The Fish

Aren’t Mother Nature’s sea creatures beautiful?

Day 151 – Leap and Land

Creativity makes a leap, then looks to see where it is. – Mason Cooley

The creative process is such a magical being, as a creation certainly takes a life of its own. I’m in awe of something so powerful.

Today’s mystery “what is it?!?” picture is a photograph I took specifically for this blog … and had forgotten about it until going through some other photos. Better late than never! Do you know? Can you tell?

What Is It?!?

What Was That?!? Yesterday’s Picture (Day 150)

Girish knew just what it was. “Ha ! Dentists chair the pipes with all the damn drills and cables. Thats what it is !”

Alas, not anything to do with the dentist. His follow-up guess was, “Mrs spider thinks it is timber venetian blinds.”

But it wasn’t timber Venetian blinds either. So what was it? The side of a blue ice cooler. I really liked the ambient light in the photo.

Weekly Photo Challenge: The Sign Says

Somewhere in Alabama, sitting next to a parking lot of a gas station/convenience store, is this Railroad Crossing sign along this very short stretch of train tracks. Was this once part of a longer stretch of railway? It’s just so out of place sitting right next to a parking lot! Watch out for the trains. Choo choo!

 

Want to play, too? http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/05/31/weekly-photo-challenge-the-sign-says/

Lion Fish

What glorious, graceful Lion fish! (Three pictures)

Day 150 – The Shag Pile Rake

Old age and the passage of time teach all things. – Sophocles

Maybe that’s why I feel so “wise” today? I’m surely feeling something … 😉

What Is It?!?

What Was That?!? Yesterday’s Picture (Day 149)

In between moans of pain from my yanked tooth, I managed to locate a subject to photograph for yesterday’s picture. Yay me, a pat on my back for being so dedicated to meeting my daily posts! I was quite pleased with the outcome, even though the identity wasn’t such a mystery. At least there was some guessing! And even a story!

The first guess was “zipper ? No, dont think so, maybe a comb, like a hair brush ?” I replied “stick with your gut instinct” because I had already seen that the second guess was “a zipper.” Yes indeed, ding ding ding, what you saw was part of a zipper.

But Terry’s story about this subject was quite imaginative, and I can definitely see the sense of that shag pile rake. Enjoy!

The Shag Pile Rake

Back in the late 1970s everyone who was anyone had shag pile carpet. One of our rooms still does. Bright red.
The problem with shag pile is that it gets flat and matted so someone came up with the idea of a shag pile rake. I remember seeing people wandering around with them at a Homes Exhibition. After the fifth person went by carrying one I just had to ask. Every home Exhibition has a gimmic item to sell or give away; that year it was shag pile rakes.
No one knows who thought of the idea but I do know that it broke someone’s heart.
Wyatt Muenkel worked in the carpet industry and he saw the shag pile trend coming. He came up with the idea for a fine toothed comb attached to a pole. The invention would keep shag pile carpets looking good and hopefully make him a fortune.
Before he could market his idea his employer found out what he was working on and claimed it under the terms of his contract. To make matters worse his employer sold the idea to a huge oil company that buried the idea along with the electric car and the technology to extract hydrogen from water.
The shag pile rage came and went but Wyatt’s heart was permanently broken.

Colors of the Sea

Day 149 – Drool Baby Drool

A beautiful thing never gives so much pain as does failing to hear and see it. – Michelangelo

Earlier today I had my achy back molar tooth pulled, and oh my, am I in some kind of pain. Woe is me, woe is me.

But I did manage to capture today’s mystery “what is it?!?” picture for you. It was quite painless, thank goodness. Can you tell? Do you know?

What Is It?!?

What Was That?!? Yesterday’s Picture (Day 148)

Thank you once again to our talented writer, Terry, for providing a story for yesterday’s mystery “what is it?!?” picture! I love the new dimension the picture takes with a story to match. Yay!

