Jaspyr, imploring me not to leave!

After work, yesterday, I spent some time in the garden, taking photos of flowers and such. Every time I sat down, Jaspyr came over for a cuddle and a chat. He does this, like it’s his job! He gets quite exasperated with me when I move on...

Here, he had spent about an hour and half following me around the garden and I think he realised that I was just about to go back up to the house.

Like a big kid, he turned his pleading eyes on me - Please don’t leave, yet.

He then followed me, like a wee dog, back to the house. My big darling boy!

In my garden,

South Carrick Hills

SW Scotland

(cropped)

Cocoa like to poke at Cinnamon

I saw this Eastern Bluebird in the field on the top of a Common Mullein. There was a tree with yellow leaves in the distance that I wanted for a background. Thankfully, this bird was patient and let me walk up the hill for the shot but not without an exasperated expression.

Howard County Conservancy

Mt. Pleasant

Woodstock, Maryland

My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...

Western Green Lizard (Lacerta Bilineata) | Male In "Wedding Suit" During Mating Season In Spring | Monteggio (CH) | May 2021

More TICINO/TESSIN Wildlife Photos (all taken in my garden in Monteggio/Ti, Switzerland): it.lacerta-bilineata.com/ramarro-occidentale-lacerta-bili... (the website exists in ESPAÑOL, FRANÇAIS, ITALIANO, ENGLISH, DEUTSCH)

My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (warning, it's a bit shocking): www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2-Xszz7FI

ABOUT THIS PHOTO:

When male western green lizards are in love, their face turns blue. This doesen't happen instantly (they can't change color at will like chameleons); the lizards need to shed their old, slightly less colorful (but also very pretty) skin first, and once that is accomplished, they appear in the beautiful "wedding suit" you can see in this photo.

With this look they try to impress the lady lizards during mating season, which lasts approximately from April to June, but the colors are the most striking in the immediate aftermath of the lizards losing their "old coat". I was very lucky to capture this gorgeous male at this very moment; in fact, you can still see parts of the old, dark skin covering the top of its head and other parts of the body where it hadn't quite come off yet.

But I was lucky in more than one sense with this photo. Let me explain (I have an idea some photographer or other here on Flickr will be able to sympathize with the anecdote that follows ;-). This year in May when I hoped to photograph the green lizards around my vacation home with my newly purchased camera, I soon realized something was different from the years before, because I couldn't find a single one of my green friends in their usual spots in my garden.

As I would learn over the next few days, the entire western green lizard population had relocated from my garden into a huge fly honeysuckle shrub just outside my garden next to an empty horse pasture where they were relatively safe from the growing number of cats in our village that had specialized in lizard hunting. Up in that shrub, not only was it hard for ground predators to get at them, but the lizards also had an excellent 360° view of their surroundings.

Western green lizards are naturally very shy, but this apparently traumatized group now had become hyper-alert to anything approaching them, and they immediately fled into the thickest of the leaves whenever I tried to get near enough for a usable photo. Now, I'm not one to give up easily (and I really, REALLY wanted to get those photos), so I tried every sneaky-stealth-approach technique I could think of (even crawling on all fours - which in hindsight was a terrible idea since all it did was making me look like the world's biggest and ugliest cat to the lizards) - but to no avail.

Completely exasperated, I came up with a new strategy. I would keep that fly honeysuckle shrub under constant observation; like an FBI agent preparing for a crackdown on a suspected Mafia hideout, I was there, watching and waiting, hour after hour, all day long. It took me another several days until I had finally figured out at what times of the day the males usually left the fly honeysuckle shrub; I wanted to know their "schedule" so I could be there before them and blend in with the environment, ready to photograph them as soon as they would show up on the ground.

And all my meticulous, hard work seemed to pay off: the first day I took this appraoch a gorgeous male showed up just where I expected it to (although Mr Lizard had me waiting for alomst two hours!). Alas, I hadn't considered where the sun would be and had installed myself in such a stupid angle that the lizard was backlit; in all the photos the little devil appeared only as a mostly black silhouette against the bright morning sun. I cursed my stupidity, tore out my hair and was close to throwing my expensive new camera against a wall in anger and frustration. Then I remembered the cold beer in the fridge and realized that life was still worth living, and I promised myself to do better next time.

