Fun with Photoshop

I took some photos a week ago. As we looked through the pictures, the comment was made: "it looks like I'm down and out in my luck."

Here's the original photo straight from the camera:

I edited it along with the others from the batch by cropping it and adding some contrast:

Chris is a zombie nut like me so I thought it would be fun to add this lonely looking image to an apocalyptic image and add some zombies. I found the following images online:

A background:

A swarm of zombies (off in the background): 

A few zombies:

A couple of weapons:

Smoke for a smoking gun: 

A bug out bag:

Some dead zombies from the Walking Dead:

Blood splatter:

With all that in hand, I blended the image and the back ground together first:

Once that was completed, I added the other elements for this completed image. Chris wanted a smoking gun in his hand with a few dead zombies around. Here's the final image (make sure to click on it to see it full screen): 

A Beautiful Town of Boston

I never did finish posting the photos we took while we traveled through Boston in October. Today I thought of that vacation and felt for the families who suffered pain and fear after, yet, another shocking day of terror ... I loved our time in Boston and the surrounding areas... it was stunning and beautiful! (and driving on the interstate was a nightmare! Just sayin')

Here are the photos I loved from the day we traveled through downtown Boston. I look forward to returning  again.

Salem & Gloucester

October 17, we traveled to Salem in the morning. As a child I was fascinated by the history found here. I was greatly saddened by the stories I'd read. I never understood how easily adults could believe the words of young teenagers without thinking twice about what was suggested about the character of great human beings....all out of sheer fear.
All my life I wanted to come to Salem and honor those who died because they would not lie and dishonor themselves or their own integrity by simply saying they were a witch and worshiped the devil.
When we arrived to Salem I was again disappointed to discover the commercialism found in the town. People I know had suggested I would find a "bad feeling" when I arrived. I did not find such a feeling. I found a town ... a tourist town, with little shops, cobble stone streets. There were actresses and actors selling tickets to the various shows and tours; none of which captured my attention enough.
I searched out the main museum, eager to see some artifacts and hear some of the tales, but found the cost to be ridiculous and not worth the tour (from what friends had said). So we searched out what I really wanted to see: the memorial in honor of the lives lost. This was where they were honored:

Each tablet has a name of one of the individuals that were killed. We walked around and read each name and how they each died. We found on one tablet this touching letter: 

After Salem, we traveled to Gloucester, saw the most beautiful vacation homes (EVER!) and watched the sunset and captured some beautiful images of fishing boats and my sister (thanks, Golden Hour!)....my favorites, for sure: 

Marblehead Sailboat 

Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial

Gloucester Harbor

Sandy in a beautiful light

Me :)

Plymouth

In October, Eric and I spent a day in Plymouth waiting for Sandy to arrive in Boston in the evening. We were slightly disappointed to confirm the rumors that Plymouth rock is in fact a large bolder.

After spending time in Jamestown in March, and loving the connection to the early settlers of this country, I was somehow expecting a similar experience in Plymouth. I did not find anything remotely close to the same experience. Although it is a lovely town, it is also very commercial. Anything that can be sold, is sold. Slap the words: '1620', or 'Plymouth' on the item and sell it for a profit. I was saddened to feel that it cheapened the sorrows and pains of the days and lives of those who lived there; the earliest settlers.

That said, I did take some very lovely photos:

September Catch Up

We're quickly reaching the end of the year and I'm finally feeling like I can sit long enough to load my photos onto flickr and type..... so now I can catch up.

September was when I first began to really feel the pain in my back and down my left leg. Eric and I went to the Utah State Fair with Evan and Sam. I normally love spending time looking though the photos that others have entered. I'm not sure why I never have entered any of my own photos...it's one of those things I keep "meaning to do" but never have done.

I also really love looking at the crafts that people enter. People are so talented and I love admiring the work they spend their time working on.

This year, I was unable to spend more than a glance of time as I sped through the photos. I couldn't stand or sit...I had to keep walking. It was the only way to alleviate any of the pain from my back and leg.

I did stand long enough to take aim at the beautiful sunset, however. Here are two of my favorite pictures of the evening:

Washington DC Day

March 8: Eric and I drove from our "home" in Virginia to Washington DC. We knew we had only a day, and that we wouldn't be able to get to all the sites in that time. We created our priority list. Eric wanted to see Arlington Cemetary and I wanted to see the Korean Memorial.  We were unfamiliar with the layout of the city but quickly saw how close they are in proximity.

One word sums up our time: emotion. There was a lot of emotion. 

We began our journey in Arlington.  I have seen the photos for years. The same ones we've all seen.  As we made our way, I was overcome with emotion. I didn't expect to feel such strong emotion for a place I've never been.

We were able to arrive to the tomb of the unknowns minutes before the changing of the guard. It was a reverent experience to see the soldier going back and forth and then hear the click of the heals at each end. The greatest moment of pride and reverence struck when the soldiers soluted the tomb of the unknowns. It struck the heart strings, for sure.

 

We also stopped at the tomb markers of the Challenger and Colombia disasters. Both explosions were such shocking moments in our history. We paid our respects to those explorers.

Having never understood the layout of Washington DC, I was surprised when I realized how close the Pentagon is from the White House. The memory of 9/11 is never far from any American's mind, even all these years later. When I stood on the mountain near the tomb of the unknown, the view of the city was striking...and then there was the realization of the proximity of the two famous buildings.

After spending time in Arlington, we crossed back over the bridge to visit some other famous monuments: Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam and Korean memorials, and Martin Luther memorial. I was dumbfounded by their size. More than that, I was in awe of how connected I felt to history...the history I didn't realize I was so familiar with.

As the afternoon grew into evening we made our way to our vehicle which was parked on the other side of twon. We traveled via the Trolley Tours, which I highly recommend. The guides are clever and witty.  We were unable to go to the White House but did pass it on the way back to our car. I took a few pictures as we passed. There were several motor cycle cops on the street corners waiting, resting, relaxing, evaluating. The guide mentioned that when they are like this, it usually means a motorcade will be coming through soon. When I looked back at my photos, I noticed that in front of the White House, there's a line of cars preparing to leave.  When we left our parking not long afterwards, the roads were closed off as the motorcade was close to passing. We didn't have time to stop and wait (and wave) but it was pretty cool to see.

We enjoyed a very nice dinner with Eric's Uncle Dan and Aunt Peggy. We briefly talked with his cousin and met their new baby boy, Joseph.
I can safely say that I will be returning to our nation's capital in the near future. I will spend more than a few hours touring and visiting the monuments. The emotions of the day were draining and as we left the city (at midnight), I was ready to face the world of the living and not so much the world of memorials and past lives in history. The rest of my photos are found here.
It brought back to me the scene from Dead Poets Society: Carpe diem. Cease the day.