Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
Photos of the Day – March 4th
Hello, there……are you enjoying this amazingly bright sun and vivid blue sky wherever you are, today?
Here are the Photos of the Day for March 4, 2017:
# 63 Photo Prompt – Contrast:
“Snow Birds”
#contrast
# 63 Caught By My Eye:
“Bright, Sun Shiny Day”
Lenten Photo Challenge – Lent (Day 4) – Giving Back:
“It’s the Little Things”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Honor of Today’s Bright, Sun Shiny Day:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2017s Photo Prompts:
Lenten Photo Challenge:
Movie Review – Hidden Figures
Here is my review of the movie I went to see earlier in the week – Tuesday…..better late than never, right?
WARNING – I wouldn’t call what I write here “spoilers”, technically……it is all a matter of public historical information, but if you really don’t know anything about the space program from personal memories or never learned about this piece of history in school, you might want to wait and come back to read this AFTER you’ve seen the movie……and, by the way, get your head out of the sand, while you’re at it!!!
I saw Hidden Figures – the true story of the African American women who worked at NASA Langley in the early days of the space program. The story focuses mainly on three main characters who were mathematicians working as computers (note I said “as”, not “on”) and played vital roles in the success of the program. The main characters were:
- Dorothy Vaughan, played by the amazing Octavia Spencer, who served in a supervisory role for a team of African American women who ran calculations and verified data. She played a major role in implementing the first IBM mainframe computers in the NASA program and went on to train and lead a team of programmers.
- Mary Jackson, who was nicely portrayed by Janelle Monae, who started in the computing department, but was reassigned to the engineering group. She successfully fought for the right to take classes in an all white school so that she could fulfill her dream of becoming an engineer after her work helped solve a major flaw that would have destroyed the capsules on reentry.
- And, the main focus was on Katherine Johnson, played brilliantly by Taraji P. Hensen. Katherine played an invaluable role in calculating the trajectories and reentry protocols for John Glenn’s first flight and got him home safely at the precise recovery point.
Other characters of importance were Al Harrison, a Director at NASA that Katherine worked with (I understand that this character is actually a composite character based on three actual directors that Katherine worked with during her time at NASA). Al Harrison was portrayed by the incomparable Kevin Costner and he did an amazing job of bringing this character to life. Also of note was Paul Stafford, played by Jim Parsons of Big Bang Theory fame, a fictional character representing the prejudice the women had to endure during their time at NASA……the guy you definitely love to hate in the movie!!!
While there was some creative differences between the movie and the true story (click here for an article that talks about this), it stuck as true to real life as a two hour movie possibly can. It was a very moving and interesting story and pays tribute to these amazing women…..the unsung heroes behind the scenes in the early space program. Google them and learn more about their incredible lives and achievements.
I really enjoyed this movie and highly recommend it. It brought my strong sense of pride in our country and our history to the surface! I fell in love with the characters, I laughed a little, I cried a little, and I left feeling good…….so, yes, I am rating this one a 5 out of 5 with a huge two thumbs up!!! God Bless these women, God Bless our American Heroes of the NASA Space Program, God Bless others who worked behind the scenes to make it all happen, and God Bless America!
Here is a video of an interview with the author of the book the movie is based on:
And……here is the movie trailer:
Photos of the Day – March 3rd
Good evening!
Here are the Photos of the Day for March 3, 2017:
# 62 Photo Prompt – Upside Down:
“On Point”
#upsidedown
# 62 Caught By My Lens:
Somehow I doubt there is much that will warm today’s cold souls…..Bbbrrr!!!!!
Barely passed 20 degrees, today!
Lenten Photo Challenge – Lent (Day 3) – Meatless Meal:
“Friday Tradition”
I think they need bigger plates! 😀
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2017’s Photo Prompts:
Lenten Photo Challenge:
Photos of the Day – March 2nd
Hi, there!
I just started reading John Steinbeck’s Travels With Charley: In Search of America – his personal accounting of a time later in his life when he just took off across the country in a make-shift camper and his dog, Charley, to reacquaint himself with America. I thought it was fitting for me to read just before Adventure Season kicks off. I was struck by the following two statements in Part I:
“A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike.”
“We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.”
Here are the Photos of the Day for March 2, 2017:
# 61 Photo Prompt – My Breakfast:
“Eggs”
#mybreakfast
I love going out for breakfast…..it always seems to taste better when someone else cooks it! So, when I saw that today’s photo prompt was “My Breakfast”, I knew I had to go out and have myself a special treat!
