Boston

Drowning

Lying, robed in snowy white

That loosely flew to left and right-

The leaves upon her falling light-

Through the noises of the night

She floated down to Camelot;

And as the boat-head wound along

The willowy hills and fields among;

They heard her singing her last song,

The Lady of Shallot.

-Tennyson 

So Human

“I'm not in search of sanctity, sacredness, purity; these things are found after this life, not in this life; but in this life I search to be completely human: to feel, to give, to take, to laugh, to get lost, to be found, to dance, to love and to lust, to be so human.”-C. JoyBell C.

Pretty Not Pretty

I was inspired by this artist to do some self portraits; and as I was posing for my pictures of course I found myself trying to look pretty! Doesn't everyone want to look pretty in a picture? But then I got sick of all that- the pictures never turned out as pretty as I wanted them to, or as pretty as so and so or so and so's picture. I thought to myself, what if I didn't try to be pretty? Would it be so terrible for someone to see an ugly picture of me? We are always posing, always wanting to be seen a certain way-and the way we want to be seen often changes from group to group. We all make judgements whether we want to or not because appearances are often the first thing we know about a person we haven't met. Unfortunately, we make these judgements so quickly and so unconsciously that sometimes we may be surprised to learn something new about someone we've already pegged. The good thing is, everyone else is worried about their image too, so most likely they won't notice that tiny little zit on your nose or that scar or those few grey hairs. 

But maybe they will and who cares!?

So here is my little homage to ugly, go out and get ugly today!

To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up.
- Oscar Wilde

Mossy Mountains...and a bug

Baby Mantis

The Praying Mantis is one of my favorite insects (along with stick bugs, beetles and butterflies). I love the way they can turn their heads and their unusual mating ritual- the female bites off her mate's head when she is finished with him! 

I was washing hydrangeas I cut from my garden when I saw this little guy scurrying across the counter; I tried to get him on a cup to take outside and you wouldn't believe the attitude! He was thrusting his arms at me and trying to be all scary. Too bad he was only one inch long. 

I usually only see about one Mantis per year, but since I know there are babies in the area maybe I will see more this summer. In the meantime, enjoy these pics of my baby Mantis!

Carlos the Great

This is Carlos. He enjoys stuffing food in his cheeks, digging, running and looking cute. He sleeps all day and parties all night. He is strict in following the raw food diet- almonds, grapes and lettuce are his top picks. Carlos keeps a clean house, his motto is: "There is a corner for everything," and everything in it's corner makes for a tidy nest. Shredded paper towels are the ideal bedding, and you will never hear Carlos complain about crumbs in bed- in fact, sleep eating is one of his favorite pastimes. 

It was a challenge photographing Carlos because he cannot see past his whiskers. I told him to hold still and do what he does best- look adorable!