View allAll Photos Tagged squeegee
Maker:
Born: USA
Active: USA
Medium: pannotype on patent leather
Size: 2 15/16 in x 2 1/4 in
Location:
Object No. 2022.115
Shelf: C-30
Publication:
Other Collections:
Provenance: Keith de Lellis Gallery
Rank: 219
Notes: These direct positive collodion images were made on glass and transferred onto a secondary support material by placing the glass plate bearing the image in an acidified water bath that caused the collodion film to shrink. The secondary support was then placed in the water and the two were taken out of the bath with the image in contact with the surface of the secondary support. The back of the support was then pressed against the glass with a squeegee and the plate. The back of the plate was then gently heated until the image and support fell from the glass. Often called pannotypes, from the Latin word pannos meaning cloth, these images were transferred onto black oil cloth, patent leather, and black enameled paper.
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This photo was haunting, even from the first time I looked at it. Taken with a 35 mm camera back in the 1990's before I really got into photography, it was a double exposure that I had no idea how it happened! I was taking a picture of myself as a blonde, and somehow my cat, Squeegee, who is now deceased, appeared next to me on the photo, although he wasn't in it! At that time, Squeeks was very sick and nearly died. This was probably a merge of photos from 1997 to 1999. Squeegee was seeing multiple vets in 1999, having everything from kidney failure to an enlarged heart and no one knew why. The photo wasn't good, but it really meant something to me because Squeegee was precious to me and I was fighting to save his life, something I never regretted. Squeeks lived to be a very old cat, until October of 2015.
While both my pic and Squeegee's came out faded, there was yet another exposure on the film, that of the cross that hung on my wall at the time. That cross came out very dark, which also was unusual!
When I looked at the photo last night, I thought that it seemed like the basis for a story- that which is important to me. I immediately thought of my mom, who is also gone now. I added her face, and then I thought of all the people who mattered, both those who are still with me and those who are gone, and I thought there was no way to add them all and make it come out right! I also thought of the other thing that has become so very important to me over recent years, and that is photography, which has become my art form, and the post processing ability that made that happen. I decided to layer my first Explore pic on there, as well. The words were filling in the gaps and saying what I cared about.
Of course there isn't room for everything. I love music, and writing, and art, fashion and home decor, but this is just one photo and it still says a lot, even if there's no way it can say it all. A bad photo becomes something meaningful. Life is a lot like that, isn't it? It doesn't always start out well, but it can end well if lived well.
What is important to YOU?
"Watching I keep waiting
Still anticipating love
Never hesitating
To become the fated ones
Turning and returning
To some secret place to hide
Watching in slow motion
As you turn to me and say
Take my breath away
Take my breath away"
"Take My Breath Away" is the name of a love song from the film Top Gun (1986).
The song was written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock, performed by the band Berlin.
© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED July 26, 2011.
Here's a tutorial for developing colour film (C41) in your own kitchen, for those who are interested. It may not be the way that everyone else does it, but it works for me...
The guide below is based on the 1litre Tetenal Kit.
The great thing about the C41 process (compared to black and white) is that it's universal - whichever film you use, the developing time and method stays the same - 3:15 mins at 100 degrees (F). Most guides say that you need to keep the temperature to within +/- 0.5 degrees of this to avoid colour shifts, and this is what puts a lot of people off (including me for a long time). But there's no need to worry. Anyway, here we go:
You will need:
Water
Kitchen sink or washing-up bowl
Kettle
C41 chemicals - developer, bleach/fix (blix) and stabiliser
3 bottles for storing the chemicals (ideally the accordion type)
a jug/jugs for pouring the chemicals cleanly
a developing tank and reel(s)
a thermometer
a timer / phone with a stopwatch
Mixing the chemicals: You only need to do this once, when you fist get the kit. Presumably to increase shelf life, the C41 chemicals come packed into component parts (e.g. the developer comes in 3 different bottles, in the case of Tetenal). The first step is to mix these components together, with water, to make the 'working solution'. This is very straightforward - takes about 5 mins. After this you will have the working solutions of the developer, the blix, and the stabiliser ready to go in the accordion bottles.