Oh, and by the way……my Kindle is open to the page that I read the above quotes on while eating this delicious breakfast!
Lenten Photo Challenge – Lent (Day 2) – What I Gave Up:
“Time”
#whatigaveup
I’m not one to give up traditional things for lent – what is the point of giving up chocolate, etc. for a few weeks? I choose to find creative ways to give of my time and more of myself through kind acts and charitable giving during the Lenten Season! I think it serves a greater purpose and is far more personally enriching!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My day:
I had a busy day putzing around……errands here, there, and everywhere and grocery shopping. I had a big list cause I haven’t been to the store to do more than just pick up a couple things in a while and I was out of a LOT of things! I’ve never shopped at Aldi’s before…..I’ve had a couple people fairly recently tell me that they LOVE shopping at Aldi’s – so, I decided I would give them a try, today! Well……after discovering I had to pay a quarter to get a cart out of the rack to shop with (seriously???) and finding only 2 or 3 of the items on my extensive list available for purchase, I left and went to Tops to get my “real” groceries! I found out after I left that if I had put the cart back in the rack and reconnected the chain, I would have gotten my quarter back…..but, since there was NO – ZERO – signage telling me the procedure for getting (a kind gentleman told me about the quarter when he saw me struggling to figure out how to unhook the chain), using, and returning the carts, I just left it inside after boxing up my items (no bags – unless I wanted to pay for them)! I get the “no frills” idea of shopping, but for me, it just isn’t worth the savings……especially when I wasn’t able to find anything I needed! I think it is a safe bet that I won’t be returning there anytime soon!
So, after a day of running around, I missed getting a Caught By My Lens shot….in hindsight, I should have taken a picture of the chained up carts and the quarter slot to release them at Aldi’s!
Instead, I’ll leave you with a video clip of a great song I heard on the radio, while I was out and about……I love this song……and I REALLY loved the TV show it was used as the theme song for: China Beach! Here are two versions – first, with the opening clips from China Beach and second, with Diana Ross and The Supremes singing it live!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2017s Photo Prompts:
Lenten Photo Challenge:
Photos of the Day – March 1st
Hello and Welcome to the First Day of March!!! And, what a gorgeous day it was……mid-60s and mild……until late afternoon/early evening when the temps started to drop and the wind picked up……can we say “BLUSTERY”, boys and girls???
As if I didn’t have enough prompts and challenges to find photos for every day, I am adding a new one for the Lenten season. Beginning today, I will follow a Lenten Photo Challenge. Looking ahead at the topics for each day, I’m not positive I will post one every day, but if I can find a literal or creative way to represent the topic, I will.
So, here goes…….Here are the Photos of the Day for March 1, 2017:
# 60 Photo Prompt – Something Blue:
“Blue Jay and His Treasure”
#somethingblue
“Blue Jay and Robin”
This morning at my weeping crab apple tree!
# 60 Caught By My Lens:
“Looks Like a Winter Storm’s A-Brewin’ “
“Courthouse Flag”
I came out of choir practice and saw how the flag on the courthouse was being whipped around by the strong winds, tonight!
Lenten Photo Challenge – Lent (Day 1) – Ashes:
“Ashes”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2017’s Photo Prompts:
Lenten Photo Challenge:
Photos of the Day – February 28th
Let’s bid February 2017 a fond farewell! Spring will be here in just 20 days…..let the anticipation build! 😀
Here are the Photos of the Day for February 28, 2017:
# 59 Photo Prompt – Evening Sky:
“Cloudy”
#eveningsky #boring
How sad……the day the prompt was “morning sky”, it was cloudy, gray, and snowing…..today, the prompt is “evening sky” and there isn’t any color to be found, again!!! 😦
# 59 Caught By My Lens:
“Mandatory Movie Treats”
I went to see Hidden Figures at Tinseltown, today! I’ll post a review, soon!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Month / New Photo Prompts – beginning tomorrow!
Photos of the Day – February 27th
Hello!
Well, today really wasn’t my day!
- I took some pants to a lady who does alterations in Medina to have her hem them for me (I really wish they would have another size category for short people – they have tall, average, and petite, but they really need one called “really petite” for those of us who still have to hem the ones made for short people). But, I got there and realized I only had two pair in my bag and I had FOUR pair that needed to be hemmed!!! UGH – so, now I have to make another trip to drop the other ones off!
