Day 09 – A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.
Well, duh. Who else could it be? The love of my life. My media naranja.
silly memes
Day 08
Day 08 – A picture that makes you laugh.
Okay, so really, this one has had me laughing to myself. Is it a picture of something, that makes me laugh? Or is it a picture, of something that makes me laugh?
I vote the second one.
I do a lot of grading on-line, and it’s too easy to keep a couple of tabs open to some social media sites for entertainment and breaks between essays, especially since little alert numbers pop up.
That’s where the laughter comes up. I have a Facebook friend who has a really great name for liking status updates. It’s a really great name, but I won’t take a screen shot of it because I thought about it too late to ask permission to display this person’s full name liking a status. Maybe I’ll be able to share it another time, or you could be my Facebook friend and maybe see it.
This is my second choice, but it ranks right up there. The picture represents the fun I have with social media, and getting laughs…good from-the-bottom-of-my-gut laughs when I see a clever comment or a fantastic picture.
The list of people who bring me joy is pretty long. That’s quite a blessing, isn’t it? Let’s pretend this picture represents everyone on Facebook and Twitter that makes me guffaw, giggle, laugh, titter, smile…and sometimes cry.
I have no problem sharing this picture because these folks are World Re-Known Super Celebrities and they are also my friends in RL, so I’ll give a little shout-out to the stuff they do so you can go and see their magnificence for yourselves.
Don’t they look great? I love Lisa and Steve’s smiles. And Paul? He looks like he should be in a raccoon coat holding up a college pennant and wearing a beanie.
Paul Camarata’s The SaintCast
Lisa Hendey’s Catholic Moments and CatholicMom.com
Steve Nelson’s everything esteban
Day 07
Day 07 – A picture of your most treasured item.
In 1992 our house was burglarized. Thanks to our retired neighbor who was working in the yard, he was able to call the police and scare away the burglars. We only lost our tv and stereo…and the jewelry box that John gave me for our first anniversary. In it were a number of pieces of jewelry that had a lot of sentimental value. Among them were my wedding rings.(I was about to give birth to our son and had taken them off the night before because of swelling in my hands).
I cried and cried. Eventually, I stopped crying, but I’ve never gotten over it, especially if in the right mood I happen to catch a glimpse of John’s matching band 😦
He replaced the rings because he is a darling and has offered to upgrade and change the setting, but I’ll have none of that. Not because I’m being petulant or having a tantrum about wanting my rings, but because it was one of those defining moments that changed me. I’m just not terribly attached to items since them. I’m not married because of some rings…the burglars took some gold and diamonds, not my marriage.
I’m not very materialistic. Don’t think I’m being all ascetic and stuff. I like pretty things and have plenty of stuff, and like my new car, and like my house, and like the things in it. I’m just talking about having an inordinate connection to stuff. I just don’t. I’ve driven cars that were just tools for transportation, lived in comfortable homes that were not showrooms, worn clothes for fit and comfort instead of style. I do admit to owning too many books, so maybe that’s it. But no, a flood in the basement wiped out hundreds of them (they were in boxes — fail) and I tend to lend books, which amounts to giving them away, so I never give anyone a book that I actually expect back 🙂 So, nothing there.
I’m contemplating what I would grab if the house were on fire. My initial thought is nothing — get my family out. I actually took a walk around looking at stuff. When I settled in the living room, I saw the charcoal drawing of the three kids that hangs above the fireplace, and I thought, well…I can’t reduce my kids to an item…but in that item is captured that which I do value, and that is my family.
Aren’t they cutie pies?
Day 05
Day 05 – A picture of your favorite memory.
Well. Now that’s a tough call. How to capture a picture of my favorite memory…there are many, of course. I played a video of my life in my head while thinking about it, and for a brief moment thought the best picture would be the cheesy grin on my face while I settled into my favorite chair and thought about it.
I have many wonderful memories from my childhood from running around the neighborhood playing hide and seek, to riding bikes to the pool, to carefree summer nights sitting on car hoods and looking at the stars. Family outings and picnics and special events with my family are the foundation of who I am. All of those merit a place in my hall of fame of memories.
Of course, the second half of my life (and more if I really do the math) has been filled with warm family memories…my husband, our kids, the nieces and nephews and godchildren and all their amazing and wonderful milestones deserve their place as my favorite memory, too.
So, too, the friends I’ve had over the years. Those who have been near me forever, and those who come in and out for a season, but still leave their mark.
