My Neighborhood

Some time ago I posted that 100 steps challenge. At the same time I took other random pictures in my neighborhood. I hope these aren't too terribly redundant, but I think there's enough variety that it won't be a total repeat. I also took all these pictures with my iPhone, so the quality isn't as pristine as the other post. That's okay with me. I suppose I could have created more diversity by taking my 100 steps challenge out of my neighborhood, but it's too late for that. So, without further ado, here is my neighborhood once again.

Word of the Day: Redbrick

I must have jinxed the word of the day's frequency, because today I received another word lending itself to the possibility of being photographed. The definition of "redbrick" is in the word itself: it describes something built of red brick. Easy enough. Another given definition is of Redbrick when capitalized like so, and it is "of, related to, or being the British universities founded in the 19th or early 20th centuries." Since I live in Washington and not Great Britain, this second definition is much harder to take pictures of. This picture I am using applies to the first, and easiest, definition. It is also a repeat picture from a previous post because I accidentally downloaded a virus and have to post this from my smart phone-turned-itouch. Oh well, I'm sure you will forgive me in time.

Garbage

Artists like to take random objects and turn them into a beautiful work of art. Arguably, some of them don't qualify as art at all. I once saw in a Chicago modern art museum a sculpture that was literally a wall of trash. It was about 2 feet high, 20 feet long, and 4 inches thick of nothing but garbage. That to me is not art. Real artwork takes talent, not just someone saying "hey, look at what I dragged out to the curb last night!" However, in the current art period, all it takes is one person to like something, and apparently someone liked the trash wall. Segue: I went and took pictures of garbage for this "assignment." Some of them are artsy in composition while others are just filling in the gaps between good photos. Enjoy other people's disposables.

Word of the Day: Ambidextrous

It seems as if this will be the ongoing word of the day trend: a good word will show up approximately every half month. Today is the word "ambidextrous." It can mean "capable of using both hands with equal ease" as we commonly use it, but it can also be used as "unusually skillful; versatile" and "characterized by duplicity; double-dealing." I would call myself ambidextrous in reference to the second definition. I am good at stuff. I play ultimate Frisbee and disc golf; I have participated in basketball, track, cross-country, ballet, gymnastics, and tumbling; I scrapbook, take pictures, have a degree in interior design, am good at drawing, can paint a decent picture, am great with (most) children (there's always one who doesn't like you), and I am a good cook and baker. There's more, but I won't bore you with my life. This just proves my versatility. Other than that, I am not ambidextrous. When I was in junior high one of my teachers told us we would need to learn how to write with our non-dominant hand because our teachers in high school and college would erase what they wrote soon after it was written and we would need to be speedy in case we dropped a pen. I tried to learn to write with my left hand because she scared me. It turns out I didn't need that other hand to write legibly, which is good, because I never quite mastered the skill.

Spokane River Hike

I have been busy for the last few days, which is why I haven't done a post every day. Tonight I am very tired writing this sucker, so don't judge me if it makes absolutely no science. My husband and I went on a hike yesterday above the Spokane River. We passed by one of our disc golf courses and opposite a cemetery we found the other day. I took pictures as usual: some were close-ups, but a lot were with my telephoto zoom lens. I hope I didn't pick out any of the blurry ones I haven't gotten around to deleting, because my eyes can't focus quite right.