Developing (overview):
Basically, processing C41 film consists of the following steps:
1) Load the film
2) Heat the chemicals and the developing tank to the right temperature
3) DEVELOPER - 3:15mins, then pour back into the accordion
4) BLIX - 4mins, then pour back
5) Rinse (i'll describe the method below)
6) STABILISER
7) Hang, dry, cut and scan!
Developing (method)
1) Load the film: If you're anything like me, this will be the most difficult part of the whole process. I use a Patterson tank which has the capacity to fit two 35mm reels or one 120 reel.
2) Heating the chemicals: This is the part that I was most worried about. I thought that, to maintain a highish temperature for the whole of the developing time, to a precise degree, would be too tricky to achieve without expensive thermostats and rotary developers. In actual fact, during the 3:15 of developing time, the temperature will hardly change at all - water is very good at storing heat.
Here's the method I use:
a) Fill a kettle and put it on the boil.
b) put the developer and blix accordions in the washing-up bowl / sink, along with the developing tank.
c) once the kettle has boiled, pour into the bowl/sink, so that the chemical bottles are sitting in a pool of hot water.
d) open the lid of the developer, stick in the thermometer, and wait until the temperature reads about 101 - 102 degrees F - this will take a few mins, depending on how much hot water it is paddling in. While this is happening, hold the developing tank down in the sink (it will want to float as it's currently full of air)
3) Developer (3:15) : Once the temperature hits 101 - 102, take the developer, the developing tank, and the Blix out of the sink / bowl (don't worry about the blix cooling too much - the temperature doesn't need to be as precise for this step) Pour the required amount of developer (enough to cover the film in the tank) into the jug, and then into the tank, as you start the timer. AGITATION: for me, I use the same agitation method as for black and white: 4 inversions followed by a couple of taps, every 30 seconds. After 3:15 pour the developer back into the jug, then back into it's accordion, and seal it up.
4) Blix (4:00) : Blix looks like blackcurrant juice, but please don't drink it. Rinse out the jug, pour in the blix, then pour into the tank as you start the timer for 4mins. Agitate as above. When the time runs out, pour back into the jug, and then back into the accordion, and seal.
5) Rinsing: You can use whichever method you are used to from BW developing to rinse. As usual, everyone has an opinion as to the best method. Here's mine: Remember the paddling pool of hot water that you poured into the sink, to heat up the chemicals? Return to this and add lots of cold water. You want this pool to drop to minimum of 86 degrees F (you don't need to be precise - anywhere from 86 - 104 degrees will be fine). This is your rinsing 'reservoir'. Using a clean jug, fill up the developing tank, and do 5 inversions, then pour the contents away (not back into the reservoir). Fill up again, and do 10 inversions, then pour away. Repeat for 15 and then 20 inversions. Rinsed.
6) Stabiliser (1:00) : As far as I know, stabiliser helps to prevent any further changes to the film after developing, and is also mixed with a washing-up liquid type substance which helps the water run off, minimising any stains on the film after drying. Simply pour enough stabiliser into the developing tank to cover the film, agitate as in step (3), and after 1 minute, pour the stabiliser (using a jug) back into it's accordion and seal it. You're all done.
7) The moment you've been waiting for (or dreading?): crack open the developing tank and admire your handywork. Hopefully you will have some nice negatives staring back at you. Unwind from the reel, remove any excess liquid with a squeegee, then hang up (preferably in a dust free area) to dry. I use weighted film clips to make sure the film dries straight. If, like me, you are very inpatient, you can use a hair dryer on a low setting to speed up the drying time. If you are doing this, remember to dry both sides of the film, to prevent it from curling up, which makes it tricky to scan. Once dry, cut up and scan.
