Flowers are a momentous thing, in the most literal sense. They live life in the fast lane, and you must do your best to keep your eyes open, lest they zip by without you ever noticing. Sure, trees and shrubs and plants blossom every spring, but I've never gotten used to it. I always step back in mild shock the first time they remind me that this is what they do. "Oh, yeah - THAT!" People mostly take shots of flowers in their hey-day, of course, which is fine. Buds and flowers with limp, brown-curled edges can also be interesting photos, but not in the same way. A flower in its prime exudes a robust energy and other beings are automatically attracted to that aspect.
posted:8:43 AM | link |

Daisies. Lilac daisies, actually, but the photo was taken in glaringly bright light, then 'turned into' a painting. :-)

In other news... I was so tickled with the slickness of how the Whim & Vinegar Forums looked and worked that I wanted to try out my hand with php scripting and MySQL - never having even SEEN anything MySQL at all - LOL. And, of course, not really having a use for a forum on any of my OWN sites at the moment. *grin* Anyway, my friend Sharon then told me about this idea of hers to have a forum on her site, even before I mentioned it at all! So, with the help of phpBB and her ISP and some good documentation, she now has a forum running on her site! Check out Grainne's Forum of Real Magick! (Geez - do I have enough LINKS in this post?)
posted:12:29 PM | link |

I won't tell you what this is a photograph of because I want to keep it golden and mysterious instead of the mundane truth sitting behind the curtain - LOL. I think that's all I have to say at the moment too - not just about the photo, but about anything. I started with two or three topics in mind, but they all just fizzled out before the impulses got to my fingertips. Perhaps you've all just been spared - consider today a lucky day for you. *grin*
posted:9:13 AM | link |

I just love this image - feels very cosmic to me. :-)

Speaking of cosmic, how about that Comet Ikeya Zhang? According to Sky & Telescope magazine, the comet is now bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye from very dark sites free of any light pollution. (in the northern hemisphere, at least) I was in Washington State when the Hale-Bopp comet came by. I remember driving around with friends Tom and Becky - we had pulled over to the side of the road for some reason (was it something about blackberry bushes?). Through the thin misty haze in the sky, we saw a bright blurry spot with a bright blurry tail - rather amazing. If the mountains here don't get in the way, we certainly have a night sky free of ground light that will give us a good view of this comet too. I'm just, once again, wishing I had a telescope! Some day though! :-)
posted:12:00 PM | link |

The following story is true. And by true I mean, well, true - it really happened to me, and although I'm still somewhat embarrassed, I can't NOT tell it. LOL. Ahem. Last night, as usual in California, I had been drinking a lot of water and needed to use the facilities. So I went into the bathroom, yadda yadda, and as I was standing and went to flush, my gaze dropped down into the bowl momentarily... only to find two eyes staring back UP at me! *grin* I jumped a little, I'm not ashamed to say, but I didn't scream - LOL.

Along the front, top rim of the bowl was a pacific tree frog, body less than an inch long, legs and sucker feet spread and clinging to the porcelain, staring up, trying to look inconspicuous. "John!" I laughed, "There's a... a... FROG in the toilet!" He laughed and ran over. And then he laughed harder when I told him I'd already used the facilities with it there! (I'm sorry, but I DO have to mention that what the bowl contained really was a lot like just water because of the amount I'd been drinking, so it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it could have been.) He easily (and cleanly) grabbed the little frog, and we let him go outside.

Of course, I know this sets me up for, not the Butt Spider Urban Legend (Glutious Arachnis - the spider that waits under the seat to bite your backside), but a Frog equivalent. By the way, we have a septic system and frogs get down there all the time - this guy must have just decided to take a trip UP the pipe.

All in all, I'm really glad of one thing - that he just stayed where he was and didn't jump on my butt while I was sitting there - see, it was a chilly night, and pacific tree frogs like the heat that humans give off. That would have been.... let's just say... much worse. And I'm sure, had that been the case, I certainly WOULD have screamed. *grin*
posted:7:24 AM | link |

Finally, a Tribute for Sept. 11th that is beautiful and elegant and moving in its simplicity.
posted:8:31 AM | link |

Caught this shot at sunset yesterday, which happens early in the mountains. The side of our house must have been almost "exactly" perpendicular to the rays of the sun at this point. Or rather, the rays of the sun must have been almost "exactly" perpendicular to the side of our house - yeah, that one sounds better. We don't have any kind of rotating house or anything.... hmmm.... a rotating house... naw, Bugs Bunny already did it, I think. *grin*
posted:2:06 PM | link |

What? You say you love words and wordplay but you don't know what a shoecabbage is? Well, don't just SIT there, find out! *grin*
posted:3:53 PM | link |