Only In Tennessee

Only In Tennessee
Originally uploaded by anonymouse-

Stories

 

Storytelling Jonesborough style
Check those ticket prices
This used to be FREE

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Y'all!

Bliss

 Some kinda yeller flaire

Yesterday was our 46th wedding anniversary; just another day.
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There just ain't much happening in this corner of whatever. Carolyn goes to hairdresser; I sit on porch and watch the neighbor ladies walk their dogs; a few "house-husbands" walk their charges, too. Seems like the fatter the guy, the smaller his pooch and the prettier the lady, the uglier her dog. Of course it could be just my bored imagination. One of the guys has gotten so blimpy that instead of waddling around the streets, he just turns his dog loose for a few hours and then will come hunting him in his huge Escalade SUV. Most of these people think it is ok for their pets to shit in my yard, but it ain't. I suppose you can figure why my neighbors do not like me; the men next door are the only ones I get along with; they keep their cat and dog in the house.
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Got a little time on your hands? Here is a video tutorial for a way to relieve some boredom.
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Enough bitching for Wednesday; have a good one!
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Tellin' tales

 Jonesborough
The Mail Pouch sign is maintained by the town
to look authentically old

Not much happening ... 8:00am and the sky is cloudy; a bit cooler temp is predicted for today. We badly need rain. South Asia is just getting started with monsoon season, and we are iffy on any amount of rain; strange world. Wonderful, too.
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I've decided I am going to spend more time shooting in Jonesborough; the town is very old (by American standards) and has a lot to shoot at. It is a National Historic site and has to keep a certain amount of old architecture in place. The town is home to the National Storytelling Festival which is held in early October each year. If you like tall tales and some true tales about life across America and around the world, this is the place to be. Superb photo ops if you are able to walk a bit. There are the ubiquitous street vendors selling everything from local foods to exotic cuisine, artists and craftsmen selling their works, and the ever popular Elvis memorabilia. The storys are the main draw though; the town has large tents erected everywhere there is
a flat place (not many of those in E. Tenn.), and all are usually well attended as people listen to tales of life in far away places such as Russia, most European nations, Australia, Africa, South America, and one of the favorites is a woman from India. Not all these people are in town each year, but there is always a good world representation. My favorite was an old gentleman from the high ridges of North Carolina, a hillbilly if you will. He was an impromptu local favorite around where he lived, and was convinced by friends to come over the hill to Jonesborough and tell his tales. He didn't drive, so he had to be brought over by friends or family. He was an instant hit; his honesty (although many of his stories were not so true), hand gestures, delivery, hill dialect, and humor soon won him fans from around the world. I heard that he died a few years back, but I sure will not forget him.
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May your tampion keep your powder dry on this last Tuesday of June.
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Y'all!
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Sunday prayers

 This is the store where Davy Crockett paused for a Coke

and bought supplies for his trek to die at the Alamo in Tejas.

Would I lie?

I was pretty sickly from Thursday night through yesterday morning; much fluid in my lovely body. That is most likely the reason I didn't show much weight loss at doc's office on Friday. I was in sort of a paradox; I was eating fluid pills as directed and they were removing fluid to the point I was dehydrated yet I was still smothering and my ankles and feet were swollen. I was drinking plenty of water and eating naners to keep my potassium from being pissed away. To top it all, the pills exaggerated my eye problem by drying up what few tears I can make. By noon yesterday, I was back to almost normal except for lingering allergies. Ain't it fun when old folks tell you all about their health?!
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Took Carolyn to Fall Branch late in the afternoon and I stopped in downtown Jonesborough to shoot a lineup of chairs. Sunday afternoons is the best time to shoot in the old town because there are fewer tourists than on weekdays. We then hit a few back roads on the way over where I had previously spotted an old school building and I went back to it and made some unsatisfactory shots; being crippled sucks. After leaving the spot, I turned onto a road we had never traveled and after about a mile of nothing of interest, I spotted an old log cabin perched on rock foundation and near the road; I mentally marked it for a return visit as it was beginning to sprinkle rain. Just as we passed it, Carolyn said "there's a Coke sign on it". I said "an old sign?" and she said it was rusty. That was enough for me so I turned the Escape, went back and parked in a driveway across the road and made a few shots of the enigmatic building. Now I have to try and find some info on it. Black and white version on Megashot.
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Nohow; have a wacky worsh day!
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The way to see by Faith is to shut the Eye of Reason

Be back as soon as I can see the light!

