Museums
Washington DC. The museums are free to the public – government run, taxpayer funded – we are taxpayers. Yay! We took advantage of the fine day and walked the mall stopping in at the – Gallery of Asian Art, Freer Gallery, American Museum of Indian Art, Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Gallery, Textile Museum, National Portrait Gallery… Pfewf! We passed thru seeing the highlights and appreciating the different forms of art. Dizzying. Did we see anything? Fun?! Did we do it to see if we could finish a marathon? There was traditional art – Whistler. And there was modern art. Ahem?! It was an unintended sidebar to the cherry blossoms on display outside. No complaints! My watch tells me we walked about 5.6 miles in our journey. Eh?! It was nothing?!
Exhibition
In the National Portrait Gallery courtyard is a display of orchids. I never realized there were so many. And they bloom for a long time! They require little watering. We have an orchid in bloom for months now at home. Another orchid lost its bloom within days of coming to our house. It seems so hit and miss. But in the meanwhile, at the gallery there are orchids in bloom and showing no sign of fading. Beauty abounds. We are the beneficiaries. We are so lucky!
$64,000 question?
Game show 1955 to 1958. Ha! I was too young to watch or appreciate it…
The number? 64,000? It is an approximation of the images I have shot since September 2023. I switched external backup drives. This is the number on the drive now. 64,000 images in about six months. It amounts to about 1800 rolls of 36 exposure film. Remember film?
On average I shot maybe 100 rolls per year. You do the math.
First and last – Maine and Ohio. I shoot a lot of pictures these days. Worthy? Worthwhile? Memorable? Memory?
I shoot enough that I come across stored images like long lost friends all the time. I rate shots casually in Lightroom – zero to four stars. The outstanding shotts get three stars. I have 4000 three star shots. Ok!?
Meanwhile, just wondering… and yes, I have a filing system that tracks pictures by the day, location, subject, and persons. Organization is a key. You cannot go back and do it from the start. I have kept this up for a very long time. Favorites? The list is ever growing larger.
Glass half full
Optimism!
Nay! Glass half empty. I got sisters in law who believe… Caution! It runs on Colleen’s side of the family.
Cockeyed optimist? … unrealistic. Lately I am consumed by age and decline. My mood has been low… astrologically low as I put it. Step by step, forward, ever forward. It is not so hard to remind myself each day that there is something great to be thankful for. The glass as ever – remains half full!!
We met in the third grade. We sat in desks just like these. I remember sitting in the back of the classroom. We were together in the same class till sixth grade. I sent Colleen a letter (yes, with a stamp) sometime around 2008? She responded but we lost touch once again until…
May 22, 2014
Colleen: As Marty has probably told you, we were talking the other day and your name came up. I told him what I knew of you from the last time we communicated, and gave him your e-mail, hoping it was current. You came only imagine my surprise when he told me you were practicing medicine in Saudi Arabia! One of the last countries I could imagine being in, so now I am exceedingly curious (or read nosy if you prefer).
Why? How? How long?, and anything else you care to tell (or nothing if you like better).
May 21, 2014
From Marty Martin: Colleen and I were talking earlier this week. She mentioned your name and…
Nothing is lost. An email search came up “zero!!” for any email from Colleen at that time in 2014. I never throw anything away! Ha!! Search in an alternate way…
“Nosy” She had me at “nosy!” The rest is history.
Was it but just one day?!? Marty emailed one day. The email was in the trash as I noticed Elkins in the header. I know I hinted heavily and desperately with a flurry of email exchange to get Marty to email Colleen and have her to respond to me. She had cut me off in 2008 and I was not going to send her an email first.
Gee! The things you can find when you go looking?! She came to visit in a whirlwind tour of NYC right as I was planning to move away from NY forever. Maine followed. Colleen had always wanted to visit Maine. NY – nightlife, Indian powwow, West Indian day parade… bright lights and people. It was quite a contrast to WV where life is definitely different from NY.
Yellow sheep, Scotland – different again. Travel. Adventure. Fun. Laughter. …favorite lighthouse? Wyeth? … all fond memories now.
An aside: my digital photography is so different now. Too. Better? I think so. Better camera? Or, better photographer?
This email exchange came on the heels of my first iPhone. David made me get it on my birthday less than a month before. It became the electronic tether for Colleen and I from Saudi to WV.
NPO
In medical orders “NPO” is nothing per oral – no eating or drinking usually pertaining to preparation for surgery.
NPO in photography can mean no photo op! (The letters fit.)
Ha!
I have been to the Ag Museum before. I have refused to return. There is no photo op in old tractors. Right??!
Xmas. The Xmas Farmer’s Day. Craft demonstrations and programs…. It was a blast! Shhh! Don’t tell Colleen.
The blacksmith made an iron hook and gifted it to Colleen. Merry Christmas! We knew the weaver. Shave and a haircut – two bits. Ha ha. Great song line when we were kids.
Photo ops? You bet. It was very productive and entertaining. I came away with a new and different perspective.
