Seems like a good time to hit the backlog again. I took these pictures around my yard back on January 8 after a frost had made everything into a bit of a winter wonderland. It seemed like it was a good time to go out and take some pictures.
Actually still quite a bit of backlog from January alone. Hmmmm…
Today is Johnathan’s birthday, so I need to wish him a happy birthday!
Happy birthday!! I hope your day is filled with all the joy you can handle and I hope you win your battle with the robot vacuum cleaner!
Come back now, even if you call me out
You might be angry now, of course you are
I’m scared too, didn’t mean to take it out on you
I know I always do, you’re the strongest person in the roomDon’t look down, I can feel it when your heart starts pounding
It’s beyond your control, you know it is
It’s getting to the point where I can’t carry on
I never held my breath for quite this long
And I don’t take it back, I did what I had to doIt’s not too late
Either way, I lose you in these silent days
It wasn’t right
But it was right on time
-Brandi Carlile
“Right on Time” is the first song I’m using as a journal title from Brandi’s most recent studio album “In These Silent Days”.
Thursdays are for flowers! This collection of flowertography consists of peonies and irises:
As a general rule, I don’t like irises, so it is rare that I photograph them. But I do understand why people plant them. It isn’t because they are pretty, it is because they are so ugly that deer won’t eat them and if you plant them around pretty flowers, it will protect them from get chomped down by deer.
Everything does have a purpose in nature!
Next Flowertography Thursday, I will share more pictures from this day.
Today is Elizabeth’s birthday, so I have to wish her a happy birthday!
I hope your birthday is as amazing as you can handle! Filled with breakfast burritos without hashbrowns and/or Happy Joe’s Pizza!
Today I’m going to share a collection of images I took last Friday for last week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Because I got stuck at the Computer Mine a couple of nights earlier in the week I planned on leaving at 9 AM, but I hung on until 11 since there is a lot of sickly in my department.
I think I made lunch and then probably took a nap. The I took Naima to the vet for her shots. Then I went to Iowa State to maybe pick up some stuff for the game the next day. Then I went down to Ankeny to pickup a bunch of Iowa State stuff for future tailgates. I took pictures on a bunch of it.
Here is the collection of pictures from the day:
That is it for Friday, but there are two more days of black & white images left to share!
This collection of alternate images for last week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE will include pictures I took on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Most of them I took on my lunch break from the computer mine on Wednesday. I went to downtown Ames to talk to Derrick about the upcoming football game on Saturday, but he was actually at the bank. So I did wander around a little bit and do some street photography.
I got stuck working late yet again on Wednesday night, so I didn’t take many pictures in the evening.
Here is the collection of images from Wednesday:
On Thursday I woke up to a foggy morning. I had to work at the Computer Mine worldwide headquarters. So I snapped some pictures on the way there. Then I snapped a few pictures at work and then did some shopping after work. Then took a few more when I got home.
Here are the Thursday pictures:
A lot of examples in this collection for why I love black & white photography so much. Or one of the reasons. There is just so much play in the exposure control that you get with black & white that you don’t get with color photography. Which isn’t to say that it is less demanding, because if anything, it can be more demanding. However, there is so much latitude in exposure and some of the things that can destroy a color photo like grain (or digital noise) can actually enhance a black & white image.
4 days down, but believe you me… we are just starting to get warmed up.
Time to start firing away on the 2023 backlog. This is a collection of pictures I took in January that really didn’t fit into any other posts. Some were pictures of my beard before I shaved. Some are from Madrid. Some are of elk in Jester Park. Some might be disturbing. Some might not be disturbing enough.
I hope you enjoy this collection:
Logan took these first 2 pictures.
It always feels good to clear up some of the backlog. There is still more backlog from January left to share.
One, two, three, four…
Out in the middle of nowhere
With nothing much else to do
Oh, the night brought us together
And I lent my heart to youMaybe you were running way from something
Without so much as a plan
Not a living soul to guide you
Jesus tattooed on your handAnd when my heart has no rest
And a thousand things are on my mind
I’ll always save some room for you
I won’t let you get left behindOh, and I always will remember
When the lonely day is through
That somewhere fall from Fulton County
A stranger says a prayer for youWe came into this life with nothing
And all we’re taking is a name
That’s why I’ve written you this song
This is for Fulton County Jane
-Brandi Carlile
Before I get into this Thursday’s flowertography collection, thought I would share some cruddy cell phone picture from going to see Brandi in concert in Omaha with Sara and Shawn.
It was nearly or over 100 degrees on this day.
But people waited in line just to get in to see Brandi.
The concert was at the baseball stadium that host the College World Series.
It was a bigger stadium than I expected.
It was nice of Pink to build this big stage for Brandi.
The opening act was Grouplove. You can see Hannah Hooper if you squint.
Brandi!
This guy’s head.
About as good of a picture as I could get of Brandi and the twins, cause of this guy’s head.
Pink closed the show for Brandi.
If you look closely, you can see Pink descending to the stage from the lips.
More descending.
I actually almost like this picture.
On her last song, Pink flew around the stadium.
It was an amazing concert that just needed more Brandi! A week ago I could have told you every song she played, but for now it is enough to note that she did play “The Story” and “Broken Horses”. The highlight of the Pink portion of the show was when she talked about how she wished she could write songs like Brandi. Then Brandi came out and they sang “Nothing Compares 2 U” as a tribute to Sinead O’Connor.
