I’ve been digging, weather permitting (((HEAT))), and watching the lilies get ready to bloom. Every day another one opens, and today it was the one on my deck, here it is, yesterday, and in abeyance right next to the contraption I bought at a yard sale that smartly holds flower pots.







It is so beautiful I had to bring it to my Sunday morning table to enjoy and study


Also made the front yard a little prettier. It’s almost the only place that reliably gets some sun, ergo the cactus





It’s the first time in my life I’ve been able to acknowledge that my house has outside areas that would benefit from some attention.
I’m having fun.

You already know that JDB is my neighbor, so when he called me this morning and told me there was some controversy on the Photo Forum I took a look and called him back to come with his sledge hammer, which he did.

(I’m in the process of making my retirement real, and needed some studly help in destruction)
And so it began:



And so it ended:



The moral, often stated in my childhood home:
“This is how even with small things you can bring joy to Preacher’s Kids"

The live and learn part:
I’m now off for my 3 times a week weight training session, so the next time I’ll be able to handle this all by myself.

Discuss photography as an art, skill, and means of communication, as well as share photographs. Professional, amateur, digital and traditional film are all welcome.

That is the header in DU about our forum. You, juxtaposed, fit in here and so do all of the rest of us.

What does not fit is you being rude because we are a homogeneous group, we care about each other and our hobby, craft, or profession: photography. I remember very well when a few years back I won a contest and you showed up from left field for the first time and trashed everything about my photograph, and said I had won because my title was clever.

I was shocked and actually got upset about this and second guessed my rights to participate. Later I learned two things, one was that you are an exquisitely talented photographer with gorgeous results, and the other was that you had been off your meds.

In the meantime you have begun to participate at times. I hope you win a contest, you easily could and certainly don't need clever titles or photoshop. The beauty of our situation here is that you are free to use them, and the host in charge.

I have never alerted on a poster in the 12 years I have been a part of DU
But there is always a first time.

Please pipe down, get informed, or go away.

edited to get "juxtaposed"'s name right.
I don't see it here often enough to have remembered. Sorry!

?w=525

I asked his permission to write this, and I want you to welcome him. He is a young friend and neighbor who knew I take photos and who started showing me his.
My delight with his work, knowing he is a Democrat and votes, made me show him the website of DU, the Photo forum, and made me encourage him to submit in our contests which he has by now done about 4 times.
And Bingo - he won May.

So we had a meeting a couple of days ago where I put on the table: get a star and I'll talk you through running the June contest, or I will do it for you because I got you into this. But then there will be no more entries from you. I am saying this with a big smile, because JDB has done really well with the entries before, and got into the finals almost each time.

We now have a new star member.
With the itch to run the contest along with fluttering nerves.
A really young man who has never gotten to show his photographs and has not had much critique or encouragement and whom I hope we will embrace. If we can collectively do that, which is what JeffR did for me many years ago along with many of you, we will all have a chance to grow and improve.

(by the way, for fun and full disclosure, he and another friend and neighbor and I went to Selma and NOLA together at Easter. We split all the expenses and had such a good time that we just booked a cheap hotel to go back for the running of the Bulls in July. I say this because the photo he took and won with was taken on the same walk we took together and I won second place for mine.
Ain't life great!)

BATON ROUGE (The Borowitz Report) – In the aftermath of Irish voters legalizing gay marriage, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has used his emergency powers to ban all Irish products from the state.

The sweeping trade sanctions will prevent popular Irish products, such as Jameson whiskey and Guinness Extra Stout, from being sold in Louisiana.

Jindal explained that breaking off trade with Ireland was necessary to protect the sanctity of marriage in Louisiana.

“Every time someone takes a sip of Guinness, a part of straight marriage dies,” he said.

I wrote about her surviving the earthquake and her bravery in remaining to help the people. She has just reported to the family (can you imagine how much her parents want her home?) and sent a few photos

Here is a link to the post I made right after she bucked those wishes and now she chose to remain even after the second earthquake.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026627413

In her own words today, loosely translated:

….i was able to once more go to Baseri (that was a village hard hit) and we were able to take packages of supplies to the pregnant women and the families with infants.
We discussed it with the village doctor, and we assembled the packages ahead of time in Kathmandu and loaded the trucks. A package contains a blanket for the baby, one for the mother, a mosquito net, soap, medications and baby food.
Altogether we were able to supply this to 71 families in Baseri, and we also got Mattresses, gloves, masks and disinfectants for the hospital in the village.
I was thrilled to see how hard the villagers have worked since I was there a little while ago. Almost each family has now a rain safe emergency shelter and there is great progress visible in the cleanup…..

I’m posting this just to show a slice of life we have already stopped hearing about.
It reminds me of a line by Friedrich Schiller he wrote in Wilhelm Tell:

Das Alte stürzt, es ändert sich die Zeit,
und neues Leben blüht aus den Ruinen

“The old collapses, and times are changing, and new life blooms in the ruins…."










ich

WACO (The Borowitz Report) – Suspects in the recent biker brawl in Waco, Texas, only slightly outnumber the 2016 Republican Presidential candidates, leading some voters to have difficulty distinguishing between the two groups, a new poll shows.

According to the poll, voters who were presented the names of a biker-brawl suspect and a Republican Presidential candidate correctly identified both only thirty per cent of the time.

For example, fifty-seven per cent of voters erroneously identified the former Texas Governor Rick Perry as a member of the Bandidos motorcycle gang, while forty-one per cent believed he belonged to the Cossacks.
Adding to voters’ confusion, the biker brawlers and G.O.P. candidates have identical views on a host of issues, such as gun rights and whether they would feel comfortable attending a gay wedding.

While the number of biker-brawl suspects stands at a hundred and seventy, if current trends continue, the Republican field could blow past that number by early summer, possibly deepening voters’ confusion.

But, in one positive sign for the Republicans, they notched a higher approval rating than the Waco suspects, five per cent to three.



www.borowitzreport.com

http://jackovassilev.com/

The print I own is the fifth in the line-up, the two old women drunk on old wine and laughing together.
I could not afford it at the time at all, but got the price haggled down, and paid in cash I borrowed off all of those around me because I felt I just had to have that photograph.

So I found the website last week - just curious to see if there is one - and wrote into the blue thinking it was a studio - wanting to see what the thing was worth in money. I already know what it's worth in joy on my wall.

To my great surprise the photographer himself wrote back and he appreciated my love for his work, and was really sweet and probably really old.
That made my day.
I hope you like what you see, I suspect you will. To me this is more than just humanly interesting - these people look like my grandmother and beyond on my mother's side, Hungarians, and Yugoslavs all, and I know I'm a part of it all.
It's a nice feeling.