LouCeeL

Wordless Wednesday - Christmas Art

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

The Art of Juan Valdes

Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Shortly after Christmas
On Their Way to Egypt

Ndinombethe.

p.s. Tomorrow - at least one picture of yours truly in Santa hat.

A little more meandering

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

Why is it that days of vacation fly by so quickly? And days at work don't? It should really be the other way round.

We visited Love Muffin's Mum, today. She has always referred to me as her 'dictionary'. If she needed to know what a word meant, she would call me on the phone to ask. This is a woman who graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Romance Languages - so the words she would inquire about were never, ever, simple. Today she wanted to know how to say 'stroke' in Spanish. She knew what 'heart attack' was, but she wasn't sure she'd ever heard the expression for 'stroke' in Spanish. I told her it's 'derrame cerebral'. I'm sure she knew it - it's just her memory has some holes.

I wore my Santa hat today. No. There are no pictures to document the wearing of the hat. Although I strongly suspect there will be some before Christmas. I even wore it to 'Culvers' - a fast food restaurant. It was filled with young people who kept averting their gaze - even though I could see the smiles on their faces. I'm sure some of the smiling was actually snickering, but some of them enjoyed it, I'm sure. I hope so. I know I did.

PattiKen got the picture today. It got there safely with no damage of any sort. She said she'll post a picture, in mid January, of the piece 'in situ'. If you don't know what I'm talking about ... it's a long story and I'm too lazy to do all the links necessary to explain. When she does the post, then I'll do all the backstory in links so everybody knows.

Happy Tuesday Before Christmas.

The first FULL day of Winter.

Ndinombethe.

Monday Meanders 12-21

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

It's the Monday before Christmas and I'm home today. And tomorrow. And ... every day until the 28th. Cleaning. Housecleaning, to me, is like yardwork. And we all know how I feel about yardwork.

The Bears lost yesterday and looked pathetic doing it. When do pitchers and catchers report?

Not that the Cubs are going to make much of a splash this year, either. They traded one big salary for another big salary, so they're just as hamstrung in the 'Market' as they were perceived to be when they carried Bradley on the roster. The new deadweight is a pitcher named Sliva.

Christmas is coming and I'm starting to feel the tingle. I love it when I have all three of my sons around me - Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be special this year, too. All three boys - and daughter-in-law, too. I love my Bitsy. She's my first DIL.

Happy Holidays, Everyone. Whatever bit of celebration there is for you in these days and times, I hope you find the intended spirit and love.

Ndinombethe.

Sarah - Where you going?

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

From last time ...

And then ... softly ... "Oh, Jake."

And now ...

It was Midnight when she felt Jake getting out of bed and heard his belt buckle clinking.

"Where you going?"

"Go back to sleep, sleepyhead. I gotta get that stuff outta the truck and drop it off at the shop, remember?"

"Mmmm, yeah, I guess I do. Do ya have to go NOW?"

"I'll be back right after sunup. You just stay there and keep everything warm until I get back, okay?"

"Okay. You sure you wanna leave right now?"

She had thrown back the sheet which covered her.

"Don't make this difficult. I'll be back. I promise - I won't waste any time gettin' back here, okay?"

"Mmmm. Okay. I'll wait right here."

He had opened the door to the room, and as he stood in the doorway he turned to look back at her. The light from the hallway spilled into the room and across the bed as she pulled the sheet over her naked body.

"You won't need that when I get back."

"I hope not. Go. Close the door. I'm going back to sleep."

Jake closed the door and walked down the hallway toward the lobby, and the front door. Ma was sitting on a stool behind the front desk, pretending to be absorbed in an old National Geographic. Jake stopped and looked at her. Ma refused to look up from her magazine, but as he walked out the door she did look up, and she smiled.

The sun was just rising over the mountains to the East when Chico's car pulled up alongside Jake's in the lot outside Jake's gunshop, now closed. Jake was dozing, so Chico tapped his horn. Jake woke with a start and got out of his car.

"Hey, Chico, you shitbird. You tryn' to shorten my life or somethin'? You startled the crap outta me."

