Robeks: My happiest place on earth
DNA? Atoms splitting? Scales of an exotic fish? No, carpet at the bowling alley.
National Geographic photographer at work. (All right, someone taking photos AT National Geographic Explorers Hall, in the courtyard. I couldn't take photos inside.)
Chattering squirrel at Farragut Square.
Whoa, nice headlights!
A.J.'s guitar.
Busy hands at the rice table.
Two sets of busy hands at the rice table.
Overflowing mailboxes.
Rearview shot of preschool while backing out of the parking lot on a drizzly day.
Icy
Someday A.J. will be embarrassed that I posted a photo of his laundry. At least it's clean.
Koi pond outside a sushi restaurant. It's barely above freezing outside; they aren't even suspended in ice and oblivious to the chill. Swimming in 33-degree weather? I'm glad I'm not a goldfish. (I guess it could be worse, considering their proximity to the sushi restaurant.)
Aaaahhhh. You know you're in a good shaft of sunlight when your ears are backlit, and you're photographed through a haze of dust.
Lotsa bikes at the station.
Parade of bikes
Stumped
I remember when one of these dome structures was put up in my elementary school playground. Now I'm guessing they're some kind of triangular choking risk?
Dome. The geometry is similar to the doodles I do during board meetings.
View of treetops and power lines from my minivan moonroof. I liked the round sticky-burr things against the blue sky and wires. (I was in the drive-thru line at McDonald's when I shot this. Be grateful; this could have been a close-up of a McNugget.)
Bikes at Metro, as far as the eye can see ...
Hummus veggie pita from Spice of Life. Often copied, never successfully duplicated. Someone once told me the hummus here contains mayonnaise. I believe it.
"Extra, extra! Get your bipolar pre-feminist female poets here!"
Colleen joins the family business. (Slice-and-bake dough; you have to start somewhere.)
Welcome to Virginia. You may be five miles from the Capitol, but on Inauguration Day you can't get there from here.
Meringues
When engineers make meatballs.
The landscape of Zelda.
Reporting from the island of Virginia. I really wanted to post something significant today, but the many thousands of shots I took of my own TV just weren't cutting it. This is one of the major highways to DC that was closed off. I had to circle twice to get this sign, and even then couldn't really hold out for the perfect shot. But I didn't want to miss the chance to post the understatement of the year.
Flamer
The church that houses C's preschool is so pretty. I'm a sucker for pretty churches because most of the churches I attended growing up looked like mall food courts. The day I took this, it was bitter cold but the sky was brilliantly blue and sunlight was hitting the stucco in just the right spots. Maybe that's a ghost in the left window?
Many coins in the fountain
Ikea cinnamon buns.
I know this is a bad picture, but not being a serious photographer, you need to expect some bad shots from me. It was snowing on the playground yesterday, just random, perfectly formed flakes (that of course didn't stick). I was working at preschool and was showing the kids that the flakes were just like the ones we cut out of paper. They melted quickly off of my nylon jacket and the kids' wool mittens, but they seemed to hold their shape pretty well on the brown hair of one little girl, so I chased her all over the playground, trying to capture a flake with my camera. (I couldn't harass my own kid; she's blonde.) Yes, my little point-and-shoot camera, which is not designed to take photos of teeny little meltable things like snowflakes. When I uploaded the photos, I was shocked to see that despite the fuzziness and overall poor photo quality, I'd managed to capture a snowflake. (Then I went on Flickr to see real photos of snowflakes and felt really naive and bumbling and stupid.) samandterri.blogspot.com
Snowy twisty slide.
Leftover
It looks like a crime scene featuring Shrek and Kermit the Frog -- but really it's food coloring sprayed on snowy bushes. Idea courtesy of legendary preschool teacher Mrs. Landry.
Inside the terminal at DCA
Crossed yardsticks -- the international symbol for "Keep out of my room, little sister."
She'll be a powerful Bananagrams ally if she stays this small and learns to read.
Hues
(Taken with my iPhone) Upon landing at DCA yesterday evening, just as the game was starting, I saw this parked at one of the gates. The security guard (a Steelers fan and Pittsburgh native) said it was on its way to PIT. I said it should have been in Phoenix or Tampa -- poor planning by the folks in the Hub to have it languishing in DCA, which has plenty of Steelers fans.
Hypotenuse
Gallery
A serendipitous shot of Boston out the car window while en route to the airport two weeks ago. I saw Sam and Terri posted landscapes and wanted to play along, even though cityscape is as close as I can get today!
Kids at the airport last week.
Ballet class through the window
My Chucks.
Banky
Dude on guitar
"I will drink Life to the lees." -- Tennyson (This is what happens if your wine glass keeps missing the dishwasher loads.)