Sorry I realise this is quite a long post! It looks long winded when written out like this, but I can say that it really is very straightforward when you try it yourself. I hope this is useful in some way, and please let me know what you think. I'd also like to know about the methods you use, or any tips or tricks you've picked up.
Oh, here's the details for the image above:
Minolta SRT - 101
Rokkor 50 / 1.7
Fuji Superia 200
Developed in Tetenal (3:15 @ 100 F)
I’m very happy to be part of the upcoming book Squeegee!! – The European Gig Poster Movement! The second book in the Squeegee! series presents 36 poster artists, their works and their studios.
You can help making this book happen and support the Kickstarter campaign until July 29th 2016!
Ragnar and Freja were in a feisty mood today, and I caught the beginning of one of their spats. That's Rags standing, ready to clobber poor Freja! She is a better hunter than he is, and very fast, but he is the more powerful of the two.
These kitties were rescues from a feral colony in Port Orange. My vet had them in his office after they were neutered, and they were hoping to adopt them out, since they really didn't act feral at all. When I first laid eyes on them, I thought they were probably about 3 month old kittens, but they were already 6 months! Much smaller than what I'm used to, Squeegee and Barrymore having been large cats, I still find myself referring to them as "the kittens".
Freja and Ragnar are siblings. Sometimes it's hard to tell them apart facially, but Freja has less white on her, and isn't as furry, and she has a bob tail. You can spot Rags by his white chest, boots, and long tail! They are beautiful and quite sweet most of the time, but really can be characters! Their favorite pastime is getting into things they shouldn't. We had quite a little photo shoot today, as I was trying to get a shot of Ragnar in the kitchen cabinet, but every time I grabbed my camera, he came out! Figures that the only time he wouldn't want to be in there was when I actually WANTED him in there! Life with cats...
This is my favorite photo of Squeegee. I have taken recent ones, but poor Squeeks has been just a shell of his former, gorgeous self for some time. I will always think of him like he was here, back in August of 2007.
Squeegee was a very talky cat. He has always held conversations with me, waiting his turn to answer until after I would reply to him. I knew when he was going down when he began to sound different, and finally, hardly "talking" at all. I wish I'd gone out of my way to record his voice years ago, but there always seemed to be time. Time, though, goes so very fast, and today is the last time I will look in Squeegee's eyes or hear his little squeak.
I believe Squeek's mother was an Egyptian Mau. She was a beautiful and sweet kitty who was a stray outside where I worked, too. That breed can run faster than most others, owing to a flap of skin on their bellies that allows them to really stretch out like a cheetah and gain speed quickly. Squeeks had relatively short legs, but he could run like lightning! I always loved seeing how fast he could dart around!
Most everyone knows how Squeeks' annoying vocalizing in the middle of the night was actually his way of alerting me to the migraines I had regularly until I was in my early 50's. I owe this precious kitty a lot, which is why, as painful as it is to let him go, Monday afternoon will be his last. I don't know what I'll do without him. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that my precious feline friend and companion of the last 17 years will be gone. I'm devastated. I knew this was going to be hard, but this is like losing a person.
Squeegee was the perfect pet for me, and worth every dime I ever spent on him, and every sacrifice I ever made to keep him going when his health failed at 2 years of age. In a way, my beautiful, orange boy and I saved each other and I was blessed to have gotten to have him for such a long time, though not quite long enough. I believe kitties can go to heaven, too, and this one will be waiting for me, missing me for a while until I can join him, too. I have no doubt at all that this special bond is not just an earthly one. No love this strong could ever end.
Please keep me in your prayers Monday afternoon, and pray that Squeegee will have an easy passing. It won't be easy for me.
Somewhere between 4:30 and 4:45 this afternoon, Squeegee went to sleep gently and easily. I was loving on him and kissing him as he went. My beloved Squeegee is gone and he's taken my heart with him. Please pray for his brother, Barrymore, who somehow seems to know and is very depressed as well. It's going to be a rough little while ahead....