The next day I was smart enough to make camp in a spot form where the object of my photographic desire would be perfectly lit (from the lizard's perspective, now I would be the black silhouette against the sun ;-). I waited. And I waited some more. And it was hot and getting hotter by the minute. After nearly 3 hours during which my neighbors started to give me very funny looks (in fact, they had already decided the day before that I must be crazy, what with standing motionless in front of a bush for several hours in the burning sun), around noon, I'd had enough. And that's when I heard something moving in the grass.

And there he was: barely visible through the thick green carpet, but definitely coming towards me. A few seconds later a virtual lizard king appeared, in all his gorgeous green and blue glory, and perfectly lit - and that's when I heard loud, happy voices approaching. Two young boys came running - and the lizard stopped dead in its tracks (unfortunately, it was still a bit too far away for a good photo). I'm not religious, but I started a quick prayer then and there (please God, please: let these kids not be running towards me - PLEASE!!!).

But nope, God apparently remembered that I usually refer to myself as agnostic, and surely enough the two boys ran right to where I was - and where Mr Lizard now wasn't. All that yelling and running was too much for my lizard king: goodbye and "auf Wiedersehen"; see ya next year - and off he went. And that was that. I couldn't believe it; I felt a frustration so intense wash over me I regretted ever having picked up a camera.

As for the kids, don't worry: both boys are alive and well ;-) It was the first day of their Pentecost holiday, and they had just arrived in the village. I was standing next to the empty horse pasture, and the two little boys now innocently asked me where the horsies went (they had obviously been looking forward to seeing them and now were very disappointed). I took a deep breath and muttered that I had no idea.

I don't know how other photographers would have felt in that situation, but I only wanted to be left alone (and possibly tear out what was left of my hair and reconsider that wall and what nice noise it would make upon collision with my camera ;-). Needless to say, the kids had other plans. Now that it was clear that there were no horsies, I had become the main attraction, and they weren't going anywhere. So I swallowed my anger, accepted that - obviously - the kids didn't do anything wrong (and also that I would probably never ever be able to get that desired shot with my new camera).

The boys were eager to know what I was photographing, and so I told them everything about western green lizards, about their amazing colors and how rare and shy they were, and that they were among the largest lizards in Europe and a protected species - and my two new friends became instantly fascinated. Now they wanted to wait and see this magical creature with their own eyes. I assured them there was no chance the lizard would come back after all the noise "we" had made, and just as I said this, one of the boys yelled "I see it!"

And sure enough, he was right. Apparently my lizard king had decided that a little yelling and running wasn't gonna get between him and his favorite sun-basking spot, a little heap of cut, dry grass underneath the fence of the horse pasture. I told the kids to be very still - which they were - and then we all got to see how this beautiful creature emerged from the grass, very, very slowly and carefully, and positioned itself on the heap of dry grass in such a way that it got the perfect amount of sunlight.

So in the end I got my portrait shot - and quite a few more in the weeks that followed (which you can find on my website www.lacerta-bilineata.com ). During the remainder of their holiday the two kids would run into me every now and then, and every time they excitedly talked about this fantastic, blue-headed reptile they had seen with me that day. I guess only time will tell, but I hope this encounter has sparked an interest in nature in them (I have a feeling the next time they spend their holiday in our little village, the horsies will have some reptilian competition ;-)

Exhausting to follow and capture an image but such amazing beautiful creatures.

In Costa Rica, there are 53 species of hummingbirds, which are distributed throughout the country, mainly at medium and high elevations.

Their wings move around 60 times per second- they would break your heart trying to photograph them.

These little guys are very smart! - a hummingbird has the largest brain of any bird relative to its body size.

A hummingbirds heart can beat up to 1,200 times per minute.

Hummingbirds’ muscles allow them to reach surprising speeds of 50 to 95 km/h when diving during courtship.

Such little beauties both captivating and exasperating but leave you wanting more of them.

When the sun goes down through this emblematic Córdoba square, and you pass by, that ray increases in the window of the lantern and even the curious jacaranda peeks out with the birds above the wall topped with tiles. The irons shine and the Chinese of the cobblestones,

limpid, magnify The soul shrinks between feelings and requests, even if you are not a believer.

y ejercita en mí mismo sus furores

Almost a cartoonish quality about this shot

This Great White Egret was being chased by an exasperated Heron., who having had the lagoon all to himself for most of the summer., was suddenly overrun by large white versions of himself

The Heron in the end gave up., and the Egrets continued posing for photographs., whilst doing a bit of fishing of course

Little Eagle (Hieraaetus morphnoides) dark morph

This one was being harassed by some Little Ravens.

