Do you know what is the worst thing to do during a weekend outing? Continue reading “My Adventure in Las Vegas – Day 2”
Tag: Nature
My Adventure in Las Vegas – Day 1
Okay, so I discovered another bad time to visit Vegas. September! It was still near 100 degrees and I constantly felt as though I was being baked alive. And the traffic? What are the chances I witness an accident at almost the same spot two days in a row? Continue reading “My Adventure in Las Vegas – Day 1”
Original
Backyard Landscape
Connected to Something
I haven’t really been out lately, mostly just stuck in the basement. The weather hasn’t been cooperating. It’s either too hot or too cold or too windy or too rainy. It’s like it’s playing a big game. So no new pictures but good news, I’m heading to Las Vegas in two weeks, yay!
So plenty of opportunities there. I’m looking forward to gambling and earning 5 extra credit points for my auditing class for doing something fun (No, I’m not kidding about the 5 points). The instructor apparently thinks we’re too tight and need to loosen up.
It’s the first time I’m going to Vegas since I turned 21 three years ago.
Anyway, I know that’s not what you’re here for, so let’s get this show on the road.
I know some of you have seen this picture before. I debuted it way back in June. Like I said, no new pictures.
Stairs are connected to something, right?
Sunday Reflection
Happy Sunday and what a week! Continue reading “Sunday Reflection”
Harvest (cucumbers and granny smith apple_
Cucumber flower
Incredibly large cucumber flower
Maturing Tomatoes
Thursday was Great Until…
Thursday has been my favorite day of the week all summer long.
Reason #1: The only day of the week my mom goes to work and not at home monitoring my actions while calling my name every time I sit down and begin to relax.
Reason #2: It’s the only day of the week when I can actually go out and take some brand-new picture myself. It’s not that I can’t take pictures when mom’s around. It’s just she likes to order me around. I want to take a macro picture of our baby watermelon and she says it will confuse our relatives back in China. What’s so confusing about a macro picture?
Reason #3: It’s the night that actually has some TV shows to watch.
So last Thursday or two days ago, mom told me the night before she’s going to be home late. It got me so excited that I could hardly sleep on Wednesday night. I was going to blog, eat some breakfast, go out for a photoshoot, and go to the bank, and then come home to do some meditation.
That did not go as planned. The fridge’s empty. There’s barely anything to eat. I just had one of these delicious muffins that mom had me bake last weekend.
Then I went out into the backyard garden and shot some photos of our baby watermelons, cucumber flowers, and maturing tomatoes. I came back and shot a picture of the harvest from the night before plus an apple from a week ago.
Before long, I got hungry. So I decided to make myself some lunch with the thought that I still have plenty of alone time. I must had jinxed it somehow because 5 minutes after I sat down for lunch, the garage door opened. Mom’s home and it’s only a little after noon. I groaned as she walked in, peeked at what I was having, chicken drumstick and rice.
So that’s the end to my Thursday. After lunch, I relaxed just a tad before walking to the bank, stood in a long line because mom was too lazy to go through the drive-thru to deposit a check.
Anyway, here are the pictures in a Mesh gallery. I’m still learning to use Mesh. So if it looks weird, just look at the normal gallery below.
Cucumbers
Granny Smith Apple
Harvest (cucumbers and granny smith apple_
Our side of the fence
My home-made box muffins
Do you find this picture confusing?
Neighbor’s flower that’s managed to sneak over to our side
Maturing Tomatoes
Cucumber flower
Incredibly large cucumber flower
So many eyes!!!
That bison looks vicious, with its eyes leering at you
There’s nothing weird about a talking mannequin
This reminds me a lot of the Lion King
This creature is vicious and cute.
Creepy Yet Adorable
Taking a break from my studying here, actually, I haven’t started today’s studying yet since mom insists calling me every few minutes. Our tenant unexpectedly moved out last night. He was supposed to move out at the end of the month but apparently, he didn’t want to stay another 15 days.
