Weaver's Moon

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Notes:
Radial gradient.
Weaver's Moon Kang Plugin.
Glowing Edges

And Still I Rise

Here's Maya Angelou, reciting her poem, Still I Rise.
(And Still I Rise is the book.)
Which is a lot more powerful and expressive when you see and hear her say it.
The words below are how she says the poem on the video.

You may write me down in history,
With your bitter, twisted lies.
You may trod me in the very dirt,
But still, like dust,
I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
Just 'cause I walk as if I have oil wells,
Pumping in my living room.

Just like suns and like moons,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my sassiness upset you? [laughs]
Don't you take it so hard just 'cause I laugh. [laughs]
As if I had gold mines,
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You can shoot me with your words,
You can cut me with your lies,
You can kill me with your hatefulness,
But just like life, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness offend you? [awh]
Does it come as a surprise,
That I dance, [sways]
As if I have diamonds,
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame,
I rise.
Up from a past rooted in pain,
I rise.
A black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear,
I rise.
Into a daybreak miraculously clear,
I rise.
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the hope and the dream of the slave.

And so naturally, [gestures up]
There I go rising.

Don't Fail Me Now

Melanie Amaro (b. 26 Jun 1992)
Won the first season of The X Factor USA in 2011.

I don't watch that show, so never heard of her before.
I found her in iTunes.
Her song, Long Distance, is in the New Singles section.
Strong voice.
I like Don't Fail Me Now the best.
(Pics from this video.)

Vivaldi and More

While I was doing research on the Net, I listened to
Best of Vivaldi
at YouTube.
2 hours long.

Blogged Previously

Here's a
1001 list for more classical music.
Vivaldi listed 5 times on the list:
Antonio Vivaldi - Gloria, RV 589 (Taverner Consort: Gloria, Magnificat)
Antonio Vivaldi - Concerto for Two Trumpets (Mark Bennett, Michael Harrison & Trevor Pinnock: Mad About Vivaldi)
Antonio Vivaldi - L'estro armonico (Federico Guglielmo & Christopher Hogwood)
Antonio Vivaldi - Stabat mater (The King's Consort: Vivaldi Sacred Music)
Antonio Vivaldi - Juditha triumphans (The King's Consort)

Supposedly based on the book of same name?

There are tons of these "1001" lists.
More:
listology
amazon

I also liked the 1001 list for paintings.
listology paintings part 1
listology paintings part 2
pinterest

Abe at the LOC

I was digging in the Library of Congress website for images related to Abraham Lincoln.

I started with a google image search:
loc.gov Abe
Once at the LOC, I followed the additional links to related images.
Here's just some of the interesting images I found there. (Edits mine.)

Love the hair:

This was just before Senate nomination so about 1857, born 1809 so he was 48 years old.

Another cool hair image:

Campaign poster for Republican presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln.
c1860.
Justice at the left.
Liberty at the right.
Eagle at the top.

Lincoln's House:

Abraham Lincoln's return home after his successful campaign for the Presidency of the United States, in October, 1860.
House still stands today.

Lincoln's Cabinet:

Group portrait of president Lincoln's cabinet, 1861.

The Mower

c1863.
Artist, Dominique C. Fabronius, contrasts the blessings of Northern free labor with the inhumanity of the Southern plantation system.
In the center a bearded farmer, possibly intended to represent Lincoln.
The text:
We have battles to fight, we have foes to subdue
Time waits not for us, and we wait not for you!
The mower mows on, though the adder may writhe
And the copperhead coil round the blade of his scythe.

Pro-Democrat Cartoon:

c1864.
Presidential aspirant George Brinton McClellan between Abraham Lincoln and Confederacy president Jefferson Davis.
Tug-of-war over map of the United States.
McClellan: "The Union must be preserved at all hazards!"
Lincoln: "No peace without abolition."
Davis: "No peace without Separation!"

Wiki Info:

Abraham Lincoln
b. 12 Feb 1809 – d. 15 Apr 1865
16th President of the United States March 1861 until his assassination.

American Civil War
12 Apr 1861 – 9 May 1865

After a series of debates in 1858 that gave national visibility to his opposition to the expansion of slavery, Lincoln lost a Senate race to his arch-rival, Stephen A. Douglas. [Relates to the 1st hair image above. Douglas courted Mary Todd.]

Married on 4 Nov 1842 to:
Mary Todd
b. 13 Dec 1818 – d. 16 Jul 1882

Note:
Mary was 9 years younger than Abe.
Lincoln (2012) movie currently showing at movie theatres stars
Daniel Day-Lewis b. 29 Apr 1957 as Lincoln
AND
Sally Field b. 6 Nov 1946 as Mary.
Sally Field is 11 years older than Lewis.

Abe and Mary's Children:
Robert Todd Lincoln b. 1843 - d. ? (Robert was the only child to live to adulthood and have children.)
Edward (Eddie)Baker Lincoln b. 1846 - d. 1 Feb 1850 (tuberculosis).
Willie Lincoln b. 21 Dec 1850 - d. 20 Feb 1862.
Thomas (Tad) Lincoln b. 4 Apr 1853 - d. 16 Jul 1871 (heart failure, age 18).

Troubles Quote

It all started when I came across this quote:



Did Mark Twain really say that?
Can I find a reference?

The question was asked
A commenter came to the rescue

From the archives:
Andrew Carnegie,
“An American Four-in-Hand in Britain”,
1883, pp. 312-313


Edits mine.


Edits mine.

