Offbeat

October 5offbeat,palm propped up

I am thankful for the offbeat, the unusual, the weird, the quirky, or the unexpected. Those things that are mildly unexpected and slightly comical are fun. They give us pause to smile or laugh. We can't be serious all the time!

I am not sure why I think this is offbeat. It is a single palm tree which had been propped up with wooden braces on the beach at Gulfport. I suppose it's because of the irony of it and because it's kind of a wimpy palm. Palm trees belong on the beach but somehow this one probably was transplanted and had to be braced for stability in order for it to root. Again, I don't know why, but it just strikes me as funny and offbeat. I imagine all the sun bathers really fight for a spot under the shade of this palm!

Perhaps I will hear from the Gulfport Chamber of Commerce complaining about this. I am truly sorry Gulfport! I couldn't help myself. Call me offbeat, if you like.

offbeat

call me offbeat if you like

or any other name you know

singular

peculiar

quaint and unusual

go ahead

let the words flow

whimsical and outlandish

many times more

i’ve been brandished

with much worse

bizarre and weird

eccentric or unique

you cannot find a word

that i have not heard

or been called

so before you pick up your thesaurus

save yourself the trouble

for i have just listed most of them

if you are trying to burst my bubble.

© rt tulley

The Abstract

October 4abstract,planetarium

I am thankful for the abstract. Abstract is loosely defined as something that exists in thought or mind but not having a concrete existence. It is an idea. It is a thought. It is composing something in your mind from something that may only be suggestive of that final composition. An abstract painting is one that may represent different things to every person that sees it. It is the interaction of patterns, colors, shapes, shadings, and "movement". I enjoy abstract photographs. It generally involves photographing something concrete but doing it, or manipulating it, in such a way as to make it difficult to determine the actual object(s) photographed. It may look like nothing representing the original. Sometimes, I like to take extreme closeups, reflections, or blurred images which are difficult to determine the origin.

The photo above, to me, is abstract. You may know what it is but it might not be obvious. This was taken at the Louisiana Arts and Science Museum Planetarium and Space Theater during a concert my son John and his band, The Lazarus Heart, played. A beautiful light show, projected on the arched ceiling, was constantly changing throughout the concert. I think this particular photo represents the limitless planets and suns in the galaxy. The fun in photos like these is to try to visualize the things that this splattering of colors might represent abstractly.

The photos below are of dying rose petals (top) and the bark of a crepe myrtle tree trunk (bottom), respectively.

October 4bthe abstract,dying rose petals

October 4cthe abstract;crepe myrtle tree trunk

abstract

you think my ideas

tend toward the abstract

you’d rather have someone

concrete and true to fact

but those thoughts and ideas

have a specific function

to confuse and bewilder so

to seem not as dysfunction.

© rt tulley

Authors

October 3authors, alba marie pasteroek

I am thankful for authors because without authors there would be no books. I only know a few of author's personally, but I admire them all greatly. I respect anybody that creates anything, whether it be wooden items such as furniture, glass and ceramics, paintings, photographs, stained glass, etc. But books, I think, are essential to humans. They are a major source of knowledge and a major source of entertainment. It doesn't have to be on paper. It can be virtual on the computer or e-reader. But they are books, nonetheless. I admire author's of fiction. They can create a story in their mind and go through the hoops and the ups-and-downs to the final conclusion. It takes a massive amount of organization and imagination. 

This is a photo of an author friend of my family who writes under her real name, Alba Marie Pastorek, but who is known to friends by her nickname, Rietzi. She worked for many years at the Presbytery of Louisiana with my wife Bebe. She asked me to take this photo of her for her Amazon author profile. She is a romance novelist who has four books available through Amazon, either in hardback, paperback, and/or ebooks. She uses her extensive world traveling experience to cast her heroines in far away places. She is a great writer and a wonderful person. Her romances are "clean" compared to many of the contemporary ones. She also has a wonderful singing voice.

Another author friend is Malcolm Shuman, author of archeological mysteries. He is an outstanding story teller and uses his knowledge of archeology as an archeological consultant to create great "whodunnits".  His books can also be found on Amazon. 

author and creator

author and creator

you fashion from nearly naught

your products are intricate

and which are so widely sought

mystery and thrillers

composed of so much fiction and fact

your stories are endless

intricately woven and exact

we owe you our lives

we owe you our time

for you’re the author and creator

of our lives sublime.

© rt tulley