Category Archives: Randomness

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Flowers…and watermarks

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I really, really like flowers. I would love to have a fresh bouquet of flowers in the house every day. But alas, I have cats. Who would either naow, naow, naow on them (that’s the chomping/licking sound a cat makes when they eat flowers), or would straight up knock them off the table, spilling water and scattering broken glass every where.

So instead I take lots of pictures of flowers and enjoy them on my computer desktop. Also much cheaper this way ;-) Anyhoo, below are some of my favorites. Some might be repeaters, but I’m posting nonetheless.

I’m also testing out my new mark/watermark/stamp. I’ve been working on it for years. Well, I started it in college, when it was a mandatory assignment. It more or less was a copycat of the 3M mark – 2M. Yup, pretty boring and not thoughtful at all. I panicked, OK!

I forgot about it for several years, then would pick it up and work on it for a couple of weeks, then would get frustrated with it and give up. It is really hard to come up with a logo that encapsulates you as an (aspiring) artist/designer/photographer. I won’t bore with the whys and the hows of how I got here, but I think I’m finally happy with this one. I gave myself room to have different variations, or to just use the McM sort of chevron-looking thingy if I didn’t want to use my whole name.

I have mixed feelings about watermarks on photographs. Most of the time, I’m against them. I see the point, of course, of crediting yourself with the photograph. But when the subject is something that millions of other people have shot a pic of, the Leaning Tower of Pisa for example, I don’t really see the point in watermarking or stamping it. But if your composition is unique, or you’re lucky enough to get a “this is a once in a lifetime moment,” a hail mary at the Superbowl, by all means, please.

These flowers are not Superbowl special…everyone has a picture of a rose. But the first one of the chrysanthemum I think is pretty unique, therefore deserving ;-) But I’ve been wanting to post flowers for a while, and I literally just finished the mark, so why not do a combo and test the waters while smelling the imaginary roses all at the same time?

If it looks small or too light in some cases, that was done intentionally. I don’t want people to be distracted, or to destroy the integrity of the photograph, by making it huge and in your face. Thoughts, comments, criticisms and critiques are always welcome ;-)

Chrysanthemum in a bouquet in the office on Valentine’s Day 20132.14.13 mcm

Gardens at the Biltmore House, Asheville NC 2012Biltmore Gardens Ashville NC 11.8.12 mcm

Orchid – Lewis Ginter, Richmond VA 2012Lewis Ginter Richmond VA 6.21.12 mcm

Hibiscus – Botanic Garden, DC 2011Botanic Garden DC 7.4.11 Hibiscus mcm

Cactus Flower – Botanic Garden, DC 2011Botanic Garden DC 7.4.11 Cactus flower mcm

Pink rose with bee – San Diego, CA 2009San Diego CA 4.28.09 pink rose w bee mcm

Pink & white rose with dew – San Diego, CA 2009San Diego CA 4.28.09 swirl w dew mcm

Yellow rose – San Diego, CA 2009San Diego CA 4.28.09 yellow rose mcm black

McM mark 2013

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The things I do for cats…

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…even when they aren’t my pets. My neighborhood has become inundated with feral cats. It’s not like I live out in the boonies or the sticks where there are lots of wide open spaces. It’s a normal community, older houses, mature trees. Just lots of cats. I think a neighbor moved out, left their outdoor cats to fend for themselves, and two years later we have 30-40 cats running around. But how can you not like these cute, sweet faces??

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Well, I’ll tell you when they aren’t cute. When the tom cats start fighting at all hours of the day/night, when they spray your welcome mat and glass doors and when they start accosting the little female kitties.

And it’s also not cute when they find a way into the crawl space under your feet. The last straw was when I heard a cat fight, literally a foot away from me, but from underneath me. And my two (indoor only) cats were sitting right in front of me, snoozing. So it couldn’t have been them. I immediately went out and bought what I had been calling a hazmat suit, but really it was just a painters’ jumpsuit. I also bought a mask/hoodie thing to protect my hair. I had some cheap goggles and gloves from a Halloween costume that rounded out the ensemble.

Only thing left to do was to wait for a warm day to ensure the cats were out of the crawl space enjoying the sunny day. That day was today.

I donned my hazmat suit, hoodie, goggles, gloves and tied bags around my shoes. I was ready!

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Here I am psyching myself up into crawling into the crawl space. I really, really didn’t want to do this, but knew the only way to confirm what was really going on down there, and to really know for sure none of them were still under there before I blocked the hole, was to just get down and dirty.

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It reeked of cat pee, but actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. There was some insulation that had come down, but all in all was relatively clean, for a crawl space. I found one dried cat poopy and that was it. I did find one of the insulated vents hanging down, so I resecured it to the main vent. I’m guessing that was the metallic banging I was always hearing as well, they have actually been crawling around in the vents!

Having staked out the whole space and as satisfied as I could be at that point, I headed back out for some fresh air!

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The hole is now completely blocked up, I’m just really hoping I was indeed able to scare all of the cats out, if there were any in there. I guess time will tell. If I hear any more noise, I’ll know something was trapped. If I don’t, then this dirty, smelly chore was a success!

Next on the list, Trap-Neuter-Release! I have 4 appointments in the next couple of months, I just hope I can actually catch them and fix them so they don’t keep repopulating the neighborhood!

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Randomness

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I try to have at least one lazy day a week, usually on the weekends. Saturday (yesterday) was that lazy day. I had a list of things I needed/wanted to do, but I ended up just staying in my pjs all day. And that was perfectly fine with me. I used a lot of my day to take pictures with my new camera. Which ended up consisting mostly of birds, but I like to “bird-watch” and finally have a camera that will take good pictures of them. This camera is probably the best gift I’ve been given. I can see it is going to give me endless entertainment! Below are just some of the images I was able to capture this weekend.

This is one of the ferals living in my yard/under my house. His name is Orange Cat. I guess he thought cartoons are real and thought if he stood right next to the bird feeder, the birds would fly straight into his mouth. Rest assured, no birds were harmed during the duration of this photo shoot.DSCN0632

I watched this little mohawk dude fly in and out at least 20 times. He was a cutie.DSCN0627

This little guy was so little and petite!DSCN0660

So cool to catch a little wing action!DSCN0669

Mr. Big BluejayDSCN0675

Pretty red CardinalDSCN0701

And the best of the day came at the end of the day! How cool is that!?!DSCN0702

I actually took the shots of the moon this evening. I have a special connection with the moon. I remember, from a very young age, talking to the moon. It is always there. It may not always been visible, but it’s always there in some form or another. DSCN0711

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As much and as often as I take pictures, my New Year’s resolution was to take even MORE pictures. I’m sure there will be more randomness to come so pleased stay tuned ;-)