Here are 5 good things about today (very food-and-beverage oriented):
I got in some spinning while watching the movie Dolores Claiborne→
I got some work done, and then celebrated with a glass of wine↓
I started with the last 3 photos, that I took in 29 Palms last Fall. It made me think I needed the first two to start the cycle, so I found the agave at the San Diego Botanical Garden, and finally completed the set with Mark’s cooperation today.
As Tim and I were driving to his riding lesson yesterday, we were listening to the audiobook version of The Captured, by Scott Zesch. The book was inspired by the story of the author’s great (or great-great?) uncle, who had been kidnapped by Indians at the age of 10, in Texas in the 1860s. The author couldn’t find much specific information about his ancestor’s experiences, so the book explores the stories of many other children captured by Indians around the same time. The Indians usually took children between the ages of 8 and 14, because they were past the age of requiring much care, but not yet too set in their opinions. The Indians’ motivation was to increase the size of the tribe, and in some cases to get ransom money. If the children were kept for very long, about 9 months or more, they often identified more with the Indians than with their original families, and it was hard for them to reassimilate after being rescued. One of the reasons Zesch offers for their willingness to identify more with their new families is that the life of an adolescent Indian boy was much more fun than life on a Texas ranch, because their main responsibilities were learning to ride horses and shoot. Now, back in present time, when we got to the barn for his riding lesson, Tim’s instructor brought out a pellet gun and said that he and the other student were going to have a contest, where they would ride, run, and shoot at targets. So I “captured” some of the fun.
Another story in 5 photos. I was inspired while playing with my belt, sitting at my desk at work.
I had to read the sequel to The Hunger Games, called Catching Fire. This book ended with a definite cliffhanger, so I can’t wait for the 3rd book in the trilogy that comes out in a few weeks. The themes I was trying to capture were rebellion, and the natural world surviving amid the man-made. I also included the statue with the triton, because that was the weapon of one of Kat’s allies in the latest games.
Trident Man (at UCSD)
#13 is the rebel
See the nests? This is at the UCSD library
I went to the Wild Animal Park yesterday, thinking I would find a good example of the concept “survival” among the animals there. Instead, I thought that this group of photographers, all trying to get into a good position, and patiently waiting for the perfect shot, embodied the idea.
I made 2 mistakes on this shoot: I used my polarizing filter, because I thought the sunlight would be too bright (it wasn’t), and then when I noticed my shutter speed was too slow for handheld shooting (which I was doing), I kept the aperture wide open, so I had lots of out-of-focus shots.
I’m listening to the audiobook of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It’s about a North America of the future, which consists of a capitol in the Rockies, and 12 outlying districts. As punishment for a popular rebellion 70-some years ago, the government implemented an annual “reaping”, in which each district must send one boy and one girl, in the age range of 12 to 18, to the capitol to engage in a survival game in which only one person comes out alive. It is narrated by the girl, named Cat, from district 12. The expressions that I want to capture in photos include: games, survival instinct, thirst, family, friendship. At the point I have reached in the story, the game makers are trying to smoke Cat out of the forest – reminiscent of a scene from Green Mansions.
The story progresses from idyllic descriptions of the jungle, and the mystery of the bird girl, to a quest to find her mother’s family in a distant location. Tragedies cause Abel’s embitterment, and he retaliates in a broader way than necessary. He decides that the only way he can be redeemed is to forgive himself; he can’t get that from God or angels or other people. This final image represents his transition from the jungle back to modern civilization. So what should I read next? I was thinking of reading a little bit of Canterbury Tales, and then finding modern-day counterparts to the characters.
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