Grandma and Grandpa Newland

Jalál (Glory), 13 ‘Izzat (Might), 165 B.E. – Saturday, September 20, 2008 about 10:29 AM Pacific Time

This is a picture of my Grandma and Grandpa Newland, my mother's parents. It's the only professional photo of either set of grandparents. I'm not sure when the photo was taken or who the photographer was. I have another photo of Grandma and Grandpa with me in it, so it was taken sometime when I was living with them after a graduated from high school.

I posted this picture in my writing.com blog Snow Melt on September 19, 2008, with the beginning of a tribute to them. The entry was in response to a Leading Entry in a journal contest in which I'm participating. I also made the following blog entry Writing about my Grandparents on September 19, 2008.

So how am I coming along with the tribute? All right I think, it's started and I have some work done on it. I have two pictures I can post with it. I want to find other picture which aren't professionally done. I'm going to check in some Tupperware container of photos I have in my closet.

I Need a New Photo of Myself

Jalál (Glory), 9 Kamal (Perfection), 165 B.E. – Saturday, August 9, 2008 about 9:10 AM PDT

I need a new photo of myself. The one I'm using in this blog was taken on my last trip to Disney Land, which was sometime in the last century. I don't have any photos taken this year or last year. In fact, I haven't had a photo of myself, except the one on my pass port, taken in this century.

I'm not going to use the pass port photo on this blog and I'm not taking a new photo of myself until I get my new, full set of dentures. Therefore, the only thing to do is go through the boxes of photos I have in my closet. Those photos have to come out of the closet anyway, so that I can scan them and burn them onto CDs.

Family photos
people that I barely knew
and half remember
hide in the darkness of my closet
waiting to see the light of a new day.

Photos in My Closet

Jamál (Beauty), 5 Jalal (Glory), 165 B.E. – Sunday, April 13, 2008 about 4:37 PM PDT

I looked in my closet today and found three boxes of photos setting on the floor. I'm going to have to go through them and find out all I can about them. Ask my mother what she remembers, then scan them onto my hard drive and burn them onto CDs. Perhaps compose a document about the photos to go on the CD.

Most of the photos are of family members; my grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins. There is no use having photos if you don't know the history surrounding them. My mother is 87 and if I don't get the information now, I'm afraid I'll never get it. Then what do I do with the photo, just throw them away if there isn't any information to accompany them.

Don't get me wrong, I have destroyed photos before. I found the photo of a ex-boy friend and destroyed it. Actually, what I did was tear it up into small pieces and put it in the cats litter box, but that was a different situation. I don't like throwing family photos away because there is a history behind them that needs remembering.

I Need a new Photo - Continued

'Idal (Justice), 19 Sultan (Sovereignty), 164 B.E. - Wednesday, February 6, 2008 about 9:20 AM PST

I'm considering putting this photo on this blog. It's the newest picture of myself I have. This photo was taken at a poetry reading, but I'm not sure of the year.

I don't have any newer photo at this point and since I don't have a camera I'm not going to have someone take any photos of me for a while. At least not until I get a makeover.

I Need a new Photo

Fidal (Grace), 18 Sultan (Sovereignty), 164 B.E. - Tuesday, February 5, 2008 about 7:37 AM PST

This is a high school photo taken in Shawnee, Oklahoma, several years ago. I used this photo when I first started this blog. I changed from this to a picture of me taken at Disney Land. I'm going to change the photo on this blog again. However, I'm not sure which picture I'm going to use. I think the most recent picture I have of myself is at a poetry reading.

I don't think I have a picture of myself taken in the last two years. I have a Tupperware container of photos in my closet, which I'll look through before deciding which one to use. I'm considering this decision carefully, normally I use spur of the moment decision making. It cuts down on a lot of worrying, but everyone should attempt something different occasionally and putting a lot of thought in this decision may help me improve my decision making abilities.