Thanks
Thankful. Not a day goes by… I am thankful. So very…
…thankful for Colleen. I have many relationships. Friends. Relatives. Girl friends (past). Wife (past tense – present tense). Pets – dogs and cats. …I had many relationships.
Each and every day I am filled with thanks that we are together (married now). Life is full of laughs and humor. No doubt we have disagreements. Fight – very very occasionally – pretty much never. I break the ice – “I forgive you (though I am so guilty!)”
Happy? It’s complicated. We had full and rewarding lives before we met again. We have kids… and grandkids. Conflicts!?
No. We are grateful for here and now. I am grateful…each and every single day.
Start to finish
… a very nice day indeed! More than 1000 pictures. Oh my! I do not dwell on numbers of photographs, except to be sure I have enough battery for my camera. We left early and as usual shot our “bridge.” Two museums, two Christmas displays later, and dinner in a favorite tavern… we were treated to a spectacular sunset. It was the perfect coda to a lovely day.
Like Dislike
“Britannica Dictionary definition of ART. 1. [noncount] : something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings. a piece of modern/contemporary art.”
Guggenheim Museum
Fans are art? We are art fans? Fans?!
Expression? Thought?
We were both mystified. Art? Well known iconic museum. The laugh was on us. Candid Camera! Someone would leap out and interview us any second…
To this day we laugh to recall the experience. Art? Hardly! Two floor fans?! Yes, I did (p)hotoshop. Art? Another day. Another Lightroom catalog. More photo confusion. Another memory.
Long ago
At the beginning. Genesis. It is an old and repeated (often) story how my blog started. Cousin Amy suggested it. She was doing a blog at the time… since (hers) lost and dropped. Jules liked it (my blog) but said I could not post more than once per day – TMI!! There is no dearth of material. Among a million or so images – slide and digital – surely there are stories and images….too many (stories). All good stories, stories and pictures, short and sweet, it’s fun for me and for you?
My blog predates Colleen in my life. The last slide and first (serious) digital really began with Dave’s graduation. I have loved and lost. At times life seems like a crash, too mesmerizing to turn away. Earliest works? Slides…some from a wax museum. Who can say what inspires? …or, where inspiration arises?
Lesson: Don’t overthink.
A number
Tumultuous. The past seven years from 2016 till now… Digital photography began in 2003 for me. Almost whimper it was a banner event getting the first Canon G3 on my birthday from Lisa. Shortly after I used it at Hamilton College at Jules’ track meet. The Nikon D70 followed about a year later on Dave’s graduation. I have not looked back.
No more film. Cost? Quality? Ease? Convenience? Who can know for sure.
I have used about twenty different digital cameras including iPhone. My volume has increased because digital is so easy.
The number? Digital images number about 898k and counting. Wow! That is a lot! Lightroom catalogs hold all without complaint. External hard drives take up just a bit of space compared to the drawers and cabinets holding my slides.
It’s a number. 898k. If I threw away the bad images…. No need the hard drives are easy to keep and to keep track of everything.
Currently I am posting pics from the most recent catalog (since retired) to present going forward in 2023. It is fun to look back in retrospect. My photographic journey has been rewarding. I hope its legacy will endure.
People, places, things, it has been an arduous journey at times. It is documented for better or worse. Can I say worse? I don’t take bad picture? Perhaps interesting would be more apt.
What a day!
Each worthy in its own right… we stage shots. I hold the camera. Colleen holds the camera. We have fun?!
Photoshop. It’s good enough. We laugh. Family laughs. For the casual viewer… Humor is what you make of it. Colleen is good natured. She is good to me. I used to be content with a staged selfie. But now we are more complicated. Multiple images combine for something out of the ordinary. It has taken a week to loosen up. We have worries. They are never far from our thoughts.
But, on this day, on this wonderful day, we put aside trouble for some fun at the museum and at the lighthouses. Good! Hugs were passed all around!
Surreal
This is surrealism. Magritte. Look him up. It works for me.
This painting kept coming back to me. the Frame was a mirror?! No, it was the painting. Still… and Andy Warhol, 3D installation of Jamie Wyeth… it gets me every time. Surreal comes to mind. That’s my feeling and I’m stickin’ with it.
Aftermath
After yesterday… I connected with Colleen via mail and email in ??2008 and then fell out of touch until 2014. We were together from the summer of 2014. Married with eight cats and a load of kids and grandkids, would aptly describe the chaos. No going back, life moves forward, always forward, I admit that I have regret. It took so many years…decades, to find Colleen.
Happy? I have been and I am. I wish it had not been such a tortured path.
Changed? Yes, I am different than I was and not the same as I’m gonna be. It shows up amply in the photos I/we take. Yes! Eight cats!
At the museum
When you are retired, every day is Saturday. … to the museum. Colleen set a task to travel – museum, groceries, restaurant. There are no rules.
