Humph. It's not so much the 'road goes ever on...', it's the washing...

We're having a hard-rubbish collection here and the scrounge has been excellent! I picked up a brass shell-dish that will look lovely once it's been polished; a very pretty (and rather kitschy) gold octagonal wooden tray; a large orange plastic container (I'm sure that'll come in handy) and a metal screen door which, once the mesh has been removed, will make an excellent climbing frame for beans/peas. :) The cubs had fun, too. The S cub found a cute little wicker basket; a Garfield poster and one of those old metal chair-coasters (which makes the perfect 'droid model, apparently). His brother acquired a tatty old rasp that he's been trying out on things that I'll let him, like cardboard and bits of scrap wood. Ah, it's good, introducing my children to the joys of scavenging. <g>

I think of all the forms of art photography is my favourite. It's a rare painting or sculpture that will stir my emotions, but photos...? I love the immediacy of them, even the staged shots, and I've lost count of how many times I've seen an image that causes my breath to hitch or brings tears to my eyes.
I've been delving into the National Geographic Greatest Portraits book and it's fascinating. Not only for the photos - some of which are extraordinary - but for the background on the magazine. I hadn't known how different the philosophy behind the NG was in comparison to, say, Life magazine. Prior to the 1970's, NG had a policy of not reporting anything disturbing about America. During the 30's and 40's, especially, the Depression and War were hardly mentioned, save for inspiring stories of heroes and prosperity, unlike Life which didn't shy away from portraying the horror and hardship. The reasoning went that this focus on the more pleasant aspects of life - and the reports of breakthroughs in impersonal science and discovery that has always been a staple of the NG - would give subscribers something optimistic to read. Nice in theory but hardly balanced, but then, honestly, when has any media shown a true capacity for balance?
But anyway, I'm enjoying the book immensely, as much for the insights into the mindset behind the magazine as the photos!

Heh, and so far I've managed to drag chapter 17 out past a week with only 3 and a bit pages to show for it. I really must get a move on past the lemon then I can kick the story forwards again...