Peacefully perched, Lomo effect and ladybug redux

- If you look closely, you can see a blue bird sitting on a limb, passing the time of day.  There on the right - slightly above center, below the blue sky.  The park was full of them on Sunday.  What I liked most was that friend Laura stood there with me patiently at the end of our walk, while I photographed the peacefully perched bird with my phone.

- Look at the difference in these two photos.  This one has the rather drab colors of winter, so I applied the "Lomo" effect that can be found in my Picasa editing program.  The Lomo analog camera is produced in Russia and in 1992, a group of Viennese students discovered it and were "charmed by the unique, colorful, and sometimes blurry" images that the camera produced.  It made a more exciting photo, for sure.  :)

- Here's the ladybug photo from Monday, using the Lomo effect.  :)  Fun.

Greenway, ladybugs who garden and special gift

- This park, where I walk on weekend mornings with friends, is not looking all that green right now, but soon enough, it will.

- Since it is a new park, the plantings are still young and somewhat sparse.  The "Ladybugs Garden Club" plants and maintains the garden areas and can be seen sometimes traveling from area to area on a golf cart.  They always leave behind one of these rocks painted to look like a ladybug.

- I think it's so lovely that camellias bloom in the winter here.  A little winter gift.  Those are train tracks beyond there - sometimes the train whistle is deafening and we have to pause the chatter for a few moments.

- Laura found the painted ladybug rocks in a nearby shop and got us one for Christmas.  Mine is in an indoor plant, but will find its way outdoors in the spring.

Pit stop, cat hotel and caped crusaders

- I have no photo this morning, so am going to the desktop for saved photos.  Somehow this photo of great nephew Monroe makes me fast forward in my head to when he actually is behind that wheel.  (Note the hand on lower left holding on to him - he can't stand on his own yet.)  Love those cheeks!

- Anyone who ever had a cat will get this.  :)

- Caped crusaders wash the windows at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.  (Photo on facebook.)  I can only imagine the excitement of seeing that from the inside.  Lovely that they did that.

A smattering of good things from my desktop.  More good things are sure to come this weekend for all of us.  May it be a good one!

Sweet mystery, better than cake and Irish in spirit

Three things that made me smile this week:

- This clock that belonged to my mom and dad sat on a table in their living room for at least 30 years (or more.)  It has never worked, so when it ended up with me, I placed it in the new bookcase.  Yesterday, I decided to take it to the clock repair place near my office and a very nice man "fixed" it in two minutes by popping batteries in it.*  He thought at first that the chiming mechanism was broken, but then it miraculously started chiming.  He sent my clock and me on our way without charge.  (Lovely.)  And now I am puzzled and amused that it could have worked all these years and didn't.  A sweet mystery.

- Mina, three-years-old on Monday, got to go to the Baltimore Aquarium for her birthday.  When asked what the favorite part of her birthday was, she replied, "The fish!"

- Telling a client that I didn't want to disturb her holiday on Monday by bringing by a printer proof.  But she says her husband's office didn't close either, so therefore it was OK for me to come by.  She says her husband's office is inexplicably open for the King holiday, but closed for St. Patrick's Day.  Here's the funny part - they are based out of Iceland.  :)

*Here's how you know someone loves their work, he smiled briefly at me, but turned his full attention on the clock before I even sat it down.

A heart full of grace, Falcon fever and fortune

 Photo from March 2011

- "You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love..." From the I Have a Dream speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963.  The sign borders the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, just next to Freedom Parkway. Even though I don't get this holiday off, I still celebrate the day.

- The Atlanta Falcons lost the NFC championship yesterday, but it was still fun seeing Falcon fever sweep the city.  The grocery store was full of people in Falcon jerseys buying game snacks.  After the game, someone posts on facebook:  "Well Atlanta, at least we still have Downton Abbey to look forward to."

- Fortune cookie fortune:  Now is a good time for serenity:  a book and a good friend.

It's a party, customer satisfaction and winter returns

- Great niece Mina, having a little party with her animal friends, doll friends and Thomas the Train cars.  She asked for a pink pony for Christmas and scored four of them, seen there.  :)

- Friend Marcie must get a lot of mail, as I do.  Yesterday her mailman left a note in her mailbox that said, "You don't have any mail today...unbelievable (heart)."

- And finally - the weather outside is like winter again, which is perfectly OK with me.  More fireplace time!

It's the weekend!  I hope you have a weekend filled with love and laughter!

Astounding, priceless expression and blooming too soon

- From the museum visit last Saturday - this rather astounding piece called "Pink Panther."  It depicts the film star and sex symbol of the '50s and '60s, Jayne Mansfield, embracing the the cartoon character The Pink Panther.  Artist Jeff Koons was sued for copyright infringement for using the Pink Panther's image without permission, but eventually settled out of court.

