Stymied

Bah!!  So, I have this idea for a Flickr challenge.  The challenge is to take a photo of a Movie Title.  I perused classic titles and came up with A Fistful of Dollars.  Never saw it, so I've got no preconceptions (if there would be any) aside from the name itself.  I just so happened to have a bunch of ones last night and attempted some photos of my own hand grasping the money.   None of the photos came out as well as I'd have liked - I should have set up the tripod, brought a drape out, darkened the room, etc., but wasn't really serious about it.

This morning, while at a work meeting/breakfast, I asked my colleagues to grab the stacks of cash in various ways as we were tallying the bill.  This was done and I got some cool shots, but that image of a darkened room with a green background and sharp low light haunted me all day as I went about my business.

I got home, finally settle in to take some photos, set up the room, with the green background, and the tripod, and - oh. Right. I spent all my cash!!

Good Grief.

I'll just have to do with some of the earlier photos I took.

If you like, check them out on the Photostream at Flicker  <- that link is actually another of the breakfast meeting photos, but if you navigate left or right, you'll get to the movie title photos!

Fire Trucks and More Fire Trucks

Since wanting to be a fire truck for Halloween, Mozart has become a little obsessed. To be honest, his obsession probably was in place long before that, but that is when I became aware of it. And when I learned he wanted to be a fire truck (not a fireman, mind you) I got to work.

I hummed and ha'ed, built a fire truck in my head, put that design to paper, made a list of supplies, went all over town to try and find them without breaking the bank, and put my plan in motion.  Unfortunately,I don't have pictures of the various stages, buy I'll try to r explore explain:

In my head I thought of a cardboard housing with suspenders to hold the whole thing up. Wheels would have to be off the ground, and the cab of the fire truck could double as his treat bucket. And, of course, there would be flashing lights!  'Course since it's a Halloween costume, and likely to be trashed, one wouldn't want to spend too much money, so I figured using duct tape for suspenders would do.  I thought of paper plates as the wheels and paper fasteners to attach them.  I went out to Home Depot to get spray paint, the duct tape and some reflective tape.  TW went back to HD to get some draft insulation tape a and a nozzle to use for the fire hose.  Then off to the dollar store and found some stick-on touch lights to use for headlight/brake lights.  Made a ladder from cardboard and more duct tape.

Displaying practice being a fire truck.jpgMy first try was a little front heavy.  It was already listing forward and there wasn't even any candy in the cab yet, so I shortened the cab by half, and at Mozart's request, added handles.  Up until this point, I hadn't been able to find any flashing lights, but a trip back to the dollar store solved both the handle AND flashing lights problem! Below is the final front view.










And here we have Mozart in action!  He'd gotten some loot, so the front is again listing forward, but he was still having a really good time here.
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I'm sure we would have won some sort of prize for his costume - we got TONS of complements, but the costume judging was held after the trick or treating, after the parade, and a long walk down a hill, and frankly by the time he we got down there, he was completely melted into a screamy mess.  And, you know, a screaming toddler is MUCH less cute than one who is not screaming.  So, yeah, we didn't win anything.

Even though he was thoroughly miserable by the time the evening was over, he requested wearing his costume several more times and we even went on a couple other outings in full regalia.  Until I just couldn't keep it together.  Below is the just after the truck's last outing.
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I thought that the whole fire truck theme would have calmed down after Halloween, but Mozart, it turns out, REALLY likes fire trucks.  We went to visit with the fire fighters and see the real trucks on several occasions, and while he had wanted a tractor, for the longest time, for Christmas, from after Halloween right up until Christmas, all he wanted from Santa was a fire truck.  Somehow, Santa got the message.

And now the young man wants a fire truck birthday cake!  I've got to put my creative hat on again and figure this out.  I'd really, really like to have a cake without red dye #40, but I can't think of a way to make a RED fire truck (and not a pink or purple fire truck).

We'll see.

I'll post once I figure it out. Or don't. Regardless, I'll post results.

That's good news!

You know, that my readers haven't flat-lined on me completely.  There are a few dedicated souls out there who are apparently still checking in here despite my spotty posting.  Thank-you!

The weather, the job, and the heating bills have all been somewhat trying recently.  Add to that a perpetually busy toddler to keep up with, a new chiropractor, who I love, but who has me on a new and less satisfying workout routine, a mid-winter attack of the blues, I've had less time and/or been less enthused about writing.

*le sigh*

I'll get back into gear.  I will.  And on the bright side, I'm still very much enjoying my camera.  I've manages to take photos daily.  And only a couple of those days have I felt less than fully satisfied with what I've taken.
I think, because, I'm not feeling too chatty, I'll share some of the photos I've taken over the the last little bit.

Here Mozart is checking in with Santa, thanking him for the Fire Truck, and telling him he is too big to eat cookies.


And here, he is taking on the world - or at least the biggest train show in the country.


While I am SO over the cold, I'm pretty glad to have gotten this cracked bubble at 16 below.


I had intended on posting more, but it turns out my Chromebook doesn't want to upload photos right now, and Flickr doesn't allow copying photos, which I suppose is a good thing.  But you can go to my Flickr site and look at them for yourself.

Yeah, and these little square things - they are my attempt to upload photos.  I can't seem to erase them now that they are there.  Maybe they'll show up later.  Maybe just funky little squares forever...