What is Mardi Gras, and why is it celebrated? The name Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, so called because it is the last day of feasting before the sacrifices and fasting that define the Christian season of Lent. But despite the fact that the holiday is associated with the Christian faith, everyone can participate. In New Orleans (pronounced "Orlins" by locals), the entire city does. Different clubs, or krewes, host parades and masked balls in the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras, and the holiday is renowned for merry-making and fun. Everyone should go, at least once in their lives!
When is Mardi Gras 2023? Mardi Gras changes dates each year because it is connected to Easter, which also changes dates each year. Mardi Gras always falls exactly 47 days before Easter. This year, Mardi Gras falls on Tuesday, February 21, 2023. However, the Carnival season is much longer than just one day. Each year, Carnival begins on January 6, or the Feast of the Epiphany in the Christian faith. The season ends on Mardi Gras, which is always the day before Ash Wednesday and the start of the Lenten season in the Christian faith. That means that this year, Carnival runs from January 6 to February 20.
Another phone shot of Isabelle in the red and black lace mask. She's the belle of the ball and maybe the best of all out of this little series. One more shot to follow.
[Nothing new here; I just fixed all the ampersands where there were quotation marks.]
Most of your posts get 30+ comments plus favs. (Your posts get more comments than my posts get *views*, but I had to realize that I'm here for reasons *other than* how many views and favs my posts receive; see below.) This post of yours is “less-commented,” so this comment of mine replies to your query on my recent post in 2024.
“I'm debating with myself whether or not to take a break here. My photos have been beyond lousy lately and I tell myself, it's better to keep shooting. You seem to have your life all together and mine is a mess at the moment. What would you do if you were in my shoes? Your thoughts on the matter...”
Not sure that I have my life all together; there's always room for improvement.
Also, we tend to be quite self-critical. I was astonished that a couple of my recent posts made the popular page. So you may think that your posts are “beyond lousy,” but others are finding value and pleasure in your “art,” so ease up on yourself. With one major exception, which I might be hard-pressed to find!, my photos are not highly processed. Sure, I've ETSOOI'ed plenty of photos to eliminate blemishes and distracting things in the background and I've done quite a bit of selective-coloring and background-blurring, but I tend not to use many filters and “effects.” My experience in photography began with film and so my photos were what they were. No editing was possible. That's how I still look at photography, but there are many, many people who see it as an art form that blends what the lens saw with photo-editing on the back end. A lot of your posts find those people so you shouldn't judge one of your posts as “beyond lousy” when it might broaden the photo-editing horizons of someone who appreciates what you've done with the camera, the software, or **both**!
I have persevered on 365 — even after I've fallen the better part of a year behind in 2023 — for two major reasons.
(1) My 365 posts are a photo journal of sorts. This photo-journal answers questions that arise about when we went places or (for example) when certain household repairs happened. I also enjoy seeing the kids and grandkids in past posts when I do my “Looking back” list (which, yeah, I've continued despite the fact that it takes an extra couple of minutes on each post).
(2) My 365 posts used to provide me with top candidates for the family photo calendar I do every year for us and each of our daughter's families. I fell so far behind in 2023, my 365 project did not serve that purpose for the most-recent calendar, so it took me a lot longer to do the calendar in late-November and early-December so that I could have them by Christmas. This is partly why I'm aspiring to “keep up” in 2024 and back-fill in 2023 as time allows. There are a lot of posts for 2023 that I'd really, really like to get to, but it will be a process.
Okay, so what if I didn't have those two motivations given above?
I might not still be here. It's hard to think that I'd give up on 4,000+ posts at this point, but if I didn't value the “photo journal” aspect, perhaps I would just walk away. Hard to know.
Alternatively, if I thought taking a break would help, I could just pull back and say, “I'll sign in and comment on others' posts, but I won't be a slave to posting photos myself until I find I have better images to post.” I encountered one 365’er who hadn't posted in *years*. I commented on one of her last posts how that could be. She replied that as long as she signed in occasionally — and I think the site sends a warning or reminder — then her free account remains active.
You don't have a free account, so you might lose your “extra” albums if you didn't renew your ACE status, but you might check FAQs or just message Ross about what your options might be.
For me, the winter months of January and February have been really difficult in recent years, most notably since Covid stopped us from travelling (and Clare's had a couple of surgeries with rough recuperations that have kept me hopping). During the cold months after the holidays, it seems I just wait for the bugs and flowers in the garden, or the next trip to see the kids and grandkids.
I hope some of these thoughts or observations help! ~T
@rhoing Yes, your thoughts do help - very much. I do enjoy finding the wildflowers and plants I'm ignorant of and researching them by description. In that sense, my images are mainly a journal of what I found and what it is. I miss the people and their photos that were here 10 years ago. But there are some fine photographers now here too. I used to enjoy the challenges, but not so much anymore for reasons I'll keep to myself, but pretty sure you can guess why.
