Thursday, September 27, 2007

shooting the moon

Thank you. Thank you very much. I was overwhelmed by all your birthday wishes. I played hooky from work, renewed my driver's license, went to the mall where I bought seven (seven!) pairs of shoes and lots of sparkly earrings, walked around the reservoir and, yes, ate much cake. For those of you (and you know who you are) who made slighting remarks about my cake,* let me remind you that jealousy, no matter how well-justified, is not a pretty sight. And not only did I have the pinkest and most fabulous cake ever, but it was topped with (Julia, you might want to avert your eyes) Barbie Glitter Candles!!!!!

Last night was a full moon, a harvest moon, as Monica pointed out. It rose, huge and bright over the silhouettes of the trees. I'd always thought that moonlight was just a poetic conceit; that the moon couldn't actually cast any perceptible light. But when I stood in front of the window, my shadow extended across the floor, seeming even less substantial than shadows usually are. I went outside and looked at the sky, spared from having to come up with an original thought because I remembered the first line of a poem: The moon holds nothing in her arms. Of course, the image would have fit a crescent moon better. The full moon doesn't even have arms.

I took lots of pictures: of the streetlights, the house lights, the windows. In a few, you can make out recognizable outlines, but mostly the pictures are incomprehensible shapes against impenetrable darkness. My favorites are the two below. They have no details and no depth and the effects are produced solely by a unsteady hand. But I like them because they show the moon shuddering, then tumbling from the sky.

*edited to add: Don't worry. I'm just kidding. I really wouldn't care even if you had said that the cake was of a hideousness to rival Medusa's. Though without the turning-to-stone part.



27 comments:

painted maypole said...

nighttime pictures are hard to do

I love that your candles were glittery barbie candles.

last night i had MQ out past her bedtime, at a music rehearsal with me, and when we left the church she exclaimed "Look! A full moon!" It was beautiful, and made me glad to have kept her up, if just for that one moment.

Anonymous said...

"The full moon doesn't even have arms."

Sure it does. You just can't see them in the dark. How do you think it catches itself when it shudders, then tumbles from the sky?

Arms or not, I made a birthday wish for you on the Harvest Moon. It was low and orange here, and seemed to need to be wished on--if you know what I mean. (I know you're only supposed to wish on stars, but I figured it couldn't do any harm!)

Anonymous said...

Seven pairs of shoes? Wow. And I thought you didn't like shoe shopping?

Beruriah said...

I'm impressed you found 7 pairs that fit! Nice day's work, I say.

I'm not sure if my comment about the cake was disparaging or not. It was girly. Barbie Glitter Candles sound awesome - I need to seek some out for my niece's birthday perhaps.

The photos are beautiful. So good of you to go out and enjoy it.

niobe said...

Amelie: I hate shopping for shoes soo much that I avoid it at all costs. As a result, pretty much all the shoes I had -- especially the ones I wear for work -- were falling apart. I figure that with seven new pairs I won't have to buy shoes again for a few years at least.

And, to be fair, two of the pairs of shoes were flip-flops for next summer.(nice flip-flops, but flip-flops all the same).

S said...

Whoa. Those are some cool images.

Anonymous said...

You must model your favorite pair for us.

Did you track down that fallen moon? What did you do with it? It would make a great disco ball.

Aurelia said...

Niobe, I might've said the same thing about the pink, simply because it would be so surprising to me to read it.

But to hear you happy about ANYTHING? Damn, girl, I'm shipping you a bunch of Barbie stuff as soon as I can find it!

Suz said...

We were watching the Red Sox game last night and the announcers couldn't stop talking about the moon..... or training the camera on it. There it hung, huge and yellow, so much so it made me think of cheese and get hungry for a big slice of cheddar.

Magpie said...

Seven. Wow. I have such a hard time buying shoes that I can't imagine finding seven pairs that I'd want to buy. Much less in the right color, right size, right price...

Julia said...

That sounds like just about a perfect way to spend a birthday, right down to the full moon.
About that cake: if it makes you happy, I'd buy you a Barbie cake any day. And a chocolate one for myself. :)

The Oneliner (Christina) said...

love the pics, holy cow how long did you leave the shutter open? did your arms get sore??is that what made the falling one?

and i thoguht that surely wasn't your cake. now, i AM totally jealous. my birthday is new year's eve if you want to send me one.

Ms. Planner said...

7 pairs of shoes?!

You go, girl.

Caro said...

7 pairs?

fantastic

M said...

*sigh* the perfect birthday - shoes, barbie candles; it just doesn't get much better than that... x

Kami said...

A nice perspective on those pictures.

I started to read your blog from the start, but realized I needed to get some work done today. I hope you are doing a little bit better than you were the first 1/4 of this year.

Thank you for posting on my blog. I will be following along in the future.

BTW, Happy belated b-day!

L said...

Your pictures of the moon look like Rayograms (after Man Ray). You "write" with light on light sensitive paper -- photography without a camera.

Your aesthetic is so very modern!

I think Barbie candles and shoe shopping sounds like a lovely birthday.

Lori Lavender Luz said...

Can I just call you Carrie Bradshaw?

How nice of the moon to beautify herself for your birthday!

E. Phantzi said...

It sounds like a really fun day - although I too hate shoe shopping very, very much. I think it started with I was a teenager in Peru with size 40 (different system) feet in a town where the biggest women's size available was 39.

On full moon nights in remote areas where there are few if any artificial lights, you can actually see color by moonlight - greens and reds, anyway. My husband never believed me about this until I actually showed him this summer in Bolivia.

Anonymous said...

Great shots!

Do we get pictures of the shoes?

susan said...

the glittery candles were great! As are the photos, too, albeit a different kind of great.

S. said...

I'm also impressed that you could find seven pairs of shoes you liked in one day of shopping!

Living in the city, I never realized how bright the full moon was until I spent some time hiking and sleeping out. It would wake me up, it was so bright.

Lori said...

You sound happy! Love that, and love the photos!

Rosepetal said...

Seven pairs of shoes? I'm in awe. Can we have pictures of them too please?

niobe said...

Hmmm...I'll try to post photos of the shoes. But don't have high expectations. Because of my oddly-shaped feet, the shoes that fit best are children's shoes, so I got a few pairs of those. Also because of my oddly-shaped feet, I can't wear any cool or unusual shoes, so they tend to be pretty basic.

Doughnut said...

well done niobe! Okay, we need a shot (pic) of your oddly shaped feet :)

cinnamon gurl said...

I was about to request pics of the shoes but see I don't need to. Then I got to your response and decided to request pics of your oddly shaped feet, but see I don't need to do that either. ;) Happy Belated Birthday wishes!