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Have a soothing Sunday!

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Title quote: Benjamin Franklin

"Mama always told me not to look into the eye's of the sun ..."

My autumn world

Two weeks of eating like a rabbit and drinking like a sober monk and I lost one lousy pound of weight and if I hadn't of taken a crap before I left home to visit the doc, I would probably have broken even! So much for the diet craze; me and my belly will go about our business as usual. What if my gut gets so big my inny navel becomes an outie? What if my belly sags so low it rubs off my bush? What if I have to hold a mirror between my knees just to see my goodies? Big ratty-assed deal; I'm getting some ice cream ... a lot of ice cream! Phooey!
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Doc and I agreed my RA was stable and I didn't even have to impress her by removing my clothes and revealing my physique.
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My eye allergy is raising hell again; any bright light is painful to me so I put my "BLIND" placard on my car windshield and drove to the doc's as best I could. Pedestrians tend to move aside when they see the warning.
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I'm writing this on Friday evening in case I can't see well enough on Saturday to write my regular episode of this ongoing soap-opera drama reality-based series. Somewhere in the world it is already Saturday so what the hell difference does it make when I write it?!
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Carolyn's first mater, the one with the erection, rotted on the vine. I wanted so much to eat that mater's pecker ...
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Title lyric by Manfred Mann's Earth Band.
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Y'all have a Splendiferous Day ,,, whichever one it is!
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Just Friday

Sculpted by Peter Wolf Toth
Junaluska 

The flower contest on Megashot is winding down; the quantity and quality of entered photos is decreasing but there have been a lot of very good works presented. The Nature contest will begin July 1st but I don't think it will be quite as popular as the flowers have been. As of this morning, there were 725 members of the site, a large part of them are there due to the contests.
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Got to get ready to visit doc; have a great Friday!
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Y'all!
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It must be art

 Carolyn's first pepper of the year

Just as I was cutting down Flickr yesterday, they must have partially come to their senses. They changed the way photos are viewed by allowing them to be seen automatically on black background in the normal view. Other enhancements and improvements were also implemented but the glaring white starting page is still present. This good stuff is all due to the presence of and threat from Megashot, but they still are not allowing links to Megashot photos.
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Megashot was offline for sometime last evening; this is the second time it has happened. Cyrus is probably beside himself because it is something that is never supposed to occur and he is paying extra $$ for the newest cloud servers to insure that it doesn't. Tek-no-lo-gy!
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When I was in college photo school, each person in the small class had to take three of their best photos and make them presentable for display in the art department gallery. During the time our work was being shown, a group of 11th grade students were touring the campus. The little art gallery is open for all to visit, and some of the kids were looking at our photos. Most of our mats were the regular landscapes, street scenes and night shots. One girl displayed a nude photo of her boyfriend and upon seeing it, I heard one of the juniors say to another "It must be art; it's black and white". I had pretty well forgotten the incident until yesterday when I put a b/w photo of Carolyn's "unusual" mater on Flickr where it was getting views but no comments, which did not surprise me. That is when the recollection of that long-ago remark hit me and I used it as a title for the photo and in no time at all it got a couple of comments about the b/w work but nothing about the oddity of the subject. Incidents like that are what causes me to say that I am not totally convinced that people accept photography as an art form, and truly, nothing is art unless the viewer sees it as art.
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I may not post here tomorrow as I have an appointment with the RA doctor for a quarterly checkup. I end up getting naked for her and then all we do is talk medical politics. I will get weighed, however, and I can find out if I have lost some pounds.
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Have a good Thursday—and just in case—a fabulous Friday, too!
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Y'all!
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Pissed at Flickr

