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Mentre un raggio di sole illumina le case riscaldandole con i suoi deboli raggi (al plutonio) il temporale si appresta a dire la sua.
This is, basically, a throwaway photograph. The subject matter is uninteresting and there's certainly nothing intriguing about how I took the shot. However, there are two very interesting aspects surrounding this photograph that speaks to something I've mentioned before in how Dona and I take pictures.
On this trip, Dona and I were purposed to find the tombstone of a famous bluegrass musician, Charlie Poole. His grave is in Rockingham County, a place Dona and I go to repeatedly looking for subjects to photograph. I looked up directions to the cemetery online and we set off.
When we got to Eden (Spray) and were following the electronic directions, we came to the end of the line only to discover that the cemetery was nowhere in sight. In our experiences, electronic maps are not as accurate as you would expect them to be. Frustrated, we started traveling the surrounding roads in hopes of coming across the cemetery. After several minutes, I was all for giving up and returning home. Dona, though, is not one to give up once she starts something. So, on we drove looking for the missing cemetery.
I've mentioned before on Flickr how the most interesting and meaningful photos Dona and I have ever taken were found when we became lost. There have also been times when we have searched for subjects we knew of but had no clear idea how to find. Then, all of a sudden, we would awkwardly stumble across our destination. We refer to this as being guided by unseen hands. It happens so frequently, more often than not, we purposefully get lost just to see where we'll end up and what we'll find. It almost always turns out to be we find subject matter we never knew existed.
On this trip, we decided to backtrack our route in hopes of finding a turnoff we might have missed the first time. We found a place to turn around, a church parking lot. Dona was in the process of turning the car around when in her rear view mirror she spied the sign in the photograph above. Immediately, she brought it to my attention. She parked the car and we walked across the road to explore the Old Spray Cemetery.
It appeared to be abandoned. The grave stones were broken and covered with weeds. I had to be careful where I stepped because the area was covered in brambles that tore at my pants.
I took my pictures and we left. Incidentally, we did go down the right street that led us to the cemetery where Charlie Poole was buried. But, that is not the story that I want to tell.
I belong to a Facebook group of people who lived in Spray at some point in their life. In the mid-sixties, the towns of Spray, Draper and Leaksville were combined into the city of Eden, North Carolina in Rockingham County. This group is comprised of older residents and past residents that post photos and memories of growing up in Spray.
I was curious about the Old Spray Cemetery. I had never heard of it before and had never read any comments about it in the group. So, I posted this photograph and asked if anyone knew the history of the place. Yes, people had heard of it. Some people had family buried there. But, over the years, the cemetery had been forgotten. Being a small, Southern community, honoring the dead and the resting place of the dead is an important thing. Immediately, comments were posted about how shameful the cemetery looked. Questions were asked whose responsibility the cemetery was. Someone contacted the City of Eden. They did not own the cemetery. No one claimed ownership. Over the next two or three weeks, the members of the Spray group started a campaign seeking volunteers to go into the cemetery to clean it up. Arrangements were made with the church across the street to allow parking for the volunteers. A date of November 10th is the date for the cleanup. A member of the group took the old sign down, painted it and replaced the letters. The new sign is back in place.
All of this came about as a result of Dona and I getting lost trying to find another grave in another cemetery. Judging from the comments I read on the group page, family members were reconnected to memories of passed family members buried here. And, I hope, the efforts of cleanup will be such that this little resting place of loved ones who have passed over will be restored as best as can be to a maintained cemetery.
It's funny how those who have passed on can remain with us in our memories and our hearts. I have an aunt that died in infancy and is buried in Danville, Virginia. No marker is on her grave. Over the years, I cannot determine if any family members ever visited her grave after moving to North Carolina shortly after Dorothy's death. Yet, for me, I often think of that small child in her forgotten grave in another state. Does she wonder why her family forgot her? I researched online and found the plot information to locate her grave in the cemetery where she is buried. I don't drive. It's been over two years since I got the info to locate her grave so I could stand where she rests and let her know not everyone forgot about her.
Some people think my interest in photographing cemeteries is disrespectful. Some people tell me the past and the people who inhabit it have no bearing on the present. I believe time is a continuum. Much like a river that travels from this place to that, it effects whatever it touches. What went before determines the present just as the present determines the future. I cannot and will not forget my Aunt Dorothy as it appears my family has. Dorothy may not have been around long. But, her death impacted my grandparents' lives more than anyone but them will ever know. No. I do not believe the dead should ever be forgotten.
[ 問 ]
究竟~!
是象鼻蟲長得像花生,
還是花生長得像象鼻蟲...?
#讓我們繼續拍下去...😂
#六月份好像有三堂以上的微距外拍要帶...😂
#培養收假情緒...😂
Olympus PEN-F
Olympus 60mm F2.8 Macro
Godox TT350O
#每日一微 #微距 #Olympus #PENF #PENFlens #6028Macro #Godox #TT350O #microfourthirdsgallery #olympustwshare #Macro #マクロ #象鼻蟲 #花生
Invercargill and the province of Southland.
