Day 8 - Makes Me Laugh

I knew it would be difficult to go 365 days and not include my daughter in at least one shot - I was hoping to get farther along before she was the answer to the question. At the same time, I am glad to get it over with and I did give the prompt - What Makes You Laugh - thought all day.

I find most things funny - pretty much life in general is amusing to me although you may not know it to look at me. I work with children and they make me laugh all day - a response I have to hide or they know the 'bad' thing they are doing is ok. However, I did not want to post pictures of them or the place the I work.

As I drove home I continued rolling the thought around in my brain - what makes me laugh and what pictures would tell 1000 words when taken to describe it. I thought of my family - and even considered taking a pictures of all my family photos but then decided that didn't quite capture the life of it all.

My mind wandered down the lanes of how to show life in general - and all I could think is that when I look at my daughter I see Life. I see Hope. I see the Future. She brings joy to my life by just being and showing me her fun quirky ways that make my daughter special, unique, and a constant source of personal amusement.

I knew I was left with no other choice but to include my daughter as the photo. This shot was taken while she was laughing, yelling at the t.v. screen, and playing her video game. Nothing makes me smile or laugh more then seeing her having so much fun.

Day 7 - Favorite Food

My favorite food is bread and pasta (I should just say flour but that would not be accurate.) I particularly enjoy sourdough french bread - and living in the Bay Area of California for over 10 years, San Francisco sourdough - tops the list.

Now, usually I don't buy bread because I can eat a whole loaf in an unmentionable amount of time, give me butter and it will go even faster!

I was not about to run out and buy a loaf to take this picture, but did think of swinging by the grocery store to take a pictures of their selection but then I would have HAD to buy one - because I was THERE so I didn't do that. Instead I pulled out some San Francisco Sourdough English Muffins - Mini's that were sent to us as a Christmas gift. I've been eating the other varieties first - saving my favorite for last!

I have been trying to think all day what that says about me and the type of person I am. Whenever I think of sourdough I also think about the fact that you need a starter - something from a previous batch to help make it 'sour.' Of course, San Francisco sourdough - the best in the world - is said to be from the same starter that was originally brought over way back when. (If you are unfamiliar with a starter, when you use a bit you replace the same volume so that you have a never ending supply - you carry the fermentation forward and it helps it along.)

In the case of bread - it means each bread baked from that starter carries within it a bit of it's long standing history and there is a little bit of that history in each of us. One of my other hobbies is genealogy. I love history (even though I have a hard time remembering the dates and names I can tell you the stories) and love researching and learning about my own family history.

I can remember going through boxes with my Dad when I was in high school and reading letters from great-great-great-grandpa's and in one of them we found the description of three pictures that had been sent from overseas to the family that had moved to America. It was then that we finally found out who the people were in photos that had been hanging on a wall for years and only one or two people were identified. Because of this fun and entertaining research we were able to link the photo to the letter and discovered it was my great-great-great-grandpa and several of his children; as well as, identify and locate the other photos mentioned in the letter. By the time my Dad got them he had, had no idea that they had been taken at the same time and sent as a package.

I carry a bit of that history within me and am always thinking of the lives they lived and from the letters I know how some of the details parallel my own life. Names used then - being used now. Occupations that seemed to be shared across generations such as secretarial and teaching roles.

So, like the sourdough bread - I carry a little bit of my history with me no matter how much I change and reinvent myself.

Day 6 - My Workspace

My workspace is an 'in transition' piece.

I work from a laptop and although they are suppose to be portable - mine is no longer easily moved. It is over 5 years old and needs a new battery - one I am unwilling to spend the money for, so it must be plugged in at all times if I want it on.

Due to life events (and the fact that I'm a klutz) the screen was broken just after warranty - lasted a long time that way until a larger accident made it unsafe to work with and as it is usually the computer my daughter also uses - I removed all the broken glass from the monitor making that non-usable - so an external monitor is now required to view the screen.

I take a course that requires headphones to use, so now those are my main speakers (and apparently over the years my computer has 'forgotten' that it has speakers and other then a BEEP I cannot get sound to come from it anymore - go figure. I just gave up and always move the headphones too. Which works out just fine because when we get things working right I love to and would love to video conference with my friends and the headset has a mic on it.

I was given a wireless mouse from a friend of mine years ago - love it, use it, it must move with the laptop. Plus, with the monitor not working anymore why they hell would I open the notebook to stare at an empty screen and use the finger mousepad on the keyboard??

