Planking

So we've been trying here to salvage a difficult summer and find hilarity in simple things. So Isaac and I have been Planking.

First, our front porch:

His technique is still developing. Stiffness isn't ideal, and toes aren't pointed.

This one wasn't too bad... some cinderblocks in our backyard.

A decorative fence on our town square.

City Hall.

And then our roof. Well, the accessible part of our roof. And he wasn't on the EDGE. We were careful. I don't want him injured. People get hurt or killed doing this. But they're usually drunk. And we were quite sober.

Proud to be an American Planker!

Fire Department Plank!

Waste Management Plank!

Ford Ranger Plank!

Generator Plank!

Concrete abutment thingy Plank!

Old Car Plank!

Phone Booth Plank!

Ramp Rail Plank!

Church of Christ Plank!

Cactus & WagonWheel Planking!

Planking while being observed by buzzards

Aaaand Backhoe Plank!

Okay, yes, it's silly. But we're having fun. And fun is good. That's what Dr. Seuss told me, anyway.

Happy Caturday!

Camera Tossing 2010, Take #3

Actually, this wasn't so much "tossing" as just "rapid waggling."





The Nikon captures color so much more effectively than the little point-and-shoot, understandably. One of my serious photographer students, Lauren, said that she had done the camera-tossing experiment but had just made rapid circular motions with the DSLR camera instead of actually tossing it. I decided to give that method a try and see if I could improve upon the color.

The result really makes me think of the big Nam June Paik neon sculpture in the Smithsonian. I like it.

Camera Tossing 2010, Take #2

Now that we have the Christmas tree up, I wanted to do some more camera tossing in front of the tree to see what I could end up capturing.





Cool, huh?

Don't forget to turn off the flash before you do it, though. Turning off the flash forces your auto-shutter to stay open longer to let in more light, which makes for a lot more motion blur effects.

Camera tossing

It's getting to be about time for another round of Camera Tossing, usually made more interesting by the presence of Christmas lights. I don't have my Christmas lights up just yet, but I did some preliminary tosses in front of the television as an experiment. Got some stuff I liked the look of... several involving television images, and a few capturing the overhead light instead thanks to rogue tosses. Here are a couple of samples:











I don't use the big fancy camera for this sort of activity, of course... practically speaking, it's easier to toss a little, light point-and-shoot... and then there's the risk factor. Any-hoo, if you want to give this a try, start out doing it on a carpeted surface or even atop a bed, making sure that you're pointing the camera at a light somewhere when you push the shutter button and twirl the camera at the same time. That way, when it lands, it will be on a soft surface and won't be jarred or damaged. See what you can do!

A Texas pilgrimage

There's a little creamery in Brenham, Texas, where they make the best ice cream in the whole world. It behooves every Texan to, at some point in their lives, make a pilgrimage to this hallowed spot.

Last Saturday was the day we set aside every summer to get up long before dawn and set out on a southerly trek to pick up Miss Alice at Camp Spike 'n Wave, located at the Camp For All grounds in Burton, Texas. Burton is very near Brenham, so after we picked her up, we went to visit the Blue Bell Creamery there.

The grounds of the creamery are impeccably groomed, and we were delighted to see that there was a bronze statue depicting the same little girl leading a cow that's silhouetted on every container of Blue Bell Ice Cream. See up there under the name? That little circle? That's the one.


Of course, we had to go in to the gift shop, where we were elated to see that they sell individual scoops of every single flavor they produce. YUM! I can't have any, of course, since I haven't found any major brand of ice cream that isn't made with corn syrup. But that's okay; it was fun to see Mom and the girls enjoying theirs. Plus, Mom got me a Blue Bell Ice Cream t-shirt instead.

The drive down there was spectacular, even though I was about as tired as I could be (thanks to Mom for doing most of the driving) because we've had lots of late nights with the play and I had to leave my house at 3:30AM just to get down there in time. This year they've had plenty of rain, unlike previous times I've been there, and the fields and roadsides are lush and colorful and juicy-green and gorgeous. We even saw the largest, thickest stand of Mama Alice flowers (Ipomopsis rubra, or Standing Cypress) that either of us had ever seen in our whole lives... just amazing. Some of the stalks had to have been eight feet tall -- I do not kid. We didn't even know they grew that far south, but according to the web site at Lady Bird Johnson Center, that flower is specifically native to Central and East Texas (although it has spread sporadically to other states). In any case, they were magnificent.

Mystery flowers

I haven't yet been able to find an identification for this little vivid blue flower. If anyone else has better luck than mine finding it online, or if you already know what it is, I'd sure appreciate knowing what this is. It was photographed in central Oklahoma.

Local color

Some thistle I haven't been able to identify yet... doesn't have hugely prickly leaves like most thistles, though. I dunno.



A happy little patch of allium next to a big windmill.



Male Checkered White (Pontia protodice) on Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella)



I love walking through a patch of this stuff (horsemint, or Monarda citriodora) and getting the aromatics stirred up around me. Lovely smell!!


Plain old daylilies... are anything BUT plain!

Around our yard

Tow Maders!!!





The Dusty Miller is blooming... kind-of an odd plant and not my first choice, but it's interesting, so it stays. I like interesting.




Little fig, little fig, let me come in!!




It's a beautiful day in north Texas today. If you show up, I'll have a big glass of iced tea for ya.

Or should I say Happy Spiderday?

This little arachnid is busy rebuilding a web amongst some of my irises right now...

Yellow iris

This year, the irises have been particularly profuse in the yard. Several colors have popped up that we didn't see at all last year.

Last Saturday was very wet and rainy (which made for a rather soggy Prom Night), and all the flowers had all these lovely raindrops all over them.

Prom Night!

I'm headed off in a bit to play my part as paparazzi (paparazzo? paparazza? I ain't no Italian scholar, peeps) at the 2010 Ballyhoo Prom.

Don't wait up.

Scene Yer Pitchers

I've spent the last couple of weekends photographing a couple of Ballyhoo students who asked me to do their senior pictures.



This young lady also happens to be the daughter of our pastor. She's a great kid. I'm really excited for her, because she just landed a full scholarship to Texas A&M's veterinary program.



And this girl's face reminds me of Miley Cyrus (only prettier). We found this abandoned homesite with these awesome old beaters parked alongside... she wasn't wearing shoes because she prefers being barefoot, but there was some broken glass. Thankfully she managed to avoid being cut by any of it. It's fun to work with someone who's game enough to go along with my harebrained ideas.

The Vinca minor, or Common Periwinkle, is going nutso in the north part of the yard.



My purple irises have exploded all over the yard this year. Actually, everything floral has exploded in the past three weeks... seems like usually things are a little more spread apart, but this year everything has just gone nuclear instantly at the same time.


A little Lupinus texensis, anyone? Bluebonnets are huge favorites around this state.




Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens), one of my favorite viney fence-row covers.

Just some local color for your Sunday evening enjoyment

Stuff I took pictures of this afternoon while taking a walk around the neighborhood: