Pouring My Art Out

Today, I traveled all around the world, and all I got you was a bunch of lousy flower pictures… part 1…

Posted on August 20, 2018 by pouringmyartout

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Hey, I did the best I could.

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I didn’t actually travel around the entire world, but I did see plants from all around the world.

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I went to two very large botanical gardens today.

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Both are within just a few miles of my mom’s house in the Bay Area, the house where I grew up.

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The first one contains plants native to California.

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These photos, and the photos in the next post, are all from this botanical garden. Then, I have a bunch of photos from the other one, that has plants from around the world.

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I haven’t been to either park in years… decades…

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But considering the fact that it is summer, not spring, I found a lot of pretty flowers.

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I could go back in spring, but then you would have to look at like 5,000 flower photos.

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Most of you will probably get bored and wander off during this series anyway.

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Wait, those aren’t flowers… just red leaves. That belongs in part two.

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I know that not everyone loves flower pictures. But I just like to see if I can take really good photos of them. My dad used to take photos of flowers, back in the ‘cameras with film in them’ days.

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The intricacy of nature is endlessly fascinating to me. Some of these flowers are tiny. The interplay of light and shade is a balance to take into consideration.

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I really like the colors.

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Even the rather plain ones.

Posted in flowers, Pictures of me | Tagged art, flowers, humor, nature, photography | 11 Comments

A photograph of a naked lady…

Posted on August 20, 2018 by pouringmyartout

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Hey, don’t judge me, that is what those flowers are called. I am opposed to this. Here is why: I guarantee that at some point, it has either happened, or will at some time happen, that a male driver of a motor vehicle who does not know about these flowers, will be driving with someone in the passenger seat who does. That person will say; “Hey, look at the pretty naked ladies!”. Well, do any of you believe that no accident will ever be precipitated by this chain of events?

Posted in flowers, thinking about stuff | Tagged art, flowers, humor, naked ladies, photography | 4 Comments

A birthday party for Gonzo: A story with lots of dogs, and some other things, and also some words you are going to have to read, but I will put them between pictures of cute dogs, so it shouldn’t be too bad… part 4… the final chapter…

Posted on August 20, 2018 by pouringmyartout

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So, you know how I am sort of obsessed with trying to get the perfect picture of a dog shaking the water off themselves, with the drops being lit up by the sun like tiny jewels? Well, don’t get excited. I got close, once again, but not quite there.

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Well, I am now obsessed with trying to get the perfect photo of a dog catching a Frisbee.

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Once again, close, but not quite there.

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The water drop thing is the tricky part.

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The sun needs to be at just the right angle.

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Long haired dogs definitely are best for this project.

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But I am getting closer.

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So now, we bid adieu to my friend Gonzo, who turned 11. Here he is cleaning up after his cake was made.

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It really was an awesome birthday party. People of all ages and races, dogs of all sizes and breed. This is what I love about the Bay Area.

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There is Gonzo, on the right, and his buddy, Brutus. Once again, that cake is raw ground beef covered in cottage cheese. Yum!

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And I will tell you what.

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Every dog there licked their plate clean.

Posted in dogs and other animals | Tagged animals, art, dogs, humor, photography | 2 Comments

A birthday party for Gonzo: A story with lots of dogs, and some other things, and also some words you are going to have to read, but I will put them between pictures of cute dogs, so it shouldn’t be too bad… part 3…

Posted on August 20, 2018 by pouringmyartout

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You can see love when you look into a dog’s eyes.

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I know I have said this before, but don’t trust people if dogs, horses and babies don’t like them. Dogs, horses and babies love me.

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I think you can just make out the shape of the Golden Gate Bridge through the fog.

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San Francisco is just at home in the fog.

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One last gratuitous pelican picture.

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And a seagull. I just love a digital camera with a telephoto lens. I can take a picture of something small that is far away, crop all the extra blue sky, and it looks like I was close enough to pet a seagull.

