Word of the Day - # - Black Cat Photography — Kerry Ellis

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I've seen, and been inspired by, many "photo a day" projects, so I thought I'd try one myself, with my own little grammarian spin: create a photo using a Word of the Day gadget on my Google homepage for guidance and inspiration. And what better day than January 27, my thirtieth birthday, to begin such an undertaking? (Okay, maybe new year's day, but I was too lazy to bother then.) This project is also to help keep me thinking and creating images the way DGrin's Last Photographer Standing contest has challenged me to do--a challenge I've found really enjoyable and creatively stimulating. Wish me luck (and perseverance) in this endeavor!

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Kerry Ellis > June 29, 2008 (Day 155) Interpolate: to insert between; also, to alter or corrupt by insertion A little femme fatale flavor...Have to finish processing vacation photos this week. I was about to type why, then realized that may ruin a surprise. Apologies. I hate when people do stuff like that, so I try not to do it myself. Meh.There's a deadline, and I'm way behind.

Kerry Ellis > June 26, 2008 (Day 152) Cockaigne: an imaginary land of ease and luxury So...a couple things. Yes, this is another vacation pic. Once I saw today's word, I figured I could try to find an imaginary-seeming land in DC or go with something I already had that looked straight out of a storybook. Storybook photo won. This was our first sunset on the Isle of Mull.Second, I looked up the pronunciation of this word because I'd never heard it before. Dictionary.com's inaccurate phoenetical spelling was "ko keyn." Uh, cocaine? Really? It's actually more like "kah keyn," but I'd really thought this might have been a root term for the drug. Totally unrelated, it seems. Amusing nonetheless.

Kerry Ellis > June 25, 2008 (Day 151) Forlorn: sad and lonely because deserted, abandoned, or lost I actually had a nice idea for today's word, and then it was suddenly 11pm. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, so sleep wins out tonight.Another from vacation. This was our first stop on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. What photographer could resist such a sight, really?

Kerry Ellis > June 23, 2008 (Day 149) Capacious: able to contain much So much headspace, waiting to be filled with more words.On a somewhat related note, I was watching an interesting anime tonight that was similar to Fahrenheit 451, and it actually referenced Fahrenheit as The Book of Prophecy. Frightening and fascinating.I only recently read the book this year, and it really stuck with me. It also enlightened me on the meaning behind the name of my favorite independent bookstore in Austin: Book People. Makes me love that place even more.

Kerry Ellis > June 22, 2008 (Day 148) Malediction: a curse Back from the Poconos, so you get another oldie from my trip. I swear this project will at least force me to finish processing the rest of my collection from vacation...I assume this is a raven (I am not a birder by far). With my English lit. background, the association between this image and the word should become apparent. If not, a little light for the murkiness.

Kerry Ellis > June 20, 2008 (Day 146) Renascent: rising again into being; showing renewed vigor Argh! Have to cheat because I have less than 30 min. before I need to hit the road for my weekend in the Poconos and the all-important wine festival. So you get a sneak peek at one of my vacation pics!Tintern Abbey...eternally rising again through poetry.

Kerry Ellis > June 19, 2008 (Day 145) Defenestrate: to throw out of a window Oh, how I wish I could do this with all of UPS right now. Why?June 6Delivery not made due to incorrect address; I call to correct address and am told delivery will be made June 10.June 13Second delivery attempt...not made due to incorrect address; I call and correct address again.June 16Delivery made...and package left in raging thunderstorm without plastic bag for covering. Product ruined. Call to report ruined product; pick-up scheduled June 17.June 17Pick-up failed as driver claims package was not ready...though it has been sitting on my porch all day, including at the time driver supposedly swung by.June 18Call at 12:30pm just to make sure address has really been corrected and is not causing confusion; 6:16pm, pick-up failed due to incorrect address. I call and lose my cool, resulting in a third attempt to be made later that night; 10:45pm, pick-up failed as driver claims package was not ready...though I haven't moved it from my porch since TUESDAY MORNING.The package is still here. I really hate you, UPS. I really do.

Kerry Ellis > June 18, 2008 (Day 144) Cogent: appealing to the mind or to reason; convincing Yay! You finally get a picture in focus! Courtesy of a black fridge and white pastel.Not sure if I mentioned before I was a math minor in college, and this formula is one I will never forget. It is burned into my brain. Ah, sweet quadratic equation. I don't even remember what you're supposed to solve, but I remember you regardless. Thank you to the teacher who made us recite it ad nauseum in song, ensuring I would never forget that x equals the opposite of b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four a c, divided two a.That corner of eternally occupied brain space will never be filled with sweet memories of my time overseas or the laughter and love of my family. No, dear teacher, it will always be occupied with formulaic song. How ever may I thank you?

