Friday, June 29, 2007

For Your Visual Pleasure

I'm bleeding (that's not the visual pleasure part) and one can neither paint nor mat paintings when bleeding. It's no big deal, really, just the glass equivalent of a paper cut, but it's on my right thumb, and while I can type while bleeding and holding a paper towel to my right thumb (talent, yes, I know), I can do little else.

So I've assembled a short photographic jaunt for you to enjoy. Have a lovely weekend, all; I'll be back next week with some exciting art news.

(Please note, some of these photos were shot with a digital camera, others with a 35mm Pentax K1000 that had an embarrassingly dusty lens, and I haven't got the time to clean them up in Photoshop, so forgive me.)

Winslow AZ

If you're driving through Winslow, Arizona, isn't it a requirement to get out and stand on a corner, even if you're not looking for any girls in flatbed Fords? For that matter, I didn't see any Fords in Winslow. Only Chevys. Odd, that.

Rancho San Rafael

Rancho San Rafel, a beautiful park in Reno, Nevada. If you ever visit, stop at the Wilbur D. May Museum. They have a shrunken head. Wilbur D. May was one of those pith-helmet-wearing safari-hunting explorers, and in the museum created from his possessions, yes, you read correctly, there is a shrunken head. Worth seeing.

Nevada Desert

This is the landscape of my childhood (well, from 9 to 18). I like cities, some of them quite a bit, but I carry this wide open space with me. Unfortunately, it's getting ever more crowded, but such is the way of the world.

Nevada Sunset

These are the sunsets I grew up with. I think I took this picture way back then, too.

Graeagle

This is near Graeagle, California, which I had to look up to make sure I was spelling it correctly. Of all the photographs I have ever taken, this is my favorite. It's on some things in my CafePress shop, so if you like it, check out the shop.

Castle in Salzburg

This is for you, Catharina! I went on a trip to Salzburg, Austria, with my class while I was an exchange student in Germany. This photo stands out for me, because I still remember, 16 years later, that at the exact second I pushed the shutter, bells started ringing all around me. Beatiful, melodious bells.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, the bells! They are one of my absolute favorite things about Salzburg, because when they ring, it seems like you can hear all the bells of the entire city at once. I am trying to figure out where your picture was taken, maybe Hellbrunn?
I also love the other pictures, especially the third one. I love such wide-open spaces, where was it taken?

Anonymous said...

Such beautiful landscapes!
I grew up with whide open spaces and big skies, so I feel very much a pulling in my heart when I see the kind of pictures you are showing here.
The last picture could be Hotel Schloß Mönchstein, on one of the hills in the center. Stefan Zweig used to have a villa there, where the great Austrian writers of the Thirties liked to congregate.
What I remember best from my childhood walks through Salzburg with grandfather, is the point where the Mönchsberg walkway descends into Old Town, near the Fastival Hall. One can hear the music from the concert hall up there.

Anonymous said...

Ouch, bleeding sucks. But then again someone once told me that never trust anything/anyone who bleeds for 3 days and doesn’t die… referring to all da ladies – I just smacked him on the backside of his head… I got away simply blaming it on PMS ;).

Wonderful pics Al! I just love the colourful skypics *sigh*

Anonymous said...

Thank you, all!

Catharina, I grew up (partly) outside Reno, Nevada. I took that daylight photo on my last visit; I am pretty it was near my mom's house. The desert between her house and the mountains is about to be developed. I am sad about that.

Merisi, where did you grow up?

As for the Salzburg picture, I don't remember. But I know it was on a hill, and for some reason, I think a very significant woman had lived there -- a queen or princess or something. And I don't know where the rest of the pictures I took on that trip are... around here somewhere, that's all I could say. That's the only one I scanned into the computer.

Crashie, I think smacking him upside the head was entirely appropriate. Some people would say bleeding without dying is a sign of enormous strength and/or power... maybe he's just jealous.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pics! I just cant wait to head west!

Anonymous said...

Glorious landscapes! the second to the last one is amazing, I could smell the pine.

Anonymous said...

Well you know surgeons like to say, "all bleeding stops eventually."
Love
mom