Daily Photos

< February 2012 >

February 1, 2012
Proud as a pigeon. `Why are you taking pictures?` a skateboard kid asked. Because it`s February and 50 degrees outside. A hotel replaces all of its furniture. Hmmm . . . bedbugs? Lost face. Last year at this time we had ice.

February 2, 2012
What the groundhog saw. That evening sun go down. Not a trick -- this is what the camera saw. Caroling dusk. We`re going to need lots of Windex.

February 3, 2012
Taking pictures at the Oakwood gymnasium is the pits. The lighting is terrible and camera angles are awkward. Two teams with identical school colors battled it out. Minding my own business in a hallway, they said to me: `Did you come to take our picture?` Uh, sure, whatever. With ten seconds on the clock, Oakwood tried to win it with a long alley-oop off an inbounds pass. It didn`t fall. With zero seconds left, Oakwood could`ve tied the game by making two free throws. The first one swished. Look at the faces in the crowd as the second shot . . . rattled out.

February 4, 2012
On stage at Jazz Central, Grant `King` Koeller plays saxophone with Kareem Powell at the keyboard. Vinnie Marshall plays bass and provides witty comments. `Look at me, I`m as helpless as a kitten up a tree.` Johnny Mathis is dead, but it`s okay because we`ve got this guy. It don`t mean a thing if it ain`t got swing dancers. I respond to the words STEINWAY & SONS on a piano, but saxophonists look for SELMER etched on the horn.

February 5, 2012
No offense to rodents, but the groundhog was mistaken. Unlike a normal winter day, the sunlight was warm today. I still recall my first shocking trip to the Oregon District. Now, twenty-five years later, it`s just part of who I am. No mail delivery on Sundays. Could you recognize me in person? Maybe if it was sunny.

February 6, 2012
It was playing `Frere Jacques.` I`ve been there, but got through it. The sun keeps us alive now, but someday -- it`s lights out. The human sundial. Yes, this IS the best I could do.

February 7, 2012
On the Avenue . . . Wayne Avenue. Signs of development in a dead zone? Ceiling, roof, atrium -- whatever that thing is up there. This gallery was filled with artists and their work inspired by Paul Laurence Dunbar. I felt very comfortable there. When`s the last time you were in a three-legged race?

February 8, 2012
Meaningless basketball picture #1. Meaningless basketball picture #2. Meaningless basketball picture #3. Meaningless basketball picture #4. Meaningless basketball picture #5.

February 9, 2012
On today`s date in 1906, Paul Laurence Dunbar died on this bed. He was 33 years old and a victim of tuberculosis. This morning, 106 years after Dunbar`s death, a small crowd gathered at his gravesite in Woodland Cemetery. Mayor Gary Leitzell read a proclamation that designated February 9, 2012, Paul Laurence Dunbar Day in Dayton. A wreath of oak and ivy was placed at Dunbar`s grave, referring to the title of his first poetry book `Oak and Ivy.` Dunbar`s laptop.

February 10, 2012
Come on, February. Is this the best you can do? It looked better with birds sitting on it, but they flew away. Any good photographer knows how to control the shutter. She`d be a good date for the guy from February 1 above. I wonder where the other 49 yellow bicycles ended up (see May 13, 2011).

February 11, 2012
Keep your eye on the ball. `Ooooh!! I don`t want it! You take it!` `If you foul my boyfriend, you gotta deal with ME!` Wait, that can`t be right. R-E-B-O-U-N-D! Rebound that bas-ket-ball!

February 12, 2012
Bananas are good for you. Peanut butter is good for you. Who needs Twitter or Foursquare? I can let the world know what I`m doing through this daily photos Web page. When I got to the ballet, I opened the program and found a photograph that I had taken (see November 2, 2010). And then after the ballet, I took a brief trip to Asia.

February 13, 2012
High technology, in 1923. The last Frigidaire refrigerator ever manufactured in Dayton, signed by the employees on the assembly line. Five pounds of peanut butter is probably not good for you. A great place for the climax of a Hitchcock film. `I thought the carousel was closed in the wintertime,` old Phoebe said. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J. D. Salinger

February 14, 2012
Someone has evidently confused marketing with littering. Whatever you`re selling, I`m not going to buy it. What you think you see, you don`t actually see. February 14th window shopping in the Oregon District. Exoh echo. Those pacesetters of style at the Goodwill store never let a holiday pass without a special color-themed display.