The question that has always puzzled me is why does a city of 50,000 people exist on the southernmost tip of NZ which has the bleakest climate? Invercargill is the coolest, most bleak and cloudiest city in NZ. It averages just 1,600 hours of sunshine a year compared with 1,500 for London, 2,050 in Christchurch, 2,800 in Adelaide and 3,200 in Perth WA. It has around 200 mm of rain every month of the year and it is a very windy city. It is in fact one of the largest southern cities in the world only surpassed by Ushuaia and Punta Arenas in Argentina and Chile respectively. But because of its latitude it has long summer days. Even in mid-October when we visit the length of day will be around 13.5 hours with the sun setting around 8:20 pm. In high summer twilight ends around 10:30 pm with a 16 hour long day like in Scotland. At this time of the year one can often see the Aurora Australis or Southern Lights an atmospheric phenomena of subarctic regions. Like Dunedin Invercargill was settled by the Scots. Many of its streets and families have Scottish names. It developed as an offshoot of Scottish Otago. The Surveyor General of Otago selected the site for a new town in 1856 and laid out the streets in a grid pattern on this very flat city. The first land was sold in 1858 and by 1861 Invercargill was a very small but flourishing town. Why? Because it had three main riches, apart from some gold found in the hinterland in 1860: it had the largest most fertile plains of NZ; it had a coastline rich with oysters, lobsters, cod fish and abalone( paua); and it had heavily forested mountains with hardwoods which were in great demand throughout the world- rimu, totara, silver beech etc. These basic factors meant that the province of Southland when it separated from Otago in 1861 had a bright future. The land, rainfall, soils and seas would provide for the people as it had done for the Maoris before the whites arrived. Southland consequently has had a rich and varied agricultural past ranging from sheep pastoralism, grain growing especially oats for porridge and barley for illicit whisky making (how could the Scots survive in this cold climate without whisky?) ,linen flax growing and milling, dairying and milk processing, fish and seafood canning, timber cutting and timber mills, and meat freezing and butchering works. These rural industries necessitated railways and like Dunedin Invercargill become a major rail head with lines going north to Lumsden, Kingston and Queenstown in the Alps, across to Gore, and west towards Fjordland and the richly forested valleys adjacent to it. Timber in particular needed the railways. Invercargill established railway workshops and the manufacturing steam engines for the railways of NZ. Its first railway line was built in 1867 to the Bluff, the port for Southland. It was connected to Christchurch by 1878.
In the 20th century Southland has developed hydroelectricity which in turn has attracted industry to the region. Possums introduced from across the Tasman in 1858 have become a major pest but they have also spawned a new industry- possum textiles and woollens; red deer were introduced from Europe in 1901 to Fjordland and now with the advent of helicopters and helicopter farming they are “farmed” for venison and processed near Invercargill. The story of Southland and Invercargill is one generally of success and success based on the climate and the resources of the land. For example, dairying has been strong since the early 1880s and continues today with Fonterra Milk processing mainly for export to Asia; linen flax milling continued until 1956; flourmills have processed wheat and the oat mill in Gore produced porridge oats; and Chewings Fescue was found to thrive in Southland and has become a major industry producing lawns for houses around NZ. Southland introduced prohibition in 1905 which lasted until 1945 and the illegal moonshine or whisky making in the hills east of Invercargill near Gore continued whilst that was in place. But the really big success has been hydroelectricity which began with Lake Monowai Power station in 1925. It still powers Invercargill and feeds into the national power grid. More recently the enormous Manapouri Power Station 200 metres below the water level of Lake Manapouri near Te Anau in Fjordland was completed in 1971 after work commenced in 1964. It is the largest hydroelectric station in NZ and the second largest power station in NZ. It was developed for Comalco to erect an aluminium smelter and refinery at the Bluff near Invercargill which is now run by Rio Tinto and employs nearly 3,000 people from Invercargill but its financial viability is shaky and the plant has been threatened with closure. Another major industry of Invercargill is fertiliser production.
•Invercargill is a Scottish settlement. 40% of Invercargill’s suburbs and nearby towns have Scottish names and the first Presbyterian Church was the leading church of the province. The current church replaced an earlier 1863 church in 1915 when it was completed. It is built of brick with a domed roof, a 100 foot high tower and it is in the Italian Romanesque style. It is on the highway from Dunedin at 151 Tay St. Next on the right we will see St Johns Anglican Church( 108 Tay St) in red brick built in 1887; almost next door is the impressive Town Hall and Theatre ( 88 Tay St) built 1906 in classical style; next is the YMCA building of 1910 at 77 Tay St; at the roundabout (the location of the Boer War Memorial) at the end of the street is the old Bank of NSW built in 1904 on the right whilst on the left is the former Cornerstone Bank of NZ building from 1879 ; as we turn right into Dee St. you will see a plethora of brightly painted heritage buildings all in good repair – partly because the city’s young mayor from Auckland has supported and encouraged this to revitalise the city. At 136 Dee St is the Blackman building with the large black swan on the roof line and further along (178 Dee St.) is the Gothic St Pauls Presbyterian Church built in 1876 and added to in 1881. Next we turn right into Victoria Ave to visit the Information Centre, the Southland Museum and Queens Park with its rhododendron dell. After our visit here we will pass the City water Tower (a flat city needed a tower for water pressure) built in 1888 with 300,000 red, yellow and black bricks. 101 Doon St.