The Super-Man knee-jerk administrators over at Yahoo/Flickr have seen fit to block all links to Megashot.net on Flickr. They are now deleting all Flickr emails that have the link in it and putting out a You are a BAD boy warning when I try to link from my paid-for Flickr account. They haven't blocked any other photo sharing sites as far as I know, so that fact alone makes Megashot a threat to the best source of income that Yahoo has ... Flickr "Pro" members. Their actions legitimizes Megashot as they belittle themselves. Megashot certainly does not block Flickr members from linking to Flickr photos, nor does it encourage such actions on the part of any member. Megashot is open to ideas; not misguided ideals. Beginning today, my affiliation with Yahoo/Flickr  is on the road to perdition. I have already changed my homepage from Yahoo.com where it has been for at least eight years to Google.com. I will continue on Flickr for a time until I become sick of looking at the blaring white background, or until I am sick of the censorship on something I am paying for, or until they kick me off for being an asshole.
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Carolyn's tomatoes are not doing well; she did not and has not fertilized them since they were bought, and container grown plants that are requiring as much water as do they need additional nutrients. She has to water them twice each day so there can be very little for them to eat. The fruit is small, and even the blossoms are becoming tiny. Also, she didn't sucker her plants after the initial suckering that I did, and the extra limbs and leaves are putting too much stress on the root system. I suspect this will be the last year for her tomato crop. Too bad; last year's did very well and provided us with plenty of fruit until mid-September.
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Enough bitching for one day ...
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Have a good Wednesday!
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Y'all!
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Godly douches

 Watching the movie watcher

The godly douches from Westboro Baptist Church chose not to show up to protest the funeral service for Airman White; there were several Veteran and motorcycle groups waiting to welcome them. It is possible they will be here for the graveside service today, but it is on V.A. grounds and they will not tolerate such activity.
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Extremely hot yesterday and even hotter in store for today. A heavy storm came through last evening with high wind and lots of rain, but the humidity it leaves for today will make things worse. I have to go out at the hottest part of today and pick up my maybe future son-in-law from work.
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Our granddaughter Ashley is wanting to to be a professional model; she certainly has the looks for such work, but at 23, she is getting to the age when most models begin having a difficult time finding good work; in modeling, looks and youth are everything. I am not a portrait photographer nor do I want to be, but I am going to try some shots with her; she is pretty enough so that people may not notice my poor skills.
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In the above photo, doesn't the guy's reflection remind you of "Shaggy" in the Scooby-Doo tv cartoon series?
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Have a tickling Tuesday!
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Airman Daniel Keegan Anderson

If you have a hankering to know what I looked like 45 years ago, this is pretty well me.

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Blue Summer Monday

Blue Circle Drive-In

Bristol, Tennessee 

Happy Birthday, JB. As for nearly everything this year, I am a day late.
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Didn't do much Sunday but hang loose around the house. Jerry was over yesterday morning and Chris, Ashley, and their tag-alongs were over in late afternoon. Carolyn fixed me a nice Father's Day supper, no one got into a fight or argument which is rare for my kin, and it was a good day.
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Today is the day I dread to see arrive; I am like this each year at summer solstice. For the next six months the daylight will become shorter and shorter as we slide downhill toward that hateful, long winter. Nothing to do but make the best of it. In many pagan traditions and religions, the longest day of the year is known as Midsummer and is a feast celebrating summer and the peak of the sun god's power. It also represents the major battle of the year between the Sun God of Light and the Sun God of Dark.

Mark is correct in his blog; "Celebrate Mother Earth and show her some love."
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May your woolsey colors not fade on this summer worsh day!

Saturday

 Mimosa

Saturday was pretty decent for a change; even though I was half-blinded by allergies, I suggested we go to Wilbur on a picnic. Carolyn was out the door before I could grab my hat; we were both becoming stir crazy. I stopped for gasoline and across the street I saw a a blooming mimosa tree that had an interesting shape and blossom pattern so I went over an took a couple of shots at it. After stopping at the store for bologna and sandwich fixin's, we journeyed on to one of our favorite picnic spots along side the Watauga River in Wilbur. I expected the area to be packed with people, but there were only a couple coming off the water with their kayaks; no one bothered us for the two of hours we were there. If geese count as people, we had plenty of mooching company. They are "wild" Canada geese, but they have become quite tame and a big part of the population stays on the river year-round. Some will take food from the hand. We wound up feeding most of our picnic to 50 or more geese, but it was worth it; they put on an entertaining show for us in and out of the water. The air temp was in the upper 80s (31C), but the water on that part of the river is fresh from the bottom of deep Watauga Lake and is about 40° (4.5C). When the bit of wind blew off the water, it was easy to sit in the sun without overheating. Carolyn suggested we drive to Bristol and see if we could find the house her grandmother used to live in. I spotted a couple of interesting subjects on the way and shot them. When we got near downtown Bristol—the center line of the main downtown street straddles the Tennessee-Virginia border and it is a very nice downtown indeed—Carolyn took over driving duties because she knew more about where we were going. In a few minutes she was in front of her grandmother's old house on Texas Ave. on the Virginia side of town. I made one more pic in Bristol and we headed sort of homeward along the old Gate City highway to Kingsport and finally back to Johnson City. As we were going to Wilbur, we had to stop and allow a police escorted group of about a hundred Rolling Thunder motorcyclists to pass on their way to the airport where they were to meet with hundreds more as escorts for the body of Senior Airman Benjamin White to a funeral home in Erwin. Airman White was killed while serving his country Afghanistan.
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Have a good Sunday!
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Summer -2

