Right on the dot, this last day of September, the fourth and last instalment of Bathroom, the Sunday Story (read parts I, II and III here).
This is not like me. I’m usually specific about being where I am. So here I am (apparently), sting on the toilet, trying to figure out what happened yesterday.
So far as I can tell, it was a rather uneventful evening. Go home, ate dinner, then spent some time on the phone with my boyfriend, who was out of town. Then? Nothing. I must have done what I usually do on a weeknight: read, wash up and go to bed. As I was going through the events of the evening, I noticed something weird with the floor.
I’m pretty used to floors being solid, not liquid. Especially since I actually had been walking on this one, not a minute ago (seemed like days ago). That’s when I glanced at my reflection in the shower: I was becoming fuzzy.
I knew what I had to do; I finally knew what was going on. Oh, I got me good! I didn’t know him to be so sneaky pranky. I stood up again on the toilet seat, took a deep breath, and jumped, dove into the floor.
I should have known. He wanted me out the house to throw me a surprise! Our first anniversary!
I tell you, sometimes it’s not easy dating a wizard!
My out and out favourite for this week, beautiful and spooky. I love how the lights from the camera look a little science fiction and yet the rest of the portrait appears almost like a painting.
Once upon a time I grew up (theoretically speaking) and got my own place. I had my first experience with getting to pick my own paint palettes and I went berzerk. And when I say “berzerk” I mean absolutely insane. My mother came to my house and begged me to PLEASE test the pink color on the inside of my hall closet before spewing it all over the inside of my living room (and thank the Lord, because this was just a house I rented - I can’t imagine what the owners would have done). I took her advice and WOW. I learned my first lesson in paint chips looking completely different on walls than they do on paper.
That being said, I’ve moved into houses throughout the years with paint schemes I never would have picked… our recent house was beyond explanation. And strangely enough, the few rooms I did get around to painting were pink (barely.. and almost white). That being said after that being said, I took some pictures I really love in the rooms *despite* the crazy shades of blue and maroon.
There’s beauty in everything - especially when you’re looking through the lens of a camera.
Did your vision change when you really got into photography? Did you overcome any fears (I know I did - I actually took a spider macro.. and I would chew off one of my own legs to get away from those things).
The picture I picked this week is awesome (and I hate that word). The post made me pause for a moment, wondering if somehow she had purchased one of the houses I defaced with pepto-pink paint, and I was witnessing the aftermath.
Despite all the complaints in her written portion - the image is beautiful. It’s like the best part of a sunset, radiating pure bliss.
The fact that her shirt is pink, but looks white reminds me of reading that Dorothy’s shirt in “The Wizard of Oz” was really pale pink. It just looked better on film, as white was too stark. (I know that doesn’t have anything to do with anything - I just had to make the comparison “because”).
Whether or not this is an easy bathroom to live with remains to be seen, but it makes a gorgeous backdrop. I can guarantee I would be in there shooting pictures all the time.
What is reality without a camera is not the same from behind the lens. This image is a perfect example - if you look for beauty, you’ll find it. It’s all just perspective.
the bathroom is such a small intimate place and the photos that have come out of it this month are amazing! I decided to go with a bathtub theme for my picks this month:
Here is the third installment of Bathroom, the sunday story.
Okay, let’s take stock. I’m not at home. But let’s not panic. There’s no reason to lock myself in a cupboard and recite:
“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.”
No, must not let fear interfere. Got to see this in a positive way and try and figure out what is happening here. Above all, I’ve got to put on a happy face.
How about if I saw this in another way: I am not where I thought I was, where I am supposed to be; what is more, I don’t know where I actually am. In other words, I am lost. So far so good – after a fashion. Okay, what do I do when I lose something? Retrace my steps; so let’s do that.
So what did I do before I came here? I got up and went to start the coffee. Was there anything different? I was on autopilot, so it’s hard to say. Then again, if anything had been different or out of place in any way, I probably would have noticed; it would have put a wrench in the machinery of my morning ritual. No, up to the moment I stepped in here, everything was then same. What about before I went to bed? Could I have somehow changed something? So I think about the night before.
Interesting. Nights tend not to be that foggy with me. That’s more of a morning thing.
I loved this month’s theme. I love bathrooms, in general. I enjoy discovering the bathroom everywhere I go, since I was a little girl. Most of it because I still have the bladder of a little girl, and the first thing I need to do wherever I’m at is to go. Kinda embarrasing to say it publicly, but who knows me gets used to it.
Also gets used to me going through closets and drawers in their bathrooms. Yeah, I do snoop around. But only in bathroom cabinets and closets. You know the theory that says you can really know a person when you look to his supermarket chart? Well, I apply that theory to bathrooms.
For me is the one time of my day where I look deeply at myself, I undress, I take off clothes and masks and devote some time to take care of myself. Hair, nails, skin. Eyebrows, eyelashes, lips. Hips, toes, legs. Nothing is left out. That said, it’s no surprise I’m shampoo-soaps-nailpolish-and-lotion crazy. I can’t resist different scents, different colors, new products.
I’ve been kinda busy this month to take my own bathroom picture, but since I was up for writing today, I felt guilty and took some a little while ago. They are not as good as I thought I would make them to be, but they show a bit of the corkyness I let out when I’m on my own. Like my collection of ladybug-shaped objects, and my need of having two or three types of shampoo available.
Ok, so let’s get to my choices for this Friday #3.
