Age Spots and Belly Fat

I admit it. These are two of my many flaws. It's so sad. And as you know my reunion is fast approaching and I'm concerned about them. I have to do something.

Two age spots are on my face and one on my neck. They look like giant freckles. When I was younger I though it would be great if all of my freckles blended together but that never happened. Now many years later, I'm faced with this delimma. So today I took action and went to the dermatologist. He was kind enough not to refer to them as age spots; he was compassionate and called them PRE-CANCEROUS. He mumbled something as he took a cotton swab and dabbed something on my face and neck that felt like a combination of acid and hot wax. He warned that it might sting a little. Sting? I wasn't brave; I don't like pain. When he treated the spot on my neck, I swear I thought it was burning through to my throat and I just knew I would have to have a tracheotomy. The good doctor assured me that they would dry up and fall off before the reunion. They better. His parting words were, "Don't pick." A man of few words.

Then there is the issue of belly fat. I've heard that this happens to middle-aged women, but when did I turn middle-aged? This kinda snuck up on me. I want to wear my white linen pants, but I think they might be too tight. Breathing is very important to me and it might be compromised if I don't do something about what is often called, "muffin top." I get it.

So to solve this problem I bought this.

A hula hoop. Not just any hula hoop. This is weighted and holds water. There are other hoops at Sports Authority but those are seriously weighted, so much so that I could break my ribs if I let that contraption circle my waist. The duck tape is helping to hold it together and to keep it from leaking.

Now all I have to do it re-learn how to actually hula hoop and find some serious make-up just in case the spots don't fall off.

Thank goodness for class reunions. They make us take stock of our bodies and our lives, don't they?

Twenty Days and Counting

Another high school reunion is fast approaching. Conversations are often the same, "So Nancy, what have you been up to?," they will ask. With that in mind, I started thinking about what I've accomplished in the past five years. So here's what I've come up with in no particular order: become seriously interested in photography ("When does a hobby become an obsession?," my sister asks. "When I spend $600. on a lens," I answer.), joined Facebook, taken three photography classes at the Showcase School, taken four on-line photography classes at Kennesaw State, started volunteering at my local elementary school and stopped, spent over four hours hanging out under the Brooklyn Bridge taking hundreds of images while my hungry husband waited patiently... God, I love him,

worked as an extra in a television show (Drop Dead Diva), started writing this blog, spent two weeks traveling around Provence with my sister and brother-in-law,

figured out how to download songs according to the beat onto my iPod for walking, started an on-line shop on Etsy, done several art shows, planted lavender that actually lived, painted our front staircase in black and white, designed my own web page (in html no less...okay, I'm bragging), went to the Oprah Show in the middle of winter and got Gore's DVD instead of a car :(, went to NYC on a girl's trip with my three of my long-time friends, lost two friends to cancer, saw the Chihuly exhibit at both the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and the New York Botanical Gardens,

visited my niece's fourth grade class in Brooklyn and almost killed one student, joined a Bible study at church...still with it, started taking YOGA classes...absolutely HATE the plank pose, began a life-long study of Photoshop, really, and bought my first pair of Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers in RED!

That just about sums up my life for the past five years. I'm ready for the reunion. So tell me, what have you been up to?

It's A Jungle Out There

The other morning as I was returning home from a morning walk, this is what was parked in the driveway. Not being a nature lover and having a serious fear of reptiles, I was in a tizzy. Although I admit that I have zero to no nurturing in my being, I did feel somewhat sorry for the turtle; it was hot and she was in the sun with no water in sight.
Before getting water, I did what any other blogger would do...run to get the camera. I don't know why I broke my neck to get it in seconds, I was dealing with a turtle. By the time I returned she had moved maybe two inches. This turtle was shy...camera shy. I had to sneek up on it to get this shot. She was kinda cute.

My next move was to get the water. Because she was so low to the ground, I had to find something shallow. A lid! I border on genius. I also had to confine the reptile until I could decide on my next step. I found a wire basket that normal people use to store sweaters in those closet systems, but I had used it to cover daisies as they were growing to keep them from being the rabbits' lunch. Again, genius.

Next I had to deal with the sun. Got an umbrella and positioned it over the basket. I know, it's overwhelming.

