NORTH MISSISSIPPI ARTIST

COSMO - An Amazing Cat

2008-10-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

2 Things Challenge - Black and White ::
A black and white cat is a remarkably beautiful creation.

Funny how cats seem so little when they're all wet. Cosmo didn't mind a bath at all.

After reading "The Cat Inside" he decided to curl up in my tote bag.

Cosmo in the garden.
Our little cat friend passed away almost 4 years ago and he is still close to our hearts. The thing that was so incredibly sad was that he was fine one minute and paralyzed the next. That pain of confusion in his eyes as he struggled to move around until we could contact our vet will never leave my memory. I've never felt so helpless. And add to that, we had to make the decision to let him go.

:: On another note ::
If any of you cat lovers out there have not read "My Cat Spit McGee" by Mississippi author Willie Morris, I suggest you do so. It is a most incredible story of how a "dog person" fell in love with a cat.

Tribute to Spit McGee

2 Things Challenge - Noise and Peace

2008-05-16T05:15:00.001-07:00

Visual Noise – "The Shed Barbeque" in Ocean Springs, MS. You haven't had barbeque till you've eaten at The Shed ya'll!

Jackson Lounging in Chocolate Mint

:: :: My beloved Jackson went missing Sat. June 7th. We found her just yards from the house lying in a low place under some hedges. She had mysteriously passed away. She was a awesome little friend who was extremely smart and responded to every word with a special look or an action. She is greatly missed. :: ::

Jackson - May 2008. She was outside in her favorite spot, but when I went outside to chat with her, she came to meet me and laid down on my foot.

Katrina Memorial

2008-05-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

Part of the Katrina Memorial which is dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It is located on the Town Green along Hwy. 90 in Biloxi, MS. ABC's "Extreme Makeover" crew, which helped create it, held an opening ceremony Feb. 15, 2006. The memorial consists of a glass case (part of which can be seen here) which is made up of a collage of various items from destroyed buildings. The other part of the memorial is a tiled wave wall standing 12' high which represents the water which surged in at the Green during the storm. Many places had much higher surge levels... some of Waveland's witnesses to the surge reported 40 to 50 foot surges as some rode out the storm high up in pine trees.

Links:
Katrina Memorial Pictures
Biloxi - Photo Galleries

Self Portrait with Love of My Life

2008-04-24T09:30:00.000-07:00

Front Beach in Ocean Springs, MS

IN KATRINA'S WAKE

2008-04-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

For this week's 2 Things Challenge, I couldn't help but think of how important numbers and letters became in the wake of Katrina's massive destruction. Letters were used as code and spray painted on structures that had been searched. Part of the code signified whether or not there was loss of life.

Letters and numbers were also used to send a message to express profound feelings and emotions about a person's property and loss. Still ever present are the heartbreaking reminders of what we have lost.

This little house was located just off of the beach in the downtown area of Bay St. Louis, MS.
Please Respect Our Loss

Message to State Farm - Beach Blvd., Bay St. Louis

Located on the beach in Bay St. Louis, The Fire Dog Saloon was once a thriving place to enjoy excellent food, fun, and friends. This sign, however, speaks to the fact that people get to the point of having to give up hope of rebuilding. Pieces of culture die off bit by bit as recovery drags out.
Fire Dog Saloon - Bay St. Louis, Feb. 2008

Life Among Ruin in 2008 - Waveland, MS Sunset

2008-03-23T07:04:00.000-07:00

Sunset on Oak Blvd.

Two years and 7 months after Katrina, the ruined environment remains an all-too-real part of Katrina's legacy of destruction – a reminder that permeates one's view of the landscape.

However, varied plant life continues its struggle to live and grow amid the starkness and the tangles of thousands of dead and dying trees. Residents, such as my brave friends on Oak Blvd. (whose yard and sunset view are pictured here) have vowed to rebuild. Life is indeed present.

February Sky.

Life Among Ruin.

Sun and Shadow - Snow Daze in Oxford

2008-03-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

Two Cans

Paint cans (used to hold down a blue tarp which covers up some maintenance supplies for the apartments) provided me with a different kind of snowy subject matter. We received our 1" of snow overnight on March 7th. The morning of the 8th. was a veritable little wonderland for me as it has not snowed here this much in about 3 years. The last "big" snow we had, which was about 6", was in 1998.

Semi-Gloss

Early Morning

You can see more snow images from around my yard at my garagillentine blog.

SHIFTING PARADIGMS - Old/New 2 Things Challenge

2008-02-25T19:56:00.000-08:00

Old Phone - iPhone.

