What's not to love about turtles? They've been around since before the dinosaurs and with some protection may outlive us, too! They're peaceful (even snappers respond defensively), dignified and long-lived - good role models? LOL

TODAY'S TRIVIA:

1785 - Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals (Thank goodness!)

1788 - South Carolina becomes the 8th state

1873 - Canada's North West Mounted Police Force forms

1922 - Walt Disney starts his 1st film company (Laugh-O-Gram Films)

1945 - Winston Churchill resigns as British PM

1953 - Schools 1st use Cliff's Notes

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS:

1883 - Douglas Fairbanks, actor (3 Musketeers)

1910 - Artie Shaw, bandleader (Come'on my House)
1928 - Rosemary Clooney, singer
1961 - Drew Carey, actor/comedian (Drew Carey Show)
1966 - Helena Bonham Carter, actress (Howards End)

My new bifocals are working out very well - they're the graduated lenses and after a week of getting used to them - I've got three good visual lengths - distance, arms length (book/PC reading) and closeup for small print like labels and Rx bottles.

The first pair I picked up wasn't right tho - so I had to go back to the optomist (LOL) and then back with a new Rx for the optician. It was worth it tho. The first pair was wrong on the lower left and the upper right, so they had to re-do both lenses.

Good morning Rusty. I really really must go for my eye test. Have your glasses got clear or tinted lenses?

Today It's...

Body Painting Day

Body painting is a decorative art that has been practiced down through the ages - starting with the Egyptian Pharoes who used henna to color the skin for cosmetic purposes. Today, this body art is practised all over the world. In India, it is used as part of traditional wedding ceremonies to draw designs on the bride. In Europe and America it has become an alternative to tattooing since it lasts for only 2-4 weeks instead of being permanent.

Hi I got them tinted - amber and fairly deep (deeper than the pic from Jenni Day - that was the blurry pair). The previous pair were a blend of purple and amber. LOL It really doesn't make much difference when you're in decent light. I just think they look cooler. LOL Having worn glasses since I was in third grade I have to do something to make them vaguely interesting.

When I bought this pair the deciding factor was the matching snap-on sunglasses. They come with the glasses and are polarized. They have little magnets that catch onto a spot near the hinges on my frames. The last pair I had also had sunglasses but they were plastic and clicked on with a small notch in the sunglasses, and were not polarized. Handy, in any case.

I considered the darkening lenses but they don't work in a car - they respond to UV and windshield/window glass filters most UV before it reaches the glasses. Good for indoors - keeps them clear - but lousy for driving.

Now this is a rare pic - me without my trusty glasses. (I wore contacts until I got married then got lazy. LOL BB really didn't care either way - and the glasses are easier.) This pic was when the Easter Bunny caught me still putting on my makeup on the patio.

You know, I think Jake liked the idea of a Universal BT Diveflag. Looks like folks are lining up to buy them already!

Sorry Rusty, I'm having trouble staying on line today, and then the darn things gets stuck, how boring. I must remember to get the ones with the detachable sunglasses, then I shall be able to read a book whilst sunbathing on the beach.

Annie - the first place I went to didn't have the sunglasses/glasses combos but there were dozens of choices at the next place. So you might have to look around a bit.

I just got locked up and it took me twenty minutes to get back online. then it takes me another five to get all my browser windows open again and in the right places. Jeez.

Satchmo I and II:



Nice school (a shoal in the UK?) of somebody or other and a washed out Stoplight parrot:

Crikey, we are doing well between us today, I am off more than on. Just got connected again. Been gradually sorting out loads of bottles and potions, you know the stuff you get as presents and never use. Sent a big bag of stuff round to Emma. She and the girls can use it up. The trash pile is still mounting up hard and fast, but think of all that space I will have now. Annie B.

The clip-on polarized RULE. I forced Mary to get them, and she is happy she did. When I asked for them a few years ago I was quoted astronomical prices for them. Time marches on.