Happy Wing Wednesday!

A juvenile Tricolored Heron is exasperated by the adult constantly looking over its shoulder on Horsepen Bayou.

Great Horned owl, from the archives, sitting up high in a tree and giving me an exasperated look

Tikki had a very eloquent look accompanied by equally understandable vocals. For Happy Caturday 13 August 2022 “The Look”.

(She can get exasperated by the camera and is used to my waving the phone around at close range, so portraits like this, I take with the phone.)

13:19 Thence and Whence traffic alternating on the two thick planks, now in a bit deeper water. Reminded me of a Scots expression for a stupid person: “As thick as a plank”, or “as two short planks”, when very exasperated. A steady flow of unsteady pedestrians. Nothing left now but a hard slog up a steep, rough trail in a cold rain, and a couple more photos. The foam is a natural consequence of high mineral concentration in the lakes, and the crashing waves over upstream rapids.

Happy Mono Monday!

07:15 CDT; 12 Jun 2023;

While driving along the Kings Canyon we realized it was only a couple hours to sunset. Importantly we had not decided any place where we wanted to get the sunset. For a change it was drizzling all afternoon and I was thinking of getting some nice post-rain clouds for the sunset. We finally decided to drive back to Sequoia and get the sunset at the Moro Rock. It was about an hour away from the Kings Canyon National Park.

As we arrived at the spot after climbing like 500 stairs, we were greeted with this awesome view. This is the west side where all the magic was happening.

The stairs go right to the top, an exasperating climb but completely worth the effort. At times a bit unsafe as the railings are absent, but no biggy! Excellent place to watch stars if you stay late on the top. This was taken from about half climb where there is a small balcony put out to watch the wavy valley.

The windy roads down the valley looked tempting. I instantly wanted to get the light trails of the cars driving back from the NP. I stayed up late and tried many exposures before I was sure about the settings. About 20min after the sunset I started to see the trials in 3-4min exposures but still the top of the photograph was too exposed. Had to wait a bit more for the light on the top to get less intense. The worry was the valley can get too dark! This was my third and final shot with a 6min exposure after the sun was completely down. Eventually, I realized its only a 15min window when the light is right to expose the shot right and get the trails distinct enough to stand out of the scene. The lights in the back is Visalia and Tulare.

Will post a few more shots from a day before.

----------

Please don't post any graphics or awards. I just want to know what you think and highly appreciate any inputs to improve my photographs. Thank you for your favorites and comments!

Holey Moley, what an exasperating ordeal. With the 'new' way to log in my password/recovery info got swapped/scrambled/ something and I couldn't log into my account. I don't know how they fixed it but an exceptionally patient and diligent person named Allen at flickr stuck with it and got me back in. (A huge thank you if you're 'listening')

I'm beside myself and can't believe how relieved I am after being so dang frustrated. Hope you all have been well, looking forward to catching up.

We’ve seen many images of Polar Bear mothers emerging from their dens with tiny newborn cubs . . . Some day we will do that trip! In the meantime we enjoyed watching a couple mothers with their spring cubs in Kaktovik as the freeze up approached. These cubs were probably born in February. They are heading towards their first winter on the sea ice. Mom at times seems exasperated by them (especially the little male in the center here) but it almost seems like she’s proudly showing them off to the boat full of humans off the coast.

Me: "Which Jedi Became A Rock Star?"

Steve: *exasperated sigh* "I Dunno, Which Jedi Became A Rock Star?"

Me: "Bon Jovi-Wan Kenobi."

Steve: "How Has Vader Not Force Choked You Yet?"

Figurine made by - David Grossman. I have purchased it in an Antique shop in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Galex grabs a bottle off the shelf and turns to Shya who is busy stirring the cauldron.

"I can't tell the unicorn tears from the ogre sweat? Which one is this?" he asks holding up a bottle.

Exasperated, Shya mutters under her breath, "This grimlock can track any beast in the forrest without issue but put him in a kitchen and he's as useless as a baby trigor..."

