While normally I don't like to do too much photo editing, I couldn't resist that lovely shade of blue. ;)
Sunday, October 2, 2011
The View From The Garden Ground
While normally I don't like to do too much photo editing, I couldn't resist that lovely shade of blue. ;)
Spookiness Is Afoot Downtown
Late last night, while taking a walk with the family in this nice cooler weather, I snapped these pics outside the newspaper building . They did not come out as anticipated - to say the least!
One may wonder why take pictures of the newpaper building in the first place. It's not exactly a wonder of great beauty and architechture. Simple answer - the area gives me the creeps. And I haven't called my project "Victoria Phantasmagoria" for nothing. Still, I was unnerved to see what look like playful little shades lurking around the perimeter of the fence on the last pic. Sure, lots of mistakes must have gone into creating this image, but...none of the other photos I took even a few feet away look like this.
It's kind of appropriate that not far from that spot is a bit of graffitti on the sidewalk that says "not here".
(I posted the third photo to my Tumblr last night but wanted to place all three together here)
Friday, September 30, 2011
Windstorm
Yesterday evening a small windstorm blew an assortment of leaves and bougainvillea blossoms all over the neighborhood. We hoped it might rain at last, but the clouds passed us by.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
A Talkative Mime
One of my all-time favorite photos, taken by Roni Gendler at Buda Castle, Budapest.(from: National Geographic)
Galaxy
Another beautiful photo, courtesy of NASA:Looking like a spider's web swirled into a spiral, the galaxy IC 342 presents its delicate pattern of dust in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Seen in infrared light, the faint starlight gives way to the glowing bright patterns of dust found throughout the galaxy's disk.
At a distance of about 10 million light-years, IC 342 is relatively close by galaxy standards, however our vantage point places it directly behind the disk of our own Milky Way. The intervening dust makes it difficult to see in visible light, but infrared light penetrates this veil easily. It belongs to the same group as its even more obscured galactic neighbor, Maffei 2.
IC 342 is nearly face-on to our view, giving a clear, top-down view of the structure of its disk. It has a low surface brightness compared to other spirals, indicating a lower density of stars (seen here as a blue haze). Its dust structures show up much more vividly (yellow-green). Blue dots are stars closer to us, in our own Milky Way.
New stars are forming in the disk at a healthy clip. Glowing like gems trapped in the web, regions of heavy star formation appear as yellow-red dots due to the glow of warm dust. The very center glows especially brightly in the infrared, highlighting an enormous burst of star formation occurring in this tiny region. To either side of the center, a small bar of dust and gas is helping to fuel this central star formation.
Data from Spitzer's infrared array camera (IRAC) are shown in blue (3.6 and 4.5 microns) and green (5.8 and 8.0 microns), while the multiband imaging photometer (MIPS) observation is red (24 microns).
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
The Bell in the Fog
I was excited to find the full text of The Bell in the Fog by Gertrude Atherton here:This story has haunted me for many years, with its not-quite-hidden subtext of idealization (and romanticization) of the girl and devaluation of the woman she will become. So much so the male protagonis hints that it would have been better for the girlchildren of his obsession not to have grown up.
Which led me to wonder, all those years ago - being on the edge of womanhood myself at the time - is it that girls grow up or does our childhood die instead? Does a certain value we seem to possess in the eyes of others die as well, or are they simply replaced by other things? What about the private knowledge at times that we are both? It's not surprising to me that more and more young women cling to their childhood, not yet wanting to become - or maybe it's to be seen as - that other. It's something nebulous that's difficult to speak of outright, but many female artists and writers have covered the territory. The Bell in the Fog captures that nebulous quality very well.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Anthropomorphic Trees
As much as I love the thought of anthropomorphic trees,I would prefer not to come upon one of these in the forest...
From here: http://webecoist.com/2010/09/07/deadwood-30-scary-creepy-bizarre-trees/?ref=search and here: http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/photos/8-of-the-creepiest-trees-on-earth/anthropomorphic-tree
Passageway
One of those places you can find in every town, if you know where tolook.Somewhere within the maze of buildings, there's always a path.
The House with a Clock in its Walls
Today, my dear man brought me a most wonderful present: one of my favorite childhood books, The house with a clock in its walls. I loved it so in...fourth grade, was it? There wasn't many things I loved about fourth grade, but our little classroom library was one of them. I was always eager for a chance to grab this one at reading time. I was also intrigued by Edward Gorey's illustrations. Gorey, of course, having illustrated quite a few book in our library already.I always imagined, should I be lucky enough to become an elderly lady, I would be Mrs. Zimmerman. Who wouldn't want to be a sharp-tongued, cookie-baking D.Mag.A. ?
Sunday, September 25, 2011
The Would-Be Nature Photographer Strikes Again.
I'm no photographer, but that doesn't stop me from trying. :)
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Tarot For The Week
Tarot reading for the week of September 24-30 2011
Covers - the five of swords
Crosses - the ace of swords
Beneath - The magician
Tthe influence just passing away - 9 of pentacles reversed
Crowning - The knight of swords
Before - The sun
What I'm feeling - the king of cups.
What others see - The heirophant reversed.
What I wish - The six of swords
Final outcome - The emperor reversed.
Upon first reading, the main thrust seems to be that I can fritter away my energy on petty squabbles and pointless worries, or direct the energy into positive action. There is a chance for both according to these cards, but the final card indicates that I may come up against authority and pressure to conform and so end up too weak to channel it properly. Whatever the case, we shall see next week.
Update - October1st 2011
As much as I tried to avoid the feelings of defeat indicated by the five of swords and escape the battle wounds indicated by the reversed emperor, the tension was much too much and the end of the week has been a difficult time. I do feel significant pressure to conform and do the right thing but often fail at doing just that. Alas.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
The Fantod Deck
I've long been intrigued by Edward Gorey's Fantod Deck. Where else could you receive fortunes like "creeping sickness" and "loss of wits"?Happily (or unhappily, considering the fortunes)there's a site where you can have your fortune told by Fantod online, here: http://www.phobos%20deimos.com/Edward_Gorey/The_Fantod_Deck/Fate/The%20Fantod%20Deck%20General.htm
Today's card was the The Bottle, so melancholia and itching may be in my future, among other things. :)
Dreamscapes
It's difficult, if not impossible, to say why I dream what I dream. Why do some images set in the memory the way they do? They are half-remembered but filled with some unknown meaning. Sometimes, I come upon places that remind me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
