Autumn Near Cedar Mountain 2012 (4)

After a small, yet not entirely necessary hiatus (read: too freakin' lazy to create a post), we come now to the end of this picture series (betcha thinkin' that I was ending this blog, right? right?). I'm not sure when the next series of pics or video will be posted here, if only for the main reason of not having anything on tap or stashed away on the trusty ol' flashy drive.

So without further ado, here is the fourth and final part of "Autumn Near Cedar Mountain".



Trees! Lots of trees! Seriously though, these trees were seriously compromised last winter by Storm Alfred and this fall by Tropical Storm/Hurricane (depending on where you was) Sandy. But, we can definitely trip down memory lane by looking at this pic with awe about the ability of Mother and Father Nature to do good.




I was sitting on what passes for a bridge on this road. Seriously. We have two (count 'em) bridges on this street. I suppose back in the day, oh when gas was 55 cents a gallon, these bridges were useful in bridging the now tiny/infinitesimal streams that flowed down the mountain. Anyways, I decided to take a long exposure of the trees near the bridge, and as you can see, I got a backyard or two in the shot as well.




This is Sienna. Sienna belongs to John, the family friend/serious computer geek who lives in the suburban section of Hartford and comes up here daily to walk her around the mountain all year round. John is also heavily into the concept of "open space" in Newington and is a member of the organization called Save Cedar Mountain, which is devoted to the preservation of Cedar Mountain from developers. To learn more, please click on the link.




Halloweenie!!! This display was created by the residents of one of the oldest group homes that I know here in Newington. I say oldest as this sucker was around when I was my younger nephew's age some 43 years ago. Anyways, every year they put up some kind of display for a holiday, and this year, they chose to do Halloween.




And finally, we end our journey at the same place where we started it: home. In this case, the front sidewalk gave us the best viewpoint in which to shoot this lovely picture. As Fred Rogers would often say:



Autumn Near Cedar Mountain 2012 (3)



I decided to point the camera upwards as it seemed like I was walking through a small canopy-style tunnel that day. It's pretty freaky, albeit in a good way, how the sun is poking it's head through the trees.




This was another one of those long-tern exposure photographs, as you can tell by the blurriness on the top. Anywho, this was another example of how Mother & Father Nature has turned this particular part of Mountain Road into a leafy tunnel, complete with the proverbial light at the far end, of which you can see the bridge of Cedar Street crossing over the lower end of Mountain Road near the regional center.




Basically another random shot of the mountain. Thought it looked pretty cool and inviting, so why not immortalize it?




Looking up Mountain Road, showing what the front end of the canopy-style tunnel looks like.




I took this one while taking a ten minute breather sitting on a small bridge wall that crossed a now non-existent stream. Again I experimented with a long tern exposure and I think it came out pretty good this time.



Autumn Near Cedar Mountain 2012 (2)

Part 2.


This one is a reoccuring theme, or rather, a reoccuring standy. This is looking west down Knollwood Road on the right side of the road.




Same street, only taken from the left side and in the shade.



I walked about one hundred feet into the mountain to take this shot. The reason why it seems blurry is not because my hand was moving, but I was experimenting with one of the settings that made the picture just a tad larger than normal and took just a tad longer to actually take. Sort of like an old-fashion exposure in which the subject had to stay perfectly still for a couple of minutes before the picture was completed.



Same kind of exposure setting for this one a well. Walked up the trail a little bit in order to get a better shot.




A little bit further up the trail. This one and the preceeding two can be found from about a year ago on this blog, except in a very barren state as those were taken when the fall/winter season of 2010 was in full effect.




This is looking south down Mountain Road beyond the concrete barrier. As you can see, Mother Nature is once again reclaiming the street, which was clened up as recenly as a year ago. However, Storm Alfred did a remarkable job of trashing it again.



Autumn Near Cedar Mountain 2012

I thought I would share this year's version of Autumn near Cedar Mountain with everyone this month. So without further ado, please enjoy these photos taken in the general neighboorhood of Cedar Mountain.





Looking north down Mountain Road. My front yard just off to the left in the foreground

 

Looking south up Mountain Road. Believe it or not, I actually tried to take the same kind of shot that you see on my main blog's header





Still looking south up Mountain Road. I was trying to get a good canopy/tunnel style shot, but the leaves are starting to fall a little early this year. Still, the colors are fantastic.




Back looking north down Mountain Road. The group home for the developmentally disabled is in the near right foreground, which will make another appearance in a few weeks. I think you can get a basic idea of what kind of canopy shot I was looking for here.




