This seems to be my week for having blog contests catch my attention. Last Saturday the Count of Three captured me, and today it’s the Photo Challenge from WordPress.
I’m not normally a photographer, so I don’t usually pay much attention to that Challenge, but this week’s reminded me of a photo I’ve been looking for an excuse to use.
The Challenge read:
SILHOUETTE. The proper definition of a silhouette is “the outline of a body viewed as circumscribing a mass.” In photography, often we achieve that effect by putting light behind the object whose silhouette we want to capture, effectively darkening out the features of the subject instead of highlighting them.
And I immediately thought of this (admittedly a bit of a gag entry):
[And I realize this may not even be a valid contest entry, but that’s why I usually don’t join in on the contest fun: I have a very serious problem when it comes to following instructions and rules.]
Of course, another way to get a silhouette is by projecting a shadow of the “body” in question. In this case, mine.
What do you see here?
And that’s my feet in their most normal state: naked.
The light is from the sun shining through the skylight in my living room, and it was diffuse enough to cast a very fuzzy shadow.
Or was the light perfectly sharp, and it’s me that’s fuzzy!
I certainly have been feeling that way lately!
Which reminds me of the Woody Allen movie, Deconstructing Harry.
Say what you will about the man (and I admit, I sometimes think he’s kind of creepy somehow), but he’s made some really great, wonderful films. Perhaps it is simply the case that true artists are just a bit… off.
Deconstructing Harry features a story within a story about an actor (played by Robin Williams) who has a “focus problem.” It’s nothing to do with the camera, the actor is literally out of focus. (Later, Woody Allen’s character, Harry, suffers the same fate.)
In any event, above is my new self-portrait, and I think it captures me rather well!
Stay focused, my friends!
Logos con carne 
October 19th, 2012 at 8:21 pm
Ok I have to ask…and only because it’s also true of me…and please don’t take offense…but… are you A D D?
October 20th, 2012 at 10:00 am
Advanced Digital Display? You betcha! 😀
All seriousness aside, I’ve never been formally diagnosed with anything, so I don’t know what I may be (or not). (A bit of an arrogant asshole, at least according to some.) I went and looked at the entry for ADD in Wikipedia, and there are a couple bits that match, but most don’t. I am prone to procrastinate (I’m pretty sure that’s just laziness), and distraction can be an issue at times. I don’t seem to fit the main criteria. I’ve always done well in school and on the job, and focusing on tasks, applying precision, has never been an issue. I’m fairly casual in my personal life, even slovenly perhaps, but my work is highly organized (which might be why I cut myself slack at home).
So,… I don’t really know, but I’d guess I’m not (but self-diagnosis isn’t always valid). I’m curious, if you don’t mind, what caused you to ask? (And FWIW, no genuine question asked of me could ever offend me.)
October 20th, 2012 at 10:04 am
I asked because your posts often go from one subject to another without any obvious connecting dots – to me anyway. 🙂 It’s not a bad thing just an observation. 🙂
October 20th, 2012 at 10:37 am
Oh, no doubt (that there are no connecting dots)!! And actually, I wondered if that’s what you were seeing. I’m aware that the advice for a successful blog is to be more thematic, but that’s just not me (and doing my own thing is more important to me than success… I wouldn’t mind being as successful as you and, well, most of the other bloggers I follow, but it’s not why I’m doing it).
I think the “all over the map”-ness is due to always having had a very wide of interests. All the sciences interest me; so does most of the art world (I especially love literature, music, film and TV). Philosophy fascinates me,… the list goes on. And I’m prone to dig into something deeply enough to either satisfy my interest enough to move to the next topic or to determine that it’s not for me (at least at the moment).
Handguns and football, for example, I explored for a few years and decided I wasn’t interested enough to pursue. Skydiving got a couple years, but I realized I just wasn’t good enough (and didn’t have time enough) to pursue. Baseball has stuck (so far) as something I love. Science fiction stuck way back when I was a kid and has been a passion ever since. I wish lifetimes were long enough to explore everything there is to explore!
What can I say, I’m a geeky Renaissance man! I dabble all over the place!! 🙂
October 20th, 2012 at 11:37 am
I think the best way to be is to be you! And I love your blog, that is why I’m always popping by. 🙂 And what is successful anyway? I write because I love doing it and because I get to meet so many wonderful people and you are definitely one of them! 🙂
October 20th, 2012 at 11:58 am
[blush] Well, thank you! Thank you very much! And likewise! That’s the great part. As you say, so many wonderful and interesting people.
I guess by “successful” I mean lots of followers, lots of Likes. Your blog is a great example. Lots of people just plain really like what you write. It’s so very accessible and loving; there’s a great deal of beauty there in your writing. (And, if I may say so, you’re a beauty yourself. As a single guy, the whole “attractive single woman” thing adds a little something something. Of course, I’m old enough to be your dad (if not grand-dad), but it’s still a neat added dimension.)
But, back to the point, people love and relate to what you write, and so naturally they flock to your blog. Mine will never be like that, but that’s okay. My whole life is like that… only a few people seem to “get” and appreciate me. I figure those folks are the truly intelligent and fabulous ones, so you’re in a special group! 😆 😆 😆
October 20th, 2012 at 3:42 am
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October 21st, 2012 at 7:12 am
I never saw that Allen movie. Sounds interesting. And, yes, Woody Allen is creepy.
October 21st, 2012 at 10:18 am
It’s one of his more interesting one (to me, at least) in how he plays with reality. Those are the ones I like best. Melinda and Melinda is another. Or Mighty Aphrodite (love the Greek Chorus).
October 23rd, 2012 at 7:48 pm
Wonderful touch. 😉
October 23rd, 2012 at 9:39 pm
Well, thank you!
November 17th, 2012 at 6:48 pm
It was a nice change, I think, for you. It was not so deep but just a fun one! That is my perspective on your shadows and the 2 ways to look at the silhouettes. Woody Allen did well in the Midnight in Paris and Annie Hall movies, I feel. What is the one, I am having a brain lag, with Scarlett Johannsen and she is with Bill Murray, was that a Woody Allen movie? That was different. I may be way off with the whole thing tho!
December 2nd, 2012 at 11:57 am
Oh, I like to play in the shallow end of the pool once in a while, for sure!! It’s not all deep diving around here, although I do tend to cook up a pretty meaty chili. (But, of course, that’s sort of built into the name!)
Annie Hall is one of my favorite movies (let alone Woody Allen movies)! (Midnight in Paris was a lot of fun, too! I rather like Owen Wilson… I loved those silly western/kung fu movies he did with Jackie Chan!)
I think you’re thinking of the (most excellent) Lost in Translation. That was directed by Sofia Coppola (was the daughter of Francis Ford!). That’s the one where everyone wonders what he whispered in her ear at the end!
December 3rd, 2012 at 4:54 pm
Thanks so much for the answer, because I did not get around to trying out my wikipedia! I am glad you are still blogging. You were such a good and faithful ‘friend’ who I could count on to read, comment and make me think! (when I was a new kid on the blogging block.)
December 4th, 2012 at 8:02 pm
Thanks! I’m trying to build up the energy and willpower to start blogging again, but I find the longer I’m away, the harder that is! Maybe if I keep it down to one post per week…
July 11th, 2013 at 7:23 pm
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