One of our favorites, the museum was nearly empty. The new exhibit was not good. Oh well! … there was always Washington. Fun?! We always manage to…
I love my wife
Frank Sinatra sang: I Love My Wife.
How do I show my wife I love her?
Keep Dating Your Wife: 25 Ways to Show Your Wife You Love Her
- Listen to her and care about what she has to say.
- Show her physical, non-sexual affection.
- Surprise her with flowers.
- Take her out to dinner (without the kids)
- Buy her a book she’s been wanting.
- Write her a love note.
- Wash the dishes.
I do. I did. I do now… all of the above … and the rest. Good? Good time? Happy? My friend Don said, “You’re livin’ the fairy tale – happily ever after. To that, I readily admit I am over the top. This is complex on many levels and certainly may no be quite PC.
But: I love my wife….
We were there
…long enough to shoot >800 images. Strawberry Bank museum. Oh boy! I’m losin’ it. I did not remember. Colleen remembered. Me? Faulty memory. She says it’s residual from my concussion….
She remembered well enough to recall we argued with the guide over what a weasel was and how it was used in spinning. It’s called weasel because is goes “pop” when the winding is complete.
Remember? I got a photographic memory… ha ha. Nope. I do remember the basket. I insisted we get it. Different. We don’t have another like it. What? Me worry?
Lgbtqia
Who added more letters? We saw it in the museum the other day. Oh geez!
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual
Have I left anyone out? Me? Biology is pretty straight. There is no third organ is there? Straight would be the wrong term I suppose. Nowadays it is hard to say anything without insulting someone. I get confused. Advanced age and dementia will do that. Or, is it freedom to be confused about … just when I thought I understood – two more initials were added. Geesh!
A good look
We go to the museum. I get photo ops. Call it a second look. Ok, ok, bad joke…
Colleen posed. I was obliged to do so as well. She’s got a sense of humor! Ha ha. She puts up with my whacky sense of …
We do enjoy looking. … then there is the gift store.
Praise the lord
I do my best work in the morning now. That would be a nod to getting old. Devout, I never was. I was a Presbyterian because Anne, the girl next door went to Sunday school there. My mother said, “It’s Sunday, you could be in school too.” It didn’t take. Colleen is Presbyterian too. We never met in Sunday school. Girls had a different class. God was a man. (Chuckle)
We continue to have fun in museums. It is completely unplanned. Inspiration!… divine or otherwise. I know not what may strike me. Colleen patiently cooperates… a true believer… and soulmate.
Art
It’s not for me to say. It is in the museum and listed as art. No problem. I was science and math. Art was torture in the seventh grade and my opinion never changed much after that. Bottle caps? The kitchen display took decades to perfect. Is it? Art with aluminum foil?… if you say it is. I will agree birth is painful. But weird? When they said “art” up in heaven I thought they said fart… and passed.
Last slides
I hadn’t given much thought to the last slides I shot. I knew I did not shoot film/slides after Dave’s high school graduation. Scanning does not have metadata. And my database… From my catalog, Dave, Eric and I were down the block on the west side near the Intrepid. Dave was mastering the skateboard. He never got good. But he could do a few tricks. I shot the last practice. It was the one and only. Last slides.
Looking back
Wow! I was another person. Different from today, better, it would be a hard call to make. But I did evolve. My photography has changed so much. I shot a lot of vertical slides – vertical image, upright vs horizontal. My horizontal preference is 99% now because it fits my computer screen without too much empty space on the side. Dumb! Composition is what it should be. Or not! My exposures and my focus were for the birds. Literally! What the…! I did have Nikon cameras and it did autofocus – not to very well and not very often. Available lighting kept me to one ISO and it was way too slow – the film. For the time I shot a lot of slide film. I did not shoot enough. And I did not get many memorable “keepers” at all. Who was i? What was I to become? Who did I become? At every point in time I was arrogant to believe I was perfect. I put myself in the best position with the best equipment. Little did I understand technique. Self taught, I regret that my kids were my grand experiment.
Looking back, I got some memories. I’d do it all differently now. No backs! Yeah. I been in the Louvre. Have you?
I spoke to Dave. His iPhone pics are in the cloud. … about 5000 critical keepers, about 100k images. He has traveled! And?! I have seen a small sample. Nice! Cloud? Not for me. I fear that the cloud could just disappear… poof, eh? sorry? I use redundant external hard drives…. that way they are lost forever in a fire or flood. Can you win? Today was a nostalgic look back to when the kids were little and I was not as smart. Perhaps i will never be…
Send money…
The bastards! They don’t tell you that you are out of memory on the website. You have to figure that out for yourself. I have exceeded upload memory and cannot post unless I pay more $ for more space. ….”we’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
Done. Paid. Yearly subscription. Ego? Vanity? Whatever!?
Send money, Support the site, support my blog… kidding. After all it’s just me, Colleen, and the cats. We got food enough. So far. Ha ha! Yesterday was April fool’s. So truth today? Yup, you post, you pay. I quit…. I’m stopping… for today.
photobackstory 