Photo Challenge: LEAP

Leap day dawned gray and has gotten rainy and cold. I feel like crap and I've got too much defending of my honor to do today (I'm looking at you anti-dog park people). I am wildly grateful to have this photo challenge to brighten up the situation. Love these photos.

We've got more new folks and we raised $70 for The American Cancer Society in Chris's memory and honor. These are all good things. Please comment here or on the photog's Flickr streams. Please scroll down for the next challenge.

You should go to Flickr and check out all the entries from mousepower1 because her timing is divine. I chose this one because I fell for the purity of color in motion.

Our Cindy/Elephant Soap/The Widow Maddera has been leaping a lot lately. Figuratively at least. I especially enjoy her face in this literal leap.

Do you recognize this look on Our Janet/fondofsnape's pseudo-grandson's face? If you've ever been told quite the tale by a kid you should. Click through to read the transcript of his important announcement.

A study in contrasts between Our Bethany/herm007's boys. They're always a study in contrasts (and complements) but it's rarely this clear.

Smalltown Mom titled this one Leap for our challenge but I want to call it Triumph. Look at the fist pumping joy on that face!

Not only is my beloved Bob leaping here it was a hell of a leap when they adopted him. Adopting pets always is, I think. It's terrifying and awesome and I think I'm standing on the ledge of adopting another one pretty much every day convincing myself not to jump off.

I can't even think of anything to say about this one by Wasagooze. It speaks for itself.

Now we head into March. Lions and lambs and women and history. It's a big month. It's also the month my mom was born. So let's go with WOMAN as our prompt. You can think of it as woman or womyn or wo-man or chicks or broads or ladies or folks or whatever but we'll call the prompt WOMAN as a catch all. (And now that word means nothing to me because I've written it too much.)

In honor of Mrs. X, who was my mom's friend (and my friend, and Steph's mom) we'll be raising some dollars for the American Lung Association this time around. It's also fitting since my lungs continue to rebel in ways great and small. $10 for every photographer who participates in the challenge.

Please add your photos to our Flickr photo pool by 9am on Tuesday March 13th for posting on Wednesday March 14th. Let me know if you have any questions!

10 Things It Says

As many of you know, Tim (pictured) is a dead dog walking. He has a cancer that moves like the wind and shows no mercy. After some hard days his vet decided to see if steroids might make him more comfortable and he's bounced back like nobody's business. If you've been keeping up with these posts you know that I am also taking some steroids to keep my lungs from hating me. Today we compared dosages. I started out with 30mg per day and have stepped down my dose by 10mg every 3 days. Tim, who I'm guessing I outweigh by about 1/3 of his body weight, started out on 80mg and has just barely stepped down to 60. Well, let me tell you, I'm not surprised he's more spry. The prednisone kind of does that for you. In fact, the prednisone has started speaking for me. Here's 10 things it says:

1. "Get up. Get up now! Get up!"

2. It sings the chorus to Shake, Rattle, & Roll! over and over.

3. "Remember this project? What about this one? We could do this one! I want a project. Gimmegimmegimme!"

4. "Yes, please, I will have another helping of _________."

5. "Hurry up. Hurry up now! Hurry up!"

6. "All you need is to win the lottery, then you buy the apartment next door and then we start the renovations. Should be able to get 3 bedrooms, keep the 2 baths, hell keep the 2 kitchens. What should be put in the big closet? Oh maybe there is no big closet because of the elevator. I wonder. Let's go look! Do you have a lock pick set?"

7. "Did you hear that? I heard something. I know I did. Just listen. Wait! Shiny, looooooook."

8. "Who told you we need to work out? You're losing weight just sitting here vibrating like that. Trust me."

9. "Why don't you trust me?"

10. "Hush now, you go to sleep, I'll get started on all this work without you."

Prednisone is a liar, but I still kind of like him.

Last Year

This time last year we were in China.

This time this year they are hanging out together in America's Southland.

Every day they text me a photo of what delicious thing they are ingesting.

Wish I was there.

Just Some Pictures*

*I stole the title from Chrome.

I'm a little afraid to go back to work tomorrow. I keep relapsing when I go back to work.

Fortunately I don't have to think about that until tomorrow.

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Well, OK, we're almost at the end of the LEAP photo challenge and we aren't quite beating the total for the last one. For each photographer that enters photographs into the LEAP photo challenge by Tuesday February 28 I will donate $10 to The American Cancer Society. Simply upload your photo to Flickr (you can get a free account if you need one), join our Photo Group, add your shot and your donation has been made! If you want a gold star please tag the photo with PhotoChallenge and LEAP.