Shooting blind: I can't see a half-inch in front of my face without my glasses. I'd taken them off to clean them, then thought to snap a photo even though I couldn't see what I was snapping. It's fuzzy but I thought the shot turned out to be interesting. That's a suncatcher craft reflected in the lenses.
Gingerbread
My mantel at dusk (bald baby Colleen at left)
Megan eats a doughnut (why don't I look this cute eating a doughnut?). I was experimenting with the "kid" setting on my Nikon.
I have become obsessed with capturing my cat's tongue on film.
Octopus ornament that didn't get put away after Christmas
magic wand
Busy Friday night, busy intersection, busy Chipotle
Don't you hate it when your skin gets dry and scaly in the winter?
A fish tale.
Cuppa
My baby cup. In need of a little polish (much like its owner).
Happy early birthday to me. I couldn't resist this cupcake. My friend Leslie makes beautiful jewelry, and she was wearing this when we recently met for lunch. She had a whole selection from which to choose in her car, but I didn't have time to look -- so I bought this one right off her neck.
I spent all morning vacuuming ...
I have no idea where this pewter platter came from -- maybe a wedding gift? Regardless, I've always had it displayed it on a corner shelf.
Wessonality.
A fine spray
I have double-jointed thumbs. I didn't realize this was unusual until my grade-school friends commented on it. My dad has them, too, as does one aunt. When my kids were born, one of the first things I checked for was whether they got "the thumbs." They didn't.
Every year, my brother has an authentic King Cake shipped from New Orleans for my birthday (which is conveniently right around Mardi Gras time). This year's cake was especially luscious.
Blue-eyed ladybug
Very early 19th century grave marker at The Falls Church -- with probably the longest epitaph I've ever seen. It actually spilled onto another side of the stone.
Lily pads atop lightly frozen koi pond.
Ivy isn't good for the brickwork or woodwork, and this really should come down, but I love how it looks. Sue me.
Stained glass window from the inside of a pizza parlor.
"Hello, world. Shout-out to all my peeps at the nature center."
Colleen's first Oreo S'more at Cosi. A.J. and I decided she was old enough to deal with the sterno stove. (Cosi offers "S'mores for Two," and brings the whole kit right to your table.)
I love Penzey's. I could spend an hour just sniffing various jars.
Z-cat off-center
Gingerbread and contrail. Weathervane and antenna.
First swim lesson
Noodly.
This is Gravelly Point, a really unique spot in DC that's part soccer field, part bike path, part water-rat habitat, and part gathering place for flight junkies. (Also other junkies, I understand.) DCA is just to the right of where this shot ends. When the wind is right, planes come so low overhead here that you're sure they'll knock your hat off. The noise is deafening. But it's thrilling -- for perhaps 15 minutes for me. (My brother, on the other hand, could spend all day here.)
Flying squirrels. Someone had trapped them in an attic and brought them to the nature center to be re-released. They were scared out of their minds, but I didn't mind getting close for a photo (no flash, of course) knowing they'd soon be back in the wild. You can tell they're nocturnal by their big black eyes -- far bigger than those of regular squirrels.
Hitching posts.
Story of my life. (Also Pisces.)
My son's school has an outdoor classroom where the kids conduct planting experiments related to what they study inside. Somehow I got roped into volunteering, despite my total lack of a green thumb. Luckily I got promoted (or demoted) to photographer for this particular activity: planting peas a la Thomas Jefferson.
Manhole cover with vintage Bell symbol.
Just another of my hangouts.
Donkey from a DC art installment a few years ago, featuring (duh) elephants and donkeys. This one was permanently relocated to Falls Church. Despite signs threatening prosecution if it's touched, kids are always climbing all over it.
Shot taken while in line at Georgetown Cupcake. The shop is tiny and the buzz is big, so there's almost always a line. Some tourist behind me kept barking on her cell phone, "Yes, I'm in a line 30 people deep. For a cupcake. Yes, that's right. It's so stupid." I wanted to tell her she was welcome to leave any time.
The wares at Georgetown Cupcake. This is the only trendy cupcake place in DC that gets it right. After A.J. and I had placed our order and were waiting for our cupcakes to be boxed, I asked if it was all right if I took a photo. They looked at me as if I had two heads. "Of COURSE it's all right! Go ahead!" How refreshing in secretive, "this is copyrighted" DC.
Many years ago a travel trade magazine advertised a contest held by a Ritz=Carlton hotel in Florida that was undergoing renovations. The original doorknobs would go to winners of the contest. I don't remember what I had to do (I vaguely recall writing a funny poem), but I won one. For years I used it as a paperweight. I still think it's pretty neat.