Other heritage buildings include:
•Anderson House built in 1828 in neo-Georgian style for a wealthy businessman Sir Robert Anderson who had links with forestry, timber selling and the Southland Building society. His estate with 30 acres and his art collection was bequeathed to the city and the house became the city art gallery. It was closed in 2013 because it did not meet earthquake building regulations.
•The three story WEA building built in 1912 as a Coffee and Spice mill at 100 Esk St which is also the main shopping street. The spice firm was established in 1872 and some parts of this remain behind the 1912 building. It is now the Southland Education Centre for adults. The beautiful Southland Times newspaper office (1908) is also in this street at number 67.
•The Catholic St Mary’s Basilica built in 1905 in neo-classical style a bit like St Peter’s in Rome but tiny. On corner of Tyne & Ninth Streets. Near there at 80 Forth St is the 1926 classical style Masonic Centre.
•The decorative and fanciful Railway Hotel built in 1886 with classical features and a few Australian Federation era features. It is at 3 Leven Street behind the City library at the end of Esk St.
So the builds done I just don't have the story or very good lighting atm :P
Build is inspired by Color www.flickr.com/photos/ironbricks/6370626235/in/set-721576...
(NOTE The entire build is not shown in the picture above)
Anyway Have anybody else here that has successfully cut and applied Lego stickers to clone troopers and had problems with them staying on? They always slide around and come off is there a special way of putting them on that prevents this from happening?
Custom pose ,
COPY, NO MODIFY, NO TRANSFER
All Poses are STATIC, perfect for PHOTOS
If you have any questions or concerns, send IM or notecard
Visit the InWorld Store!
Little preview for a collab painting for our group art show opening next month. Of course ticky, UWP, bob and el toro will be in this painting as well, but you got to come to the show to see this finished!
website: www.tsb215.com/
Makoto: “How do you do that?”
Yuki: “Do what?”
Makoto: “How do you project a question mark above your head?”
Yuki: “Is there a question mark above my head?”
Makoto: “Can’t you see it?”
Yuki: “What if I look up and it disappears? Will that mean you’re hallucinating?”
Makoto: “What if you look up and see it? Will that mean we’re both hallucinating?”
Yuki: “Maybe all these questions have manifested into an astrally-projected phenomenon?
Makoto: “Maybe we are victims of post-processing?”
Yuki: “If it were added in post-processing, why would you be reaching like that toward nothing?”
Makoto: “Maybe it’s time we gave the questions a rest for today?”
Yuki: “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Makoto: “Snacks and a movie?”
Yuki: “How about ‘Dude, Where’s My Car?’”
Makoto: “Maybe a double-feature with ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”
“Yuki: How can I say no to that?”
- - - - -
Created for the We’re Here contemplation of the Question Mark.
Marche du 1er juin pour la fondation SEVE Canada, dans le parc nature de la Pointe-aux-Prairies, Montréal, Québec
I fell in love at 17 and married that man at 25. We were the ideal couple and admired by many. He could build anything, fix anything, was handsome, loving and so very kind. I was the somewhat pretty girl, in my view, but never quite good enough. I grew up with a constant questioning of my looks, my worth, my intelligence. I had a boyfriend for two seconds in 7th grade, and then not again until late in my senior year. And guess what? I married him. Never had I felt more at home and safe, and truly in love. The problem was, I had never stopped questioning my worth. And I continued to look for validation and nods of approval from other people. It became “not enough” to have my husband’s love, I was looking for more. Though I was not aware I was doing this, I also started to measure and question my husband’s love as true or not. This would look like me flirting with people even in front of my husband (if he seemed jealous, maybe he really loved me) or leading people on just enough to have to tell them I was in a relationship. This was a pattern for me, one I didn’t see clearly at the time. (I also didn’t see, couldn’t see that every flirt, glance, or lead-on was me looking for me). And, I loved him. When he would leave for work, I would feel a loss, I loved being with him. I even think he knew about me and my insecurities, and loved me still.
We decided to have kids once he turned 30, and that was when things got really strained.