You're doing very well with On1. I think we can sometimes make it harder than it is. I have to remind myself to look at the manual for something I want to do, rather than struggle trying to figure it out on my own.
I do like to play at edits with some images. I miss being a print graphic designer, so my creative urges have to be released somehow. Maybe my groove will come back in the spring. Like you say, the winter months can be hard. Also, I think things will get better when I can get mom's business all done.
We'll keep after it, at least for a while. Thank you, Thom.
@phil_howcroft Very kind, Phil and thank you.
@rensala Thanks, Renee.
I’m off to a Sydney Worldpride 2023 musical event tomorrow. Hopefully there will be a great photo opportunity.
@ludwigsdiana Thanks, Diana. =)
@johnfalconer Thank you, John. Wishing you lots of ops!
@ososki Thank you so much, Bill!
@wh2021 Thank you.
@joansmor Thanks, Joan.
@talmon Just one more and they'll be gone.
@bec001 Thanks, Rebecca.
@craftymeg Thank you, Margaret.
Most of your posts get 30+ comments plus favs. (Your posts get more comments than my posts get *views*, but I had to realize that I'm here for reasons *other than* how many views and favs my posts receive; see below.) This post of yours is “less-commented,” so this comment of mine replies to your query on my recent post in 2024.
“I'm debating with myself whether or not to take a break here. My photos have been beyond lousy lately and I tell myself, it's better to keep shooting. You seem to have your life all together and mine is a mess at the moment. What would you do if you were in my shoes? Your thoughts on the matter...”
Not sure that I have my life all together; there's always room for improvement.
Also, we tend to be quite self-critical. I was astonished that a couple of my recent posts made the popular page. So you may think that your posts are “beyond lousy,” but others are finding value and pleasure in your “art,” so ease up on yourself. With one major exception, which I might be hard-pressed to find!, my photos are not highly processed. Sure, I've ETSOOI'ed plenty of photos to eliminate blemishes and distracting things in the background and I've done quite a bit of selective-coloring and background-blurring, but I tend not to use many filters and “effects.” My experience in photography began with film and so my photos were what they were. No editing was possible. That's how I still look at photography, but there are many, many people who see it as an art form that blends what the lens saw with photo-editing on the back end. A lot of your posts find those people so you shouldn't judge one of your posts as “beyond lousy” when it might broaden the photo-editing horizons of someone who appreciates what you've done with the camera, the software, or **both**!
I have persevered on 365 — even after I've fallen the better part of a year behind in 2023 — for two major reasons.
(1) My 365 posts are a photo journal of sorts. This photo-journal answers questions that arise about when we went places or (for example) when certain household repairs happened. I also enjoy seeing the kids and grandkids in past posts when I do my “Looking back” list (which, yeah, I've continued despite the fact that it takes an extra couple of minutes on each post).
(2) My 365 posts used to provide me with top candidates for the family photo calendar I do every year for us and each of our daughter's families. I fell so far behind in 2023, my 365 project did not serve that purpose for the most-recent calendar, so it took me a lot longer to do the calendar in late-November and early-December so that I could have them by Christmas. This is partly why I'm aspiring to “keep up” in 2024 and back-fill in 2023 as time allows. There are a lot of posts for 2023 that I'd really, really like to get to, but it will be a process.
Okay, so what if I didn't have those two motivations given above?
I might not still be here. It's hard to think that I'd give up on 4,000+ posts at this point, but if I didn't value the “photo journal” aspect, perhaps I would just walk away. Hard to know.
Alternatively, if I thought taking a break would help, I could just pull back and say, “I'll sign in and comment on others' posts, but I won't be a slave to posting photos myself until I find I have better images to post.” I encountered one 365’er who hadn't posted in *years*. I commented on one of her last posts how that could be. She replied that as long as she signed in occasionally — and I think the site sends a warning or reminder — then her free account remains active.
You don't have a free account, so you might lose your “extra” albums if you didn't renew your ACE status, but you might check FAQs or just message Ross about what your options might be.
For me, the winter months of January and February have been really difficult in recent years, most notably since Covid stopped us from travelling (and Clare's had a couple of surgeries with rough recuperations that have kept me hopping). During the cold months after the holidays, it seems I just wait for the bugs and flowers in the garden, or the next trip to see the kids and grandkids.
I hope some of these thoughts or observations help! ~T
You're doing very well with On1. I think we can sometimes make it harder than it is. I have to remind myself to look at the manual for something I want to do, rather than struggle trying to figure it out on my own.
I do like to play at edits with some images. I miss being a print graphic designer, so my creative urges have to be released somehow. Maybe my groove will come back in the spring. Like you say, the winter months can be hard. Also, I think things will get better when I can get mom's business all done.
We'll keep after it, at least for a while. Thank you, Thom.