Giveaway Prize: (1) 16×20 Rolled Canvas for One Lucky Winner from UPrinting.com

Eligibility: Limited to U.S. Residents (sorry!)

How to Enter: It’s easy!  To enter the giveaway all you have to do is leave me a comment  describing what photo gifts you’d want to have printed for your family and loved ones, in the comments section.

The winner will be announced on next week’s “Weekly Winner” post.
GOOD LUCK!

_______________________________________________

This week’s Winners are from the last two photo shoots I went on.
There’s a lot of exciting stuff for Mishelle Lane Photography on the horizon.
I’ll definitely share it with you along the way…

Thank You to UPrinting for hosting the giveaway.  I will be receiving a 16×20 print, too, for running the contest, but first I have to shoot a picture of my kids (which is FAR harder than shooting other people’s children.)  Maybe by next week I will have the photo to share with you.  Maybe?!

This is {NaBloPoMo}

for all your hard work

and for your dedication

thank you

for your planning

and for your execution

thank you

for your precision

and your forethought

thank you

for your ingenuity

and for your ever-present skills

thank you

for making our shelves

and for every effort you put in them

This is {NaBloPoMo}

Did you ever look in the mirror, and stare so long that you didn’t even know who you were looking at?   Like, you saw yourself through the windows of your soul, but you were kind of lost.   You were there, yes, but you were hiding really well.   Almost as if you were hiding so well in there that all the staring in the world couldn’t help you be found by yourself.   The only thing that could help find you was to take your fist, with all the force you humanly posses, and shatter the looking glass into a million pieces.  Only when you shattered it you were still looking back at yourself; now a million lost yous were looking back.   Then you screamed, “WHERE ARE YOU!?  I KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE, GOD DAMN IT!  COME OUT AND BE.”

Did you ever find an old picture of yourself, and stare so long that you were wondering who you were looking at?  Like, you knew it was you with that flashy smile, sparkling eyes, and perfect hair, but you were kind of lost.  You knew it was you, yes, but you didn’t feel like that girl anymore.   It’s as if the circumstances of your life happened so swiftly that you’re unsure how you got from point A to B.   The only thing that would possibly help would be to rip that picture into tiny unidentifiable shreds.  Only when you tore it up into strangely perfect polygons the only thing that happened was it disparaged you more; then you found yourself chaotically taping it back together.  Then you sobbed, “Come back to me.  I know you are out there, God Damn it! Come back to me.”

Did you ever wonder how you could merge the present and the past?    Like, you know where you are now and you know where you’ve been, but you still ache for this part of yourself that is all but gone, but not even gone.  Dare I say it’s the part of you that’s changed?

Did you ever wonder how you’ve let yourself get to this point?  Like, you know that all the choices you have made, along the way, have determined the quality of where you are now.   Dare I say that there is knowledge that you are still in charge of the choices you make?

Yes, we all wonder.  We all stare.   We all look upon our youth, sighing ever-so passionately.  We all wonder if things could have been done differently along the way, but we are also so-very thankful that things are just the way they are.   Yes, we all bleed.  We all feel pain.  We all crawl into the corners of our minds, finding repute in ourselves.   Yes, we can be found.  We all find.

When [they] ask me why I wrote this blog.  I’ll simply reply that I wrote it to be able to see myself without looking in the mirror.

Be still my heart
allow the night
to pacify
this
ache.

For the time
to pass
knowing that
there is a void
HURTS–
Like a wound
open and
bleeding out–
Your hands
up in the air
STILL–
I hate that
you do this
to me;
I hate that
my pain
is alive
AGAIN–
For time
to pass
knowing that
there is nothing
REMAINS–

Your eyes
Burn like
Cigarettes wild
Into my
Soul and
Out of
My heart.
Why must
Your eyes
Keep me
Still burning
Like wild
Dreams?
To yearn
For one
Single touch
Allowing me
The pleasure
Of looking
Into your
Soul.

Original Poetry © 2009 Mishelle O. Lane
This is {NaBloPoMo}

{The Goose Family Lane}

This is {NaBloPoMo}

Meet me down by the river, and
I’ll take your picture.
The kids will have fun, and
I’ll capture their brilliant smiles.

