Sibling Photo Assignment #6 : Still Life on Tabletops

I gave the sibling photo assignment this week. "Create a series of still lifes using a common theme",

"The beauty of still like is describe by its very name: it is life that sits still for you to photograph. That means you can take your time, making all the adjustments you need, placing or removing elements, and fine-tuning the lighting until you obtain a result that holds together as a composition. " Tom Ang

I had been studying still lifes in Ang's book How to Photograph Absolutely Everything this week. His quote above helped me make better sense of examining composition with everyday objects. I also experimented with some filters that added a different feel to some of the photos. You can find my other siblings' photo assignments here and here,

Sibling Assignment #184: Only the Beginning

Brother Bill gave the sibling assignment this week. "Write about how your taste in music has changed over the years -- unless it hasn't -- then write about how it's stayed the same." I will post the sibs' posts when they are done. I don't think my taste in musci has changed much throughout my life. After being introduced to different genres of music by family, friends, and students I learned an appreciation for new and different types of music. but I didn't leave the ones I loved behind. It is about the moments and the memories. The songs do stay the same.

“...because a song can take you back instantly to a moment, or a place, or even a person. No matter what else has changed in you or the world, that one song stays the same, just like that moment.”― Sarah Desse

Many of the songs from "The Sound of Music" take me back to Mrs. Williams' music class at Sunnyside School. She would write the lyrics on the chalkboard on the wall and the class would join in to sing favorites like "Do Re Mi", "My Favorite Things", and "Climb Every Mountain." I loved those moments because it brought a love for music at school to home where I could sit upstairs and listen to the Broadway album and continue to belt out those songs, and then connected to the excitement of seeing the film on the big screen in Spokane. It was the moments, places, and people that I remember. I would watch the film and listen the soundtrack any time, and day.

There are themes from movies that stir up strong memories. I walked in a classroom a few years ago and the class was watching "To Kill a Mockingbird." When the film opened with that familiar theme, I was transported back to the Rena Theater when I saw it the first time, and back to my living room when it appeared on television, and even later when watched it from a VHS tape from my home as an adult. I always picture the tree, the gifts from Boo, Atticus sitting with a lamp outside the jail, Scout in the ham costume.  I have strong memories when I hear the soundtracks from "On Golden Pond", "Saturday Night Fever", and "Hoosiers" also.   "Gonna Fly Now" and the soundtracks from the "Rocky" series have followed me through adulthood making "Creed" just a bit sweeter and nostalgic as the themes returned again last year.

"Hello, It's Me" by Todd Rundgren takes me back to the Perch at the University of Idaho campus every time I hear it. It was a popular choice on the jukebox while we drank hot chocolate with soft ice cream on top.  When I hear "Only The Beginning" by Chicago it still puts me right in the Spokane Coliseum  where I attended my first concert. The moment I first heard "Benny and the Jets" by Elton John I was in college singing it with my roommates. I remember that every time I hear it. When I watched and was mesmerized by the film and song "The Way We Were" I was suffering heartbreak from a college sweetheart. 

My students had a big impact on my taste in music. I was introduced to songs I may have never been exposed to, but now I look at my playlists and have fond memories of  listening to a class belt out a song, watching the video on a phone, or getting lists on scratch paper of songs I "had" to listen to. I may not have discovered Adele on my own. I may have never done "Gangnam Style" with students in drama class, and "Viva la Vida" may not have become such a class anthem if I hadn't liked it so much.  There are so many more songs I could add to this list.

I think I should have titled this post Part I because I could continue with playlists, downloaded songs, memories, and what songs still stay the same with me.  This is only the beginning, only just a start. I do love all types of music, but while reflecting as I prepared to write this assignment, I did realize that those moments, places, and people made a huge difference. What songs have stayed the same for you? It was very difficult to choose just one song to end this post.

Sibling Photo Assignment #5: Summer Coming to An End

We are back to do some sibling photo assignments. Here is #5:

Take a series of photos that indicate summer is coming to an end. 

