This picture is #24 in the 100 Strangers Project - Round 2

 

Meet Christina

 

Last weekend was a good day on the 100 Strangers project front although it took a little bit to take off. Few minutes after I photographed Fiona I met Christina - walking in my opposite direction with her friend Devon. Undoubtedly an extremely beautiful lady, with a lovely complexion, and her golden hair complementing her gorgeous eyes, Christina was a definite standout. Her simple elegant dressing with the blue she was wearing with a stylish earrings just further accentuated her appeal. Honestly even from quite a distance I knew I had my next stranger - and was really hoping Christina was open to the idea.

 

When we eventually were within speaking distance I made my request. Christina though caught a little by surprise couldn't stop smiling and then accepted (after a quick check with her friend). Since she had a few minutes to spare I requested them to cross the street to a background that could complement Christina's look and the couple were happy to help out.

 

We used the opportunity for a quick chat to help me know a little more about Christina. She works as a nurse in a Trauma center at Baltimore with Devon and loves her job. When I asked her about her happiest memory she said it would have to be when her sister was born - she had older brothers so to have a younger sister made her very happy; and her sister also happens to be her best friend.

 

The next question was her favorite quality about herself and she thought it was her kindness and humility. I have to say that although I connected with Christina for only a few minutes she has to be one of the friendliest people I have met on this journey (and I have met a few). She was a compulsive smiler with a infectious happy energy (a smile never really left her face) and perfectly complemented by her calm chilled friend. Something that caught me by surprise is that neither Christina or Devon are on Facebook which is pretty rare in today's day and age.

 

Christina was very generous with her time as I tried various poses and looks (a good subject does make me greedy and it would be fair to say the young lady looked like a doll) and extremely confident - though the only challenge she had was to stop the giggles which she managed very sportingly. I like quite a few of Christina's pictures and learned a lot during this random shoot.

 

As part of the post processing this is first time I have attempted frequency separation (and some minor cleaning of blemishes and increased contrast) and am quite happy with how the pictures turned out with a little touch up. Feedback welcome.

 

Thanks a lot Christina (and Devon) for your time and your participation - it was great making your acquaintance and was a lot of fun clicking your pictures. Wish you all the very best for your future.

 

Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

For my other pictures on this project: 100 Strangers - Round 2.

For pictures from my prior attempt at 100 Strangers: 100 Strangers - Round 1.

Shakespeare's sonnet 18

This dandelion shot is a reverse free lens capture taken on my old EOS M camera with a 15-45mm kit lens. Reversing it gives a macro capability.

 

My sonnet 18 album: flic.kr/s/aHsmWh2P5u

Like many before him Mr Panda as I call him hails from East London in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.Many others from that area continue to arrive in Cape Town in a mostly futile search for work.

He lives under a bridge not far from the center of town.

This is what he told me.

The animals own the earth and god made him a beast.

When the bird comes to me he said,"I am a bird.

When the cat comes to me I am a cat and when the dog comes to me I am a dog.'

He also told me that he used to bathe in and drink the water in the moat around the old castle in the city center.All this time he didn't know that there was a fish who lived in the water.

He said he used to be much lighter of complexion but the fish made him a lot darker.

All in all a very interesting man.

LOL young Eliana :) Testing Fair Skin Complexion

I had awful luck with most of my photos today. So many were blurry or out-of-focus, and I am now great at capturing Uhura's dark complexion. Admitedly, I have this trouble with my other dolls that have deeper tones. There's also a sheen to her face, like a coating of hair gel. I haven't attempted to clean her up, because she is going to John.

 

I finished up this long friendship bracelet around the time Uhura arrived, so she has claimed it. It's not long enough to go around her neck twice, so I just tucked in the end and spun it to the back.

Masai Mara (MMNR) | Kenya

 

Well they say a mud bath can be very therapeutic and relaxing, and can also improve your complexion! This old 'Dagga Boy' looks happy enough lazing there with his chin rested on the side of the mud pool, but just zoom in extra large for a minute and have a look at all those flies. Yuk.

 

complexions of a 50's Chev Bel Air

Chemical Peels have been used for decades to revitalize and resurface the skin. They involve applying a chemical solution to remove the damaged outer layers of the skin and reveal a younger, clearer, more radiant complexion. www.tahacademy.ca/chemical-peels.html

Einar was strolling with brisk confidence along the Bergen harbourside, casting a critical eye over the comings and goings of the various watercraft. Though at ease in the blue sky and sunshine, even from a distance you could tell in his poise and steel gaze that he was a man equally comfortable in less clement weathers. He had the implacable aura of a man who had threaded spinning seas choked with jigsaws of ice, tackled waves vast as paradigms as they turned fully on their heads to render gravity moot... and paused now on a sunny afternoon only briefly to reflect, before plunging again into another churning labyrinth of storm-worshipping water.

 

Meanwhile, searching for shade on the north side of the harbour, I had a background waiting a stranger in the lea of the vast Ocean Response vessel. The broad curve of the prow and slick marine paint were nicely distorting a reflection of the distant old town.

 

Sailor meets ship.

 

Einar was happy to pause for a moment, chatting affably about Bergen and equipping us with information that would provide the anchor for our weekend's exploration thereafter. He noted too the Tall Ships Race 2014, the event that had brought him back to his native Bergen from Croatia where he owns a yacht and sailing business. Definitely something I will return to Bergen for next year, inshallah.

 

Technically it's another two reflector set up - Einar holding one sunfire, with the gold one camera left in the hands of the "hooded accomplice". The only issue perhaps is the red of the ship. If you stand under the best part of 4,000 square metres of reflective red metal on a sunny day, you end up with lots and lots of red! However, for Einar I think it enhances his ruddy complexion and sailing credentials. It also offers a nice contrast with the shot before it in the series; Lina.

 

Thank you Einar - both for your time and for getting in touch. I'm glad you like your picture and might see you at next year's tall ships festival. Takk!

 

This is portrait #60 of my 100 Strangers Project - check out the group page and get involved.

 

I'm now back from my two months and catching up with contacts. Hope everyone is well!

 

Finally, I'm now tentatively live on Facebook; www.facebook.com/Flatworldsedge

I think pink is her colour! Brings out her pinky complexion :)

Piero's war

You sleep buried in a wheat field

it's not the rose, it's not the tulip

watching on you from the shadow of ditches

but it's a thousand red poppies (...)

Faber

 

La guerra di Piero - Fabrizio De André

 

La guerra di Piero

Dormi sepolto in un campo di grano

Non è la rosa, non è il tulipano

Che ti fan veglia dall'ombra dei fossi

Ma sono mille papaveri rossi (...)

Faber

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Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

  

Qi Bo's photos on Flickriver

  

www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...

  

www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

 

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“A story exists only if someone tells it.”