"Sorry, Senor. But Sully, he ees een a hurry for de stuff, no. Andale."

"Alright. Alright. Come back here and help me get this stuff into you car."

Jake walked to the back of his car and opened the trunk. Several medium sized boxes were in his trunk - all taped up.

"Look, Chico, give me a hand, will ya? These aren't too heavy, but you don't really want to drop anything. Comprende?"

"Si, Senor. I no drop notheeng."

Jake and Chico, working together, transferred the boxes to Chico's trunk.

"Okay, Chico. That's it. You got an envelope for me?"

"Si. Here. By the way, Senor, who ees the chica? She ees muy bonita."

"You don't know her, Chico. Her family ranches up north. Okay, I'm goin'. See ya later."

"Adios Senor."

As Jake drove away, Chico stood there a minute, watching Jake's car recede into the distance. He wondered why Jake had been so quick to say he didn't know her. That wasn't the question. No, that wasn't the question, at all.

Chico knew he'd seen her before. He just didn't know where. Pero, Me acordaré. But I WILL remember.

Jake opened the door quietly and stepped quickly into the room, closing the door, softly, behind him. As he unbuttoned his shirt, he studied the form of the woman under the crumpled sheet. She was beautiful. She was amazing. And she didn't think he was ugly. He felt an urge growing in him, he felt desire rising inside him. As he undressed, some little noise he made must have been enough to wake her, because she stirred and turned over to look at him in the growing light of morning.

"Close the drape over that shade, will you? It's too bright in here."

"Sure. But now that you're up, get rid of that sheet. I told you, you weren't going to need it when I got back."

"Well, then, you'd better hurry up and get in this bed before I get cold."

And he thought to himself how he couldn't believe this. He thought how he'd been so wrong for so long.

And then he just stopped thinking and let instinct take over.

A Day of rest

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

The Inferno challenge is posted.

I'm off for the next week or so.

I'm fried - dead ass tired.

I chose sleep last night - so Sarah is going to take the day off. Besides, she's in bed with Jake and we don't want to hurry them, right?

Sarah will be back tomorrow, though. No Sunday rest for the wicked.

Ndinombethe.

Friday Haiku -

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

As of 12:01AM this morning, the challenge called "Is Whispering Nothing?" published in The Inferno, The Writer's site I manage in conjunction with The Artist Challenge, a site where visual artists practice their Art and Craft in response to a challenge word or phrase.

Check it out. I'll wait until you get back.

These days, so busy
full of life's anxieties
as Christmas draws near.

Presents for children
and decorating the tree
foremost in your mind.

Top to bottom clean
your home will be just perfect
with lights on the roof

But let's not forget
what the day is all about
It's Jesus' Birthday.

Ndinombethe.

100 Word Challenge - Hope, and a Book Review

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

What follows is in response to the 100 Word Challenge authored by the inspiring Velvet Verbosity. The word, today, is "Hope".

No Hope

"Just what did you expect, MISTER?"
Uh-oh. She called me Mister. She only does that when she's seriously pissed.
"Aw, c'mon, Babe. Honest. I've never seriously looked at another woman."
"Why do ya look at all, Joey? Ya got ME! Ain't I good enough?"
Oh, good. She's gonna calm down. Whew. That was close.
"Of course you are. You're the only girl for me."
There. That oughta do it. HOLY COW. Look at the Rack On THAT!!
"JOEY!! You are a PIG!!! There is no hope for you."
"But Baby!!"
Crap. She's gone. Double crap. The blonde is gone, too.

Now, for the book review.

A short while ago I volunteered to read and review a new book, written by a WWII P.O.W. The book was to be a recounting of his three escapes from prison camp and his subsequent recaptures. The unique aspect to all of this was (and is) that the man was a German Flier shot down over England, his prison camp was in Western Canada, and one of his escapes took him into and across part of the United States.

The second unique aspect to all of this is the format of the book. It's actually a fairly short book at 125 pages, including the short appendix. But each page in the book is half German, half English, laid out side by side, so the text matches up. But back to that in a minute.

