Monthly Archives: July 2006

PhotoFriday #3: portrait

Posted on by yllwdaisies

This week’s PhotoFriday challenge was “Portrait”. I have a few self-portraits I’ve done that I’m especially proud of, but alas, I’m not really feeling like sharing them w/ the world just yet. I will someday though. So, I was looking through what I can post for y’all from what I’ve already taken that is not of a person.

My 1st instinct was to take a picture of the construction workers that are sweating & toiling, & creating form & function out of raw materials that they are also hauling onto the site. Did I mention that they are also doing this in what will be a high of mid-90s today? W/ a heat index well over that. For the last few months, I have been so worried about these men & women out there. Worried that they are dehydrated & over-exerting themselves. Is it any of my business? No. Are they being well compensated for creating these amazing forms? Yes. So, w/ all that in mind, even though I think that construction workers are doing incredible things; I cannot bring myself to photograph their struggle throughout this hot/humid day & just post it for the world to see. I am not ready to post photos of real ppl, w/ real lives on this page. B/c I don’t feel it’s right, esp when I don’t really post a real photo of myself.*

So, I was thinking of what to put up, & I remembered the babies. These babies (click on pic to see enlarged version):
Last May (2005), my nephews found a birds’ nest in their jungle gym thingie. They were so concerned about these baby chickies, & checked up on them daily. When I talked to them on the phone, I heard all about them. Then, when I went to visit them, of course I was led outside to see the babies.

So, I’m sharing them w/ you. In that pic, they are very hungry & awaiting mamma to return w/ the goods. The goods being worms & bugs, of course. ;)

I love how they’re all just reaching up & above towards the sky. They’re all stretched & waiting for nourishment.

Here’s a couple other shots of the babies. The 1st is a profile & the 2nd is looking down on them from above. You can click on either to enlarge, of course.


*I say ‘real photo’ b/c I did post a pic of me in that profile thingie, but it’s only like a third of my face, so I’m still partially hidden.

And click here to see other PhotoFriday pics.

paper or plastic?

Posted on by yllwdaisies

Nooooooooooo…………….

Say it ain’t so. This just sucks! That’s crap! This is all b/c today’s youth can’t read, write, add, or subtract; isn’t it? Well, besides the ones in my fam, of course. They’re lil geniuses! Back to the point…

Y’all know V? Remember back when he wrote about Monopoly coming out w/ a new edition. It was called the “Here & Now” edition, & you could vote on what landmarks you wanted to represent each city. I went there for a week, & put my votes in.

I do love to play boardgames. & what better than to be asked to make decisions on the future of a fun boardgame?

Well, Urban Cowgirl just emailed me the aforelinked USA Today article; it talks about how they’re doing away w/ the cash & using debit cards instead on the UK version of Monopoly. This just does not seem right to me. I mean, aside from the fact that now the kids can’t cheat anymore; which in itself is another fun part of playing “games”. Now, not only do the kids not have to count out anything; but also they’re not going to pay attention as much.

You had to really be on your toes when playing Monopoly. I mean, you had to watch each other to make sure no one was “borrowing” from the bank. You had to make sure you got what money was owed to you. You had to do percentages. It was very intricate. Now, w/ the attention-span of today’s youth, they’ll be watching their dvr’s, text-messaging, & illegally downloading music while playing b/c who needs to pay attention to what you’re doing anymore. Everything is so user-friendly, you barely have to be breathing to function. Just the physical presence is needed. For now.

What happened to the days when ppl used to play boardgames out on the front porch w/ their grandfather while drinking pink lemonade. And don’t tell me that only happens in Country-Time commercials, b/c my sis & I used to play used to play games like that all the time. Some of the old-school games we played, our grandfather had taught us from his childhood, & we actually had to draw out the board for the game on our sidewalk w/ chalk since they didn’t sell it in the stores.

Anyway, my point is that I really fear that we are raising kids who don’t do anything. They don’t fill out their own college applications, they have their moms do it for them; & now they don’t even want to focus enough to play a board-game?

I’m linking various articles, b/c I’ve found that as time goes on, some sites delete their news pages. So, I’m hoping that by linking a bunch, that a couple will still be valid a month from now.

Related Articles: National Post | BBC | AHN | ABC

update on Pavarotti

Posted on by yllwdaisies

or, “He will not be silenced”.

