The Right Moment to Photograph shows several shots that were unplanned but perfect.  I’ve had a few of these over the years.  Last spring I was photographing an ugly black sky with the sun still at my back and in the foreground.    A thicker part of cloud sent out a finger that optically met the top of a telephone pole.  It was a very Escher moment.

Beyond cool photos, this kind of preparedness can yield some amazing results, such as the three men with their hands in three complimentary positions.  My favorite is the man on the cell phone gesturing with his other hand and seemingly mocked by the cherubs on the wall behind him.

Another common oops factor in photos is the badly photo-shopped image, or Photoshop Disaster.  We’ve seen them in magazines and even on television.  Of them all, I think I enjoy the phantom hands and the people with too many arms/hands the best.

These days we know better than to believe our eyes.  Magazine covers and still shots are so frequently “enhanced,” edited and photo-adjusted that it is hard to trust what we see.  I haven’t looked at a model in years without wondering how much post shutter work went into making her look like that.  And since I saw the Joan Lunden special a few years back with a segment on how it’s done, I’ve never assumed anyone I see in print is as they appear.

I also wonder how much I would alter.  Would I remove ruddy from my cheeks or make my eyes more blue than gray?  No.  I am who I am, as Popeye says.  Would I be tempted?

Oh, yeah.

So while I’m fantasizing about a nice cool dip on a real hot day, I flow on over to Google and take a look.  The first pool I saw made me sit back and think.  Can anyone guess what the shape reminds me of and why I won’t be commissioning this particular pool in my lifetime?

This one's just confusing.

And since I have a real problem with heights, the following pools won’t find their way into my world any time soon:

There are some pretty cool pools out there, and I’d be over the moon with any of these:

But…I couldn’t resist looking at it.  It’s okay, this post is not scratch and sniff, so you can look, but the temptation is all visual.

Recently, Crooked Brains did several posts with photos of incredible aquariums.  Any photos without attribution can be found in Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of his aquarium posts.  I don’t have comments for most of these, though I do prefer natural aquariums as seen in the second photo, and I think the aquarium bathroom fixtures are flat out funny.

I’ve sat on this article from USA Today since July 8.  I guess I was kind of hoping it would go away.  As one of those chronic pain patients who can’t take narcotics and still hold a job, I am dependent on over the counter meds to take the edge off or at least let me get through the day.

I will state up front that I don’t take a lot of straight Tylenol because it doesn’t even touch pain.  I might to reduce a fever, but for pain?  Nope.  However, I really like Excedrin for pain control and take much more than the recommended dosage of Aleve each day.  My liver already hates me and my stomach is already ruined.

So here’s an article in USA Today’s Life section (Wednesday, July 8, 2009, page 6D) advising readers that acetaminophen has a high rate of liver failure attached to it.

The Food and Drug Administration joint advisory committee spent two days in discussion of the safety questions.  Their recommendations were to lower the maximum daily dosage, strengthen labeling and remove it as an ingredient from some prescription drugs.  They have yet to take action.

Acetaminophen is an ingredient in Vicodin, Percocet, Darvocet, NyQuil, Exedrin, and several cold and flu medications.

The FDA reports an estimated 110,000 emergency room visits a year are related to the drug and linked cases of acute liver failure are also reported.

This is the medicine most of us give to our children!

I think I’m glad it doesn’t work that well for me, but now I have to watch everything else I might take to make sure it doesn’t creep in.  My liver isn’t in great shape as it is.

In related news (as in prescription drugs used for pain control being dangerous), propoxyphene painkillers are being phased out of all European markets.  Darvocet, Darvon and other painkillers that contain the narcotic propoxyphene will, however, be staying on the US Market with stronger warning labels.

The European Medicines Agency concluded that the risks of propoxyphen medicines, particularly for the potentially fatal overdose, outweigh their benefits and recommend the European Union gradually withdraw them.

