fortune cookie thursday

in


sometimes i wish it were. but then again, that's the trick isn't it?
and the fun.

i'm still learning, learning learning all i can about this camera of mine. trying to make it do what i want it to do. exploring all i can find. trying to magically absorb it into my brain. taking it all in.

i stumbled upon this food for the photographer's soul. go down their list of blogs that speak photography and be amazed at what you find.
also being a fan of these guys, they will email you a daily photo from their collection. it's been one of the nicer things waiting for me in my inbox.

enjoy!

hay!





look at these SO clever hay bale masterpieces!
these are nothing to sneeze at....

mr. ntm and i went back to our alma mater in athens, georgia this weekend to visit some friends. and even though the town was mourning the fact that the dawgs were handed their butts on a silver platter by florida state, we still had a lot of fun.

thanks kt and tim for a great weekend.



when i was young, i was told by other kids that i was weird because halloween was my favorite holiday.
i'm still weird.
and it's still my favorite holiday.

what's yours?

have a happy halloween and a great weekend!

in




"love you more than chocolate cake"
"love you more than a soy latte"
"love you more than sleeping in"
"love you more than weekends"
"love you more than a shopping spree at forever 21"
"love you more than vacations"

these are the text messages that the p.b. kid and i send to each other every morning.
sometimes saying "i love you" just isn't enough

beautiful







my friend nancy honored me the other morning by letting me take pictures of her beautiful self...beautiful inside and out.

thank you nancy. i love you.



dear self,

today is your birthday.
yes, i know you can't believe you're 48 years old today. i know you wonder where all those years went and if you've done anything at all in those years that make any difference to anybody. i know you're still trying to make sense of your life even after all these years. i know you struggle with what you'll do with the next years ahead of you and what they will be like... all those middle aged fears and questions come tumbling in on you.
i wish i could give you some sage advice, but i can't. i wish i could tell you exactly what's ahead of you and that you'll navigate it all just great and everything will be wonderful.
but i can't.
what i can say to you is this:
it's pretty safe to say that you're not going to win a nobel peace prize or discover a cure for cancer. you're not going to become the queen of the universe or single handedly save a continent from famine and disease.
maybe you may not ever remember which side of the car your gas tank is on or learn how to actually iron the wrinkles out of a shirt.
but, there are people in your life that really love you. and you deeply love them as well.
and that's all that really matters. because when things are not what you'd like for them to be, they will still be there loving you through it.

so, that's it.
that's all i got.
nothing earth shattering, but there it is anyway.

oh, and one more thing....
happy birthday.

could it be possible?



it's a miracle, but i think i'm finally getting some of this photography stuff down.
just a little bit.
i'm not feeling totally confident about it, but i think a few basics are actually seeping in. it just seemed to make more sense last night during class. i've been waiting a while for that to happen. i'm probably the most undisciplined person in the world and being forced to use my camera without benefit of pre-set modes has been the best thing for me. i actually know how to manipulate settings manually and can guess with some accuracy how they'll turn out. plus it doesn't hurt to have an extremely patient and sweet brother in law who just happens to be a photographer guru and will answer my endless questions. i thank him for that

living proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks..





this guy had mad skills with the balloons. plus a great scottish accent, a way with a story and cute legs. he asked if we knew what haggis was. we asked him if he could make us a haggis out of one of those balloons. i'm sure it would have tasted better than a real haggis.

i should have learned how to make balloon animals.
maybe i still will.
i don't have a scottish accent tho.
and i'm definitely not wearing shorts, either.

self portrait tuesday

in
october's challenge is mirrors


dear dawn,

i don't take your words from last week personally. i know you're having a little trouble wrapping your brain around the fact that you're going to be another year older in just a few days.
so in order to help you prepare for the big day, i've decided that i'm going to reflect you in the finest birthday regalia a girl ever had until you warm up to the idea of this birthday thing.

your friend,
the mirror

p.s. i was built in 1936 so i'm way older than you. it's really not that bad

will you take my picture?

in





whenever anyone points a camera at me, i run. fast. but when i'm out shooting, total strangers walk right up to me and ask me if i'll take their picture.
i'm honored that they ask me. plus it's so much fun to take pictures of people.
wouldn't it be boring if everyone looked the same?


heidi is someone that i am truly enjoying getting to know. she is an amazing woman with an amazing story.
and she tagged me.
i have never been tagged before, so i will do my best.

top 4 wishes
i wish our world was a peaceful one
i wish i could get the hang of learning this technical photography stuff (it's killing me)
i wish i understood myself better
i wish our work weeks were two days and our weekends were five days

4 places i want to travel to
it's so hard to name just 4 places, but in a broad sense i would name:
asia
south america
europe
africa
specifically, tokyo is the number one place i want to go to

4 careers i would want to be involved in
gallery owner
professional photographer
graphic designer
journalist

4 things i want God to say at the gates of heaven
"here's your soy latte...and don't worry, your cup will refill automatically."
"so i understand you have a few questions for me? let's talk."
"you were a fairly decent human while you were living down there on that earth plane."
"your dad is over there and he can't wait to see you....oh and by the way, your grandmothers are all over there too and they have the cribbage board all set up and ready for a game."

more lessons i've learned from middle age (so far)

1. speaking your mind is a good thing only if you actually have one
2. living well takes on a whole new meaning the older you get
3. the person that pulls in front of you will invariably drive at least 10 miles below the speed limit
4. it's better to be kind than right
5. hotel walls are thin
6. these will always be the best days of our lives
7. people actually can see what you're doing in your car
8. intuition is under-rated
9. by the time i can find my phone, it will have stopped ringing
10. the older i get the less i know (i can't say this one enough)


one must never, ever, ever park in the middle of a soybean field.





i am always on the hunt to catch a photo of the cows in the nearby pasture when they're taking a little dunk in the pond. my sister-in-law loves that funny scene too and i have tried my best to capture it for her but with no luck so far. saturday morning i was passing by the pasture which i do practically every day and the pond was clear of cows, but there was one lone cow standing next to a tree. i thought i'd stop and get a picture of him because he looked so regal standing there looking straight towards the road, standing proudly, tail switching. but as i drove by looking for a safe place to stop, i noticed that another cow was laying right next to him on his side. i didn't see him at first because of the tall grass. i knew that he was probably dead.

there's no telling how long that sweet cow had stood there next to his friend. watching over him. did he witness this passing? how do animals know?
when i looked out to the far pasture, i could see the farmer coming with the flatbed truck.

i hope that when that cow dies, someone will stand next to him just as he did for his friend.