The story, in English, is an almost literal translation from the German. For a native English speaker, this represents a novel look into the way the way a non-English person thinks and speaks. The story itself is gripping, in parts, fascinating in others, and overall, well done. There are times, however, when the story gets to be a bit tricky to follow - due to the literalness of the translation. But still, well done.

Now about that side by side text. For the student of German, this is a novel way to explore the language as it is spoken by a native German speaker - for a German speaker, it also represents a novel way to see their language explode into English.

The book is "Canadian Escapades" by Klaus Conrad. Translated by Maximilian Franck
and Scott S. Lawton. Published by Germancosm. Visit can-esc.com for the latest news and links.

Ndinombethe.

Wordless Wednesday - Solitude

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

Solitude

In the 'English Walled Garden'
Chicago Botanic Garden

Ndinombethe.

Tuesday - and More Meanders. Really.

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

Since we've actually run out of Meandering Belgians (at least for today), we'll just have to start with an apology for yesterday's lack of real meandering and meander today, instead. Really.

PattiKen, won the print of 'Nobody's Home'. She commented yesterday that she was thrilled. Not half as much as I am. Now I'm going to find out how much it's going to cost to ship that sucker to Massachusetts (damn, I can't believe I spelled that right without looking it up).

I have made a decision about Sarah's story - I now know where it's going. I've been wondering, for a while, what this story was really all about. I know now. And now that I know, a lot of the meandering stuff I had planned for the story is totally unnecessary. I had no direction and the story didn't, either. Now it does. I see the path.

When I was a kid, I didn't care for cranberry sauce. (I don't know - I just didn't). In November of 1965, our Thanksgiving Dinner, delivered by helicopter to our hilltop firebase just outside Chu Lai, was, as a result of a Navy screw up, all cranberry sauce. No turkey. No mashed spuds. Just three trays of cranberry sauce. The dinner we got for Christmas that year was more balanced, thankfully. And I ate the cranberry sauce. And I make sure to eat cranberry sauce every year - so that I don't forget why I like cranberry sauce now.

Sometimes I think GM has thrown the baby out with the bathwater. I keep getting mail, snail mail, from every car dealer in 20 miles, it seems, telling me they're ready, willing, and able to maintain Saturn vehicles. I own a Saturn. A 2004 Vue with a 6 cylinder engine and automatic transmission. I have 106,000 miles on my Saturn. I get around 26 miles per gallon in mixed driving. On regular gas. Meanwhile, the vultures are picking over the bones of Saturn while GM restructures around Cadillac, Chevy, Buick and GMC - and I'd take my Vue over any one of those marques.

I want to say I'm sorry. You guys deserve better than yesterday.

Ndinombethe.

Monday Meanders 12-13

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

The Bears lost yesterday - and it was a game they could and perhaps should have, won. On the other hand, could haves and should haves are all sour grapes - Jake Cutler came to Chicago and all he did was light up the weaknesses in the rest of the team. And with Lovie Smith.

The giveaway at Mommycosm is today. Not one of my readers made comment on my print at her site - didn't any of you want it? I find myself a little disappointed.

Ndinombethe.

UPDATE: I was wrong. One of my peeps did comment. And SHE WON!! Congratulations PattiKen.

Sarah - Leave the lights on

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

From last time ...

Sarah took the suitcase from Ma and started down the hall.

"Good night, Sarah."

"G'Nite, Ma."

And she muttered under her breath, "You old tank."

She stopped outside Jake's door, took a deep breath, and softly knocked.

And now ...

Nothing. She knocked again, louder this time.

Still no answer.

"C'mon Jake. I'm standin' out here with your suitcase in my hand - I look like I'm sellin' something."

The key turned in the lock and the door opened halfway. Jake stood there, half behind the door, reaching his hand out for his suitcase.

"Uh-uh, Jake. You and I gotta talk."

Jake stepped back into his room and tried to fling the door shut, but Sarah pushed her way in before the door could close and set the suitcase down on the floor, closing the door behind her.

