad this autumn. I wonder if it is a sign of age... 

I have always liked the spring, and this is the first time I have understood the autumn."

 

~Tanizaki Jun'ichiro

With Great Saddness...

 

 This pain doesn't have to happen. The new cases number has been amended to over 160,000 cases diagnosed Friday, November 13th 2020. That number will climb, just as it has every day for at least the past 10 days.

 

 

To Repeat... IT DOES NOT HAVE TO HAPPEN

Wear A Mask

~Carly

Stockton California

November 14th 2020

The Test Of A Man's Character

 

"Nearly all men can stand adversity,

 but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

 

~Abraham Lincoln 

 

Right?

Donald Trump has now lost Arizona. The only states left to call are North Carolina and Georgia. This is only the second time that the state of Arizona has gone for a Democrat, the first being Bill Clinton, in 1996. Before that, you'd have to go all the way back to 1948! And to think, all it took was an out of control pandemic to unseat the worst president, Donald Trump, this nation has ever seen! He's still refusing to concede, although the Republican party does seem to be losing it's patience with his immature insistence that he won the election by "lots." Yes, he said he won by "lots."

 

 Sigh. 

 

~Carly

Stockton, California

November 13th 2020

Art About Town: Sacramento... Mural "At Folsom Prison"

 

"The one red leaf, the last of its clan,

That dances as often as dance it can,

Hanging so light, and hanging so high,

On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky."

 

~Samuel Taylor Coleridge 

 

I have been wanting to photograph this amazing mural, since it was first done in 2018, as part of the Wide Open Walls Mural Festival. Sacramento has a lot of marvelous murals, only a few of which I have posted to this blog, but this one has been a favorite of mine to just enjoy viewing, when I visit. Sometimes the photographer must put the camera down, and enjoy the art. You see, it is located the side of the Marriott's Residence Inn, on L Street, and can be seen for blocks because of it's size. It takes up the entire side of the 15 story hotel! The mural is in honor of the 50th anniversary of the performer's concert at Folsom prison, and the release of Cash's album, At Folsom Prison.

 

 If the artist's style looks familiar, it's because Fairey is also the artist who created the iconic poster, "Hope" for President Barack Obama, for his 2008 presidential campaign. This mural image was based on the original photograph created for the album by photographer, Jim Marshall, in 1968. One of the most fascinating aspects of the mural, is that Fairey has Johnny Cash gazing toward the site of Folsom Prison, which is located about 20 miles northeast of Sacramento. I visited the grounds of Folsom Prison last month, and hoped to be able to visit the Johnny Cash museum, which sits just outside the gates, but it was unfortunately closed for renovations. I will visit there again sometime, I'd like to learn more about the musician's concert at the prison.

 

Sacramento: Mid-Century Beauty... Wesslers, Body And Paint

"Sadness in autumn is an autumn within autumn."

~Mehmet Murat ildan

My search for Mid-Century signage is one of my favorite subjects, because I don't really plan for it, I simply visit older areas of towns, and keep my eyes open. It works in most cities in Northern California, like Stockton and Sacramento, which also tends to be dotted with "old west" architecture, which will never be a style I will be interested in. But I guess, never say never, right? San Francisco has a lot of different architecture styles, which allows my creativity to wander, and I hope to be visiting the city soon, but Oakland is also on my list for 2021 and I'm planning to stop in there much more often than in previous years. There is so much to see in the world, and exploring places I love anyway, with my camera in my hand, is when I am at my happiest.

 

Completely off topic, but I spotted this cool leaf situation the other day, and I thought it would be kinda cool in this post because of the cool lines. Anyway, my first thought was that the tiny branch was lovingly holding the group of leaves, so that the wind wouldn't carry them away. I really like that thought.

~Carly

Stockton, California

November 11th 2020