another lazy Summer (yes, i know it's always Summer for me) day but i have checked on my upcoming flight to Japan as well started thinking about

Photos/写真 from Today and Yesterweek

i didn't know my little compact digital camera had this feature. no, not Squirrel-cam but the ability to take between 1 and 4 photos on the same "shot". i took this photo(s) on my walk back from the market.

early morning lantana

Irvine texture

Irvine minato (harbour)

Alex, Megumi and one empty glass of Tenants

the almost kiss photo & speaking of photographs of love . . .

this is another favorite song from one of my favorite movies. the song is Renai Shashin (Photographs of Love) by Ai Otsuka. the movie is Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru (I Only Loved You, or Just Loving You). the english title is Heavenly Forest. how many tears have fallen because of this song, this video, this movie, these feelings? i just found this wonderful heartfelt review and thought i would share it . . .

Tada, kimi wo aishiteru is definitely one of the most beautiful films ever made. A simple story between two brilliantly presented characters: Makoto (Tamaki Hiroshi) and Shizuru (Miyazaki Aoi) conveys a powerful message of life.

Photography as an art form is really beautiful because it captures the little memories - of things that may seem simple to people but are in fact meaningful to us. Memories like a smile of a loved one, our friends, of good times, and of nature.

Featuring incredibly artistic photography by Miyazaki Aoi (who dragged random people away from their busy lives in New York, to take their photos), stunning cinematography, beautiful music and one of the best acting performances ever captured on film, this is the perfect film for today's world that is suffering the cost of excessive greed. It is a magnificent film for promoting environmentalism and of treasuring the beauty of the things we take for granted.

old school . . . where do i enroll?

summer storm, some are not

Criterion Band wannabe

so true, so true. this was in the same shop as the "make tea not war" in Edinburgh.

dogs need hugs too

Mike Hart's Society Syncopators with special guest Tricia Boutte

more Tricia

somewhere down there is . . . Greenland (Greenland is ice and Iceland is green) last week while flying from Glasgow to Philadelphia. thanks to the Captain for inviting me up into the flightdeck to take some photos.

Palace of the Holyroodhouse. and what do you think the yellow flag means?

better days behind

Renai shashin 恋愛写真 and postcards too

i decided not to go outside today until i organize a little more.  clean up my place a little more. one thing lead to another and i am back at my computer going thru my iTunes account and found this video. it is the theme song to one of my favorite movies, "Tada, Kimi o Aishiteru".  this song is by Ai Otsuka called Renai Shashin which means "photographs of love".  

i found this postcard while going thru some shoeboxes labeled "stuff from Japan 08"

this was from the charming craft shop in Kyoto which i came across by chance while looking for some temple or shrine or garden or just wandering the backstreets.  i also found some Christmas ornaments i bought there but forgot to give away... maybe next year unless i misplace them again.  i will try to find some photos that the owner and his wife allowed me take inside the shop.  (can anyone read the name of the shop which is on the gold seal to the right of the postcard?)

it is time consuming (luckily i have a lot of time) but fun going thru "stuff".  i found this photo before my nap. i was looking for it recently as my "oldest" friend was celebrating her _ _ th birthday.

the photo says i was 8 years old which makes this photo  _ _ years old.  can you find me?  my friend Peggy is in the first row in the red dress.

ok, what was in this box of old photos  . . .

first assignment from my first and only photography class.  it was fun learning how to use a dark room.  good times... taking a photo, developing the film and printing your own photographs.

 last photo                                                 Michelle

yesterday once more

this "yesterday" photo was many yesterdays and a few years ago.  it was taken somewhere on the way to Cape May on the New Jersey shore from Philadelphia. back when gas was cheaper, i would rent a car and go for long drives in and around the Philadelphia area in between "trips".  and when was gas cheap? i found it while looking thru some old photos for a different "yesterday" photo for an old friend.

ok, back to my workbook.  tomorrow i will fly to Charlotte, North Carolina for my yearly one-day training on thursday.  if all goes well, i will fly back home on thursday night.  and then it's back to the gym, walks, beach, looking for live music, sanshin practice, and organizing.

the "yesterday" photos i was looking for... 恋愛写真

time for bed.  and why does this song remind me of my first visit to Amsterdam? well, not this version but the real Andre Bocelli/Sarah Brightman version.  and keeping with the all things connected theme, i bought Tracy and Ryan (photos above) a "tickle me Elmo"  back in 1996.