People are always asking me who painted this picture in my living room. I tell them I picked it up at a charming little Swedish gallery.
Mr. Cardinal, a bright spot in the yard yesterday afternoon. He and I both thought spring was imminent ...
Monkey bread, ready to pop into the oven. (Now with 200% more fat and sugar!)
Pony-for-hire. Her name was Pixie.
She turns 5 on Sunday. Unbelievable.
Part 4H-style competition, part trade show, and part horrifyingly large gathering of people who worship at the Church of Fondant. There were some nice designs at the cake show -- but not a single cake I would have liked to eat.
Yesterday we unearthed a kite I'd bought (cheap!) a couple of years ago. It turns out it lights up, so after dark we headed out to the ballpark to give it a try. You can't tell in this picture because of the flash, but there's a neon-like outlining of green. (John's hair, incidentally, is that color whether a flash is used or not.)
C requested "minty" cupcakes for her birthday party. The frosting is buttercream with a touch of peppermint extract, topped with a Sno-Cap.
The Fluff Chamber at Build a Bear.
Price-tag excavation and a quick Googling confirmed that my new $11 Juicy Couture sweater indeed has a retail price of $288.
Paint Your Own Music Box kit, a birthday gift. Unfortunately she painted it so thoroughly that she inadvertently sealed it shut. Good thing she doesn't have any jewelry.
Looking up at twilight
C may have Octo-mom complex. She has so many babies that she tends to put them to sleep in very random places. (Apologies to any Steelers fans reading this.)
Upcoming acts at the State Theatre
Aloft
I made homemade marshmallows yesterday. They are divine toasted over an open gas flame.
Stream that runs through the nature center. A big novelty to semi-urban kids.
C and A.J. in Jefferson's garden pavilion at Monticello, where he reportedly spent quiet time while taking in the scenery.
A view of Monticello, taken by 9 1/2-year-old A.J.
Duck in the Tidal Basin, laughing at tourists and looking for food. (And eating a few stray cherry blossoms.)
Resident of a bush near my door. Unlike some other mother birds who have taken up temporary residence there, she's still as a statue and unflappable. (So far.)
"Can you hear me now?"
Chim-chim-chiree
I just paid four figures for tree work, so trust me -- I love seeing these fresh cuts.
Bad posture
Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's camellias
Happened upon in C's room. "Charmed, I'm sure."
Chain gang
Truman Balcony
Afloat
New neighbor
Dusky
Ups and downs
Hotel Washington, a DC landmark that used to have a fabulous rooftop terrace with a bar. We used to go here in college, and I would go with co-workers when I worked in DC. Perfect for viewing the whole Mall and White House and EOBs. The hotel was a little shabby, but in its heyday hosted Elvis and other bigwigs. The hotel has been bought by a company that intends to make it into a trendy boutique hotel, and is stupidly enclosing the old rooftop terrace. At least the building artwork seems to have been kept intact.
White House fountain; Jefferson Memorial in distance
Silhouettes. The ones on the left and right were my kids in 2005. I decided I needed to update C's since she's not a baby anymore, so the middle one was done yesterday.
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
High density population
Umbrella alight
Strutting
Swisher
Photographer or prey?
Ouch
Collaborators
Tutu much
Lily of the valley
Beautiful, quirky, complicated, sunny -- and not a mean bone in her body. I couldn't possibly be prouder of this little girl.
Fireworks
Silhouette
Our neighborhood is a wall of azaleas this time of year.
Tippy top
Too much rain
A Valentine from the other side of the fence
Critter
Marine K9 Unit demonstration. The marine wearing the bite pad was able to lift the dog and spin it around; the dog never let go.
Agility course
R Sweet R
Rhodadendrons in bloom
Art show
Funky subject, funky shot. I'm not sure how this happened. I think I was recoiling in horror at the sight of the caterpillar.
A wiffle ball with holes thrown from 40 feet CAN break a single-paned window. And a 40-year-old man breaks his first window with a ball.
"I'm a just a cat, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her."
Got balls
Sniffing the springtime air
Rose, view 2
Backlit and beetle-bitten
Nailed
Rolling Thunder, rolling past my house
Saving the world. Or destroying the world. Same difference.
Sheriff
Ready to take the world by storm
Flash flood
Legally blind
Safe place
So close they can taste it!
Oatmeal girls
Billowy curtains, open window; evening rainstorm outside
The view from here for the last 3 days or so. Perhaps I should have taken the bikes inside?
Oasis
Swingtown
Lunch break
Mr. Egghead, a relic from my childhood currently enjoying a resurgence in popularity thanks to John's tonsillectomy.
