Blue Ridge blog

Hum this Preset....

Yes, I have been having fun with Adobe Lightroom Presets lately, thank you very much. I find myself scrolling through hundreds of Presets and hitting the button just see what funky effect each has on a photo. I've found that largely Presets are garbage and easy to replicate in Photoshop, but still...Like Actions in PS, Presets are addictive. I compare my allure of Presets to my TTV phase. Rest assured, I'll quickly get bored with it and move on. Like teenage love, this too shall pass.
My hillbilly photo philosophy remains: Ya can't make chicken soup out of chicken poop. If'n a photo ain't good to begin with, no amount of bells and whistles will make it any better.

It is a 'two-fer' and Twitter day here at the Blue Ridge Blog...

It's a 'two-fer' day here at the Blue Ridge Blog. One day=two blog posts. Such a rare occurance of late...

I sit here watching the start of the Davidson v Kansas game, watching for my friend Sal, who is at the game in Detroit. Go Cats!
But I am not the only one in Western NC watching and hoping for Davidson to go all the way. So is Ashvegas down in Asheville. Ashvegas not only has a great blog about all things in the city known as the "Paris of the South," but his blogroll is filled with WNC bloggy goodness. My eyes naturally gravitated towards the Asheville Beer Blog.
That said, I am also delving into the "The Land of Twitter." Not sure I get the point of micro-blogging but I'm such a follower I'll try anything until it because pointless. If you want to see what I'm doing, you can find out how pathetic my life is by looking at my Tweets. And I'm not so sure I like the sound of that, but that's what individual Twitter posts are called. If you start Twittering, let me know so I can follow your Tweets.

Additionally:
The ever-so-resourceful Liz Donovan linked on her News Research to an interesting New Yorker column by Eric Alterman, "The Death and Life of the American Newspaper." It is an interesting read. I especially connected with the following paragraph as I've witnessed the struggle of our our High Country media sources awkwardly coming to grips with newer technology:

"Newspapers are dying; the evidence of diminishment in economic vitality, editorial quality, depth, personnel, and the over-all number of papers is everywhere. What this portends for the future is complicated. Three years ago, Rupert Murdoch warned newspaper editors, “Many of us have been remarkably, unaccountably complacent . . . quietly hoping that this thing called the digital revolution would just limp along.” Today, almost all serious newspapers are scrambling to adapt themselves to the technological and community-building opportunities offered by digital news delivery, including individual blogs, video reports, and “chat” opportunities for readers. Some, like the Times and the Post, will likely survive this moment of technological transformation in different form, cutting staff while increasing their depth and presence online. Others will seek to focus themselves locally. Newspaper editors now say that they “get it.” Yet traditional journalists are blinkered by their emotional investment in their Lippmann-like status as insiders. They tend to dismiss not only most blogosphere-based criticisms but also the messy democratic ferment from which these criticisms emanate. The Chicago Tribune recently felt compelled to shut down comment boards on its Web site for all political news stories. Its public editor, Timothy J. McNulty, complained, not without reason, that “the boards were beginning to read like a community of foul-mouthed bigots.”

Gotta get into the game. It is tied, 28 all.

Giving you the bird(s)!

After work I went to the Valle Crucis Park. The weather was behaving and I wanted to see the havoc recent rains had wrought. There was some devastation, but the birds didn't seem to care. I saw many robins, including this one (top) perched on a fallen branch near the pond.

Later I saw a Blue Heron strolling and dipping his feathers in the waters. I scared it at first and it flew away only to return within minutes. I stalked it for a while, squishing my brand new sneaks in the mud, until he tired of me and flew down the Watauga's stream.

I returned home at dusk and noticed foreign globs in the trees. I finally figured out the blobs were turkeys perched way up in the poplars. I pulled out my 300mm lens and scooted 'round the woods till I could find a respectable silhouette.

The Chicken who loves me...

First and most important..Happy Birthday, Amy.
I would have posted about goats, but I was fresh out 'em... raincheck.

Tonight my Mom told me, in her own special way of course, that my blog was stagnant. "I can tell you haven't done anything exciting lately," was what she really said.
And I replied, "Oh don't you worry, I'll post some exciting chicken art on it tonight."
"Oh good," she said adding, "That's better than what's been on there lately."

