Very Mary

Foto Friday: Time

Our Foto Friday challenge this week is "time," and I seem to have precious little of it these days! 

There are so many ways to interpret "time," but I saw this shot in my head when I woke up one morning to a blizzard of spring snow. (You can see a larger version here.)

We drove around the country south of the city looking for the perfect spot, which I was convinced I would "recognize." I settled for this spot with a great fence and an interesting line of trees because it was way too close to dinnertime to be picky. I would have preferred to be wearing a sundress and no jeans, but I don't actually own a sundress (is there any point in The Great White North?) and I had to make some concessions based on how frickin' cold my feet were.

Listography: Books I Could Read Over and Over

There is nothing like the excitement of discovering a good book, and these are my favorites:

1. Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

2. The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

3.The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

4. Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles

5.The Fruit of Stone by Mark Spragg

6. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

8. When The Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

9. Buster Midnight's Cafe by Sandra Dallas

10. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

11. Last Year's River by Allen Morris Jones

12. Fried Green Tomatoes at The Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

13. The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips

14. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Foto Friday: Blur

Our Foto Friday challenge this week is "blur," which really was really different for me. Intentional blur is something I've seen done, and I've seen it done well, but I've never embraced it in my own photography. I've been so focused (pun intended) on getting sharp, sharp images that I hadn't realized the artistic value in a little blur. It was really freeing, though, to step away from the quest for technical perfection and try something totally different: low light - check! - motion blur - check! - lots of grain - check! - imperfect crop - check!

You can see a larger version here. But only if you feel like it. 

Listography: Things I Collect

The truth is, I'm not a collector. I don't seek out "things" to buy and put on shelves. We bought a shelving unit at IKEA months ago, and every shelf except one is still empty. I feel like I need to populate it with something that makes me happy, but there is a fine line between home decor and clutter, and I haven't figured that one out yet.

These are the things I am acquiring without really trying:

1. photographs

2. white dishes

3. festive placemats

4. camera lenses

5. striped socks

Foto Friday: Night

Our challenge for last week's Foto Friday was "night." My shot is in the middle, and you can see a larger version here.

I had other thoughts about what I wanted to shoot, but if I'm honest, this is pretty much where I am in the evening: on a date with my Mac. I'm still getting the hang of the Project 365, and I still have a tendency to overshoot, so I always have a ridiculous number of photos to sort and process. I'm learning, I'm learning, I'm learning, and I certainly can't complain about that. 

I had to contain my compulsion to clean and organize my desk. I left it "as is." In fact, it looks almost exactly the same right at this moment, except for an empty chip bag next to my keyboard.

I really do organize from time to time, but as it happens, when I start reading and writing notes and checking books and such, everything gets scattered here and there and everywhere. One of these days, I'll get a real desk with drawers, and then I can put stuff away and pretend to be organized.