Author Archives: Chronicles of a Blogaholic

In My Life

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“Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more”
John Lennon
John Lennon

There’s a Beatles song that was written by John Lennon that is one of my all time favorite Beatle songs. The song is In My Life and was released in 1965 on the Rubber Soul album.

John Lennon wrote the original song but Paul McCartney contributed to the final version. Later the pair disagreed over the extent of their contributions (specifically the melody). George Martin, who produced the recording, contributed the instrumental bridge. It is ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone‘s “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” as well as fifth on their list of the Beatles’ 100 Greatest Songs.

According to Lennon, the song’s origins can be traced to when the English journalist Kenneth Allsop made a remark that Lennon should write songs about his childhood. Afterwards, Lennon wrote a song in the form of a long poem reminiscing on his childhood years. The original version of the lyrics was based on a bus route he used to take in Liverpool, naming various sites seen along the way, including Penny Lane and Strawberry Field.

In a 1980 interview, Lennon referred to this song as his “first real major piece of work” because it was the first time he penned personal lyrics about his own life.

Here’s a YouTube video with Bette Midler performing the song accompanied by ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro.

Shine On

 

Lovely Geraniums

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“Never trust a man or a woman who is not
passionately devoted to geraniums.”
John Beverley Nichols

My Lovely Geraniums.jpg

One of the small flowering plants that I have on my patio garden is the geranium. This fragrant hardy plant can grow in almost any climate and is thriving on my patio.

These lush growing plants look good in a bed all by themselves, or mixed in with other annuals. They also make attractive edging plants for the flower garden.

I’ve been growing geraniums for years. To keep them healthy, just water generously and dead head the plant often. Plus, they are the easiest plants to propagate.  Just clip a healthy stem and place it directly in the dirt. It’s just that easy to have beautiful lovely geraniums.

Shine On

Animated Photography

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“There is only you and your camera.
The limitations in your photography are in yourself,
for what we see is what we are.”
Ernst Haas

Animated Photography

I recently came across a very cool animated short film titled, The Old New World. A Moscow-based photographer and animator, Alexey Zakharov created this film by combining photographs from the past with technology from today.

To create the four-minute film, Zakharov took photos of New York, Boston, Washington, Detroit, Washington D.C. and Baltimore captured between 1900 and 1940 and animated them into a wonderful film.

There’s no information on how exactly the process was done, but judging from his past projects, it looks as though he used the images as references for 3D models, then overlaid the images as textures to effectively create an entire 3D world from still images. However it was done, the result is absolutely incredible, as you can see from this animated photography.

Shine On

Eaglet Update

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“Every bird of prey looks over its shoulder
before it goes in for the kill, even a hawk.
Even they know to watch their backs,
every single one but an eagle. It’s fearless.”
Michelle Horst

Eaglet Update.png

The eaglets at the Hays and DC nests are getting big. They are just three weeks old and doing well. I took this screen shot of the Washington D.C. family with the mother eagle feeding the eaglets. Just thought I’d give you guys an eaglet update.

Shine On

Saturday Sail

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“If we are strong, and have faith in life
and its richness of surprises, and hold
the rudder steadily in our hands.
I am sure we will sail into quiet and
pleasant waters for our old age.”
Freya Stark

Saturday Sail

It’s always a great day when I can spend time with my son. Especially spending time together outside doing something we both enjoy.

For the past year, my son has been taking sailing lessons. He started out with a small ten foot sail boat and just finished with the second phase sailing a fourteen foot boat. Today we went out to the marina and took out one of the fourteen foot boats that he has been learning on.

It was so relaxing out on the water. Just a beautiful day for sailing. The water was smooth and the wind was perfect. Not to mention the sun was shining and the temperature was in the mid 70s. A picture perfect day for a Saturday sail.

Shine On