I can see your soul by javajive

I’ve pimped Brandon’s photography before but he really deserves the exposure, his Indonesia shots are simply captivating. This picture leaped off the screen and bit me.

http://www.thejavajive.com/blog

His blog is an actual weblog, not just a photoblog. Brandon writes about his experiences as a long-term expat, and his post from July 2 titled “When Friends Leave” resonated with me. If you’re an expat or have ever been one, you’ll probably relate to it, too.

Painted sky by hiker56

Even though we know the sun will set, we wish for it to stay a while longer.

I tried to find a poem to go along with a sunset photo I took today, but my search was fruitless. Instead, I decided to post a photo from another Flickr photographer, Keith Vaught, who took some beautiful photographs in Utah of the same sunset two hours after it disappeared off my horizon and graced his.

My thoughts are with Gwen this week.

Technorati tags: memorial, sunset

…the hill that leads into Scranton, Pennsylvania by blynaffit

Click on the picture for the answer. Thanks to blynaffit for letting me use her picture.

See also David’s description of his city from the Flickr group “Praise and Curse of the City” two years ago:

I love that my immigrant grandparents made a life here, and my memories of their house across from the park and the museum, and hearing my grandmother’s Yiddish as a child. I love the railroad tracks and the boarded-up coal mines and the slag heaps. I love the careless accents and the affability of my neighbors’ voices. I love that there are soaring cities to the east, and endless forests to the west. I love that we still have our original chrome diners and our wonderfully awful newspaper, and one remaining human elevator operator. I love that Harry Chapin sang a silly song* about our town.

I hate that so much was lost when our city fell ill, around the time that I was born, and the youth and optimism that bled away over the years. (I love that health is returning, though.) Sometimes I hate that my city isn’t quite big enough, so that foreign films and foods and people don’t find their way here. I hate that the nearby farms are turning into housing developments, gated communities full of New Yorkers, wealthy and imprisoned. I hate the inept, corrupt and - worst of all - unimaginative public officials.

I love and hate the idea of leaving it, someday. I am Scranton.

*30,000 Pounds of Bananas.

Technorati tags: Scranton, Flickr, Harry Chapin

she wasn’t kidding when she said she had nothing to wear by jamelah

I love the whimsy in this photo by Jamelah. The picture was first blogged by fellow Flickreeno Liz over at her new site (check it out) Abstract the Day, and I liked it so much I’m showing it off here.

I like the shoes, too, which would send my friend The Crazy Shoe Lady Eliza all a’twitter. The height of these heels would probably make me wobble and trip on the sidewalk and launch into oncoming traffic, but they look great in the photo.

Technorati tags: Flickr, shoes, photography

I’ve recently begun following the writing of one of my favourite Flickr contacts, TheMexican, whose photos have been beguiling me since… since I don’t know when, but possibly before he had The Kid, whose photos are simply irresistible. But check out his travel sets — I have to stop looking at them, myself, because they tempt me to buy another plane ticket.

Raul’s online writing has me hooked, especially with this post, The Longest Hour. He also has a Journal Project that caught my eye a while back. There’s also a quirky experiments page. The bottom videoclip is adorable.

Technorati tags: Flickr, themexican

kitty & doggy - moscow cats theatre by Huro Kitty

I never thought I’d see the day when a cat would willingly put its face next to a dog’s butt! Check out Huro Kitty’s other photos here.

Technorati tags: cat, dog, pet, theatre

— from Allan & Cheryl

Let it be shown on record that I am not totally anti-pink! Maddy’s birthday stuff finally arrived today (dance shoes came in separate package — alas, they were out of the pink in her size), and it all fits!

I would be remiss if I closed out today before wishing my niece Madeleine a happy princess fifth birthday… which I was unfortunately unable to attend due to distance, but the *egads* PINK STUFF that I sent is apparently still enroute via Canada Post. I hope this pink princess phase passes quickly.

I called Maddy today and I swear, that kid has a flair for the dramatic.

“Auntie Gail, I’m FIVE!”

The way she said five, you would’ve thought she’d said with a flourish of her hand, “Auntie Gail, it seems like only yesterday I was potty training, where does the time GO???”

— from Allan & Cheryl

I didn’t have time to splice together a new Maddy video yet, but here are her clips from birthdays #1 and #3. What a clown!

— from Bobini

Check out Angie’s other puking pumpkin shots. Interesting idea! Maybe Helma and I can carve out some friends for Angie’s pumpkin: a Grumpy Gourd or a Hungover Squash.

A photo of Siobhan (toyfoto) and Annabel (ittybit) from a few weeks ago. One of hundreds of photos sitting on my hard drive, itching to get processed and uploaded. I need to work on this one a bit, too, what with the shadows and all, but this is a start, anyway.

Meanwhile, go check out Siobhan’s prolific writing and photography — which puts me to shame because she does all this AND has a family! I can barely get anything done, and it’s just me!