Tripping over stones.

Us, in Pompeii.,
originally uploaded by scp2695.

The Missus and I in Pompeii. We had planned to do a big trip for our tenth wedding anniversary in 2007. Linda and the medicos discovered she had breast cancer, again; that put the kibosh to that. She had the operation and chemo. Barbaric, but it works , I hope. She had a different type in 1984 before we were married, when I was at Fort Knox. This trip was a celebration.

Fascinating place, Pompeii. Yes, a tourist trap; to me an interesting one.I have had a lifelong interest in ancient history, and had not been to Pompeii when I was in Italy in 1973. This day we were on a two hour tour, not enough. Andiamo, andiamo! Architecture, especially old or ancient architecture, fascinates me. I wanted to be an architect when I was young; that was before my dis-interested adolescent brain encountered geometry. Now I like to look at buildings.

The box hanging around my neck is a clever device. It was new to me: obviously, I do not get out enough. It is a radio receiver through which one can hear one's guide over a limited range. Saves wear and tear on the guide's voice.Worked quite nicely. One cannot read a guide book while sauntering through the ruins--too many stones to trip the unwary.

Stones trip us at all stages of life. The trick is to be wary.

Myrmidons!

DMP-D838 PERUVIAN ANTI- RIOT POLICE,
originally uploaded by damopabe.

This is the first of an occasional succint series about some photographs from Flickr that I have saved as 'favorites'.

This photo is labelled "Peruvian anti-riot police" by the photographer. The tight composition caught my eye, along with the armor. A good thing to have when people are throwing bottles and bricks your way.It takes eight pounds of pressure per square inch to break human bone. So yes to armor, however ant-like. They remind me of ant-men. Myrmidons: created from ants by Zeus. Loyal. Swarming. Lots of them.

Another aspect of the photo appealed to me. I like groups; working with and achieving goals with a group. O I can go off and read a book all 'on my oddy-knocky', but it is the group, whether it be a tank crew, library staff, or model group that gets things done.

Then, as always, there is the word: Myrmidons. The tribe Achilles led. Created by Zeus from ants, wrote Ovid. Later, it came to mean 'robot-like'; then, 'mindless ruffians'. Shakespeare did not think much of them. I prefer the ant-men etymology: my fascination with Formicidae goes back a long way. That is another story.

Hello, my name is Scott, and I am a Flickr addict.

Hydrangea, "Annabelle Lee",
originally uploaded by scp2695.

How pathetic, I'm taking snaps of flowers to just get my Jones on Flickr. I buff my descriptions, hone tags, hunt down comments. Great fun.
It started out as a training exercise for me for the "20 things" campaign. Like Miles said-

Bebop was about change, about evolution. It wasn't about standing still and becoming safe. If anybody wants to keep creating they have to be about change.