Then, slightly louder for Galex to hear, Shya says "Neither, dear. You're holding a bottle of centaur spit and if you add that to this potion it'll make the whole thing inert!"

Taken in Necturn Moon - when I stumbled across the scene suddenly the picture had to be created...

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Necturn%20Moon/26/143/79

A Snail Kite passes by us after someone flushed it from its perch, giving us an exasperated look.

Tikki waiting somewhat patiently for me to put the camera down and sit down so she can crawl up into my arms and be the cozy cat she wants to be. She got that shortly afterwards. That's a preference of hers (getting some lap time with me - or a guest of mine! - in the backyard) - but given the exasperated face I've been getting from Tikki lately in iPhone or other pix (photos, again?) I decided to take a pic of her being not yet exasperated at a distance, with the better camera, before acceding to her requests. Demands. Requests. Theme for 9 January 2021 Happy Caturday is “Cosy cat”, which is British for what this cat probably would spell "Cozy Cat."

Tofu is generally a very cooperative cat but his willingness to cooperate ends as soon as I need to get hold of him for whatever reason and he knows it. In such moments he tends to disappear deep in the greenery of the garden which forces me to crawl under shrubs and through the mud to reach him while Tofu just sits there and watches me. As soon as I'm close enough to catch him Tofu will (of course) dart past me and find another hideout. That kind of "game" can go on for quite a while, it's very funny for Tofu and rather exasperating for me. :)

Posted for the happy Caturday theme "Exasperating".

ah, my on going struggle with nighttime photography.

i just don't have the knack.

i hate how grainy this is.

someday, i really hope to learn how my camera works...

looks a little better here: View On Black

A great day in waterfall country trying an arch idea. It was quite exasperating as my overly ambitious large arch kept twisting and collapsing. Scaling it down meant it held for a few minutes. It was great fun though, and as always a privilege just to spend time in these amazing locations. For a first attempt I was quite pleased. Fragile reign is by Cherry Ghost and it certainly was.

Exasperating situation is every time Lola sees me with the camera and runs fast to the neighbor yard, but as she say: If you lived in the neighbor's house then I would spend my time in the other garden.

Posted for the Happy Caturday theme "Exasperating", 2024, September 7th.

I wish you all a wonderful and very Happy Caturday !!

Though it is a magnificent modern structure and presents itself well I had quite a difficult time trying to find an angle which was appealing. Exasperated I stepped back to get a shot of the highway and when I turned around my shot was right before me.

Stay on the trail they say. Good advice, but photographers can be stupid sometimes. Yes, I see the waterfall from the trail, and yes, it looks nice. But the image would be so much better if I could get 6 feet from the trail, just right over there. Yes, right there, its not that far off the trail. So I pick up the tripod and venture into the brush. What could go wrong? Its just right over there,

Well, the ground looked solid but one or two steps off the trail and I was nipples deep into the brush. There was no ground there, I was essentially surfing on the foliage. After tearing my pants, collecting countless scratches, and juggling my camera gear, I make it to my magical spot. Yes, it was a perfect view, but I can see why no else had done it. There is no ground! I try to set up the tripod, but when there is no ground that's not an easy thing to do. I finally just went hand-held and then sat there for a while. It was an exasperating 6 feet, and now I had to go back.

So was my image that much better than my photo buddy, Wil's image? No. Certainly not.

It's mine, but I can't get mad at her, because as soon as she sees me, she gives way and moves elsewhere...

Posted for the "Happy Caturday" theme "Exasperating".

Dushara Cathal Caithlin (Somali cat), 04.09.2024

Olympus OMD EM5 Digital Camera

Trying to appreciate the basics. Clean tap water is a precious commodity that I am grateful for. I decided to work with my flashes today and always walk away from those shoots quite exasperated. Obviously I need more practice but I get impatient that I can't get everything to work correctly and wait until I've forgotten about the problems before I try again. Maybe it's time for a flash challenge...

Happy Friday, everyone! We woke up here at the farm and discovered that the rabbits were loose, and running wild and we needed to herd them back up! “Come on sheepies and rascal pup, we have to get all of the bun buns back to their pens before they cause more havoc!” And this is how life on the farm goes. One day it might be calm and smooth sailing, and the next day there is a rabbit revolt in full progress before you can even knock back a good strong cup of coffee!