I don’t want to start something, or talk about something, & then just drop it. So, I just wanted to write out a quick note to y’all that Pavarotti has finally been able to return home. Well, I really shouldn’t say ‘finally’ like that; it’s not like he’s been in the hospital forever. I do know that even 4 days in the hospital seems like forever when all you want is to go home. But I also know that many cancer patients spend months & months in the hospital. And we all know that you can’t really rest there. There’s always someone who needs to check your vitals or take blood or something. Not that there’s anything wrong w/ that. Most nurses & doctors are just very caring individuals; you have to be to go into a field like that.

Anyway, I just wanted to update you ppls on Pavarotti’s condition. He’s home & says that he’s planning on finishing up his farewell tour next year.

The photo I’ve posted is from the Student Championship in Modena (1954). Betcha didn’t know that our boy Luciano used to be a fabulous football playa (um, football-soccer, not American football). He chose to pursue a career in opera, for which we are all grateful, but know that he has many talents.

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love thyself

Posted on by yllwdaisies

Lately, it’s been so humid here, that my hair’s gone crazy. It’s just all over the place, & there’s nothing I can really do to control it. I know if I just cut (read: trim a quarter to half inch) it a little, it’ll be fine. But I’ve been waiting for this next weekend before I do. Cause I’m straightening it for two parties; & I don’t want to trim it & then damage perfectly good follicles. So, I’m waiting til after this weekend, so that whatever damage I do to my hair can just get cut off.

Point being, I’ve been a wreck about my hair lately. It’s really nice out & not as humid, & I’m having a good hair day for the 1st time in forever, & then I saw this:

Boondocks 7/23/2006
You’ll have to click on the pic to enlarge & read

So, I’m trying now not to gripe about the things that make us who we are; & I thought I’d share, cause I know there’s a lot of us (read: curly-haired gals) that do go through our hair probs & it bugs us. But I’m gonna think of it as fluffy clouds now. Even if it is cheesy.

PhotoFriday #2: common

Posted on by yllwdaisies

Today’s challenge is ‘common’. Whenever I walk past the Western Reserve Historical Society here in Cleve, I always stop at this patch:
There’s just so many of them. I keep thinking (sometimes hoping) that they’ll just take over! Just spread like wild fire.

They seem to be under some sort of “contained expanse” right now. I know this, b/c I’ve seen the dudes out there ‘controlling’ them while I sit on a bench, eat lunch, & watch. Damn the man. Always tryin to keep a good ivy-growth down! Or something like that.

I love the distinct vein-age on each leaf. You really should click on the pic to see it all large & in-charge though. Or, to see it completely blown-up, click here.

It’s like an intricate spider-web, but it’s the life blood of it all. It’s really quite something to behold really, up close. And if you lift up just the surface leaves, you see this inticate spider-web of stems underneath.

They’re everywhere & so common. You see them everywhere, but when you really stop to look at them, it’s like you’re witnessing something & noticing it for the 1st time ever. As soon as I saw what this week’s challenge was, the 1st thing that popped into my mind was this patch of green in my life. So, I went out on my lunch break to capture it for y’all. To share. Cause sharin is kewl.

In other news, I’ve just finally opened up my very own flickr account!! Yea! (read: yay! yippee!) So, if you click on any of the pics, I’ve hotlinked them to the actual pic at the flickr account. Yeah, I know, I’ve become a lean, mean, htm-ell-in machine.

Click here to see other PhotoFriday participants. Some of their shots are just absolutely amazing; & superbly breath-taking. Mine is no-where close, but I’m really happy w/ it this week.

the military, the gays, San Fran, & Milk

Posted on by yllwdaisies

You know how when ppl think of San Fran, they think of the gays? The city’s got the highest concentration of homosexuals in the country (maybe the world, mu-hahahaha). Sorry, that just came out. It’s also got the highest concentration of Chinese folks outside the mother-land (being China, duh!); but that’s a story for another day. Or not, we’ll see.

So, San Fran holds the whatever-title in terms of number of gay ppls. Mama must be so proud. Well, ever wonder why? I did & I found out! So whether you wanted to know or not, I’m gonna tell you. If you didn’t want to know, you don’t have to keep reading the rest of this. But I’ll leave you w/ one thought – the military.

Intrigued? Ah, then you’re my kinda person. So, here’s how it all went down. The time was World War II. The US gov’t was discoverin all the gays in the military. The military decided they would seek out & dishonorably discharge all the gays. The San Francisco base is where most of the dismissed men were processed. So, most of them just ended up staying there & settlin; instead of returning to their homes.

