Photo Friday -- 'Dead of Night'

Gotten out of the Photo Friday habit recently. Partly because of being busy, partly due to uninspiring themes, but I've missed some good ones too:

Real Life
The City
Silence
Strength
Dangerous
Travel
Two

Acutally, looking at them all together, most of those aren't uninspiring at all. I guess I've just been lazy.

Anyway -- what I'm posting this week for the 'Dead of Night' might look familiar to those of you who follow my Self Portrait Challenge entries because I posted this back in May for the SPC theme, 'On The Street.'



'Shopping Cart' (below) was taken the same night in a parking lot across the street from 'Awning' (above). I ended up using 'awning' for SPC because the theme was 'On The Street' and not 'In A Parking Lot' but also, I think I got too attached to the location in 'awning.' I had found the door and awning along with the graffiti, corrugated tin siding, and downspout would make a cool setting at some point for a photo. I was 'done' with my photoshoot and walking back to my car when I saw the shopping cart just how you see it here and thought it might make a compelling image. So the tripod, camera, etc. all come back out for this shot. Now, separated by a few months from both, I think I actually like 'shopping cart' better.

SPC - 'What I Wear' #3

I wear my camera bag just about everywhere -- just in case.

See what others are wearing here.

A New Favorite

SPC - 'What I Wear' #2

I Wear Chucks

See what others wear this month at Self Portrait Challenge.

Fall Update

We've been keeping busy with all the beautiful fall weather we've had this year.

Here are a few recent pictures of the kids:

Anderson University Homecoming
It had been a few years since we'd been. We were able to catch up with several good friends -- some that we see often, others we hadn't seen in 10 or 11 years. Hannah got her face painted, I got this picture:


I was a chaperon for Hannah's first school field trip to Grandmas and Grandpas Pumpkin (and gourd) Patch. They went on a hayride; played some games; picked a small pumpkin and a gourd to take home; learned about how pumpkins are grown; and walked through a corn maze:

Hannah's Class (Hannah is third from the left):


We went to Tuttle Orchard with Christy's brother and his family on a mild, but windy day in late October this year. We had all been there together before (except for Harrison, of course) just over four years ago.

Here's a picture of Hannah on the play tractor there from our first trip there:

...and more recently, with both Hannah and Katherine:

Love this one:

Swinging:


I showed Hannah how to tie her shoes like twice and she started doing it herself! Then, she insisted on wearing these shoes which are too big for her, but they're the only ones she had with laces.

...and finally, a few of The Boy:



He enjoyed playing in the sandbox and gnawing on an apple he got a hold of.

We also fit in a trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum on a Saturday when the weather wasn't quite so nice.



For Halloween, Hannah decided that she wanted to be a cat again.
Harrison was supposed to be a floppy-eared dog, but he was either a grumpy floppy-eared dog or a completely headless dog because he would scream whenever we put the hood of his costume up and pull it back down off his head. This battle did not create many great photo opportunities. Here's about the best of the lot:








Films Recently Watched:

Akeelah and the Bee (2006) dir. by Doug Atchison
Better than expected.

Brief Encounter (1945) dir. by David Lean

The Departed (2006) dir. by Martin Scorsese
I liked this better than the original, 'Infernal Affairs' -- Glad that Scorsese got his Oscar for it.

Double Indemnity (1944) dir. by Billy Wilder

The Fog (1980) dir. by John Carpenter
For Halloween this year.

For Your Consideration (2006) dir. by Christopher Guest
Not as good as others I've seen from Guest.

Heat (1995) dir. by Michael Mann

A History of Violence (2005) dir. by David Cronenberg

Hollywoodland (2006) dir. by Allen Coulter

Kingdom of Heaven (2005) dir. by Ridley Scott
Finally got around to watching the extended cut of this one. Big improvement over the theatrical cut.

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) dir. by Clint Eastwood
I was prepared to be wowed by Eastwood again, and was disappointed. I'll keep my eyes open for the counterpart, 'Flags of Our Fathers' at the library.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006) dir. by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

The Miracle Worker (1962) dir. by Arthur Penn

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) dir. by Henry Selick

Pleasantville (1998) dir. by Gary Ross

A Prairie Home Companion (2006) dir. by Robert Altman

The Red Violin (1998) dir. by Francois Girard

SPC - 'What I Wear' #1

November's theme over at SPC is:

'What I Wear'

One of the first items that came to mind was something I wear that I almost never take off -- my wedding ring.

These are the words that we shared on our Wedding Day:
I give you this ring, as a sign of my love, knowing that love is precious and fragile, yet strong. I give you this sign of our love, an ever-present symbol, of the vows we have made this day. With this ring I marry you, joining my life with yours.



It has a few scratches here and there and it may have some of it's hard edges rounded over a bit, but as a symbol, it is as true now as it has ever been.

See what others are wearing here.