A much better canopy shot, looking south up Moutain Road. I'm just past the Augusta Drive and yes, that is the world famous "Road Closed Ahead" sign.



Doo Doo Doo Sittin' In My Backyard

Hi there.

I'm on my way I'm making it...Big Time!

Not yet, but I will be.

In the meantime, please enjoy this slightly longish video of my backyard. While it may not be Big Time, it's big enough for me, for look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn. Well, not really, but ya know, it's the imagination that counts.

Enjoy

Book Trailer For My Upcoming Debut

My friends, this book trailer will knock your socks off, or at the very least, make you sit up and take notice.

This trailer was created, as well as the book cover, by the talented Kelly Abell and her graphics company Select-O-Grafix. Seriously, if you need any kind of marketing product created, be it cover or a book trailer like what you see, by all means please check them out. In addition to being a talented graphics artist, she is also a multi-published author.

Feel free to leave a comment here, or at the video itself, as it is searchable on YouTube.

Once again, major props to Kelly Abell for all of her fantastic work on my book cover and on my book trailer too.

Birds Of A Feather Flock To The Fauna 3

Part three sans captions. I hope it brings you a little peace on this hectic Monday for you.

Birds Of A Feather Flock To The Fauna 2

Once again, I present to you the second post in the series called "Birds Of A Fleather Flock To The Fauna" sans captions.

Enjoy.

Birds Of A Feather Flock To The Fauna

At long last, it's the unknown disposable camera! Sometime, during either the spring or early summer, I shot up my last disposable camera. For the next ten months or so, it sat next to my computer, silently imploring me to get it developed. Finally, at the tail end of April of this year, I did just that. My friends, please enjoy this quiet pictorial interlude sans captions, as I believe that the pictures in this series speak for themselves. Also, please keep in mind that the bulk of the pictures shot were of our feathered friends, because even though there are other subjects, they were shot more as interesting interludes than anything else.

Not This Blog's Usual Type Of Post, But Sometimes You Just Have To Improvise

I originally wanted to do a series of posts based on the very last disposable camera that I had sitting next to my computer for the past several months. Unfortunately, as of today (5/6), it has not arrived back at Rite Aid.

So in place of that, I thought I would plaster over here, the cover of my forthcoming novel (shooting for a late summer/early fall release date) from Solstice Publishing entitled Line 21. Granted, it is a redundant post, as it was Thursday's post (5/3) on Cedar's Mountain, and Saturday's post (5/5) on Books by G. B. Miller.

But I really wanted to update this blog, and since this is a photo blog about Cedar Mountain, Newington, Connecticut, as well as Cedar's Mountain, I figured this particular picture would fit in perfectly.

My friends, once again, here is the cover that will surely get me into some kind of trouble at work in the coming days and weeks, especially since I'd put in a new order of glossy business cards that features this cover on the front and back side.

As a bonus, here is the brief synopsis that was used in the query letter.



Playing the game of public sex is hard enough when you got the family loan shark bothering you for a piece of your action, but when your symbiont wants a piece as well, it can make you question your own sanity.

Flat broke with no job, Jeannie was terrified of becoming just like one of her uncle’s deadbeat customers. Even though she was able to smooth talk her way into a five day extension of her loan, she was still stuck in the same dead end with the same problem: no money. Still, God must’ve had an ulterior motive, because no sooner than she had closed her phone, a young man sat down next to her and began talking. A few minutes later, Jeannie was holding a business card that could just be her potential salvation from a world of hurt. After a brief, yet highly insulting conversation with her symbiont Aissa, Jeannie was determined to test her mettle as an adult performer. Not because she needed the money, but more to the point of proving her symbiont wrong as well as proving to herself that she could play the game of public sex and still have her morals intact.

Line 21 is not just a story about a young woman’s dilemma in reconciling her values to a new and exciting career, but it’s also a story about living with a free spirit that’s crying out for adventure.

As as an additional bonus, here is a five page preview of the book.

As A Matter Of Fact, Spring Has Started To Be Sprung

Welcome back my friends to the blog that never ends, I'm so glad you could attend, sit on down and stay for a few minutes.

Well, it's been a very long time, but because I got motivated by the great Spring weather this weekend to shoot a cheesy video, I decided to share that same cheesy video with everyone today.

I'm shooting for a goal of being less sporadic with my photos/videos this year, and what better way to kick off the year than with a cheesy video shot by yours truly.

Thanksgiving 2011

A little humor is just what the good doctor ordered today, 'cause I really need something to help me decompress. For your viewing pleasure, a dopey video featuring yours truly, taken at my brother's house in Thomaston, CT on Thanksgiving day.