Gloomy, snowy day-POD 38

Snow, no snow. Here we go again. The wonderful weatherman is playing with his yo-yo weather forecast yet again. Last night and this morning we had a winter storm watch. This morning it was downgraded to a winter weather advisory. This much is for sure, we are getting snow. How much? It appears nobody really knows. Maybe 3-5 inches; maybe more. The snow is falling in the variety of big, sloppy wet snowflakes. It’s actually quite beautiful.

The photos of the day have a bit of a gloomy feel to them. But that’s also reflective of the weather. It is winter in Illinois after all.

Mood tree

Snow steps

Until next time,

Peace!

Let Go. Let God-POD 37

It’s amazing to see the mysterious ways God works. This has been one of those nights where I see how incredible He is. It may not mean much to many of you, but I am so full of joy as a result of God’s amazing power.

I’ll be honest, I was really debating about going to Ash Wednesday mass tonight. It’s not a Holy Day of obligation, and honestly, I just wasn’t feeling it. I was feeling really human and thinking about how if I went to mass at my normal church, I would get home after 8:30. Fairly selfish thinking. However, I kept feeling this tug that I really needed to attend mass.

Next door to my school is another Catholic church that I’ve gone to on occasion. I tend to not like the church too much because it just doesn’t feel like “home.” Regardless, I went to their website and saw there was a 4:30 mass. After grading persuasive papers for three hours straight, I figured a little God in my life would be a good thing.

So off to mass I went. What was strange, was the absolute power I felt when I entered the church. As I prayed, gratitude overwhelmed me. I hadn’t felt so filled with God in a long time. My heart was absolutely on fire.

As mass began, I noticed the priest was someone who was very familiar to me. I knew this priest had returned to the area recently, but I figured the odds of him doing one of the six masses the church offered this day was slim. Plus, when I decided to go to this mass, I hadn’t even thought about this gentleman until I saw him walk in.

I turns out this priest was my good friend Father Akan Simon. Father Simon was the priest who headed up the RCIA process when I entered the church in 2000. I haven’t seen Simon in about seven or so years, after he moved to another parish. Father Simon was in a sense, my first spiritual advisor. He helped me in becoming the Catholic I am by how he displayed his love of God. He is a good man.

After mass ended, I got to speak to my friend for a few minutes. The look on his face was priceless. Heck, I’m sure the look on my face was pretty hilarious too. The fact that I got to reconnect with my friend means the world to me. I’m grateful that I got to tell my friend how much I missed him. Words cannot even begin to describe how I feel.

Some people would say that this encounter is nothing more than a coincidence. I don’t believe in that. I believe in God.

Ash Wednesday

Boundaries

Until next time,

Peace!

Spiraling Reader-POD 36

It’s all about Hipstamatic in black and white today. I think we’re both playing around with the app and seeing what it is capable of. My youngest son wasn’t the biggest reader in the world. Much of it had to do with his confidence. I also think he was delayed slightly with his vocabulary when he was small thanks to in part having 15 plus ear infections as an infant. So he spent much of his early childhood hearing things as if he were underwater.

Now he won’t put down a book, unless he has a video game in hand. Then we sometimes have a challenge. But for the most part, he’s discovered the wonders of reading and it really has helped his confidence. My oldest son seems to be playing with another spiral staircase using the black and white qualities of Hipstamatic.

Diary of a Wimpy Reader

Spiraling Downward

Until next time,

Peace

Zombie slaying, bagel lady & the fan dance-POD 35

Spending this President’s Day with a raging headache, catching up on chores and past episodes of one of the best shows on TV, The Walking Dead. I just finished watching the episode where they killed all the walkers in the barn. Holy zombie slaying Batman! That was one of the most intense episodes I have watched in a long time. I don’t know what it is about zombies that fascinates me but….I’ve got to finish reading the excellent urban fantasy, The Rook by Daniel O’Malley, and read the zombie novel Zone One by Colson Whitehead

It’s official. Hipstamatic is incredible. I love it so much, I’ve purchased the rest of the film, lens and flash packages. This app, in combination with Instagram, is really making photography fun again.