TITIAN TERZANI

... this aphorism to introduce this photographic story, which begins in Germany close to the Second World War, to end tragically in Sicily: the main protagonist of this "photographic" story is of German origin, his name is Carl Ludwig Hermann Long (known as Luz Long), but this story could not exist without another great protagonist, American, his name is Jesse Owens. Let's start in order, Luz Long is a brilliant law student at the University of Leipzig, he represents the incarnation of the Aryan man, he is tall, blond, has an athletic physique, his great passion is the long jump, he is a natural talent, this allows him to enter in a short time among the best long jumpers of the time (so much so that he won third place at the 1934 European Championships); Long will be one of the favorites in the long jump at the Berlin Olympics in 1936, whose historical context is that of Nazi Germany which would soon unleash the Second World War, including the racial hatred that resulted in the extermination camps with the Holocaust. Luz Long is remembered both for his great sportsmanship gesture towards his direct American opponent Jesse Owens, who, thanks to Long's unexpected help, will win the long jump competition, thus winning the gold medal (one of the four gold medals he won), while Long finished second by winning the silver medal, but Long is also remembered for his sincere friendship with Jesse, free from hatred and racial prejudice. The Berlin Olympics represent an extraordinary propaganda to the ideals of the Third Reich, it is a very important historical moment to show the superiority of the Aryan race to the whole world; the sports facilities were built with the utmost care by the architect of the Nazi regime Albert Speer (with architectural references from Ancient Greece), the sporting event was about to turn into an ideological tool of the regime, the documentary film " Olympia" of 1938 was also shot for this purpose directed by Leni Riefenstahl (author of films and documentaries that exalted the Nazi regime), where many innovative cinematographic techniques were used for the time, with unusual and original shots, such as shots from below, extreme close-ups, to the platforms in the Olympic stadium to photograph the crowd. Hitler wanted to demonstrate the supremacy of the Aryan race with the Olympics, the Aryan athlete had to correspond to a statuesque stereotyped figure, tall, blond, athletic, fair complexion, blue eyes, Luz Long was the ideal incarnation of him. Forty-nine countries participated in the Olympics, a number never reached before; German-Jewish athletes were expelled from all sports; even African Americans were discriminated against in their country, but they were allowed to compete, even if in smaller numbers, one of them was called James Cleveland Owens, but everyone knew him as Jesse (due to an error of interpretation by the his professor); it was his athletic abilities that allowed him to achieve several records, an important moment was the meeting with Larry Snyder, a good coach, and so thanks to his victories he had the opportunity to compete in the Berlin Olympics: he will be the protagonist of the Olympic Games, a 23-year-old boy originally from Alabama, who in a few days will win 4 gold medals, the 100m race, the 200m race, the 4x100m relay race and the long jump race in which there will be the story that will be worth all the gold medals in the world with Luz Long). Let's get to the point, on the morning of August 4, 1936 Luz qualifies for the long jump final, for Owens the qualification takes place in conjunction with the races of 200 mt. plans, Ownes is engaged in both races, the simultaneity of the two events, and a different regulation between the European and the US one entails him two null jumps, the first jump he thought was a test to test the terrain (as per the US regulation) , instead it was a valid jump for the competition, the second jump sees him very demoralized and makes the worst jump of his life. the elimination is now one step away, but Long interprets with great depth of mind the psychic state of prostration of his direct opponent, he sees him transformed into a face, dejected, Luz approaches him in a friendly way and suggests him to disconnect 20-30 cm before the serve line (and shows him the exact point by placing a handkerchief right next to the platform, at the height of the ideal take-off point, even if not all those who report the event in their chronicles remember the detail of the handkerchief), but also exhorts him by telling him that a champion like him shouldn't be afraid to take off first for the jump: for Owens the third jump if it had been void would have meant his elimination from the competition (and the certain victory of Luz), but, thanks to the suggestion of a technical nature (and perhaps the laying of the handkerchief...), but also affective-psychological ( !) by Luz, Owens following the advice of his direct rival, makes a formidable jump, which allows him to qualify. Long is the first to congratulate Jesse, both on the occasion of qualifying and after him with his final victory, which will result in his fourth gold medal. A deep, true friendship is born between Long and Jesse, in the videos available of the time it is really exciting to witness their handshakes and their embraces in those first moments, under the stern gaze of the Führer, a friendship that will consolidate in the following days, making a habit of dating in the olympic village. After the 1936 Olympics, in 1939 he became a lawyer, in 1941 he married, shortly after his son Kai was born, in 1942 he was called up as an officer of the Luftwaffe and sent to the front line, in April 1943 he was assigned to the Herman armored division Göring and the following month he was sent to Sicily immediately after the Allied landing on the island (Operation Husky): Long dies at the age of thirty, he is in Niscemi with the armored division, and is thus involved in the fighting for the defense of the Biscari-Santo Pietro airport; the causes of death are not certain, the most plausible is that of an aggravation due to wounds sustained in combat against the Anglo-Americans, he was found by a fellow soldier on the side of a road, from here he was transported to the nearby field hospital, where he died on July 14, 1943. He was first buried in a temporary cemetery, then his body was exhumed and then transferred in 1961 to the German military cemetery of Motta Sant'Anastasia while it was still under construction, now it is there that Luz Long rests: crypt 2 “Caltanissetta”, plate E, his name engraved on the slate slab preceded by the rank “Obergefreiter-dR" (Appointed of the Reserve), followed by the dates of birth 27 IV 13 and of death 14 VII 43; it is what remains of Luz Long, one of the 4,561 German soldiers who died in Sicily during the Second World War and are buried here. In his last letter to his friend Owens, Luz magining its end near, he asks him to go to her son and tell him who had been his father; his friend Jesse did as requested and even went to his son's wedding. And Owens….? … Jesse returned to his homeland did not have the respect he deserved after winning 4 gold medals (!), Those were the times when black people were considered "second class" (!); indeed, although with a nod the fuhrer saluted him (as Owens himself declared), the behavior of the American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt was unspeakable, he did not even deign to welcome the Olympic winner to the White House as tradition required (! ). Back in the United States, Jesse had to adapt to doing the most varied jobs, including being a boy at a gas station. To make a living he raced against horses, dogs and motorcycles, as a freak show; many years would pass before his value was recognized; he said «all the medals I have won could be melted down, but the 24-carat friendship that was born on the platform in Berlin could never be reproduced».

Postscript:

Long did not share the Nazi objectives and ideology, he was in complete antithesis with them, endowed with great sensitivity and profound nobility of mind, he was very far from the fanatical and cruel creed of Hitler's Germany, as demonstrated by the words he wrote in 1932 in a letter sent to his grandmother: “all the nations of the world have their heroes, the Semites as well as the Aryans. Each of them should abandon the arrogance of feeling like a superior race."

On his tombstone (as well as on others), under which his remains rest closed in a box, next to his name, today there are some small stones, they are small symbols, which recall the Jewish custom of leaving, instead of flowers, a pebble on the graves of the deceased, to demonstrate that his story has not been forgotten, it is a message of peace and brotherhood of which Luz was a promoter in life, his thoughts also reach us through his burial place, because, as stated on the plaque placed at the entrance to the German military cemetery of Motta Sant'Anastasia "the graves of the fallen are the great preachers of peace" (Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Peace Prize).

 

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“La storia esiste solo se qualcuno la racconta.”

TIZIANO TERZANI

… questo aforisma per introdurre questo racconto fotografico, che inizia in Germania a ridosso della seconda guerra mondiale, per terminare in maniera tragica in Sicilia: il protagonista principale di questa storia “fotografica” è di origine tedesche,si chiama Carl Ludwig Hermann Long, detto Luz (conosciuto come Luz Long), ma questa storia non potrebbe esistere senza un l’altro grande protagonista, statunitense, si chiama Jesse Owens. Iniziamo con ordine, Luz Long è un brillante studente di legge all'Università di Lipsia, rappresenta l’incarnazione dell’uomo ariano, è alto, biondo, ha un fisico atletico, la sua grande passione, è il salto in lungo, è un talento naturale, ciò gli permettendogli di entrare in breve tempo tra i migliori saltatori in lungo dell’epoca (tanto da conquistare il terzo posto agli Europei del 1934); Long sarà uno dei favoriti nel salto in lungo alle Olimpiadi di Berlino nel 1936, il cui contesto storico è quello della Germania nazista che da lì a poco avrebbe scatenato la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, incluso l’odio raziale sfociato nei campi di sterminio con l’Olocausto. Luz Long viene ricordato per il suo grande gesto di sportività verso il suo diretto avversario statunitense Jesse Owens, che, grazie all’inaspettato aiuto di Long, vincerà la gara del salto in lungo, così conquistando la medaglia d'oro (uno dei quattro ori da lui vinti), mentre Long arriverà secondo vincendo la medaglia d'argento, ma Long viene anche ricordato per la sua sincera amicizia verso Jesse, scevra da odi e pregiudizi raziali. Le Olimpiadi di Berlino rappresentano una straordinaria propaganda agli ideali del Terzo Reich, è un momento storico importantissimo per mostrare al mondo intero la superiorità della razza ariana; le strutture sportive vengono realizzate con la massima cura dall’architetto del regime nazista Albert Speer (con riferimenti architettonici dell’Antica Grecia), la manifestazione sportiva diviene uno strumento ideologico del regime, a tale scopo viene girato il film-documentario “Olympia” del 1938, diretto da Leni Riefenstahl (che oltre ad essere attrice, regista, fotografa, diventa autrice di film e documentari che esaltano il regime nazista), nel docu-film delle olimpiadi vengono impiegate molte tecniche cinematografiche innovative per l'epoca, con inquadrature insolite ed originali, come le riprese dal basso, con primi piani estremi, l'utilizzo di binari nello stadio olimpico per riprendere la folla. Hitler vuole quindi dimostrare con le Olimpiadi la supremazia della razza ariana, l’atleta ariano deve corrispondere ad una figura stereotipata statuaria, alto, biondo, atletico, carnagione chiara, occhi azzurri, Luz Long è la sua incarnazione ideale. Alle Olimpiadi partecipano quarantanove Paesi, un numero mai raggiunto prima; gli atleti ebreo-tedeschi vengono espulsi da tutte le discipline sportive; anche gli afroamericani, sono discriminati nel loro paese, però ad essi viene concesso di gareggiare, anche se in numero minore, uno di loro si chiama James Cleveland Owens, ma tutti lo conoscono come Jesse (per un’errore d’interpretazione da parte del suo professore); sono le sue capacità atletiche a consentirgli di realizzare diversi record, un momento importante è l’incontro con Larry Snyder, un bravo allenatore, e così grazie alle sue vittorie gli si presena l’opportunità di gareggiare alle Olimpiadi di Berlino: sarà lui il protagonista dei giochi olimpici, un ragazzo di 23 anni originario dell’Alabama, che in pochi giorni si aggiudicherà ben 4 medaglie d’oro, la corsa dei 100, dei 200, la corsa a staffetta dei 4x100 e quella del salto in lungo nella quale ci sarà la vicenda con Luz Long che varrà tutte le medaglie d’oro del mondo). Veniamo al dunque, la mattina del 4 agosto 1936 Luz si qualifica per la finale del salto in lungo, per Owens la qualificazione si svolge in concomitanza con la gare dei 200 mt. piani, Ownes è impegnato in entrambe le gare, la contemporaneità dei due eventi, ed un diverso regolamento sportivo tra quello Europeo e quello Statunitense gli comportano due salti nulli, il primo salto egli pensa fosse di prova per saggiare il terreno (come da regolamento Statunitense), invece è un salto valido per la gara, il secondo salto lo vede molto demoralizzato e compie il peggiore salto della sua vita, l’eliminazione è oramai ad un passo, ma Long interpreta con grande profondità d’animo lo stato psichico di prostrazione del suo diretto avversario, lo vede trasformato in volto, abbattuto, Luz gli si avvicina con fare amichevole e gli suggerisce di staccare 20-30 cm prima della linea di battuta, gli mostra il punto esatto dove staccare poggiando un fazzoletto proprio di fianco alla pedana, all’altezza dell’ideale punto di stacco (anche se non tutti coloro che riportano nelle loro cronache l’evento, ricordano il particolare del fazzoletto), ma anche lo esorta dicendogli che un campione come lui non deve temere di staccare prima per il salto, qualche centimetro in meno per lui non sono certo un problema!: per Owens se il terzo salto diviene nullo comporterebbe la sua eliminazione dalla gara (e la sicura vittoria di Luz!), ma, grazie al suggerimento di carattere tecnico (e forse della posa del fazzoletto…), ma anche affettivo-psicologico (!) di Luz, Owens seguendo il consiglio del suo diretto rivale, compie un formidabile salto, il che gli consente di qualificarsi. Long è il primo a congratularsi con Jesse, sia in occasione della sua qualificazione, sia dopo, con la sua vittoria finale, che gli comporterò la conquista della quarta medaglia d’oro. Tra Long e Jesse nasce una profonda, vera amicizia, nei video disponibili dell’epoca è davvero emozionante assistere alle loro strette di mano ed ai loro abbracci di quei primi istanti, sotto lo sguardo severo del Führer, amicizia che si consoliderà nei giorni successivi, prendendo l’abitudine di frequentarsi nel villaggio olimpico. Dopo le Olimpiadi del 1936, nel 1939 Luz diventa avvocato, nel 1941 si sposa, poco dopo nasce suo figlio Kai, nel 1942 è richiamato alle armi come ufficiale della Luftwaffe e spedito in prima linea, nell’aprile del 1943 viene assegnato alla divisione corazzata Herman Göring ed il mese successivo è inviato in Sicilia subito dopo lo sbarco degli Alleati sull’isola (chiamata Operazione Husky): Long muore così a trent'anni, si trova a Niscemi con la divisione corazzata, viene coinvolto nei combattimenti per la difesa dell'aeroporto di Biscari-Santo Pietro; le cause della morte non sono certe, la più plausibile è quella di un suo aggravamento dovuto alle ferite riportate in combattimento contro gli Anglo-Americani, viene trovato ferito da un suo commilitone sul ciglio di una strada, da qui viene trasportato nel vicino ospedale da campo, dove morirà il 14 luglio 1943. Dapprima viene sepolto in un cimitero provvisorio, poi la sua salma viene riesumata e quindi trasferita nel 1961 nel cimitero militare germanico di Motta Sant'Anastasia mentre è ancora in costruzione, adesso è li che Luz Long riposa: cripta 2 “Caltanissetta”, piastra E, il suo nome inciso sulla lastra di ardesia preceduto dal grado “Obergefreiter-dR" (Appuntato della Riserva), seguito dalle date di nascita 27 IV 13 e di morte 14 VII 43; è quanto resta di Luz Long, uno dei 4.561 soldati tedeschi morti in Sicilia durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale e qui sepolti. Nell'ultima lettera all'amico Owens, Luz immaginando che il suo destino a presto si sarebbe compiuto, gli chiede di andare da suo figlio e dirgli chi è stato suo padre; l'amico Jesse fa quanto richiesto, va persino alle nozze del figlio.