Eye allergies have kept me hunkered down the past few days. Late Thursday afternoon I was well enough to get outside for a bit, so I sat in the Escape and made photos of cardinals as as they came to the feeder. It was miserably hot in the car, but I was able to stay about thirty minutes. Although I was in sunshine, the feeder was mostly in shade so I had to use my 400 sensitivity setting on the camera and that is one area where Pentax falls behind Nikon and Canon; at the level of cropping I do for many shots, there is too much noise at anything over ISO 200. Pentax does have a built-n HDR system that compensates for a lot of noise and I used it on three of my better shots; they are decent and acceptable by my standards.
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I really don't have anything to say today.
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Religion

Please read the story on this link.
Thank you.
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And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more,' ...

~ Poe

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It is shot day and nothing more ...

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Play nice ...

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I don't remember ...

 Monarch on zinnia

I'm glad Tammy left me a note saying it is her birthday. I'm usually one of the best at remembering most anniversaries, but the past year has been close to a complete blank for such. In my family, I forgot both of my son's, my daughters, and my all grand-children's birthdays. I did remember Carolyn's and dear friend Alice's. Online, I forgot Kevin's, Sue's, and was a day late for Jola's. I am now putting them in my P.I.M. as they occur or when I do remember, but I will probably forget where I put the backup file for it in case it has to be reinstalled. In the event I miss more of you, it isn't on purpose; just write it off to aging and troubled times.
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A link about writers ... all so very true!
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As for my Camelot; clothing is optional except for protection when working on jobs which may cause injury to bare hide or goodies. Sandals or flip-flops are ok to wear anytime as needed.
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Have a good Thursday!
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Happy Birthday, Tammy!

Tammy

 May you have harmony in your life

May you have peace in your soul

May you forever be loved

May your memories be as gold

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Happy Birthday from your

Loose Laces friends

Camelot

Only in a Wal-Mart parking lot will you find a luxury

Lexus parked next to an abused Ford Mustang

that has been converted into a pickup truck.

Elizabethton, Tennessee, 2007.

For anyone interested, Roan Mountain State Park is having its annual Rhododendron Festival this coming weekend. The weather forecast is looking pretty good, but if you desire to forgo the festival and just see the thousands of blooms while overlooking a magnificent mountain vista, I suggest you go early morning by the middle of next week. We were there on June 24 last year and the blooms were just past peak.
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President Obama seems to be placing all the blame for the oil disaster on BP, but the only way that scenario makes sense is through pure politics. He is telling us what we want to hear but it is so far from reality that it's a slap in the face for people whom want to know what happened and why it happened. Folks, We the People are the ones most responsible for this mess; we are the ones who kept electing a government that was and is controlled by business interests whom cared not for us. We knew our elected leaders had our best interests at heart, so why should we question anything when we could be having fun watching American Idol? We vote not on issues, but on promises of men and women whom have no moral character and will sell our freedom to the first dollar that comes along. Wake up America.