Amazon says:
American steel baron Andrew Carnegie and a party of friends took in the British countryside by horse coach-a "four-in-hand"-in the summer of 1881...
Written as a private extended postcard to friends who had not accompanied him on the trip, and as a souvenir for those who had, this 1883 book...

Carnegie and Twain lived same time period, so I'm thinking maybe it was a popular anecdote at the time.

Andrew Carnegie
(b. 25 Nov 1835 – d. 11 Aug 1919)

Mark Twain
(b. 30 Nov 1835 – d. 21 Apr 1910)

It was fun digging around in the archives again.
Love those old crusty dusty books.

Begin Again

Listening to:
Begin Again
Taylor Swift (b. 13 Dec 1989)
Published on Oct 23, 2012.

Photos
October 1 - On set of the 'Begin Again' music video in Paris, France

Track List of Album Red
(Her fourth album.)

I also like:
(Not official so videos probably won't last long at youtube.)

Holy Ground
(Upbeat song. Abruptly cuts off at the end. Best quality.)
It was good never looking down.
And right there where we stood was holy ground.

22
(Has an Avril Lavigne sound.)
We're happy free confused and lonely at the same time.
I'm feeling 22.

More songs I've added to my playlist recently:
Katy Perry - Wide Awake
Imagine Dragons - It's Time

Cher Lloyd - Want U Back
(This one grew on me because of how expressive it is. I love the little "grunts" inserted into the song, or whatever you'd call them.)

Song Rising:
OneRepublic - Feel Again
I had to dig in the billboard charts to find this one. I predict it will rise to number 1 or close to it.
It's currently 56 on the billboard hot 100.

Ho Hey

Listening to:
Ho Hey, by The Lumineers.
Official Video
Better Sound



Lyrics to me sound like "in my sweet heart"
But online it says the lyrics say "You're my sweetheart"

songfacts

Going HOME!!

These were shot in the car driving home from Rochester, MN.
We left at the crack of dawn and nature put on a glorious sunrise show for me.
Thank you Nature.
I adore sunrises.













Free Fallin' Clouds:


I was Happy, in the moment:

Don't Let Your Feet Touch Ground

A happy upbeat song. Love it.
First heard it on the radio. Imagine that. HA. I seldom listen to the radio.

Don't Let your Feet Touch Ground
Ash Koley

A Canadian New Wave/alternative pop band from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Winnipeg. Not that far from North Dakota.
Ashley Michelle Koley, lead singer.
Phil Deschambault, guitar/ keyboard.

Listening To...

The Fighter
Gym Class Heroes
ft. Ryan Tedder

Give 'em hell, turn their heads
Gonna live life till we're dead.
Give me scars, give me pain
Then just say to me, say to me, say to me
There goes a fighter, there goes a fighter
Here comes a fighter
That's what they'll say to me, say to me
Say to me, this one's a fighter


Titanium
David Guetta
ft. Sia

I'm bulletproof nothing to lose
Fire away, fire away
Ricochet, you take your aim
Fire away, fire away
You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium
You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium


Burn It Down
Linkin Park

We're building it up
To break it back down
We're building it up
To burn it down
We can't wait
To burn it to the ground

My First Giant Swallowtail

Got my first giant swallowtail butterfly picture.
Papilio cresphontes

Wing Span: 4 - 6 1/4 inches
HUGE butterfly fluttering furiously.

Bigger than the
Monarch
Wing Span: 3 3/8 - 4 7/8 inches

Photo taken in Minnesota
but listed for North Dakota also.

google images
bugguide tree

iPod

Bought an iPod Touch for the free Wi-Fi.
Love it.
My first Apple product.

Cormorants

Whenever you see dead trees standing in water, look for cormorants.



Near Cleveland, North Dakota right by Interstate 94.



There were hundreds of them and many nests.



Previously
wiki

Cigar Tree Blossoms

Well, I finally got my cigar tree blossoms pictures.
Blooms late June, early July, evidently.



The blossoms are beautiful and interestingly shaped, come in clumps, and smell wonderful.
White, with purple and gold.







Here's a photo of the leaves, blossoms, and last year's "string beans" fruit which is what captured my attention originally when I saw the trees. Last year's, so brown in color, but normally green when new.



The full tree was in a spot that is difficult to capture on camera, but here is the best I could get. Not a very big tree.



I love this tree.

previously
google images

Dahlias

Must be dahlias.




wiki
google images

Petunias

Both are petunias. They look so different because of the coloring.
The flashy red and white ones are called Red Star Petunias, I think.




wiki
google images

Clematis Mailbox

I thought this mailbox looked so pretty with the flowing plant around it.
The plant is Clematis (KLEM-uh-tiss). The blossoms look like cultivar Jackmanii.
I quickly snapped it from the car, so didn't get any closeups.

Links:
itis
Common Name: Jackman's clematis
Taxonomic Hierarchy

davesgarden
Family: Ranunculaceae (ra-nun-kew-LAY-see-ee)
Genus: Clematis (KLEM-uh-tiss)
Cultivar: Jackmanii
Synonym:Clematis x jackmanii

wiki
Hardy to USDA Zone 4a

A Few Photos

Magpies are a more prominent presence at our place this year, but have been difficult to catch on camera:


Water marks on the trees from the flood last year:

Some Recent Photos

Lilacs: Love the colors:



Some kind of fruit or something on the wild rose. Didn't know it had such a thing:



Cute squirrel pose:



Spring growth:


Framed Purple Flowers:


Bokeh with a point and shoot, which is much harder than it looks. A combo of manual focus and the right zoom.