I was making a pot of soup when the phone rang. “What are you doing? Some tickets just dropped in our lap!” It was Barb S asking if Steve and I wanted to see opening night of Rain A Tribute to the Beatles. When? 7:30. I looked at my clock on the stove. It was 6:38. We had ten minutes to get down the hill to there house and off we went to Heinz Hall. The roads weren’t too bad. I figured no two hour delay in the morning. After the show I walked across the 6th Street to document the fun evening. It was nostalgic. Good energy. Unexpected live music! We stood and swayed, singing along “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” Given the snowstorm, I was surprised how full the theater was!
Almost a study in black and white. Anna and Maura sat together on the piano bench. Anna practiced her lesson and Maura provided accompaniment with her own offbeat tune. It was a pretty wild duet. Matthew titled the photo Heart and Soul. Has anyone played that lately?
Driving through Oakland. A snowstorm. Lights in the night. An enormous Diplodocus accumulating snowfall on his back. Sporting a red knit scarf. Pull to the curb. Forbes Avenue. Turn on the flashers. Get out of the car. Focus. Shoot. Find the beauty of winter.
Diplodocus Carnegiei-22 feet high- 84 feet long- 3000 pounds! Click the blue word Diplodocus in text above to read about him.
In Lawrenceville. As I walked over the 40th Street Bridge I looked up and saw all these houses packed so closely together.. There was no air between the rooftops. Reminded me of a difficult jigsaw puzzle.
Lawrenceville. Looking up from the 40th Street Bridge.
Once her mother’s, now in my granddaughter’s room on a shelf along with her mom and dad’s teddy bears and a doll with a purple and white crocheted outfit made by Anna’s great grandmother. The window light hit the blue skate, highlighting the plastic dangling down. I was shooting the teddy bears and got distracted with the brightly colored charms. Underneath a music box bunny rabbit Erika had as a baby. Can something from the ’80s be vintage already? I found a listing for Plastic Charm Necklace at the 80’s Museum. Today at work a teacher said she is teaching the children to say TwentyEleven not TwoThousand Eleven for the year. She asked me how I said 1985? or 1900? Hmmm.
Seemed once we hit two thousand we started saying it differently. Two Thousand, Two Thousand One, Two Thousand Two……..As I walked down the hall a song came into my head- “In the year 2525….”
Next time I am in NYC I am going to ask my sister if I can photograph hers. It's loaded with charms.
Home after being away for ten days. Steve bought a pizza for us. Found a pile of mail in the front hall; catalogs, bulk mail, a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon, a notice of a tangelos and grapefruit delivery, a bank statement and the water bill. A few Christmas cards and the Barbie scrubs I ordered for Christmas from Etsy. A nice card with a Starbucks giftcard from Cj. AND a “Mug Rug” with a Norfolk VA postmark from Colleen, a long time friend of Joanne in Omaha. Joanne insists that Colleen and I have met but we haven’t– yet! Colleen stitched a quilted “mug rug” and sent it to me with a lovely card. (Depending on when you are reading this, I am writing on the 9th Day of Christmas so it is 9 Ladies Dancing, 10 Lords-a-Leaping, Mary.) I love the numbers on the fabric. There were instructions for a cup of tea and room for two cookies on the side but I didn’t want to cover up the fabric for the photo. What a happy surprise to find a handmade gift in the sea of fliers and junkmail! And how fortunate Steve had some cookies to supply for the shot. What a great way to end the vacation. And Deb B I like the quote on your handmade card.
“How we choose to think,
Determines what we will see,
And so it is that we,
Create our reality.”
(a quote but no attribution, maybe someone will help find the source)
It is a happy 2011 already. Thanks friends.
*If you want to see the Blog Year in Review 2010 and the Top Posts- click here for late post 1/2/2011
Thank goodness Steve had some cookies a patient brought him. Delicious with Good Earth tea. (after the photo)
Michael got a camera for Christmas from his other grandmother (F.F. Marlene), and was eager to try it out. He was having fun at the Chiller rink on Friday . Matthew skated up to the glass and smiled at Michael. Michael captured Uncle Matty’s image. He was so excited when he pressed the arrow and saw it on the screen.
Sitting on Uncle Matthew waiting for the head bump to feel better, our superhero is subdued after some wild maneuvers. Earlier I had witnessed climbing up the banisters, clinging to the ledge at the top of the stairs, oh my. I came in on this scene, went to get the camera and no one noticed. He and Batman had been driving around the circle between the kitchen and dining room on blue plastic motorcycles, around and around and around. It was a quick recovery.
Sunday my friend V told me she saw this dump truck decorated with lights and declared it blog worthy. And I told her I’d already photographed it. Thought it was last year. And totally out of the blue, today my sister M sent me the dump truck photo I had emailed her two years ago. Pre-blog. This image is one taken in that series(2008). You’ll see it if you take the back road from Millvale to West View. My friend J is the one who actually drove me to see the truck in 2008t. Wait til you see the house she drove me to. Tom0rrow.
J. drove me to shoot this a Sunday night two years ago.