I mean, have you eva been to San Fran!?! Well, have you?! It’s amazing, I’d highly recommend it. If you haven’t seen my pics from there, go into my Nov 2005 archive. I’ll put up a link to it later. Maybe. I’m pretty lazy though, remember? So, we’ll see what happens.

Wanna see more? This site has a timeline of the history of the movement in San Fran. If you want to explore gay San Fran, you’ll wanna hit up the Castro. And go here to go on a photo-tour of the Castro Neighborhood. It’s just amazing how much we share online, isn’t it? I’ve learned so much about a neighborhood so far away from me just online!

The one thing I really think you should all read about is Harvey Milk. I don’t know if you know who he is or not, but he most certainly led an interesting life. They made a documentary about him. I haven’t seen it yet so I can’t say if it’s good or not, but it’s on my “to see” list. Anyway, he settled in the Fran after being (honorably) discharged from the military, & became a city supervisor. Another city supervisor, Dan White, who was against Milk’s gay rights bill, stepped down, & returned to City Hall w/ a gun & 10 extra rounds of ammo. He went to see Mayor Moscone, & went to town on him. He reloaded, walked clear to the other side of the building to where Milk was, shot him in the chest, then point-blank in the head for good measure. White got less than 8 years in prison for these two murders.

Anyway, Harvey Milk is on Time Magazine’s top 100 ppl of the century list & they have a great write-up on him. You can also find more info on him at wikipedia, of course.

I hated history when I was in school, but now I find myself fascinated w/ the ppl & events & places of times past. So, I have decided that every time I stumble across something like this, I’ll post it here. To share w/ y’all, & so I have a ref point where I can come back to. It’ll be just like the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler!

Aside: Photo of Goldengate Bridge was taken by bmdoty. I decided that I think it’s amazing how many absolutely incredible shots that we as an internet community take & are willing to share. I’m thinking of joining too; cause I do love to take pics & I like the idea of sharing them as long as you give the pic-taker the credit. I also ‘hotlinked’ the pic itself so that if you click on it above, you can see his/her stuff & even leave comments for him/her if you want. Just sharin the love!

do I look phat in this?

Posted on by yllwdaisies

Um, I just checked the way I look in IE, & me no likie what I sees.

So, please use Firefox to view this site. If you must use IE, then it’s ok to lie to me & tell me you really saw it in Firefox instead.

If you want to get some firefox fo yoself (or foxy-fire, as some call it), then click on that ‘take back the web’ link on the right sidebar (at the bottom of the sidebar).

Thank you. This has been a public service announcement from yllwdizzle.

*I hope I didn’t offend any IE-lovers. I don’t want y’all to think I’m a hater. It’s just that there are many flaws in IE, & ways for all kinds of worms to get into your computer, & do really bad worm-like things while they dig through all yo stuff. Ya hear? Click here for more details of the bad things it can do. I’m not gonna pretend to understand it all. All I know is that I get upset when I’m in the middle of something & my comp freezes up or worse, tells me I’ve committed a fatal or illegal (?!) error, & shuts down everything!

**If you use Safari, then you’re an apple/mac user, & I have no idea what I look like in Safari, so if you wanna let me know, I’d be interested.

photo friday #1: Remarkable

Posted on by yllwdaisies

This is the back of Isaiah Zagar’s studio/residence on South Street in Philly. It says (if you click on either pic to zoom in) “Art is the Center of the Real World”. The pic below is a close up of the writing; you can click on that to zoom in & see the detail too.

He is just this incredibly remarkable mosaic artist there; & there was this time when they were going to tear down his work.

Literally, they were going to bring a bulldozer & demolish the “Magic Garden” in the middle of the night. It was the most incredible thing, how all these ppl (w/in & waaay outside the community) banded together to save it.

Injunctions were filed, US gov’t hurdles were… um… hurdled. Just all kinds of crazy stuff, take my word for it. Or you can look it up yourself if you don’t believe me.

I think this fulfills this week’s topic of “remarkable”. And I knew that this or any shots of Isaiah’s work could be used (& trust me, I’ve got at least 100 shots of his stuff); my only prob was trying to figure out which one to use.

