Cutie-Pie (212/365)

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The Bride: Where's Bill?
Buck: Please stop hitting me...
The Bride: WHERE'S BILL?
Buck: I-I don't know who Bill is!
The Bride: BULLSHIT!
Buck: Well, ain't you the little slice of cutie pie they said you were. "Jane Doe," huh? Well, we don't know shit about you, huh? Well, I'm from Huntsville, Texas. My name is Buck, and I'm here to fuck, ha-ha-ha...
~ Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)


TIME: 9:00 PM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Cutie-Pie

I bought this teapot on my St. Louis road trip. Sujomi took me to a flea market my last day in town. I saw this teapot and had to have her. When I asked about the price, I made a mental note that if she was $10 or less, she'd be mine. She was $10.

I did a little research today and learned that she is quite the collectible. Made by a company called Napco (National Potteries Corporation) that started up in 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio. She's worth quite a bit more than I paid for her, but I don't love her for her monetary value, I love her because she's a Cutie-Pie!

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Bass Drum (211/365)

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“The noisiest drum has nothing in it but air”
~ English Proverb

TIME: 8:00 PM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Bass Drum

Cam came home from band camp tonight. All reports are that he took to the bass drum quite well. He also discovered that marching with a base drum hanging from your shoulders, in 90 degree heat, for hours on end, is one hell of a workout!

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Threshing (210/365)

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As threshing separates the wheat from the chaff, so does affliction purify virtue.
~ Christian Nestell Bovee

TIME: 7:00 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Threshing Bee

Steam engines!! Steam engines!! OK ... there is wheat and chaff too ... STEAM ENGINES!

So which one of you need a good threshing??

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Bridal Shower (209/365)

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Marriage is like a hot bath. Once you get used to it, it's not so hot
~ unknown

TIME: 12:00 PM
PLACE: Cubicle Hell
SUBJECT: Bridal shower

A co-worker is getting married this weekend and we had a bridal shower for her at work today. I was thrilled when I was asked to take photos - it meant the requirement for me to make small talk was greatly diminished!

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Chinese (208/365)

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“Never eat Chinese food in Oklahoma.”
~ Bryan Miller

TIME: 6:30 PM
PLACE: DeKalb
SUBJECT: Chinese Food

I did something tonight I have never done before - I went to a Chinese buffet - ALONE!
Guess what? It wasn't the end of the world, surprisingly!

Does anyone else ever wonder if the Chinese writing really does
translate onto the English restaurant name?

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Butterfly (207/365)

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“The caterpillar does all the work but the butterfly gets all the publicity”
~ George Carlin

TIME: 1:30 PM
PLACE: Cubicle Hell Parking Lot
SUBJECT: Butterfly

Although seldom do you see caterpillars dead on the grill of a car. Squished under the tires maybe ... but seldom on the grill of a car!

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Deere Season (206/365)

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“The only difference between a pigeon and the American farmer today
is that a pigeon can still make a deposit on a John Deere.”
~ Jim Hightower

TIME: 10:00 AM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Deere Season

This one is for sale!

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Flood (205/365)

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“We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

TIME: 1:00 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Flood

Those green bumpy clouds? They left their mark! This is my "backyard". Although the skies are blue now, it will take a while for this to dry up!

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Bumpy (204/365)

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“Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night!”
~ Bette Davis

TIME: 5:00 PM
PLACE: Podunk v2
SUBJECT: Bumpy

I hate bumpy clouds ... especially GREEN bumpy clouds ...

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Bicycle (203/365)

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“The hardest part of raising a child is teaching them to ride bicycles. A shaky child on a bicycle for the first time needs both support and freedom. The realization that this is what the child will always need can hit hard.”
~ Sloan Wilson

TIME: 6:00 PM
PLACE: Village Pedaler
SUBJECT: Bicycle

One of the smartest things I did was purchase Cam's bike from a reputable bike shop. Tonight, Cam and I took his bike in to get the rear tire tube changed and to get his crank adjusted. I only pay for parts - lifetime adjustments are included for any bike purchased from this shop. With Cam's bike being his primary mode of transportation, this is a really good thing!