Anyway, this week’s photo challenge is not an easy one at all but I managed. Here are some creepy yet delightfully adorable pictures from my trip to Cabela’s at the end of last year.
P.S. Cabela’s is a store that sells outdoor equipment like camping and stuff.
What was I doing there? My cousin wanted a super warm winter coat because even without the snow, he still can’t stand the cold and mom wanted a gun, a long dangerous rifle, to keep in the house. Thank god she didn’t get one. Otherwise, I might be a dead girl.
Alley (Beneath Your Feet)
Drawing on Field (Beneath Your Feet)
Work Accomplished
Well, I think I basically accomplished everything that’s work last week. I completely finished with this month’s work yesterday. With that said, I believe I still have a lot of work at my other job. For the past two months, my boss’s been debating whether to change the point-of-sales system even though the system now does all it needs to (make change, take in money, etc) but the inventory tracking system is crap. I think the problem is not the problem, it’s my boss.
He uses a gajillion programs (excel, Quickbooks, who knows what else) to track the inventory and he never updates all of them at the same time. So some of them are really behind. I offered to update them for him but he seemed to think I have my hands full with Quickbooks alone. Hmm, interesting.
Anyway, back to point-of-sales, the part that drives me absolutely nuts is the part where my boss consults me with which machine to buy. Pfft, like I have a clue.
Another thing that drives me insane is that every time I go in, I’d ask him when the new machine is going to get here because I was under impression he had ordered a new point-of-sales system. I’ve been asking this question since the end of June and he answered, “Oh, maybe tomorrow.”
I replied, “Well, if it gets here, call me.”
The truth is, he never ordered the damn machine. Last Thursday night, 11:00 PM, I received a text from my boss. In the text, he said he was excited. He had found a brand new POS system. I’m like, great, why are you telling me?
In the next text, he told me I should go in the shop the next day to check it out. So I went. From an online point-of-view, it looked pretty sophisticated. I told him to just go for it but he has doubts. Not my fault. So hopefully he’ll get the system and be done with this whole debate once and for all.
So I got all I have to get done this week work-wise. Writing-wise, I barely got anything done. I’ve decided to begin anew with my novella again since the high-school scene isn’t really working and it won’t work unless I experience high school myself because being in 3 different high school isn’t anyone’s experience of a high school experience.
Before I go, I want to show some more Beneath your feet pictures. This time, it’s really Beneath Your Feet.
The Long Route Home
There’s not much to look at out the window today. The sky has decided to be gloomy. It looks like it’s going to rain but when? I have absolutely no idea.
There are also not much to look at beneath my feet either. Most times, it’s just concrete or asphalt. The prettiest ground I’ve seen around here is the Gateway Mall in Downtown Salt Lake but I haven’t been there for about two years and the last time, I didn’t bring my camera with me. Oh well.
Therefore I am going to just share some pictures from my walk yesterday.
Before I left, I went into the backyard to see how the garden is doing. The last time I checked was a few weeks ago. Anyway, I’ve been so busy taking pictures of the garden that I have completely forgotten the mint bushes in the corner. The smell was so pungent as I leaned in for a picture not to mention there are bees everywhere. Well, they don’t call it “The Beehive State” for nothing.
This is a watermelon flower. Mom’s been nagging me to take a picture and send it to my aunt in China.
It is hard to believe that this pretty little flower will very soon become a watermelon. I took this yesterday morning and last night, when mom went out to water the plants, she shrieked, “so many watermelon flowers! We’re going to have so many melon this year!” I was genuinely amazed since I only spotted this single flower just hours earlier.
Of course, my photo walk have to include a picture of the sky. I thought this cloud looked like a funnel.
I walked two laps (1 mile) and half of the third lap before I exited the park through the alley next to my aunt’s house and took another route home. It is the long route, about half mile out of the way but it was well worth it.
This picture has been altered just a tiny bit because the truck’s license plate was showing too clearly but not by much. I just picked the effect that blurred the background just a little.
