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Word of the Day

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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    Mar. 23, 2008 (Day 57) Anathema: a curse; a person or thing cursed, or intensely disliked I feel a little bad doing this on today of all days, but I don't control the WotD. I am at its mercy. So I am giving you the "evil eye." Ooooooooh...Funnily enough, I spent a painstaking amount of time on the full color version of this image, trying out skin processing techniques, sharpening, saturation, and all that good stuff. All that work just to convert to black and white and cover most of it with a white mask. :D But I really like this result. Reminds me of the Audrey Hepburn image Fred Astaire develops in his darkroom in Funny Face. This will be the closest I ever get to looking like my silver-screen idol!Immediately after typing the above, I grew curious what this would look like truly emulating that Hepburn image, so I reprocessed it and adjusted the mask. Alternate version here. Fun in its own right. :)
    Mar. 22, 2008 (Day 56) Remunerate: to pay an equivalent to for any service, loss, or expense A few years ago, I went with a friend to help him adopt a cat from a shelter. He picked up a little black kitten who grew up to be the most docile cat when it came to being picked up and held for long periods of time. My friend could pick up the cat and cradle him like a baby, tucked in the crook of his arm without hugging or holding him there, and the cat would stay for at least 20 minutes without moving. He always said his cat knew he was "paying his rent" with the cuddles, so the cat never protested or resisted.Sketch pays his rent by making me laugh on a daily basis. Today I came back from my walk and took a load of laundry out of the dryer so I could throw the load from the washer in when it finished. I tossed the laundry on the bed for folding later and got ready to take a shower. When I poked my head back into my room to grab a clean shirt, I noticed something slightly out of place in my pile of "lights." (Left) I only managed to grab that one shot of his head poking through before he burrowed in and then out the back side, where he settled in to sleep the rest of the day. Since none of my outfits are complete without cat hair, I figure he wanted to get a jump-start on helping me accessorize. :)I feel a little guilty featuring Sketch so much--like I'm playing favorites. It's just he's so much easier to approach with the camera than Britta is, but I made it a point to capture a portrait of her today like I did for Sketch yesterday because she is truly such a beautiful cat.
    Mar. 21, 2008 (Day 55) Myriad: consisting of a very great but indefinite number; also, a very great many When I first read this word, I immediately thought "macro," then decided the thread count in my carpet would fit the definition but would not be interesting enough. Then I began to wonder just how many hairs my cats actually have. I mean, they shed like crazy but never seem to get less fuzzy (yay! great for cuddling!). So I shot this for a quick grab and decided I'd replace it with something better later in the day. But this image took on greater significance for me as the day wore on.I was watching a show this evening that involved the death of a pet, and it made me bawl like a little girl. I'm a sucker for little heart-rending scenarios like that. And this was just in a cartoon. But there was a moment so touching in it...A mother is comforting her daughter, whose pet has just died. The mother tells how she had a pet die after a year when she was a little girl, and she was so upset, she never had a pet again. She couldn't understand why pets lived so much shorter lives than we did--didn't they realize how much we loved them and how sad it made us when they left? But, the mother says, as she thought more, she wondered if it wasn't the other way around: that the pets couldn't stand to have us leave them, so they left first. And since we were bigger, we had a larger capacity for pain and sadness, so it was our role to bear it.I spent a lot of time after that burying my face into Sketch's fur and listening to him purr as I cried. I want him to know he's loved, and I want him to have the best time while he's with me. Whenever he goes, I will only pray that he was happy. That I made him happy and gave him a good home and lots of love. I still wish that every so often for Smokey, my very first pet, who passed away three years ago. And I hope it for Britta, who was a stray in my neighborhood in Texas. I hope she never regrets that I took her in.I hope I was/am a good owner. And I will bear the sadness so you don't have to. I love you that much.