Weekly Photo Challenge: The Sign Says

When I went to look in my files for signage, I wasn’t surprised to find a ton of them.

I know I’m attracted to writing and the reading of it.

This week’s challenge arrived in my inbox Friday May 31st and I am wondering how it is going to be June in a few minutes.   Last day of school is June 17th.

Hold Five

 

 

 

 

 

Guilt Free Holy Week

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rocco's Storefront

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green Cleaners Sign

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big Gay Ice Cream

 

 

 

 

 

 

Italian Parking Signs

 

 

 

 

 

Algonquin Hotel

 

IMG_5989

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_5974

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eataly Bread

 

Restaurant

 

 

 

 

 

Caffe Roma

 

Little Italy

 

 

Penguins Home ICe

 

The Strip District Pittsburgh PA  Penguins Hockey

 

 

Sign by Ghost Bicycle

Ghost Bicycle

Weekly Photo Challenge: In the Background

Oops.  Between going away for the holiday weekend and my consternation about loyal and regular followers not being able to receive the blog in email, I forgot to do last Friday’s Weekly Photo Challenge: In the Background.   Tomorrow there will be another challenge so this one is in just under the wire

 

This challenge was just that- a challenge.

Flatiron Building

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chinatown

 

 

Fishmarket  Chinatown NYC

 

IMG_6203

 

A class trip picture in Central Park

 

 

Eataly Bread making

 

Breadmaking at Eataly NYC

Horse Eye

The horse’s eye at Booker T Washington Monument Park Virginia

 

 

Prometheus

 

From the giant Lego store- Prometheus

 

 

 

Eataly

 

Eataly

 

 

Farm Chicken

Chicken through the fence

 

 

 

Washington Square

Washington Square Park

 

Church Spire on Bleecker St

 

Homestead

A note I found in the back of the room

 

 

 

 

(Thanks to everyone who wrote and commented about my ongoing frustration that many friends and followers can’t even subscribe to the email to receive it.  What’s up with that , WordPress?  I have tried to send the link or forward the post and they don’t get it either.  AND from three different types of email- mac, yahoo and a virgin gmail account.)

Big Dreams

It seems from the emails from friends and followers that comcast.net and verizon. net are the largest group not receiving my daily post via my gmail account. There are a few others, too.

Even a new email address and a different provider the next time I sent it, for some reason these addresses think the blog post is the processed meat in a little blue can.  (I don’t even want to write the name of it – )

Why after almost four years of daily blog sending it is refusing my emails is something I don’t understand.  No bounced back email, no sign of it in spam.  People have difficulty subscribing to the blog at wordpress, not receiving a confirmation email.    So what changed?  

Did someone get in my email?  I’ve changed all the passwords and there are no signs of compromise that I can detect.  At least a few people wondered what happened to me and others have let me know they are receiving it just fine without a hitch.  Did wordpress change something?  What is suspicious these days?  Who knows.  Seems other wordpressers are in good shape but the email situation is exasperating.  Thanks for your patience. I did read in an article How To Tell if you are Boring Someone, and one tip was –don’t talk about computer problems. Thanks for your input xxooxx  Ruth E.

And the Post Today————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Photographer Martin Weber had a show at Silver Eye Center of Photography called A Map of Latin American Dreams about three and a half years ago.  I remembered the faces of the people he photographed and how he documented their dreams and desires on a small chalkboard in every image.   He is the inspiration for this project.

We used black construction paper and white chalk.  I showed the students his photographs first.  Then talked about dreams.  I encouraged the students to write specifically.

Today I can’t show you the faces of the students who did this project in my Digital Photography Classes but I wanted to share some of their dreams.

We converted all the dream photos into black and white and then made a display in the classroom.  Of course the faces of the students amplify the effectiveness of the composition and evoke emotion but these are just the handwritten dreams of a select few students as we come to the close of the school year (last day for me June 17th)

This could be a good project for many levels of students  These are 9-12th graders.  I wrote down my dream, too.

 

Catching Kids on the Fly

 

 

Hardy, Virginia (near Roanoke) weekend at the other Grandparents’ home.

Grandkids and their cousin on the move.

Grandma has to be fast with the camera – lens and shutter, barely time to check focus. Everyone growing up before my eyes.

 

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Coal Miner’s Memorial and Heritage Park, Quinwood, West Virginia

On my way home from Hardy VA, I stopped at the Coal Miner’s Memorial and Heritage Park in Quinwood, West Virginia, built where the old company store used to stand according to this site.

The names read like poetry.  There are names chiseled on both sides of the stone markers.

The day was overcast and chilly, more like football weather instead of the end of May.

I was thinking about the sign on Bleecker Street, NYC, advertising coal oven pizza and wondered where they get coal for their ovens.

Memorial Day 2013

My son Mark photographed the Marine Corps War Memorial when the family visited Arlington Cemetery a few weeks ago.  (The memorial is in Arlington VA, not in the actual cemetery)

When he showed me this photo today, I asked if he’d guest blog it for Memorial Day and he agreed.  Mark was in the USMC for six years.

