Day 59

Today you will find installment #4 of meet the cats. You have already met Clark, Mindy, and Gable. This guy here is Blowfish. Blow is a very smart cat but you know what they say about the fine line between genius and insanity. We have often wondered about the heritage of this cat. I think I mentioned that his sister, also the mother of his kittens, was pretty retarded. Blowfish comes from the other side of the spectrum. He was the cat who actually figured out that doorknobs are the key to opening doors. He also has figured out that banking off of walls helps you turn corners faster. On the other hand, he spaces out so much that you can walk up to him while you think he is looking at you, touch him, and in doing so scare the living crap out of him. I think he just sleeps with his eyes open. So there is one left. Stay tuned.

Day 58

While driving around this past weekend, I noticed a ferris wheel in the parking lot of a local mall. I didn't get a chance to go there until tonight. It turned out to be the Seminole County Fair. I don't recall ever seeing a county fair in a mall parking lot.

Day 57

Hi. You may notice that Day 57 and day 56 were submitted on the same day. They were taken on the correct day. We just got home late yesterday and I didn't have a chance to do yesterday's until today. I was having trouble getting inspired tonight. That is one good thing about having cats. They will usually hold still long enough to get a shot off and they are handy when you don't feel like putting a lot of thought into an image. This is a picture of Gable. (remember? Reba named him cause of Gone With the Wind?). Anywas, Gable is a very big cat. He should be up to about 23 to 24 pounds now. Unfortunately we can't even put him on a diet 'cause he needs a special high protein food to prevent kidney problems. He is funny though. He will answer not only to Gable, but to Fat Boy, and to Piglet. Have a good day and I'll see you tomorrow.

Day 56

Saturday looked like a good day for a drive so we went to Tampa/ St. Pete and made a round a bout trip back up the west coast. This led us to visit towns like Clearwater, Dunedin, Hudson, New Port Ritchie and Tarpon Springs. Today's picture comes from the sponge docks at Tarpon Springs. The town started out as a Greek sponge village. The business is still alive and well. If you would like to see more pictures fron the area, visit
http://www.photographybydennis.photosite.com/

Click on the Sunken Gardens/ West Coast album

Day 55 Baseball, Mom, and Apple Pie

It's just about that time. Spring training is underway and the games start next week. Living in Florida, there are a lot of opportunities to see a spring training game and I'm hoping we get a chance. On another note, today was a very special day. Cubs tickets went on sale!!!. That means it is time to start planning the annual trip that Matt and I take to catch a couple of Cubs games. Since he had an early class today, he got elected to sit by the computer to purchase tickets. After sitting on there for several hours, he called with the good news. He was able to seats for a couple of games in May so the trip is on. Today's post is in honor of the trip. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I am a bit of a baseball fan (especially the Cubbies) so I'm sure that this won't be the last baseball pic you will see here. In fact, there should be a least two from Wrigley coming in a couple of months. If you get a chance, go see a game somewhere.. It doesn't matter if its Major league or Little League. It's all baseball and it's all good.

Day 54 You got the time?

We have always been a clock bunch around here. At one time, Reba and I had about 11 or 12 clocks in our living room alone that made noise at least every half hour. We also had several quiet ones. I think folks thought we were nuts. My mother also liked clocks but she leaned more towards the small, silent type. Tonight's photo is of part of her collection of miniature and small clocks.

Day 53 We are talking apples and oranges.

I was almost lazy tonight, taking some shot just to have one. Then I decided to put a little thought into it instead. On tonight's shot I have to add credits. Reba assisted with this as it was kind of a four handed project. I also want to thank a photographer who goes by the name of Graphicfunk who gave me the idea for this. Graphicfunk is an excellent photographer who does not mind sharing his knowledge. That seems to be pretty rare sometimes. If you would like to know how this was done, you can go to his site. http://www.graphicfunk.com. Have a good night and I will see you tomorrow.