Never a dull moment, which keeps things fun, even if a bit exasperating! After this chore was complete, we had horses and chickens to deal with, but they were very motivated by their favorite grain for breakfast, and they were much better behaved than the bunnies had been! Thank Heavens!

Now … where is my coffee? It’s time to go back out in search of that elusive bakery! I think we’ll find it today, just in time for weekend pastry indulgence! Yay!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend filled with all of your favorite treats too! Lots of love … 💕❤️

Exasperated

At the end of your tether...

20" x 20" Digital Painting/Art

available in various media & sizes

www.theartoflife.gallery/v/photos/20852ptm/feeling-gallery

#theartocalypse #digitalart #interiordesign #art #mentalhealth #abstractart

There are many ways a cat can exasperate you. We allow several of our cats to sit with us on the sofa for dinner and tv. They are only allowed there because they can behave, but occasionally, one cannot resist a peak at whatever we are having for dinner! Dill is usually SO good, but for some reason, she is always curious about a salad!

Happy Caturday! - "Exasperating"

*siiiiiiiigh*... "Reeeeally. Patty, yer exasperating..."

A market seller in Hoi An

What is exasperating is that one can feel closer to managing the skills of photography than most other arts, and yet be a long hop, skip and delusional way from it :-)

Norman Corwin

HBW!! Peace Now!

japanese camellia, 'Ballerina', sarah p duke gardens, duke university, durham, north carolina

Annie: I'm kinda busy here Poppy...why don't you go play in the traffic or something.

**pause**

Poppy: Why?

Annie: Cause I'm DOING sumthin here...

*pause thinking*

Poppy: Stealin?

Annie: *getting annoyed* none of your bee's wax

Poppy: *blink* *blink*

Annie: *exasperated* It's NOT stealin if you rob your OWN piggy, silly girl!

Poppy: Oh. Well, why are you robbing from your own piggy then?

Annie: *gaaaaaah*....oh..oh...you'll see...

7~52

While driving along the Kings Canyon we realized it was only a couple hours to sunset. Importantly we had not decided any place where we wanted to get the sunset. For a change it was drizzling all afternoon and I was thinking of getting some nice post-rain clouds for the sunset. We finally decided to drive back to Sequoia and get the sunset at the Moro Rock. It was about an hour away from the Kings Canyon National Park.

As we arrived at the spot after climbing like 500 stairs, we were greeted with this awesome view. This is the west side where all the magic was happening.

The stairs go right to the top, an exasperating climb but completely worth the effort. At times a bit unsafe as the railings are absent, but no biggy! Excellent place to watch stars if you stay late on the top. This was taken from about half climb where there is a small balcony put out to watch the wavy valley.

The windy roads down the valley looked tempting. I instantly wanted to get the light trails of the cars driving back from the NP. I stayed up late and tried many exposures before I was sure about the settings. About 20min after the sunset I started to see the trials in 3-4min exposures but still the top of the photograph was too exposed. Had to wait a bit more for the light on the top to get less intense. The worry was the valley can get too dark! This was my third and final shot with a 6min exposure after the sun was completely down. Eventually, I realized its only a 15min window when the light is right to expose the shot right and get the trails distinct enough to stand out of the scene. The lights in the back is Visalia and Tulare.

This is a single photograph (not panorama), cropped from the bottom to remove the rocks from the front. In addition, I used a graduated ND filter (3-stopper) for this photograph.

----------

Please don't post any graphics or awards. I want to know what you think and highly appreciate any inputs to improve my photographs. Thank you for your favorites and comments!

A Roseate Spoonbill gives a very exasperated look over the shoulder.

sim: North Pole

uber: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/North%20Pole/47/122/23

WITH TWAIN'S VERY SPECIAL GUEST: Ethan Lane Jaymes !!!!

Twain: Thank you for coming to my little filthy Studio ! I'm so very excited to have you here !

Ethan: Really? Why are you so excited ?

Twain: Well. Because you are the first, ..um, .. .male of your, ...

Ethan: ... Yes ? ..

Twain: ..that is to say ..

Twain: .. of your , hm? .. gender.

Ethan: [palms to face rubbing his face in agony]

Ethan: You mean because I am a part of the LGBTQIA community ?

Twain: Well .. see, .. I never could figure out the alphabetic aspect of it .. and ..

Ethan: You really are not very bright , .. are you ?

