Take Note

I notice that when one of the dogs sneezes, I say, "God bless you." I also said, "Excuse me," to the vacuum cleaner the other day when I bumped into it in the hall.
Have you ever been in church and a young child sitting in front of you turns around and gets on his/her knees and looks you in the eyes? You look back and smile, then look back up at the preacher, but the kid just keeps staring at you and you can feel those pupils boring into you? I am practicing my stare-back. I want to see how long I can look at the kid before he is the one who becomes uncomfortable. I think it's best when the kid is under age 3. After about that age, they sometimes alert their parents to the strange lady behind them. This little game sometimes makes the service go faster. I now look for children to sit behind on Sunday mornings.
Do you ever notice how long actors sometimes go without blinking? I was watching a movie trailer the other day of Johnny Depp in The Libertine (2004) and he almost never blinks. I tried to keep my eyes open as long as he did each time before blinking. I couldn't do it. It's another power play with the eyes. They must practice this sort of stuff in acting school.
I am going to get my hair cut today. I was reading a copy of Ladies Home Journal yesterday at the gym. Jamie Lee Curtis was on the cover and I decided then and there that I wanted my hair cut like hers. If I get out of the chair today and actually look like Jamie Lee Curtis, my stylist will get an extra-large tip. If you see me on the street (or staring at your young child in church), please tell me how much I suddenly resemble Jamie Lee Curtis.

My Bright Angel

Look what my eldest bright angel did!

When Not in Focus, Filter!

Temperate dome, Mitchell Park Domes.

Succulents

Succulents at the Mitchell Park Domes this week, arid dome.

Wet Leaf

Also taken at the Mitchell Park Domes, tropical dome.

Hibiscus Bloom

This is the same flower, shown front and back, respectively. Taken at the Mitchell Park Domes, tropical dome, earlier this week.

Pillbug

I don't know if 'anonymous' actually knew what that thing was, or if they just put their mouse over the photo and saw my photo filename show up with the word 'pillbug' in it, but either way - it's a pillbug. Common as dirt and about as appealing. I never imagined that one properly lit would have so much color to it! It was being lit from the underside by the garage light, and then my camera added flash to the topside. I thought these things were just gray, boring gray. Anyway, I am constantly impressed by these seemingly dull organisms that belie a type of inner beauty when you take the time to really look closely at them.

Sunflowers at Night

Hubby and the kids planted these giant sunflowers at the beginning of summer. They now tower above our heads, bowing down with the weight of all those maturing seeds. The one nearest the path caught my attention tonight as it was lit up by the security light on the garage, so I took a few photos.

Guess What It Is!

This really amazed me, to see this thing up close and all the color in it! Can anyone guess? I will post the answer in a couple days.

Bugs in Our Yard Tonight

Here is a sample of some of the bugs I found in our yard last night. The middle photo was specifically taken to show how big our urban Wisconsin slugs generally are. That's my thumb for size reference. The last photo is of some common house-type fly, but he/she sure is pretty when you look up close like this.

Up From the Dead

While photographing sunflowers and bugs around the garage security light tonight, I glanced up to see this tight knot of yellowjackets just above our garage door. No one's been stung yet this year, but last year I was stung at least twice, quite painfully. It took a few doses of Wasp-B-Gone before we gave up and called an exterminator. $100 later and they were gone. Now they appear to be back in a new location this year. Since the nest is visible and not below ground like last year, we might be able to get rid of this one ourselves. I really dislike yellowjackets!

Stormy Skies

This sky was over our house on Wednesday, 8-22-07. The blotches are from rain either coming towards or having landed on the lens.

New Schnauzer Update

Pardon the interruption, but Buddy is too cute for words . . . so here are a couple photos instead:

Baby Fox Snake

Because my daughter and I had once run over one of these snakes on the Ahnapee State Trail while biking to Door County one summer, I knew just what it was when I found it near the side of a back road in Baileys Harbor last weekend. A baby fox snake! How cute is that? It shook its little tail like a rattlesnake wannabe when I first picked it up. I carried it back to Grandma's house so the kids could see it, photographed it a couple times (here in my oldest daughter's hands) and then let it go in a safe place in the woods out back. So neat - such a nice snake to have around. I hope it gets to grow to adulthood.

The Bourne Ultimatum

Hubby and I went out to dinner (Il Mito on North near the Rosebud - wonderful meal) and then took in The Bourne Ultimatum. Maybe we should have eaten dinner a few hours earlier, or even after the movie so that the contents of my stomach wouldn't have caused so much damage running up and down my esophagus during the action scenes - of which there were many. I actually dug through my handbag about a third of the way into the film and found a Zanax that I sometimes have on hand for just such occasions. I took it with my bottled water and I think this helped me through the rest of the story. Wow! An hour later and I still don't think my heartrate is back to normal.

My Family Thinks I'm Nuts, But This Takes the Cake

So my family thinks I love the dogs a bit too much. I buy a few too many schnauzer items: the t-shirts, the decal on the van, the magnets, the earrings. But folks, there are extremes you know nothing about, including, but not limited to this delightful dog yarmulke you can purchase from the Barker & Meowsky paw firm website for only $10.00 plus shipping. Their ad reads, "Appropriate for holidays for observing the Sabbath -- and Bark Mitzvahs, of course!" And be sure to check out the musical menorah toy for only $12.95.

Animal Parts

I think I take this cow photo every year at the Fair. The composition just appeals to me. Besides that, their backs remind me of our new schnauzer, who has similar, though smaller, bones protruding from his back end as he is still under weight. The other photo is the back of the head of a sheep. He has this puff of wool on the top of his head and down his nose so it looks like you're seeing his eyelids just under there, but you're not. They are farther down his snout.

Honey

Smithsonian magazine recently did an interview with an entomologist about the plight of the honey bee: "Honeybee populations in more than 20 states have mysteriously crashed. May Berenbaum, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, studies "colony collapse disorder" and its consequences." You can read more of the interview here: http://smithsonianmag.com/issues/2007/june/interview.php It's alarming, once you hear what's going on with the bees.

I thought this honey display was beautifully backlit. I hope we can somehow save the bee populations from whatever is causing their decline.

What Living in Wisconsin is All About

They may tell you it's the beer, but it isn't. This is why true Wisconsinites live here. It's the cheese, man. The cheese. This case is filled with thousands of dollars worth of the best, or at least the best of those who entered. I didn't see any Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Dodgeville, but then again, when you have won Best in the US two times, you probably don't even bother with small contests like this one. Did you know that all of the Limburger in the US is produced by one cheese place alone here in Wisconsin? We just so totally rock the US cheese world.

Quilt Display at WI State Fair 2007

These quilts were hanging up after being judged at our State Fair. It's amazing the amount of detail some of them have. These quilters must have a sizeable amount of OCD to do this stuff. My regards!