Day 52

The odd looking dome that you see here is the outside of the Orlando Science Center Cinedome/planetarium and observatory. The OSC was originally built back in 1955. Expanding over the years, the planetarium was built somewhere around 1960. It used to be one of the yearly field trips for area elementary school students. Later, it became the site of Friday night rock and roll laser light shows. The original OSC is now been remodeled and the original planetarium gone.

Day 51, Back to the grind.

It was another beautiful Florida winter day here in Deltona. I got tied up today arguing with the lady from Cingular wireless. Sometimes I don't know how some of these companies stay in business the way they keep records. Anyway, it got too dark for an outside picture. A recent contest inspired this shot. Just a yo-yo on a mirror with a black backdrop. Mirrors make very interesting shots I think.

Day 50

Today we visited a replica of the Nina (of Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria fame). It is currently at the Port of Sanford while on tour down the St. John's River. It was getting late and cold so we didn't go on board. This is a picture of the sails and rigging.

Day 49

Tonight's picture is of a pocketwatch. Although I still have many things around that belonged to my father, this is one of my favorites. This watch was given to him by my great grandparents on his graduation from high school in 1934. By the way, it still runs like it was new. I guess they just don't make them like that any more.

Day 48

This animal looks pretty intimidating and mean doesn't it? This is actually one of the nicest liitle cats you could ever find. This is Mindy. She had just awakened from a nap.

Day 47, Getting close to the weekend!

Hey, one more day! It's starting to warm back up here so hopefully I will get out for some outside shots this weekend. But for tonight, another "indoor". Reebs went to the fruit market today so here ya go. Have a great day and I'll see you later.

Day 46 Happy Birthday Reba!!!!

Today's picture is in honor of my lovely wife Reba who is celebrating her __ birthday today. To the woman that I have known since she was 18 years old and who gets better each and every day, Happy Birthday. And as the song goes, (unfortunately I can't remember the name or performer) in my eyes she's "still turning 18 and turning my head". I love you.

Happy Valentines Day!

Guess I should also put up a Valentine picture since it is the day for it. I almost forgot about it this evening since my lovely bride had to work tonight. Thanks a lot Wally! But, she'll be home in a little while so it won't be too bad. Hope everybody is where and with whom they would like to be.

Day 45 My Darkroom

There was a time where a darkroom was dark and full of chemicals. A mistimed entry into the room could ruin a day's or even a weeks worth of work. It's a little different now. The digital darkroom can be most anywhere you can fit a computer and a mousepad. It really seems a shame that I think eventually film will go the way of the 12" record album. And to anyone who is now saying "Mom, what's a record album?", you'll be there someday. Have a nice day.

Day 44 Winter is here!

While it may not be much to someone in the Northeast, it is really cold now to me. Before I could leave for work today, I had to scrape the ice off of my windshield. I'm sure that all the people who had to shovel their cars out of the snow this morning are are not feeling much sympathy for me but us Floridians are not used to this stuff. As far as the PAD goes, I had waited for a nearly a month for another full moon. I have a shot all planned but it is just too cold. Therefore you get something else. Tonight as I was sitting at the computer pondering what I should shoot, this opportunity came up so this is it, whatever it is. Anyone want to take a shot? I'll will bet that some are thinking of something disgusting but it really isn't.

Day 43

It actually felt like winter today. It got down in the 30's last night and probably 50's today but it was windy so it felt pretty cold to me. Not wanting to wait around until it got too late since it is going to get colder tonight, I ventured out this afternoon in search of a subject. I headed out to an area on the St. John's River outside of Sanford. After sorting through the photos I picked this one of an barbed wire fence that had obviously been there for some time but had been recently repaired. I kind of liked the contrast of the old wire next to the new.

Day 42

Anyone who knows me knows that one of my great passions is the game of baseball. Not that other sports aren't OK too but if I had to tell what the importance of the Super Bowl is, I would say that it means there are 11 days until pitchers and catchers report for spring training. Tonight's photo is to mark the near beginning of another year. Play Ball!!

