Thinking about: Funny things about my fun kid

1. She saw a commercial about Libman mops and said, in all sincerity, "Cool! Did you see THAT?!"
2. Her current favorite show is "If Walls Could Talk"
3. She goes around the house with her spy kit and desperately tries to lift my fingerprints
4. She likes doing laundry
5. She's oddly methodical and process-oriented about playing, of all things
6. Listens to music and actually asks me what the band name is when she hears something she likes:
Her: What's this band?
Me: The Ramones.
Her: The Moans, that's good stuff.
Me: It's a cd, do you want to borrow it?
Her: Yeeeaaaahhhh!!!!

Two of the Five Ws

What did you get?


Who gave it to you?

The Zaffa

The wedding procession or Zaffa involves an exotic band leading the wedding with a group of people holding candles, and then the bride appears with her groom. It's spectacularly hypnotic. The music involved about 40 minutes of playing instruments and everyone seemed to know the words. This song is similar to the one at my friend's wedding, except instead of the horn there was a bagpipe-like instrument. (Sorry about the photos. My camera was too much to carry so I brought the point 'n shoot.) YOU MUST CLICK HERE AND LISTEN!!!

Mehndi Pre-Wedding Party

My good Egyptian friend got married! Here are some photos of the pre-wedding mehndi party at her sister's place downtown. My Muslim friends get these temporary skin decorations made from henna stain as part of wedding celebrations. The women who do the henna are so artistic and fluid!

The views from the deck... not bad!!!




Her mother's henna...




And mine...

Mundane

Chicago's Tallest Building: The Serious Tower

We went downtown again today. Went up the Searious Tower and fooled around at Cloud Gate. What a sculpture! I miss my city. She said, "Why can't we live HERE?" You can, someday.

Fence Faces

Ever notice your fence's faces? Don't ask why, but I did. Here are just a few of the dozens I've been living among without regard. Unfortunately, there were very few happy faces out there.

Angry


Thinking of a response...


A little dopey


Anguish


Conversation

Rainbow and Pinhole

The 4th and whatnot

Well, here we go. There are too many pictures from the 4th, of the parade, etc. So, here are a few from the fun times. I didn't really have opportunity to work on the fireworks and no chance at all for nighttime pictures of the carnival. There's always next year...

Robins

I know, everyone has robins around here. I just love them. I broke out the "new" 28-105mm for this. I couldn't get up very high. I tried to balance on this little stool I have, but the lens is heavier than I'm used to, so I was shaky. Hopefully I'll get the hang of it. It's a nice little minor zoom, nice USM though.

fuzzy baby head


Tried the flash to see if that would help me... baby says "Blegh!"


The mama flew away for a bit and I counted 3 in the nest.

Not-too-good composition

What's that term that means you get stuck on a certain song? Here's the song I'm stuck on: Waiting for the bus. Why? I don't even live in the city anymore. I can't remember the last time I waited for a bus. Now, I'm so... stuck... that I can't even think.

I am also reading a new book. See top right. I figure if I'm probably gonna be teachin' it, I better get back into the literati.

As far as bad composition goes... well, here we go. Good thing I'm taking that class. I converted the one to grayscale thinking that sometimes that can make the graininess passable. Eek.



(Click this next one and you'll see the heron down below)

Happy June to you, I'm off to Minnesota for vacation with my new CP filter and tripod. Hopefully I'll get some good ones.

Freedom

Freedom
The last day of school brings a sense of freedom to both students and teachers. I felt it last Friday. She felt it Tuesday. Grins all around. Didn't someone once say that education is a key to freedom? It's just another grooming system. I honestly don't think I learned much until I was ready and willing.


... and Weeds
It's nearly 9.30 and half the neighborhood's weed wacking their hearts out. If they put half the effort into doing something that meant anything, then maybe we'd get somewhere.

Good Weather for 1 Day

Last Sunday was perfect weather. Not too hot, no mugginess, no chance of sunburn. We had the neighbors over for a cookout and then went fishing. Then, I decided I'd had enough of the squeaky children and headed home.

Junk Drawer

How can it be?! I cleaned out the kitchen junk drawer today and now I can't get it closed! I got rid of an entire bag of junk from it! The rest is valuable stuff I just can't part with (including the wisdom teeth).

Iowa, Stuff, and Foto Skool

I got a really neat Mother's Day present. A day at photo school in July. Let's hope I don't totally suck that day. Anyhow, here are a couple of snapshots on the way back from Iowa.



And here's Barbie in the Birthday Mush cake. Hah! Take THAT Barbie!

And the front tree. Some neighbors like it, some don't.

And a nice floral still for my other neighbor!

Whoa

There's lots going on in this photo, even for b&w. Stripes, leaves, chalk, horizontal lines. Yikes. Maybe this is one I can practice cropping on?

From pig to ham

Here's a conversation...
Her: How do farmers sort out which eggs have baby chicks in them from the ones that we can eat.
Me: I have no idea.
Her: What does "Farmers raise pigs for their meat mean?"
Me: It means they take good care of the piggies while they're growing up and then they eat them.
Her: Gross!
Me: So what do you want for lunch tomorrow?
Her: Ham sandwich.