Open later on. From a slightly disappointing roll of Tri-X, shot on the Mamiya C220 and developed in Xtol. Many of the negatives have vertical marks from top to bottom, not consistent with scratches and I don't think they look like light leaks either. This film looked very wet when I took it out of the final distilled water bath. I usually don't, but this time I decided to do a gentle two finger squeegee. I am now wondering if the fixer I used isn't so suitable for this combination of film and developer and the surface was still a little too soft. The last couple of frames didn't seem as bad and that would be wear there was less contact at the bottom of the strip. Always a lesson.
I have a painting that I did of a lion on my living room wall and Squeegee appears to be viewing it from his perch on top of the armchair!
I processed this pic to bring out the beautiful swirl patterns in my oldest cat's fur. Squeeks is about 16 now, and doing better than his younger brother, Barrymore, who is struggling these days. Having AC again might just perk them up; I know it's doing wonders for me!
My nephew, Alaric Crowley is an up and coming photographer, whom I was privileged to give his very first camera. Since the very first photo shoot we went on when he was only 12, Alaric showed signs of being very gifted, with an eye that most young people don't have- actually that hardly ANYBODY has! Even during our early shoot in St. Augustine for his 12th birthday, Alaric seemed to approach photography like a real natural. (You can see him in my St. Augustine set, inside the cathedral, taking a shot!)
Alaric's portfolio is growing, and his teachers are seeing real promise as he continues to not only learn his skill, but envisions the outcome of his shots, something that requires an innate gifting, which he has. He has a couple of photos on display now, and we are all really proud of him, but no one more so than his photobug Aunt Chris!
This shot was taken on the spur of the moment, as he was attempting to show me how to set my camera to do stuff I don't know how to do. (Which right now is pretty much everything, lol!) As always, Alaric's timing was excellent, as I've tried repeatedly to get a good shot of Squeegee yawning, but haven't been pleased with any of my efforts! Luck o' the Irish, there, Nephew! :-) All I can take credit for on this one is the edit. The original pic is below.
If you'd like to see some other works by my nephew before he becomes famous, check out his Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/AlaricCrowleyPhotography
Raw shot.
The Slytherin and Ravenclaw Quidditch captains, Nyle and Esmee respectively, spying on the Gryffindor Quidditch team with the impending rain ahead:
Esmee Squeegee (esmee.luik) luckily always had her umbrella with her as it started to drizzle when she left the castle. When she finally made it to the pitch she had to stop and just look. Nyle with the omnioculars was quite a sight to behold. "Wow. You're taking this seriously aren't you," she said to him - chuckling.
Nyle Arens (zacharyarens) | Of course Esmee had not spied with him last year, and.. he'd done a lot of spying too. He decides not to inform her about this, giving her an upturn of his lips followed by a shrug. "We're going to retain the cup, Esmee," he tells her more seriously and full of a self-confidence that he usually displays. "Quidditch isn't Quidditch without getting into the spirit of it early on." His eyes trained on the Gryffindor captain, he remarks, "I didn't know that girl existed last year. Has she ever played before?"
Taken at Mischief Managed.
Ilford HP5, Developed in Kodak XTOL 1+1, Voigtlander Bessa R2, water marks, forgot to squeegee the negs!!
Just running back from dropping the rental car back; spotted this squeegee equipped abseil team working on the tv station windows.
Here's another resident of the Brevard Zoo that I captured last week. Except for the chain link fence, this really has a tropical rain forest feel to it!
Thanks to everyone who has been praying for and keeping good thoughts about my kitty, Squeegee. Squeeks is doing somewhat better, although his age is still showing and he's still declining. He is walking a little better and his eye has cleared up considerably. He's eating, and even got grumpy with Barrymore, biting him in the neck! Though it wasn't pleasant for More-More, it shows Squeegee still has a little life left in him. I am grateful. I'm working overtime this week, and it's troubled me terribly not being able to be with him, so his doing better has been a tremendous relief.
Please continue to pray for his recovery. Hugs to you guys! I won't be on much until next week because of the big Labor Day sale. Will catch up then!