It was a great show and I can’t wait to see Brandi perform again!
But Thursdays ARE for flowers. Here are some flower pictures I took in my yard back in May:
Next Thursday I might share more flower pictures from my yard or more pictures from Pella. It is a mystery that will only revealed by time.
If I don’t owe you a favor, you don’t know me
I don’t believe we’ve ever even met
If there’s a God in heaven you can show me
Then I guess I should admit I lost the bet
There are moments I could hold you forever
There are moments that lasted way too long
There are days when I change with the weather
To hold you in place would be wrongI never met a morning I could get through
With nothing on my breath to hold the night
And I never said I’m sorry but I meant to
I never met a coward I don’t like
There are reasons why the body stays in motion
But at the moment only demons come to mine
There are days when I could walk into the ocean
With no one else but you to leave behindThere’s a road left behind me that I would rather not speak of
And a hard one ahead of me too
I love you, whatever you do
But I got a life to live too
-Brandi Carlile
As you all should know, on Monday I got a chance to see Brandi Carlile in concert for the first time in several years. It was an amazing concert! I had almost forgot how amazing of a live performer she is. Almost! I definitely can’t let it be so long before I see her live again!
I might be a little out of practice with taking selfies since I’m not doing THE SELFIE PROJECT this year so apparently the selfie I took with Sara and Shawn caused quite the stir…
I took this selfie and sent it to a few people:
One of the responses I got back was:
The girl behind you is practically showing her boob. She must know the kind of pictures you like.
I guess I walked into that one.
I guess we got Photo-boobed. I mean Boob-bombed. I mean boobs!
Anyways, I will still treasure this picture and this moment in time.
But Thursday is for flowers! Here is some flowers from my yard:
There is one last collection of images of flowers taken from my yard on this day left to share.
Today is Teresa’s birthday. So Happy birthday Teresa!
I hope your birthday is as amazing as you want it to be!
Welcome to the end of being alone inside your mind
You tethered to another, and you’re worried all the time
You always knew the melody, but you never heard it rhymeThe first things that she took from me were selfishness and sleep
She broke a thousand heirlooms I was never meant to keep
She filled my life with color, cancelled plans and trashed my car
But none of that is ever who we areAnd they’ve still got their morning paper and their coffee and their time
And they still enjoy their evenings with the skeptics and the wine
Oh, but all the wonders I have seen, I will see a second time
From inside of the ages through your eyesYou are not an accident where no one thought it through
The world has stood against us, made us mean to fight for you
And when we chose your name, we knew that you’d fight the power tooYou’re nothing short of magical and beautiful to me
I’ll never hit the big time without you
So, they can keep their treasure and their ties to the machine
‘Cause I am the mother of Evangeline
-Brandi Carlile
Thursdays are for flowers! This collection of flowertography images was taken in my yard.
Still plenty more flower pictures to share just from May 27.
I run a lot of miles of life and crime
And mountain climbs and quittin’ times
Packing that load of lyin’ rhymes
And tired jokes and wooden dimes
I’ve been everybody’s friend, everybody’s friendI could lose my house, I could steal a car
I could serve two masters, living hard
Living like a dog in a cage in a yard
With a fist full of cold hard cash and I can’t let go
The devil can’t have my soul, the devil can’t get your soul
The devil can’t get your soulHold out your hand
Take hold of mine and then
‘Round and ’round we go
Don’t you wanna dance?
I’m a dying man
From the moment we began
Hold out your hand
-Brandi Carlile
Some of you might have thought that I might have run out of flowertography images! Some of you might have wished for that. But don’t worry. There are still plenty of flower pictures left in the hopper. The reason this is so late is because I intended to write this post last night, but then I got supper with Becca and talking to her took up most of my night. Then my next idea was to write it this morning before I left for the Iowa State Fair, but the server that hosts my website must have been down for maintenance and it wasn’t back up by 6:30 when I left my house to meet up with Jen and the girls to go down to the Iowa State Fair.
Which reminds, me today is the first day of the Iowa State Fair! If you are going to the Fair and our going to look for my picture, your clue is that is in the Color – People Class. Becky has already found it and sent me a picture of it!
But Thursday isn’t for talk of something as mundane as the Iowa State Fair. Thursdays are for flowers!
These flowers are from my yard:
I actually still have plenty more flower pictures to share that I took on this day. But they will wait for another day.
You’re feeling nervous, aren’t you, boy?
With your quiet voice and impeccable style
Don’t ever let them steal your joy
And your gentle ways
To keep ’em from running wildThey can kick dirt in your face
Dress you down, and tell you that your place
Is in the middle, when they hate the way you shineI see you tugging on your shirt
Trying to hide inside of it
And hide how much it hurtsLet ’em laugh while they can
Let ’em spin, let ’em scatter in the wind
I have been to the movies, I’ve seen how it ends
And the joke’s on them
-Brandi Carlile
Thursdays are for flowers! This flowertography collection consists of tulip pictures I took on a trip I took to Orange City with Jesse and Nader.
I’m not sure what next Thursday’s flowertography will be, maybe more tulips or maybe pictures from my yard. We will have to wait and see!