Ed Owens….? … Jesse rientrato in patria non riceve dal suo Paese il rispetto che merita dopo aver vinto ben 4 medaglie d'oro (!), sono i tempi in cui le persone di colore vengono considerate di “serie B” (!); addirittura, sebbene con un solo cenno, dal Führer viene salutato (così dichiara lo stesso Owens), invece il comportamento del presidente americano Franklin Delano Roosvelt, è inqualificabile, non si degna di accogliere il vincitore olimpico alla Casa Bianca come prevede la tradizione (!). Tornato negli Stati Uniti Jesse deve adattarsi a fare i lavori più disparati, fra i quali anche il garzone in una pompa di benzina. Per guadagnarsi da vivere gareggia contro cavalli, cani e motociclette, come fenomeno da baraccone; passeranno molti anni prima che gli venga riconosciuto il suo reale valore; egli ebbe a dire «si potrebbero fondere tutte le medaglie che ho vinto, ma non si potrebbe mai riprodurre l’ amicizia a 24 carati che nacque sulla pedana di Berlino».

Post Scriptum:

Long non condivideva gli obiettivi e l'ideologia nazisti, lui era in completa antitesi con esse, dotato di grande sensibilità e profonda nobiltà d’animo, lui era lontanissimo dal credo fanatico e crudele della Germania di Hitler, lo dimostrano le parole che egli scrisse nel 1932 in una lettera inviata a sua nonna: “tutte le nazioni del mondo hanno i propri eroi, i semiti così come gli ariani. Ognuna di loro dovrebbe abbandonare l’arroganza di sentirsi una razza superiore".

Sulla sua lapide (così come su altre), sotto la quale riposano i suoi resti chiusi dentro una cassetta, accanto al suo nome, è posta oggi qualche piccola pietra, sono piccoli simboli, che ricordano l’usanza ebraica di lasciare, al posto dei fiori, un ciottolo sulle tombe dei defunti, per dimostrare che la sua storia non è stata dimenticata, è un messaggio di pace e di fratellanza del quale Luz è stato promotore in vita, il suo pensiero ci giunge anche attraverso il suo luogo di sepoltura, perché, come riporta la targa posta all’entrata del cimitero militare germanico di Motta Sant’Anastasia “i sepolcri dei caduti sono i grandi predicatori della pace” (Albert Schweitzer, premio Nobel per la pace).

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Strobist Info:

1) Einstein in 27: Silver Beauty dish in front of subject 45 degree

2) Einstein behind the camera(slightly left) firing white V block as fill

3) 2 einsteins in strip box with grid behind the subject left right

4) another einstein in standard reflector with grid firing medium gray background.

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©2015 Levent Eryilmaz

All our actions take their hue from the complexion of the heart, as landscapes their variety from light.

 

~ Francis Bacon.

 

Listening to: My own happy little heart beat and humming, by; Me

Returning from the Newtown Festival, I spotted Miss M with her bright green hair and star tattoos. I asked her if I could take her portrait and am grateful that she obliged. She was in a rush so I only took a few, but I was able to place her where I thought the light would be most effective against her fair complexion.

 

I showed her the portrait and she smiled and have since sent it to her. Thank you Miss M, if you see this I think you are great!

 

Posed Street Portrait of a Stranger

 

Newtown

 

November, 2018

Model: Ria Lehner

Coco Vanderbalt

Rainbow High Series 4

She's absolutely amazing, that cobalt blue color is so vivid and vibrant and goes so well with her complexion.

The outfit, as always, is full of beautiful details that are ironic and refined at the same time and yes, perhaps if Andrenaline Rush Dominique had worn something similar to one of the two of Coco outfits, perhaps she would have been better received by collectors.

The only negative thing of this doll is the hair, they are stiff and hard because they are covered with that hard glue they used in Series 1

© Leanne Boulton, All Rights Reserved

 

Street candid taken in Glasgow, Scotland on a very blustery and showery day. I had been scouting out the best means of portraying the wind and this shot fell nicely into my lap when I saw her crossing the road with her hair flailing around in the gusts. Given the square format treatment and there was some tricky post processing involved to balance her pale complexion and blonde hair into the scene.

See Part 1 in my archives Peepz. And if you're in a hurry, you may want to read this later, or in bits...it's bloody long. It's a work in progress...

 

"The Diamond Ring"

 

As my gaze scanned the small, crowded bus depot in Adelaide that December morning, I had all but given up trying to find a lift with anybody from the bus, as I hadn't met anybody on the truck stops we'd made along the way. The ticket counter wasn't open yet, so I decided that I should just wait there until it opened, and figure out what to do next after that. In the meantime I could put out some feelers and try and sense whether anybody else there looked like they might be headed for the eclipse. At that point I was still convinced I should try to get on a connecting bus to Ceduna, where most of the eclipse watchers would be, but I was sure that the tickets were sold out. I hadn't ruled out hitching on the road, but hoped it wouldn't come to that. I was also a little dubious about the weather. It was seven thirty in the morning, and the clouds formed a thick blanket of grey above the city.

 

The day before, I'd checked the weather forecasts to see what the outlook was like and it was sketchy. There was going to be cloud cover in most of the places along the path of totality, but the forecast said that the clouds should clear to just a scattering by mid or late afternoon. It might have prevented me from going at another time, but because I felt so driven to go I trusted that wherever I ended up would be the right place, with the right people and the right conditions. Still, I couldn't help having a slight sense of trepidation over whether all my efforts would end up in travelling over a thousand miles to watch a total eclipse of a total eclipse.

 

So with all that and more whirring around my skull, I let my eyes skim the crowd while my otherware kicked in at the non-local levels, and before I knew it I couldn't help but notice these two guys who were standing in one of the aisles a few feet away from me. It was their wooden case that first caught my attention and it got me pretty excited when it looked liked it was just the right size for a telescope. When I looked for who might own it, I scoped them. They looked a little fatigued, but ready for action.

 

The tall one that looked like Tom Selleck was dressed in loose khaki shorts with cargo pockets, a matching polo shirt, chunky white socks and brown suede walking boots. Short blondish-brown hair peeked out from beneath a baseball cap that made his rugged features look slightly boyish, but he looked to me to be around forty. Standing next to him was a guy of similar age, who looked like your classic computer programmer or science genius. He was more slightly built, had a pale complexion and black rimmed glasses. He was wearing a black leather jacket over his knitted jumper and polo shirt (which was underneath and neatly tucked in to his jeans), a black belt and some well-worn brown leather shoes.

I was totally loving their look. I had to meet them.

 

I approached them and asked if they were going to see the eclipse.

I think they might have been a bit surprised to have been approached but they smiled and said yes. I found out that their names were Gerard and Alan, then they told me that they'd been on the same bus from Melbourne I'd been travelling on. I had been all the way up the front in seat 1D behind the driver, and hadn't seen them behind me in seats 11C and D.