...A cyclist waiting... for the traffic light to change. A passenger... to arrive at his destination. A squeegee guy... for his tip ...maybe. Maybe not...
Photographed at Dundas and Spadina in Toronto. Processed in PS.
I am such an ardent animal lover that people make fun of me for it. I can't help it; ever since I was a little girl, animals have been a part of my world, and the bonds between us have been deep ones. There was no deeper bond than the one between me and my beloved Squeegee.
Squeeks was one of a bunch of strays living outside where I once worked at a fabric store here in town. i adopted him after his father, a cat I called Mr. Bill because of how long and loudly he would yell at me when I called him and he came running, was found to have feline AIDS and I couldn't adopt him because he would infect the kitty I already had at home, Noelle. Squeegee was second choice then, but it took almost no time for that to change. He became the best pet I ever had, and the interaction we had was a beautiful thing.
Squeegee would warn me when I had migraines coming on. Because of his incessant alerts, which would usually occur in the middle of the night, when the headaches were just starting, I avoided a great many painful days by being able to catch the migraine in time. Squeeks would also let me know if there was trouble in the house- especially with one of the other cats. He would act like an early warning system in the case of most any kind of trouble! When, after I had him for a year, Squeeks nearly died, I literally went into bankruptcy in order to save his life, and for the rest of his life, the good he did me was repaid in kind.
Squeegee died on October 19, 2015. God had been good to me for many years, saving my precious kitty who helped me so much through so much pain, but in the end, the kidneys that almost failed when he was 2, finally gave out when he was about 18. There will never be another Squeegee and I miss him terribly. Each new life leaves its mark on our hearts, and my newest additions are doing that, too. This one, though, will probably always be my favorite and most precious fur baby.
Hongqiao Man
This photo has been resurrected from my external hard drive.
When I lived in Shanghai, within walking distance of the Hongqiao Airport, there was a small village at the end of Xianxia West Road that I would often visit to wander amongst the people, their crude and impoverished lifestyle. The main street was narrow and crowded, with various unpleasant odours wafting from dank and slimy corners, and small walk-in shops selling all sorts of wares and proudly displaying a faded poster of Mao, and their homes were ramshackle, the people wore whatever clothes they could afford, proudly spruiking their vegetables, and freshly butchered fish and meat, with the unwanted bits squeegeed from the chopping blocks into the street with the sharp edge of the cleaver.
The people's faces seemed to be more a caricature of China, as in this photo. They have known hard times, but did not know their entire village would become displaced, in the name of progress and expansion of the Honqiao Airport. Their lives, their ramshackle homes, and livelihoods eked out from small walk-in shops with faded Mao posters, spruiking vegetables, and bits squeegeed from their chopping blocks into the street would soon be crushed beneath bulldozers.
I do not know what became of this man.
Photographic notes: This photo, based on the date, was probably taken with my Nikon F4S, using 35mm film. A quasi-photo processing redux was done, yesterday.
On propaganda: If truth is inconvenient, unpleasant, detracts from a government's achievements, or would be cause for anarchy, then make a lie believable.
A photograph is worth a thousand truths.
â’¸ All images in this Flickr portfolio
I have been working back to back sales for a while now, and have had precious little time (or energy) for photo shoots, and doing the family photo editing I've had little time for new stuff, either. Still, every now and then I have to grab a couple of shots just to keep my sanity, and yesterday was one of those days!
I ran to the veterinarian's office to pick up some food for Squeegee, my oldest cat, who has started having kidney problems. On the way home, the sun was setting and the light was at that beautiful for only a moment place, so I ducked into Magnolia Park for about five minutes to grab a few photos. The mosquitoes were just starting to get active, which made me work exceptionally fast! I loved how the light hit the trees.
I added a bit of blue tone to the shot, as the sky looked pretty white in the east, and the reflection had a lavender cast to it. I airbrushed some light blue into the sky and water to make it more true to the actual scene.