A Combo Platter

Well, getting an immediate appointment with a specialist wasn't a possibility so we've moved on to another form of alleviating symptoms. I'm on a short course of steroids, prednisone if you're interested in details. I've done 3 days at 30mg. I'll do 3 days at 20mg then the remainder of the 20 pills at 10mg per day. Whereas I sure don't feel cured I am also able to breathe without an enormous amount of strain. I'll take that. I'm still not moving very fast, though. The trick is to convince yourself that you never have any place you have to be at any specific time then you don't move fast enough to anger the lungs. Frequent naps aren't a bad thing, either. I've slept more in the last week than I probably sleep in two weeks put together. I'm also adding supplements. D3, Lysine, echinacea, even something the Russian Cosmonauts used to take, Rhodiola.

Now, I can't prove that the combination of supplements and steroids produces particular results but I woke up from my nap with Go Tell Aunt Rhody stuck in my head. If that's not some kind of horror they ought to warn you about, I don't know what is.

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Don't forget the current challenge, LEAP. For each photographer that enters photographs into the LEAP photo challenge by Tuesday February 28 I will donate $10 to The American Cancer Society. Simply upload your photo to Flickr (you can get a free account if you need one), join our Photo Group, add your shot and your donation has been made! If you want a gold star please tag the photo with PhotoChallenge and LEAP.

The End of the Aristocracy

Here's the last one. It's all people you've seen before in the series but I couldn't make myself include one picture and leave out the other. Say goodbye to the Abbey, we little people will have to wait until they grace us with their presence again.

Presented without comment.

 

Puppy!

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Don't forget the current challenge, LEAP. For each photographer that enters photographs into the LEAP photo challenge by Tuesday February 28 I will donate $10 to The American Cancer Society. Simply upload your photo to Flickr (you can get a free account if you need one), join our Photo Group, add your shot and your donation has been made! If you want a gold star please tag the photo with PhotoChallenge and LEAP.

Third Time Is Charming

Sorry for the delay. This cold asthma thing is tenacious and I had a bad breathing day yesterday. The only cure seemed to be sleep. That just means we get to savor the rest of these posts over a little longer time.

This one is small. Still high value, though.

Go on, can you guess? Are you surprised? The makeup folks must work overtime making O'Brien nearly unrecognizable from the delightful Siobhan Finneran.

They can rest when they work on Zoe Boyle and just let her natural luminescence light up Lavinia Swire. Wonder how she used her inner light when she was in Sons of Anarchy?

I'm a fool for the idiot savant characters like Daisy Robinson. Sophie McShera is a master at those subtleties.

The Earl of Grantham never looked so good. Hugh Bonneville probably looks this good all the time, though.

There's one more to come. It's duplicate folks but I couldn't resist. These posts have to last us all the way to next season!

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Don't forget the current challenge, LEAP. For each photographer that enters photographs into the LEAP photo challenge by Tuesday February 28 I will donate $10 to The American Cancer Society. Simply upload your photo to Flickr (you can get a free account if you need one), join our Photo Group, add your shot and your donation has been made! If you want a gold star please tag the photo with PhotoChallenge and LEAP.

Another Round!

Back again for round 2 of the Hottown Abbey!

It was surprisingly difficult to get a photo of Amy Nuttall that wasn't on the theme of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. I wonder if they took that into account when casting her as Ethel.

I don't think Mrs. Patmore would get so mean and uptight if she were allowed Lesley Nichol's more relaxed 'do and come hither lipstick.

It's that slight squiggle in Thomas Howes' mouth, I think, that makes him irresistibly naive as William.

I know you can hardly tell this is Clare Calbraith but look at that joy. We never get to see Jane have so much joy.

Without her Isobel Crawley corset Penelope Wilton still looks like a formidable opponent.

Mostly when Samantha Bond appears as Lady Rosamund Painswick we just see a hat floating off in the distance. Nice to see the whole woman, eh?

Where is that devil Thomas under Rob James-Collier's scruff and curl?

Michelle Dockery is, I'm sure, breaking hearts far and wide. Lady Mary Crawley wishes she had that going for her.

This photo of Phyllis Logan effortlessly conveys all the kindness that she has to sieve through the uprightness of Mrs. Hughes.

Allen Leech, aka Branson, can drive me anywhere. What about you?

Still more to come!