Jonas came in to this world with an extremely rare genetic disorder that ultrasound and genetic testing at the time did not detect. The dream of starting a family the way I had imagined was thrown into a washing machine, dryer and then a wood chipper. He struggled with life from the start, and ended up in the hospital a lot. That started the dynamic of once my husband came home, I would hand him our son and go hide in housework or a book or some other escape. There was a lot of love, pain, struggling, more hospitalizations, sleepless nights and generalized anxiety. I was not grounded in who I was, I was surviving. Jonas wasn’t even typical for an atypical child. In the handicapped and special needs world, he was the most complex. That wasn’t even the most difficult part. That was the crying. He seemed to never stop. He mostly cried, with little moments of calm (the opposite from other children)...something that didn’t improve much till he was 5 or so. Then I had this great idea to have another baby. At least I could have something ‘normal’ to deal with. Wesley came about 18 months later, and was as I imagined. Perfectly typical. Keeping myself busy, distracted, “important”, having so many reasons to not deal with who I was and what I needed led me to eventually come to the realization that our marriage wasn’t working. He didn’t love me. I had been collecting evidence like “see he didn’t even kiss me goodnight” “he never called to check in from work” or “why does he call me from work, he doesn’t think I know how to take care of the kids?” I had convinced myself he wasn’t the ‘one’ for me after all. That the love must not be real, and it must be somewhere else. So, I started to wait for my true love. And thoughts like “wait, He was my true love so what happened??” came but for some reason I avoided working it out. I had my answer, true love was coming from somewhere else. And then guess what? It did.
I started down the divorce path, and it got real. There were so many moments I knew I had messed everything up, and I should just go back and try to repair things. That was paired with a justification because evidence still showed he didn’t love me. I mean, he was letting me divorce him.
Our divorce took years. I couldn’t do it. Then I could. Then I couldn’t. I stalled, he stalled. I avoided. He avoided. But all the while, I was in a new relationship...the one I called the ‘true love’. The stalling and avoiding was impacting my new relationship. It felt like I was taking off my own arm so that I could feel more complete. And it made as much sense as that. The pain got so overwhelming at one point, I broke up my new relationship thinking it would all get easier. I had been dealing with extreme anger and hatred from my ex-husband’s family. A family I once loved, and who supposedly loved me. There was so much anxiety and fear and pain, at one point I contracted mono, paired with hepatitis and spent months on the couch. Alone. That was when I realized my now ex husband found the love of his life. How could I feel jealous and angry? Well, I did. She was younger. And pretty. Great body. And she had my kids with her half the time. What.the.fuck.
It got ugly. I had finally found moments of peace and workability with my ex husband where he wasn’t angry all the time, and now she’s here? Well, that brought a new level of tension and drama. I remember a soccer game where he brought his brother and parents, and I brought my sister so I’d have backup. His girlfriend was sitting on the ground with Jonas and I couldn’t even get near him. How freaking awkward. What were people thinking. What does it mean about me that I cant just go over there and tell her that I would like to hold my own son. In times like those, I wanted the earth to swallow me up. It went on like that for a while. I had moments of extending the olive branch, and trying to be nice and sharing movie recommendations. Something inside of me knew it could be different. I even saw things I liked about her. And deep down, I still loved my ex. I could see that I didn’t love him romantically per se, but that I was not complete with the way things were. It was like a nagging constant voice of why? why? why? why? In my head. Meaning, why was it like this? Why are we pretending to be enemies? Didn’t it make sense what I did? Aren’t you happier now? Why are you still mad? Voices in my head would confuse me and have me wonder why I’m still wanting him to prove his love to me. After all I did? But it was like that: “You should hate me. Why do you hate me? You should thank me. I am so sorry. You should be sorry. “
Years go by in a mostly polite, kind-of peaceful manner and then I had a great idea. I would invite them to this enormous party I was having for Jonas. He had lived for 10 years by then, and every time he was sick I would try to prepare myself for his death. So when he was about to turn 10, I thought we should throw him a ‘life party’. I rented a place, and catered the event with food and drinks, music, games, and a movie I had made about Jonas (which included his dad and now girlfriend). Well, they came, and it was fine. They managed to find people to talk to without it being awkward for them, and I was so happy to be having a party of love that I didn’t even worry about them. I also didn’t worry if I was hugging my new husband too much. I guess I was starting to feel overall more comfortable inside with the choices we all made. Well then the first of many small miracles happened. When the party was over, she sent me a text. She shared that it was amazing for her to get a glimpse of the mother that I really am, instead of through the lens of my ex family (who still hated my guts I was sure). She saw the love, and what I had created for Jonas, and she started to wonder at the person I really was. It was the first moment perhaps, that she actually saw me. For me, that was validating and gave me the energy to keep going, to keep moving in the direction of healing and peace. Man, all it took was saying something nice to one another. We make it so complicated.
The next monumental moment was after I took a course through Landmark Education and invited her to my ‘graduation night’. She came, and she brought me a gift. I thought that was adorable. Maybe I was starting to actually like this girl? That very night, she signed up for the same course, and signed her husband (my ex husband) up too. Once we all took that course, our healing and forgiving and connecting took off. All we needed was a common language so that no one feels blamed, or wronged. We all learned about how dynamics are created, and how we keep patterns alive in our thinking -and now we had tools to actually share when we got hurt or upset. This is also around the time that I finally started to understand what happened in my marriage. I learned that when I was younger and in a certain moment with my parents, I convinced myself that they didn’t love me. It was not conscious. I also in that moment, learned to shut my love off in response. I then got to see how that had created patterns of hurt and pain, and shutting off my love for people- all without me knowing it was a decision I made from childhood. I actually felt justified and it all felt real. To constantly question people’s love became normal. I collect evidence to support my ‘truth’, and then I usually distance myself from that person. Divorce.