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Shadow (202/365)

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“False friends are like our shadow, keeping close to us while we walk in the sunshine
but leaving us when we cross into the shade.”
~ Christian Nevell

TIME: 12:30 PM
PLACE: Forest Preserve
SUBJECT: Shadow

This bench, which sits in the forest preserve, is a memorial bench and I cannot help wonder about the life it celebrates each time I see it.

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Silo (201/365)

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“Wait a minute! I'm not interested in agriculture. I want the military stuff. [During a briefing military stuff in which officials began telling him about missile silos]”
~ William Scott

TIME: 6:00 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Silo

It's all about perspective!

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Dresses (200/365)

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“A woman's dress should be like a barbed-wire fence: serving its purpose without obstructing the view.”
~ Sophia Loren

TIME: 7:00 PM
PLACE: The Hill, St. Louis
SUBJECT: Dresses

No, I didn't go back to St. Louis today, just had a few more photos I really wanted to share. This one is a reminder that you really should take notes (or at least a photo with the store name) when shooting in an unfamiliar city. There was a dress shop on The Hill that had to dress mannequins - with formal dresses on - in front of the store. Lace makes me smile ...

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Purse (199/365)

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“I ran three miles today. Finally I said, "Lady take your purse.""
~ Emo Philips

TIME: 7:00 PM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Purse

In addition to being a fabulous photographer, Sujomi is also quite creative with fabric. Imagine my surprise when she presented me with a birthday gift upon my arrival. Better yet? It's a purse ... ummm ... errrr ... BAG ... because I would never carry a purse. Nope! Not me! I'm not that girlie, but I adore my bag!

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Donuts(198/365)

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“Be sweet and honest always, but for God's sake don't eat my doughnuts!”
~ Emma Bunton

TIME: 8:00 PM
PLACE: St. Louis
SUBJECT: Donuts

I got quite the tour of the St. Louis area while visiting Sujomi and Handsome Husband. Never have I seen so many great signs in a single area. I could easily have shot a full month of sign photos!

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Arch (197/365)

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“I've decided life is too fragile to finish a book I dislike just because it cost $16.95 and everyone else loved it. Or eat a fried egg with a broken yolk (which I hate) when the dog would leap over the St. Louis Arch for it.”
~ Erma Bombeck

TIME: 11:00 AM
PLACE: St. Louis
SUBJECT: Arch

Took a little road trip from Podunk to visit Sujomi, her Handsome Husband and their three musketeers. Although there were many highlights, one of them was definitely the trip to the Arch. My tour of St. Louis started here and what a wonderful place for it to start!

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Water Tower (196/365)

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“You can milk a cow the wrong way once and still be a farmer, but vote the wrong way on a water tower and you can be in trouble”
~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy

TIME: 2:15 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Water Tower

One of the things I love about the Midwest is its water tower dotted skyline. We have several here in Podunk, this one being on the high school property and proudly displaying the mascot's footprint.

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Back In Time (195/365)

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Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day,
listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky,
is by no means a waste of time.
~ John Lubbock

TIME: 5:30 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Back In Time

Some people claim country folk are backward and behind the times. I would argue they've found the best of times and continue to celebrate them!

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Spike Flower (194/365)

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“I ain't Martin Luther King. I don't need a dream. I have a plan.”
~ Spike Lee

TIME: 5:30 PM
PLACE: Forest Preserve
SUBJECT: Spike Flower

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High School (193/365)

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“The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death! What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating...


...and you finish off as an orgasm.”
~ George Carlin

TIME: 6:00 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: High School

I had to visit the high school that Cam should be attending this fall. He had to be registered in his "home school" but will be attending classes - indefinitely - at a therapeutic day school. Having to go through the freshman registration process, knowing it was just an administrative requirement - was heartbreaking.

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Storm (192/365)

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“Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amid the storm”
~ Unknown

TIME: 6:00 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Storm

As I was getting into my car after taking this pic, the skies opened up.
Good thing I pulled over when I did!

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Summer Snowflake (191/365)

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“Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand-and melting like a snowflake...”
~ Francis Bacon, Sr.