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Don't forget the current challenge, LEAP. For each photographer that enters photographs into the LEAP photo challenge by Tuesday February 28 I will donate $10 to The American Cancer Society. Simply upload your photo to Flickr (you can get a free account if you need one), join our Photo Group, add your shot and your donation has been made! If you want a gold star please tag the photo with PhotoChallenge and LEAP.

Don't Spoil It!

First and foremost, let's keep today's posts spoiler-free for the final episode of Season 2 of Downton Abbey. I haven't had a chance to watch. If you have spoilers from previous episodes please give people a warning so they can bail if they need to.

Secondly, a reader who wishes to remain anonymous sent me a link to this article/photo essay on the cast of Downton and how hot they are outside of the Abbey's confines. I had already read it and couldn't agree more. They've gone into production for Season 3 this month but we still have a long wait ahead of us so I thought we could do with a Hot People post. Turns out I got a little overzealous. It might have to be two posts. Or more.

 Go big or go home, right? Of course we start with Dame Maggie Smith out of her Lady Violet garb and arched eyebrow.

Not Matthew Crawley anymore, just good old Dan Stevens.

As delicious as Elizabeth McGovern herself as she is when she's being Lady Cora Crawley.

If only Carson showed up for work in the wine cellar like this one day. I'd be grateful if someone could tell me which character this is that Jim Carter is playing.

I know this one of Joanne Froggatt is like Anna Smith jumped in a time machine and got a very slight makeover but she's just so lovely I couldn't resist.

As Lady Edith we don't get enough chances to appreciate Laura Carmichael's gorgeous eyes.

I can't stand Iain Glenn's Sir Richard Carlisle but he's a dish and I eagerly await his return in Game of Thrones.

Maria Doyle Kennedy is all over my TV. The Tudors, Dexter, and now Downton as the conniving Mrs. Bates. Damn her! And she sings, too.

I don't know about her personality but I feel as though Jessica Brown Findlay is allowed physically to resemble her character, Lady Sybil, more than others.

The one we've all be waiting for! (No? Just me?) It was such a treat trolling for photos of rough and tumble Brendan Coyle amid all the shots of him all clean cut to play Bates.

Stay tuned for 10 more a little later!

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Don't forget the current challenge, LEAP. For each photographer that enters photographs into the LEAP photo challenge by Tuesday February 28 I will donate $10 to The American Cancer Society. Simply upload your photo to Flickr (you can get a free account if you need one), join our Photo Group, add your shot and your donation has been made! If you want a gold star please tag the photo with PhotoChallenge and LEAP.

A Little Closer

I was many hundreds of miles away during the memorial for Chris on Saturday. Thanks to the magic of modern technology, though, I had a decent grasp of how things were going. The great thing about that was that I didn't feel like I missed out entirely. The not so great thing was that I didn't feel as though I was doing enough. Thankfully I recognized that sort of feeling as something Chris would think was silly.

I took myself in hand and decided to do something to honor him on my own while so many others were gathering so far away. On the sidebar of his blog Chris has a word count titled, "The Shitty First Draft." The premise there is that the most important part is writing the story down. You can't get to a gorgeous finished product if you don't write anything down. You have to make peace with the first draft not being perfect, maybe even being shitty, so you get the words on the page.

A  few weeks ago I had this insanely perfect idea for a children's book. In a wildly uncharacteristic move I started to write it down the same day. I got a page or two in and folded. It was awful. I was just not getting to the great parts I'd "written" in my head. A few days later I tried again. It was better but it didn't feel very good and at the first hitch in its giddyup I let myself stop. I've written on other things since.

So on Saturday I told myself that I'd spend time during Chris's memorial adding words to my shitty first draft, making peace with the fact that it might be shitty while being grateful that it was making it to the page. And you know what? I finished it!

Thanks to Chris, thanks to everyone who knew him, thanks to his putting himself out there on the internet I have a shitty first draft of a project, the first shitty first draft of something really big that I've had in a long time.

I wish he'd told me what I should call the second draft.

Admitting

I was wrong. It was Journey who sang Open Arms. If you were following me on Twitter, though, you already knew that my memory for the 80s songbook is just abysmal. Here's a picture of Journey now.

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Don't forget the current challenge, LEAP. For each photographer that enters photographs into the LEAP photo challenge by Tuesday February 28 I will donate $10 to The American Cancer Society. Simply upload your photo to Flickr (you can get a free account if you need one), join our Photo Group, add your shot and your donation has been made! If you want a gold star please tag the photo with PhotoChallenge and LEAP.