Bagel Lady

Fan Dance

Until next time,
Peace!

For the Love of Photography-POD 34

When I started this blog and especially when my son and I started this photo a day challenge, I never thought these words would ever come from my mouth. But, I might be falling back in love with photography. It’s not the deep-seeded love affair that occurred when I first picked up a camera in 1979. This is less passionate, but it is just as enjoyable. Strangely, this is thanks to my son, two iPhones and two photo apps. I’m not, nor will I ever again, need a $2,000 camera and variety of lenses to help fuel the love.

The difference? I’m shooting photos that I want to with no thought of satisfying anybody else’s vision of what photography is about. Especially some editor that has no clue about good photos versus photos that need to run to make the public happy. I was lucky to work for an editor who respected photography immensely. But I was also “blessed” to work for a number of people who will NEVER understand what a good picture is all about. I don’t have to worry about making anybody, but myself, happy about the pictures I make. That’s a great feeling.

I’m dropping the Instagram and the cliché labels from the title from now on because we’ve evolved a little. As of now, we’re sticking with iPhone photos, but we are also going to include Hipstamatic photos as well as Instagram photos. I just bought the Hipstamatic app and I must say, I might be enjoying this a little more than Instagram. Combining the two makes things incredibly interesting.

The first photo is an Instagram photo, but run through a number of filters to give the photo a “grungy” appearance. My son is loving his Pokemon game and I felt the need to photograph him playing. I really enjoy this photo. Let’s be honest, photography is about documenting the things we encounter in life. My son’s photo is a black and white using Hipstamatic. It’s glamorous and displays a beauty not often seen in color photography.

Pokemon Battle

Glamorous

Until next time,

Peace!

Grimes and Pennies from Heaven-Instagram POD 33

Want to kick this off by introducing you to a band that has an upcoming release on one of my favorite labels, 4AD. I just discovered this band, Grimes, last night and fell in love with the combination of dream pop and a voice that reminds me some of Liz Frazier from the Cocteau Twins. The first single, Genesis, is a thing of beauty. It’s pop, but not “pop” enough to become unlikable.

Here is also a video from their last release called “Vanessa.”

POD 33

A former student of mine, gave me some crosses cut from pennies that she picked up at Bald Knob Cross in Southern Illinois. This is the site where I took one of my first pictures as a journalism student. It’s also one of my favorites to this day. My son has been on a roll studying reflections and glass. For some reason, I can never succeed with taking pictures in this style.

Pennies from Heaven

Reflective Brick

Until next time,

Peace!

Black and Blue Instagram photo of the day 32

The shoes have seen better days. Imagine what the feet are like that wear these puppies. Better, imagine what the person is all about and what type of adventures these shoes witnessed. It reminds me a little of a beginning of the year writing prompt I offered my kids, “Every shoe has a story to tell; tell it.”

Much the same could be said about the building my son photographed at the University of Illinois. Imagine the people who have passed through the halls of the building he photographed. Imagine the collection of minds and the impact those people have had on society. We’re not talking about a light-weight school. When you begin to look at humanity with this viewpoint, it almost becomes too much to fathom.

Which brings me to what seems to be a common theme in the middle school classroom. When you begin to look at what people are REALLY about versus what you think they are about based on some silly preconceived notion, things can change. Why is it that we are so ready to judge and condemn people based on appearance or first impression? Admit it, we’ve all done it. Why can’t we reserve our judgement and look at people for what is in their heart? I truly think too many of us are ready to condemn an individual or a group of people just for the sake of condemnation. Hate for the sake of hating. It boggles my mind. Wow, all that from discussing two photos. I might be a little random today. Or I might not be.

Black on Blue

Hallowed Halls

If you haven’t figured it out, I like dubstep. If you haven’t figured it out, I really like Skrillex. So here is the new Skrillex video, Bangarang.

Until next time,

Peace!