Mazeroski in Moonlight, After the Prom

Pittsburgh Carrick 2013 Senior Prom was held at the Lexus Club at PNC Park tonight.

I went and took pictures of the kids and it was a great evening. My friend Steve picked me up and then had to turn the car around to be in the homeward direction.

This is what we saw at the circle by the Bill Mazeroski statue-

I got out into the chilly air and took a few shots. The clouds kept drifting over the moon, making the clouds luminous.

p.s.

In case you don’t know about the Greatest Home Run Ever Here’s the youtube video of Bill Mazeroski running to home in the 1960 World Series

Who You Gonna Call When Your Neon’s Ailing? The Neon Doctor

Neon. An inert gas. 2/3 the density of air. When put into electric signs it glows, catches your eye. You can read about Neon Signs here.

Not sure how much neon signage you have in your neighborhood but there’s a lot around the city.

I was filling up my car’s gas tank and looked across the street.

After I screwed on the gas cap, I got my camera out of my school bag. I had the long lens.

Another day I’ll go and visit the interior and ask if the Neon Doctor is in.

Good to know there’s a place that can restore and repair the neon signs.

From across the street. Shot with a Canon 70-200 lens L series.

Cropped shot. I will get energized and go and actually visit the place after school one day.

Analog Clock Faces Smile at 10:10

My old clock fell off the hook and a new battery couldn’t help it recover.

I found this turquoise retro looking kitchen clock last Saturday in Shadyside. Oh how I love a second hand. I really like to look at a clock with a face and get a visual as to how much time is left. Most students like a digital clock for telling time.

My colleague used his Phillips screwdriver to remove the bolted kitchen clock out of the box. I ‘d bought it for my classroom. I never really noticed the time at which the clock was set when we got it out of the box.

Mr. B (Bob) told me that clocks for sale are always positioned at the time of 10:10. Huh, I had never really noticed that fact. I thought it would make an interesting post to think about. Maybe everyone else already knows this. Is it the same in other parts of the world. I guess 9:09 or 8:08 or 3:03 wouldn’t look as good.

And sure enough there is information all over the internet about it and why. Timex says they set their timepieces at 10:09:36 exactly.

It shows off their name and is symmetrical. Mental Floss has an article all about the myths and truths of the default setting 10:10 on watches and clocks for sale.

So I started thinking about digital clocks for sale and many of them online for sale are set at 12:34. Who knew? This is just something I haven’t thought about.

Thanks Mr. B. (See Bob and Whiskers 1955 post) He told me that even a broken clock shows the correct time twice a day!

Here’s the packaging for the kitchen clock for the classroom. You can see the three holes where the clock was screwed into the cardboard. I thought of going to stores and photographing a multitude of clocks at the 10:10 setting but decided at this time of the school year, one photo of the photo on the packaging would suffice.

(an iPhone photo of a photo on the packaging)

Following Mr. John’s Truck Up the Narrow Road

One day BEAUTY, the next day NECESSITY- Andy said the blog is like a Carousel Slide Show and you just don’t know what’s next–

On the way to school one morning. Shot with old iPhone 4. How about that narrow road Parkfield Street?

Not sure how a toilet got named a John, so I looked it up and found out they are named for Sir John Harrington and that there is even a toilet museum.

One of my favorite posts on the blog is the pink toilet in the snow.

Hail Storm in Zagreb Croatia- Guest Post

In my email this morning-

Dear Mom,

A hail storm broke out in Zagreb today and my friend Maja captured it with her iPhone from her 9th floor office. She was a little bit reluctant to be blogged, but she had this to say about the picture : “It looked so great and it made me so happy that I wanted to share it.”

And it reminded me of the sentence from the film “American Beauty” – “Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can’t take it, and my heart is just going to cave in.”

I think that quote is a great motto for us to live by. You and your blog do a great job reminding us all of the beauty that surrounds us every moment of every day, so I knew what to do with Maja’s picture right away!

Love you,

Matty

Thank you Maja for sharing your beautiful photograph of the hailstorm from the ninth floor window and thanks Matty, too.

Adjectives Illustrated- But Which Ones?

Today I read an ________________________(noun) about creating a self-assignment for your photography.

It made me _________________________(verb) about what I might like to try to photograph.

Then I ____________________________(verb) at what I’d already photographed.

(Chose a word – like Mad Libs ™ (Did you know Mad Libs™ was created in 1958?)

I was looking for images to go with the ____________ (adj) Strawberry I photographed on the _____________(adj. )porch this afternoon- it seemed to have a __________________(adj. )mouth.

I added the ________________________ (adj.) eyes and ears.

Adjective defined by Merriam-Webster : a word belonging to one of the major form classes in any of numerous languages and typically serving as a modifier of a noun to denote a quality of the thing named, to indicate its quantity or extent, or to specify a thing as distinct from something else

and the Writing Centre University of Ottawa has an accessible definition and examples (not that you need them but I was refreshing my grammar knowledge)

An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words. An adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies.

In the following examples, the highlighted words are adjectives:

The truck-shaped balloon floated over the treetops.

