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Eye of the Beholder

I always try to remember to make sure my point-and-shoot camera is in my purse before I leave the house because one never knows what cool, unusual, interesting, crazy, shocking, funny stuff one might come across during the course of one’s otherwise ordinary everyday life.

Like the bumper sticker I attempted to photograph on the way home from WV last week. It was too dark and the image didn’t turn out very well, so you’ll just have to use your imagination. Graphically, it was rather bland, but the words made me laugh. It read, “I’m only speeding because I have to poop.” Had it said “shit” instead of “poop,” it would’ve been vulgar. I think the bumper sticker’s creator knew that. But then again, maybe he just got lucky.

Then there was the “gourmet market” sign at the local Safeway, which Hubby saw ages ago and Shannon also happened to remark about last week…

Gourmet? Really?

Shannon and I happened to be at the store together when she said something so I HAD to go snap a picture to share with you.

And the day a few weeks ago when I took my car to the garage to have some work done.

My first thought upon seeing what I’m about to show you was, “That thing is hideous.”

My second thought? “I’ll have to get some pictures for my blog!”

Some of you got a sneak peek in yesterday’s post. I find it pretty funny that only 20% of the commentors mentioned the picture I slapped at the end of yesterday’s post.

My Mom gets the honorable mention for noticing.

The thing I am referring to is this…

Art Car

It’s an art car. The driver just happens to patronize the same auto repair shop that we use. Wikipedia has a definition for ART CAR in case you want to know.

I usually shrink images before uploading them to the blog. But I left all of these big so you could zoom in and get a better look. If you click on each image, it’ll pop up full-size in a window of it’s own.

Really, you won’t appreciate it at all if you don’t look closer and see all the clever little touches that make this thing fun. Like the xylophone strikers at the end of the rope fastened to each of the side-view mirrors. So admirers can actually play a few notes.

Art Car

There’s a sign on the driver’s side that actually says, “Go Ahead Play the Truck.”

Art Car

From a distance it is sort of hideous. But from up close, it’s sort of clever. At least I think so. Would I want to drive it? No. But I can appreciate the thought that went into the truck’s creation.

Like the little balls with hats atop the otherwise headless mannequins. Were they put there just to make it look more interesting? Or to symbolize something? The theme of the truck appears to be the Fall of Adam and Eve, so perhaps those tiny orbs symbolize their small-mindedness.

Art Car

I like the “Have an apple, hon” that’s painted in the circle formed by a snake that sits on the truck’s roof. It’s right under that life-sized Barbie head. The “Hon” is a Baltimore thing.

Art Car

What’s with the female mannequin chained to the truck? And is that a Jägermeister miniature dangling from her necklace? The solar-powered lawn lights are a nice touch. As is the Woodchuck cider beer-tap handle.

The hood ornaments are sort of creepy.

Art Car

They are oddly reminiscent of the statues that adorn the Münster of Bern in Switzerland.

Art Car

I’m not so sure I like the fact that the front of the roof ornament is covered in red. I do like the Power Ranger, headless Spiderman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and G.I. Joe-type action figures that sit just above the windshield. The slide-trombone-cum-loudspeaker in the middle of the pile is cool. Although the babydoll heads to the right of that are sort of creepy. But cool-creepy like this ogre statue in Bern.

So what do you think? Is this art? Or just plain ugly? I’m curious, really.

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What’s the Point?

Shybiker, a fellow blogger (the one who has been my most-frequent commenter of late), did a post the other day about why people blog.

Some do it purely for profit. Let’s face it, it’s a great way to make money. Great as in it’s a job where you are your own boss, there’s very little cost involved, it’s fun, etc. Making money through blogging takes effort, but it can pay off.

Some, like me, do it just for fun. I like having a place to share my pictures, and dog stories, and travel highlights, and random stuff.

Does anyone care? I think so. But it’s hard to tell because not a lot of people comment. Sometimes that’s discouraging. Should people comment just for the sake of saying something? No. But if you read something or see a picture that makes you smile, leave a comment. Just click on the COMMENTS button in the upper right-hand corner and leave a quick reply. That’s how us bloggers know that we do actually have an audience, even if it’s a small one. Us bloggers call that “comment love.”