 

I told them that I was going to try to get to Ceduna. They glanced at each other making me feel uneasy and they said that the weather forecast didn't look so good there. It was much better where they were going, the Wirraminna Rail Siding, in the desert, but first they had to go to Port Augusta where they would be picking up their car.

 

It became instantly apparent that going to the desert over the coast was a way better idea given the weather, so I figured that the best thing for me should be to try to get to Woomera with them (which is where I thought the Wirraminna Rail Siding was). I imagined this really cute country town where there would be balloons and streamers in the streets and lots of bakeries. I thought that we'd get there, mingle with the others who'd gathered, and then I could find accommodation and another lift back to Adelaide the next day. I asked that if I could get Port Augusta, would they let me hitch with them to Woomera? We all decided to have breakfast together and see.

 

As soon as we sat down they were pulling out all these crazy maps and charts that they'd downloaded off the net, one with a pencil line drawn by hand marking the path of totality. Others had bright highlighted sections where they'd made other notes. They had made all the calculations for latitude and longitude, timing down to the second, were a wealth of astronomical knowledge and they told me all about the amazing capabilities of the camera gear they'd brought. They were prepared for everything. I could not believe my luck. They even had spare eclipse glasses! They were able to tell me everything I needed to know and I really hoped it could all happen so that I could travel with them.

 

After breakfast I noticed that the ticket counter was about to open and I watched as about twenty people formed two queues in front of the two nearest windows. A third window had also opened but no-one seemed to want to go there and at first I stood at the end of one of them then figured it wouldn't hurt to ask, so I went over to the third window. When I asked if that was the right ticket counter for a bus ticket to Port Augusta I was told it was and got my ticket in about 30 seconds, beating everybody. It was a completely full bus, confirming to me again just how much we make our own luck.

 

The guys agreed to let me join them in Port Augusta and I felt this wave of gratitude leave my body and travel out into the cosmos. As I looked at them hanging out together with their impressive assortment of camera gear, tripods, bags and telescope, with their open, friendly faces, smart casual clothing and a tendency toward geekishness, they looked like my very own Batman and Robin. I smiled inwardly. My prayers HAD been answered! I DID find the right people to travel with right there on the bus!

 

It was a moment I'll never forget.

 

After that I found a pay phone and rang Bimbo Deluxe, a bar I had a residency at, and left a message letting them know I wouldn't be coming in for my set that night.

 

We got on the next bus, me alone behind the driver in 1A again, and them just a few seats behind. I spent a bit of time visualising a bright blue, cloudless sky for the eclipse, and reminding myself to be in the moment, trusting as much as possible that life would take me where I needed to go, as the frequencies of gratitude for all that had occurred up until then filled me and flowed outwards from me. All the seeds sown by reading the CWG series which had tied up so many loose ends for me in my esoteric studies, were beginning to sprout and I wanted to breathe as much life into them as possible. I wanted to see how they might grow, as I did. I thought about Time. Then I slept deeply.

 

"Alan and Gerard spent the trip working out the orbital distance of the Moon and the rotation of the Earth in order to finally understand the path taken by the Moon during the eclipse and the speed at which it travelled. This was facilitated by the calculator in the mobile phone. Alan also worked out how photo exposures and bracketing points using full and ½ stops."

 

This is what Gerard wrote about what he and Alan did on the bus to Port Augusta, in his own account of our travels called "Eclipse 2002". He has even named the subtitles in Chapter 1, which will give you a greater idea of what's to come.

 

Subtitle 1: Alan's, Gerard's and Liz's Big Time-Warp Adventure

Subtitle 2: Port Augusta or Bust!

Subtitle 3: The Kangaroo Did It

 

I believe all time is happening in one eternal now. Especially since studying the Maya's supreme understandings of cosmic timing cycles and mathematics. Whenever I begin to worry about anything "in the future", I ask myself, "Am I OK, in this moment?", and the answer is always yes, so it's a good way for me to quell my fears and anxieties, and to trust life more. I really started this practice on a regular basis during this trip. And I was more than ok, as I was soon to see..

 

When we arrived at Port Augusta, the sky had cleared and a few tufts of white dotted the sky, which was a relief, and a beautiful gleaming silver sedan met us at the terminal. It belonged to Gerard, and I asked how even though he lived in Melbourne, his car was quite conveniently waiting for us in Port Augusta, at the bus terminal. After we piled into the car I heard the first of many stories during that trip that would change me forever.

 

The guys had so much gear it was hard to believe they'd carried it all by themselves and for a few moments I had my doubts that we would fit everything of theirs into the car, let alone have room for me or my scant belongings. After some tricky packing though, a space was made available for me to squeeze into in the back seat, behind Alan who was in the passenger seat, and with Gerard expertly handling the wheel, we set off for last minute supplies.

 

The whole transition from the bus to the car couldn't have been timed more perfectly or executed with more ease. It was a good sign, but once we got in the car I really knew that the gods had smiled down on me. They could've had a big old pick up truck for all I knew, but instead I was able to relax in the luxury of black leather seats and enjoy the views from air conditioned comfort, gaze out at the sky through the sunroof and tinted windows and tell the outside temperature from a LED display in the wood dash. To top it all off, I had just met the two coolest, smartest straight guys I'd met in ages, and we were about to embark on a truly amazing adventure together. I was happy and grateful to be alive.

 

We stopped in Pt Augusta's main shopping drag for some lunch, supplies and fuel for the trip. After some bad cafe food Alan and I headed off to the supermarket while Gerard attended to some other business and we quickly dashed around picking up water, bags of fruit, nibbles, and chocolate (for me). I asked Alan if they'd like to have something to eat later, maybe for a picnic? This seemed like a good idea to him (I don't know if the guys, for all their planning, had considered the necessity for food at all), and I picked out a roast chicken and some salads. I completely forgot to buy a disposable camera in Adelaide so I tried finding one there only to discover they were sold out. There was a Woolies a block down too (also sold out of cameras), but I quickly purchased a cotton blanket as I had nothing warm with me, and hoped it would come in handy, seeing I already had my pillow and I had no idea where I was sleeping that night. All I knew was that the eclipse was in less than four and a half hours and when we met up with Gerard a short time later, it was agreed that there was no time to spare, so we, and the fully-laden car, swung back onto the road and headed for the outback. Alan had a collection of maps in the glove box that he would refer to from time to time as Gerard brought us up to a comfortable cruising speed of 130 kph. ETA was going to be 17:45 at our desired spot.

 

They were both great story tellers, although you could see that Alan's more outgoing personality was more suited to it, but Gerard certainly didn't seem concerned, and I realized later that even though Gerard had heard Alan tell most of his stories several times before, he obviously still liked to hear them, and he often helped coax a story out of Alan's memory banks by reminding him of some of the funny details.

 

I began to hear about how they had been driving through the South Australian countryside a month earlier, taking photos and generally enjoying a break from work for a few days when they had hit a kangaroo when it suddenly jumped out in front of the car and stopped them all in their tracks. Gerard's car had been in the shop at Port Augusta getting extensive repairs done ever since, and as the eclipse was occurring at the same time they could collect the car, they decided (at the last minute too) to come and get it and see the eclipse at the same time. At the end of their story we all fell silent for a moment as it dawned on us that their encounter with the kangaroo had actually created the conditions for us to meet as we did. The kangaroo was pivotal to the whole story and we knew it. I silently thanked the kangaroo for it's role in all this, and for the ripples that that moment created when it lost its life that night, as I marvelled at the way our lives had intersected.

 

Whatever green countryside there was around Pt Augusta soon made way for flat, dry earth covered in clumps of long grasses, low bushes and small trees as we sped towards Woomera. We passed a few old run down towns that looked like the only public outlet was the petrol station, and I wondered how people out there spent their time, and how children, if any, could cope with the sheer barrenness and isolation. Then we passed Pimba. It was so third world I was totally taken aback. I felt like I'd stepped into an alternate reality, into another version of Australia, one I would never want to dream into reality, but it already was. It was quite a sight. We all unanimously agreed that it was a "hole" of gargantuan proportions, a "standard reference hole" at that, as we passed the shabby weatherboard houses that all seemed to be just barely standing, with each and every backyard sporting massive piles of rubbish and broken down, rusting machinery. I thought I'd seen bad, after all, some of my poor Filipino relatives used to live in houses where to get there, you'd have to walk on wooden planks to avoid the mud, streams and little fishes everywhere, but this was BAD.

 

I could see why the area we were fast approaching was home to a detention centre for illegal immigrants, a former nuclear missile testing ground and hot spot for UFO sightings. There was nothing. For miles around, nothing. Just red earth, a bit of scrub, and the wind and sky. I must admit as well as watching for the clouds to clear up even more, I was constantly on the lookout for any unusual aerial phenomena as I'd thoroughly done my research and the probability for a sighting was in my estimation, high.

 

While we drove to our destination we all got to know each other a bit better which was easy as we all seemed to like one another. At first I was a little unsure about whether Alan was actually happy about me being in tow, as the two of them had conferred briefly before deciding to let me come, and I'd picked up on a vibe. I couldn't blame him if it he wasn't all too pleased, as my coming along had interfered with their plans and well, "guy time". I soon put those thoughts to rest though as it as it soon became apparent to all of us that that the extra pair of hands I now afforded them, might've actually come in quite handy.