Overall, I think I made the right choice to take the long route. I think I will take this route again and take more pictures next time.
Let’s Go Somewhere
So mom’s been complaining. “I want to go somewhere,” she whined yesterday after dragging me from the basement, away from my work. Continue reading “Let’s Go Somewhere”
Clouds
I took pictures of clouds and as I was playing with them in the photo-editing app on my tablet, I was inspired to do something else with them. I hope you enjoy these pictures.
Before
After
Before
After
A pretty tree on my way to the park
Someone is taking great care of the park
Apples from the tree at one of the rental property (the house by the park)
Beautiful white rose poking out of someone’s yard
Morning Glory
A look into the neighborhood
Dandelion – close-up
Two Miles Walk
My mom has this horrible habit that really pick on my nerve. She picks the worst time to do anything, which it’s whenever I’m busy doing my stuff (studying, blogging, writing etc). I tell her “not right now.” She would reply, “Yes, right now.”
This past week, she had been picking my TV time to make me go for a walk with her. Hello, I’m in the middle of something! Besides, I hate going out right before nightfall. That’s when all the bugs come out and I always end up getting bit by something. I asked why we can’t go earlier, her answer was “because it’s too hot.”
There is nothing hot about this summer. The temperatures of most days have been in the 80’s which is cool for the summer.
Another thing I don’t like about these walks is that she walks fast. Her pace is always too fast for walking yet too slow for jogging. She also likes to talk while walking. I can barely catch my breath with that pace. If I walked just a tad slower, she’d immediately assume I can’t keep up. She wouldn’t slow down but instead she would begin blaring me with mean words.
- If you don’t start exercising, you’d be dead at 33. I don’t care. I’ll just get the insurance money and you can go join your dad and step-dad.
- If you don’t start exercising, how do you expect to face your relatives when you go back to China?
- If you don’t start exercising, your legs will be thick like an elephant leg.
- Look at your legs, they are paler than that of a pig.
Why would anyone say such terrible, offensive, and hurtful things?
Tonight, I really want to watch TV, my favorite show’s on and I’ve been waiting an entire week to watch it. So to satisfy her, I went for a two mile walk this morning and because my mom doesn’t really trust anyone these days, I took some pictures for proof but I know it won’t matter. She will just say, “I don’t care. Your death is your problem.” Ouch! 😦
Fruits
This is a close up on the Asian Pears so far. Hopefully, it will survive until harvest because we had quite a few broken branches lately due to high wind. I watched the weather report a few days and the weatherman said it’s supposed to rain in the upcoming week. Hopefully, that’s true. The weatherman hasn’t been very accurate lately.
It’s not even harvest yet and we’ve already had a loss of apples, branches snapping off due to wind and the weight. These are fairly recent but they grow fast, don’t they. I realize I’ve mostly just showing pictures of the berry bushes and not much of the apples or Asian Pear trees, so here it is.
Finally, here is a plate of blackberries from a few days ago. There have been two other batches since then. If the berry harvest continues, I think I will be super tired of berries by the end of the summer.
Summer Harvest
So here are some pictures from the recent harvest of blackberries. I have a suspicion there is a lot to come.
My mom picked these. I told her to only pick the ones that are black as coal but she didn’t believe me. After all, what do I know? I’ve only been the sole harvester of blackberries for last three years or so.
“Whatever,” she said and popped a red one into her mouth.
“I told you,” I sighed as I watched her squeeze her eyes shut like she had just drunk a spoonful of apple cider vinegar. “The red ones are extremely sour.” I told her afterwards.
That’s why it’s called blackberries and not red berries because they are only sweet when it’s black. I think she had learned her lesson though, just like I learned mine back in 2012. I guess there’s always a first time for everything.
Here is a close-up on the blackberries bushes. It’s just a matter of time before these ripen and are ready to be picked.
There is! One ripened blackberry. They are sweet as sugar.
Just to give you a perspective of the amount of berries in the backyard. This is just a fraction. I thought after my aunt botched the pruning last fall, we would have less berries or none at all this year but instead, we have more. It is incredible.
