I’m afraid all you get this Sunday is some pretty photos. It’s currently my father’s birthday and it was my brother’s birthday yesterday; tomorrow it’s mine! Three days ago it was my aunt’s, and in three days it’s my great aunt’s. Did August have some kind of significance for my family…? Why were we all conceived in the last week of August?!
Wait, wasn’t August named after the greatest of the Roman Emperors, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus? A coincidence…?
Anyway! Two photos — one of the low-in-the-sky full moon last night, and one from where we went picnicking this afternoon. I don’t ever recall seeing so many bluebells up on the heaths here, but perhaps I’ve just not caught them at the right time before. The hills were swathed in bluebells; festooned in purple blooms!
Tomorrow is my birthday. I might have some fun (cute?) photos for you.
I go now to eat more cake. To prepare myself for tomorrow — line my stomach, y’know? — whereupon I will continue to gorge myself with smoked salmon and chocolate and one of grandmother’s Special Creations… I might just have to blog about it, like last time.
Chown Town
May 10, 2009
They’re lovely Seb.
Amy
May 10, 2009
*happy sigh*
The bluebell picture is gorgeous. Well, they both are but I miss the gently-rolling field of the British countryside.
As for birthdays, 3 of my cousins (all brothers and sisters) have their birthdays in the last week of August. I always tease them about being Christmas and New Year babies.
pinkjellybaby
May 10, 2009
Cute pictures? Seb in a party hat?
sebastian
May 10, 2009
Possibly a Seb aged about 1 month old… and MAYBE one of me around 4 years old, in a lovely mother-knitted jumper…
Yeah, August babies are so… common. My sister was born on the 14th of November. Work that one out…
Marmalady
May 10, 2009
we have several clusters of birthdays
march is busiest — between 19 & 31 we have:
1 brother & 1 sister
daughter
grandmother (now deceased)
father-in-law (now deceased)
My mother & I are 9 days apart in september
My husband & son are consecutive days in November
sebastian
May 10, 2009
Maybe… there’s some primeval urge to procreate on the same day that you yourself were conceived.
The wheel of time repeats…
Ambles
May 10, 2009
Love the full moon pic! very mysterious and creepy…
Happy early birthday!
Jossie Posie
May 10, 2009
Beautiful pictures. The moon is amazing I wanted to take one last night but had left the camera at home with no charge
the girl in stiletto
May 10, 2009
i especially love the photo of the moon. dark & mysterious. happy birthday! aren’t you gonna invite us to your birthday party, seb?
sebastian
May 10, 2009
You’re only saying that, Ambles, because you love TWILIGHT, and thus everything and anything to do with DARKNESS and MOONS and EMO!
Jossie, it’s surprisingly hard to get a good photo of the moon… I’ve never tried it before, and this one is faaar from perfect. To get any of the detail you have to under-expose by a HUGE amount, and then you lose the foreground… (it was actually placed perfectly behind a big tree, but you can’t see the other branches to the right…)
I used to have pool parties when I was younger, Stiletto… I haven’t for a few years now! I’m a bit old, I guess…
If you want to come swimming though, I can heat the pool up, and we can go wild! But you have to pick a nice day, with lots of sun, otherwise it’s really cold when you get out! Also, we’re moving soon, so we won’t have the pool for much longer…!
Helen
May 10, 2009
Awesome photos! I nearly took a picture of the moon tonight, but I got distracted and the silly thing moved… I have yet to do much experimenting with my lovely shiny tripod so here’s hoping!
Hppy birthday for tomorrow!
sebastian
May 10, 2009
Hehehe, you have no idea how annoying the MOVEMENT was. I actually took a huge range of photos, hoping to composite them into an HDR image (some kind of funky technique where you would’ve seen the trees AND the moon AND the halo around it) but… the moon was moving REALLY fast — even in the image you see here, it’s not totally sharp, and that’s from just a second or two of exposure!
Thanks
andhari
May 10, 2009
Birthdays are so exciting, any special celebrations? Those are so great, I wish I was invited. I’ll bring cool gift, like..
ummm, like…
I think you wont be impressed with any clothing items I can get you as a gift lmao
floreta
May 10, 2009
i love the moon shot!! very nice pictures. the sky in the 2nd sucks me in too.
happy early birthday
sebastian
May 10, 2009
I actually need some new clothes, Andhari! If you pick out a ‘wardrobe’ for me, I’d happily buy it… as long as you promise me I’ll look cool but not TOO cool. You know, geek chic…!
I do seem to be producing some rather good skies… the highland cattle one is still my favourite though, I think
The Demigoddess
May 10, 2009
I feel so guilty imagining how much food there will be during those birthday parties.
My diet is killing me and anything food related makes me feel so bad.
That picture of the moon is haunting.
cari
May 11, 2009
what a moon. that’s like…vampire movie moon. i like it.
and what a perfect hill on which to have a picnic. right over by that random tree. which is beautiful.
i love pictures. i love looking at them. i don’t have any skill at all whatsoever when it comes to taking pictures, so i really enjoy and appreciate the pictures of those that can. those that have the eye for that kind of thing that i don’t. that see things and think ‘picture’ where i just see things. what a skill. or talent. or what have you. i guess i could just come out and say it, couldn’t i? I’M JEALOUS! ha.
sebastian
May 11, 2009
Well, if you’re going to be jealous, make it jealousy of an artist! Much better than jealousy of a girl that’s prettier than you, or someone with more money… such fleeting qualities. Art will remain beautiful for all time, eh?
Photography’s EASY though, compared to the other arts. It’s true, you need some kind of ‘eye’, and skills in the darkroom (wet, or digital) are definitely a huge bonus… but compared to painting, or fine art drawings… well, I’m jealous of THEM
Hezabelle
May 11, 2009
Very pretty!
And yes it was. Augustus standardized the Roman calendar to twelve months, by adding two months right in the middle (instead of at the end… it would make so much more sense for December to be the tenth month, etc.) And he named July after his uncle/adoptive father and August after himself. Nero tried for a month, but it just never stuck.
Except! Augustus was never REALLY an Emperor. He was only princeps (first among Romans). But I’ll forgive you because he’s generally thought to be an Emperor.
sebastian
May 11, 2009
Whatever, emperor, tyrant, dictator, consul-without-the-vote — it’s widely acknowledged that the Republic had fallen by that stage, the Senate just tried to, um, justify it all by saying he wasn’t really a king/emperor, just… y’know, a really long-lasting incumbent…
(The Romans had a fantastic way of rewriting rules to make everything fit ‘just so’, amazing creatures…)
Ambles
May 11, 2009
Wow. That is quite possibly the most insulting thing you’ve ever said to me!
My likes and dislikes are not so wholly governed by the marketing masterminds of our generation…. sorry if you thought you’d had me pegged… but no. Nice try. Bastard.
chrome3d
May 11, 2009
These are good delicious appetizers before going to a real cake fest!
Jaime @ Fast Times
May 11, 2009
V. pretty!