Mrs. Morrison papered her kitchen walls with hideous wall paper.

The small boat foundered on the wine dark sea.

The coal mines are dark and dank.

Many stores have already begun to play irritating Christmasmusic.

A battered music box sat on the mahogany sideboard.

The back room was filled with large, yellow rain boots.

____________________________________________________(adjective) Strawberry face

____________________________________________________(adjective) Stanchions in the elevator when we took down the student art show

____________________________________________________(adjective) Origami on the school steps

______________________________________________________(adj.) sign in Millvale

_____________________________________(adjective) masking tape dispenser in an art room

_____________________________________(adjective) sign

_______________________________________________________________(adj) night light from Divertido

_______________________________________________(adj) iPad fireplace

Sock Monkey in camo sleeping bag _____________________________________(adjective)

A garden gnome for my Daughter-in-law’s garden (just kidding, Erika!) ____________________________________________(adj.)

There might be descriptors for several that are interchangeable. I am restraining myself from writing a list of adjectives to choose from.

Thanks for playing MadLibs™. Hope you will write an adjective for any image(s) you wish.

Fresh Eggs Make the Best Omelet

My colleague brought me a dozen fresh eggs from her chickens. Thanks S.

I loved how each egg had a date written on the end. I made an omelet this Saturday morning with some Cabot Creamery Extra Sharp White Cheddar. Maybe a tad too much butter. Couldn’t cook and photograph with the cell phone simultaneously. I was told you want “sound” when the eggs hit the pan.

I know the chickens are well cared for and eat organic feed. Fresh eggs make the best omelet. It was delicious. If I were a true photographer I would have made a neater looking one and photographed it again but no one else around to eat the wrinkled one. I went on Google images to see how my omelet fares by comparison and I think it is fine. These eggs are too precious to waste.

Yes, a little too much butter. Eat the toast with jam no butter due to excess amount on the eggs!

Hiding the imperfect folds with the farm grain bread toast. Now to polish the French PepperMill that was a wedding gift in 1974.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape

They call it challenge for a reason. Escape. Or trying to.

Escape defined : Break free from confinement or control (School is out June 17th)

Need to get away. Get out. Break free.

Attempted escape. Some of mine seem like “trapped” or “escape is necessary” . It makes me consider posting a photograph of our jail that they built along the Monongahela River, spoiling the scenic view. Escape from reality. A fire escape?

Me in the mail chute at the City County Building today when we took down the art show.

Fencing so the Cheetahs Can’t Escape!

Kayaks on the Allegheny River Photographed from the Roberto Clemente Bridge

Fence and Branch at the Softball Game

Did you ever feel like you can’t escape when you are in the middle of the car wash?

Take the keys and lock her up! Little sister tries to escape

A hopeful escape from reality and the rat race. I guess I need to buy a ticket. Oh well.

The Book Loft– Columbus Ohio. Reading is a terrific escape!

A roller coaster is good for a brief escape

at Kennywood Amusement Park

Ready for the get away

A Couple of Fire Escapes ( I was shooting the Bitter End, I think)

Central Park Pastorale

You Write the Story

Here’s the scene.

Found on a New York City Sidewalk on Bleecker Street- Night time- a tad grainy and soft.

High Chair and TV Tray Table.

Thai Cuisine on Liberty Ave at Pearl Street in Bloomfield

When I got home from school, Steve asked me if I wanted to go eat at the Thai Cuisine Restaurant in Bloomfield. Bloomfield is considered the Italian section of the city and I have blogged the Italian Festival and scenes from the Bloomfield Bridge.

On Liberty Ave at Pearl Street, across from the Bloomfield Laundromat,there’s delicious Thai food in this wonderfully Italian neighborhood.

I was so tired when Steve suggested going out to eat, I thought about lying down and taking a rest instead.

Fortunately, I decided to take him up on his offer and am I ever glad I did. He’d brought home take-out from this restaurant before but had never dined in. He told me how nice they were to him and always remembered his name.

It’s BYOB. They have a vegetarian menu,too. The service -friendly and nice, the food fresh and perfectly prepared. Very tasty. The decor and ambience clean and comfortable. Love the cloth napkins.

We enjoyed our dinner tremendously.

We ordered two dishes to share and the brown rice. There are curries and appetizers, soups and salads and desserts. Spicy Basil Fried Rice seems to be a favorite in the reviews. The YELP reviews = overall four out of five stars. The Urbanspoon seemed quite favorable and highly recommended by the City Paper Critic, too

Ginger Roots Onions, Black Mushrooms, Broccoli, Carrots, Red Pepper, Green Pepper, Snow Peas, with Chicken

Classic Shrimp Pad Thai

The view from my seat in the front window booth.

And the high gloss lacquered table reflecting formerly St. Joseph’s Church

Our server rolled all the silverware in wonderful cloth napkins- stacked and ready to go

And Steve took a shortcut down the alley to get us home. Love being a passenger so I can photograph with the good old iPhone camera. Did not take my regular camera to dinner.