to my faithful visitors and viewers,

 post #467      
          Today I made the hard decision, for only the third time in 7 years of posting every week, that I am going to skip today and go to every other Sunday -- for the next two months -- until early January 2020.  I'm not disappearing; I'm just spacing the posts for awhile because of other things currently on my plate.  I'm feeling fine, but I'm busy. This posting process is always fun for me, but I think the world will survive if I don't try to do everything I'd like to do.  At least I am pretty sure the world will survive, especially if some leaders have the guts to do what they are meant to do. 
          Thanks for stopping by this week, on the chance I had put up some photos. Try again in a week, or find some early posts to revisit.  They are all of one accord, even if about a variety of experiences.  
           And be good to yourself. That's truly important.  Ann



p.s.   emptied milk weed pods, six years ago this week

being forthright and writing forth: how I learned to be a blogger and love it

post #320
      I'm not part of circles where everyone blogs or twitters or leaves a comment on whatever or lives for publicity. I actually am fairly private, despite often having things to say. I hang out with writers (especially my long term writers group) and photographers, when I can, but I live a rural life in Appalachia -- by choice -- miles from anyone with an Apple laptop, until recently, that is, when some of my family members moved back to our ridge. I've had to learn to make do or make it up. It does help that we have that fiber optic in our county through our local telephone coop corporation that covers four counties.
       I don't remember exactly how it happened, but about 6 1/2 years I "took a notion," as we say in Appalachia, to start a blog. I had no idea how to do it, but since there were millions of them out there, I suspected I'd be able to figure it out. The main thing I wanted to do was share my photography about my region of the country - Eastern Kentucky - and write about the region as well. And I knew myself well enough to know that once a week was enough to ask of myself.  In addition to this not being part of a money making strategy, I didn't think I'd last if I had to think about my blog all the time.
        Now, six and a quarter years later, I have posted  320 times on my blog, usually on a Sunday or maybe a Monday, and I still enjoy doing it. I am proud of myself for that, even if a lot of people who could read it either don't know about it or don't have time to read it regularly. That don't matter none no-how, to use a family phrase of ours. The truth is I do it for myself. Zoning in on my photo work so regularly helps me make sense of what I see and what I want to share.
        I don't know how people in countries all round the world find my blog, but I will hope at least that they come away with a fresher view of Appalachia, perhaps, or a new way to look at something American, or an answer to a question they might have. (My posts about growing tobacco, for example, are visited periodically, as are some about Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, 4H, barns, etc.)
        As for where my ideas come from, let me just say that sometimes I know a week or two ahead, but other times I sit down on a Sunday morning to see what surfaces after I look at recent photos or reflect on something that happened in the neighborhood or in the nation.  Also, if I am visiting somewhere that my neighbors might never get to visit, I will post photos from that trip. Since my step-mother is British and lives in England, and since the light for doing photography is so remarkable over there, I really enjoy sharing photos while I am there. 
         As my viewers may have figured out, I am curious about a lot of things, I love photography and I love where I live.

Some details:      
            1. I chose to use blogspot.com (connected to Google) in the beginning, and I've stuck with them. I use the same format every week, because I don't have time or incentive to go cutting edge or play around with the format. Maybe someday, but not yet.

            2. It took me a long time to learn that if a viewer clicks on one of my photos (usually there are 10-15 photos per post), they all line up along the bottom of the screen and can be viewed one by one in a larger format, thereby looking better that way than in the post itself.
           
            3. I'm relieved that once I click "Publish" to post my draft on my blog, I can later go back in and REVISE or CORRECT or ADD. This helps me immensely, especially psychologically. Clicking on the "Publish" button is therefore less fraught, i.e. improvement is possible. Thank goodness.
           
            4. Every blog has a title, and I came up with Sideway Views. This is because my gallery is on Sideway Road.  Even though everyone wants to put an 's' on the end of Sideway, where there isn't supposed to be one, I still like the title. It turns out it is possibly the only use of those two words together on the whole Internet!! Who knew!

            5. Like with photography or writing itself, posting on one's blog goes better with PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. My early goal was to get better about using humor in my writing. I'm not there yet, even though I keep practicing, and this is a hard reality for me.

I have gone on longer than I like to. And this is a second week without any of my photos. Gasp! But before I quit for today, I want to add two more things I have learned:
             A sample blog located in northern Appalachia that my friend Meg told me about is inspiring -- saratogawoodswaters.blogspot.com  Delightful! So well done! Written by an intrepid naturalist sharing her love of place. I even contacted her to ask what was the camera she uses. I am still trying to learn how she does such a consistently good job with nature photos. She naturally frames photos into a story, which I also like to do.
          Another time I did a workshop for writers about blogging. It turned out several people in the "class" had been doing blogs a long time and were much better informed than I was on many aspects of blogging! I loved being reminded that teaching is a great way to learn.