Next - pretty much due to that above fact - I have a keyboard also plugged into the laptop.

This is a lot of paraphernalia to drag around so usually the computer sits in my office/craft room/disaster zone. However, it's cold here - Yes, it gets cold in the desert and you may scoff at me with snow sitting out your window while I can go outside in the afternoon in a pair of shorts, (saw two men running today in short jogging shorts and nothing else and wished they were cuter to be worth watching - at least they were tan! - Anyway I digress...) When you are used to 90 degrees - 64 feels pretty darn chilly. Add to that, you are inside your house and it is 64.. BRRRRR - and my craft room while comfortable in the summer is freezing in the winter.

So, I moved my set-up to one of our couch side tables and was all nice and cozy in the living room near the fire -- AHHHhhh bliss. Fire, T.V., my family, my computer - what else can a computer junkie ask for!!

Then bring on the scanning art project of 2010. This is the way I spend my New Years Day - scanning the art work my daughter has created over the previous year (this year I am already at over 70 pieces scanned and not done yet!!!) Then I create a photo book (oops, sorry digressing again!!)

Anyway, I need the scanner - which is in my husband's office - so this shot is of my little ole couch side table - housing my computer between my husbands desk and the scanner so I can get my stuff done!

Since part of this project for me is to look at myself within these photos, I have to wonder what that says about me. I like to think that it means I am adaptable to the many circumstances that life can throw at you and that I can work well with the things I've been given. I like to think it shows a positive side of who I am - yup, I think I'll go with that!!

From 365 Challenge - Gotta Pixel

Day 5 - Unique

I saw the prompt for this one before heading to bed last night and fell asleep with thoughts of it running through my mind. I read the prompt about the unique sodas - and thought it sounded like a fun place to visit and I went through my daily schedule and wondered what I would find unique about it.

It brought to mind the WDYS (What Do You See?) pictures that I love to take. These are pictures of natural objects that at least to MY knowledge have had no direct human hand touch. So, due to erosion, winds, rain, animals, and other natural occurring phenomena What Do You See. I have pictures of rocks that look like chairs, cave stalagmites (or was it a tite?) that looks like the head of a dragon, a tree stump that bears an eerie resemblance of an angel with wings spread (or as one person I asked WDYS to, an owl.)

It was the thought of remembering my angel tree stump that my mind wandered down how I saw an angel and somebody else saw an owl (which I could see as well but first is always the angel) and what that says about a person. So, then I started thinking about religion and recalled the many conversation I've had with some of my closest friends and family about what we believe and why. As I recalled these many conversations, I also recalled all the books I have on religions, spirits, life beyond death, fortune telling, birth charts, and reading palms.

This last book led me down a path of thought about the fact that your palm and the lines upon it are every changing and your hands are different every day because of what you do with them. They are your tools and each persons hand is a unique feature, and they each is different: left to right, person to person. As I let sleep take me over, I knew at some point in the day I would take a picture of my hand - but which one?

I didn't think about the photo again until I went to lunch. Sitting in line at a fast food restaurant I couldn't wait anymore. I wanted this photo to be different too, as different as my left hand. So, I decided to use one of my phone photo features and made it four shots in one. I took a shot of the palm - the ever changing lines, a picture of my wedding ring (which to my knowledge is as unique as it comes since one stone is my husbands birth stone and one is mine and I always wear my husbands stone closest to me), a picture of a ring I found a long time ago and believe belongs to my younger sister - it says LOVE and has a small chip (real or fake I don't know or care) in the O which is a heart, and then a picture of the back of my hand.

I took the shots several times until I had one that I loved, I felt it represented me and it made me think about how unique I was as an individual and how each of us is different even if those differences are as small as the lines on our hands.

Day 4 - Yourself

My first thought was, to be honest, "Oh Shit!" I hate, really HATE pictures of myself. For a moment there I wondered what I was doing avoiding pictures of my daughter - couldn't I fudge it for this one prompt/idea? I dreaded coming home to get this picture done. I stuck around talking to my boss at work, waited for my daughter to realize I was there to pick her up, sat and talked with another boss - I was able to make those last minutes of work stretch into half an hour.

I was conflicted, I wanted to go home and see my husband before he left for his 2nd job. I wanted to go home and start on the projects I had waiting. I wanted to go home, change clothes and relax. I did NOT want to take a picture of myself.

