rajafacesbothways

Festival of the Horse--Day 1

The Festival of the Horse began on Main Street this evening ( also jokingly referred to as "da fess duh vul o'de whores" by someone.) It was kicked off with the Chili Cook-off served up by the Fire Department with profits going to Toys For Tots. Several hundred people filled the street tasting chili and listening to some fine blues music.

 Later "Swing Street" provided great dance music at the other end of the street.

I skipped the chili but never the dancing. How many more years of "Mustang Sally" can I have left?

Shooting the Dog

As a photographer, I've said I shoot everything that moves and some things that don't. Today I took photos of "Lady" who was once a rescue dog and is now warming hearts as a therapy dog.

Lady has spotted a chipmunk and is on the hunt.

Here she poses graciously in the beautiful garden.

And volunteers her working hours as a therapy dog for adoring elderly in nursing homes.

NPR's Bob Edwards

Heard Bob Edwards speak at the Carnegie Center in New Albany. For years I was a constant listener of his Morning Edition and All Thing Considered NPR programs. Now I thoroughly enjoy Bob Edwards Weekend on Sirius XM Satellite radio where he interviews mostly well-known people who live creative lives. When telling others I was going to hear Bob Edwards they either had never heard of him or were very excited about it, indicating a lot about their listening habits.

I gave him cards from our accidentalhighway.com site and told him he would want to interview Karen and me on his Saturday morning show someday. After all, we too spoke at the Carnegie Center for our exhibit.

Hmmm. I'm sure he'll regret it if he doesn't follow up on this opportunity.

Or not.

 

Between the Covers

My latest reading:

The Three Junes, Julia Glass (2008) I was relieved to see it didn't refer to three women named June but the month of June. Set in England, covering a couple of generations, it explores different forms of love. It should make for good discussion in our next book group meeting.

Room, Emma Donoghue (2010). Came highly recommended as a gripping story of a mother and son held in captivity, written from the view of the five-year-old. Maybe I've become jaded but couldn't wait for it to end, not because I couldn't wait to see how it ended but because I really didn't care for the novel.

Scandalous Women, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon (2011) From Cleopatra to Billie Holiday to Amelia Earhart, this book contains the stories of some of the world's most notorious women who have shocked, changed history, and said "Screw it" to conventional behavior. A favorite: Eleanor of Aquitaine, France whose life was filled with scandal and drama and who was clever enough to have founded a dynasty that ruled England for 330 years.

Steven Hawking, A Biography, Kristine Larsen (2007) I love books about physics, even though I don't often understand them--the ideas fascinate me. Here is a physicist whose brilliance soars beyond his ALS limitations.

 

In My Face

Recently I dipped my toes into the stew of Facebook. Reasons being--exploring what it is and refusing to congeal with the thinking of some of my peers who rigidly avoid almost anything involving the internet.

I revealed only my name, sex, and photography interest to appear on my page. I have no desire to find people and only listed a few family members, a friend in England and one in Montana. Suddenly a list of hundreds of those I might remember appeared, many of whom I do/did know.

WOW! "How do it (Facebook) know that?"

After roughly determining how it works and tapping into a few faces, I found that I enjoyed photos sent from Chicago and from a grandson in Spain. The rest had all the charms of People Magazine for me--the value equal to killing time while waiting for a haircut at the hairdresser.

First impressions are not always correct; I'll stick with it for awhile. As the optimistic kid said while digging through the piles of horse manure, "There's gotta' be a pony in there somewhere."

 

Down Under

Workmen continue to tear apart the downstairs of this building--a 5th or 6th dumpster is filling up fast.
My plumbing periodically is shut off while plumbers try to figure out the routing of ancient pipes--installed somewhere between post Civil Wat and pre-building codes.

A new storefront and spaces for four stores should eventually emerge..

Hmm. It's gonna take awhile.

Re-Focusing

With 20/20Vision exhibit behind us--although photos and information continue to be added to our website; accidentalhighway.com--and infrared film discontinued, I've been searching for a new photo challenge. Digital photos just don't do it for me.  I've seen excellent digital done by serious photographers but I just can't get serious about it. For so many the fun is not in taking the photo--it's making the photo in Photoshop. That requires sitting in front of a screen--I prefer standing in a darkroom or in front of a subject with the limitation of film to make each shot count.

My latest camera is the INSTAX MINI 25 instant camera by Fuji. A  colored poloroid shot--can't be manipulated or easily reproduced-instant results on the size of a calling card.

My challenge--taking photos that become abstracts and work any way you turn them.

It forces me to look at things differently. My theme--"to see is to forget the name of the thing one sees". (Paul Valery quote)

 

Birthday Boy

My younger brother, Catman, arrives at another decade today--a number that sounds really "sucky". Actually it should be MY birthday because many years ago when I wanted to stay young longer and he wanted to get old quicker (possibly a drinking age?!) we switched birthdays.

Now neither age sounds wonderful--but if the gene pool we emerged from keeps up the good work, numbers mean nothing--just more years to rub the good times into our aging pores.

Moon Flower, Moon Flower

Watched the huge orange harvest moon rise over the rooftop and then discovered a moon flower had also emerged among the morning glories:

This morning it was still there; tonight the moon remained a huge orange ball but the blossom had wadded up. Glad I saw it during its one brief gaudy hour.

Trapped!

The I-64 Sherman Minton Bridge over the Kentucky River has been closed due to structural damage--this is the  bridge I use to cross from Louisville into IN when I drive to Chicago. It'll be under repairs for about 6 months. I can cross the river and drive north through Cincinnati--unless they discover something wrong with that bridge. There are other bridges of course but not built to handle the additional heavy traffic that will result from this neglect of our country's infrastructure.

Coupled with the abortion of my trip west (I should be traveling through MT and N. Dakota about now) and the cancellation of our artists reunion in Door County, WI, I'm wondering if I will ever get out of Georgetown again!