February 15, 2012
Lunchtime: a striped car. Dinnertime: a non-striped car. More to come. This evening an insect flew past my face and I vaguely wondered, `Uhmm, shouldn`t you be dead?` See me reflected in there? There`s something up there in the attic - something that doesn`t want to be there. It could be a long, noisy night.

February 16, 2012
Oh no you`re knot! The original iPad. Yesterday`s sunbathing flowers took a real bath today. You never know who might approach you in a public park. Now that`s just gross.

February 17, 2012
A common sight in downtown Dayton. If I wanted to spend a lot of money, I could buy a lens that makes the angled lines of buildings appear to be straight. Corrugated sunlight. Please keep doorway clear. You can`t see it, but she`s wearing a cast on her left foot.

February 18, 2012
I`ve shot this February volleyball tournament for years, but this was the first time that I walked there in the warm sun. I walk in, an anonymous guy with a camera, and take outstanding photos of players and teams that I have no connection to, and none of them ever see the pictures. If I jumped, I MIGHT be able to touch the top of the net. I expected them to do SOMETHING when a substitution was made, but I really didn`t expect them to do THIS. Any sport can be like a graceful dance.

February 19, 2012
Science Fair day is when the school geeks get to shine. These guys used a giant lens to focus sunlight and start PENNIES on fire. They blinded me . . . with science!! Need a remote-controlled lawnmower? Talk to these kids. No, forget the robotic lawnmower. What you really need is a catapult that can make baskets from fifty feet away. My favorite project determined that if you give energy drinks to small crustaceans, their hearts explode. I asked the student if her research was sponsored by Monster.

February 20, 2012
Interest rates are dirt cheap. The Greek term `crocus` means `saffron yellow.` Keeping something out, or keeping something in? A couple more coats of red paint would`ve been nice. A small part of the complex system that keeps you alive.

February 21, 2012
Where bubble wrap comes from. Wait - what? Is it all right if I just leave it blank? Saving up to pay my taxes. A strange mirror self-portrait in motion. Maybe this one was more successful, but it`s hard to say.

February 22, 2012
One day, when I`m long dead, some sympathetic curator will publish a critical analysis of my photographic oeuvre. Art historians like to use words like `oeuvre.` In the analysis (certain to be a best-seller), the curator will point out that I posted five photos every day on the Web. This picture, for example, represents photo No. 14,464. When the scope of my work -- er, my ouevre -- is taken into account, I can be forgiven the occasional off day.

February 23, 2012
DCDC dancing to the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar. We wear the mask that grins and lies. PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR Spit a Verse Like Dunbar, oil on canvas, by James Pate. Backstage at the band concert. Color guard is coming soon!

February 24, 2012
Today felt like February. The wind was dis-gusting. Looking for direction in life? Another victim of that misguided marketing campaign (see February 14 and 22 above). Don`t tell grandma you lost one of the shoes she gave you.

February 25, 2012
It took me a moment to figure it out: City of Dayton. Now you`ve lost one of the gloves grandma gave you. An hour later, miles away, another purple glove. Already this month, you`ve seen Dunbar artwork (February 7), a Dunbar memorial (February 9) and Dunbar dancing (February 23), so how about some Dunbar singing today? And, of course, let`s not forget Dunbar`s poetry.

February 26, 2012
Politicians often talk about taking `concrete steps.` Due to their small brains, these birds are very gullible. WOLF spelled backwards is FLOW. I haven`t had to shovel any snow this winter. It`s not THAT warm outside.

February 27, 2012
Copyright 1776 Betsy Ross. Used by permission. New rule: everybody has to dispose of their garbage on their own property. This might stop them from buying junk, assuming it will just disappear when they`re done with it. I wonder what I could get for my NBA championship rings. They don`t mean so much to me since I`ve been traded. Lenten fast food. The glass of juice photo from February 22 above was an act of desperation. This photo is an act of creativity.

February 28, 2012
A picture of a picture of a picture. How Pinteresting. It was a busy but funusual day. This was my dinner. The diva prepares for a big concert in a practice room. The dress got cupcake icing on it, but the show goes on. And yet I find these trinkets are endearing. I`m awfully glad my sapphire is a star. I rather like a twenty-carat earring. From `Candide` by LEONARD BERNSTEIN The glittering and cupcake-scented diva is ready to sing!

February 29, 2012
The purpose of our existence is hidden within this image. We use a very sophisticated assignment system at work. I`m AGA, by the way. The battle for mates and nesting space has begun. No offense or anything, but you shouldn`t be alive. I`d give the artist credit, if the painting were labeled.

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