My Mom's a blog critic:)

So I picked sh*t with a chicken at the Goodnight Farm tonight. Yep. I was belly down with a rooster who really, really liked me. He kept pecking me in all the wrong places. Finally I had to give him the 'Let's just be friends,' talk-off and he didn't take it so well.

In any case, I used a bit of Lucis Art on the bottom photo. Otherwise this is straight forward chicken art.

Vilas Turkey

Not long ago, about thirty turkeys came through our woods and pecked their way around our front yard. I was camped out on the deck enjoying a slow morning with Harley. As I pet Harley's head, the two of us regarded the birds with lazy curiosity. Harley was decidedly happier to be my little headrubbin' piggy than to chase the silly fowl back into the woods as she normally does.
This photo is not of those turkeys, because I was particularly slack that day. Instead, these turkey were seen yesterday afternoon in a field in Vilas, NC.

On Neat things...

Score one for blogging. Yesterday I had a real life feel good moment as a direct result of my blog. I met Spuz. Spuz reads my blog. She read it while living in New Jersey and has since moved to the Linville area to live near family. She called me because she wanted to show me some of her embroidery work and ask my permission to enter a work of hers, borrowed from one of my photos, in the Avery County fair. We got acquainted over unsweetened ice tea at the Famous Louise's Rockhouse. Next she invited me to her new home. Spuz weaves magic via needle and thread. Truly, her work needs to be seen up close to appreciate it. From samplers to complex pieces she is a master artist. But she's way too humble to admit it. When I asked her about each piece hanging on the walls of her home, I noticed how she associated each work with a period of time in her life.
There are stories behind each one of her pieces and I get that.
Spuz should blog.
Finally I asked Spuz about her name.
As she tells me:
"When I was born, the term 'spuzzy' was a fashionable word for something neat and special. I was the first child, thus earned the name 'Spuz'."
Sweet and such a fitting moniker for her.
At the end of our meeting, I received a hearty hug from Spuz and
I left her home driving back to Boone feeling spuzzy all over.

P.S.- If you go to the Avery County fair be sure to look for Spuz's work and then comment VERY loudly how you like her work. We're working for a blue ribbon here people.

Death by Hummingbird

Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed in the morning.
Me? I woke up just fine and am having a good day, but this poor little hummingbird in the gardens of the Mast Farm Inn is having a rough go of it. Apparently, the bird impaled a flying something with it's beak and now has the dead corpse stuck on it. I watched in amusement as it tried its best to git rid of the evidence.
And because the internet is the place of all possibilities, I post my evidence of death by hummingbird. It is unlikely you will ever see such a thing in mainstream media. Only here, my friends.
Oh I know the quality of this hummingbird photograph pales in comparison to that of Hugh Morton's, but remember, I am the twisted Blue Ridge photographer who has brought such odd shots to the world such as THIS, THIS, and THIS.

Wanna see what happens when a preying mantis meets a hummingbird?

P.S. The hummingbird turned down my offer to help.
P.S.S. I wish I had been there to see how the bird and insect met....
P.S.S.S. Any ideas for a good caption?

More photos of dumb hummingbird on the jump...

Cliffs and Cows and little baby ducks...

These are a few of my favorite things I encounter when running down the Watauga River Road...
See the baby ducks floating beneath the cliff? They were oh so cute I wanted to squeeze their little ducky cheeks, but not in a Michael Vick kinda way:(

(Did use some liberal photoshop techniques on both photos)

Gone out in search of worms....

Taking my camera out with me today. I have no major plans or agendas except to visit Gnumoon and go for a long run somewhere. Check in later. Maybe I'll have something new, like worms, to feed you guys.
P.S. Found these little guys in the eaves behind the Mast Store Annex a couple of days ago...

Just another married couple...

Nope. This isn't a representational photo of my husband and me. Rather, we are basking in the glory of not only having raised a bona fide high school graduate, but also having a house reclaimed from beloved, but 'glad they're gone' family.
These are just some old birds hashing out their own little issues at Valle Crucis Park today.
I'm tired. I don't remember the process of my graduation from high school in 1981 lasting for two whole weeks. Like every thing these days, I believe it is a bit overdone. Not to belittle the accomplishments of my kids or yours, but sheesh, must we clap at every mediocre act they do? For me, it only makes failure seem almost average.
I'm just sayin'....and I'm tired.