 

We went over a few things about the way the guys wanted to set up their gear, and what we would do when totality arrived. Then they started describing to me how they would like me to help change a solar filter on "the Lens", this massive super-telephoto thing. They explained that When Gerard said "totality", I had to take the filter off and to put it in a special Tupperware container that they had brought with them. I was like, "Oh my God, are these guys for real? We're actually practicing a DRILL for taking photos!". Say what you will, I thought they were unreal.

 

I know that sort of daggy technical stuff about photography and math and astronomy that we talked a lot about is pretty boring for most people but I frickin love it! And I didn't even need a camera after all! It was almost too much, too good.

 

When we passed Woomera it dawned on me that we weren't going to stop there, and that I'd gotten my wires slightly crossed. But as we drove past it, I thanked my lucky stars I wasn't going. The town looked horrible, with a big vintage fighter plane mounted on a big metal brace near the "Welcome to Woomera" sign near the town's entrance, to show off our so-called military "might", right(?), and the selfish misuse-use of our country's resources by stupid white guys who are all dead now anyway. I didn't see one person anywhere. The whole town looked deserted and felt like a museum you'd never go want to go visit. It didn't look like anywhere I could find accommodation at either, that's for sure. The Wirraminna Rail Siding was another 73 km on from Woomera, as I quickly learned, as the guys handed me the map and asked me to calculate the distance.

 

When I realised that I had no plan of action for after the eclipse, or anywhere to stay, and that I was in the middle of nowhere, I decided to just go with the flow, and didn't worry too much about it, and drew comfort from the fact that at least I'd had the foresight to bring dinner.

 

When we started getting close, the energy in the car changed from quiet expectation to a more intense, hair prickling kind of anticipation. I'd been chatting quite animatedly with the guys from the back seat the whole way there, but now I was nearly bouncing up and down like a child with excitement as we passed the parked cars, then bus loads of Japanese tourists, four-wheel drives and camper vans. The Japanese tourists had lined up all their shiny camera gear in front of their respective buses and had about 30-50 telescopes per bus pointed at the Sun. We kept driving though, for another couple of k's, headed for as close to the centre line of the path of totality as possible. When they explained this to me, I nearly exploded with glee, although I didn't really grasp the enormity of this fact until the moment of the eclipse itself.

 

The sky had finally cleared to just a bit of late afternoon haze, and the temperature was up around 27 degrees, a far cry from the sombre 11 degrees that morning in Adelaide. I was being taken to a spot on the earth that would be precisely in line with the Moon and the Sun as the eclipse took place. I thought back to the day before when all of this had been just a dream. I knew I was experiencing life at a much a higher frequency than the one I normally did, and things that would normally take a lot longer to materialize, seemed to be taking form almost instantly.

 

We finally saw a place where we could park. There were a few people dotted around the brush nearby. Some guy was hanging out at his ute with his sheepdog about 30 metres away. He looked liked a local with his cut-off sleeves and messy shoulder length hair. There were a couple with a tent next to their car some distance away too, as well as a tourist bus parked on the other side of the road behind us. Although there were really only a few others in the close vicinity, the air still felt tantalisingly pregnant with expectation.

 

We began unpacking the car and setting up all the gear. Alan had cut some sheets of polystyrene back in Melbourne to make a viewing box and we set about putting it together. The tripods were set up and the telescope came out of it's handsome handmade box. Gerard took care of setting up his two cameras and the Super Lens and soon everything was done. He found himself afterward, aching for somewhere to relieve himself and decided the only gentlemanly thing to do was drive the car down the road a couple of k's and find somewhere totally private. I think he had to go quite a way though as he was gone for quite a few minutes...

 

I had mentioned to Alan and Gerard earlier that I was interested in UFO's and I was secretly hoping I might get to see one fly past as the only other time was a long time ago, and it was pretty far away. I kept my eyes peeled to the skies, which by now were absolutely clear of any haze and a vivid, bright blue. YAY.

 

During the 1991 eclipse in Mexico City, tens of thousands of spectators saw a huge metallic disc sitting stationary as it slowly spun in the air and emitted a reddish glow. It was captured by 17 different cameras at the time and you can get the videos online if you do a search. Anyway, it was in the air above the city for 30 minutes before, during, and after the eclipse. But that is something I have learned since.

 

We did the practice run of the drill for when totality struck, when Alan would have me change the solar filter on the camera lens. Gerard was supposed to alert us when totality came, which only lasted 32 seconds, by saying "Totality". I would quickly remove the filter and say "Off", and put it into the special Tupperware container, heh. When totality was nearly over I was to put the filter back on and say "On" and he would continue snapping. It was a pretty funny and well, beyond cute for me. We laughed a lot while we were practicing too, so you can see they don't take themselves too seriously. Along with their brain power, personalities, preparedness and 5 star transport, it was everything that worked for this li'l diva. It was so hard to believe how amazing this was all turning out, but I kept reminding myself to accept it, because it was exactly what I'd set out to create. I was ticking off all the things on my checklist of requirements effortlessly. They were the perfect eclipse companions.

 

It was getting close to the time when "first touch" was going to occur and both Alan and Gerard started getting really anxious and a bit fidgety. They made last minute checks of their gear, which turned out to be good thing, as Gerard realised that one of the lenses on his camera wasn't right and changed it. They checked their watches, which had been synchronised to the second (NO! Really? Yes...REALLY), and I got some of the prepared polystyrene board so Alan could project the Sun's image onto it from the telescope's eyepiece while they both took pictures. The wind was up and it was becoming increasingly difficult to hold it so that it was straight, but I managed, and they were able to capture all the crucial moments without too much trouble in the end, but how the hell they'd planned to do all that on their own, I have no idea. There was only about an hour to go until totality and I wondered when the sky would begin to grow dark.

 

We occupied our time by switching from eclipse glasses to looking through the Super-Lens and watching the projector board. After 40 minutes or so I noticed that the desert was beginning to look darker and redder. It was so beautiful with the contrast in colours so much more pronounced all around us. Then it became darker and darker very quickly. The soil, the rocks, the trees, everything now looked like a deep blood red. We looked at each other and knew that this is what we'd all come so far to see. The hairs began to stand on end on the backs of our necks. The Moon's disc was almost all the way across the Sun, and we couldn't wait for the last of it to be covered. As Alan was focussing through the camera, Gerard and I put the glasses on and watched. We grew more and more animated as the last couple of minutes ticked by, talking about how it was going to be great. They'd told me earlier that when the Sun was in totality, it was ok to remove the glasses due to the rays being blocked, which I didn't know, so now I was really hanging out for when I could look at the Eclipse with my naked eyes.

 

"All is ready. The sky is clear of any obstruction, the gear is set-up and as good as it can be. 14.5cm telescope, low power eyepiece and reflective board, Nikon 1200mm lens on a cinematographic tripod with a Nikon F100 behind it loaded with several feet of Fuji's finest 400 ASA film ready to go. All the planning has been for this moment. Researching the websites for eclipse locations, photographic exposure tables, rain and cloud-cover forecasts; the planning, the buying, the hiring, the building, the packing and the travelling have come down to this moment, which finds Alan, Gerard and Liz at the side of the Stuart Highway A87 halfway between Pimba and Glendambo in South Australia on Wednesday Dec 4 2002, at 19:40 and 43 seconds local summer time."

 

More from "Eclipse 2002".

 

Then Gerard yelled out "Totality!" and exactly what happened next is rather hazy. I know that at some point filters must have been changed and photos were taken, but what I do remember is Gerard saying, "Liz, you should take the glasses off". I turned my back to the sun, whipped them off my face and when I jumped back to look at the sky, my jaw fell. It was so incredible. Oh my God, OH MY GOD, the COLOURS!" And then I was suddenly going "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!" at the top of my voice and started pogo-ing up and down on the spot like an African Masai tribesman, not caring at all what Alan and Gerard must have thought about my rather vociferous, ebullient display. It was just so stunningly beautiful. Think of Jodie Foster's face in Contact when she travelled through the wormhole and saw the galactic core for the first time. Ok? Awesome. That was me. That was ME!!!!!

 

It was so ineffable, so untranslatable, so profound, to watch the perfect circle of the Moon's disc finally moving into place, and exactly covering the Sun's. The resulting diffuse flares of intensely-hued colours that began around the white-hot corona, and radiated trails that filled the entire dome of the sky overhead and as far as one could see. They formed in streaks of rich fire-orange, electrically charged gold, plasma-perking purples, reds of all shades, the deepest royal blues and St Germaine's violet flame. Small fiery orbs of intense orange, called Bailey's Beads, gathered and bubbled around the edges of the Moon's jagged mountain peaks and looked like liquid mercury. Stars became visible for those few moments, as did the planet Mercury, which hung like a small jewel in the sky beneath the Sun.

 

Nothing can prepare you for that moment. No photo can ever do it justice, no words can completely convey all the emotions that you experience or what your eyes actually see. It is like looking into the Eye of God.

 

Physically being a part of that alignment makes you understand just how synchronised this universe is. As I watched the Moon gliding over the Sun, as our planet turned, I felt like I was a both a witness to and a part of a great cosmic clock, and I was watching as the cogs were sliding perfectly into place. It stirred something so deep and ancient within me, my enduring connection to the Sun, and I knew that I could never be the same again. Looking back I realise that the rays of light I was exposing myself to were in fact carriers of particular frequencies that open usually inactive codes within our DNA, often referred to as "junk". What a crock. It's not junk, it's programs and codes that help re-install our Otherware, and we all have it in our DNA.