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 Gustave Doré's Camelot

I want to return to Camelot. I think that at some point in the lives of most people, we have a time when just about everything is going well, we feel good, and life is interesting and for the most part, fun. I suppose Christians believe their real Camelot will come when they go to heaven, but heaven is supposed to be perfect and Camelot was not; it had dragons. The biblical Garden of Eden is considered by many to be a piece of paradise or heaven on earth, but both Eden and and heaven have a major problem; nothing to challenge our minds, our hearts, or our souls. Perfection seems very boring says one so imperfect as I. Eden did have its forbidden fruit and a measly talking snake, but heaven takes it to the limit and gives us nothing to look forward to once we get there and the nothing to do will last forever; very boring, I think. My Camelot has eternal spring days and warm summer nights all accentuated with lightning bugs and thunderstorms. There will be good days and bad days for all who live there, and I will have a little cottage in the countryside, a dog at my feet, and a Guinevere to love. One thing I will not have is R.A. The real "must have" to make Camelot a workable place is fire-breathing dragons, the bad days; we each must have dragons to battle; we must have challenges for our bodies, minds, and souls less we stagnate into a society such as we have now. Where is your Camelot?
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Have a wise Wednesday!
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I scored 61%

       

 

Two of the audios didn't play.

Elect me and I promise I will do good!

 It's a ... what the hell is that?

Every person who is of  Hispanic lineage is in this country legally should immediately move to Arizona and set up tent cities in every public park they find.
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I feel that sooner or later (hopefully not too late) the government is going to have to jump-start the economy by shifting the tax burden from the middle class to the wealthy and large corporations. People are going to need to have two things before a real recovery is possible; extra spending money and hope. The money will come from tax breaks; the hope will come from jobs being created. As I understand it, corporate America is sitting on huge amounts of money they are willing to invest in new manufacturing facilities and jobs but first they are going to have to see consumers willing to spend and it isn't happening because the economy is still in a pinch. If this tax relief doesn't come about soon, normal spending by the middle class is going to use up what goods are available and there will be a huge demand on the supply side which cannot be fulfilled and it will lead to serious inflation. High inflation is the one thing this economy cannot tolerate right now. It will be up to we the taxpayers to see that it gets done.
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Have a wealthy Tuesday; win the lottery!
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Do the Dew

 Saturday was basically a do nothing day; I felt bad and looked even worse. Carolyn went to Wal-Mart to buy some more clementines as they usually have the sweetest ones. She asked if I wanted to go but I declined; there are too many people with cell phones in the Wally stores snapping pics of freaky dressers and weirdos and putting them on the internet; all I need is to receive an email from one of my jokester online buds with my strange likeness attached as I browse the bras in the women section.
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Didn't get much done Sunday, either. Got caught up with my commenting on Megashot and did some more on Megashot's Facebook pages. Megashot acquired its 600th member this weekend; not bad for a brand new site that has been public for less than 4.5 months. The flower contest seems to be doing very well; I don't know how many photo entries it has, but I know there are a lot of them and most are very good efforts. I am entering only one photo each day just so I can see a sample of what is being placed. Megashot needs some more of you good photographers to come aboard and build communities; the ones we have are great but there is room and need for many, many more. I have three communities which I built, but I don't wish to take on anymore although they pretty well administer themselves.
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I drove Carolyn to Fall Branch to clean the building there, and I stopped to photograph an old feed store sign that I had been meaning to shoot for several months. As soon as I pulled up, Carolyn said "O, look at the Mountain Dew sign." I looked , expecting to see a standard green, white, and red sign. What I finally saw is the one pictured below. Even though it is somewhat sheltered from the elements, its green has faded to blue and red is completely gone. The good part is my brethren barefoot hillbillies and their nervous hound are still intact well enough to make out the artwork. I want that sign very, very badly. Here is a link to a reproduction of the original sign; judging by the price of 15 cents, this sign was probably made in the 1960's. It would definitely look good in Mark's future used books and and antiques store.

Please click on photo to view larger size*

A little known fact: Johnson City--the town I call home--was one of the first three places Mountain Dew was marketed. I remember where the small bottling plant was located on Walnut St. The brand was bought by Pepsi-Cola in 1964 and is now one of the most popular soft drinks in the USA.
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Have a great Worsh Day!
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*The more I study the photo, the more I think there is a possibility the sign I found is a reproduction. I think it is in too good of shape with no appreciable rust or dents and even the nail heads show no rust. I'd bet it has not been in its present location for a lot of years.
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 Who's the crook?