Day 41

Anyone who has lived in the Central Florida Area for any length of time at all will be familiar with Lake Eola. Back around 1960 ( I could look up the exact date but I'm trying to get this done before midnight) The city built a fountain in the middle of the lake. It has become famous for that fountain. A less recognizable feature of the park is the Eola bandshell. This has been around about the same length of time as the fountain and has a lot of history. I remember myself playing in this bandshell in "Battle of the Band" concerts back in the...well, a long time ago anyway. Today's photo is a picture of that bandshell, empty now, but with lots to come in the future.

Day 40

Just a little snack for the basketball game. It's getting late so I'm not going to write a book for this one.

Day 39

I'm not going to name this. If anyone wants to suggest something...
Sometimes you take a photo because the subject really inspires you. Thats not why I did this one. Tonight I was basically playing with some lighting techniques, working with shiny objects. Have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow.

Day 38

Today I ventured in to the world of Reba's pantry. I try to stay out as much as possible but figured it was time to take a look.

Day 37

This officially puts us past the 1/10 the way there mark. Today I stopped by a park in Orlando. This park is across the street from a section of shops that I have heard called antique row. I always have thought that there was a picture there. It's possoble, but I couldn't find it today. I walked over toward the boat ramp and saw many gulls, all lined up on the dock, almost equally spaced all along the railing. Thanks for coming and I'll see you tomorrow.

Day 36

Weekends are way too short. Since I had to paint yesterday, I made sure we got out to play a little today. We decided to take a trip to Daytona Beach. Its only about 45 minutes away so it makes a pretty good destination for a quick day trip. We parked on the beach a couple of miles south of the Daytona Pier and took a walk. We were amazed a how bad the beachside hotels look now. They don't look too bad from the street but from the beach it appears some have sustained a lot of damage from storms in the past couple of years. It was cool today so there weren't many beachgoers. The pier wasn't crowded either but there were a few people fishing. The picture today comes from the pier. The pelican was sitting on the edge being boring so Reba went up to it to see if she could make it fly. It worked and you can see the result. Have a good week and I'll see you tomorrow. If you would like to see others from Daytona today, go to http://www.photographybydennis.photosite.com/DaytonaBeach/.

Day 35

Once again it was a Saturday of house painting. In between walls, I took the time to terrorize a couple of the cats trying to get them to hold still long enough to take a picture. The one that I chose is of our little retarded cat named Clark. To fully appreciate his name you would have to know that we also have one named Gable. They were both named after the famous actor (Reba loves Gone With the Wind). Anyway, Clark is a very unique little animal. He is from a long line of cats of questionable intellect. His father Blowfish is still with us. He is a very strange animal also. However, the ultimate dumb-ass cat was his mother Hootie. Get it? Reba named those two also. Besides the fact that Hootie was mentally challenged, Clark also suffers from the fact that Hootie and Blowfish were brother and sister. I forget what it was that made us postpone Blowfish's procedure but by the time we got him to the vet, he had already done the damage. We felt so sorry for Clark that we decided to keep him. We also let him keep his claws in case he needed them for defense but he hasn't figured out yet that he has them. Clark's is most endearing when he gets lost in the family room and we have to play a form of "kitty Marco Polo" to get him into the living room.

Day 34, Once in a while a light comes on.

Hi. This was a picture of Reba tonight when she had the bright idea that I should paint again tomorrow.

Day 33 "...the Queen of Hearts is always your best bet."

Thanks to Don Henley and Glen Frey for the inspiration here. I noticed that in the last few posts, I had gone a little in the direction of "subtle colors". I thought that tonight I would brighten things back up.

Day 32

Not a whole lot to say here. I wished I had a N.Y. Times crossword for this but maybe I'll get a hold of one and this can be a remake later in the year. Have a good night and I'll see you tomorrow.