After I got her comfortable I called Barbara and gave her a quick update. She mentioned that I might want to give her some lettuce. Done. She was starting to pout.


Now she was really pouting. Bless her heart, she kept trying to get out of her new home by banging her head against the basket. By this time I was exhaused. After an hour or so I decided that she had to go.

I called and begged my neighbor, Lee, who has two wonderful boys, to adopt this creature. She really didn't want to, but as luck would have it, one of her boys overheard our conversation and started to beg. Lee caved. She offered to come later that afternoon. Actually her two sons, Garrett and Evan, ended up walking over with a shoe box in tow. I didn't hear them, I must have been napping from the exhausing day, so I went over to her house and took this shot. Aren't they handsome? They had already done research and told me that it was a female box turtle. Handsome and smart...the boys, not the turtle.

After saying my goodbyes, I took one final shot. She was still pouting. After all I've done for her and that's the thanks I got. She was one ungrateful turtle.

Look Who's Moved In!

Earlier this month I noticed a lot of activity among our bird population going on outside the kitchen window. There is a shade attached to the window frame that we use when it gets Africa hot here in Atlanta. Because we were having company over Memorial Day I rolled the shade up and forgot to unroll it until it was too late. This is what I saw as I was trying to get to the bottom of all of the racket going on. It appeared to be the beginning of a bird's nest. Not being much of a bird lover, I was all for unrolling the welcome mat, but Tom with his new found affection to feathered creatures, unbeknownst to me, thought we should keep it up, thus encouraging the invasion.

So twenty-five days later we have newborns. This morning momma bird and daddy bird were besides themselves signaling to anyone within five miles that their babies had arrived. I'm getting no peace.
God love 'em, but does anyone know how long it will take before they set sail? Here's the thing of it: I know it's not all about me, but really, it's as hot as blue blazes and I need my shade back.

SYMMETRY

Eye on Composition was the title of my last photography class. As you can probably guess, we focused on the rules of composition, you know, like color, leading lines, depth, scale, and the rule of thirds to name a few. As I studied the images that I shot during the six week period, I discovered that I seem to gravitate to the rule called symmetry. This surprises me because I like to think that I am very non-traditional and occasionally like to buck the rules. Some call it living "out of the box."


I think I like to venture "out of the box," but I suppose shooting "out of the box" is kinda risky. Every time take a "funky" shot or try to make it "funky" with the help of Photoshop, my husband and friends don't like it. Okay there was one shot that I took at the beach that was definitely OOTB (out of the box) and my friend, Karen, liked it...so I gave it to her.


To me, symmetry is calm and expected. It is what it is. I consider it "in the box." That can be boring, so I try to add some excitement in post-processing. The image below was shot at Piedmont Park in Atlanta this spring. Our instructor said that reflections are almost always symmetrical, so I found the lake and shot it. If I had cropped it right under the water line, it wouldn't have been symmetrical, but you already know that. This image still needs some work, but you get the picture.

The next image was taken behind a restaurant situated on the Chattahoochee River. To take this shot I had to venture "out of the box," meaning that my "grip" (Karen) and I had to sneak around the back of the property and hope no one was there. It was Memorial Day and thankfully the restaurant was closed. This is the front of a huge leaf on a plant that I have no idea what it is. All I know is that it's another example of symmetry.



So here's what I think. I'm confused when it comes to thinking and living. I think OOTB, but most of the time I live ITB. It's so sad.

Back to Bluffton

To get ready for my next photography class, I started going through old images searching for those that got lost in the "art show" confusion. When I choose images for shows, I select images that I think would appeal to the general public. I guess I didn't think these would be popular, so they didn't make the cut.

This image was obviously ignored because of the exposure. Way too dark. I know with Photoshop that this image could be lightened but I guess I wasn't that interested in "messing with it." It was a cloudy day in Bluffton, South Carolina, but that didn't stop me from taking hundreds of pictures.
After brightening the image, I could actually see the moss and ivy as it twisted around the old oak tree. The image still looks dull.

Still determined to save this image, I used a technique using layers, curves and finally filters. It is amazing what Photoshop can do.

Here it is in black and white, but I like the color image better.

So before class begins on April 27th, I'll be searching my files for forgotten images. I think I'm finished with trees. Wonder what's next?

Happy Easter!