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You can take a nice photo of a windsurfer, with the city in the background.

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Or get up close and personal.

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How cool is that?

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But this is about dogs, and there is another dog that is more interested in gophers than anything else.

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And I have one more post to do about Gonzo’s birthday party.

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And then we can move on to… uh… whatever I end up doing today.

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged animals, art, birds, dogs, golden gate bridge, humor, love, nature, photography, san francisco, san francisco bay area, windsurfing | 4 Comments

A birthday party for Gonzo: A story with lots of dogs, and some other things, and also some words you are going to have to read, but I will put them between pictures of cute dogs, so it shouldn’t be too bad… part 2…

Posted on August 19, 2018 by pouringmyartout

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Oh yeah, I met some cool dogs today.

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This girl stole my heart. She loved having her hip scratched.

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And this young lady knew how to use the wind to strike a model’s pose.

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She liked being scratched under those long ear tufts.

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I made friends with dogs, and dogs made friends with each other.

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Taking pictures of playing dogs is a challenge. They move so fast. Also, butt-sniffing shots are hardly welcome on my family-friendly blog!

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Puppy love!

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I met dogs of all sizes. One huge Grate Dane covered the arm of my jacket with so much slobber that I couldn’t see my sleeve anymore.

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And I didn’t mind… not really.

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Yeah, pelicans.

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Yeah, windsurfers.

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But mostly, happy birthday, Gonzo, waiting patiently for his birthday cake to be ready.

Posted in dogs and other animals, Stories of my life | Tagged animals, art, birds, dogs, humor, nature, pelicans, photography, san francisco, san francisco bay area, sports, windsurfing | 2 Comments

A birthday party for Gonzo: A story with lots of dogs, and some other things, and also some words you are going to have to read, but I will put them between pictures of cute dogs, so it shouldn’t be too bad… part 1…

Posted on August 19, 2018 by pouringmyartout

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Yes, I know those aren’t dogs. Those are deer. Don’t be a wiezenhiemer! You know that whenever I come back to the Bay Area to see my mom, I play the ‘spot the deer before you have to go back to San Diego’ game.

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I hit the jackpot when I was leaving my mom’s house, on the way back to that park on the bay with all the dogs. It was like deer rush hour.

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And yes, I also know that I was just down at the dog park a few days ago. I also know that I promised you some new adventures, not just more photos of San Francisco lurking behind a fog bank. We will get to those.

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I was at the park for a few hours. I never did see the Golden Gate Bridge through the fog, but there were a lot of sailboats.

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There is a reason I was back at the park so soon. When I was there the other day, I met an old friend, a big, sweet, Bernese Mountain Dog named Gonzo. His owner, a very nice German lady, said they were having a party for Gonzo on Sunday, because he was turning 11.

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Well, you don’t turn down an invitation like that, do you? Not if you love dogs.

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But I forgot what time she said the party was, and I showed up an hour… or two… early.

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I may have broken my record for petting 80-something dogs in one day, but unfortunately, I wasn’t keeping count.

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I will say that I petted almost every dog you will see photos of in this series… which might take me a few days to finish… and a lot of dogs that I didn’t get pictures of.

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No pelicans were petted in the making of this blog series.

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I also didn’t pet any windsurfers.

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There is Gonzo, and his birthday cake, which is made of a layer of raw ground beef, covered with a layer of cottage cheese, and with a number 11 made from Milk Bone snacks. Okay, back soon with the next installment.

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged animals, art, bay area, deer, dogs, humor, nature, party, photography, san francisco, san francisco bay area | 2 Comments

San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog, more dogs on blogs, and some splashy water… oh, and a really close up picture of the moon…

Posted on August 18, 2018 by pouringmyartout

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The city.

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The bridge.

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A cute dog.

