Little Ladybug Hugs

       It is time again to let you in on this week’s theme. I believe it is very appropriate and hopefully prophetic. The theme this week is ladybugs; the cute little red bugs with black spots. Ladybugs commonly frequent fields and forests during the warmer months. As the weather gets cooler, however, ladybugs tend to fly inside buildings. While I do not wish for ladybugs to infest my apartment, I am excited about this pattern. The theme fits the timing because this week becomes September, and ladybugs typically head indoors from September to November. I am hoping that it is prophetic because that would mean colder weather is coming. Autumn is my favorite season, and thus I would be thrilled at some seasonal weather. Yet their habits are not the only reason they are a good theme. These bugs are also adorable and often found in children’s tales. For example, there is a ladybug in the film James and the Giant Peach as well as the film A Bug’s Life. It is also a very popular Halloween costume for dogs and babies. Like butterflies, they are among the few insects that can be considered pretty. Many insects, I’m sure, are involved in myths and legends. Yet ladybugs are found in pop culture such as the films I mentioned.  And now I will share some of the more interesting pictures that have been used. Enjoy them, and stay tuned for this week’s second theme.

Colors of the Wind

              I have some awesome news today. My posts have been a bit slow because I am mostly just writing about my little picture game. Well, I am here to tell you that I have started a second little game with just one person. This means instead of just one post, you guys get to read two each week!!! I'm slowly, but surely, working my way up to being a real blog that actually interests people!! Woo hoo!! Haha. So this week is our inaugural week of my little side game. And the theme was rainbows. Now it would be easy to just show pictures of actual rainbows, but that might get a little dull after about 2 days, don't you think? Therefore, we added a little kick and decided to make it rainbow things. The pictures we each found are actually pretty cool. Most of them aren't naturally rainbow colored, and some that could be still look interesting. Along with each picture, in order to keep the game on a semi- down low, I posted little quotes. For example, in looking for my pictures one day, the song "Rainbow in the Sky" by Ziggy Marley stuck in my head. Thus, with my picture I left the lyric "There's a rainbow in the sky, all the time"... Or, of course, the classic "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". One also, being Irish, thinks of leprechauns and pots of gold. Rainbows are pretty, rare, and fun to play with. People love to see them, and often believe that they are good luck. I personally would love to find a leprechaun and trick him into giving me his gold. For as legend has it, if you spot a leprechaun near a rainbow you must catch him and never blink while staring him down. In doing this, you can force him to take you to his pot of gold and once there, you must trick him out of it. It is a nearly impossible task because in a mere blink, they are gone. Leprechauns are tricky little fairies. And enough with that tangent, back to the rainbows. The pretty sights that are mere re-fractions of light. Now on to my pictures. As usual, I shall put up a bunch so you can appreciate the awesomeness of the game. Enjoy, and stay tuned for next week's themes.

                                                                       

A Little Cuteness

Hello happy readers! I am here to tell you this week's theme. Just as with the hearts theme, this theme will be better expressed in pictures. The theme this week is baby animals. There were so many pictures online that I had no idea which ones to choose. I decided to make my own with the many I liked best. Using an app on my phone, I combined multiple pictures to make them each into one. Due to my inability to choose the ones I like best, even of those, I am going to post them all on here. So enjoy the cute baby animals.    

                                         

              

It Was Slow Going

                 After last week’s explosion of posts about my picture game, this week must seem pretty dull. My apologies. I am here, though, to report this week’s theme. I know you have been dying to find out what it is. Now keep in mind that there are multiple people playing this and the theme ideas are put to a vote. After a week of feathers I’m sure you are expecting something else interesting. Depending how you look at things, this week definitely has an interesting theme. So are you ready? This week’s theme is…. SNAILS! I know what you’re thinking: ew!! That was my thought too. They are slimy bugs. I mean really; who finds insects fun? I was extremely hesitant for this theme and definitely did not vote for it myself. Yet as I said, this game is a democracy. So, since snails won the vote, snails are what we had to find. I found some rather interesting pictures. I mainly stuck with art or cartoons so far. Yet I have learned that there are different kinds of snails. There are land, sea and fresh water snails. Water snails are not as slimy (unless you touch them of course) and even look cool under the water. I learned this week that land snails, the slimy ones, are actually the minority of the species. Another interesting fact is that snails are delicious. As a child (not a young one, I swear) I was asked to try escargot. I knew that meant snails, and I was not eager to eat them. I am a firm believer, however, in not knocking things before I try them. Therefore, I tasted them; and man, oh man, were they good. This week made me remember that evening and I was less hesitant to enjoy the game. Plus, it was fun to try to find un-icky pictures. The week is not over, but there have been some great pictures. As usual, I will post a few below. I will also leave you with a (cheesy) parting joke I saw in a movie once: “What did the snail say to the turtle when it jumped on his back? Woo Hoo.” Until next time, enjoy our pictures! 