I hope everyone is doing fine. I am still backlogged and probably will be until the end of the month. This is the busiest season for sales, (at least we HOPE it is!) and though mattresses aren't high on the priority list for Christmas, we're hoping to get our share of the holiday pie. That means more long hours and more sales, with little time for commenting or even working on stuff. I'll try to catch up as I'm able.
Oh, the only thing I didn't mention was how amazing this place SMELLED yesterday! It was like being in a room full of Christmas trees! I'd never notices that before there, and it made me wish I could hang out longer, but the skeeters made that pretty much impossible!
This was taken the day Barrymore was put to sleep, Oct. 11, 2016. I had him from the time he was a little kitten, and I've missed him way more than I ever thought I would. What a good cat he was! He loved to lay on my lap, and get a good cuddle. He was exceptionally sweet and good with people, though aggressive with other cats. Even though it's been months, I still haven't wrapped my head around the fact that he's gone.
Most of Barrymore's life he was in Squeegee's shadow. I loved Squeeks more and I think he knew it. He was jealous, and picked on Squeeks a lot, which didn't help, but I had him for almost a year after Squeegee passed, and in that year, More-More grew huge in my affections.
Shortly after my mother died, Barrymore developed diabetes. He dropped from 20 lbs. to 14, and went on insulin injections. I think the constant care is one of the things that bonded us. no cat could have been better about the shots, either. He would get up on the ottoman for his "up up", knowing what that meant, and afterwards he'd get held and cuddled and then fed. He never once ran from me, something I can't imagine any of my other cats would have tolerated. If it happened to my current critters, I would probably have to put them down! Even Squeeks, who was good with the pills he had to take for years, wouldn't have stood the shots well. Barrymore was a loving little thing, and he was much loved in return.
A garden snail makes his way along the path in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. I believe this is a white-lipped snail (cepaea hortensis). They are quite common in our area and once we even kept a few as pets in a terrarium for about year. This was my first attempt to use some extension tubes that I acquired. I really had no idea how to adjust the exposure and the cell in the camera was dead. This is my best shot from several attempts. I was not taking notes that day, but I believe that I stacked all three #1, #2, and #3 under a 50 mm lens.
One day in June, I decided to load up a couple of old cameras with some 135 format, black and white, film. One was a Nikon FTn with a 35 mm lens that I gave to me daughters. They are seven and nine years old, and were interested in learning some photography. I loaded a Spotmatic 1 for myself. I planned to shoot the whole roll with a 300 mm lens, but some of the shots were taken with other lenses.
Unfortunately, you can see a gentle scratch that was picked up on the scan of the film. I hate to squeegee my film after processing, since I very frequently damage the film. However, I always seem to keep making the same mistakes anyway. Old habits die hard.
Check out an album containing more of my photos shot in 2018.
Asahi Pentax Spotmatic 1
Asahi Takumar f1.4 50 mm lens
Extension tubes
Manfrotto tripod and ball head.
Metered with a Sekonic L-358.
135 format Ilford FP4 Plus 125 ISO film.
Scanned using a Nikon Super CoolScan 9000 ED with the FH-835S 35mm strip film tray.
This picture was taken nearly five years ago. I lived alone with my two cats, Squeegee, and Barrymore, both gone now, and had just lost Tigger on Christmas Eve of 2012. Tigger's ashes are in the little box on top of the TV in the shot. It was a hard time, but I was coming back from an even worse one, losing my mother, and almost losing my home! Thanks to a dear friend, I was able to pay off the property taxes that had fallen behind before they auctioned my home!
For a little while before this, my brother had lived with me. Not too long after this, he moved back. The room as you see it is very different now. Merging two adults lives and all their stuff into a little house isn't easy, and my OCD ways only serve to cause arguments between us! Still, I'm on a mission to improve this room, and buy furniture that matches and looks good as you walk in the front door. It's going to take a while, but I have a dream, lol!
The shot is precious to me because it represents a time when my world was half loss and half gain, and as mismatched as it is, the place was mine.
