"The Tongue Sticker Outer"...

They say that once in Zanzibar

A boy stuck out his tongue so very far,

It reached the heavens and touched a star,
Which burned him rather badly.

It wasn't there, but they say that lout
Now keeps his tongue inside his mouth,

But if you ask him to stick it out....
I think he'll do it gladly.

--Shel Silverstein

Oh come on...tell me that YOU don't think these azalea flowers look as if they are sticking out their tongues.  Imagination is a terrible thing to waste.

--Kathy

Rainy Days and Wednesdays...

...(with poetic license), always get me down.

So WHY don't grey skies and rainy days get me down when I'm in Paris (I have yet to be there when it hasn't been rainy). A transparently rhetorical question posed with the soul purpose of gratuitously showing some "not so new" photos to compensate for the fact it is raining AGAIN and I completely lack motivation to do ANYTHING today.  Whew, gotta love a good run-on sentence.   Oui... Calgon take me away (but can we stop in Italy on the way?)...merci', grazie, thanks a bunch.

I consider strolling hand-in-hand along a Parisian rain-soaked alley pretty darn romantic.  In Philly?  I'd just worry about feeling like a drowned rat and what the humidity is doing to my hair.

"Deux"
Paris, France

Exploring side streets and alleys for a bistro to dodge into to escape the drizzle over an espresso and croissant.  Or at least TRY to order an espresso and croissant in French without getting laughed at.  In Philly?  Seriously?  Have you HEARD what we sound like?  "Youse want a cawfee wit da donut honey?"

"Rising Phoenix"
Paris, France

What is it that W.C. Fields has etched on his tombstone?  Something akin to "All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia"????

Obviously he wasn't looking out MY window this morning!  Geez Louise...better add Windex to my shopping list.

 Off to my quaint neighborhood Wawa to escape the grey over a cup of coffee and Tastykake.  Hoping sunshine and motivation are out there SOMEWHERE!


--Kathy

Scavenger Hunt Sunday (May 6, 2012)...

"Anxiety is the hand maiden of creativity."

--T.S. Elliott

I feel as if my creative muscles atrophied after a two-week absence from Ashley's "Scavenger Hunt Sunday" at Ramblings and Photos.  Has it really only been two weeks since we've done a Scavenger Hunt?  Amazing how skipping a week completely threw me off my game when it came to this week's prompts.  I get the same frustrating feeling when I skip going to the gym for a week...ARGH, tomorrow is gonna be a REAL killer for me and my abs, THANKS for reminding me.

This week's prompts had been sitting on my desk on a piece of paper all week long.  I looked at them every morning and thought "These just don't seem like they should be THIS hard"...but I was stymied.  My motivation waned a bit more as each day passed by.  By Thursday, I was in panic mode with not an idea in my head nor photo taken.  And THAT is when I find things usually start to click.  Creativity springs from my limitations.  The Better Half usually refers to it as my top notch "rationalization" skills spring from my limitations.   Like, when my wallet limitations force me to get creative when I want that handbag I saw at Bloomingdales the other day, just sayin'.  Hhmmmmpf, I prefer to think of it as CREATIVITY born from road blocks....not rationalization skills.  Okay, WHATEVER you call it...I got the prompts done (and I'm still formulating my plan of attack on the purse).   I admit, I rationalized was pretty darn creative this week!!!

This week's prompts were:

Shadow, Keys, Smile, Unedited (Straight Out of the Camera), and Fish.


1.  Shadow

Have you ever noticed a shadow on YOUR incredible edible eggs?  "Rationalizing Shadows" could easily be an Avenger's super power, dontcha think?

2.  Keys

"Tickling the Ivories"

3.  Smile

I am pretty confident God is smiling on me here.

4.  Unedited (Straight Out of the Camera)

"A Moment of Clarity"

At first, I was going to discard this photo due to all the blur.  But then I realized it doesn't matter how much "blur" you have in your life...as long as your are "focussed" on what is important and center your life around it.


5.  Fish

And then...my rationalization creative skills ran out, and I was forced to delve into the archives.  I took this a couple weeks ago in Philly along the Schuylkill River at Boathouse Row.  It is what the fashionably dressed urban fisherman wears to catch his dinner.  Well, this ensemble AND a cell phone to call in for dinner reservations.


And JUST when I think the stars aren't gonna line up for me, my Better Half walks in and says "take a look at the photo of the fish I caught this weekend...can you put it on your blog?".    Seriously?!?  THIS is a small price to pay to get that purse I want!!!  When life hands you fish, work a new purse out of it.  And THAT folks is CREATIVITY born from limitations!  Booyah!

Whew!  Here's hoping I just needed this week to dust off the cobwebs and next week I'll be back in the game full swing...AND with a new purse.  Put me in coach!


--Kathy

linked to:

Little Darlin'...

"Here Comes the Sun"

"And I Say"

"It's All Right"

I need the rain, to appreciate the sun.  And my camera, to appreciate the beauty in both.  As George says, it's as if the smiles are returning to the faces.  Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo.

--Kathy

The best thing to do when it's raining...

...is JUST LET IT RAIN!  Especially when the rain comes out of the blue.

There's no fighting Mother Nature, she's a woman hell bent on a mission this summer! As if  Philly folk don't find enough to complain about on our own:  pot holes (ouch!), Howard Eskin (HATE him!), traffic on the Schuylkill (just shoot me!), Andy Reid (get him another cheesesteak wit whiz...STAT!), PECO energy bills (ouch again!), Met's fans (haha!) .... NEW JERSEY (with the caveats of the shore, tomatoes, peaches and my Jersey cousins)....whew!!

We're pretty hardy H-H-H (hazy, hot and humid) veterans here.  But THIS summer Mother Nature has upped the ante and outdone herself with a long string of record breaking temps into the 100's (without the heat index).  Everything is parched, the well-manicured lawns are golden and brittle as straw, the dogs won't go outside without a shove, air conditioner units are groaning under the workload, and PECO profit ledgers are grinning.  Where is a Good Humour truck when you need one?  No such thing as a good hair day...just twist it up into a clip,  put on the sunglasses and no one will notice both your hair and make-up melting, or at least pretend not to.

So when the sun decided to take a power-nap out of the blue last week, it was glorious and I headed out with my camera to...just let it rain.  My hair was already twisted up and the make up had long ago melted, so what was a little rain gonna do to me?

"It's raining, it's pouring..."

"Flowers never bend with the rainfall"
- Simon and Garfunkel

"When the rain comes down in the summertime, 

the leaves start dripping when the sun starts to shine"

-America

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens"

"When it's over, so they say...it will rain a sunny day.  

I know, shining down like water."  

- Creedance Clearwater Revival

Thanks rain, I was getting REALLY tired of having to water my flowers anyway! 

--Kathy