Day 11

My calves/lower legs/ankles are almost undeniably my favorite body part. Perhaps it is the absence of cankles or the presence of a good even tan but, whatever it is they still remain one of my favorites. Feet are interesting too; without feet we would find it much more difficult to go anywhere. Despite their integral part to daily life poor feet are looked down upon, seen as dirty, ignored by many. Well, you feet haters out there, I love my feet and that's all there is to it!

It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees.

-Emiliano Zapata

Day 10

Every little girl at one point in time wants to be a princess. Well, today I was a pretty princess for a short period of time. My crown is of wire that is "normally" used to hang things on walls, and right up until it became my crown that's what it was going to do. But, wire can only withstand so much weight before it snaps and that is exactly what happened to the wire used for my crown. Turns out 10+ pounds will tend to snap wire. It was pretty darn secure with the nails it was attached to though, snapped a few inches away from one but, luckily nothing broke besides the wire and no humans or animals were harmed in the making of this post, well except for the bug that just crawled across my screen, I killed him (or her).

A throne is only a bench covered in velvet.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Day 9

I have always been fond of black and white photography. I feel that with the absence of color, all that is left is emotion. At times, emotion is derived from the colors in a photograph, dark violent reds, bright playful yellows, deep calm blues. Other times, the times most suited to black and white photos, emotion is derived from subject matter or context. One of my newest favorite pictures is a monochromatic taken of my grandfather before I was born. The playful attitude of the photo comes not from his clothes or surroundings but from his expressions and actions. This picture, at least I hope, conveys a sense of calm and security, togetherness, a unity of upper body and lower, hand and foot. The black and white should draw out the contours of flesh on leather and the darkness of the background conveys its lack of importance. Well, there's my technical spiel for the week/month/year/decade and here's the photo to enjoy.

Power and speed be hands and feet.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 8

A sunburn, according to the Wiki gods, is a burn to living tissue caused by overexposure to ultraviolet light. Well, that is exactly what I got from laying out in the Arizona sun for only a mere two hours. I am now the proud owner of a sunburned belly, back, legs, and shoulders. Ouch. This gorgeously attractive picture of me was taken shortly after returning to the amazing shelter of the indoors. Well, my sunburns tend to fade to tans so I should be good in a few days. But Wikipedia cautions me against repeated overexposure to the sun, guess I might just have to keep my delicate white complexion. Although you could never tell from this dark picture.

It's better to burn out than to fade away.

-Neil Young and Jeff Blackburn

Day 7

Shorts, what a wonderful invention. I know, I'm showing some ankle, what a scandal. At least at one time it would have been a scandal, this was the time when bathing suits were rented and covered wrist to neck to ankle and were anything but flattering. God forbid a woman's ankle be seen. This is not a rant though, simply a form of expression through photography. At this moment I believe I was thinking "Hell, it's hot here, a lot like hell actually". That is precisely the reason I was wearing the shorts, to cool off from the baking Arizona heat.

A lie has no leg, but a scandal has wings.

-Thomas Fuller

Day 6

Yes, I do wear my sunglasses at night. I am simply that much of a "gangsta". Just kidding, I'm really not a gangster and I generally try not to wear my sunglasses at night. However, the flash on my camera is permanently set to stun and blind so they became necessary to prevent temporary blindness. And, as every good soon to be college freshman knows, blindness is not a good thing. Prior to taking this shot I took some long exposures of the sky which turned out phenomenally well. But, those shall be for another day when I am feeling more giving :) So for now, I'm wearing my sunglasses at night. And for any curious kittens, yes that is indeed the moon behind me, we were joking about getting moon blindness. Get it moon blindness like sun blindness? Well it just loses its funny when it's explained...

What a nice night for an evening.

-Steven Wright

Day 5

Calves are wonderful muscles. They are actually made up of two major muscles, the gastrocnemius and the soleus. The soleus is personally my favorite because not too many people know about it. It lies under the gastrocnemius so is often overlooked. Also, it is my favorite because it was my indicator for when my injured ankle was truly recovered. If I could stretch my soleus without my ligaments or the swelling around them hurting, I would know that I had recovered, at least in my own mind. On this picture of my calf however, there is a scratch, actually a collection of scratches. These scratches are from textured pool deck which despite its texture is still slippery when wet, especially when one is being chased by a possessed labrador puppy. Well that's my story and here's my picture for the day!

Falling down became second nature and it really didn't bother me.

-Nancy Kerrigan

Day 4

My uncle is a retired marine, sadly I did not get to attend his retirement ceremony because I was too busy traipsing about the East coast on a band tour. To make up for this travesty, I get to spend two weeks with him and his wonderful wife and their new puppy. This picture, while too bright, is of the two of us outside of a Subway after brunch in Utah still roadtripping it down to wonderful AZ.

As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.

-Pope John Paul II

Day 3

This fantastic picture, yes is me with the Idaho state sign. I am currently in Arizona spending some time with family after driving down from the frigid midwest. Just kidding, it's only frigid in the fall, spring, and winter! But, now for the significance behind the picture, I have never been to Idaho so I decided to document this momentous occasion with my picture for the day. And it has been unanimously decided that all of the water in Montana is muddy while all of the water in Idaho is beautifully clear.

Idaho, no you da ho!

-I don't even want to know

Day 2

Day 2 of 365. Today's picture is of my dad and me since it was fathers' day. We are just so darn cute aren't we? Short and sweet today people.

A father carries pictures where his money used to be.

-Anonymous

Day 1

This is my first legitimate Project 365 entry, Day 1. This picture, taken in our kitchen/dining room area is yes, of my feet. I worked this morning and walked a good long ways so they were feeling in need of some loving so I decided they would be the subject of my Day 1 picture. And yes, those are neon pink socks protecting my little piggies from everyday dangers like the inside of shoes. Sadly, they are getting some holes so I'll have to get some new ones soon. Well, I feel that is enough explanation for a picture of my feet.

Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.

-Abraham Lincoln

365 Days

Well, since this is basically just a blog for my posterity, I have decided to start the 365 days project tomorrow and post my pictures here. That's right, I'm going to try and take and blog a picture a day for the next year. Well here's to high hopes! So as the official day 0, I have to say that my outlook for this is quite positive. I think that taking a picture of myself each day will help in many different ways such as learning better the limits of my camera, which I love, and also being able to look back on myself on any given day in a year. It will also be a good documentation of my freshman year at MIT. Hopefully this goes well!

Day Zero

Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself.

Robert Collier