 

All across the desert, from all the different groups of people scattered around us and beyond our line of sight came cries out to the sky like mine. People cheered, hooted, honked, laughed, screamed, clapped, cried. Dogs howled. Their voices were carried by the outback winds high up into the air where they met and playfully merged with the sounds of others that had come from further away, then they dropped back down to earshot where my ears would catch them, and I could feel their wonder too. We all knew we were part of something infinitely greater than us, that we were seeing something incomparable, that we were part of some vast intelligence that permeates and synchronises the entire Cosmos.

 

The guys were similarly affected and started exclaiming things, which again are hazy. What is clear, is how we all just looked at each other at one point, and with crazed smiles across our faces, spontaneously hugged all at once, laughing. Then they both paced around our site afterwards saying things like, "No one can ever take this away from us. We can say WE WERE HERE", and "We saw it!" We really saw it!" and, "We can never say "Awesome" about anything else again!" I thought statements like these, especially from Gerard, were rather brave, as I couldn't imagine him having outbursts like this very often, and we all went "Yeah!" quite loudly in agreement...and laughing that excited laugh that is almost the same as the one you do when you drink too much red cordial.

 

I thought a lot about the unbelievable relationships of proportional size and distance that it takes to actually create a total solar or lunar eclipse from our vantage point on earth. It is not a coincidence that the sun is 400 times bigger than our Moon, or that it also happens to be 400 times further away from the Moon than the Moon is to Earth. Unsurprisingly, I've wanted to learn a lot about sacred geometry since then and from what the astronomers are saying about the layout of the Universe, it seems nothing has been placed anywhere by accident.

 

At the end of 32 seconds, after the Moon began to move again, the first rays of light emerged again and for the briefest time, we were treated to the dazzling "diamond ring" effect that results. It's what most of the eclipse watchers as their favourite moment and I now know why. We took more photos and continued to watch through the cameras or the on the projector board for at least another half an hour. The Sun had only been 14 degrees above the horizon when totality had occurred so the Sun set quickly as the last whiskers of the pinks and oranges of sunset trailed across the sky. We packed up and left there, as I continued to watch the sky out of the car's back window, for as long as any traces of light remained. By 9:15 they'd all disappeared, having been devoured by the by the encroaching darkness, and we were plunged into night once again.

 

Then I realised I could start looking for UFOs so I spent the next twenty minutes scouring the skies some more.

 

We were all still pretty high from the eclipse experience, but by that time we had settled into our own reveries and the car was silent. We decided to drive down the road a little further until we found a spot to stay at for the night. The guys figured they'd just sleep in the car, and that was fine by me. I was SO glad I'd bought that blanket, let me tell you, as it can get nippy out there in the desert, even in summer. We'd passed some lovely salt lakes on our way there during the day, but hadn't had time to stop so we decided to try and find one to make camp at. Gerard found a great spot down a dip off the road beside one of these giant salt lakes that was quietly shimmering as it reflected the starlight. As there was no moon or cloud, the stars lit up with sparkles over the black canvas of the sky. It had been awhile since I'd been out to the country and I'd forgotten just how many stars there were up there, but it was great to be reminded. I breathed in deeply and imprinted all I could about that moment into my DNA. The Milky Way was looking particularly milky, and when I remembered we had a telescope with us I nearly lost it. I completely forgot all about stargazing that day, which for me is unusual. I'd wanted to bring my own telescope but knew it wasn't practical, and I hardly thought I would get the chance for sky watching without having my own transport.

 

It was becoming more and more evident that our meeting was no accident. Every single thing that I had visualized was coming true, and I felt totally in the zone. The best part was that I could get an astronomy lesson too, something I hadn't even thought remotely possible when I left for Adelaide the night before. I'd only just begun studying backyard astronomy on my own for a few months at that stage, so I really appreciated the opportunity to learn some more from people who actually knew their stuff.

 

We set up a rug to sit on, a buffet was laid out on the boot of the car, and we had a fabulous starlight picnic, then Alan got to work putting the telescope back together. He'd not only painstakingly constructed the box for it, he's also done several clever modifications to the telescope itself. It was incredibly smooth to manoeuvrer and the viewfinder was mounted in such a way that made it permanently aligned to the eyepiece. Not bad compared to my clumsy thing, which was big and had a great lens, but needed constant adjusting.

 

Gerard had a red-light torch for perusing the star map, and between them both they had all the star maps you could wish for, including a current one. I'd brought my Mighty Bright light as well so we consulted the maps for awhile under the open hood of the boot, deciding finally that we should definitely try to get a rare glimpse of the Andromeda galaxy, which was going to be low on the horizon, but still visible for a little while from where we were. It's the closest spiral galaxy to ours, and part of our local system of stars, but it's still 2.2 million light years away!

 

So we began. We looked at binary star systems including Sirius A and B, the Great Square of Pegasus, found Andromeda (it looked amazing, though tiny - but who cares, I saw it with my own eyes), some pretty star clusters, a wild nebula in the Orion constellation, and loads more. We had a ball. I was completely enthralled. Alan turned to me after awhile and asked whether there was anything I would like to see, and I faltered for a minute. I tried to pull a star's name, a constellation, anything from my rather limited astronomical knowledge that I'd like to view. Then I remembered! It slipped off my tongue so easily like it was something I said all the time: "I'd like to see The Pleiades please". With a quick look at the sky map, he and Gerard quickly turned the scope into position and aimed. When Alan told me I could take a look, I put my eye up to the lens. I could not have been less prepared for the reaction that I had next. It all happened in the instant when the photons of light, carried across space for my eyes to see, entered my retina. I was greeted by the most gorgeous display of hundreds of shining points of light, like diamonds on black velvet, in a beautiful cluster formation, with the seven main stars of the constellation contained within my field of view. It was breathtakingly beautiful and I gasped audibly. Within nano-seconds every part of my being, down to my DNA, was resounding with the recollection that the stars I was looking at, were HOME. Yes home. H-O-M-E. What!?@!

 

Tears had welled up in my eyes and I just wanted to cry it was so beautiful, but I had to catch myself in front of the guys, as I didn't want to come across as a complete lunatic. I didn't even know what to think myself. I had to process this. It was happening so fast. So I composed myself and said something like, "Wow. That is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." (twice in one day, shit, what was happening to me?), and I found it very hard to tear myself away from the telescope after that .

 

We did however move away for awhile, and we all sat around chatting some more, and telling more stories. I didn't speak about what had just happened to me. I just sat with it and tried to make some sense out of it. I really knew very little about them, except that they were also known as the Seven Sisters and were a favourite for stargazers. The Pleiades weren't a part of my research or knowledge base at all. I don't even know how I even remembered the name. Whatever was unfolding though, I knew one thing was undeniable. I must be going insane. NO, just jerkin with ya, sorry, anyway, it was undeniable.

 

Everything in me knew that I was somehow deeply connected to this star system, but how? I resolved to do some investigating when I got home. But that night in the Australian Outback, in my planetary home, I knew that I had remembered another home, a galactic home, and that it was just as real. It thrilled me to the core. I was beginning to remember who I was!

 

Gerard retired early that night, and went to sleep in the driver's seat fully reclined, while Alan and I told a few more stories. I'd asked him earlier in the car if he'd ever seen any UFO's and had hinted at something but didn't really want to discuss it much. But when we were alone I asked him to tell me again and he did, reluctantly at first, but then much more engagingly, as he began describing some unusual sightings he'd had growing up on the coast in New Zealand.

 

These were not some pissy two second glances at a tiny little light in the sky type of sightings, his were skilfully detailed, varied, and in one case he watched some craft over a few hours. He eventually worked out that there must have been a flight path near his home because he would regularly see them all following the same course. Commercial and Air Force planes would also fly past but whenever he would ring Air Traffic Control at any of the Air Force bases or airports, he would be told that it was one of their regular flights, just a bit off schedule. Then he would say, "NO, I saw Flight Number so and so depart on time, this was something else," which always fucked them up. I heard some pretty amazing stuff and realised there was more to this funny computer guy cum action hero, than I thought. It didn't surprise me in the least that we could have something like that in common. I've always been attracted to people that, despite appearances, upon scratching their surface, you find that there's a whole lot more going on with them than you knew.

 

Alan declared he was sleeping outside on the rug, and I stayed up late into the night, just me, the telescope, and the stars. I finally had to go to bed when I looked directly up at the sky overhead a couple hours later, and the black void turned into a flat plasma screen and the stars became eyes, and they were all looking at, Me. That was the limit.

 

I was able to lie down quite comfortably in the back seat if I lay on my side in the Toblerone-shaped wedge that had formed under the reclined seats from the front. I adjusted my pillow, put the blanket over me and slept like a baby.

 

I found out later that the salt lake we were led to is named, quite appropriately, Lake Hart. Heart....geddit? Can you believe it? I actually couldn't. The gods have such a sense of humour.

 

Since then a lot has happened, and my kin in the Pleiades are now a big part of my life. They have taught me so much. I'll write a lot more about them in later posts, trust me.

 

And for the next two and a half days Gerard, Alan and myself ended up staying together. I gave them several opportunities to ditch me, but we were really having a lot of fun, and they would always invite me to stay on. We were well matched intellectually, but we all had quite different worldviews, so it was nice challenge for us to be mutually respectful of each other's ideas while trying to challenge one another as coherently as possible. We spent much time on the road exchanging ideas, trying on stuff for size, or sometimes throwing them in the 'too hard" basket. If Alan slept then Gerard and I would talk about stuff and vice versa. They both worked as computer technicians, which is how they met, and pretty early on it became obvious to me that some of my ideas about reality were pretty hard for them to hear. They were always open-minded enough to let me speak though, and they'd bounce things off me. We talked sporadically about some of the ideas in the CWG books that were relevant to that moment, or about a particular insight I'd had, or how you might apply some of the ideas to your daily living, and it sparked much interest and debate. I found out about a year later that Alan and Gerard had both decided to give the books a read a few months after our trip, which was brilliant.