I felt moved by the one with the pregnancy test. I think finding out the answer of those tests is one of the few life-shifting moments a person can have. It is you, alone, looking at yourself in the mirror, seeing things change. Wheter it shows a positive or a negative answer, it makes you consider your life as it is, and how you would like it to be.
Other picture I loved is the one the girls is hiding behind some door (shower curtain, maybe?). Being at your own bathroom is all about being true to yourself while looking in the mirror. At least that’s how it works for me, I have nothing to hide, nothing to be embarrased about.
The other picture I loved is the one with the girl taking a bath of books. For the obvious reasons, I loved that one. It falls into the category Pictures-I-wish-I-had-taken. And, if it ok with the author, I might take my own version of such a delightful idea.
At last, I chose a picture out of curiosity. Was it taken in a bathroom? It doesn’t show it very well. The author says, as an explanation to the photo, that he just moved to a whole different country, a different house, but he didn’t show his different bathroom very well. I hope he doesn’t get mad at me or anything for questioning him about it, but the thing is I got very curious about bathroom in Qatar. Are they different? In which ways? And if they are, why are they so? Just as you can really know people by their bathrooms, (and, yes, by now, if you have seen my bathroom, you figured out that I am a bit crazy and weird! And, you know, I’m starting to feel ok about it) you can know a country, its people, its culture, by knowing their bathroom ways and choices. So, if it isn’t too much to ask for, please mr. intrepidflame, show us a bathroom of Qatar!
Intrepidflame (Or, the guy who’ll get mad at me because I asked a more bathroomy photo from him!)
I hope you enjoyed as much as I did! See you next tird friday!
I posted my picks shortly after Holli put her weekly post up — she actually stole one of my picks too, which I quickly replaced, so be sure to scroll down below so you don’t miss her thoughts about LeSophie’s entry for this week.
An awesome tribute to the American cultural icon, Rosie the Riveter.
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Love this one — the huge stogey makes the shot! :-)
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Apparently, going to the bathroom in some parts of Australia is not just a necessity; it’s an experience.
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Very effective use of lightness and darkness.
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Huge fan of Billy Wilder and Sunset Blvd., so this HAD to be one of my favorites for the week!
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How fun is this?
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…and finally…
I almost didn’t put this one up because I simply don’t have the words to express the tenderness and vulnerability in this wonderful photograph. I hope that someone else can do it justice.
It’s no big secret among my friends and family that I have a “pink passion.” (Isn’t that a drink?) However, when I began to decorate my home I discovered that married people don’t always get to go “balls to the wall” crazy with whatever decoration style they deem fit.
While I would love to have an all-pink house (not bright, just one blushed shade away from white), I am currently dwelling in fallout from bachelor hell (lots of black leather, framed posters and crap that needs to quietly disappear in the middle of the night, without a word).
I’ve tried to explain that color scheme in a house is important - it isn’t always a reflection of masculinity or femininity (and I’m not going to get started on that argument, because I think it takes a real man to just step out of the way and give a thumbs up to… whatever makes the world a happier place), it can literally set the tone and effect the mood of the occupants.
I’m going to use my pick of the week as evidence when I start decorating our future home purchase. I didn’t choose this as my pick because of color, or decorating preference… this picture is beautiful - and although I was taken by several of the other shots, this was the one that had everything I was hoping to find. The composition, the light and the mood are amazing… and the whole thing flows together like peaches and cream.
Feet up, pale pink walls, soft light - and the curves on that shower curtain… sigh. I’m ready for teleportation - I need a day at the spa, or just an hour in that bathroom (plus, I need a manicure - LeSophie’s toes are just precious).
I don’t need to see another inch beyond the perimeter of this shot - I can daydream.
The picture of pink perfection.
Image courtesy of LeSophie.
A bit late, I know, but it’s still Sunday (at least hereabout), the second installment of Bathrrom, on Sunday Story. (The story so far.)
As I was saying, then it hit me: this wasn’t my bathroom.
It looked like it enough – the layout seemed the same. The shower stall sure was just as small. To get a better idea of my surroundings, I decided to change perspective: so got up on the toilet seat and looked around.
There were differences, but I could not quite be totally sure. What if I used the bathtub’s ledge as a vantage point, it was slightly higher. (Yes, I admit it, I’ve got both a shower and a bathtub; don’t like mixing the two.)
This was definitely someone else’s bathroom. Too many things were different in unmistakable ways. For example, the sink wasn’t even the right size or shape. Then I started thinking: am I even in my own home? I looked outside.
Seemed like the right backyard – then again, it had seemed like the same bathroom, at first. I couldn’t have fallen asleep at home and woken up somewhere else. None of my friends were weird enough to pulled that kind of a prank. Doubt started creeping its way into my mind. Was I really in the wrong bathroom, or was it simply that I wasn’t who I thought I was. I had to check in the mirror to make sure.
Yes; me alright. So what was going on? I hadn’t had anything to drink last night. Not on a Monday. There was no one around I could ask – which, in a way, was a good thing. I mean, I would have hated waking up with some stranger. The only way I could get any inkling of how I could have ended up here, was to ask the candies.
So much goodness to choose from out there this week. Who knew you could be so creative in a place most of us use to check for broccoli between our teeth and do a little light reading?
There are some participants that aren’t comfortable with the theme this month. I’m choosing images this week that should remind us that time spent in the bathroom can transcend necessity. It can be a place to have fun.
If you have the luxury of a place to lock yourself into for a few moments, go ahead relax, cut loose. Nobody’s watching. Except the camera, of course.
This week’s nominees all know how to have a good time in the lavatory. Take a pee-k.
Until next month,
Rachel