Note: My photo class has met and I am so glad to be there. Then there's the amazement at the many voices heard in the women's marches on Saturday, all over the country. I added an excellent article to my last post, about narcissism, that my sister shared with me. If this topic interests you, which I hope it does, please look there and read it. 
           Next week: PHOTOS!  

two news -- a year and a day

post #66
      I'm so happy to be taking up this blog after a week away, despite all the fun of being with my beloved family over Christmas, represented by this photo of the present received by the 11 month old family member:

      I am grateful for humor -- whether ahead or behind!

     Then, even though this post is my first in 2012, there remain a few bits left hanging from before.  For example, I have yet to share a photo of myself .... but now is the season to bring out one I took about a year ago, on the bank of our pond:

      And I didn't get to say much about the cactus photo on the last post.  I don't know where that bloom came from, since the plant is small and it hasn't yet bloomed again.  It was hard to portray what I had in my mind's amazed eye, but I couldn't miss the opportunity to try.  I did surround the pot with greens, which I don't usually do since I prefer working with views that are as natural -- or "found" -- as possible.  That is what seems to grab me the most intensely.  In that vein, I wanted to show the size of the plant relative to the bloom.  Probably not every photographer would care about that aspect.

    Last month I shared a table with a younger photographer at a Christmas market, and we discovered we like to take photos of many of the same things.  What a treat for me to meet her!  Go, Bobbie!  It reminded me that one photographic goal I still have -- besides learning more about what I am doing -- is to find someone who would like to share the use of my big printer in exchange for helping me learn all the things it can do.  Rural artists have distance challenges, to put it mildly.  Working alone is part of what is important and wonderful, but sometimes there are gaping holes. I am so grateful that my monthly writers group provides so much of the creative support I need, for example, even though they don't know about printers and even if I have to drive 70 miles one way to Lexington to take part. 
      So, one last sharing from 2011 before I sign off.  The 2011 National Book Award for poetry went to one of the women writers in Lexington, Nikky Finney.  Her acclaimed acceptance speech this fall says so much so well.  I am giving the link here in hopes everyone can take ten minutes to see and hear her on YouTube.  Bravo, Nikky, and thanks, thanks, thanks.
       I hope good health and strong dreams are part of this new year for each of you.

A Sideway Views review

post #25

     I started this blog five months ago and have managed a weekly post ever since, almost always on a Sunday night.  What can I say.  The writing part has been more fun and more work than I expected.  I had in mind a photography blog, to share what goes into creating a photo, without much personal info, not even my full name -- so it is not a promotional effort.  However, the photos reflect my life and concerns.  Therefore I am not exactly anonymous either.

    And I haven't sent out a general blog announcement yet, even to far flung friends and extended family!  But I think I can get that done this week.  I am shamelessly using today's blog as a note-to-self to get over inadequacy issues and just do it.  In any case, there are some things to review about blogs, for new readers and old readers alike, most of which I have learned during the past four months.

incense for sale

irrigating, while laughing at having their photo taken

1. I do realize there are many blogs these days.   Keeps me humble.  Very humble.
2. If I am posting, you'll know I am alive, even if you don't hear from me in the usual manner!  I dream about writing and sending out notes like Virginia Woolf did, several every day, but, sadly, that's just not going to happen.
3.  Some folks have told me they couldn't figure out how to leave a comment.  Here's the scoop: click on what is usually "0 comments" at the end of the post. Then, at the end of the "box", choose anonymous!  (This is not "a comment" on who you really are...)  I have my blog set to review comments before I post them, which means I can respond to just you if that is what seems appropriate, IF I have your email address, that is.  I don't receive an email address with the comment, so if you need a response, please help me out.  In any case, your comment won't get posted until I have read it first in the email Google then sends me.
4. I continue to recommend Google Reader if anyone is following more than a few blogs.  It takes one click to see if there are any new posts on blogs you've listed -- with no need to check each blog individually.  There are probably other such blogging shortcuts out there but I make no claim to understand the whole big picture.
5. It's easy to link anything cyber to the blog.  When words appear in a different color, then clicking on them can bring up a link.  Hmmm, I wonder if bloggers ever mess with their readers by putting something totally random as the link.  So far I haven't done that.  But it could be done.

Ha Long Bay

         Enough already.  What are these photos, you say?  Well, they were taken in Vietnam, where I traveled one wonderful time, in 2004.  In view of the terrible destruction in Japan from the tsunami, I thought some sea photos would be a reminder of our shared world.  What hurts one of us hurts us all.

fishing nets