                                                                
                                            

Up To Date Antics

    Ok eager readers. I know you are on the edge of your seats, waiting to know what this week’s theme is. So far I have told you the last few, one on top of the other. Now we are up to date and I know that you are dying to read about this week’s theme. Well, I won’t leave you in suspense. This week’s theme was not as bad as it sounds. I had my reservations at first. It was a bit of a challenge. But I actually had fun finding my pictures. Are you ready? Ok, ok, I’ll stop playing with you. This week’s theme was…. Feathers!!! Now let me explain why I was hesitant to enjoy this theme. Feathers come from birds. I strongly dislike birds. They creep me out and I just don’t like them. It is an irrational fear that I have, I am completely aware. Thus feathers did not really excite me when it was chosen. Also, when you Google feathers, the images that pop up are mostly birds and random feathers on their own. While these random feathers were colorful, they weren’t interesting enough for our game. So I started adding random words to my searches; words such as books, intricate, native, and more. The pictures that I found were actually very good and I almost liked feathers more than some of the previous themes. I could blather on about the selection of pictures for a while, but I wouldn’t put you through that. I will just say that this week has been fun and next week should be interesting. Now that we are caught up with our themes, you should only get one post a week about them instead of being bombarded. I will leave you with a teaser that next week’s theme is weird, interesting, and way more of a challenge. Enjoy the feather pictures below and stay tuned to see what we do next…                        

                                               

The Heart of the Matter

                    Last week’s theme for the photo game was hearts. This post took so long to write because it is such a vague topic. What should I write about hearts? Do I discuss the human organ? Should I give out fun little anecdotes? Would a sappy love story work? We use the heart for so many things. It pumps blood through our bodies and keeps us alive; it symbolizes love; it represents a holiday; and more. I can say that the challenge for this theme was finding something interesting. There are tons of pictures of hearts on the internet, but the trick was to find pictures that not everybody would find. I must say there were so many interesting pictures that were found. Thus, this post will not choose a direction to go. Instead of writing about hearts, I am just going to show some of the better pictures that were posted. Enjoy.

On the Wings of a Butterfly

The biologist Paul Erlich once said “The fluttering of a butterfly's wings can effect climate changes on the other side of the planet.” I have been slacking in blogging duties so this post is two weeks late. However, I will quickly catch up. The theme of my picture game two weeks ago was butterflies. There were many lovely photos that were found; some of which I have added in this post to share. In looking for good pictures for the game, I also did some minimal research on the topic. Butterflies are fascinating. While they are beautiful, they are also just bugs. In fact, they are extremely carnivorous bugs. They will feed on nectar, pollen, and sap like harmless little bugs. Yet they will also feed on dung and rotting flesh. This shines a whole new light on these beautiful creatures. In some cultures, they are thought to hold the souls of their loved ones. It is also believed that if a butterfly  lands on you, it is good luck. Then there is the quote by Mr. Erlich to consider. The idea behind the quote is called the butterfly effect, which is also the name of a popular movie. The concept of the movie does, in fact, play into the idea as a whole. The butterfly effect is a part of the chaos theory in which it is believed that everything is affected by everything else. More specifically, each decision or action causes the end result. For example, it is said that if a butterfly flaps its wings a hurricane will form across the world. Taken literally, that would make these tiny insects very powerful things. Therefore, these creatures are beautiful and potentially dangerous; although you would never believe it by looking at them.