Yes, I do think it could have been avoided had I learned this about myself sooner. But would I go back now? No. I’d even go through the yuckiest, sickest, deepest sadness of my life to be where we are today. After Landmark, we were no longer afraid to share time together. We started hanging out a little bit more. We eventually shared Christmas Eve together. We really enjoyed our time together. We hit a few bumps in the road, but they didn’t stop us, and Megan and I started calling each other if we sensed something was up. We realized we had a common commitment to the kids being happy, and now we were both living from that. In the past three years, my husband and I hosted their first baby shower at our home, we have gone on vacation together, we have had countless dinners, brunches and lunches together. Last Christmas Jonas ended up in the hospital for about 3 weeks. His heart stopped. For 25 minutes. My ex husband Kieran, his wife Megan and I stood at the head of Jonas’s bed and watched while they tirelessly tried to revive him. They surrounded me in love beyond what I could have ever expected. What we shared in that moment, really got me present to that THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT IS LIKE TO SHARE A CHILD. Before the drama. Blaming. Comparing. When we are able to forget about our own complaints, judgements, etc...we were just there because we love someone. Our son. Stepson. Whatever. It’s all love. When we let love BE there, it all makes sense. Those few weeks with the four of us in the same hospital room provided a slowing down of life, and a presence with each other that is difficult to achieve in every day life. We talked about what each of us wants for Jonas. What kind of life we want to have for him, for us as a family and as individuals. COVID didn’t stop us, and only kept us in the conversation of how we really want to live. We have had dinners or lunches every weekend when we ‘trade’ the kids. We are talking about that together, anything is possible. We could even live abroad. What can I say? Life works when we clean up our complaints and take responsibility for our happiness. Imagine if I hadn’t invited them to Jonas’s party? It just took an act of kindness.
This is a story about true love. And how I know it exists. No, I didn’t marry my high school sweetheart, travel the world, have 3 kids who are now doctors and lawyers and now we’re sitting on the front porch swing holding hands.
No, no, it’s much more than that. Love, Grief, and Gut Wrenching Pain. Dreams and expectations thwarted. Lies of the worst kind. Near death experiences. Divorce. Is the true love about my current husband? No. And yes. It is the true love that existed all along that allowed for healing and an ultimately stable environment for our kids. True love, isn’t the marriage that lasts for 40 years only. It is there in the mess, in the hurt, in the pain, in the lies. It’s just covered up by our opinions and thoughts about it all. I am so profoundly happy that I listened to the voice (that was almost silenced) that I could still love my first husband, and that it didn’t have to be romantic to still be love. And trust it to build what we built. Kieran held the other end of this. I am so grateful to his wife Megan for being so strong and badass to allow space for that to happen. And my husband, who tirelessly fought for us to all heal.
And lastly, perhaps the greatest love affair was me falling in love with me. I never knew how to do that. Everyone says ‘love yourself so that you can love others’. But no one ever tells us what that actually looks like in real life. It might look like saying “No”. Maybe not having the third glass of wine because you don’t need it to feel ‘comfortable’. Maybe it looks like exercising not to get into a size ‘6’ but because you want to nurture your well being. Telling the truth. Not needing so much validation. It might look different altogether for others. But its not a course, we do not get a certificate in this. It becomes a declaration. For me, I declare myself worthy of love exactly as I am, with my awful mistakes and loving intentions all the same. I hope this inspires all to do the same. No matter what.
1. How are you? Fabulous as always.
2. What are you up to or what are your plans? I plan to twerk.
3. What are you wearing? Clothes.
4. When's your birthday? August 12th bitchess.
5. What do you want for Christmas or for your birthday? I want money and dolls.
6. What kind of music do you listen to? All kinds.
7. If someone budged you while walking, what would you do? Say, "Excuse you hoe".
8. What's your favorite food? BACON!!!!
9. Are you against racism? Yes
10. Are you gay or straight? Bi.
Gender question.
11. For boys: What do you like in a girl? Uhm, nice and funny, and attractive.
For girls: What do you like in a boy? I'm not a girl, but I'mma answer. I like sweet guys, funny, and attractive.
12. Do you have a phone? If yes, than what one? If no, what kind of phone do wish to have or do you even want one? I have one, but I want an iPhone.
13. If you are under 18 like me, do you wish to have tattoos? If you're over 18, then do you have any tattoos? I want like 5 tattoos.
14. Where are you from? California, born and raised homie G.
15. Ever heard of Vine? Yomp.
16. Do you have a fav TV show? Probably Catfish, or RuPaul's Drag Race, or liek Adventure Time, and probably Honey Boo Boo.