This drug, apparently, kills, though the article doesn’t give specifics.  It does quote Sidney Wolfe, Public Citizens’ Health Research Group’s acting director to say “I have never seen a drug with a more unfavorable ratio of risk to benefit.”

I’ve been prescribed Darvon several times throughout my young adulthood before percodan and percocet became more available.  This short article cleared up part of my curiosity over what happened to a drug that seemed to work well on pain.

So I’m stuck with Aleve for daytime and my standing prescriptions for Tramadol (Ultram) or Demoral for nights I just can’t take it.  I’m half afraid the FDA is going to come out with something bad for Aleve, also, in which case I’ll be sitting on a street corner promising a song or poem for food.

The Golden Rule as it SHOULD be.  I agree!!  I can’t say it better, so check out the original.

I came across two interesting studies on PsyBlog.

The first explains why images moving from left to right seem more powerful.  I find that interesting and a bit disconcerting.

The second is regarding persuasion and the direction from which you are approached.  Now, I believe the study is accurate for most people, but not for me.  I favore my left ear and my left side, and would have an easier time letting someone into my personal bubble if they approached me from the left.  Just another symptom of my weirdness, I suppose.

I ran across an interesting challenge this week.  I suppose you’ve figured out I’m into simple living, downsizing and making life work for you instead of the other way around.  Because of that, I find this challenge especially interesting on a personal level.  I’ve included an excerpt below.

What is the 100 Thing Challenge?  David Bruno explains it: The 100 Thing Challenge is my little way to personalize my efforts to fight consumerism.

What would possess people to eliminate such a large chunk of their belongings?  It’s the same motivation found here in a comment from Time:

Living small is hardly a new concept. Henry Thoreau tucked himself into a 150-sq.-ft. house on Walden Pond in the 1840s, and the city of San Francisco built some 5,600 earthquake cottages for survivors of the 1906 temblor. But over the past decade, dozens of architects and builders have begun specializing in tiny-house designs. And home buyers–motivated by the desire to simplify their lives, use fewer resources and save money–are falling in love with the little things.

I think the 100 Thing Challenge would be a prerequisite for anyone considering microhousing.  Also, I would have to lump my books together under one thing called a library just as David did.  Books are not optional for me, and many of them are related to my goals on the internet.  However, just looking around my study, I can see where benefits might be clear.

I’ve often thought about microhousing.  Indeed, if I were single, it would be a done deal.  However, my husband is a large man and the idea of the two of us in 150 square feet is quite painful and humorous.  Still, we have curbed our desire for “bigger and better,” content with our 1187 square feet, and we are careful about what we add to that space.  It’s a start for him, and normal for me.

This following quote sums up David Bruno’s purpose for the challenge:

Well, I am just an average person. Yet sometimes I have listened to the siren-craft of branding consultants and imagined myself to be someone very special. And I have sometimes behaved and consumed as if that were true, as if I were a celebrity and a genius and rich and sophisticated. Which is another way of saying that I have worn certain clothing brands and expected the world to listen to all I think and gotten myself into debt and made a fool of myself.

Then also, I have been a critic of American-style consumerism. I have become indignant with the cheapness of Wal-Mart and Costco, whose prices are slashed on the backs of labor, manufacturers, and suppliers. Equally, I have become offended by the sumptuousness of Nordstrom and Banana Republic, whose expense is visible on strapless prom dresses, thousand-dollar shoes, and always-changing fashions that demand always-purchasing humans.

But I have shopped at all those places. (Except Wal-Mart, yuck!) Even in the midst of my 100 Thing Challenge, I have ducked into a Banana Republic store to browse the sale racks, but sneak peeks at the full-priced extravagance. Perhaps American-style consumerism has been and in many ways still is my problem.

I just do not see any solution to any problem until I am willing to ask myself and ask others to honestly assess me, “Am I the one responsible for this?”

The 100 Thing Challenge is many things. I have some hopes and fears for what I might accomplish before it is all done. At its most fundamental level, though, the 100 Thing Challenge is an attempt to answer the question about my role in American-style consumerism.