- There's a lot of lofty description that can be read online about this porcelain sculpture, from a series unveiled in 1988 called "Banality."  I just loved the look on The Pink Panther's face.  :)

- We've had so much warmish weather in Atlanta, that the flowering trees are beginning to bloom; shown here at The Atlanta History Center's "Swan House."  I'm not sure that's a good thing exactly, but it sure was beautiful on a wet Tuesday.

Culture in the afternoon, favorite pieces and due diligence

- At the High Museum of Atlanta on Saturday afternoon for an exhibition called Fast Forward:  Modern Moments 1913 - 2013.  This one, "Street, Berlin" is from 1913 and depicts two prostitutes surrounded by "glancing men" by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.  The piece was included for its angled perspective and frenetic energy.  I would not have picked these women out of a crowd to be prostitutes, but times change, I guess.  And I was delighted to be able to use my phone to snap photos.

- These prints from the late 1940s are from a university in postwar Germany advertising its classes.

- The exhibit included Andy Warhol, of course, this one from 1961.

- And Roy Lichtenstein, always a favorite of mine, also from 1961.  The woman was on an advertisement from a hotel in the Pocono mountains, and Lichtenstein transformed her into a comic book "doll."

- This one was at the end and completed the exhibit with an installation from 2013.  I call it "stuff sitting on shelves" - I don't recall the artist's name or the actual title (my bad).  Friend Barbara G and I gave our due diligence in gazing at it though.

My favorite part of the day - the brunch beforehand, where there was polenta topped with two eggs and a black bean salsa.  Yum.  On Wednesday - an astounding piece (to me.)  This post was getting a bit photo heavy.  :)

Celebrate the season, the day and the rain

- Receiving this card this week from a woman I know from church, but bonded with during a caregivers' seminar about five years ago.  A tree has been planted in my honor from the National Arbor Day foundation. We each lost both parents since the seminar and I am tremendously touched by this gesture.  Her message inside reads:  "Hope your holidays were enjoyable.  Not always easy with missing parents."  I love that it came after the holidays.

- The oddly warm weather that gave Atlanta a 70 degree day yesterday and having a celebratory iced tea in the afternoon to celebrate.  :)

- Opening the front door this morning to water the outdoor plants and finding a light rain falling.  And standing in the doorway listening to the quiet rain without shivering.

I am looking forward to the weekend and hope you are, too.  May it be filled with unexpected delights!

Sweet violas, moving and long, lost friends

- The pansies and violas I planted in November are still doing well.  The little viola faces make me happy every time I look at them.

- Moving to a new space at work and finding it unexpectedly refreshing in that I can put classical music on while I work.  Bonus - "An American in Paris" by George Gershwin comes on and I find it energizing when I need it most.  It was one of my late father's favorites.

- Two women in the grocery store, browsing the canned vegetables, look up and the delight in their eyes when they spot each other is delightful.  They exclaim, hug and begin catching up.

Fresh vegetables, carrot soup and lazy day

- Stopping by a 100 year old farm, that sells vegetables grown without chemicals, and scoring these beautiful carrots.  It was late in the day and the pickings were slim, so the farmer said he could go pull some carrots if I liked.  They are so beautiful with the greens still attached.

- After I had eye surgery last year, a lady from my church called and said she wanted to bring over soup.  "It was only eye surgery," I said, but told her to come along.  It was a pureed carrot soup with garam masala, a spice from India.  Delicious.  I have found a recipe and that's probably what will happen to those carrots tonight.  You can view the recipe here.

- Why didn't I just make the soup yesterday?  Because I decided to have a lazy, movie watching day and had breakfast at dinner time.  It was wonderful.  :)

Hydrangeas, snowfall and sunrise

- I have no photo of my own today, so looked to see what I posted four years ago in January.  And it was hydrangeas from friend Tara's garden - she was promoting a tour she was getting together to view hydrangeas in northwest France.  Needless to say, I didn't get to go - maybe someday. But I thought you'd like some flowers today.  :)

- Three years ago in January, we had a blizzard in Atlanta!  There it is above - we were asked to stay home that day and I was only too happy not to drive on the one inch of snow that fell.  :)

- Two years ago in January there was a beautiful sunrise seen there above the back of the printing company.

It's cold here this morning - about the freezing mark.  Shiver.  No snow or flowers in sight, but maybe there will be a beautiful sunrise.  I wish you all Good Things this weekend, my friends.

A new year, rained out and taking it all down

- My friend says that instead of a pie chart, we could use the lesser known cornbread chart.  This reflects how much cornbread that had been eaten so far.  :)  Part of a new year celebration dinner with friends that included the requisite black eyed peas and collard greens - a tradition in the south that the more you eat of them, the more prosperous you will be in the new year.  The peas represent coins and the greens represent folding money.  I'll let you know if it works.

- A rained out New Year's Day early morning walk, that meant I got to sit in front of the fireplace and watch a Thin Man film instead.  It literally started raining as I opened the door at 8:45 am to leave for it.  A gift.

- And on Monday, taking down all the Christmas decorations was bittersweet, but thinking it will be here again before you know it.  :)