I’ve joined in on PhotoFriday; mainly b/c I love to take pics w/ my digicam. I love my cam. Now, here’s the thing: they post the subject for PhotoFridays on every Friday. Chances are, I won’t be able to take a pic (or find a pic I’ve taken from my archives) on that very same day. So, sometime that week, I’ll post it. So, now you know why you may see PhotoFridays on Mondays or Wednesdays. Don’t discriminate, yo!

OH– & click here to see other PhotoFriday participants’ pics.

why can’t they get along b/t the parties?

Posted on by yllwdaisies

Remember last week, when I was talking about how liberal or conservative we all are? Well, I thought it was interesting that there was a quiz like that b/c it helps you see all the shades of grey in the middle. Everyone seems so intent on defining themselves as one type. I ended up having an email conversation about this as well.

Most of the ques were black or white w/ no room for grey matter; they were extreme “this way or that” type questions. The majority of ppl in the US who are declared party members (either Rep or Dem), wouldn’t be on either extreme of most questions. That’s kinda why I found this interesting.

I’ve always been independent until this last election (the primary in May), where I felt that I had to declare myself so that I could vote for the guy I wanted to run for election in Nov. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it. I’ve never voted just in a party-line before, I would vote for whoever I thought had the determination to improve our society how I felt it needed improvement. Along the way, I’ve voted for all types– indies, dems, reps.

I think that for ppl who do consider themselves hard-core one way or the other, if they answer the questions completely honestly, they’d be surprised at how they come out. Part of me knows that these quizes are not to be taken seriously. But I know, for me, it makes me a little more aware of myself. Even if it tells me something, & I’m all like “nu-uh, I’m not like that”.

Anyway, the whole point is that it made me think of “The Beauty of Grey” (grey? gray? potato-vodka, whatev). You know that song by Live? So, I’ve decided to copy/paste the main lyrics* here.

the perception that divides you from him
is a lie
for some reason you never asked why
this is not a black and white world
you can’t afford to believe in your side

this is not a black and white world
to be alive
i say that the colors must swirl
and i believe
that maybe today
we will all get to appreciate

the beauty of gray

The thing that prompted me to post this is b/c in today’s NY Times, there’s an article about how Lieberman’s career is completely ruined b/c as a democrat from Conn., he gets along w/ Republicans. So, now other Democrats wanna feed him to the wolves & out him from their own party, just cause he’s moderate! What’s up wit dat, yo?

There’s a quote from John McCain (R-AZ) on Sen. Lieberman in there:

“I hesitate to say anything nice about him, for fear that it would be used against him. And that’s a terrible commentary on the state of politics and the political climate today.“

*I didn’t want to put a link to a site that has their lyrics b/c I think the best place to get them is at the Live site I have on my sidebar. But you have to click on the ‘view tracks & lyrics’ for Mental Jewerly to see them.

yea-grey

Posted on by yllwdaisies

Um, you know how the British spelling differs from the American?

The British spell it ‘grey’, Americans–’gray’. And of course, we all know the ‘re’ instead of ‘er’ at the end of such classics as ‘theatre’; or the ‘our’ instead of ‘or’ in colour, behaviour, etc.

Well, is ‘yay’ the American way of spelling ‘yea’? I’ve always spelled it ‘yea’. Mainly cause I learned British-English growing up. I think. In primary school, they beat the ‘our’s & the ‘re’s right outta me. Well, ok, so they didn’t beat me here in the States*. But they def worked their patooties off to re-condition me to spell things the American way instead of the British way.

Um, does anyone else also call it ‘primary school’? Grammar school? Grade school? Anyone?

But I guess they never noticed the ‘grey’. Maybe I just didn’t use it back then. I mean, how many 8 year olds use the word grey? I use it all the time now, complaining about yanking out yet another couple of hairs. So, it hasn’t been til recent years that I even noticed that it’s correct to spell it ‘gray’ as well.

But what about ‘yay’? Is that the same thing? Or, is it just these young punks now-a-days. W/ their adding words like ain’t, bootylicious, & google (as a verb) to our dictionaries?

*Although when I was in preschool overseas, my teacher used to threaten to tie me to the ceiling fan at least twice (or thrice) a week. No kidding. My mom & grandma had to go to school on several separate occasions to ask her to stop.

Aside: I was trying not to post b/c I wanted to keep the link to write about the crisis in the Dafur region at the top of my page; but please do scroll down & click on the link to help. Amnesty is trying to get a massive amount of letters to Washington by Monday.