15. Favorite song atm? Voodoo Pussy - Miss Prada
16. Do you have a pop icon or a fav artist? Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Kerli, and Nicki Minaj.
17. Have you heard of the duo called Disclosure? Nope. Soz.
18. Do you have any parents that know how to use technology properly? My mom uses her computer, but I teach her how to use Facebook n shit.
19. What got you into photography? My mom took photos all my life, so I wanted to do it too. And I started Flickr, because of one of my friends 40LIBS, who is still absolutely fab.
20. And finally, I would LOVE to meet you. Do you feel the same? Hells yeah. I'd meet anyone on Flickr that I consider a friend c:
Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
You can't see it well in this photo, but her left arm is in a cast. Halfway through the crosswalk, she put down the skateboard and skated away, bare feet pushing madly on the asphalt.
Hi ppl. Does anyone know where I can fin的 that awesome actor positioning tool (you know set position and for example turn off AI? No longer on nexus :[.
Not sure I understand wearing a mask that guarantees you'll need to be led around at Comic-Con - isn't the point of attending Comic-Con to, well, SEE Comic-Con?
I think this was a female dressed as Question, and she and Batwoman were awful chummy. Which follows the comics pretty closely, I think they were an item, at least they were before the recent retconning. Now, who knows?
A bottle of 1965 vintage port from Graham's. Been gathering dust in my wine collection since about 1975. When to open it, that is the question?
Apparently not one of the 3 greatest years of the 60s but I am sure it will taste good.
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
Hello, Chicago.
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.
A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Sen.
McCain.
Sen. McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.
I congratulate him; I congratulate Gov. Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady Michelle Obama.
Sasha and Malia I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the new White House.
And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.
And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe, the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best -- the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.
To my chief strategist David Axelrod who's been a partner with me every step of the way.
To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.
It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.
It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.
This is your victory.
And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me.
You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.
There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.
There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.
I promise you, we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.
This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.
Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.
In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.
Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.
Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.
- Barack Obama - President Elect
Sen. Barack Obama spoke at a rally in Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois, after winning the race for the White House Tuesday night. The following is an exact transcript of his speech. (Source CNN)
Hey Flickr friends,
My DH and myself seem to have a difference in opinions. I was wondering if you would be able to help me out?? See I spend HOURS on my babies (cakes) and love to take pictures of them. I'm proud of my talents and love to display them. My DH thinks that I should only post one picture, or two at the most of my cakes and the details I add. I, on the other hand love to show all the little details and showing them up close so you all may enjoy and appreciate them. But I wonder if it detours others from browsing my photo stream?? My DH says that viewers may get board and move on quickly. So what I'm asking is please give me your honest opinion. What do you think is the appropriate amount of pictures I should upload for each cake...lol ; )
Thanks friends!!
-Andrea
Invercargill and the province of Southland.
A puzzled question is why does a city of 50,000 people exist on the southernmost tip of NZ which has the bleakest climate? Invercargill is the coolest, most bleak and cloudiest city in NZ. It averages just 1,600 hours of sunshine a year compared with 1,500 for London, 2,050 in Christchurch, 2,800 in Adelaide and 3,200 in Perth WA. It has around 200 mm of rain every month of the year and it is a very windy city. It is in fact one of the largest southern cities in the world only surpassed by Ushuaia and Punta Arenas in Argentina and Chile respectively. But because of its latitude it has long summer days. Even in mid-October when we visit the length of day will be around 13.5 hours with the sun setting around 8:20 pm. In high summer twilight ends around 10:30 pm with a 16 hour long day like in Scotland. At this time of the year one can often see the Aurora Australis or Southern Lights an atmospheric phenomena of subarctic regions. Like Dunedin Invercargill was settled by the Scots. Many of its streets and families have Scottish names. It developed as an offshoot of Scottish Otago. The Surveyor General of Otago selected the site for a new town in 1856 and laid out the streets in a grid pattern on this very flat city. The first land was sold in 1858 and by 1861 Invercargill was a very small but flourishing town. Why? Because it had three main riches, apart from some gold found in the hinterland in 1860: it had the largest most fertile plains of NZ; it had a coastline rich with oysters, lobsters, cod fish and abalone( paua); and it had heavily forested mountains with hardwoods which were in great demand throughout the world- rimu, totara, silver beech etc. These basic factors meant that the province of Southland when it separated from Otago in 1861 had a bright future. The land, rainfall, soils and seas would provide for the people as it had done for the Maoris before the whites arrived. Southland consequently has had a rich and varied agricultural past ranging from sheep pastoralism, grain growing especially oats for porridge and barley for illicit whisky making (how could the Scots survive in this cold climate without whisky?) ,linen flax growing and milling, dairying and milk processing, fish and seafood canning, timber cutting and timber mills, and meat freezing and butchering works. These rural industries necessitated railways and like Dunedin Invercargill become a major rail head with lines going north to Lumsden, Kingston and Queenstown in the Alps, across to Gore, and west towards Fjordland and the richly forested valleys adjacent to it. Timber in particular needed the railways. Invercargill established railway workshops and the manufacturing steam engines for the railways of NZ. Its first railway line was built in 1867 to the Bluff, the port for Southland. It was connected to Christchurch by 1878.
