deltamiss

No, I'm not posting pictures. :D

Any time one undertakes a huge project that requires daily attention over a long period of time, one surely must learn something from it. Over the last few weeks, I have had thoughts tumbling around in my head about this very topic. Just what DID I learn from Project 366? Did I learn anything about myself? Nature? People? In a feeble attempt to gather and organize the rather scattered and indistinct ideas, I'm going to jot down ten of the most obvious.

1. I am not, nor will I ever be, a true photographer. I don't know how Melanie and Jeff do it. It would be nice (maybe) if I could somehow magically evolve into a photographer, but since that isn't going to happen at this late date, I'm content knowing I am just a run-of-the-mill picture taker. That's good enough for me. Seriously. I can't take the pressure.

2. Perseverance is a virtue, and the rewards are great. Try not to whine, though, because it reduces the joy of taking a picture of a daisy in bloom four hundred times.

3. Regardless of how many times I whined about lack of subjects, it's not true. There is always something waiting to have its picture taken. It may mean one has to take a closer look at one's surroundings or revisit old subjects in a new light, but something is there...waiting.

4. Heads or feet of human subjects do NOT have to be cut off in a picture. It's taken me this long to figure out how to manage to get the entire subject's body in the picture, but I did it. :D

5. Animals do not understand the concept of still photographs. National Geographic photographers are magicians.

6. Children will most always clown for a camera...or cry...or twirl. One must simply deal with it.

7. Always have a camera handy. One never knows what is lurking around the corner or under the table or over the hill or in the sky or...any other prepositional phrase one can think of. Oops!

8. The light inside my apartment is definitely not good. I need to add more lamps with energy-saving bulbs.

9. Pay attention to the background. It's as important as the subject. If it's cluttered, the picture will be cluttered. Besides, who wants to look at someone's pile of dirty underwear behind an adorable kitten or last night's dishes covered in dried gravy in the sink beside a scrumptious plate of brownies?

10. When it rains (or snows or sleets or hails), take a picture...take ten even...from inside, outside, underneath, up close, from a distance. Precipitation is a perfect picture taking opportunity. It hides clutter.

What a dreary day it has been so far. The sun is making an attempt, albeit a feeble one.

After days of taking pictures inside, I decided to take a walk around the yard. What a sad, sad sight. The clay pots need to be cleaned out and stored; the ground is covered in leaves; old dead or dying plants should be relieved of their duties; broken branches are falling at a dangerous rate. Just a total mess...or so I thought at first.

( There is life in winter...warning - picture heavy... )

Mama always bought hard Christmas candy for the holidays and kept it in a candy dish on the coffee table in the living room. Nothing says Christmas to me as much as a bowl of hard candies...pillow, ribbon, fruit.

Photo of the Day...'Christmas Past'...

After today there are only TEN MORE DAYS UNTIL I FINISH PROJECT 366! TEN, PEOPLE! Woohoo! Seriously, there were days - weeks even - that I wanted to just quit.

Someone on flickr posted a cute Santa photo. It made me wish I'd put out my Santa collection, but there are soooooo many of them and I'd have to unpack and repack...not enough candy for the dime. Maybe next year.

What I DID do today is take pictures of the faces of a few of my Santas. I noticed how similar the expressions are - Thomas Nast's image has been recreated time and again, but the expression is almost always the same no matter who produces it. The gentle face and red suit that we know didn't appear until Nast illustrated the poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" by Clement C. Moore. It's strange to realize that icons of our culture have not been around forever and a day. ;)

( Santa Faces )

The principal provided breakfast for the cafeteria workers this morning and invited teachers who had morning planning to finish the leftovers. So I had my usual English muffin/coffee breakfast at 6:00 and bacon/eggs/grits breakfast at 11:00. Then I had half a dark chocolate candy bar around 2:00. I'm stuffed still. My dinner is a cup of pumpkin spice tea with honey and lemon tonight.

Photo of the Day...'Cup of Joy'...

I don't know how I did it, but I was able to retrieve today's photo. Whew!

This morning as I drove to work, the full moon was huge and bright moving through skittering clouds, some as thick as buttermilk. It was a glorious sight, and I wanted desperately to kick myself for not having a camera in the car with me. As I approached Goldsboro, the clouds thickened to the point they completely obliterated the gorgeous orb. I was sick about it. Another missed opportunity.

Around 7:40 a teacher ran into my room and asked if I had taken my photo of the day. She pointed to the sky just outside our classrooms, and I gasped. PERFECT!

I had to do some cropping to get rid of fences and dugouts, and this camera has so few pixels that the picture is not exactly the best quality, but I love it.

Photo of the Day...'The Promise'...

MELANIE! DO NOT ALLOW MABRY TO SEE THIS!

So, Mabry LOVES the British kids' show Charlie and Lola. So does Melanie. So do I. I try to remember to catch it on Saturdays and am terribly jealous that they can watch it during the week.

Charlie and Lola are siblings who remind me an awful lot of Parker and Mabry. Lola gets into all sorts of trouble without really trying or meaning to and Charlie helps her find a way out. They are adorable.

Last year I ordered a Charlie and Lola book for Mabry, which she is still reading, and a deck of Charlie and Lola Go Fish cards. Whenever we play Go Fish, we must speak with a British accent. I'm not that good at it, but Mabry is phenomenal...for a Southern Princess. ;)

This year I ordered a couple of Charlie and Lola items and received two Lola masks. I foresee much fun in the future. I must work on my accent first.

Photo of the Day...'Completely Lola'...

The sun is shining through the sheers in the office, and all is right with the world. ;)

Photo of the Day...'Bright, Bright, Sunshiny Day'...

This Project 366 thing is getting ridiculous. I have no time at school to take pictures; the sun is setting by the time I get home so there's no light outside; my apartment is so nondescript it doesn't bear documenting - at least not for me and this IS my project; my pictures have long since become redundant; I'm reduced to staging photos just to get one taken. Hmpf!

Last year Melanie had a big Christmas party and bought some cone-shaped, sequin-and-grassy stuff-and-sparkly 'trees' as decorations. She gave them to me - and I accepted as if I had the perfect place for them - idiot! But I hate waste so I dragged them out, took eighty pictures of the same damn trees from forty angles and ended up with this one with the trees reflected in the mirror over the sideboard.

I tell you what...I'll be glad when December 31 rolls around if for no other reason than this project will be OVER!


Photo of the Day...'Red Christmas Tree Forrest'...