Meet me down by the river, and
I’ll take your picture.
You’ll steal a minute by a tree, and
I’ll catch that look in both of your eyes.

Meet me down by the river, and
I’ll take your picture.
These precious moments will be locked, and
I’ll always be honored that you let me hold the key.

This is {NaBloPoMo}

And how do we keep our balance?  That I can tell you in one word.  Tradition!
–Tevye, the Papa, Fiddler on the Roof

The date has been blocked on the calendar since the month change. Countdowns were issued weekly. Thoughts were exchanged verbally amongst siblings about how the night would be, what they would wear, when we’d actually leave the house, and where we’d go. Daydreams ensued about pumpkin heads filled with all kinds of delightful treats.  All in the name of a fall time tradition that [we] love to celebrate: Halloween!

The day started out rather slowly.  Coffee.  Mama needs coffee.  And once the quota was filled–the quota being my two favorite mugfuls–I was ready to face the day; the busy day that would more than likely not bring any rest.  First stop was acting class where Olivia did her little one minute skit and wowed the socks off of her teacher.   During the time that the kids were there, Davey and I went to hell.  Ok, so, fine, we really just went to Wal-Mart, but honestly it was pretty close to hell.  Saturday, on Halloween, at Wal-Mart–what was I thinking?   We survived, though, and got back just in time to pick up the little actors.

Then it was time to work.  There was lunch to be served, cupcakes to be made, and pumpkins to carve.

Time flew by, and before we knew it night was upon us.  I started to get the kids in their costumes.

First up was Zombie Girl.   This girl has been something ghoulish for the past three Halloweens.  Gone are the days of Princesses and Pop Icons.  She wanted scary, spooky freakishness, and scary, spooky freakishness she achieved.

Next was Benny the Bionicle.  When I found the box of old costumes in the garage, and he saw that Mikey’s old costume would fit him he immediately knew what he’d be.  After all, this is the kid who lives, eats, and breathes, Bionicles.

Then it was the Ninja’s turn to get ready.  He wore a costume that was once his eldest brother’s, too.  Mikey was three when my parents took him and Olivia trick-or-treating in our old neighborhood in Cheektowaga, NY.   I can still see toddler Mikey walking down the cracked sidewalks, his plastic pumpkin in hand, excited about getting chocolates.

We kept asking David what he was going to be for Halloween and he reply was either “inja” or “I not gonna be a inja.”   Cutest damn Ninja that I’ve seen, oh, in eight years!

Finally, there was Billy Mays.  I don’t know if I can add anything other than I love that Mikey chose to be him for Halloween.  Earlier in the week I had asked Twitter what they thought he should dress up as, knowing that he liked to wear creative, home-made costumes as opposed to the store bought.   Someone said, “How about Billy Mays,” and as soon as I told Mikey that, the deal was done.   Respectfully, Mikey became the OxiClean spokesman for a night.  He threw that thumb up and flashed his big, pearly whites.

After it was all said and done, Olivia and I were talking.  She said, “Mama, I’m happy about Halloween, but I also have this sad feeling now.”

“Oh, baby,” I said, “sounds to me like you have Halloween let-down.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Ya know on Christmas morning, when you’ve done opened all your presents, and the candy’s been eaten, and there’s nothing but crumpled paper under the tree?” I answered her with a question.

“Yes,” she replied.

“Well,” I said, “that’s Christmas let-down, and what you are feeling now is Halloween let-down.  After all, you’ve been thinking about this night for a whole month.  And now that it’s over, you feel kinda sad.  The good part, though, is that we get to mark a new holiday on the calendar tomorrow!”

She was satisfied.

Me?  I’m still not entirely satisfied.  November has started and–as quickly as time flies–it’ll be over before we know it.   That’s why I’m just going to take it one day at a time.  I’m allowing myself time to fix any mistakes I’ve made.  I’m resigning myself to be patient with myself; my mind, body and soul.

So dull and dark are the November days.
The lazy mist high up the evening curled,
And now the morn quite hides in smoke and haze;
The place we occupy seems all the world.
–John Clare, November

This is {NaBloPoMo}

*SOOC = Straight Out Of Camera; which means no editing, processing, nothing!  Just good ole photography.

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