Why I Shouldn't Write Books for Children

Yesterday Les and I went to Maplewood Rose Garden in Rochester. It was a good time, but was smaller than we were lead to believe. So after exploring the roses that weren't completely wilted from the heat, we went to Holy Sepulchre Cemetery hoping it would be interesting like nearby Mt. Hope. It wasn't, not even close, in fact. But while we were driving around we did see quite the show near one of the mausoleums. I thought I would share this story, and it's important moral, like a children's book. 

Once upon a time there was a red-tailed hawk named Humphrey. Humphrey was hungry. So Humphrey stared at his favorite tree where Suzie the squirrel lived.

When Humphrey saw Suzie in the tree he jumped at her.

But Suzie was smart, and when Humphrey jumped at her, she ran down the tree.

And then Humphrey fell out of the tree.

Humphrey knew that if at first you don't succeed, you have to try again. So he shook himself off while Suzie ran back up the tree.

He found Suzie in the tree again.

And made a bigger jump than before.

But Suzie made a bigger jump too.

While Humphrey fell again, Suzie ran away and hid.

Two nearby crows had watched Humphrey's attempts, and now they were laughing at him. Humphrey was embarrassed, so he flew away very quickly. 

Dejected and still hungry, Humphrey perched on a nearby roof and watched the crows who were teasing him eat bugs and grains to their heart's content.

The moral of the story, boys and girls, is that life is a bitch. Bigger animals will try to eat you. Sometimes you don't get what you need even when you try you hardest. And those who have life easy will mock and ridicule your struggle.

And that's why I don't write children's books. (BTW that photo of Humphrey flying away was taken at 1/400 of a second and his wings were moving even faster than that.)

Top 10

Of all the photos I've ever taken — and there have been more than 15,000 just in the last 18 months — this is my favorite. But it doesn't come close to being my most popular.

I have recently decided that I miss taking photos. I decided on a whim about a year and a half ago to start the 365project. I did it every single day for a year, never skipping a day. And it was hard, but it was fun. I decided not to continue though, because I felt burnt out at the end of the year. Taking photos had become a chore and, mostly because it was the middle of winter in Western New York, I was having a hell of a time taking anything good or original.

So now that I've had about a five-month break I want to get back into it. But going back to a photo every day is a bit overwhelming. I've decided on a weekly challenge. I am planning to start on my birthday since I started the 365project on such a random day. I haven't decided exactly what I'm doing but I have decided not to go with a simple weekly theme like those from the 365project or Wordpress. I was thinking of basing it on an obscure word of the day calendar or possibly quotes or song lyrics. I still have about a month to decide and I am completely open to suggestions.

In the meantime I looked through my old photos and compiled my top 10 most viewed, based on views from Picasa and the 365project. I must admit I am surprised at most of the results.

#10, with 308 combined views is "Bridge Over Troubled Water" taken November 11, 2010 at Stony Brook State Park.

#9 is the alternative version of "A Drama of Lights" taken February 12, 2011, of Asbury First Methodist Church on East Ave. in Rochester. It has 354 views, most of which probably resulted from my use of this photo in my blog post about my views of religion (which was crazy popular because it wound up on Reddit).

#8 is "Ripple Effect," from March 1, 2010, the first time I ever participated in the 365project weekly theme. It came in 3rd in that contest and was a huge ego boost. It has 396 views.

#7 is one of the ones that really surprised me. Taken June 18, 2010 outside our house in Ardenvoir, I didn't think it was that great of a photo, just a cool sun flare, but I think my choice of titles increased it's popularity. I call it "100 Suns" based on one of my favorite 30 Seconds to Mars songs. I included the lyrics in the descriptions on both sites which may have led to some of its 442 views. 

#6 is one of the ones that isn't a surprise, because it's tagged "nude" on both sites, even though you can't see anything (the ones where you can see something have move views on Picasa, but aren't on 365project) it has 455 views. This was taken January 16, 2011, with my new remote, I made it intentionally grainy and high contrast and posted it with a commentary about body image.

#5 is also a self-portrait, this time with Les. I took this on October 10, 2010, the fourth anniversary of our wedding. I called it "All I Want is You," which is our song, inasmuch as we have a song.  This is another one that has a surprisingly high number of views, 699, probably because I included the lyrics.

#4, "Something About Everything" was my guess to be #1. It is extremely popular on the 365project and if it had done even half as well on Picasa it would be the #1. With 750 combined views, it is one my personal favorites. Taken July 14, 2010 of a giant weed in my back yard, it won the "curves" competition on 365project.

#3 was my other guess for my top viewed photo. "Careening Through the Universe," the title comes from a line in a Third Eye Blind song, was taken just two weeks before the #4 photo. July was a very busy month for me on the 365project last year. Again, it was tagged as a nude, increasing the views even though it's only my back, it has 800.

#2, "Rough Waters" was only the ninth photo I posted on my 365project February 25, 2010. I guess its popularity, at 831 views, might be simply based on its age.

#1 was the biggest surprise of all. It was a photo I took at the end of the day on September 13, 2010, I didn't try very hard, just snapped something before falling asleep. "What Council" (the title is based on a James Joyce poem) only my second photo taken in New York, was taken on our first full day in the state. I was still incredibly tired from our insane trek and a full day of unpacking and moving. So I am really surprised that, at 913 views, this is my most popular photo, especially since I don't think it's very good.