We went for a walk this morning and there’s a little white clapboard church about 1/2 mile up the road.  Behind it was a small graveyard.

The third photo I took early Sunday in a rural cemetery by a headstone that had a flag in front of it.

This is the reflection (taken with a 70-200 Canon Lens L Series)

I read a moving article in the Roanoke Times (by Dan Casey) about the last of four brothers who served in WWII who tells the story of the other three who have gone on before.

This post is to remember all the men and women from every branch of the Armed Forces on Memorial Day 2013.

Photographed by Guest Blogger Mark, ( I loved the sun shining through the flag)

Marine Memorial at Arlington

Memorial to USMC

Flag reflection Gravestone

The VFW were outside the local Kroger

VFW Poppy

To read the poem  In Flanders Fields written by Lt Col. John McCrae, MD, hailing from Canadian Army  WWI  click here and see the original copy handwritten in a page of notepaper.

May 26, 1976 Fort Knox Kentucky

Ireland Army Hospital.

The family has gathered in to Erika’s parents to celebrate Mark’s birthday.  You were a bicentennial baby and my father’s mother knit you a red ,white and blue afghan.

This afternoon we went to the farm next door to see how the pigs are growing. We were playing with the runt named P.P. and watching her root in the mud.  No truffles found, though.

Mark and his sons Michael and Jack were walking back home.  Of course I had the fixed lens (50mm) on the camera.  I almost missed them though.  Erika asked me “Did you get it?” We saw the three of them at the top of the hill at the same time.  The next frame they’re in total sunlight and it isn’t as strong.

Happy Birthday Mark.  I searched the card racks for the right words but the card writers this year didn’t capture what I wanted to say.

When I see you grown up, loving your own beautiful family, my heart is full.

I love you.   Ma

 

Road to the Farm

Mazeroski in Moonlight, After the Prom

Pittsburgh Carrick 2013 Senior Prom was held at the Lexus Club at PNC Park tonight.

I went and took pictures of the kids and it was a great evening.  My friend Steve picked me up and then had to turn the car around to be in the homeward direction.

This is what we saw at the circle by the Bill Mazeroski statue-

I got out into the chilly air and took a few shots.  The clouds kept drifting over the moon, making the clouds luminous.

Mazeroski Statue

 

 

 

 

p.s.

In case you don’t know about the Greatest Home Run Ever   Here’s the youtube video of Bill Mazeroski running to home in the 1960 World Series

 

Who You Gonna Call When Your Neon’s Ailing? The Neon Doctor

Neon.  An inert gas.  2/3 the density of air. When put into electric signs it glows, catches your eye. You can read about Neon Signs here.

Not sure how much neon signage you have in your neighborhood but there’s a lot around the city.

I was filling up my car’s gas tank and looked across the street.

After I screwed on the  gas cap, I got my camera out of my school bag. I had the long lens.

Another day I’ll go and visit the interior and ask if the Neon Doctor is in.

Good to know there’s a place that can restore and repair the neon signs.

Neon Doctor

From across the street. Shot with a Canon 70-200 lens L series.

Cropped shot.   I will get energized and go and actually visit the place after school one day.  Neon Signs int

Analog Clock Faces Smile at 10:10

My old clock fell off the hook and a new battery couldn’t help it recover.

I found this turquoise retro looking kitchen clock last Saturday in Shadyside.  Oh how I love a second hand.   I really like to look at a clock with a face and get a visual as to how much time is left.  Most students like a digital clock for telling time.

My colleague used his Phillips screwdriver to remove the bolted kitchen clock out of the box.  I ‘d bought  it for my classroom.  I never really noticed the time at which the clock was set when we got it out of the box.

Mr. B (Bob) told me that clocks for sale are always positioned at the time of 10:10.  Huh, I had never really noticed that fact. I thought it would make an interesting post to think about.  Maybe everyone else already knows this.  Is it the same in other parts of the world.  I guess 9:09 or 8:08 or 3:03 wouldn’t look as good.

And sure enough there is information all over the internet about it and why. Timex says they set their timepieces at 10:09:36 exactly.

It shows off their name and is symmetrical.  Mental Floss has an article all about the myths and truths of the default setting  10:10 on watches and clocks for sale.

So I started thinking about digital clocks for sale and many of them online for sale are set at 12:34.  Who knew?  This is just something I haven’t thought about.

Thanks Mr. B.  (See Bob and Whiskers 1955 post)   He told me that even a broken clock shows the correct time twice a day!

Here’s the packaging for the kitchen clock for the classroom. You can see the three holes where the clock was screwed into the cardboard.  I thought of going to stores and photographing a multitude of clocks at the 10:10 setting but decided at this time of the school year, one photo of the photo on the packaging would suffice.

(an iPhone photo of a photo on the packaging)

Kitchen Clock Package