Playing Around With Pictures ... Saturday Snapshot

the original

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the original

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I love playing around with my photos and will sometimes putter for hours looking for the right look to some of my shots ... Big Huge Labs is my free on-line space of choice. I have also discovered a place called FotoFlexer. I'm always amazed at how altering certain elements of the image or adding special effects can make for such a different piece of work.

... shared with other photographers at Saturday Snapshot ...

Thank you, Melinda! You're wonderful to host this weekly share!

Apartment To Let - Magpie Tales #207

Apartment To Let

Can’t tell me no one heard

The kid hid in the closet

Heard every smack and groan

Windows open to the night

Sirens screaming by below

Party in the place above

Breaking glass and laughing

There’s always a break you know

Everything stops for just a minute

The rest of the world butts in

Can’t tell me they didn’t hear her

Thumpin’ up against the walls

Fallin’ over furniture

Wailin’ like the sirens

Spittin’ blood and cryin’ out

Cursin’ life and love

Makin’ for the hallway

Puttin’ space between hurt and the baby

I hope the fucker fries

I hope the neighbors have bad dreams

I hope the curtains twitch and haunt

This neighborhood but good

... shared with others at Tess Kinkaid's writing share called Magpie Tales ... 

Saturday Snapshot - Snow and More Snow

Just so you know ... this is an unaltered photo that I shot yesterday morning in that brilliant sunny time before any wind did damage to all the snow marshmallows and cotton candy. Bright, bright light and some shadows and this row of dried sedum blossoms. The camera has registered the plant images and 'pixelated'  the bright white and shadows in such a way that the shadowed crystals of snow are like little tiny rainbows ... so cool, huh?

This is the view from my kitchen window ... the kitchen woodpile and the garden shed ... and muffled wind chimes. More snow is expected sometime tonight.

... shared with others at Saturday Snapshot...

Thank you Melinda for hosting this weekly photoshare!

Haiku - Poetry Jam

Haiku

Flicked like dandelions

Harsh words fall on children’s hearts

Wilting bright faces

... shared at Poetry Jam

Dandelion Days - Poetry Jam

Dandelion Days

Walking home from the library

I never stepped on sidewalk cracks

I clutched books close and climbed

Up and over the railroad tracks

Coming down the other side

Sneakers kicking dust and stone

I’d sometimes lose control and slide

Careening my way closer to home

Cross the road and up the street

Into the shade, away from the heat

Dark lush maple tree nods and sways

Cooling off those dandelion days

Up the hill to the little grey house

Round the back quiet as a mouse

A clothesline tent with pillows lush

A place to hide in summer’s hush

Beginner books that held me sway

And helped pass many a summer day

With words as lush as any flowers

Adventures to while away the hours

Ideas and dreams that oft took flight

Like dandelion seeds blown free

Seen in that tent’s soft dappled light

The books, the summer, the sun, and me

... a fast write shared at Poetry Jam ...

Appetite for Life - The Biography of Julia Child - Noel Riley Fitch

This was an stellar biography of Julia Child, giving an excellent picture of her family background, the influences that made her the person who could excel in the rough and tumble world of government intelligence during the chaotic World War II era and then translate her organizational skills and joie de vive to a career in entertaining, cuisine and finally broadcast media. When you  think about it, all the areas of her life's work were tied to being a socially adaptable creature. What I found a joy was that she found a true love in Paul Child who, though somewhat of an intellectual snob (IMHO) and order driven soul,  never lorded it over Julia.

That being said, my love for Julia Child's persona was fed to overflowing with this book. What a woman! A live wire with a fun streak that kept her family and friends on their toes, it seems that everyone genuinely liked Julia. I enjoyed reading of her exploits in childhood running willy nilly with her neighborhood friends, slowly gaining intellectual structure through her boarding school experiences, but always keeping a rowdy sense of humor and down-to-Earth practicality about herself.

Making her way from the entitled life at Smith College into the world of business and then government work seemed a wake-up call for Julia. I loved that she was honest about her shortcomings when she applied for her first government job. I think it must have been one of the reasons that she landed the job in OSS - honesty and forthright, hard-working and perseverant, easy-going and able to adapt ... she seemed the right woman for the climate and conditions of OSS work in WWII Asia. It was in Asia that she met and fell in love with Paul Child. Becoming friends first and then seeing the chemistry develop was a slow process that became a no-looking back adventure when the two returned state-side after the war. Marriage and the move to France cemented Julia's shift from safe track government employee to enthusiastic expatriate. Rattling around post-war Paris was bound to make her crazy for a new routine, especially since Paul Child was fitting into a post-war niche in Information/Arts/and Media Communications for the US government, as it established a presence in Euro politics.

Aren't we all glad that she found the Cordon Bleu and made history in a foodie career? I know I am, but I think she would shake her head at my practices in the kitchen. I consider myself a pretty good cook, but her level of knowledge and exposure astounds me. Reading about the dishes that she mastered, the wines that she and her husband and friends sipped, the places that they traveled, and the people that she mixed with boggles my mind. Some people have such interesting lives!

Interestingly, I read somewhere that this particular biography is the only one that Julia openly appreciated and cooperated with in full. Noel Riley Fitch has written other studies of famous American expatriates in France. Her understanding of the country and the culture shows in her handling of Julia's biography. Though I found some of her chapters repetitious, it all fell into place and served to form a complete picture of the woman that Julia Child became. Like I said, this was a good read.

Saturday Project - Saturday Snapshot

Today is a day for using the bright afternoon light to my advantage ... I have some small hand sewing jobs that need doing, so I am sitting in a sunny window sewing the border on a series of small hot pads that I've made over time with scraps of calico from all manner of sewing projects. It's fun to work with scraps from the ages past ... there are so many memories attached! For instance, the orange flowerbud calico in this hot pad comes from a long, tiered 'hippie skirt' that I wore back in the 70's - way before marriage and children. Time sure has flown!

I hope your Saturday projects are just as fun and relaxing as mine ... enjoy your weekend, folks!

... shared with others at Saturday Snapshot ...