In the 20th century Southland has developed hydroelectricity which in turn has attracted industry to the region. Possums introduced from across the Tasman in 1858 have become a major pest but they have also spawned a new industry- possum textiles and woollens; red deer were introduced from Europe in 1901 to Fjordland and now with the advent of helicopters and helicopter farming they are “farmed” for venison and processed near Invercargill. The story of Southland and Invercargill is one generally of success and success based on the climate and the resources of the land. For example, dairying has been strong since the early 1880s and continues today with Fonterra Milk processing mainly for export to Asia; linen flax milling continued until 1956; flourmills have processed wheat and the oat mill in Gore produced porridge oats; and Chewings Fescue was found to thrive in Southland and has become a major industry producing lawns for houses around NZ. Southland introduced prohibition in 1905 which lasted until 1945 and the illegal moonshine or whisky making in the hills east of Invercargill near Gore continued whilst that was in place. But the really big success has been hydroelectricity which began with Lake Monowai Power station in 1925. It still powers Invercargill and feeds into the national power grid. More recently the enormous Manapouri Power Station 200 metres below the water level of Lake Manapouri near Te Anau in Fjordland was completed in 1971 after work commenced in 1964. It is the largest hydroelectric station in NZ and the second largest power station in NZ. It was developed for Comalco to erect an aluminium smelter and refinery at the Bluff near Invercargill which is now run by Rio Tinto and employs nearly 3,000 people from Invercargill but its financial viability is shaky and the plant has been threatened with closure. Another major industry of Invercargill is fertiliser production.
•Invercargill is a Scottish settlement. 40% of Invercargill’s suburbs and nearby towns have Scottish names and the first Presbyterian Church was the leading church of the province. The current church replaced an earlier 1863 church in 1915 when it was completed. It is built of brick with a domed roof, a 100 foot high tower and it is in the Italian Romanesque style. It is on the highway from Dunedin at 151 Tay St. Next on the right is St Johns Anglican Church( 108 Tay St) in red brick built in 1887; almost next door is the impressive Town Hall and Theatre ( 88 Tay St) built 1906 in classical style; next is the YMCA building of 1910 at 77 Tay St; at the roundabout (the location of the Boer War Memorial) at the end of the street is the old Bank of NSW built in 1904 on the right whilst on the left is the former Cornerstone Bank of NZ building from 1879 ; as you turn right into Dee St. you will see a plethora of brightly painted heritage buildings all in good repair – partly because the city’s young mayor from Auckland some years ago supported and encouraged this to revitalise the city. At 136 Dee St is the Blackman building with the large black swan on the roof line and further along (178 Dee St.) is the Gothic St Pauls Presbyterian Church built in 1876 and added to in 1881. In Victoria Ave is the former but now closed Information Centre and Southland Museum. Here also is Queens Park with its rhododendron dell rock garden, magnificent trees etc. Nearby is the City water Tower (a flat city needed a tower for water pressure) built in 1888 with 300,000 red, yellow and black bricks. 101 Doon St.
Other heritage buildings include:
So I have a question for my friends here that work for CSXT and run across the Berkshire and Boston Subs? Does the Castleton Bridge have a special instruction restriction limiting it to only one train at a time despite being double tracked?
The last few times I've personally observed meets here they've happened like this in the photo. CSXT train I019 (Worcester to Bedford Park, IL intermodal) is crossing the Hudson River on Main 4 of CSXT's Castleton Sub while at the far west end of the bridge holding at the signal at MP QG9.1 on Main 3 is train M426 (Selkirk to Rigby manifest).
So why didn't or couldn't they have pulled east to CP SM at MP QG9.5 to wait for I019 to clear the single track at the end of the Berkshire Sub instead of holding back off the structure until they'd cleared?
The massive double tracked Alfred H. Smith Bridge is in total 5255 ft long and 139 feet above the Hudson River below. In 1921 a contract for the main grading and drainage work and for all the actual bridge construction except its steel superstructure was awarded to Walsh Construction Company, a well-established Iowa-based railroad builder that would later go on (in 22 joint venture with others) to build the Grand Coulee Dam and, still later, to achieve national prominence as a builder of urban skyscrapers. The 23,000 tons of structural steel required for the bridge would be fabricated in Pittsburgh and erected by Bethlehem Steel's McClintic Marshall subsid- iary under a direct contract with the railroad. Physical work began in early 1922 and two years later on November 20, 1924 the first train crossed the bridge. It was named in honor of Alfred Holland Smith, the president of the New York Central Railroad who authorized the construction of this bridge as part of an extensive project known as the Castleton Cut-Off. He died in a horse-riding accident in Central Park in 1924, only a few months before completion of the bridge. He is sometimes confused with Alfred E. Smith, New York's governor at the time who was aboard that first train and christened the structure in honor of the other fallen Mr. Smith.