Twain: [shakes his head no]

Ethan: [Looking a bit exasperated]

Ethan: So I happen to be a gay male and I have a male partner.

Is that why you invited me to your studio ?!

Twain: No! Of course not !!

Ethan: Well ? Why then ?

Twain: To look at my new photo of course !

Ethan: [Takes a quick look]

Ethan: What about it ?

Twain: What do you think of it ?

Ethan: [shrugs]

Ethan: A rather typical Twain photo. A semi scenic photo with a nice person standing ... trees etc.

Twain: ...... oh .......

Twain: Well. We can't all be photoshop experts with lighting like you can !!!!

Ethan: What photoshop lighting?

Twain: That is what you use , correct ?

Ethan: [Laughs]

Ethan: Noooooo

Twain: [Looks a bit stunned]

Twain: ...but ? ... your lighting is perfection .... how do you do it ?!

Ethan: You promise not to tell anyone ? ..

Twain: [places his hand to his mesh heart] .. You have my word as a fairly abysmal flickr artist !

Ethan: [nods]

Ethan: You are aware of those tiny LED lights that you can purchase at any art store, . or on amazon ?

Twain: [nods and nods]

Ethan: ..well? That's what I use for all the lighting, all the bright areas on my photos.

Ethan: I take my best shot and then I just line up the tiny LED lights where I want the bright areas to really shine through.

Twain: No way ?!!!

Ethan: Way !!!!

Twain: Why didn't I ever think of that ?

Ethan: Because you just don't have any skill sets to speak of.

Twain: ....this is very true.

Twain: Although this is not what I tell the men and women who assume that I know you well.

Ethan : WHAT ?!!!

Twain: [nods] I get a lot of fan mail in my flickr mail that is meant for you .

Ethan: Why would they send flickr mail for me ... to you ?!!

Twain: Because they think I am on set with you when you take your photos and I do delicate work for you .....

Ethan: What the hell are you saying ?!!!!

Twain: I told them all that .. well ..

Twain: You know when you have those little words on your flesh ?

Ethan: You mean when I use BOM markings and words ?

Twain: Precisely ! Everyone believes that I am your personal artistic assistant. I do all the tats work .. including those little words and such. So I am 'Ethan Famous'.

Ethan: [palms to face .. looking miserable]

Twain: They send me fan mail that is meant for you.

Ethan: ...but I am Partnered !!

Twain: ..well ? They can dream.

Ethan : How many men write to you about me?

Twain: Oh.. both men and women.

Ethan: What ?

Twain: The ladies love you.

Twain: I get at least ten flickr mail for you each and every day.

Ethan: Oh my Lord !!

Twain: Most are quite bold and sensual in nature.

Ethan: What do you do with all the flickr mail ?

Twain: I read them late at night while I take a warm bath ...and I .. um, ... oh, .. never mind ..

Twain: I did an audience Poll on your photos.

Ethan: What are you talking about ?

Twain: Well .. I asked both the ladies and the men which they prefer ......

Twain: Do they prefer when you show yourself in a bathtub with your c**k hanging out ... OR ..

Twain: Do they prefer when you have underwear on and your c**k is show rather hard and puffed out.

Ethan: You took a Poll !!!!

Twain: I thought it might be useful ......

Ethan: I can't believe what I'm hearing !!!!

Twain: Would you like to hear the results ?

Ethan: Noooooooo !!!

Twain: Of course .......

Twain: By a wide margin, both men and women alike preferred when you wore your underwear ..

Ethan: Do you know why ?

Twain: They felt your c**k looked larger and more firm and it left more to the imagination.

Ethan: :nods:

Ethan: .... well ? .. I should be furious with you !! .. but ... hm?

[rubs his chin] .. I'll probably get a lot more underwear sponsors from this all. I suppose not a bad outcome.

Twain: [nods]

Twain: Some of the women would like to be sexual with you as soon as possible . and the men want a 3 way with you asap as well .. what should tell them ?

Ethan: Tell them that I have a Partner and that I love him dearly ..and thank them .. I suppose ?

[whispers under his breath .. oh my Lord !!]

[suddenly Maggie Runo steps brightly onto the stage]

Ethan: [elbows Twain and whispers]

Ethan: ..isn't that Maggie Runo?!

Twain: Yes , I believe so .. why?

