hellos

Remember the scene at the very beginning of the movie Love Actually, when Hugh Grant's voiceover shares that one of his favourite things to do is watch people in the arrivals hall of Heathrow Airport, in London? When I first saw that scene, I felt like the writers of the movie had somehow snuck into my head: that is totally my favourite thing in the world to do. I even remember certain specific airport greetings: two Muslim men who rushed through a ceremonial bow to each other before leaping into each other's arms for an emotional hug; a woman who'd clearly been away from her children for some time, who greeted them by sitting on the floor and clutching them both, sobbing happily. One of the downsides of traveling after September 11th is that while waiting for your own flight, you can't watch people greet their friends as they walk off the airplane gangplank into the gate area.

I took the photo above one afternoon when my daughter Alex and I had gone outside to shoot flowers. Suddenly, she saw her friend down the street, at about the same time her friend saw her. They went running toward each other like one of those old movies -- and then they hugged, laughing and giggling. I snapped away.

I really love hellos.

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On this wonderful spring day, wherever you are, please share your images of gleeful greetings in the comments below. 

And may someone give you a heartfelt hello today.

(Crossposted at Chookooloonks)

Superhero Photo Challenge: Self-portrait

Time for a good old-fashioned self-portrait.

The last time we asked you to snap a shot of yourself it was a quick and dirty kind of thing. And, you all rose to the occassion beautifully. But for this challenge, you may capture an image of yourself any way you'd like. Put some thought into it. Get creative. Tell us something about you. Self-timers, reflections, alone, together, dressed-up, sleeping, stalking, making magic, you name it. Just have fun!

This one is all about you! Give us what you got.

Superhero Photo Challenge: Clouds

I have a confession. The clouds have been so delicious in my neighborhood lately that I haven't been able to resist taking photos out of my car windows while driving. I know, I know, so bad! But I can't resist those yummy, puffy, poofy clouds. They are magic. (The clouds above were taken with my camera phone)

For this week's photo challenge, let's see your most stunning cloudscapes. 

gearing up for spring

The grass is still brown and the trees are not budding yet. But there's a buzz in the air. Easter bunnies and bright, colorful scarves and boots are appearing at every turn. Spring is coming and there's no turning back! Not only is spring the a great time for shopping, it's one of the best times for photography. As the color starts coming back and the days get longer I always feel a renewed sense of inspiration.

I want to see how spring is creeping into your lives. Leave us a link and show us your "early" spring photos.

5 ways to bring a little peace and happiness to friday (or any other day)

1. Take yourself to lunch. For once, don't eat at your desk, or worse, skip lunch altogether. Tell your coworkers that you have lunch plans. Then on your lunch break, pick up a healthy lunch (or grab your brown bag), and find somewhere quiet to sit and enjoy the view -- a favourite cafe or a park bench or whatever. Take that novel you're in the middle of (or start a new one). Or grab the latest issue of your favourite guilty-pleasure magazine. Or journal. Use your lunch break to escape.

2. Listen to some great music. Instead of listening to the same-old playlist (or foregoing music altogether), listen to something brand new. A great resource: Pandora, where you can input your favourite song or artist, and Pandora will play those tunes plus songs and other artists of the same genre -- all for free. It's a great way to learn about new music (right now, as I type this, I have bossa nova playing nonstop). Tune in while you're getting ready in the morning, plug in earphones while you work at your desk (no need to disturb your coworkers!), listen this evening as you wind down, or before you go out later. Just give your groove thing a little shake.

3. When you get home this evening (or after the kids go to bed), have a cup of tea and light a candle. While you're drinking your tea, look into the flame, and think of nothing but the flickering of the light and the taste of your tea. When your mind starts to wander, bring it back to the flickering of the candle and the taste of your tea. Just for the time it takes you to finish your cup of tea, think of nothing but that flickering flame and that warm tea taste.

4. Buy yourself some fresh flowers or a small new houseplant. 'Nuff said.

5. Grab your camera or camera phone and take a photograph of something pretty. Just because. For bonus points, print out the image and display it somewhere you'll be able to see it every day. Feel free to swap out images (or add more) as necessary. 

For extra bonus points:  upload your images, and share the link to them below in the comments.  Let's see what's pretty on this lucky Friday the 13th day!

(cross-posted at Chookooloonks)