It’s not always easy to come up with stuff to blog about. But every now and then I stumble across stuff that I HAVE TO share. It’s not always about me either. Occasionally I stumble across pictures like THIS ONE that totally make me smile. There’s just something about that lady looking so happy. I think it’ll make others smile, too. So I hope you followed the link.

That’s one of the things I love about Flickr. I get to look at other people’s pictures. I tell folks all the time that I love looking at other people’s images, but I’m not sure they believe me.

I always say, “send me your vacation, baby, family, experimental, etc. pictures.” But few people do. I think they think I am just trying to be nice.

The way Flickr works, you sort of friend people that take pictures you like looking at. Like this one from a guy, Kuskaluna Steve, who lives in Alaska. That cat picture makes me smile, too.

Then there are all of the AMAZING bird photos Nikographer posts. I am in awe of this man.

I hope those links work for you…

Back to blogging. I think the reason I enjoy reading other people’s blogs is that you really get to see how other folks live. I’ve always liked people and have often wondered what it would be like to live in someone else’s shoes. Blogs are windows into other people’s lives.

Maybe you like what you see here, maybe you don’t. Perhaps you’re a repeat visitor. Maybe this is your first time. I’ll never know if you don’t comment. If you just don’t have anything to say, that’s cool, too. I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing and life will just keep rolling on…

Art
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Relative Normalcy

It’s never a good sign when you wake up with a headache. I mean, what a crappy way to start a day. Hoping to get rid of the ache, I took some naproxen and then made myself a big plate of blueberry pancakes. No luck so far, but I am still hopeful. At least the pancakes tasted good.

While I ate, I caught up on my blog reading. That’s when I realized I haven’t posted anything for five days. I’ve been collecting various pics to share. But it’s an eclectic collection. So there was nothing driving me to do a posting. Now, however, I think it is time to catch up.

The first couple of shots are from Sunday morning at the WV place. It was in the low 30s when we woke up.

Frosty Window

Doesn’t that just make you want to say, “Brrr?”

Lingering Green

Most of the trees are bare already. Except for the oaks. We have lots of oaks. And they hold on to their leaves for a long time. Apparently some are late in the color-change department, too.

Nakedness

See what I mean about the trees being bare?

Morning in the Woods

This is one of my favorite spots at the WV place. Back before we had Belle and K, we had CeCe and Meg. CeCe was a lot like Belle in that she liked to hang close to Mama during our morning walks. She and I would wait here at the top of the hill on Turkey Hollow Road for Meg to return. Quite a few of CeCe’s cremains were scattered here for that very reason. It’s been almost two years since we lost CeCe and we still miss her.

A Hint of Green

The colors on this green leaf caught my eye. There’s not really anything special about that picture except I thought the leaf was cool. So I am sharing it here.

Cool Colors

Speaking of colors catching my eye, I really liked the way these frosty leaves looked.

Frost

You can see the frost more clearly on these leaves. Quite a few bushes are still green, so the woods aren’t completely colorless.

Belle racing around the corner.

Right before snapping this picture, I’d started walking back toward the house. When Belle realized she couldn’t see me, she came running.

Belle

Here’s one where Belle was waiting with me for the other two girls to come back. As for the other two…

Napping while Mama works.

They did reappear shortly after that picture of Belle was taken. I snapped the above image while I was working. The camera was sitting next to me on the windowsill. My girls always like to be close to Mama. Notice K and Belle sharing that small bed?

K

K is more into sharing than Belle. In this shot, although you can’t see her (the zoom lens was on the camera and I couldn’t fit her into the frame), Belle is pretty much hogging the entire bed. K found a corner to sit on and gave me this look as if to say, “Mama, she won’t share.”

K is truly a Mama's girl.