- I went to print some things for a meeting I had to attend tonight, but my computer didn’t recognize my wireless printer…..and visa-versa! It worked fine after I set up my new modem/wireless router the other day, but now for some reason, it wouldn’t work! I restarted both computer and printer – didn’t help! I called Time Warner thinking it must be something with how the modem/router was set up, but they confirmed all was fine. I tried some diagnostics on the printer set up, but nothing worked. I called my nephew to get him to remotely log in and see if he could figure it out, but he was at a hockey game watching his son play, so it would be later this evening before he could get to it. BUT…..all of a sudden, it worked and I was printing just fine and they were recognizing each other, again. No idea what I did to fix it, but something I pressed must have done something! So, all is fine, after all!
- I got so involved with the printer mess that it was suddenly time to leave for my meeting and I realized I hadn’t had anything to eat for dinner and I was hungry. With no time to fix anything, I popped by McDonald’s and grabbed a hamburger and small fries…….I’m trying to stay away from fast foods, but what could I do with literally 15 minutes to grab something and make it to the meeting!
- I didn’t want a soda, so I also ran by Dunkin’ Donuts to get a sweet tea. First – I was in the line waiting my turn at the window after ordering and I moved my head just right and caught sight of something tall and dark outside my side window and about jumped out of my seat……I guess I thought someone was standing there……it was just an arborvitae….but, it really got my heart racing……and, even after I saw it was just a tall shrub, a fleeting thought of the horror movie kind flashed across my brain of a man-eating arborvitae lurking in the shadows waiting for a suitable prey! THEN, I got to the window and they said they were out of regular iced tea and asked if I wanted iced green tea instead……I thought, eeewww, no……and told them no thanks! They showed me that they only had about 1/2 a medium glass of regular and then asked if I wanted them to just top off the rest of the glass with the green tea…..I thought for a minute and said why not!!! So, that’s what I ended up with – 1/2 regular and 1/2 green tea – and, it was actually pretty good – I couldn’t tell the difference! After all that, I still made it to the meeting just in time! 🙂
So……after this very strange day, here are the Photos of the Day for February 27, 2017:
# 58 Photo Prompt – New:
“House Blessing”
#new #wellfairlynew
A recent addition to my home decor!
# 58 Caught By My Lens:
(or should I say literally caught by my EYE!!!???)
“Scary Arborvitae”
See above – 4th bullet – for detailed explanation!!! 😀
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday is March 1st and it is also Ash Wednesday – the first day of the Lenten season. I was given this list of Lent related photo prompts that I may try to do during Lent in addition to my other photo challenges. Here is a copy of the list, if anyone else is interested in giving it a try:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February 2017s Photo Prompts – just one day left:
Photos of the Day – February 26th
Well, it is a good thing that the photo prompt “grass” popped up yesterday and not today! We got a light coating of the white stuff overnight! It is noon-ish, now and it is mostly gone, but it was pretty to look at first thing this morning.
Here are the Photos of the Day for February 26, 2017:
# 57 Photo Prompt – Artsy:
“Morning Snow on the Steps”
#artsy
# 57 Caught By My Lens”
“Confused Daffodils”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And another cool sight this morning: I looked out early and saw this big flock of robins taking a stroll together! They meandered down the street and when they got to my driveway, they turned in and wandered up the driveway like they were stopping in for a Sunday morning visit! 😀
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is a SNEAK PEAK at March’s Photo Prompts:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February 2017s Photo Prompts:
Photo of the Day – February 25th
Hi, there…..thanks for stopping by! It was a rainy, chilly day today. I was planning to just have a quiet, lazy Saturday and stay in out of the weather and do some things around the house. But……technology had other ideas for me! My wireless router died! I debated going to Walmart or Office Max or somewhere to get a new one, but finally just decided to go to the Time Warner store in Brockport and turn in my old modem and get one of the new all in one (modem/wifi) units. So, I did! While I was out, I filled up my gas tank and popped in to the open house for a new holistic/wellness shop in Medina. I missed the open house, but picked up some info. Might be a cool place! When I got home, I set up my new modem/wifi equipment and left again to go get some dinner……by then, I was just too pooped to cook! Now, I think I can finally curl up on the couch and read a little or catch up with whatever is on my DVR. What a day……lazy Saturday – yeah, right!!! 🙂
Here is the Photo of the Day for February 25, 2017:
# 56 Photo Prompt – Grass:
“Mud and Wet, but No Snow! YAY!”
#grass
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February 2017’s Photo Prompts:
Photo of the Day – February 24th
Here is the Photo of the Day for February 24, 2017:
# 55 Photo Prompt – Treasures:
“Megan’s Favorite Things”
#treasures
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February 2017’s Photo Prompts:
Kim's Thoughts 
Recent Comments