Blog Archives
Photoshop can make old pictures new again!
I’ve been cataloging some of my older pictures taken in the early digital camera days, early point & shoot days, and well before I got my Canon 550D. Although they are not the best quality, I saved them hoping that some day Photoshop would help me clean them up, add contrast and clarity, and make them presentable for you to enjoy.
So on with the show, including musical interludes by Three Dog Night, Queen, Pink Floyd, and Moulin Rouge.
Many of us are familiar with the ubiquitous brown tumbleweeds tumbling about in the John Wayne and Clint Eastwood western movies, but have you ever seen a field of growing tumbleweeds? Here’s a field from right here in San Diego:
When I was a juvenile delinquent in Brigham City, Utah, my first grade teacher lived next door to me. She was the first one to get me interested in plants. She had a beautiful garden in her back yard full of nasturtiums. I took such a love to nasturtiums with their beautiful flowers and round leaves.
One day when she wasn’t home I went over to her garden, dug up a plant to make it mine, and then destroyed all of her plants, making mine the only nasturtium on the street. Yes, I got caught and punished severely.
Am I the only one who likes dandelions?
My wise old grandmother had many flowers in her gardens, but I think her favorites were morning glories for year-round blooms, crowns of thorns, which also bloomed year-round and reminded her each and every day of her commitment to her faith, and poinsettias for Christmas.
My wise old grandmother’s poinsettias were the tallest I had ever seen until I came to San Diego. It seems plants grow taller out here. Here’s the tallest one I’ve seen here:
I despised my wise old grandmother’s poinsettias because I was the one who had to prune them each September so that they would bloom in December. Poinsettias are in the Euphorbia family, and I now know that I am sensitive/allergic to Euphorbias. A great general rule of thumb is that if the sap is a sticky, milky white, it’s a Euphorbia of some kind. The sap can cause severe dermatitis and other allergic reactions in many people and can be dangerous for our wonderful cats and dogs, so be careful! The funny thing is that I don’t generally have any poinsettias around the house because of the sap and Zoey the Cool Cat, but I have lots of Euphorbias, such as the Crown of Thorns, all outside where Zoey the Cool Cat cannot get to them.
Speaking of plants growing taller out here, plants that would never bloom for me in Texas are prolific bloomers here in San Diego. The umbrella tree is a great example. I bought a small umbrella tree when I was in tenth grade. It was only about six inches tall. It graduated from high school with me, went to four years of college at Texas A&M University, and lived in Houston and College Station until 1993. When I moved to San Diego, it was about six feet tall and one of my office managers claimed it. Here is a blooming one here in San Diego:
You’ll probably recognize the leaf because they are used as houseplants throughout the world:
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Music on Mondays — Junior Seau, Bob Welch, and me
At the time I disappeared — that’s the correct word — from College Station, Texas, in April 1993, I owned over 5,000 vinyl records and over 1,000 CDs. About 100 CDs accompanied my disappearance in my highly customized 1989 Ford Mustang GT — Beatles, Who, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Simon & Garfunkel, Doobie Brothers, Bread, Queen, Fleetwood Mac — music to which I could sing along as I was driving down the highway.
I didn’t know where my trip would end but I knew how it would end — at least I thought I did — in suicide. I left College Station on April 15, 1993, and drove north with the intent on ending my life in Canada. I was too patriotic to do it in the United States. Weird and sick, I know. Sick, mostly. How I wound up in San Diego — alive! — is a story for another time.
This past month we here in San Diego have had to deal with the suicide of a popular and successful former professional football player, Junior Seau — 10-time All-Pro, 12-time Pro Bowl selection, and named to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team. Suicide? And no friend or family had any clues? Probably not. I wasn’t leaving clues either.
Earlier this month, Bob Welch committed suicide. Welch was a member of Fleetwood Mac from 1971-1974. Shortly after Welch left Fleetwood Mac, the group rocketed to international supergroup status with the 1975 release of “Fleetwood Mac.”
I want to share two songs in today’s Music on Mondays from the Music Chronicles of Russel Ray. The first is “Ebony Eyes” from 1977, Welch’s most successful hit after he left Fleetwood Mac. The second is “Sentimental Lady,” a 1972 hit for Fleetwood Mac that was written by Bob Welch. The last is “Don’t Try Suicide,” a song off of Queen’s 1980 album “The Game.” Seems like life is, indeed, a game, but don’t try suicide. If you’re reading this and having thoughts about ending it all, find a way to call me or email me. I’ve been there. I’m not a professional counselor but at least give me a chance to help you first…………
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Music on Mondays — #4: I walk the line
#4
I walk the line
I don’t remember much about my father because he killed himself in 1961 when I was just six years old. One thing I do remember is that he loved Johnny Cash. Cash’s music was always playing around the house.
I remember one time when I was laying on the floorboard in the back seat of the car, dad was driving, and mom was in the other front seat. Not sure where my older brother and younger sister were. As we were going wherever we were going, “I Walk The Line” came on the radio and I started singing along with it. To this day it’s my favorite Johnny Cash song.
“I Walk The Line” was originally released on May 1, 1956. Cash wrote the song in 20 minutes and recorded it in one day, tasks that take much longer in today’s world.
“I Walk The Line” became Cash’s first #1 country hit on the Billboard charts and crossed over to the pop charts to peak at #17 (some sources say #19), selling over two million copies. The song was originally on his album With His Hot and Blue Guitar.
Cash re-recorded the song four times after its initial release: for the I Walk the Line album in 1964, for the At San Quentin album in 1969, for the I Walk the Line soundtrack in 1970, and lastly in 1988 for the Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series album. The original recording is still the best, as original recordings often are. It’s hard to compete with that initial surge of enthusiasm and creative genius.
This post is dedicated to Michele Miller, Executive Assistant and Realtor for Keller Williams in Worcestor, Massachusetts. At the site where I had been hanging out for the past three years, Michele was instrumental in my Music on Mondays series. She also has a Music on Mondays series, but she started hers a good nine months or more before mine. I copied her, a fact which she didn’t mind. If you are needing the services of a Realtor in the Worcestor, Massachusetts, area, I can highly recommend Michele as I have known of her excellent work for the last three years through my interaction with her on the Internet.
Music on Mondays — #3: You’re my best friend
#3
You’re my best friend
See my initial post about Music on Mondays from the Music Chronicles of Russel Ray.
One of my favorite groups when I was in college at Texas A&M University was Queen. When their song “Killer Queen” came out in November 1974, I correctly predicted that they would become a killer supergroup. They did. They are still in my Top 3, behind only The Beatles and Led Zeppelin.
Following is their song “You’re My Best Friend” from their greatest charting album (and my favorite) “A Night At The Opera” released in December 1975. The song was released as a single in 1976, spending 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and peaking at #16. It was their third single and the follow-up to their well-known single “Bohemian Rhapsody” which was featured many years later in the film “Wayne’s World.”