Sorry about the quality of the photo; I had just enough time to grab the camera and make the shot as the Caddy drove by.
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Our grandson Keegan graduated from Air Force basic training on Friday; his dad finally got to speak with him by phone today. He is going to stay in San Antonio three more months for schooling before he is assigned to a base somewhere.
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Jeremy (aka Cuzzn-Dread), our oldest grandson did an open mic performance at a club in Atlanta this past week. After the show, he was interviewed by a producer and has been invited back to the club as the headline act one night next week. Shameless plug: He is on a new web page and has his album on sale for downloading at $7.99 and also some ring tones for your phone.
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The diet is going very well; after just four days my clothes are hanging on me and I look skinny as a scarecrow. Actually, the way I retain and lose water (no, I ain't having my period!), I won't be able to tell that I'm actually losing until I get down to about 270 lbs-123 kilos. I love baby carrots, celery sticks and particularly yummy yogurt!
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Have a good Sunday!
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Fragile

 Brambles and lace

Even as mist lay still asleep on low shadowy ground, dawn smiled coyly between glistening oak leaves with promise of sunshine. The farmer was in his meadow readying new hay for the growling machine to come and place each stem and blade in orderly rows. From the thicket, a Whip-poor-will offered its last melancholy voice to the faltering darkness even as a song sparrow trilled good morning from brambles adorning the rusty fence. The scent of fresh hay filled my part of the vale with pungent sweetness, softly singing of many such days in a bygone heaven. When at last the orange sun paused for a moment to peer past Buffalo's hump, westerly clouds were already marching to temper its glory, and now the threat of rain glowers over the valley of the Tennessee. It is June and the universe at Nature's edge still summons my heart; always lovely, always fascinating, always fragile, yet forever mine.
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Have a good Saturday ...
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Hobbled and gobbled

 
It is amazing how good a simple piece of fruit tastes. This morning I hurriedly hobbled (imagine) from the bedroom to the kitchen and gobbled a banana like a snake eating a rat. A banana each morning is my usual fare as is a clementine at bedtime, but since my self-induced torture of dieting began way back day-before-yesterday, each has become a complete meal to which I look forward with Pavlovian gusto. Yesterday's main course was two peanut butter crackers and a garden salad of lettuce, tomato, green pepper, and onion; no dressing. Water was my beverage. I have reduced my coffee sugar by one-third, and have not had a soda or any tea. I'm happy I watch very little tv as all those food and beer commercials would be detrimental to achieving my goal. I am a nervous wreck, irritable, and grouchy, yet I know the quality of my life is vastly improved. Phooey!
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I'm weak and my hands are shaking, therefore I must bid you adieu for this spectacular shot day, this wonderful Friday in my favorite month of June, this day of endless starvation. Have a good one.
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We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.
 ~H. L. Mencken
 

Happy, happy; joy, joy!

Sadness flies on the wings of the morning

and out of the heart of darkness comes the light.

  ~Jean Giraudoux

 Happy Birthday, Robin!

Robin was the first person ever to read my blog and leave a comment on one of my pathetic attempts at poetry. It was four and one-half years ago and her generous words are still an inspiration. Robin is an artist and you may find her canvases here.

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I had to go to doctor yesterday; among a few problems she found was the assertion that I am a bit overweight.* I think she said it was more than a bit, actually, and she used a different word than overweight. Sounded more like extremely fat but I'm not sure as she doesn't speak loudly and I can only hear a little bit from one ear. She is originally from India and has a bit of accent, too. However, the words "diet or die" rang out clear as a bell. All I need to do is lose 80 pounds (36 kilograms); piece of cake! She knows my exercise abilities are limited, but she said no more sweets, specifically, chocolate. There is no life without chocolate; it is mere existence; going through the motions of living without having a purpose or a goal. Anyway, I will attempt to think about commencing to begin to try to limit my sweet intake. My diet officially started when I got back home from the visit and all I had to eat yesterday were a few celery sticks, small glass of tomato juice, and a clementine. I am starving! Six feet away from me is a candy dish filled with mini-Snickers bars and packs of M&M's with peanuts. I must do the same thing I did when I stopped smoking cigarettes; keep them available and fight temptation until I win. "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me ..."