Minor cavil here, I don't think they are really bifocals since they are graduated? They're graduated to me, that;s my story and I'm sticking to it.
I was taking some pictures of a huge fishtank when I first got mine, moved my head sideways quickly, and almost fell over! They can take some getting used to.
here's some cam captures you might have missed

whoops wrong pic. LOL

a better shot of the duck, from my olympus

Oh Seb.

Annie - I was thinking yesterday how our tastes change, too. I was out in the garden and the lilies of the valley smell so good right now - overpowering everything else out back. When I was a kid I bought some cheap perfumes - lily of the valley and lilac. I must have smelled like a funeral parlor.

Then when I was a young teen I wore bubble gum oil while everyone else was wearing patchouli and smelling like the local head shop.

Now my magazines smell more avant garde than I do. LOL The Esquire shows up smelling piney, spicy and MANLY! The Vanity Fair smells like florals and musk. The tabloids arrive smelling of cigarette smoke - I think our mailman flips thru them while he's having lunch.

Nowadays I like Ciara and Obsession/Eternity, but I've read that the number one sexiest smell to a man's nose is cinnamon. Huh.

This





looks a whole lot better than this





Good Morning! Sitting at my desk looking at the pile of work that needs to be done. And not wanting to do it. But I guess I'd better get to it.

Have a good day, everyone!

Boy, those folks on the West Coast get to cruise into work at lunchtime! No wonder the work piles up, Dan and Cynde Lee!



Dan - our weather is identical - for the next seven days weather.com is predicting rain/showers. Then I betcha it'll start getting hot as all 'ell when it breaks.



It's BoxerBob's fault about the rain - when he takes a week off he trashes the entire weather map for the USA. That's just in case he decides to take a spur of the moment trip somewhere.

Hello BTers, just popped in for a quick look at lunch to see International Turtle Day, Alright!

I’ve got some *great* turtle shots I took a couple of weeks ago in St. John, I’ll try to post them when I get home from work.

Hope you are all well.

Rusty, I just got the same kind of lenses a few months ago, but still can’t get out of the habit of taking my glasses off to read tiny print. Old habits die hard.



I don’t mind not being young; it’s the getting old I can’t stand

- Snorkelguy Scott

No new turtle shots but I do have some from Buffalo last weekend.

The Falls and Flowers.


A Black Squirrel


The Niagara river at dusk.

I'm still tempted to look OVER the top of my glasses for fine print but BB caught me doing it the other day and said I look like a little old lady. I won't be doing THAT again.



I would LOVE to see the turtle pix you took, Snork. I'm crazy about turtles - sea turtles are at the top of my list of favorite things! Great way to shell-ebrate.

Cecil - lovely composition! Did you lie down to get the daffodils into the shot?

How are the eaglets doing?

Rochester Peregrines Chowing Down

Hi ya everyone.. A nasty day here too!!!

just went and had my hair done.. got it buzzed for the summer!!! Makes getting into my drysuit alot easier!!!

seb, how in the world did we miss the duck????

cecil, i have never seen a black squirrel, didn't know they came in that color! LOL! Nice shots of the flowers...in the first pic, is that a helicopter in the sky in the background? i didn't know that bufallo was so perty in the spring!

it was really hot here monday and tuesday, now it has been overcast and "misty" in the morning and the fog has stayed low all day...supposed to clear up for the weekend though...the monsters arrive tomorrow (god help me...went and bought 2 cases of '2 buck chuck' wine from trader joe's)...sarah goes back on monday (don't ask, you don't want to know) and dylon will be here for the entire summer. he is "writing a book" and it is much more quiet here than with his "mother" so he says he can get more done with us although it means that we will have TWO teenage boys in the house...his best friend lives 2 doors down, and they have been buddies since he was 6, and matt arrives at our house when dylon does, and doesn't go home until dylon leaves (we have to shove him out the door every couple of days to take a shower and put clean clothes on...although sometimes he comes right back over in the same clothes...???)

i think i will be counting down my 41 DAYS by minutes and hours after the weekend! LOL!