"What's the matter with me, Jake?"

"With you? Not a thing."

"Then I don't understand ... I know you say you got physical problems ... that I understand ... but I have never spent this much time this close to a man where he hasn't tried to cop a feel or brushed up against me or done something - ANYTHING - to get something started. Don't you FEEL anything for me, Jake? Don't you feel anything?"

"FEEL? Yah, I feel. I feel plenty! But when push comes to shove it's not gonna end well - so why even start?"

"Why don't you try it and see. Maybe it ends better than you think."

"Look ... no woman's gonna want to be with me. My body is chewed up and scarred - ugly - UGLY - I can't stand looking at it, how is anyone else ever going to look at me and not call me UGLY???"

She had been slowly walking toward him. Now she reached out and gently pushed at his shoulders with her fingertips, sending him back a step.

"Ugly? I don't think you're ugly, Jake."

"Yeah, but you haven't seen 'em. You haven't seen the scars from the shrapnel - and from the operations. I look like a fuckin' Frankenstein."

"I don't care, Jake."

She pushed him again, sending him back a step.

"Stuff doesn't work anymore - not right, anyway - it just doesn't work."

She reached out and gently shoved him again, and he backed into the side of the bed. His arms flailed in the air as he tried to keep his balance and she reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt and held hm up. And pulled herself in close.

"I don't care if 'stuff doesn't work', Jake, but you are going to put your arms around me and kiss me and then you and I are going to spend the night together."

She kissed him, gently at first, but as he began to respond and kiss her back, the kiss went deeper and the embrace tighter and they lost their balance and fell into the bed. Items of clothing began falling to the floor; her blouse, his shirt, her bra, shoes, socks, belts ...

"Wait a minute, Sarah ... turn out the lights."

"No, no, Jake. You don't have to hide anything from me. Leave the lights on."

"But .."

"No, 'buts'. Just leave the lights on. Now shut up and ... Jake? I thought you said that doesn't work."

And then ... softly ... "Oh, Jake."

Sarah - Psychosomatic

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

From last time ...

"I don't know, Patron. I theenk maybe I have seen her before. But I don' know. Anyway, I go now, Patron. I go home to my Rosa. She makes me feel good. Maybe, while I make love to my Rosa, I weel remember where I have seen the Senorita before. Maybe. Or maybe no. When I make love to Rosa, she don' like eet when I theenk of other women, you know? Oh well. Maybe manana.

And now ...

"You take the room next to Sarah's, Jake. Hang on a minute and I'll get yer suitcase outta my room."

Sarah looked at Jake quizzically.

"I stay here once in a while. Ma keeps a change of clothes and shavin' stuff for me - just in case. It don't happen too often, but she was always tryin' to get me to stay here when her daughter was still around, so I started leavin' a change of clothes here just to get her off my back."

"Tried to get ya to marry in, eh?"

"Yeah, there's nuthin' too subtle 'bout Ma. I love her and all, but she gets to be as obvious as a tank. Like puttin' me in the room next to you. She knows I don't like stayin' up here - I'd much rather be out in one of the cabins - but she ... oh, nevermind. You know what I mean. Next thing you know she'll be sliding your room key under my door."

"I don't know Jake - I might think about doin' that myself."

"Look, I told you before - that ain't gonna work. This is business. This is me training you, and that's it."

Jake reached behind the counter and pulled down the key to his room and stalked down the hall to his door. He inserted his key, went in, and she heard him lock the door from the inside.

"Where'd he go?"

"Down to his room. I was teasing a little and I guess I pissed him off."

"What'd you say?"

"Oh, just a friendly hint at ... you know. But I shoulda known better, I guess. He said right off he can't have .. nuthin' to do with women or whatever .. and I ... I just think he's quite a man and I haven't been with a man in such a long time and he gets me all started inside and I have no idea why I'm telling you all this."

Ma stared into Sarah's eyes for a long moment.

