Ok, so I didn’t take this picture myself – because that’s ME in it!  A few weeks ago, I was notified that I beat out 90 other people for a spot on the first ever Playhouse Square Review Crew!  This means I get two free tickets to EVERY SHOW in the 2010-2011 KeyBank Broadway Series in exchange for giving them my opinions of the shows on video before and after each one.  Oh, and I also got a Review Crew tee-shirt (with the absolutely irreverent tagline, “Of COURSE they’re opinionated – it’s their JOB!”) and a goody bag full of surprises!

Tonight was opening night and I got to see Blue Man Group live and in person.  You can read my long review of the show here or settle for this short version: IT’S AWESOME – GO SEE IT!

The thin horizon of a plan is almost clear.
My friends and I have had a tough time
bruising our brains hard up against change.
All the old dogs and the magician.

Now I see we’re in the boat in two by twos,
only the heart that we have
for a tool we could use.
And the very close quarters
are hard to get used to.
Love weighs the hull down with its weight.

But the wood is tired and the wood is old
and we’ll make it fine if the weather holds.
But if the weather holds
we’ll have missed the point
that’s where I need to go.

No way construction of this tricky plan
was built by other than a greater hand
with a love that passes all our understanding
watching closely over the journey.

Yeah, but what it takes to cross the great divide
seems more than all the courage
I can muster up inside.
Although we get to have some answers
when we reach the other side,
the prize is always worth the rocky ride.

But the wood is tired and the wood is old
and we’ll make it fine if the weather holds.
But if the weather holds
we’ll have missed the point
that’s where I need to go.

Sometimes I ask to sneak a closer look,
skip to the final chapter of the book.
And then maybe steer us clear
from some of the pain that it took
to get us where we are this far.

But the question drowns in its futility
and even I have got to laugh at me.
No one gets to miss the storm of what will be
just holding on for the ride.

But the wood is tired and the wood is old
and we’ll make it fine if the weather holds.
But if the weather holds
we’ll have missed the point
that’s where I need to go.

~ Wood Song, Indigo Girls

PRINCETON: Why does everything have to be so hard?

GARY: Maybe you’ll never find your purpose.

CHRISTMAS EVE: Lots of people don’t.

PRINCETON: But then- I don’t know why I’m even alive!

KATE MONSTER: Well, who does, really?  Everyone’s a little bit unsatisfied.

BRIAN: Everyone goes ’round a little empty inside.

GARY: Take a breath. Look around.

BRIAN: Swallow your pride

KATE MONSTER: For now…

NICKY: Nothing lasts,

ROD: Life goes on,

NICKY: Full of surprises.

ROD: You’ll be faced with problems of all shapes and sizes.

CHRISTMAS EVE: You’re going to have to make a few compromises…
For now…

ALL: But only for now! (For now)
Only for now! (For now)
Only for now! (For now)
Only for now!

LUCY: For now we’re healthy.

BRIAN: For now we’re employed.

BAD IDEA BEARS: For now we’re happy…

KATE MONSTER: If not overjoyed.

PRINCETON: And we’ll accept the things we cannot avoid, for now…

ALL:
But only for now! (For now)
Only for now! (For now)
Only for now! (For now)
Only for now!

Only for now! (For now there’s life!)
Only for now! (For now there’s love!)
Only for now! (For now there’s work!)
For now there’s happiness!
But only for now! (For now discomfort!)
Only for now! (For now there’s friendship!)
Only for now (For now!)
Only for now!

Only for now! (Sex!)
Is only for now! (Your hair!)
Is only for now! (Glenn Beck!)
Is only for now!

Don’t stress, Relax,
Let life roll off your backs
Except for death and paying taxes,
Everything in life is only for now!

NICKY: Each time you smile…

ALL: …Only for now

KATE MONSTER: It’ll only last a while.

ALL: …Only for now

PRINCETON: Life may be scary…

ALL: …Only for now
But it’s only temporary

PRINCETON: Everything in life is only for now.

