Just a few “lines” photos from the past couple of weeks. Although the subject matter is a little mundane, together they constitute a fun collection of “striped” moments in my life during late June and early July. So why not? 🙂

The first picture is of raindrops streaking my office window, running perpendicular to the horizontal lines of the building across the street.

The second one is similar to a couple others I’ve taken of the Grohmann Museum, the building I work in. I was leaving work about 8:40 PM on June 24th after teaching my online summer night course, and 1) it was still pretty light outside, being right after the longest day of the year, and 2) this puddle was still around from the rain we’d had earlier in the day. In addition to the sidewalk cracks/lines, you can also see the horizontal lines of that building that shows up in my streaky raindrops picture.

Next up is a lamp on the second floor of the Grohmann Museum. It’s part of a cozy little seating arrangement in a nook overlooking the atrium.

I’m not sure I’d ever noticed that lamp prior to the day I took the picture. But I had run into another professor, and as I was standing there catching up with him on our respective summers, the sun suddenly came out, illuminating the squared-off lamp against the the window shade and establishing striking contrasts of black-and-white lines and shapes.

Last is a photo I took this morning, on my way to take another photo. Oh, because guess what? One of my colleagues, another professor in my department, is writing a book on rhetoric and asked me to take some photos to illustrate it! This is the first time anyone has ever asked me to photograph something for them, so I’m excited about that. Anyway, as I was walking toward my destination, I noticed this railing and how the curve of the ramp prompted interesting patterns of shadow and light.

So that’s it for today 🙂

This past Saturday I gave a presentation on Citizen Kane to a group of MSOE alumni who were attending our school’s annual “Summer in the City” reunion. This was work, of course, both in the prep and in showing up on a Saturday morning, LOL. But it was also very enjoyable work in every aspect. Plus, I met some new people and reconnected with a student from 10 years ago, which was a really nice surprise!

However, between 1) that event, 2) finishing up my summer course, 3) getting those book photos taken, and now 4) a new project that I’ve been diligently working on and hope to share with you this coming Monday (that’s my goal, anyway; we’ll see what my writing group’s feedback is first), I’ve been AWOL from WordPress since mid-June. I don’t like being away for too long, because posting stuff here makes me happy. When I’m posting, it means I’m noticing the world around me and reflecting on my experiences instead of racing through my days and checking items off my “to do” list.

Hopefully I’m back now.

And also, hopefully (not only in the grammatically-correct, rarely-used “full of hope” meaning but also in the “I sure do hope” sense of everyday vernacular), hopefully my new project will be shareworthy by Monday, so I can post it here and see what you think!