For about a month, 5 or 6 homeless men had been fairly well entrenched on the front & side lawn areas at a fast food restaurant. They probably weren't even noticeable to most of the restaurant's patrons, since these 5 or 6 men were usually sitting quietly (spread in different areas), behind a wall or under a tree. Sometimes people would give them food or drinks and chat with them for a while. Those who were able to "see" them, were glad that they had a place to sit quietly and safely. One day, a couple weeks ago, I saw a policeman telling them all they had to move on, and they all headed off in different directions.
Today I saw one of them a few miles from there, near my grocery store, in front of a sandwich shop chain. He was about 10' from the door, sitting on a bucket. I had an appointment to get to and didn't have time for a good visit, but thought I'd get him a sandwich quickly before I left. As I was parking my car, a customer came out of the sandwich shop, gave him the bag, a drink, and some napkins. He said something to her, and she laughed and nodded, relaxing like they'd be talking for a while, so I headed off for my appointment. Of course, I came back later to look for him.
Lucky for me, he was still there. I approached him about 100 Strangers, and as I always do, until I get a definite "yes" or "no", I keep talking and explaining, hoping for the sought after "yes!". I had copied thumbnails of my other portraits, and when I pulled those out, he warmed up right away, and just asked if I was sure I wanted his picture with all of those. I told him I wanted to meet him, because every time I saw him, he was always talking with someone, and that person was always laughing and happy! He laughed at that.
He said everyone just calls him Bobbaloo. He's been living on the streets for 25 years, but he didn't want to tell me where he was from originally. His parents are both still alive, and he's been married 3 times. To earn money, he washes people's car windows, if they like. He showed me the bucket he had been sitting on was full of window cleaning supplies; cloths, squeegees, and window cleaner. He also showed me 2 tattoos he'd gotten while in the military. He joined the army at 17 years old, and fought in Viet Nam. One of his tattoos was an eagle landing on a dragon, which represented the United States and China, and the other tattoo was a skull with a poker hand.
Bobbaloo talked for a long time about wars, government, and things he'd been through. He told me about the FBI trailing him until they found him in Mexico, where they had a nice lunch on the beach and tried to get information from him. Lots of conspiracy 'theories', and what happened to his brother and the nanny (tragic endings), attempts on his own life, and money lost. Even though he was serious about all of these topics, he'd also make a joke here and there. Witty, smart jokes, that were a play on words, or about some current event. I could see why people were always talking with Bobbaloo, happy and laughing at his clever jokes. I guess if you'd meet Bobbaloo at a cocktail party, you'd think of him as fascinating and brilliant, but when you meet him pushing a shopping cart, you can imagine it's all in his head. Like the movie "A Beautiful Mind".
He told me the high value items anyone living on the streets wants are socks, chapstick, and a blanket. He said they can always get water, because there's always a hose near stores and businesses. While we were talking, an older veteran came out of the sandwich shop and asked Bobbaloo if he was homeless before he gave him a tuna sandwich. It was nice to see people were friendly and chatty. Bobbaloo said that most everybody is, but sometimes when a young kid tries to 'give him a high five', the parents will grab their child's hand to stop them. He says he understands that, but the children don't.
He sure enjoyed posing, wanting to see the picture after each shot, making jokes at each one before he posed again. He asked if he could get a copy, so we're meeting again tomorrow. I'm hoping to be able to find him a new hat, as his is literally thread bare. Bobbaloo said he won't ever see this, but I'll send out thanks anyway, for a wonderful visit and many life lessons.
Find out more about 100 Strangers and see pictures from other photographers at
2015 was one of those years that didn't start off as being a very important year, but ended up being quite important in my life as it progressed.
This was a year of loss, and a year of finding new avenues to pursue. I've made new friends, and lost a couple of old ones.
I've started a small ministry on Facebook that has given me the opportunity to finally give something back to the Lord and His people for all the years of blessing that I've had in the past.