Kerry Ellis > June 6, 2008 (Day 132) Repletion: the condition of being completely or excessively full With soooo many photos (5,000+) to sort through and cull, then process, it's been very hard motivating myself to take new pictures that require more processing. My head is full. No more pictures!Of course I can't get away with that. :/ I haven't yet decided what to do about the days I skipped. I may simply move forward and complete 366 days, or I may backfill the missed days since the words are archived.The decision will likely be made after I finish, someday, processing the Scotland pictures. Meh.

Kerry Ellis > May 30, 2008 (Day 125) Grandee: a man of elevated rank or station; a nobleman Bluh-duh. Yes, I've been back, but it feels like I've been buried under work since returning. And the next photo represents why I was dragging my feet getting back into this project.No excuse, I know. Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things soon!

Kerry Ellis > May 7, 2008 (Day 102) Contrite: deeply affected with grief and regret for having done wrong; penitent I'd feel more contrite if the reason I missed today wasn't because I was busy packing for my vacation, which officially starts tomorrow!I'm off to the UK for two weeks. Have fun while I'm gone!

Kerry Ellis > May 6, 2008 (Day 101) Amalgam: an alloy of mercury with other metals; also, a mixture Cheating here. I was going to take more smoke shots tonight for the word and so I could break down the lighting set-up before my trip, but I was working up until two hours ago and need to go start packing. Not enough hours in the day to get everything done I need to for my trip. I leave Thursday!

Kerry Ellis > May 5, 2008 (Day 100) Fustian: pompous or pretentious language The word in the image is one I didn't even know until some time last year, and when I learned what it meant, I got a little angry. You see, folks in the newspaper biz are taught to write with the assumption their readers have a sixth-grade reading level. It's a general rule of thumb. So when this word popped up in two newspaper articles in two different papers within a few days of each other, I had to blink. I looked up the word, which means "everyday occurrence," essentially. Commonplace....Are you kidding? Stupid journalists. If it's an everyday occurrence, call it that! What the hell are you doing using a pompous, puffed-up word like "quotidian?"...It obviously still irks me. Nothing against the word personally, mind you.I futzed up the focus and blew the highlights on this, but I'm just too drained to care. Things are hectic. I have so much to wrap up in these next couple days. I almost didn't shoot today, but I really wanted to hit the 100-day milestone. Especially since I'll be on a two-week hiatus coming up.When I hit day 30, I began to doubt I'd make it to day 100, much less day 366. But there it is. 100 days. Man.

Kerry Ellis > May 4, 2008 (Day 99) Disparate: fundamentally different; also, composed of dissimilar elements I'm just out of ideas. Too distracted trying to make sure I have everything I need for Scotland. Departing in four days, and it still doesn't feel quite real. It never does until I land.

Kerry Ellis > May 3, 2008 (Day 98) Sub rosa: secretly; privately; confidentially Returning a bit to where I began with this project, something a little darker and deeper. I'm including below the roots of the word from Dictionary.com that swayed my mind to something a bit more visually sordid and salacious:"Sub rosa comes from the Latin, literally 'under the rose,' from the ancient association of the rose with confidentiality, the origin of which traces to a famous story in which Cupid gave Harpocrates, the god of silence, a rose to bribe him not to betray the confidence of Venus. Hence the ceilings of Roman banquet-rooms were decorated with roses to remind guests that what was spoken sub vino (under the influence of wine) was also sub rosa."I confess I immediately thought of that scene in American Beauty and saw it in a whole other light. I find the above absolutely fascinating. It makes me think of plots and intrigues, and I wanted to use the word as the title of a novel somehow.I will likely never shoot something like this again because it made such a mess. That's corn syrup with food coloring. Sticky and a pain to clean off, both skin and floors.

June 29, 2008 (Day 155)

Interpolate: to insert between; also, to alter or corrupt by insertion

A little femme fatale flavor...

Have to finish processing vacation photos this week. I was about to type why, then realized that may ruin a surprise. Apologies. I hate when people do stuff like that, so I try not to do it myself. Meh.

There's a deadline, and I'm way behind.