Ethan: I've always admired her flickr Art .. such style and grace.

Ethan: Do you think she'd give me her Autograph if I asked her nicely ?

Twain: I really have no idea ?

Maggie: Hi Twain .. who's your friend?

Twain: Maggie, allow me to introduce you to Ethan Lane Jaymes

Maggie: Oh yes ? .. I think I remember Ethan from ten years ago or more when he would have get togethers for his designer homes .. not flickr famous back then ... but a rather nice fellow.

Ethan: [a visible gulp]

Ethan: You remember me from way back then ?

Maggie : [smiles brightly]

Maggie: I had some ideas for you

Ethan: For me ?!

Maggie: [nods]

Maggie: The textures for your mesh body ... they could be improved upon .. if you don't mind my input ?

Ethan: Well .. ? I do have four different bodies and three heads .. so?

Maggie: I can see you are busy now , but if you like we can discuss it at another time.

Ethan [rather star struck]

Ethan: Yes, of course ...

Maggie [quickly turns around and heads out towards the exit of the studio door ... 'Nice to see you Twain ....

Twain: Good to see you Maggie .

Ethan: [almost shouting ... 'May I have your Autog ..........

[The door slams shut .. ]

Twain: [pats Ethan on his shoulder]

Twain: Maybe you'll have better luck next time ...

Ethan: Do you have Maggie's Autograph ?

Twain: Naturally .. of course !

Ethan ... Wow ...

Ethan: [Looks at Twain in a whole different light now]

[Suddenly Lake Solee enters the studio slamming the door behind her]

Lake: Oh .. hello there Twain and Ethan ..

Lake: I didn't know you were going to have a guest on now ?

Twain: That's okay .. how can I be of help?

Lake: Oh , I just wanted to return the extra Periwinkle color that you had loaned me .. that's all. And thank you ...

Twain: Was it of use ?

Lake: I used a bit .. but it was the thought that counts ..I'm grateful.

Lake: [smiles]

Lake: [suddenly grabs Twain by his shirt lapels]

Lake: Hependant, si jamais je te revois, je t'ouvrirai la poitrine et t'arracherai ton misérable cœur .. et le placerai sur un pieu, le hisserai sur un drapeau canadien .. et crierai de joie pour moi et pour notre peuple ! Espèce de petit ver misérable !! Je te déteste tellement .. Je suis maintenant à court de mots !! Ne me laisse plus jamais te revoir !!!!!

Twain: Um, .... sure thing ...

Twain: [gulps ]

Twain: [watches Lake as she promptly leaves the little studio slamming the door behind her.

Ethan: Lake really seems to like you ..

Twain: Ah, .. yeah, .. we've been good friends for many a year now.

Twain: [beads of sweat running down his forehead]

Twain: Anything you'd like to say before we conclude this interview ?

Ethan: ..well? Just keep on trying ..

Twain: ..with my photo Art ?

Ethan: [rubs his chin thoughtfully]

Ethan: ...not so much that ...

Ethan: .. perhaps pursue, .. you know , ... something with Crayons perhaps ? ...

Twain: [sighs] ..

Twain: I'll take your words under advisement .. and thank you.

Ethan: [pats Twain on his back]

Ethan: Anytime !

Twain: Would you like a parting gift ? ..

[Looks through his old box of parting gifts for studio guests]

Twain: Perhaps this tube of yellow ochre ? It's only half used ?

Ethan: [grabs it ......]

Ethan: Sure, .. never know. It might come in handy on one of my many sets.

Twain: [sighs] ..You are quite wealthy . right ?

Ethan: [smiles] Quite !!!!!

Ethan: Bye now !

[Ethan slowly heads towards the exit studio door while whistling ... 'We'll Meet Again' in the style of Vera Lynn ...... ]

FIN !!

Sometimes, I think our Tricolored Herons get tired of us watching them.

They say a cat walking with its tail erect is confident and happy. That's our Dusty. But it wasn't always the case. Here's an account of the day when Dusty officially became our boy.

I said in the previous photo that our neighbour was quite frustrated about Dusty's wanderlust and love of street life. For whatever reason he just didn't fit in at their place and spent many hours in our backyard. Then a dramatic moment brought things to a head:

"There was a knock on the door from our exasperated neighbor.