 

It was always reciprocally enlightening, being in their company. They were an absolute mine of information about all sorts of things and we never ran out of topics to discuss. And it wasn't long before I threw away my return bus ticket and we leisurely drove me around some of the most beautiful South Australian countryside on a very scenic route back to Melbourne. We went through quaint little towns that they'd found on previous jaunts, and I saw the constantly changing landscape from high lookouts and wide open roads.

 

I've experimented with stretching time ever since I first discovered that when you fall in love, you can make a kiss last an eternity. You can also make a boring flight pass more quickly if you get good at it, or create an atmosphere at a party where a deep, lengthy, important conversation that seems to last for hours, passes in only twenty minutes. I've always liked bending and stretching time to suit my needs and on that trip it happened constantly, but it felt out of our hands for the most part, like we were caught in a strange time-warp so we just surrendered to it. "Is that the time?" was something we ended up saying more times than I can remember. And the best part was, it wasn't just me saying it, we all were.

 

We "parked" out the next night in a back street of a village. We got there quite late at night, and parked the car at what appeared to be a dead end street, with no neighbours to annoy. The next morning, we were mildly shocked to discover that we'd parked only a short distance away from the municipal dump! A few curious Jersey cows had congregated at the fence beside the car as well, and from beneath thick eyelashes, they were casually eyeing its sleeping inhabitants. The next night we were in the Barossa Valley, slightly more prepared, and we woke up to a gorgeous view of a hillside covered in rows and rows of lush green grapevines and blue sunny skies.

 

Once we got back to Victoria, we made for the Grampians, where time seemed to bend and take on a mind of its own again. No matter how we tried to stick to a schedule, or drive faster it just seemed to take a really long time to get back to the City. We saw wild deer in the mountains though, which I loved, and we used the drive to delve a little deeper into our exchanges. My cheeks welcomed the break too as they'd begun to ache a little due to all the laughing I'd done over the last few days, and especially that last day. Alan had let loose with some of his real life death-defying adventures at around lunchtime and he had me crying with laughter a few times. He really is Batman if all that stuff is true, and he told them like it was. So at around dusk, the tone changed slightly and I got to hear about a poltergeist that he'd lived with for over a year, and some other pretty far-out stuff that had happened to him. Gerard spent some time wanting to discuss the Akashic Field, so I fielded questions from both of them about that for awhile. We talked about reincarnation, dimensions of reality co-existing in the same space without knowing about each other, consciousness, the astral world, the Noetic Sciences Institute, a whole lot of stuff that I really love and it was a nice way to leave things.

 

We'd gone from being complete strangers to all being deeply transformed in some way by our meeting, in three and a half days. We'd trusted in our flexibility in each moment, and stretched ourselves beyond our normal comfort zones, creating or participating in large and small miracles, so it seemed, at every turn. We used our brains, which came as a great joy to me as I don't get to talk quantum physics with many of my disco friends. It's not their fault I know...but it was a nice change. I also knew that I'd helped to open up their perspective in many ways, as they did for me, in HUGE ways. My heart knew that I had been drawn to them because their soul's urge for change, and expansion, had already begun, by nudging them into unconsciously creating the conditions for me to enter their lives. I'd definitely sent out a call for them too, for the same reasons. The difference was that they had no idea I was coming along. I, on the other hand, had been certain that I would find them.

 

We finally made it back to Melbourne sometime around 9 pm that night. It was a lot later than we all thought we'd be back by, and we'd all been together non-stop for 3 and a half days. On our way home, I told them where I lived and it turned out that Alan lived just around the corner from me! It was nice, as dropping me off didn't pose any inconvenience at all. We swapped numbers and said our farewells amidst bear hugs and kisses goodbye. It was good to be home, back to my bed, but I could've kept going for at least another day if I'd had to. They dropped me off right to my front door.

 

We all knew it was meant to be, and it was.

We've all kept in touch too, Batman, Robin and I.

 

I'm forever in their debt for everything they shared with me, for their kindness and generosity and for behaving like perfect gentlemen the entire time. Men like these are really rare... but if you are one them, you should try going to an eclipse!

Hey Poise Babes. Here is a new mainstore release. Lust gloss comes in 6 different tones perfect for all skin complexions. PLEASE TRY DEMO FIRST.

 

TAXI : MAINSTORE

Talking Stacey (Barbie's British friend!) has arrived on the scene, joining the other ‘Talkers’ for a very chatty party in the 1968 ‘World of Barbie’ house! I have other Talking Staceys in blonde and Titian, but this is my latest and mintiest… just love her perfect complexion! ‘Fancy Dancy’ from 1968/69 looks like it was made for her!

I can walk the runway with the best of them. Just look at this svelte figure, and this flawless complexion. Why I'm so bright eyed and bushy tailed I put all the others to shame.

I know because every time I'm here there's paparazzi taking my picture! I can here the click of the camera right now!

Hey Glam Girls 💜💜💜! Back with another bomb release for you guys!

 

"NIKA" Genus & Lel Evo X skin Is now avaliable Glamocracy Mainstore

- Comes in GENUS & LELUTKA

- 2 TONES compatible to VELOUR body appliers

 

"CHLOE" Hairbase [LEL EVOX & GENUS]

- COMES IN 4 skin tones

- modify to tint to complexion

hair from @homage [katana]

 

LM: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kangean%20Star/136/167/4

After photographing the morning launch of several hundred hot-air balloons, I departed from the grassy field and walked along Main Street, the giant pedestrian lane lined with vendors of food and event memorabilia. Eventually, I reached the children’s amusement zone. Along the way, I took some candid street photos. Then I encountered this subject and her friend; my stranger No.78.

 

This is Chelsea, my 79/100 strangers. She is 27 y/o and described herself as, "Intelligent. Likable. Funny." It was Chelsea's eye contact that triggered my approach for a voluntary stranger portrait (flic.kr/p/BbB9H2).

 

When I considered the two women, I was curious if they were sisters or just BFFs. They shared an obvious affinity: I noticed it with their similarly chosen dark plum lipstick shade and the similarity of their elongated oval-shaped faces. Chelsea confirmed theirs was friendship.

 

As with my earlier effort with Cassandra, I wanted a nip of context along with some sky for the portrait background. The blue sky didn't overpower her complexion and I was pleased with the outcome.

 

To view strangers I have photographed and to read the stories from the encounters, visit my submission to the 100 Strangers Flickr Group: flic.kr/s/aHsk9s8ZQb .

 

Images from all participants in the project can be viewed here: 100 Strangers Flickr Group page.

Capturada en el castillo de Piñar: Granada

  

Se trata de un bóvido de menor tamaño que un ciervo y de complexión fuerte y robusta. El macho tiene una cornamienta grande, sin ramificar, que se desvía ligeramente hacia atrás. En la hembra es pequeña y delgada.

Su pelaje, de color pardo grisáceo por el dorso y blanco por el vientre, varía a lo largo del año.

 

El hocico es algo más corto que en la cabra doméstica. Su color de pelo varía desde el gris parduzco al pardo claro.

 

La presencia de barba en los machos, su mayor corpulencia y la gran extensión de manchas negras, les diferencia de las hembras.

 

Los machos miden, entre cabeza y cuerpo, 1,25 m y pesan de 50 a 58 kg. Las hembras miden 1 m y pesan de 30 a 36 kg.

 

La cabra montés habita en bosques y matorrales de alta y media montaña.

 

Sus poblaciones se distribuyen en Sierra de Gredos (Ávila), Puertos de Tortosa-Beceite (Cataluña), sierra madrileña y sierras del sur y este (Sierra Nevada, sierras malagueñas, Cazorla, Segura, etc.).

 

Es una especie polígama. La época de celo es entre noviembre y enero. Es entonces cuando se reúnen machos y hembras. Los machos se comportan agresivamente entre sí y luchan por las hembras. Se alzan sobre las patas traseras, entrechocando las cuernas al caer. El vencedor se hace con un pequeño harén que abandona después de las cópulas.

 

La gestación dura unos 5 meses, y la época de parto es entre abril y julio. Tienen entre una y dos crías, a las que amamanta hasta los seis meses de edad. Posteriormente, si la cría es un macho, abandona a la madre y se une a los otros machos.

 

Es una especie de hábitos diurnos en invierno, y se va haciendo nocturna en el verano. Tímida y tranquila, tiene un gran olfato y oído. Está dotada para andar entre rocas y saltar por paredes casi verticales o incluso hielo.

 

Muy gregario, forma grupos numerosos bien de hembras y crías o bien de machos. Aunque no migra, realiza largos viajes erráticos durante el invierno.

 

Entre los enemigos destacan los perros asilvestrados y los lobos, aunque éstos últimos actualmente ocupan áreas bastante alejadas de los territorios de las cabras montesas.

 

Devora indiscriminadamente cualquier materia vegetal, como hierbas, líquenes, cortezas, brotes y frutos. Con frecuencia lamen la sal que los pastores suministran al ganado.

   

Not a day for having parties and rejoice, but for remembering and reflecting.

 

👀 www.youtube.com/watch?v=x59kS2AOrGM

 

Luanes World

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Slice%20of%20Heaven/231/24...

