While out one morning, I thought I was sneakily photographing this amazing collection of peony bushes in front of a house I regularly pass by. Until the owner came home and was quite curious about my interest in his peonies. But, it was all good.
Browsing Category
Inspiration
Sometimes the universe gives you exactly what you need. In this case, it was once again the lovely Susannah Conway. For the month of August she’s hosting “The August Break,” a group of bloggers taking a break from regular blogging for the month. And I’m joining in.
Blogging, writing in particular, takes time, something I don’t have much of these days with school out for the summer and a number of other projects taking precedence. So, I’m taking a break from feeling compelled to write something for the next few weeks. But there will be new stuff on the blog throughout the month, just lots of pictures. In fact you’ll see pictures just about every day. Sometimes I’ll include words, sometimes I won’t. This month a picture will have to be worth 1000 words.
And, definitely check out some of the other lovely bloggers who are participating. You never know what kind of awesome you might discover.
Are you participating in the August Break? Let me know so I can stop by and see what your summer looks like.
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
by Langston Hughes
This week saw the passing of Maurice Sendak, the writer of one of my favorite children’s books of all time, Where the Wild Things Are. It’s one of the books I remember most vividly from my childhood and now, as a parent, I’m enjoying it all over again as I read it to my son. It’s one of our favorite bedtime stories. We wriggle our fingers to do the magic trick, we shout and say NO, and now we even blow on Max’s dinner because it is still hot.
Despite his passing, Maurice Sendak still lives through some of the best books ever.
See some of Maurice Sendak’s unreleased drawings and appreciate what a great illustrator he was.
Read what Sendak had to say about what makes good (and bad) children’s books.
Experience Sendak’s humor first hand by watching his last recorded interview from the Colbert Show.
Finally, enjoy these readings of Where the Wild Things Are. First, this from President Obama.
And then brilliantly and hilariously by Christopher Walken (or someone that’s a dead ringer).
When the wild rumpus starts, what story to you create to go with Sendak’s illustrations?
iPhone Processing: Shot with Hipstamatic (Loftus lens, Claunch 72 Monochrome film)
Sometimes it is just the little things. Like I’m thankful that we haven’t bothered to make our back garden a perfect carpet of green and instead have allowed the moss and flowering weeds like daisies to take over. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have these little rays of sunshine to practice my photography on every day. They’re a gift of imperfection.
I’m a fan of Chris Guillebeau’s the Art of Non-Conformity and his book is worth a read. And his recent post about 34 things he wished he’d known earlier, well, I wish I known them earlier too. I think I’m still learning them.
“Passion trumps talent every time.” Alex’s 13 things I have learned as an artist.
Award winning photojournalist Ben Lowy champions the use of the iPhone as a tool for serious journalists using it to capture stunning images from Afghanistan. This is such a great example of how the iPhone continues to challenge what we think photography should be and how it doesn’t always take lots of expensive gear to tell a compelling story.
Five manifestos for life. I need to read these every morning. Or watch this.
Happy weekend. Hoping the weather cooperates for the bank holiday and that you do something fun.
xxx