Belle sits with me in the mornings. It’s rare to see Belle on my lap in the evenings. K on the other hand is all about her evening Mama-time. She’ll come over and give me this certain look. That’s when I say, “You need some Mama love?” Immediately she climbs into my lap.

We did have a bit of excitement on Sunday. Are you ready for this?

The new refrigerator.

We bought a new refrigerator! Now we just need to buy some more food. 🙂

Our kitchen is very small. We never really planned the kitchen. I bought a whole kitchen full of old cabinets and we put them into place. It all works okay, except the door placements are very awkward in a couple of spots. We only had room for an under-the-counter refrigerator. And no room for a dishwasher.

Because Hubby really hates doing dishes, we need a dishwasher. We can’t have a dishwasher unless we re-do the kitchen.

Oh yeah, we have a really cheap, crappy cook top, too. It works, but it is a huge PIA. The burners are super hard to regulate properly. If you turn them back too low, they go out. And they won’t relight unless you put a match to them first. It’s annoying.

Our Little House in the Woods

This is not a great picture since the trailer is sitting in front of the garage. But someone was asking me what our house looks like, so there it is.

Going "down the hill."

The dogs just love it when we walk them down the driveway. They’re all three in the picture, K is just hard to see because she is so far ahead. The girl runs like a Greyhound.

Going back up the hill.

You know what they say… what goes down, must come up. Right? 🙂

And now, for the last picture of the day, we have K.

"Mama, she's not sharing AGAIN."

K is looking a bit pissed off. Is it because Belle is hogging the bed? Or because Mama has no room on her lap at the moment. Or both?

For the record, Belle is wide awake, but she hates having her picture taken. Really. She squints or blinks in most shots unless I catch her off guard.

I hope you enjoyed the mish-mash of photos!

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Where’s ToadMama Today?

I’m in a different state again.

But this time, I am happy about it.

It really looks like Fall here. As far as the foliage goes, it is most definitely past peak. In fact, many, many leaves are on the ground.

Fall is Here

The girls are all very happy to be here, too. As usual. They LOVE running through these woods.

See Meg smiling?

Since it was almost 10:00 when I got home last night, we drove to the WV place this morning. It’s actually pretty chilly. I think it was in the low 50s when we arrived. Now it’s in the 40s. And it’s only about 3:00 PM. I have a feeling tomorrow morning will REALLY be cold when I am out walking.

Fall is in the air.

See how bare those trees are? Meanwhile, back at the cabin…

Hubby clearing the leaves off of the front porch.

…Hubby was struggling to get the leaf blower to run. As you can see, he succeeded.

"I don't like that noise, Mama."

Belle was not thrilled with the leaf blower.

Smile!

I did somehow manage to get Belle and K to sit still for a picture. Belle wouldn’t look at the camera, but look at K smiling!

That moment of stillness didn’t last long.

And they're off!

I’m making chili for dinner. It’s a chili kind of day.

They’re forecasting snow for the mountains just west of here tonight.

Brrr…

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Where’s ToadMama?

Home!

Yay!

I was supposed to leave the office around 1:00. That was the plan anyway.

I left a little after 6:00. That wouldn’t have been horrible if it weren’t for the fact that the office is three and a half HOURS away.

Traffic on the NJTP was practically bumper-to-bumper the entire way. But it’s the northeast where everything happens FAST.

Ever driven in bumper-to-bumper traffic at 80 mph? It’s awesome.

I am quite happy to be home.

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And So It Goes

I’m still in New Jersey.

It’s been a tiring week. Starting a new job is never fun, especially when you go from being an expert (relatively speaking of course) who knows everyone to a complete novice that knows hardly anyone. It’s just weird. I know it gets better, but starting over like this sucks.

The Office

On a positive note, the office building I work in is pretty nice. It’s only a couple of years old so everything still looks rather fresh and new. The building is about a 90 second drive from the hotel, which is pretty convenient.

I actually woke up late today. With a headache. Ugh.

I’m hoping the drugs kick in soon. For now, time to slip on some big-girl clothes (as opposed to flannel pants and a t-shirt) and the war paint (Hubby’s term) for another day at the office.