"Let me tell ya sumthin' and don't you dare tell Jake I told ya. There ain't nuthin' wrong with that man that a good woman cain't fix. He used to get his mail sent here sometimes and I seen letters from them doctors up at the VA. They say that's it all in his head - there ain't nuthin' wrong with his ... you know ... man parts. I cain't remember the word they used .... it was somethin' like ... sigh ... p - s - y .."

"Psychosomatic?"

"Yeah. That's it. Whatever that was you said. It means in his head, right?"

"Yeah, Ma. That's exactly what it means ..."

"Well, here. Take his suitcase down there and give it to him."

Sarah took the suitcase from Ma and started down the hall.

"Good night, Sarah."

"G'Nite, Ma."

And she muttered under her breath, "You old tank."

She stopped outside Jake's door, took a deep breath, and softly knocked.

Hope for what it could be like

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

20 years ago, in October of 1989, we moved into the home which we live in now. In August of the following year, a tornado ripped through our town killing 27 people. But for my wife's anal attitude about seat belts, the count could easily have been 30.

Annie had two little playmates of my boys in the car with her - it was time for them to be home and she was driving them home through the storm. Nobody knew what was coming - there was no early warning system in our town, then - no way to warn or tell anyone that life threatening conditions existed. She drove right into the teeth of the tornado.

The tornado picked up her car and rolled it, threw it into a parking lot and left it sitting there, upright but wrinkled and windowless. They were, naturally, frightened. They were, also, cut, beat up, bruised and bleeding. But they were alive. They had stayed in the car because of Annie's insistence that the kids wear their seat belts. And, of course, she was wearing hers. A woman driving the highway just outside town wasn't so lucky. She didn't wear her belt and the tornado sucked her out of her car. They found her body in the middle of a farmer's field, naked.

But Annie and the boys were alive.

They were out of the car, wandering down the road, in a landscape that suddenly was totally unreal and foreign. The high school which had been on their right as they drove toward town was gone. The trees which made the area look so inviting and friendly were stripped bare or uprooted. They were in an area where Annie didn't know any people, all the houses were strange to her. She was feeling lost, devastated, and she was crying.

Suddenly, there stood in front of her an older woman and her tall, kindly looking husband. The Wheelers. They took her and the two little boys into their home, which was on the undamaged side of the street. They helped calm them, helped Annie pick the glass out of her scalp, gave them warm drinks and dry clothing. And Annie calmed down to the point she got her wits about her and she eventually got the French boys to their home and then got herself home to our house.

Over the years, all of that has become a memory - and it has drifted away to one that seldom gets visited. But two weeks ago we were at our favorite restaurant, newly re-opened, sitting in the vestibule waiting for seating. Suddenly, there in front of Annie, stood that older woman from 20 years ago. Annie stood, they embraced, and they both stood there crying in each other's arms. The whole thing came flooding back for them and they both felt the love and kindness that flowed from the Wheelers over three lost and hurt strangers, as if it was yesterday.

We have seen, we have been the recipients of, the love and kindness of strangers. First hand. It is in that love and kindness we find hope for the future. We know what's out there. We know what people are capable of. In this day and time, when the pressures of culture and circumstance distract us from the simple things that mean so much when one can slow down and see them, the Wheelers and their kindness stand as a reminder, to us, of what it could be like, what it should be like, and God willing, what someday it will be like.

Ndinombethe.

p.s. Go to Blog Nosh Magazine and find more Hope For The Holidays stories.

100 Word Challenge - Thinking

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

What follows is in response to the 100 Word Challenge, authored by the erudite Velvet Verbosity. The word today is "Thinking".

Thinking

"Cogito ergo sum."
"What?"
"What what?"
"What did you say?"
"Cogito ergo sum."
"That doesn't help."
"Okay, then. How about, Je pense donc je suis?"
"What the hell is that?"
"French."
"No. What the hell IS that?"
"It means, 'I think, therefore, I am'."
"Shut up and drink your beer."
"What'd I do?"
"Why do you do that shit?"
"Do what?"
"Try to make everyone around you feel like dog doodoo."
"You're thinking you feel like dog doodoo?"
"No, I'm thinking about dusting my knuckles with your teeth."
"Well, at least your thinking."
"Just shut up and drink your beer."