Choosing one, then, has been a difficult process, but I did it. It’s a picture of roses. When we were first married and living in Germany, away from family and friends and everything that we knew, John was in the habit of going to the train station to pick up the newspaper very early on Sunday mornings. I’d make coffee while he was gone, and more often than not, he’d show up with the paper, some pastries, and flowers for me.
Those were care-free times. They were pure as the snow in the picture, and lovely and romantic like the swans. Oh, we thought we were struggling…we didn’t have very much money or a fancy house, and his car was held together with bondo and spit, but we were happy in the simple things that filled our days. We had each other, and that was enough.
Day 04
Day 04 – A picture of your night.
Oh. It said night, not knight.
Well, so there’s my night. Once again, a highly interpretive little thing, “a picture of your night.” I tend to like to sleep at night. Thus, a picture of the inside of my eyelids. But you know, part of sleeping is dreaming, so I thought I’d share something else. I dream in color. Not always, but when I do it’s pretty cool. And it looks like the ceiling of the Opéra Garnier in Paris. Without the goats.
I really love the colors that Chagall uses, only, the floating goats are a little too much. In all fairness, though, this is actually my favorite Chagall painting:
It’s called Self-Portrait with Muse and I fell in love with it when I first saw it almost 30 years ago. In fact, I had been rather tepid about the Chagall museum until I saw this painting up close and contemplated the origins of inspiration. I explain it a little here, and am reminded of another painting, too. Many years later I would go full circle and encounter a very different painting, this one by Rembrandt, St. Matthew and the Angel, and I suppose, with my refined (read that older and mature) sensibilities, found it moving, more so than when I first saw the Chagall. I was drawn to this Rembrandt painting at a traveling Louvre exhibit in Atlanta, and circled back to it several times, drawn to the Angel.
Years passed between the time I saw the Rembrandt painting and I thought about writing again. Something remarkable happened and I started making a connection between my own writing and the Divine source of that inspiration. It wasn’t a cascade or domino effect, but a gradual awakening, guided a little by a mortal muse, but a muse nonetheless.
By the way, the real picture of my night, in case you missed it, is a little trip into my head…
Day 03
Day 03 – A picture of the cast from your favorite show.
I loved this show — it’s a shame it got cancelled. 😦
Any other Browncoats out there?
that 25 things meme
It’s been annoying me to get tagged because I usually ignore these things unless they really capture my interest, but I guess it’s grown on me. So here goes, in no particular order:
1. I don’t like to use public bathrooms.
2. I used to dye my hair, and now that I have more gray than ever, just forgot to keep up with it.
3. I like the tv show, House
4. I go to work every day and pretend to know what I am doing. I profess with great alacrity and confidence. Maybe I’ll be able to keep up the ruse until retirement.
5. My favorite candy bar is Zero.
6. I have a minor in French.
7. I majored in psychology right up until I had to take clinicals and couldn’t pick up the rats. I don’t regret the switch to literature, although history would have been a close second. That means I also have a minor in psychology, for what it’s worth.
8. I like to eat fried eggs and rice with ketchup all over it.
9. I’ve always loved my kids, but now that they are big and know how to bathe themselves, I find them interesting and fun to be with because they are interesting people, not just because I spawned them.
10. I once spent the night in a whorehouse. With a gay man. I slept with one eye open, and he slept in a chair leaning against the door. (I can’t wait to hear from my parents on this one).
11. My nieces and nephews have the most beautiful laughs. Ever.
12. I love yellow roses. It’s a bad habit I acquired from my honey. 😉
13. I can’t read music. A number of music-people have tried to teach me, and the only thing worse than my frustration, is their defeat. Ha!
14. I was a cheerleader. (believe me, I don’t believe it either).
15. I broke a priest’s fingers in a pick up basketball game. Nobody was safe when I played b-ball.
16. I like Christy’s musical selections.
17. I fell in love with my husband because he has manly hands.
18. My pinkies and the second toe on both feet are really crooked. (I saw this on somebody else’s list–how weird is that?).
19. I once dreamed of competing in the Olympics, but then my heart conked out and couldn’t pursue a college career.
20. I like old-school Cuban music, crooners, blues, and country music.
21. I don’t like dolls.
22. I used to paint when I was a kid. I’m thinking of trying my hand at it again.
23. I’d like to travel in space.
24. I don’t really like burned toast or anything else that is over done, although I sometimes pull the mommy switch.
25. I want to go to Las Vegas!
another cup of coffee 