~ “For Now” from Avenue Q

Yesterday, a child came out to wander.
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar.
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder,
And tearful at the falling of a star

And the seasons, they go ’round and ’round
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We’re captive on the carousel of time.
We can’t return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game.

Then the child moved ten times
’round the seasons.
Skated over ten clear frozen streams.
Words like, “When you’re older”, must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams.

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now.
Cartwheels turn to car wheels through the town.
And they tell him, “Take your time.
It won’t be long now
‘Til you drag your feet to slow the circles down.”

And the seasons, they go ’round and ’round
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We’re captive on the carousel of time.
We can’t return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game.

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty.
Though his dreams
have lost some grandeur coming true
There’ll be new dreams,
maybe better dreams, and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through.

And the seasons, they go ’round and ’round
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We’re captive on the carousel of time.
We can’t return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game.

And go ’round and ’round and ’round
in the circle game.

~ Joni Mitchell, Circle Game

When I am down and oh, my soul so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up to more than I can be.

There is no life, no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up to more than I can be.

You raise me up to more than I can be.

A prayer for peace from advent, a time of waiting, of preparation.  I am waiting now as well, in preparation for a change I sense is coming but cannot foresee.  In youthful impatience, I once would have yearned, demanded, pushed.  In mid-life wisdom, I can pause, reflect, assess, and wait. I can wait.

It’s birthday time again at the Schinker household!  Details on how this cake came to be are here.

I’m back!  This poor photo blog has languished for a few months, but today’s Shutter Sisters challenge inspired me to post again.

The assignment today was to explore photographing hands.  My mind immediately flew to my favorite hand picture, which I was sure was already posted here.  But no!  It wasn’t!

When Megan was in pre-school at age 4, I chaperoned a field trip to Carriage Trade farm.  On the hay ride, she slipped her hand into mine and I caught my breath when I looked down.  This picture reminds me of the simple joys of motherhood.

Yesterday, Kate at Shutter Sisters said, “So tell me, fellow shut-ins and winter-bounds: how do you keep your shutter spirit intact from now through May? What do you see through your lens that redeems this season of exhaust-spattered slushpiles and day after day of stay-puft marshmallow boys?”

Oh, how I longed for a gorgeous winter picture to share.  Winter is one of my favorite picture-taking seasons because it’s so MAGICAL!  but it was a busy day and I never got around to posting.  Then, speaking of magic, we woke up to this!

It was like Christmas morning, literally and figuratively!  The first kid up was trying to be quiet, and in that loud whisper the whole house could hear proclaimed, “It snowed!  Wow!  Look outside!  There’s enough to build a snowman now!  It SNOWED!”  Then they were both were excitedly running from window to window to take in the views.  (See what they saw here in my Flickr stream).

So, yes.  Fall and winter have their dreary days.  And usually this waiting time between pretty fall leaves and pretty crystals is my LEAST favorite time of year.  But a gorgeous early snowfall has changed everything.  I love living in Ohio!

It seems appropriate to be talking about change today, a day after the most historic national election in my lifetime thus far.  Today’s Shutter Sisters post asks, “What has affected or changed your photography? Is there an image that speaks of the transformation?”  Tracey speaks about how Motherhood changed her photography.  And yes, motherhood changed my photography as it changed everything in my life.  But motherhood also made me even more acutely aware of my desire to document life’s little details.

Photographically speaking, I’d have to say that the 0 distance super macro feature on my beloved Pentax Optio MX changed everything.  I am definitely drawn to the little details, and have been for decades.  I remember using bus rides to school to look at and really SEE the day-to-day and season-to-season changes around me when I was a youth.  But a super macro view of the world really allows all the exquisite details of nature to pop.

Many of my favorite macro shots like the ones here and here and here can be found in the archive of this blog.  Today’s shot is yet another example of what my super macro mode can do, taken back in May in my father-in-law’s garden.