This bridge is now the southernmost place a freight train can cross the Hudson River (excepting NYNJ's barge service) and is used by all CSXT traffic heading into New England via the old B&A as well as any traffic direct to New York City via the historic NYC Main, now Amtrak and Metro North's Hudson Line and on a typical day 18 to 20 trains will cross. The parallel structure beyond is Castleton-on-Hudson bridge opened in 1959 to carry the New York State Thruway's Berkshire extension connection to the Massachusetts Turnpike.
Schodack, New York
Saturday October 26, 2024
Katya:
Hmm... There´s so many flower prints this season in fashions..
Olga:
There sure is! I am not sure about that... In a way I do like them but... I dunno..
But I´ve been wondering, which flower or a plant I´d be?!
Katya:
Which flower you´d be...
Olga:
Yeah!
While in the park yesterday shooting some photos in a rectangular gazebo in the rose-garden, I spotted this shoe.
I didn't disturb it, just took its picture exactly as it had been left there.
The big question...to whom does this shoe belong?
Could it be the shoe of a modern day Cinderella?
And, more questions...will there be a Prince Charming to come along and recognize it?
I wonder...
New Instagram! instagram.com/45surf
New blog celebrating my philosophy of photography with tips, insights, and tutorials!
Ask me any questions! :)
Sony A7R RAW Photos of Pretty Brunette Bikini Swimsuit Model Goddess! Carl Zeiss Sony FE 55mm F1.8 ZA Sonnar T* Lens! Lightroom 5.3 ! Pretty Hazel Eyes & Silky Brown / Black Hair!
And here're a couple of HD video movies I shot of the goddess with the 4K Sony:
Enjoy! Be sure to watch in the full 1080P HD!
The epic goddess was tall, thin, fit, tan, and in wonderful shape (as you can see).
Check out my greatest hits compilation, and let me know what you think:
www.elliotmcguckenphotography.com/45surf/45SURF-Heros-Ody...
Epic Goddess Straight Out of Hero's Odyssey Mythology! Pretty Model! :) Tall, thin, fit and beautiful!
Welcome to your epic hero's odyssey! The beautiful 45surf goddess sisters hath called ye to adventure, beckoning ye to read deeply Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, whence ye shall learn of yer own exalted artistic path guided by Hero's Odyssey Mythology. I wouldn't be saying it if it hadn't happened to me.
New 500px!
500px.com/herosodysseymythology
New instagram! instagram.com/45surf
Pretty Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess! :)
Follow me on facebook! facebook.com/elliot.mcgucken
Nikon D300 Photos of Beautfiul Sexy Hot Brunette!
She was a beauty--a gold 45 goddess for sure! A Gold 45 Goddess exalts the archetypal form of Athena--the Greek Goddess of wisdom, warfare, strategy, heroic endeavour, handicrafts and reason. A Gold 45 Goddess guards the beauty of dx4/dt=ic and embodies 45SURF's motto "Virtus, Honoris, et Actio Pro Veritas, Amor, et Bellus, (Strength, Honor, and Action for Truth, Love, and Beauty," and she stands ready to inspire and guide you along your epic, heroic journey into art and mythology. It is Athena who descends to call Telemachus to Adventure in the first book of Homer's Odyssey--to man up, find news of his true father Odysseus, and rid his home of the false suitors, and too, it is Athena who descends in the first book of Homer's Iliad, to calm the Rage of Achilles who is about to draw his sword so as to slay his commander who just seized Achilles' prize, thusly robbing Achilles of his Honor--the higher prize Achilles fought for. And now Athena descends once again, assuming the form of a Gold 45 Goddess, to inspire you along your epic journey of heroic endeavour.
ALL THE BEST on your Epic Hero's Odyssey from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
Modeling the Gold 45 Revolver Gold'N'Virtue swimsuit. :)
A laid-back,classic, socal lifestyle shoot!
May the 45surf goddesses inspire you along am artistic journey of your own making!
All 45surf Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography is shot in the honor of Truth, Beauty, and the Light of Physicist Dr. E's Moving Dimensions Theory's dx4/dt=ic . The fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions at the rate of c. Ergo relativity, time, entropy, and entanglement.
All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
New blog celebrating my philosophy of photography with tips, insights, and tutorials!
Ask me any questions! :)
Sony A7R RAW Photos of Pretty Brunette Bikini Swimsuit Model Goddess! Carl Zeiss Sony FE 55mm F1.8 ZA Sonnar T* Lens! Lightroom 5.3 ! Pretty Hazel Eyes & Silky Brown Black Hair!
All the best on your Epic, Homeric, Heroic Odyssey into the Art of Photography from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
All 45surf Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography is shot in the honor of Dynamic Dimensions Theory's First Law and equation: The fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions at the rate of c: dx4/dt=ic.