It starts with the days getting shorter. Then there is a chill in the air. The flowers regroup with cooler weather and produce a final hurrah of blooms. Leaves are turning in the tree in front. I wore socks and fleece the other day. 

 turning leaves

 shorter days

 large dahlias

 sunflower seeds getting ready for birds

 zucchini going strong

cabbage ready to harvest

Sibling Photo Assignment #4: My Hometown

Here is what we are taking photos of this week.
" Using the theme My Hometown share a set of photos of places that have been around since you were a child. " I will link the sibs' posts when they are complete. Teeters Field has had a big overhaul since I was a child, but those bleachers still stand strong on the hill.

Since I now live in my hometown of Kellogg again, I see the places that have been with me since I was a child almost every day. I decided to take pictures of buildings in Kellogg for my assignment. I noticed as I was taking photos that brick was a primary material for buildings back in the day. Many of these buildings are now being renovated, but the exteriors have really held up through weather, smelter smoke, and age. Enjoy your tour.

According to town information, the same man bought the MConnell Hotel and the Lincoln School. Both are being renovated. Word has it the hotel will be a sporting goods store.

The school is being used for a knife manufacturing business, according to town sources.

I never remember a time this building wasn't here. Go Wildcats!

Still in the same place with a new sign. 

The old sign with the fancy drink is still present at the Inland Lounge.

Lots of memories at this bowling alley, both in the alley and upstairs for many events. Word on the street is it will become a commercial bakery. Clean up was being done today.

Some parts of Bunker HIll are still intact.

Making the Staff House into a museum was a good call. Beautiful building, good use.

Sibling Assignment #183: Rediscovering Sunnyside School

Brother Bill gave the assignment this week.
" Last night I was in Best Shots. I admired how it looks now and remembered what it looked like over forty years ago. It triggered memories and stories about the Kopper Keg back in my college days. Write about a place you have been to recently in Kellogg, Cd'A, Moscow, or anywhere else, that is different now than it was in your late teens or early twenties. Write about the physical place then and now and the memories and stories the place triggers. " You can find his here.

I am going to revise the assignment a bit and write about a physical place that is different now than my elementary school days. When Dave Smith Motors continued to grow on the corner of Cameron Ave. and Division St. in Kellogg landmark buildings disappeared. The Rena Theater was replaced with the Service Department building, the veterinarian office became a sales office. Our playground from elementary school became a place to park cars. What did remain intact, but is now used by Dave Smith Motors is Sunnyside School. If you look closely in the picture, you can see the silver Sunnyside School letters still there on the brick.

Last fall we decided it was time to replace our car. I had never been to Dave Smith and as we went from car lot to car lot first, then into the sales room, and then by a fireplace, I was a bit overwhelmed. While the details were being worked out, our saleswoman told us of a restaurant that was down a hall and then around a corner. What I didn't realize as we meandered to this small deli was I was walking back in the elementary wing of Sunnyside School. 

I didn't recognize the rooms or the floor and the pictures of Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot, and Puff had been removed from the walls, but slowly my mind made sense of where we were. When I looked out the window while we waited for our food I was really mixed up. How could Macri's  house be out this window? I actually stood up and walked around and realized I was sitting in the foyer in front of the principal's office of Sunnyside School. The view from the window helped me figure it out. You can't come in the front door of Sunnyside School where the office was, but then I did recognize the door. The glass display cases were gone. There were no October pumpkins, January snowmen or spring flowers created by students on display. I think it was just a wall.

We were all sad when the Rena Theater was torn down. Even though I couldn't figure out how  the sales rooms are connected to the elementary wing and principal's office, I am pleased the company kept the Sunnyside building. The older part of the building looks the same. I believe much of it is used for archived paperwork. I heard workers can use the gym. There is a nice grassy area out front that almost helps you forget our hard, dirty kickball/football field of childhood.

On Monday mornings a line would form outside the Sunnyside office as students purchased their strip of red lunch tickets for the week. I was back in line, but I wasn't getting lunch tickets . I think I purchased a chef salad. The dress shirt clad salesmen with their permasmiles was a big departure from Mr. Koepl as he loomed over us in the foyer, clearing his throat and scaring us with his deep voice. 

I should have stayed longer to see if the Borax soap dispensers were still in the bathrooms with the rough, brown paper towels. Of course, the satellite  dish is new.