SharondaWoodfin.net

Unflattering

The MySpace kids have their bathroom mirror pics. I have these: self-portraits taken in either the windows or the outer mirrors of a car.

If you look closely at this one, you can see right through me to the back seat of the car, and to the slides and fake flowers in the back floorboard.

Mostly, though, I just want you to see my half-off, Dollar General hat, 'cause that faux-fur baby rocks my pseudo-Amazon socks.

New Zazzle Product Line: Ladybug on the Rocks

Ladybug on the Rocks

This is a manipulation of a photo I took of a ladybug on a fountain at the park in the center of town. I'm in a "metallize" phase, at the moment. You can see the entire, admittedly small, product line here.

Stink Bug and Privet Berries

On my front steps, first thing this morning.

Advance by Day

With a little help from the "Kids & Pets" setting on my camera, and an irresistable impulse to stare at the Sun.

Usability in the Real World

Sometimes people need explicit directions, even at the quick shop.

This sign made my morning!

Whistling Bear Matrix

My mother told me once about a psychically-gifted woman who claimed to see the faces of spirits in trees.

I don't need any psychic gifts to clearly see that this tree is inhabited by the spirit of a long-dead whistling bear.

If you aren't a fan of Ghost Hunters, see this suite101 article on matrixing, even if it is horribly wrong about the face on Mars! We all know early Egyptian astronauts built that!

Unexpected Finds

These are just a few things that I've "discovered" within a two block radius of my house over the past few days:

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to find that the small tree across the street, currently shedding its bright yellow leaves, is a Ginko, but I was. In my defense, I've only had a digital camera for a number of months, and the main thing I've learned about photography is that looking through a lens changes the way one sees things. It causes you to pay more attention.

And this is one of the things that definitely caught my attention! From a distance, it looked like Christmas, if Christmas were indeed orange. I'm gonna go out on a limb and call this a staff vine, or bittersweet, even though the coloring and the shape of the capsules made me wonder if it might be some variety of spindle tree.

If it were up to me, it would be called Ladybug Vine.

This one, I was absolutely afraid to touch! That's a lesson learned from wanting to eat the berries from the privet growing next to the steps, at least until I found out what they were. Thanks to Wontar for clueing me into the fact that this is some variety of milkweed. I don't care if it's common or not, to me this will always be Alien Plant that Grows Hair and May Well Be Flesh-Eating.

Passenger's Perspective

I went on a short, but unexpected, road trip, today, with a friend to purchase flooring. And since I had a decidedly non-purselike (little angry emoticon) way to carry my stuff, I decided to take my camera along. I ended up snapping photos through her windshield while we sang along to the disco tunes on her build-a-CD from Wal-Mart.

A few more shots can be seen in my Southeast Missouri photo album.

Halloween Ladybug

Spotted on my way to the grocery store. It's the first ladybug I've seen, this year, anywhere on my property.

Notice not only that it's dressed in Halloween colors, but also that its face is appropriately spooky!

Jerry's Back Yard Excursion

When I start my own religion, the first rule will be "When life allows, walk your dog, ride your bike, or mow the lawn." All of these things have their benefits for either the dog, the environment, or your neighborhood. But they all serve to benefit the doer, too. Whether you choose to see that benefit as psychological, spiritual, or metaphysical is up to you. I'd rather just enjoy it.

And, for me, the past few days have been all dog, all the time. Since the weather was nice today, since Jerry seems to have stopped passing blood and is having no digestive disruptions, since I felt good, but sucked at art; it seemed like a great time to get him out, about, and unbored. We crawled around in the back yard for a while, then he ran a bit while I carried his butt, and, finally, I put him in the stroller for a trip to the park. Only the crawling bit made for decent photos.

You can see a few more shots in Jerry's Photos, if you're so inclined. But be forewarned: He's a disabled dog. He looks like a disabled dog. If you're bothered by that sort of thing, you may not want to look.