Saying that the iPhone replaces the old phone is not saying all that there is to be said. The iPhone is much more than a phone. It is an amazing piece of technology. . . a really cool little computer in your hand. It's better than anything I've ever had! It's a camera, a phone, the internet anywhere you wanna surf, it's Google – whatever, whenever, wherever and it's weather and maps if you're lost or just want to find a store in a city that you're visiting. It's also an iPod - music and video. It's all of this and more.

Desktops - Old and New.
The old Underwood is one I picked up some years ago for $25.00. It works, but what a chore just to get some of that old skool typewriter font on the paper. Much easier on the Mac! I just don't see how we functioned before Steve Jobs, Leonard Kleinrock, J.C.R. Licklider, Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf, and Radia Perlman came along and made life so fantastical! I love my iPhone, my iMac, my MacBook, and especially my old G3 Mac - still chuggin right along with it's old friends Epson Stylus Photo 1200 printer and UMAX Astra 2400S scanner.

Music - Old Skool/New Skool.

My old Panasonic Boom Box took me to school and to many an art class in the 90s. Couldn't have survived without it. It served me well, too at home. At night I would put a cassette in on the Auto Reverse side and let the thing put me to sleep. Many a night it played all night long. I've often wondered how many revolutions those little wheels inside actually made in those years of use. It still plays, but the auto reverse gave out. But, it's almost to the point that one can ask, "What is a cassette?" The iPhone's iPod fills all of my musical listening needs! And it's so small! Who knew. . .

Lovebirds in the Form of Cats

2008-02-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

Lovebird, in one manner of speaking, is specifically a bird. . . genus Agapornis: from the Greek Agape, for love, and Ornis, for Bird and is represented by 9 species. They get their name from the fact that they openly care for their mates.

With a different thought in mind, lovebirds are also people who show open affection for one another. However, when this photo was taken the term seemed to translate to cats. Although Cringer and Marvin are males, they don't seem to care when it comes to displays of affection. They look like "lovebirds" to me.

Red Light, Night Light

2008-02-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

red light, night light
from in, shining out.

Pick Up, If You're There.

Empty-Full

2008-01-22T07:06:00.000-08:00

Half and Half - Sunday Bookstore Pondering

The latte was good, made with half and half per my request. . . none of that thin, watered down stuff "called milk" for me. Life's too short at this point to waste taste buds on faux milk. The homemade chocolate chip cookie was equally good.

What's left now is a memory – a very cold and breezy Sunday afternoon and me huddled up in a bookstore overlooking the square. The music in there was way too loud for actual bookstore hanging out and the pondering and life's little awakenings that should take place. . . or maybe I am too distracted, easily. . . but no! . . . wait a minute . . . being followed around by people breathing down my neck, making me too full of their presence – that's distracting! People on my heels, over my shoulder, in my ear – I just don't need that.

I want to be empty enough of them so that I can find and feel what it is that I'm looking for. And I am always looking for something. A word. A phrase. A color. A shape. A shadow. A cloud. A scent. A sound. Those things fill me. But yesterday, they were not to be found – in the cup, the saucer, or the bookstore.

Memories on Doorsteps

2008-01-13T16:04:00.000-08:00

Cobalt Glasses with Disposable Camera, Film Roll, and China Shard

The first time I visited Oak Blvd. in Waveland, I was inspired to stop and get out of my vehicle and introduce myself (something I don't normally do as I'm fairly shy) to a lady sitting by her drive in the humid August sun one year after Katrina. She was tending to a few flowers which had announced themselves beautifully within the overgrown Katrina-wracked yard and from that moment, we have been in touch. I have visited her and her mother each time I have been to the coast and wouldn't miss the chance to chat with them for anything.
Considering all the "things" Katrina removed from people's lives, friendships seemed to grow in place of things. Like little tokens lying on the doorsteps to a lost home, friendships sprouted from devastation and took away some of the pain. I have made some wonderful friends because of Katrina and though I lost a dream I had because of her, these friends are a beauty that can't be washed away.

Windows to Memories

Blue Daze

Songs in the Key of Loss

Slide Show

Blue Catfish

Table Saw

Box of Dreams

Beautiful Past

Montreal

Memory Shards

Wallet with Blue

Honra A Tu Padre

Echoes from the Mutable Land

2008-01-13T11:23:00.000-08:00

Vault Handle

Bay St. Louis - Beach Blvd. :: Nov. 2007

What I've seen is not what those who went through Katrina saw in those initial days of total devastation.
But what I have seen has changed me. I cannot forget Katrina nor ignore her. She has touched me with her destruction so that I am forever inclined to capture her remains. . . almost the nymph, Echo, Katrina's voice remains
though her actual body is dead.

Vault Door

Vault Wall on Beach Blvd.