Rhapsody in pink: This incredible sky created a rosy glow all over the neighborhood.
This hurt me far more than it hurt them.
The 'hood on a beautiful summer evening
A sailor's delight
Adirondack style
My photo editor Lisa told me to snap this one.
"Your necklace is beautiful. May I take a picture of it?" Thank you, Angelina, for not freaking the hell out on me when I asked.
peak
Some retro-looking chick
She enjoys being a girl. (Perhaps too much.)
Happy Father's Day
Lineup
Brush-off
Leavin'
Tired
Locked
Dude with birdcaller
Proboscis & beady eyes
A "View from Here" first: Photograph by Zelda the Cat via the National Geographic Pet Cam. This is how she sees crossing the threshhold into the basement.
Gentrification
City sidewalks
First and M, SE
For it's once, twice
Angry
Nosy
Bee industrious
Rakish
Long may she wave
Rocky VIII
Wildcat
Gazebo
Twin peaks
Wherefore art thou
A very small portion of mom's prized collection
Christmas Tree Shop windmill at Sagamore
Eye love him
Twilight (now, Terri, don't get all excited)
A-doored
Eye love him!
Sunny
Almost
Countdown
Flock
Feathery
Strut
Big Pig
Novice
Neigh
Guardian
Detail
Anticipation
Glen Echo
Cheesy
Saarinen
Cart before horse
Kicks
All relative (guest photographer: John)
Terrifying
Loopdie
Flood
Um
Jaguar
Crafty
Dappled
Stillness
Georgetown Anachronism
Break
No
Directive
Connection
Winner
Shoot
Fair fare samandterri.blogspot.com
Mahesh
Filigree
Bella samandterri.blogspot.com
Floored samandterri.blogspot.com
Glory samandterri.blogspot.com
Stacked
Rays
Nutty samandterri.blogspot.com
Motorcade (8/29/09)
Change
Waves
Up
Lincoln
Bust
Trodden
Food fight samandterri.blogspot.com
Carved
Texture
Direction
Diner samandterri.blogspot.com
Overgrown
High-strung
Ghost
Head-on
Bitsy
Kindergarten
Emergent
Cornish
Monday! samandterri.blogspot.com
Pretty (Thus endeth Cat Show Week)
All fluff
Slurp
Reflective samandterri.blogspot.com
Munched
Mamarazzi and paparazzi samandterri.blogspot.com
Knotty
Senior portrait
Prism
Smiling samandterri.blogspot.com
Catnap
All show
The Shadow Knows!
Barrymore
Phantom
Doormat
Shaft
Mantel
Medallion
Heated
Pollen
Hangin'
Brilliance
Timing
How you doin'? samandterri.blogspot.com
Love-Love
Bluesy
Poison
Coney
Mural
Barncat
Vista samandterri.blogspot.com
Fleshy
Billy samandterri.blogspot.com
Fiery samandterri.blogspot.com
Whiskery
Aerialist samandterri.blogspot.com
Boo
Lookout
Uh-oh
Picnic
Honeycombish
Coach
Slash samandterri.blogspot.com
Scalene samandterri.blogspot.com
Cindy samandterri.blogspot.com
Autumn Blues (4pointsofview.blogspot.com)
Reycling samandterri.blogspot.com
Handy samandterri.blogspot.com
Reuse samandterri.blogspot.com
Distressing
Fixture
Mum samandterri.blogspot.com
Tucked
Login
3.14
Pinky
Rosy
Interrogation
Mass Ave samandterri.blogspot.com
Lacy samandterri.blogspot.com
Natural History samandterri.blogspot.com
Crossing samandterri.blogspot.com
Sculpture
Lichtenstein samandterri.blogspot.com
Misty samandterri.blogspot.com
Peekaboo
Treetops
Hothouse samandterri.blogspot.com
Landscaper
Bare
Visibility samandterri.blogspot.com
Berry Christmas
Merry & bright
Shrouded
Oddly seasonal
Duo samandterri.blogspot.com, 12/24
Cupcake
Cupcake samandterri.blogspot.com
Topper
Merry & bright samandterri.blogspot.com
Flurries samandterri.blogspot.com
Snowed in samandterri.blogspot.com
Eggnog
Domesticity
Tune-in
Impressions Visit 4pointsofview.blogspot.com starting 1/1/10!
Being green Check out my new album, "as we see it"
Rays Check out my new album, "as we see it"
Ova Check out my new album, "as we see it"
Spree Check out my new album, "as we see it"
I won't be adding to this album after today. I hope you'll visit my NEW public album, "as we see it," and our 2010 photoblog, 4pointsofview.blogspot.com. I enjoy and appreciate your comments!
