In Plain Sight

“You’ve got to see Marilyn. She’s huge!” my friend said. What???

I had just arrived in Palm Springs for a visit with my best friend. She’s like the sister I never had. As we rounded the corner, there she was … a 26 ft. statue of Marilyn. In the pose that made her famous in so many ways. I was blown away.

My friend indulged my picture taking frenzy, which allowed me to shoot Marilyn from every angle I could.

“Wow! Whoever the artist is did an amazing job with her likeness.” I’ve always been a fan of Marilyn. There was just something about her.

I’ve looked at this image many times during my blogging years but today is the first time I noticed the shadow on the wall. The lighting on her was perfect. And the shadow was in plain sight all the time. I just never noticed it until today. Hmmm … maybe I’m learning to be more observant. Hope so.

Check it out … that shadow … what does it look like to you?

Be good to yourself and each other. Namaste’

Wordless Wednesday

Staying Balanced

I just got back from the most wonderful trip to see my grandson graduate from high school. We are all so proud of the fine young man that he is. And even though he’s now out of school, has a job, and is over six feet tall, he’s still my “Blakester.” And he still calls me Grammy. 🙂

On another note, I learned that a very dear friend of mine has breast cancer and I am heartbroken.  We met when I lost my brother and I joined a grief support group sponsored by the hospice he was in. She and four others in the group had lost their spouses, so the six of us shared a common bond of grief and loss. That was almost five years ago and we have stayed fast friends ever since. We all helped each other learn new coping skills through our willingness to open up about our pain.

This news hit me rather hard. I don’t want to lose my dear friend and confidante. We can talk about anything and she is the kind of person that tells it like it is, yet she tempers it with love and respect.

It’s hard sometimes to stay balanced between the highs and lows of this duality we call life. I will try my best to focus on the positive of this experience and show my friend that she is not alone in this part of her journey. She’s a scrapper so I’m visualizing her being healthy again and beating the hell out of the big “C.”

Today’s image is one that I did for the #pixlr contest called Fan Art. The pink Cadillac image is part of a mural that I found in a little diner in Creswell, OR. And of course, who doesn’t know Marilyn Monroe?

Namaste’

Fun with Marilyn Monroe

I posted this image on Facebook a couple of days ago and thought it would be fun to post it here, too. I was “sleepless in Sisters” the other night and decided to play with a couple of images. So I used Pixlr to produce a double exposure of Marilyn that I took in Palm Springs some time ago. The orchid image is one I shot with my camera phone a few years back at an orchid show in Arizona. The resolution isn’t very good because of my old phone but it was fun doing it.  Then I went to sleep 🙂 Namaste’

Regina (Reggie) is a “flunked retirement” entrepreneur, co-author of the Art & Science of Recruiting, an award-winning photographic artist, and photo blogger.

Letters to Marilyn

Have you ever started a journal or diary only to keep up with it for a while and then, slowly but surely, your entries dwindled down to nothing?  We start out with good intentions, trying to capture our lives on a blank sheet of paper.  And then the internal critic and/or editor takes over … ahhh, yes, that part of the mind that says “who cares what you have to say.”  “Really?  You’re writing down what you had for dinner?”

Or your English teacher from high school somehow creeps back into your head and you find yourself hearing that voice about verbs, nouns, adjectives and prepositions.  Or worse yet … handwriting.  I can hear mine now, “Watch your penmanship!”  OMG!

Well … (drum roll please) … I’ve found the solution to all those self-sabotaged attempts to put my life on paper.

LETTERS TO MARILYN. (photo below)

Someone once suggested that I write to someone, anyone, living or dead, fictional or non-fictional character – in my journal – so that my inner critic has to take a hike.  So I’ve chosen to write to Marilyn.  I love Marilyn, and since she’s already gone to that big Hollywood in the sky, she can’t say anything, can she?  And if she could, I think she would be honored that I chose to write to her.  But the sole purpose of me writing to Marilyn is for me to get my thoughts onto the page.   I could write to Batman, Robin, the Joker, Buddha, Lincoln, Mother Teresa, the pope … anybody!  So can you.

To my English teacher and my inner critics I say:  A done “something” is better than a perfect “nothing.”  I have the feeling that my kids and grandkids might find a few chuckles in these pages after I’m gone.  They’ll also find out things about me that I probably didn’t think to tell them while I’m still putting one foot in front of the other here on this planet.

So here’s to you and me, Marilyn … may you hear from me for a long, long time.  Namaste’

Uh-Oh, She’s Back

My trip to CA was simply great. We managed to pull off a surprise birthday party for our dear friend, Linda.  And I got to visit with my daughter and grandkids.  Spent some time in Palm Springs with more dear friends.  That’s where I met up with Marilyn again (see below).  This time I got her picture in daylight and had some fun with a couple of special effects.

It feels like I’ve been gone a long time.  So it’s nice to be back and I’m trying to get back into the swing of things.  More updates later.  I hope all of you, my faithful readers, are doing very well.  Namaste’

 

 

Forever Marilyn

I found this to be one of the most amazing things that I saw on my trip.  A 26-foot statue of Marilyn Monroe.  As you can see by the people at her legs, she’s pretty tall. She was sculpted by J. Seward Johnson and has been in Chicago until May of this year when it was loaned to Palm Springs, CA.  Apparently she is dismantled in pieces in order to be trucked to new locations.  Take a look at the shadow on the right of the first picture.  It’s her skirt, but looks a lot like a polar bear to me.  Things that make you go hmmmm …  Namaste’