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One of the things I do when I come back the Bay Area to visit my mom and my friends, and end up going down to the bay to pet other people’s dogs because I miss my own, is to try to capture that perfect photo of the moment when a dog comes out of the water and shakes itself off. I want to capture the water drops, glistening in the sun, and the dog looking all wiggly. I have done posts about it. I have come close a few times. But yesterday, it was a little cold and windy, and no dogs were swimming.

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So I settled for trying to capture the perfect moment of a wave striking the shore, with the resultant splash.

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I will add this project to my ‘perfect wet dog shaking itself off’ and my new ‘dewdrop covered roses done with a squirt bottle of water’ ideas.

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I am still planning on making it over to the city sometime soon, for some more adventures to share with you. I also have some other crazy ideas I am working on.

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I used the telephoto lens to take a daytime photo of the moon. I cropped it a lot, but I think it came out pretty well. It avoids the long shutter opening of pictures taken at night, and that makes it clearer.

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The cold water did not deter crazy people from windsurfing, and I guess the wind actually helped them.

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But yeah, I mostly go down there to pet cute dogs.

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged art, dogs, humor, nature, Northern California, outdoors, photography, san francisco, san francisco bay area, the moon, travel | Leave a comment

Dogs on blogs… and some other stuff…

Posted on August 18, 2018 by pouringmyartout

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So, I am back in the Bay Area. And that means, after only a day or two, that I start missing my own dogs. But not to worry! There is a marvelous dog park only a couple of miles from my mom’s house.

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That is Gonzo. Because I go down to the dog park at least once every time I visit my mom, I see Gonzo a lot. In fact, he is turning 11-years-old on Sunday, and I was invited to the party! There should be a lot of Bernese Mountain Dogs there.

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This guy will be there. He is a friend of Gonzo’s. I can’t remember his name. Hey, I meet a lot of dogs. Remember, I did a post where I petted 80-something dogs in one day.

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I freekin’ love this breed of dog. They are so sweet. And they don’t drool as much as Saint Bernards.

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There is something down there making noises!

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I hear it too!

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Gonzo doesn’t care. He just wants treats… and love.

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And yes, of course I took the pictures of the Bay, and the Golden Gate Bridge, draped in fog.

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And yes, I used the zoom lens to take a few photos of San Francisco.

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But mostly, I petted a whole bunch of dogs.

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged art, bay area, california, dogs, golden gate, golden gate bridge, humor, nature, Northern California, photography, san francisco, san francisco bay area, travel | 4 Comments

How I am going to take the most awesome rose photos ever, the next time I take rose photos, even if I have to cheat… and also, I am pretty drunk right now, so… uh… yeah…

Posted on August 17, 2018 by pouringmyartout

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So yeah, I am back in the Bay Area, my mom turned 95-years-old, and I just got back from the pub where I shared a pitcher of fine English ale with my childhood friend, Andy. We also drunk-called a bunch of people one the way back up the hill, but that is another story. And we were walking, so don’t worry about that.

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But I am still posting photos of my trip to see the roses this morning, even though I have done other stuff of interest since then. While I was at the Berkeley Rose Gardens, there were some sprinklers watering some of the roses. I got excited. I could take some sexy wet rose shots.

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That is a zoomed-in portion of the photo right above it. Doesn’t that look cool?

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The thing is… (hey, thing, long time no see)… that the one ‘wet rose’ was probably one of the worst rose bushes in the huge rose gardens, as I hope the photo above illustrates. The blooms just were past their prime.

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Hey, look, a bee!

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See, now that is a rose!

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Anyway, the point is that I had an idea, which seems sort of like cheating…

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But what if I brought a mist-spraying water bottle with me when I go out to take some flower photos?

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I know, it seems sleazy, but it is either that or wait until the dew level is high, which will mean getting up early, perhaps before the gardens open.

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I might try it tomorrow in my mom’s backyard, but first thing in the morning, I am going to post about what I did this afternoon, and it involves some really cute dogs. So, uh, see you in the morning.