'Dusty’s been picked up at the TAFE and he’s at the pound. If you want him, you can have him! You’ll just have to pay the fine and arrange for his microchip to be transferred to your name.'

Okay... It took a few seconds to process what had just happened.

Over our back fence is a lovely nature reserve in which a local training college is located. Dusty had obviously wandered over there many times, but on this occasion had been picked up by a local council officer as a stray cat. We had come to enjoy having Dusty around, but we also appreciated that we didn’t have direct responsibility for his welfare. We could come and go as we pleased. All this was about the change.

Poor little Dusty. When we arrived at the cat shelter, he was sitting in a caged carry basket and let out a confused cry as soon as he saw us.

'Get me out of here,’ he seemed to be saying."

We did and now he's at home with us.

...and a mind all blank.

Exasperating, not really!

Kunibert wanted to suck on Ares' catnip cushion, which Ares was not amused about. But as he was sitting in the higher position anyway, he showed mercy and left it to his dear friend, and a little later, of course, he got a new one himself and both sucked happy and satisfied!

Dr. Sarah Chen had always been fascinated by the mysteries of the universe. She spent her entire career researching and developing technologies to unlock the secrets of the cosmos.

However, there was one question that had always eluded her: ‘What is the purpose of life?’

For years, she worked tirelessly, studying various theories and philosophies, but all she ever found were incomplete answers and endless debates.

Frustrated, she decided to take matters into her own hands and design a supercomputer that would finally solve the ultimate question.

It took her over a decade to develop the machine, but finally, it was complete. The computer, which she named "Genesis," was the most advanced system in the world. It could solve complex equations that would take humans decades to unravel.

With a deep breath, Dr. Chen typed in the ultimate question and hit the enter key. Genesis whirred to life, its screens flashing with images and text.

For hours, Dr. Chen watched in amazement as the machine processed information, comparing countless theories and analysing billions of lines of code.

Finally, Genesis beeped, and a message appeared on the screen.

“The purpose of life is to discover the purpose of life.”

With an exasperated scream, Dr Chen shuddered in dismay, realising that her work had only just begun.

For more AI inspired micro stories please visit neural-narrative.blogspot.com/

Put Your"All" Into It.

*exasperated plea*

"...Mom-eee, are we done yet?"

Inspired by all the Moofers out recently!

Eastern Screech Owl (Megascops asio) ~ Pinellas County, Florida

Another from my eastern screech owl encounter from a few weeks ago. What a treat to see this bird and have it wide awake (compliments of an exasperated loggerhead shrike) for the experience.

Thanks for visiting!

Once upon a time people so special to me have tread these steps.....

Bittersweet nostalgia, but better to have had the joy of them in my life and the mental image time can not take away.....especially of my Nana telling grandypops to hurry, she was always 10 steps ahead of the poor man, though the love was clearly evident even if she did exasperate him!

Perhaps one day my boys will remember me on these same steps....probably telling them to hurry along too ❤

In the late '50s of the last century, Jesús Santiago Moure (1912-2010) of Brazil, exasperated at the confusion in the naming ot Trigona Bees, instituted a new grouping: Tetragonula. They're wonderul, tiny stingless bees. That means that their ovipositors are not sufficiently robust to pierce human skins. Obviously they function in every other way especially in positioning their eggs. Here in the inset is one probably collecting moisture or something 'oily' from the flower of a Lobster Claw, Heliconia psittacorum.

More snow falling again today, after a week of being housebound I am starting to get a bit stir crazy. My kiddo is still sick, I have a few lingering symptoms like a stuffy nose and cough but the fever, aches, and pains have subsided. I had to get my crafty on and pulled out some craft wire and inserted it into the hollow onion shafts so I could bend them to my will. I was exasperated by all of the reflections this morning and had to shoot a few different ways to minimize all that was going on. I also managed to knock over my camera on the tripod but fortunately, it was a soft landing and nothing was damaged, hooray!

I know the theme for Happy Caturday this week is "exasperated" - the idea being that our little furry angels occasionally exasperate us. But Rena, of course, put her spin on the theme, so here she is being exasperated with the whole situation of being at the vet for her annual wellness exam and having Dr. Bahou listen to her heart and lungs.

She may not look happy but she was a very compliant patient. She appears very healthy and her weight is steady at 8.5 pounds.

Happy Caturday: Exasperated with