Hmmm. That was fun. Anyway, everybody should stop by Mommycosm and check out her "Holiday Hoopla Giveaway" that she's running. Much cool stuff.

Ndinombethe.

Wordless Wednesday - Statue From Bark

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

Statue From Bark

The Chicago Botanic Gardens
This statue is going to be
the subject of research
by none other than me.

Sorry for the redux - but this IS a fuller view.
This guy just fascinates me.

Ndinombethe.

It's Tuesday - They Must be Belgians!!

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

I was going to do a funny post - about Belgians in the Wild - all anthropologist like - but I think I'll play this straight. Jientje, of Heaven is in Belgium, is too good a friend to risk offending her with my weird sense of humor.

Jientje, In the English Walled Garden

Jientje and Ivan, Her Husband

Jientje and Lisa of Lisa's Chaos

And that concludes our study of 'Belgians in the Wild'.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Ndinombethe.

p.s. Go to Mommycosm's Holiday Hoopla Giveaway and enter for the giveaway of "Nobody's Home" - an 11x14 print in a 16x20 frame.

Monday Meanders 12-7

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

There is to be some snow today. UGH. When you drive 43 miles one way to work, it's just UGH.

The 'Holiday Hoopla Giveaway' is due to start at Mommycosm today. I am donating an 11x14 print of 'Nobody's Home' in a 16x20 frame. It is depicted on an easel in a corner of my studio in the very bad picture below:

Denver just got snow and they're looking at more snow today. Of course, Denver gets buried in snow fairly regularly - here, not so much.

I have to put the lawn mower in the shed - and I have to fill it with gas, first. Which means when I get home from work, I have to work outside, in the dark, in the cold, in the yard. Someday, I'm going to live in a large condo.

The Bears won yesterday. Of course, they beat the 1 and 10 Rams. Somehow, the feeling of accomplishment that normally accompanies a Win - is lost. When does Spring Training start?

I am working my way up to starting a painting for the challenge due in the middle of January on The Artist Challenge. The challenge is "Turbulence".

Ndinombethe.

More Sunday Snaps with Jientje

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

When we got to the botanical Gardens - it was cold. And cloudy. Not a day when colors were going to stand out - and of course, in November, in Chicago, there aren't going to be a lot of floral colors outdoors anyway. But, diehards, you know?

At least she was dressed for the occasion. It gets cold and wet in Belgium, just like here, so she did dress properly.

And she helped a late Rose pose for me - almost wilted, as it was.

There's this amazing sculpture in the Gardens - it's got to be 10 feet tall - it's HUGE. I've never seen it before and I don't know anything about it - yet. But I will.

And, of course - the obligatory cactus.

I know, I know. I said Sarah was going to take only half the weekend off. But, as it turns out, the story hasn't clarified itself to me, yet, and I'm at an early but critical juncture in the story. I need to get it right - I need to make sure it all makes sense. So, until it does ...

Ndinombethe.

Sunday Snaps with Jientje

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

Sarah is taking half the weekend off - and the reason is below. And I guess I should explain.

Those of you who read Jientje know that not too long back she broke her camera. Her husband, Ivan, bought her a new camera to replace the busted one. The old camera was a Canon SX10 - the new one is a Canon SX1. And the thing is, Canon repaired the broken camera so when she came here to the States, she had two cameras.

As I was driving downtown on Sunday morning to pick up Jientje to take her to the Chicago Botanical Garden, to meet Lisa and her family, I realized that I had forgotten my camera. Left it at home. I didn't KNOW it, of course, but Jientje had two, so when I told her I had stupidly left my camera home, she offered to let me use her repaired camera.

I took about a hundred shots with her camera. Yesterday those shots came to me on a USB memory stick in the mail. So for the next two or three weeks I would like to share some of the better shots I took with her camera - which I found very easy to use - especially after watching HER work with her camera and seeing how she uses it.