Some thoughts were pure vanity - should my hair be up or down; should I wear my glasses or my contacts; should I do my hair; should I put on makeup; should I change out of my work clothes; should I shower first?

I ended up taking five pictures of myself - and even for a moment thought of doing a four in one shot showing me in various manners. I ended up not doing that because 1: I did not want to ask my husband to take my picture and to get more then just my forehead in each quarter I would need his help; 2: well reason one is pretty much all there was... my husband would think I had lost it and I didn't want to deal with that.

I took pictures of myself exactly as I look at work - hair pulled back, glasses on, and no makeup. I work with kids and spend my day running around and getting up and down - no need for most of that and I'm usually to tired in the morning to put in my contacts.

I took my hair down, I took off my glasses, I looked down at the camera, I looked up at the camera, I tried to remember to smile. Five pictures and I'm not happy with any of them. Nope... not at all!

One looked blurry, one looked like I had just bitten a lemon, one looked stark (and makes me rethink the whole ponytail for work thing!), and well I just don't like how I look in the other two - I did mention I hate being in pictures right? As most people I can see what is wrong with me. So, I look closer and what I see in this photo, is a woman who is laughing at herself for being so stupid and silly about a picture. I see a woman who seems to be restraining her laughter.

I see me.

Day 3 - Collections

Day 3 took me awhile to come up with something. I will freely admit that I am a low grade compulsive hoarder - I always feel I can get to a project and be able to do something with whatever it is I have in my hand.

I have had many collections over the years - key chains and pins/buttons are two of my biggest collections. I have been able to go through and give away or throw away many items; however, I will admit there is a box in the garage that still contains many of my keychains because I still find it difficult to give them away. Even if I did not personally purchase them I can generally remember who gave them to me.

My pins are similar in fashion and at one point I took it a step farther and added name tags from friends and families to conferences and places of employment (I still have one of my mother's volunteer name tags from the American Red Cross, an old conference badge of my fathers, and the name tag of a close friend -at the time- when he was the assistant night manager at the golden arches - a friend I have not seen or spoken to in years!) I also used to ask employees in businesses who were wearing buttons if they had extras because of this I have buttons from several different promotions from video rentals, grocery stores, and even use to have one from a bar about asking for your ID. All of these brings smiles to my face and over the years I have been able to sit down and throw some away. I eventually removed them from the item they were hanging on and now like the key chains they sit in a box.

Some collections are collections I did not personally start but were started for me and carried on by various friends and family. Such is my R2D2 collection. I love the little guy, especially his beeps and blurps - however this collection is such that I have Pepsi cans with his photo (I will admit that one was me!), a 3D puzzle that includes a sound box (my favorite part of the puzzle), a Walkman (I even used it!!), little Lego and various other items. Some are still in boxes and maintain their close to original value if not higher now. This is not a collection that I generally add to on my own; however, I have displayed these items with pride at one time - but at this time they, like the keychains and pins, are now in a box in the garage.

The challenge I faced this time wasn't only in looking at myself and what do I really collect, I struggled to move past the immediate thoughts of the collections I have started for my daughter (my obsession with pins and buttons showing up there - although I will admit that at least I have been putting them in frames immediately and she does not have boxes of "TO DO" "TO MAKE" lying around!) I thought of what my daughter would say she collects, but as I have made this a personal journey of discovery I bit my tongue and did not ask and kept thinking about it.

It was not until I got home and grabbed my phone to go and take a picture of the keychains and the buttons that I realized what I truly collect is books. I do not have pictured here the books I have on crafting, sewing, religion, school books, yearbooks, research books, hard backs, magazines, or the how-tos that I have. This picture only shows you a portion of the "fluff" - the romance novels.

I suddenly realized the one thing that I collect and even having a hard time letting go of - is my books. I'm a reader, a huge word gobbling, voracious reader. When I was a teenager, and to a great extent today, I could not put a book down once I started it until I finished it. Generally, at my prime reading ability - when left alone I can read around 100 pages an hour. I generally have a hard time remember titles and authors but can tell you a plot line in great detail (a great help if you miss portions of movies but don't expect me to remember what the characters name is!)

So, for this challenge I took a pictures of a portion of my library. It is a lot smaller then it was even five years ago. After meeting my husband, I have slowly been able to let books go, mostly to a local library where I smile when I come across them on the shelf. A trip to the library is a joke in and of itself - when I go with the purpose of actually picking up books my husband knows that I will not do anything that weekend and that the 6 or more books I take with me will be ready to go back by Tuesday.