Everyone loves pasta.
So when the challenge went out, Javier Wafford knew what he had to do.
The newly minted millionaire Reyes Armillei had offered a prize of half a million dollars to the person who could develop a food that would feed large populations, would not take up a lot of space and be cheap and easy to manufacture.
Reyes had been sitting on the idea since he was in high school and now was the time to turn it into a small fortune and help the world all at the same time.
The idea was simple as all great ideas are but there were few bugs to iron out and that’s where his cousin Eric came in. Eric’s skill was turning great ideas into concrete objects.
The breakthrough came when Eric suggested blotting paper.
They embedded the blotting paper with uncooked pasta and dried it at a certain temperature which they would not disclose.
The precise temperature was necessary to make the sheets almost flat thereby making them easy to store and to transport.
Drop them into boiling salty water and the pasta grew and cooked all in the one process.
It was delicious as well.
All of the entrants into the competition were amazing but pasta you could shove under a door was always going to win.
Javier Wafford gave some of the money to his cousin Eric and the rest he invested in a blotting paper factory.
He doubled his money in just over a year.

So what happened to all of my “regular” guessers around here? Remember, it’s not about winning, it’s all about sharing your perspective. I want to know what the subject looks like to you. 🙂 Oh, I was about to end this without telling you what the subject was! What you saw was fungus growing on a broken branch on the ground.

Day 148 – I’m Gonna’ Croak!

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I’ve been spoiled these past few days with having a plethora of images to choose from for my daily mystery “what is it?!?” posts … and then today I realize I used them all. Now it’s time to get out the camera, traipse around my surroundings, and find one of those hidden treasures.

What Is It?!?

What Was That?!? Yesterday’s Picture (Day 147)

So yesterday’s image wasn’t quite a mystery, but it served my point well: sometimes you have to look to see. In this case, a 5th-grade student had to point out this frog to me (while in the frog exhibit of the Georgia Aquarium). Then I was able to discover more of these camoflaged frogs, which I never would have seen if I hadn’t looked.

I think these are Green Burrowing Frogs, but I’m not sure. I should have photographed the name of the frog while I could! Live and learn.

Ribit ribit

Say Your Name: Schelley

Can you spell that?

I’ve always said that my mom must have really wanted me to be a good speller considering she named me “Schelley.” Think about having to spell that name correctly in Kindergarten! I’m convinced that’s why I did turn out to be a great speller, walking dictionary that I am.

I was recently asked by a fellow blogger, whose last name is Schell, how often did people ever spell my name correctly? Ha! I replied that not even the school I attended Kindergarten-12th grade could get it right! My BFF from high school told her daughter that if she wanted to get on my good side, to make sure she spelled my name correctly! (Which she did, by the way.)

So apparently, spelling Schelley is no easy feat. Sometimes reading it aloud isn’t either (think of Schelley being pronounced as “school.”) No, I’m not Skelly, I’m Schelley. Yes, with the c.

And that’s not the only way to spell Schelley. You can drop the c (Shelley). You can drop the e (Shelly, Schelly). You can even drop the ey and use ie (Shellie, Schellie). Or you can drop the S (Chelly, Chelley, Chellie, Chelle). No wonder the confusion!

But wait … that’s not even my real name! Huh?

Schelley is just my nickname for Michelle (that’s where the “c” comes from); neither of my parents ever called me “Michelle.” I used to joke that when I answered the phone and the other person asked for “Michelle,” I knew it was a telemarketer. If you call me “Michelle,” you don’t know me. Because I’m really Schelley.

“So, mom,” I asked a long, long time ago, “why did you name me Michelle but always call me Schelley?”

“Well,” mom replied, “I loved the name Michelle, but it was too popular when you were born, so I just called you Schelley.”

I’m so glad she did. I’m really not a Michelle, that’s just an official name on my marriage license, mortgage deed, driver’s license, birth certificate, passport, paycheck, etc., you know, all those important papers. The paper trail in the financial and legal world knows me as Michelle. But to the rest of the world, I’m really a Schelley.

With a c. And an e.

You know what’s really funny? My middle name is “Mari.” No, it’s not pronounced as Mary, as I’ve had to explain numerous times, it’s pronounced just like Marie (but without the e).

But you can just call me Schelley.

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This was today’s daily prompt. Write about your first name: Are you named after someone or something? Are there any stories or associations attached to it? If you had the choice, would you rename yourself?

You can join, too! http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/daily-prompt-name/

Jellyfish Gallery II

I believe my favorite subjects to photograph at the Georgia Aquarium were the jellyfish. Can you tell? 🙂