 

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed,

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

(W. Shakespeare - sonnet 18)

Did some minor mesh adjustments to the face as well as some new hair with diff eye colors/textures. Thanks to EK suggesting to use Fair Skin Complexion's wet specular for the face. Mixed it with the goosebump specular as well as added special normalmaps for my breton. Pretty happy with the new look. :)

I finally found a pale fashionista body for Midge and I'm satisfied right now but still hoping a tanned fashionista body for Summer. Any recommendations? :)

 

The Pale Fashionistas body that I got is a clone Barbie Fashionistas doll, the doll named "Hayley". Her articulations are pretty good and she even had a chest articulation too! so it's a great deal for a 5 dollar doll but expect a low quality plastic compared to the mattel dolls... other than that I'm happy she now have a paler body because in the series, she had a super pale skin. :)

 

Midge - lightest girl

Raquelle - 2nd lightest girl

Barbie - being fairer than Teresa

Teresa - "Morena" fair complexion

Summer - Hoping a tanned body for her because she's very sporty! :)

Nikki - She's black but she doesn't look black :) maybe she went bleaching? hehe

Whole seat-ers

Her booty bigger than a Prius

Hella thick, she get it from her mother

Yellow bones and complexion is butter

Dime piece, two nickels

Nipples pokin' out like missiles

He don't make it rain he make it trickle

Me I'm a hustler I make it triple

She a bad one, look at the way she switchin', the way she walk

I don't care if it's real, I don't care if it's bought

I don't discriminate darling you see I'm far from a racist I like 'em Latin, Caucasian, and Black, Arab, and Asian

How you get rid of the baby weight pretty girl your booty bodacious you've been doing your lunges, and crunches, and planks, all of the basics

Tight jeans you can see her camel toe

Slap that ass like I'm fittin' to domino

 

Nothing but an outfit and an OMY pose (Candace 1) <3

“Every new day is another chance to change your life.”

————-————-————-——— —-————-———-————-———-

+ Zooby Details +

♦️Zooby Baby Jules – Animesh

♦️ BF. Katie Skin (Come in 2 Complexion / Access Via Zooby Texture Hud)

 

————-————-————-——— —-————-———-————-———-

+ Adult Details +

♦️Head: Letluka – Evolution Bento Head (Update Lelutka EvoX)

♦️Body: Signature– Gianni v4.9

 

♦️Hair:Unorthodox– Volume Hair & Hairbase Mesh/Flexy[Evo X]

 

♦️Eyebrow : [MTS] – Benjamin Eyebrow

♦️Beard : Unorthodox– Kash Beardbase Noir [Evo X ]

I think one of the main reasons I was so enchanted by the Generation Girl line as a kid, was the fact that the dolls came with SO much!!! At least, it seemed that way to my younger self. The second looks weren't quite as fabulous as the dolls' main ones, showcased in the other photograph. My favorites were Chelsie and Nichelle's alternate outfits. Nichelle's was so fancy and the white/silver combo was stunning on her dark complexion. I have to say that this mini dress looks way better on my adult purchased Nichelle, with the larger afro variation. Her hair is such a statement on its own. Plus, it masked how shabby this dress actually is for the photo. This outfit was my childhood one--I have yet to find another. Let's just say it is literally falling apart! Chelsie's spare ensemble was practical--denim capris and a tank top. These pieces were some of my most used during play, especially since Chelsie and Tori both shared the same slimmer body mold. She didn't come with any sort of alternate footwear, but these combat boots matched well with both her getups. The other outfits were of equal caliber in my opinion. Ana came with a swimsuit, which was a tad gaudy, but very useful. Tori's extra dress was super stylish, but also ridiculously short. So it was VERY revealing for casual play. I often put her jeans beneath it while Colleen and I were playing with our dolls, so her butt didn't show. Barbie's theater ensemble was so iconic to me, that it didn't matter that the skirt was completely sheer. Even though it isn't all that practical, some of my spare pieces have come in handy over the years (my Solo in the Spotlight repro looks fabulous in it). The only doll whose alternate attire was a complete let down was Lara's. Seriously, a paint smock?!!! That's all you could think of Mattel?!!! I would say that Lara came with more plastic accessories, and that's why she got ripped off in the outfit department. But I really don't feel that she came with any more than the others. Chelsie came with a large microphone and guitar. Nichelle came with makeup and a directors chair. Tori and Ana had oodles of sporty gear, and Barbie had a plethora of film equipment. But I was consoled by the fact that Lara's main outfit was my favorite, as were her plastic accessories. I always made my "main" doll in a game be artistic. Plus, her knit purse, grey pants, sweater, and tank were all so versatile that I got loads of use out of them!

A CPKC crew waits for a route to proceed, but first, the Borealis has the show up and pass on its way to Union Depot. I am not sure which job this is, though it seems to have the complexion of the Northfield Job.

www.landvphotography.it

Facebook: www.facebook.com/landvphotography

The color mix of her ginger hair and complexion and the necklace had me ask for a picture.

Although I keep having the nagging feeling the portrait would've been better out of direct sunlight.

A snow covered scene from up on Dartmoor. I spent a pleasant afternoon with the dog just walking and taking in the stunning scenery which takes on a new complexion when it's covered in snow.

There's something satisfying about being protected from the elements and trudging through virgin snow and taking in the good things in life ..................... certainly beat working for the day anyway,lol..

 

paul_fenn's photos on Flickriver

  

Please do not use my images in any way shape or form without obtaining my written consent.

 

All my images are: © All Rights Reserved

  

Gad, two passes in one day to shoot the very tree with the terrible sense of location, location, location. This is the third of my rock-splitting ponderosa shots. The day is changing complexion and that warrants another shot. The sky is starting to look ominous. I am still avoiding that summons from The Donald, Inc. with this series. But then, The Don, gropester in charge, gives such wonderful gifts that keep on grifting. Ah, there is so little reality left for reality media, it is almost unreal! What a concept, pay only lawyers to bash labor and small contractors; rip suckers for fake university educations; buy pageants for new groping territory! Sounds like the perfect scams especially for the premier narcissist. What? Once groped, permanently quiet, really? Was he a scholar of the Bill Cosby school but uses different drugs? I think it is a bad thought to challenge Hillary with drug tests. We knew that he would never debate Bernie; chickens are always uncomfortable around someone named Sanders. Think it through before opening the pie hole, more bad advice probably. Whoosh, I am starting to feel really sorry for the damage done to his own family. It will be interesting how this will play out as he continually emboldens his gropees who come out of what he thought was permanent obscurity. I'm waiting for the final and ultimate explosion. Should be bonkers!

 

Rentless onward as stated by the late great Walt Kelly. Everyone wants to be in pictures! Here is another shot that I refuse to pump for effect and probably don't need to anyway. Here we are again on the Peak to Peak Highway bypass above Peaceful Valley and Cave Creek. We usually pause to snap the dwarf, stunted ponderosa pine atop the rock. I've shot it before, myself. The sky cooperated with some outrageous skies to aid in defining the tree that could eventually split the rock, Time and Pressure. Time and pressure! And that, of course, will be it's own destruction if it hasn't sunk roots to actual ground.

 

eDDie and I headed back north on Peak to Peak Scenic highway. We retraced our path back north and ended up at Estes for a roll down the canyon. We always hope for good skies when foraging but this is a bit much. They say the bear, like clouds, came over the mountain to see what he could see. There are laws against feeding wildlife up here and I sincerely hope the wildlife concurs.

 

eDDie usually stops at his rock of aegis on our way past and this stop gave us wonderful skies if a complex light range. I shot for the bright sky. We tightened our hiking boots and had already packed mass quantities of captures on our cards. Ahh, why not another foray?

 

Maiko (apprentice geisha) Tondaya Yachiyo of Osaka.

 

“All the girls of the [Tondaya] geisha house are not only beautiful in their figure and complexion, but also very graceful in their action and behaviour.”

 

From “The Story of the Geisha Girl” by Taizo Fujimoto, first published in 1917.

 

Myron Lelutka Evolution Skin now avaliable on marketplace

INCLUDES

- No brow option

-eyebrow option

BOM ONLY

 

Compatible with "Complexion" Body Appliers

Complexion Mp: marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/224773

 

Myron Skin : marketplace.secondlife.com/p/G-Myron-Lelutka-BOM-Skin-Esp...

....is a pink carnation,

....laying in the sun,

....holding an umbrella made from paper doily, to protect her light complexion...

 

...she's strong and tender,

...she's determined and relaxed,

...her inner beauty shines all over,

...she's modest and perceptive,

...she's expressive and quiet,

...she's firm and forgiving....

 

To all lovely ladies....have the nicest of days! :)

Near the 'Grave of the Yellow Men' at Kilbaha, Co Clare, Ireland - July 2020.

[Note: In the 1700s a ship foundered in this bay and 9 sailors from it were drowned. Because of their complexion they were known as the yellow men. It is likely they came from the Iberian peninsula (Spain or Portugal) rather than anywhere in the Far East.]

 

Noon 45W Pinhole Camera. Fomapan 100 4x5 inch film.

A hyper-realistic portrait of a mysterious extraterrestrial being with smooth, luminous blue skin and elongated features. The alien’s piercing golden eyes radiate calm intelligence, set against a backdrop of warm, glowing light that contrasts its cool-toned complexion. Elegant ridges and intricate folds frame its elongated neck, resembling organic jewelry or ceremonial adornments. The attire is minimalist, futuristic, with dark flowing fabrics that accentuate the alien’s regal aura. The overall mood is otherworldly yet serene, blending science fiction elegance with painterly detail. Ultra-detailed, cinematic lighting, 8K resolution.

Hermine <3

 

For Tiina :)

What's amazing to me here is that there is no real "skin retouch " here .......just a little contrast reduction , what an amazing complexion ....