Whittling away the hours....

Meet Stevo Radelic, a Serbian refugee who has been living just outside of Belgrade now ever since he lost his home in Croatia at the beginning of Yugoslavia's break-up. He's made a new life for himself, although a difficult one, creating works of art from pieces of oak. Some wood he finds himself; other times clients bring him a pieces to turn into an artwork. He often comes to town on special days (here he had come for International Women's Day on March 8th) to try to sell what he's made. Prices range according to size and amount of work. The piece on the right, for example, costs 50 euros.

"Yankee" is two!

Today I celebrate my second blog anniversary. Like last year's post, I'm giving you a blast-from-the-past. The above is a photo also taken in 1973 (so was last year's) shortly after I bought my first camera when I lived in Paris. That summer I returned to Los Angeles where my parents were living at the time, and in downtown L.A. on Pershing Square I captured this scene. It makes me think of what Henri Cartier-Bresson said about grabbing 'the decisive moment,' for I was using an old 135mm lens that I really had to fiddle with (but didn't, seeing as how all I had time for was a quick focus). That's why it's overexposed. Anyway, this photo is one of my favorites.

Help! I'm trapped under the ice!

I couldn't resist this 'face' under a frozen puddle I saw the other day. The bubbles look like two eyes.... Come to think of it, I hope there WASN'T something under there....

This post goes out to Daryl of Out and About in New York, who posted a similar shot the other day. Click on her link above and see another pair of eyes.

Today I decided to join Monochrome Weekend. Check it out.

Snow cupcakes!

Well, guess what the weather is...again. I decided to take advantage of the snow to make my friend Marianne in NYC some cupcakes for her birthday. Lo-cal for sure.

Here's to you, Marianne, on your birthday!

Theme Day - The Tenin Technique

It's still darn cold out there and I couldn't relish lying on the sidewalk or muddy ground....so I opted for a Bibi at Home shot. A little fuzzy, but she kept moving...

Thanks to Eric Tenin of Paris Daily Photo for getting me blogging. I found his blog in early 2008 while looking for a good site to send my friend in NYC for her upcoming trip to Paris.

I'll be celebrating my own anniversary (the second!) on March 14th, so check back!

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

ABC Wednesday "H" is for "High, high heels!"

I'm really amazed by some shoes nowadays and wonder if I ever would have succombed to fashion to buy a pair with such high heels. They seem like a twisted ankle just waiting to happen.

See what others have posted for ABC Wednesday.

And the temperature is....

...minus three Celsius! That's what it really was this morning when I got up. I took this photo last Sunday from Branko's Bridge that I've featured several times. The Sava and Danube Rivers are currently very high, due to melting snow, and in this photo you can see what is actually a modern-shaped cement bench on the quay, part of which is submerged. The improvised walkway behind it leads to one of Belgrade's floating restaurants. Where you now see water you would normally find a grassy area that extends to the sidewalk next to the river.

International Women's Day

International Women's Day is marked on March 8th every year. It started as a Socialist political event, and then blended into the culture of many countries. In some countries' celebrations like here in Serbia, the political aspect has faded and the holiday has become occasion for men and children to express their love to the women around them, similar to Mother's Day or Valentine's Day.

Women come in all shapes and sizes and ages! The above ladies are just a sample. If you'd like to read more about IWD, click here.

S.O.S. Market

A chain of S.O.S. Markets opened about a year ago in Belgrade, with the intention of helping citizens with low incomes to save money on groceries. There are several of them around town. This one, with its "S.O.S. Market" sign in Cyrillic, stands beside a green market downtown, next to a 'Pekara" (bakery), whose sign is also in Cyrillic.

If you read Serbian, you can find out more about S.O.S. Markets right here.

Message in a bottle?

I don't know if there was a message in this bottle, but doubt it, since it appears empty. This green wine bottle floats on the quay on the Sava River in New Belgrade. Recent rains and melting snow have made the water levels rise and cover part of the sidewalk.

This post is for Newtown Daily Photo's Reflection Weekend. Hop over and have a look!

SKYWATCH FRIDAY =My moon and...?

Well, when I uploaded this photo, it came as a surprise to me. First of all, the moon was photographed with my new 70-300mm VR lens that I was trying out. It is a hand-held shot, obviously taken at night. Instead of making minor adjustments with Photoshop on my big computer, I was using my little ASUS computer using GIMP, an image manipulation that my Linux-operating ASUS uses. All this while watching a bit of TV. I hardly ever use GIMP, so I think what happened is that when I adjusted one of the filters for light or dark, somehow that mysterious 'spaceship' light got thrown in. I must have inadvertently clicked on something else, too. I only saw it when I uploaded the photo to my blog, but I left it, since I kind of like it, even if it isn't natural....unless it really IS a spaceship.

See if anyone else has accidentally goofed their post for SKYWATCH FRIDAY.