Here are the watermelons my mom planted about two weeks back. Look at how much they’ve grown. Apparently, watermelons like heat and water. That’s probably why people love it so much in the summer. I am so looking forward to this harvest.
Finally, while the roses are taking a break, the dahlias are blooming in the front yard. Not a lot though, after all, we have just planted them last Summer. It’ll take a little time to grow. This flower has been around for about a week or two and that is already longer than the roses.
Symbol of Friendship
…black and white spots
Summer 2008
Symbol of Nature
A Mix Reflection and Symbols
So I have been busy all day and didn’t get to write at all. What about the story I posted this morning? That was just a little something I put together yesterday. Continue reading “A Mix Reflection and Symbols”
Photo101: Glass
When I was looking at these pictures for the first time, they looked like what an astronaut would see if they looked out the window of their space capsule. Except for the rose bush, it looked sort of like that to me.
Tell me, do you see it too?
Photo101: Landscape
I take a lot of landscape shots but I rarely take panoramic picture. It’s just too time-consuming and having shaking hands do not help. However, when I can’t resist, I would spend however long to take a perfect panorama.
For some of you, you may remember this picture from last Christmas. This picture is about as perfect as I can make a panorama turn out. It took me five tries and about 30 minutes to take this single shot. It’s worth it though because I’m pretty sure they only decorate this area at Christmas. It is the scene when everyone gather to witness the birth of Jesus Christ.
I did not and am not going to crop this picture because then, it would destroy the purpose of a panoramic picture.
I have also prepare the following pictures to show but I don’t have anything to say about them. They are just some picture I took during one of my walks in the park.
Photo101: Architecture and Monochrome
I was actually dreading this assignment because there are really not much architecture around here that’s worth showing in color let alone in black and white. Now that the project at my other job complete, I just have to go to work once a week to update the inventory and I never bring my camera for that. Then this morning, as I was digging around in search of some landscape pictures, I came across these. They aren’t much but I’m sure they belong in the category of some sort of architecture. Continue reading “Photo101: Architecture and Monochrome”
Withered English Tea Rose
Fresh + Withered English Tea Roses
My Muse
I am definitely obsessed with taking pictures of flowers, plants, and landscapes. What can I say? Those are the only things here.
At the moment, though, I don’t really have any landscapes pictures worthy of showing. So I will just stick with flowers. I took these just three days ago and since then, I haven’t been able to take my eyes off of them. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Before I go, can someone please tell me the name of those pink flowers? I honestly don’t know. Thank you. 🙂
Response to Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Muse
Observation From My Walks
Originally, this was published under Photo101. The original title was: Photo101: Observation. Therefore, below are the original texts:
Since I don’t know what scale means, at least in terms of photography, I’ll just do observation.
From what I understand, observation is something we see and typically, the camera captures more or less than what we see. For example, in the picture above, my eyes are paying attention on the path several feet ahead while the camera captures the entire scene, no matter how I adjust it. I’m not sure if this is making sense to anybody. Ugh, I suck at explaining things. Anyway, the same goes for the picture below.
Did I achieve the goal of the assignment? Yes? No? Maybe?
Anyway, now, looking back, I think these pictures are great for the Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge – Beneath Your Feet.
Photo101: Play with Light
I wish I had shown this picture for yesterday’s prompt because it was taken a little more than a hour after the sun had risen. At the time (April), the sun didn’t rise until a little after seven. Continue reading “Photo101: Play with Light”
Photo101: Moment and Motion
This is a picture of the University of Utah fountain. Continue reading “Photo101: Moment and Motion”
Photo101: A Pop of Color
So I haven’t really had the opportunity to go out and take some new photographs since mom has decided to only work one day a week now that she’s getting closer to being laid-off. It affect me going outside and taking pictures because she doesn’t believe in taking pictures without people in it. Continue reading “Photo101: A Pop of Color”
This is Another Story 