The line forms to the rear

My front yard, early-ish in the morning. Loved the lines from the animals hopping from tree to tree, the lines of the trees, the lines in the tree bark. Played a lot between B&W and the original color image and decided I like the graininess of the B&W a little better.

Help wanted . . .

. . . enough said.

Thank goodness it's only seasonal!

Late afternoon, in back of the college, down near the river. Long shadows, warming temps, a touch of a filter and a tweak to levels. Beyond the foreground trees is the river - frozen and snow-covered. Pretty, but thank goodness it's seasonal!

"Orange" you glad you asked?

Can someone direct me to the buckets at Home Depot, please?

What's a thirsty girl to do?

All three rows of Diet Dr. Pepper, my beverage of choice, are sold out. The racks are empty. (Sigh...)

Sadly, abandoned

This little playground behind our college is not just abandonded for the winter. The in-house day care program was discontinued, so this bright, inviting area won't be in use come spring, either.

Anyone up for a little dip?

One of my birthday meals was at the Rain Forest Cafe. While waiting near the aquariums for our table, I used my little P&S to snap a picture of this pretty fish, out for a swim. (The "sports" mode was enough to stop his action!)

He was happy to learn he was NOT on the menu!

The waning months of . . .

. . . adolescence. College freshmen get together for an informal study session between classes. I'd hoped to "catch" them playing poker (a popular passtime) but instead, they were reviewing a textbook. How about that?

Glittery . . .

We had one of those weird foggy stretches during my drive to work. It was sunny overhead. The temperature differential frosted the trees. They were so pretty, I had to pull over and snap a few shots! This fits the snow and ice theme without any difficulty!

Not rural, but . . .

. . . urban! (Did you finish the sentence correctly? If so, you might be a candidate to appear on the game show "Password"!)

Looking up, up, up at this building near the Sears tower in downtown Chicago.

When in doubt, wear red!

The deep red CNA building in downtown Chicago. Very festive!

Through the looking glass . . .

Captured this series of reflections while walking on Van Buren Street in Chicago on a cold, bright, clear day!

Most important meal of the day . . .

Breakfast! How about some fresh blueberries with your Quaker Oat Squares?

Dinner, anyone?

Playing with adjustment layers on this P&S photo of an eating establishment.

I want it long, straight, saggy, waggy, oily, greasy...

(insert more lyrics) ... long as I keep lovin' my hair!

OK - this photo is blurry and there is no real focus...BUT...there is a story behind this! In the bowels of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at U of Illinois, this rack of wigs awaits the final scene from the All-State high-school theater production of "Hairspray". We weren't really supposed to be in this location, so the shot was quick and furtive. In real life, these wigs were VERY COOL! The production was amazing, as well!

Deep in the heart of Africa...

...lives the Lesser Kudu. With its curly horns and distinctive markings, this member of the antelope family proudly guards the entrance to my faculty office.

Note: This is actually a picture taken a couple of years ago. I planned to take this image for "curly", but when we returned to school after semester break, all the animal heads gracing the halls of our college had been taken down and donated! I hope no one will call the 365 police...

Not a snow day, but a COLD day . . .

. . . so no school today around here. Baby, it's COLD outside!

Illinois prairie sunset (worth a peek) . . .

Driving to Champaign, IL, by myself last weekend, I was bored. This glorious sunset was unfolding over my right shoulder. I tried rolling down the back window and just clicking, but, as you might guess, the shots were blurry. I couldn't stand it any more and finally pulled over on I-55 and took a half-dozen shots with my litte Pentax. This is straight out of the camera - no PS tweaking. Wowser, was it pretty!!!

Hey! Save me a seat . . .

The Lincoln Hall auditorium at the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Do as I say, not as I do . . .

Ever read the sign on the gas pump that says (paraphrasing) "If you leave your vehicle while it is fueling, you are breaking the law?"

Imagine my surprise when I pulled up behind this vehicle to refuel. There wasn't a soul in SIGHT near the vehicle.

Talk about "things that make you go, hmmmmmm ....

Let there be lights....

There's a little story behind the abstract photo. Riding home in the car from Champaign IL (about a 3 hour trip past many, many, many flat cornfields) a lovely moon materializes to make the scenery a little more interesting. Since I'm riding shotgun, I decide to see if I can snag a moving picture. Put the setting of my little Pentax P&S on "night scene", roll down the window (braving the 15 degree temps), and click. As I'm waiting for the shutter to close, we gain on a semi in the adjacent lane. The results?? ABSTRACT! Woo hoo! Cross one difficult word off the list. (I'm counting this even though it is nothing like what I planned to shoot... :-D

"G" is for Gap

I have the paperbacks up to G (which is really for Gumshoe, for you Grafton purists). Borrowed "L" from the library and loaned "S" to my girlfriend, so I really have two gaps.

Northern Illinois January

I've been enjoying this little scene outside my living room window and finally decided to capture it because it truly does represent winter.

One of these does not belong . . .

. . . in the category of "Sweets". Which one? You decide.

Some tools of my trade . . .

I love my job! I get to spend much of my time teaching, talking about, or playing with, computers and software. Does it get any better than this?

The cardinal rule of bird feeding - have lots of seeds!

Enjoying having a bird feeder, so our feathered friends can drop by for a meal. I got lucky with this shot; she was at least 30 feet away, through our winter-dirty window glass. Thanks to PSE, I removed some of the glass haze, and then inked the edges for a little interest.

Shopping trip, anyone?

Over the years, I've had the opportunity to visit a few foreign countries, and hang on to any spare money left at the end of the trip.

Don't get too excited about those 1000 Rupiah notes - they are only worth about 11 cents US. (I tossed a US penny on the pile for perspective).

My favorite color is...

Imagine my delight when Verizon came out with this little baby...just when my plan came up for renewal.

Everything needs accessories...

Here are the cables, plugs, earphones and other accessories for 2 MP3 players, my P&S Pentax, and the GPS (Flo, as in, "go with the...") So many they all have to have their own little boxes. Why can't they just share?

Taking the rules to heart...

That "you can take the pictures in any order rule" is one of my favorites!
Reviewing the list today, I spotted #25 - Beverage of Choice - and there was no question what the subject would be.

My first 365 post!

I had a lot of ideas for "100", including stacking 100 pennies into towers, but I got wondering about the 100th day of the year, and learned that it is April 10.