TIME: 5:00 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Summer Snowflake

I've discovered that I see more now that I'm participating in Project 365. Last week, Sujomi posted a pic she titled "Flower Fireworks" - it was the coolest flower I've ever seen! All of a sudden I started seeing the same flower everywhere and today took a photo of a summer snowflake!

Her's is much cooler!

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Silk (190/365)

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“If you put a silk dress on a goat he is a goat still.”
~ Irish Proverb

TIME: 7:00 PM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Silk

Thank goodness I'm not a goat!

Got this silk scarf as a prize for a blogger contest. If you want to see what else was in the box you can watch a WAY too long vlog [HERE]

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Corn (189/365)

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“The President cannot make clouds to rain and cannot make the corn to grow, he cannot make business good; although when these things occur, political parties do claim some credit for the good things that have happened in this way”
~ William Howard Taft

TIME: 5:30 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Corn

Just one month ago it looked like [THIS] Today? It towers above my head and will be ready to harvest soon!

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Toilet Seat (188/365)

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“Psychiatry's chief contribution to philosophy is the discovery that the toilet is the seat of the soul.”
~ Alexander Chase

TIME: 8:30 PM
PLACE: Menards
SUBJECT: Toilet Seat

We had a toilet seat failure Wednesday. I don't even want to know how it happened, but the toilet seat actually broke in half some time while I was at work (Cam was home). Wednesday night I made a quick stop at Menards to select a new one. I probably should have gone with Sponge Bob, huh??

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Flower (187/365)

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Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul.
~The Koran

TIME: 5:30 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Flower

Even when they are imperfect, they are perfect!

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Sun Tea (186/365)

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“'Mr. Churchill, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea!' And if you were my wife, I would drink it!”
~ Winston Churchill

TIME: 2:00 PM
PLACE: Home Sweet Home
SUBJECT: Sun Tea

When I first spotted this sitting on the sidewalk in front of my apartment, I thought someone was throwing away an ornate lamp base. Then I looked a little closer and discovered there was tea brewing in that ornate lamp base. I'm not sure I've ever seen sun tea be given such a beautiful home!

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Independence (185/365)

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“Independence? That's middle class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.”
~ George Bernard Shaw

TIME: 10:00 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Independence

Since moving to Podunk, there has been a neighborhood rivalry of sorts on the 4th of July. It's a battle of illegal fireworks and who can put together the best display without going to jail. There is much taunting leading up to the evening of the 4th - M80's exchanged between parties in the middle of the night - posturing prior to the big display.

In the past, I've been kind of a party pooper, worrying about the expense, safety and the legality of it all. This year? I was in a much different frame of mind and let myself have a good time - and a good time is what I had. It felt wonderful to let loose of all of the crap and just enjoy the moment. I think I might just be finding my own independence!

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Blackberry (184/365)

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We would load up the yellow Cutlass Supreme station wagon and pick blackberries during blackberry season or spring onions during spring onion season. For us, food was part of the fabric of our day.
~ Mario Batali

TIME: 2:00 PM
PLACE: Podunk Illinois
SUBJECT: Blackberry

I can't look at a blackberry bush without thinking about my grandfather. He was an avid picker - GALLONS of them every summer - and he would stop anywhere, without shame, to secure their sweetness. Blackberries make me smile!

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Cheat (183/365)

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“Camp is popularity plus vulgarity plus innocence.”
~ Indra Jahalani

TIME: Unknown
PLACE: Silver Birch Ranch
SUBJECT: Camp

Yes, I cheated on this one. Of course, I did NOT take this photo, but I did SCAN it, so I should get half-credit, right??

Cam came home from church camp tonight. Odd ... I don't remember church camp looking anything like this when I was a kid! For those of you who might not be familiar, Cam is in the front row, far right.

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Bug (182/365)

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“My dear, he sounds like all plug and no spark to me, you know, all bug and no lightning”
~ Bill Balance

TIME: 5:30 PM
PLACE: Forest Preserve
SUBJECT: Bug

Not only do I find new plants at the forest preserve each time I visit, but I find new bugs too!

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