After having taken the obligatory flower shots (like the one above) in the first greenhouse, we wandered around until we found ourselves in the fourth, and last, greenhouse. Full of Cactuses. Or Cacti, for the purest or those of you who speak Latin.

These cacti are amazing looking beasts. And the one below is the most impressive in the camera.

Next Saturday, pictures of Jientje actually using her camera to take those macro shots she loves so much and does so well. And more cacti. Spiny, prickly, make holes in your clothes cacti.

Ndinombethe.

Friday Haiku - The Swan

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

The Swan

Outcast with braces
ugly duckling hid the swan
that altered the world

Written for and about Catherine Ryan Hyde, the glorious swan who wrote the book "Pay It Forward". If you would, go here to read the short interview I did with her, via email. When you do, be sure to click the link that leads to the "Reprint" article. You really don't want to miss it.

Ndinombethe.

100 word Challenge - Kaleidoscope

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

The following is in response to the 100 Word Challenge authored by the multi-faceted Velvet Verbosity. The word is "Kaleidoscope".

Kaleidoscope

I had a dream once
a place to go
a path to follow
foot set on the golden way
but it was shattered
like a broken stained glass window

broken hearts
broken loves
broken minds
broken dreams
children lost
and never recovered
the shattered life became
shards that cut deep
wounds were healed
with too much drink and
the salve of other lives
made just as miserable
they opened again
in the cold sober light of morning

but I have learned
in beautiful ways
when life shatters
into a thousand little pieces
pick it all up
And make a kaleidoscope.

Ndinombethe.

Wordless Wednesday - Juan Valdes - Artist

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

A Page From the Sketchbook

Of Juan Valdes
My Father-In-Law
Deceased, Two years ago, today.
Now a Family Heirloom

Ndinombethe.

P.S. UPDATE of a sort - What is up with Google Reader? I published this at 12:01AM - yet Reader found it at 7:27AM. It takes seven and a half HOURS?

Recropping a picture

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:01:00 +0000

It's funny, sometimes, how the simplest thing can change your assumptions.

I published a photo some time ago, called

Nobody's Home.

When I cropped it I thought the picture was best served by getting in tight on the features of the shot which I felt were most important - which included the hole in the ceiling where the stovepipe used to exit, and the round bit of sunlight it lets through to the floor on the opposite side of the car.

I had the shot printed today at 11X14, and it drastically changed the crop. It now looks like this:

This is what was there all along - the lonely, empty feeling of the place - and was lost when I cropped the picture to emphasize the 'features'.

Sometimes I do better by accident than I ever might have done on purpose.

Sometimes, when you look too hard to find the 'features', you wind up overlooking the obvious.

I am going to frame this print in a dark frame with gray matting, and then it will become part of the "Holiday Hoopla Giveaway" on Mommycosm's blog - whenever she gets it all organized and ready to go. If you would like to have it, all you have to do is win. This print, for what it's worth, will be signed on the back and dated with today's date. So far, it's the only actual print of this version of the shot. I may print a few more, and frame them, for sale, if anyone would like. Given the cost of printing and framing, it would have to sell for $50, plus shipping.

All you have to do is let me know - if you would like one. Signed. And dated. And framed.

Ndinombethe.

p.s. This is the first time I have ever actually solicited interest in one of my photos. It feels a little weird.

Monday Meanders 11-30

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:01:00 +0000

For those who are new here (there are one or two) - The 'Sarah' story you see referenced here once in a while is actually a book in progress called "Vigilante: The Sarah Pierce Story". The set of links in the upper right sidebar will take you to the story as it has been published. The first 16 'tastes' of 'Sarah' have been consolidated into four links, but the rest of the 'episodes' are individual links in that sidebar.

The book is raw and unedited - that is, none of it has, at this time, been re-written or gone over by an editor. Maybe, someday, if I ever get a publisher interested in the book, that might change, but for now, it is SOOC, so to speak (Straight Out Of Camera).

There is a prologue piece to the book - the story is called "The Kid" and it is, in fact, the beginning of the story of 'Sarah'. Links to that story are to be found in the lower right sidebar - either as a series of links which cover the story as first presented, or the whole story can be read all at once by going to the bottommost link in the right sidebar.

