September 5, 2019 at 12:35 am (destinations, Family, Filipino Writers, Flowers, Links, Relatives, Traveling, Weather)
Tags: Manila, seasons, The Philippines, transitions
To self, FALL means changing weather and fading summer flowers.
It is rainy season in Manila, which means grey skies:
Self loves the light:
As the weather turns, the hydrangeas on self’s front porch are starting to fade:
Hydrangeas on Front Porch, September 2019
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
August 27, 2019 at 6:20 pm (Artists and Writers, Flowers, Links)
Tags: Garden, inspiration, poetry, summer, The New Yorker
Self loves C. L. Odell’s poem in the 24 June 2019 New Yorker.
Geraniums, Front Porch, August 2019
PEONY
An excerpt
So let me have this now
before the blossoms
take my absence
from the yard
and I am again only one-sided,
a living thing responsible
to live, finding myself in tall grass,
whispering back.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
August 19, 2019 at 6:55 am (Eavesdropping, Family, Flowers, Insomnia, Links, Philippine History)
Tags: Garden, photorphy, Sundays
The theme for the week is YELLOW.
Self was cleaning out son’s room when she came upon a box of legos. Was fascinated by the little people and their yellow heads.
The box contains all of son’s Matchbox car collection. There’s a yellow car at the very top.
My Life of the Party Rose has two colors of blooms: pink and yellow
Stay tuned, dear blog reader. Stay tuned.
August 18, 2019 at 1:17 am (Flowers, Links)
Tags: California, Fridays, Garden, happiness, memories, photography, Redwood City, summer
Self LOVES still life. Taking pictures of things are a lot of fun.
So happy to join the Photo A Week Challenge this week.
Still Life with Reading Material: Home in Redwood City, August 2019 (Self brought that shell all the way from the Philippines)
More Redwood City: Dining Room, July 2019
And Still More Redwood City: Front Porch, July 2019
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
August 3, 2019 at 10:31 pm (Books, destinations, Flowers, Links, Movies, Places, plans, Recommended, Weather)
Tags: California, Garden, inspiration, psychology, Redwood City, Saturday, summer, summer movies
Self’s current book, Mihaly Czsikszentmihalyi’s FLOW: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF OPTIMAL EXPERIENCE is a very, very interesting book.
Her son and daughter-in-law were Psychology majors at Claremont, the school where the author taught. In fact, she read about him in the Claremont Graduate University alumni magazine, The Flame.
She is trying to practice Flow thinking (see graph below). She is trying to achieve “complexity” in her consciousness. This will be her project for the rest of the summer.
She thinks this goal is very much tied in with the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: TAKING A BREAK.
Today, she walked downtown, which she hadn’t done in two weeks. Courthouse Square was empty. Nevertheless, the trip was not in vain, for she saw a movie: Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Is this a ‘Flow’ experience? Self thinks it is. Watching movies is one of self’s most enjoyable activities.
Mid-Afternoon, Courthouse Square, Redwood City, CA
And, she spends A LOT of time in her garden, where her efforts are repaid with gorgeous blooms like this one, on her Sheila’s Perfume rose:
Sheila’s Perfume, last week of July 2019
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
July 22, 2019 at 2:26 am (Artists and Writers, destinations, Family, Filipino Writers, Flowers, Links, Places, Women Writers, Writing)
Tags: fairy tales, flash fiction, Hotel Amerika, inspiration, Literary Magazines, Manila, Mendocino, The Philippines
Thanks once again to viveka for inspiring self to try posting to the current Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: DREAMY.
Self is a short story writer (though some of her stories are over 50 pages!).
She brought it to the States with her, when she left for grad school. And here it is now, in self’s home in Redwood City, California.
It was the perfect gift — one that nurtured her imagination and encouraged her to dream.
Hotel Amerika, Vol. 8 No. 2 (Spring 2010)
Mendocino Headlands: April 21, 2018
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
July 14, 2019 at 5:37 am (Flowers, Links)
Tags: flower photography, Garden, happiness, Redwood City, Saturday, seasons, summer
Self was inspired by viveka‘s fabulous post on this challenge on her blog, my guilty pleasures.
The prompt is from Nancy Merrill.
Hydrangeas on Self’s Front Porch
U.S. First Class Stamp
Razzleberri Fringe Flower, Backyard, March 2019
July 10, 2019 at 4:37 pm (Flowers, Links)
Tags: California, Cee Neuner, flower photography, Garden, happiness, seasons, summer
It’s always a good day when self can participate in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge. This week, it’s 5+ Items:
Simply make sure there are at least 5 items in your photo.
Without further ado:
Backyard, Yesterday Evening Around 8 p.m.
Front Porch: Self has about six potted hydrangeas.
One More from the Front Porch
Love summer. Love flowers.
Stay tuned.
July 9, 2019 at 10:37 pm (Artists and Writers, Books, Flowers, Personal Bookshelf, Recommended, Women Writers)
Tags: poetry, summer
You’ve wasted another evening
sitting with imaginary friends,
discussing the simplest possible
arrangement of an iris.
— excerpt from “Replica”
March 6, 2019 at 5:25 pm (destinations, Flowers, Food and Drink, Links, Places, Recommended)
Tags: Cee Neuner, Garden, indulgence, Redwood City, restaurants
For this week’s Fun Foto Challenge, PATTERNS, self is posting pictures from Lovejoy’s, an English-style tearoom tucked away in downtown Redwood City, CA, only a block from the library; and a picture of a plant with bright orange flowers that just began sprouting in her backyard. This winter saw heavy rain, hopefully in a month or so there will be tons of flowers blooming.
Tea at Lovejoy’s, downtown Redwood City, 1 March 2019
Adorable Porcelain Cup and Saucer, Perfect for Tea!
About to Bloom: 28 February 2019
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
 | anthropologist on Lens-Artists Photo Challenge:… |
 | JohnRH on Lens-Artists Photo Challenge:… |
| anthropologist on Lens-Artists Photo Challenge:… |
 | Amy on Lens-Artists Photo Challenge:… |
Adventures in life from the Sunshine State to the Golden Gate
capturing memories one moment at a time
Preserving the history and legacy of Salinas Chinatown
The Blog about everything and nothing and it's all done in the best possible taste!
Never get lost in the Sauce
Be One... Make One...
Teaching the art of composition for photography.
Fueling fearlessness through style and inspiration.
My writing and photo journey of inspiration and discovery
Decades of her words.
Observations about my life and the world around me.
Yousuf Bawany's Blog
Any old world uncovered by new writing
the literary asylum
A site for small presses, writers, poets & readers
A journey from one end of the bookshelf to the other
A crazy quilt of poems, stories, and humor
Hello Darlings!