Buffalo looks like a nice place compared to here today:

Western MA is still getting nailed by the rain, too. Mama Eagle feeding the kid earlier:

But Sarah had a nice looking day in the UK!

Much prettier here. 15 more virtual.

rusty, wat happened??? did ya get booted??? i haven't looked in on sarah's garden cam in a while...just got back from a walk. it is sort of sunny out, very overcast...cecil it is nice to see you posting sunsets again...can't believe you are on the 2 week countdown...oh, the package is on the way, should arrive by next saturday...going ground fedex...oh, and don't freak when you see how big the box is...they had to put a lot of popcorn in it so it wouldn't break

Waah! Got knocked off then Domino's showed up and I had to go!

Rusty, Seb,

The only thing worse than getting older is.............Not getting older.


Bob

rusty, looks like sarah must be taking a study break...which means it is nice enough outside to sit in her garden and study...her books are on the ground, tea on the table, and a nice lounge chair!

bob...you are so very correct sir

Happy World Turtle Day

Here are a couple of nice turtle shots from a couple of weeks ago in Francis Bay St. John. These guys were huge Hawksbills that didn’t appear to be very concerned that I was watching them browse the sea grass. Plus a couple bonus shots from a nice little patch reef.

Great photos...thanks for sharing.

Snork - yeah, baby! Thank you sooo much for sharing those shots. Lovely creatures, lovely colors.

Love the flying turtle!

hiya guys

just running a gif test with my firewall. Here goes.....





brilian pics!!!

Hiya Jenni! It worked! Lucky you.

I almost forgot the pix of Jaws the Loggerhead at Atlantis Aquarium on Long Island - Freddie took these.



The crowd liked the sharks in the tank - but they went wild when Jaws came thru.

Seb - the progressive lenses are kinda Magical Mystery Tour when you first start wearing them. There's so much peripheral stuff that your brain needs to learn to ignore that it can make you feel wasted.

Flying Turtle, that’s funny, she does look as if she’s coming in for a landing. Actually she was coming back from a breath of air on the surface. My wife told me that as I swam across the bay and along the shore they were following me, at least a good 20 minutes. She could see there little heads popping up every now and then. I was so riveted with the interesting reef life; I never noticed they were behind me.

Speaking of flying, I got an incredible shot of an Eagle Ray I’ll post this weekend, or at least after my short stint at work today.

See you all soon.

hey snork, great turtle shots! hopefully i'll see one in july!

Cynde, I was the same way, had never seen a black squirrel. I was at Kent State University for a week long seminar.They were everywhere. I would see them, stop and mentally point to them. Everyone else paid no attention at all. While there, of course, I had to go to the area where the Guard had shot the students. You could see a bullet hole in metal piece of art. The area where the famous picture was taken, with the girl crouched down next to one of those who was shot-had been turned into a parking lot.

Cynde, I was the same way, had never seen a black squirrel. I was at Kent State University for a week long seminar.They were everywhere. I would see them, stop and mentally point to them. Everyone else paid no attention at all. While there, of course, I had to go to the area where the Guard had shot the students. You could see a bullet hole in metal piece of art. The area where the famous picture was taken, with the girl crouched down next to one of those who was shot-had been turned into a parking lot.

wow, dean, that must have been some experience. i watched a special on that on the history channel a while back. there was some guy in one of the dorms that took pictures of most of it...let's hope that we never do something like that again...the LA riots were one of the most disturbing things as well. i worked for ASU, and ran a program for at risk youth. we had our NYSP national meeting in LA about 3 months after the riot and had a chance to go to a Lakers game but it was before the new Staples Center had been built. the arena was near compton, and we had to drive through compton to get there. the cabbie was pointing out all of the spots and areas where a lot of the stuff had happened. he said that someone ripped his watch off his arm while he was at a stoplight during the riots....

Yeah, the best way to see great stuff is ignore it completely