This was a hard year financially, Work has slumped off, and sales have slowed. It hit hard, especially when the company I work for has decided to double us up in stores on weekends, even when it's been terribly slow. Still, I have not gone hungry, and have managed to save a little bit throughout the year for the first time in many years.
October brought the hardest month of all to me, as my precious Squeegee finally couldn't hold on any longer and had to be put to sleep, which was one of the three hardest things I've ever had to do in my life. Squeeks, as seen in this pic, was my pet, my friend, and my little guardian, alerting me to the onset of migraines for years, so I could stop them in time! He was a gift from God, and I miss him like a person. No pic could ever do him justice, as no matter how old or scraggly Squeegee became, he was always my beautiful, precious kitty.
This year has brought its share of hardship, but there have been real blessings, too, like when a friend helped me by sending multiple gift cards for Christmas, all staggered so I kept getting them every couple of days! It was beginning to feel like the 12 days of Christmas there for a while, lol! Without that blessing, this year would have ended with not much of a Christmas for my family, and a real nightmare trying to figure out how to get things around my home fixed. Older homes can become virtual money pits, but at least this one isn't quite as deep now!
2015 has brought a lot of fabulous photos to Flickr, which I've enjoyed looking at, but not nearly so much as I've enjoyed the kindness of you, the friends I've never met in person, but who have encouraged me and confided in me, asked for and said prayers, and made my life seem a lot less mundane. Thank you, my "virtual" friends! May we have another wonderful year on Flickr, sharing SO much more than just photos in 2016!
Happy New Year, and God bless you!
The oldest of my two kitties, Squeegee, sleeps peacefully in the sun one day a few months back.
Since that time, Squeegee has been steadily showing signs that his age is catching up to him. At 18, Squeeks has finally slowed down. In human years he would be about 88-89 years old, and is now in kidney failure. The vet just put him on torbutrol again, which is the pain killer he was on much of his life in the past. He is hurting, probably from arthritis, and also needs appetite stimulants to keep his weight up. The vet said that cats with kidney failure can take years to go down, or it can be a matter of weeks to months, but it really depends upon how strong the animal is, and a lot of that has to do with how well they eat. When the kidneys go, cats can get nauseous, so they don't always want to eat. The two meds are helping Squeeks and I saw an immediate improvement once he felt a little better with the Torbutrol.
At this point, every picture I take of Squeegee is precious to me because it could be his last. he has been my cat for 17 years and I almost lost him 16 years ago. I have been blessed to have him for such a long time and love him dearly! Those who pray, please remember my sweet kitty, Squeeks!
Found still life in the outdoors. I have no idea why these items are sitting outside. Perhaps they are free items for passersby to take? They had been here for several days. (7513a)
So there I was, watching a documentary on Gerhard Richter, becoming more and more fascinated with his squeegee painting (not sure if he calls it that), until I had to pause him and go do this. If it sucks, blame Gerhard.
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I'm still wondering why? Ok, it is one the most touristic spot in Beijing but is it that much useful to remove the water puddle just after the rain when the sun was on the way back under 38°C??
I might just be an old habits... Who knows?
This is China~~
Squeegee was still pretty healthy back when this photo was taken. It was one month before Tigger died, though. Squeeks had a look about him that showed sadness, as if he could tell. There was a bond between them.
Many of the shots I've processed of Squeegee show him as being very orange. In reality, he wasn't quite so bright, but this is a little washed out. I wanted to lighten it up a lot to over come that shadow in the center of his face, but also, to give a more ethereal quality to him. The original below shows him more orange because of the intense sun. He was somewhere between the two.
When Squeeks was young, his eyes were almost solid amber in color. As he aged, hints of green began coming out, so much so that at the end of his life, they were about half and half. It's odd to me how a cat's eyes change color during their lifetime. Barrymore's are changing, too, no more blue, as in his youth, but a more greenish, not so pretty color. It's been my privilege to care for and record all those changes. Squeegee is no longer here, but I can still look in his beautiful eyes, and I'm so grateful.