There is a third story in the right sidebar - "One Knight's Story" - a book in progress that the development of is currently on haitus. I know. Convoluted sentence.

It seems all the meanders today run in the same direction. I guess that's not much meandering, is it?

Just to meander a bit - #3 son has given up on Air Force ROTC. Which means he also gives up the scholarship they would have afforded him. Yuck. Now what?

Ndinombethe.

Sarah - Maybe Manana

lou.lohman@gmail.com (LceeL) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:01:00 +0000

From yesterday ...

Chico and his crew had gotten into his car and backed out onto the highway. As he turned and headed south, he thought to himself that Jake's girlfriend looked nice. But she's too skeenny for me, not like my Rosa. No. Not like my Rosa at all.

And now ...

"I think he might know me."

"Who, Chico?"

"Yeah. He used to drive for Sully once in a while. I'd see him at the casino with Sully. He never talked to me or anything, he'd always wait by the entrance, but I know I've seen him - and I'm sure he's seen me. I just don't know if he remembers."

"Maybe not. After all, he'd been standin' in there staring down the barrel of Ma's rifle. I don't think you even registered."

"I hope not. I'm not ready."

"No, you're not. Come on, let's eat. I'm hungry. It's time for chow. We can worry later. Oh. Wait a minute. I'd better call Sully. You go over to the Diner and get us a booth. I'll be right there."

With that, Sarah walked across the dusty lot to the Diner while Jake went back into Ma's lobby.

"Hey, Darlin'. You aren't gonna shoot me, are ya?"

"Don't start with me, Jake Bertrett. I'm still as jittery as a polecat crossin' the highway."

"How'd you get the drop on them boys, anyway?"

"I seen 'em gettin' outta their car with guns in their hands. By the time they came through that door I had my rifle out from under the counter and they never had a chance to raise their guns. Now why the fuck are they lookin' fer you?"

"I don't know Ma. But I'm just about to find out. You mind if I make a phone call?"

A little while later, Jake slid into the booth across from Sarah.

"So? What's up? Why're they lookin' for you?"

"They need me to prepare some stuff for them. Some flash bangs and some smoke grenades on timers. And they need it in a hurry."

"You gonna do it?"

"Yeah. The stuff they need is in the truck down on the Reservation. I can do the work tonight and then I'll meet Chico outside the shop in the morning. We can't meet at my trailer anymore 'cause it's gone."

"Oh yeah, I'd almost forgotten about that. What're you gonna do about your trailer?"

"I don't know if the insurance company will cover gettin' my trailer blown up by gun totin' fanatics, or not. Maybe if I tell 'em it was a propane tank .... well, anyway, when this blows over I think I'm gonna sell the shop and move farther out, anyway. It's gettin' too crowded around here."

"Too crowded?"

"Yeah, there's people movin' out here all the time. Las Vegas is gonna be big, and I don't wanna get caught up in it."

"Just don't go anywhere I can't find ya, Jake. I need you."

"Don't you worry, sweetheart. We'll be together for some time yet - no matter where I am."

"Good. Let's order. I'm hungry."

And, while Jake and Sarah had some of Donnie's Fried Chicken ...

"You know Patron, I theenk Jake has a girlfriend now."

"Really. I thought Jake wanted nothing to do with women. That kinda surprises me."

"Oh, me too, Patron. I know Jake for a long time, and he don' like bein' around women. They make heem feel bad, you know? But thees one, she ess preety. Maybe she makes heem feel good."

"Maybe she does, Chico. Maybe she does. I wonder where he met her."

"I don't know, Patron. I theenk maybe I have seen her before. But I don' know. Anyway, I go now, Patron. I go home to my Rosa. She makes me feel good. Maybe, while I make love to my Rosa, I weel remember where I have seen the Senorita before. Maybe. Or maybe no. When I make love to Rosa, she don' like eet when I theenk of other women, you know? Oh well. Maybe manana.