She found another problem that frets me a bit more, but I won't say much about it until I see a specialist next month.
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It is raining in Northeast Tennessee and life is good; fat, but good.
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Have a beautiful Thursday!
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*If you gotta know, I weigh 279.4 pounds (126.7 kilos). Doctor wants me at 200 and I want 220, but she and I know it is unrealistic. Right now, I am shooting for 260.

Tuesdays are for creating art

When I'm editing photos that have "hot" colors in them, I don't like to pussy-foot around. Nature made red and yellow and orange for a reason, and it is my duty to make sure they speak as loudly as possible. I seldom saturate to the limit, though; it causes clipping and loss of detail.
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Flickr groups have gotten so bad with those terrible animated invite and award icons that it is nearly impossible to make comments. The huge ones were bad enough, but now they have huge ones that twinkle, glitter, hop, twirl, dance, and about every other pathetic movement one can think of. When you finally find a comment box and write your words, it takes forever for the comment to post. Flickr administration (Yahoo) is acting as if they have all the bandwidth in the world to play with--and maybe they have--but it is some of the slowest throughput on the net. I dearly hope Megashot never succumbs to that insanity.
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Megashot has gained a lot of new members lately, and many of them are contributing by posting photos, commenting, joining communities, and creating communities of their own. People sometimes think a community has to cover a wide area but it doesn't; you can build one about any subject you like. It may be your town, your hobby, or even a color or colors; the possibilities are limitless and no matter what it's about, sooner or later others will find it and begin to contribute. Today is a good day to join us on Megashot and begin building your communities ... it is easy and fun.
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Create something on this Tuesday; create art. It may be a painting, a photo, a salad or a whatever; just do it and enjoy it and it is art. Have a very creative Tuesday!
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Bristol on my mind

Feeling much better today; from 7:00am Sunday through 7:30am today, I lost 11 pounds; I've done some serious peeing and sweating. Much water was taken in during the period, along with bananas to keep potassium up. We planned a short trip to Bristol yesterday to visit Carolyn's surviving uncle and I was going to look for photo ops while there. Bristol is where country music began in 1920's and 1930's, and they are pushing the Jimmie Rodgers-Carter Family-Tennessee Ernie Ford connection. Maybe next weekend.
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Have a sudsy wash day!
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Tigers

Tiger lilies grow along the roadsides all through these hills and mountains. I don't know if they are native or introduced, but they are showy, very pretty and easy to photograph. I shot these from the car and then gave it a slight glamour treatment with Paintshop Pro. I like wild flowers.
BTW, I did drive up one of the mountain hollers, and there were black clouds and sprinkles all over the sky; I ain't brilliant when it comes to tempting fate.
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I feel ratty today, so all I can say is have a super Sunday.
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I'm a Pepper

Today is iffy weather-wise so any outing we take probably will not be in the mountains. Flash floods rushing down the hollers can wipe out creek bridges and leave people and their cars stranded. People can usually walk out after the water recedes, but autos may be inaccessible for driving for months. However, vandals and parts thieves can make you not want the car back, but if it is in a National Forest, you are responsible for retrieving it. Several years back, a flash flood on Clark's Creek did strand a couple of autos and the owners were forced to remove their cars as best they could. The bridges were not repaired for three years. We had storms last evening which momentarily knocked out the power on two occasions.
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I haven't heard much about the big flower contest on Megashot, but there seems to be quite a few entries. I am adding one or two each day mostly for contestants to have enough photos to choose from when voting. Seems like a lot of folks have held back their best shots just for a chance at the prizes.
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The above photo was made yesterday and isn't too good; there was a lot of traffic and I couldn't get a place for a better shot. Five Points intersection in Jonesborough has been home for a store ever since I can remember, and my memory of it goes back to at least the early 1950's. At that time, it was just another small country store. When a school and factory moved nearby, the store expanded, the brick addition was built, and it became a convenience store. Now, the state is planning to rebuild the horse and buggy era intersection as it has become heavily used and in its present layout it is quite dangerous for drivers. The changes should help, but they mean that the store will be removed. I don't think destroying the landmark is really needed to make the intersection more safe, but it has become part of the congestion problem because many people are using it and it is very close to the main road where it blocks the view of oncoming traffic from a side street. I figured I better get some kind of shot of at least the old Dr Pepper sign before the fun begins. An odd thing; I've passed by the store hundreds of times, but I've never been inside it.
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Have a super Saturday!
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