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My Simple Joys Sometimes Become Not-So-Simple!

2008.02.27

Photography is as simple as point and shoot! It's child's play in fact, until I complicate it with my desires to improve each image and end up lusting after better bodies, more lenses, additional lighting....it never ends.

A hot shower is as simple as stripping off and turning on the tap! Until it gets complicated by the water restrictions and those long hot showers soon become limited to 3 minutes. Still, water saving means sharing with a friend ;)

Snowboarding is as simple as throwing yourself down a snow capped mountain strapped to a board. Until the need to go faster and steeper takes hold and you find yourself in way over your head!

Rain on my window is such a simple pleasure. It can only get complicated when you decide you've had enough of snuggling up under the covers and want to actually see some daylight. It's not such a motivator at that point.

Reading comments on photoblog from all of you kind and generous people is an absolute pleasure and oh so simple. One only needs to be able to read! Until of course it becomes complicated by missing a day online and then spending hours trying to catch up on everyone's news.

Camping is as simple as finding a patch of grass and setting up some basics. Until I make it far more complicated than it needs to be by packing far more than is required and spending the next 4 hours unpacking the car!

Walking along the beach (barefoot) is one of my all times pleasures.....Until I realize its so cheesy that it sounds like a really bad line from a dating service :( Still, I don't care. I cant think of anything that can complicate this pleasure!

51 Comments

posting comment is supposed to be so simple until I realize that pictures are so good and the text is so apt that I really do not know what to comment but to say , "good work".

shutterjitter · 2008-02-27: 03:34

What an awesome post well said in all the Simple Joys

mystic1 · 2008-02-27: 03:50

Nice post; nice pics; nice sentiments. 3 nices = very good!

basisimages · 2008-02-27: 04:06

Wonderful post! I love the last shot - beautiful composition and "story" :-)

jet28 · 2008-02-27: 04:32

"simply" wonderful great shots

picturemom · 2008-02-27: 05:14

great shots ....and very manysided Joys!!!

vterezia · 2008-02-27: 05:26

I love this post Andrea. Great pictures, but it's your words and perspective again... I loved watching it all unravel, and that last shot and words is by far my favourite.
It reminds me, that things are only as complicated as your spin on them...
:)
xox

Peche · 2008-02-27: 05:32

great post. sad that overcomplication so often robs us from our joys

slowpete · 2008-02-27: 06:47

Wonderful post.
Thanks for your comment.
:)

mintra · 2008-02-27: 07:04

agreed with you....simple joys became more complicated as we grow older....how i wish to turn back to at least a child where joy is really simple!

chanchiewsoo · 2008-02-27: 08:06

good photos and true words.... except i'm confused about how can they limit you to a 3 minute shower.....i think it takes 3 minutes for hot water to get from the water heater all the way to my bathroom - the most remote one in the house!

dhulsmeyer · 2008-02-27: 08:26

Seems like we need to keep things simple and not over think and over complicate! Glad you kept the last shot simple I think it is fantastic!! I would frame that one and find a nice wall in your house to hang it on! great joy series!

SheriJ · 2008-02-27: 08:29

love your not so simple pleasures : )

dkelly · 2008-02-27: 08:30

I love this post :) I can totally relate to the complication of trying to catch up on everyone after a day away! I was so overwhelmed on catching up with people when I got back from Boston on Monday - I couldn't even think of getting online last night to post my photos when I was done taking them... but then again it leaves me in a position to do lots of catching up today haha... never ending cycle ;)

Love that lost shot though... it is gorgeous... and I think a simple pleasure a lot of people can relate to! I know I definitely can!!

KerBear · 2008-02-27: 08:58

great post ! what can complicate your last pleasure ?... hmm... storm, broken glass in a sand, sea monsters ;) ;)

Bushman · 2008-02-27: 09:09

This was great! I love how much thought you put into your posts and your photos are wonderful. I especially love #7 with the beach. It's perfectly composed. Your subjects are so sharp and the water looks so soft. Awesome!

LotoFoto · 2008-02-27: 09:25

Ha ha. That was just great, and the last shot is really great ( haven't seen a beach in 3 years )

I guess the answer to the post above is' untill you feel you must get a house right on the beach but it has to be just the right house and even a shack costs the earth etc etc....' ?:o)

Zedsdead · 2008-02-27: 09:30

I think you managed to connect with so many around this post—who hasn't wanted something bigger, grander, more detailed, faster, longer—and it can go on and on. Your words and photos capture that cycle so well. I love the words and picture for the seventh photo. Bravo.

photopoet · 2008-02-27: 09:30

What a wonderful post! I love, love #7! It's "simply" beautiful. Great job!

mrutherford22 · 2008-02-27: 10:22

REally really beautiful set!! all nice shots! This set make me happy!

pippo · 2008-02-27: 10:52

Lovely set - I especially like the last one - great pic

davids · 2008-02-27: 11:04

I visited your page earlier, whilst at work, but I had no time to comment - I added the last to my favs as soon as I saw it!

Fab set. I love the snowboarding pic too!!

Emma · 2008-02-27: 11:23

I will jump on that bandwagon and agree that this is a great set! I can relate to all of it. Is there really such things as simple joys? Or is it our human nature to want to complicate things? Just like I am complicating a simple comment into a philosophical quest..... :)
Ok, I'm a dork. I do like the set, though. Last photo, awesome.

PaperWings · 2008-02-27: 11:51

Great shots and great post. All great simple joys in life!

etodd80 · 2008-02-27: 13:01

Wonderful set! #7 is beautiful! :)

Marieluska · 2008-02-27: 13:10

haha. i was thinking about leaving a simple comment - but then i realized your idea of simplicity always becomes a little more complicated. so therefore i will make the rest of my comment in another language.

#1 is zo leuk - ik hoop dit kleine jong geitje groeit om van fotografie te houden en zijn eigen post op photoblog heeft. ik houd ook van hete douches - en gelukkig mijn heet waterlooppas voor enkele ogenblikken in tegenstelling tot de laatste plaats leefde ik zodat kan ik van het eigenlijk genieten! ik snowboarded eens en stierf bijna. ik HOUD van het kamperen!! maar ik moet akkoord gaan - er zijn niets die bij het lopen op het strand vergelijkt ik zo blij ben ik een groot meerrecht door Chicago heb!

haha - ok so i used one of those translation things on the internet and i'm sure it translated it to say really weird things, so i wrote it in english just incase... :-)

#1 is so cute - i hope this little kid grows up to love photography and has his own post on photoblog. i love hot showers too - and luckily my hot water runs for awhile unlike the last place i lived so i can actually enjoy it! i snowboarded once and almost died. i LOVE camping!! but i have to agree - there is nothing that compares to walking on the beach. i'm so glad i have a big lake right by chicago!

did i write enough for today?? see, i just complicated commenting on your post for you.

lexlevans · 2008-02-27: 13:31

Very good set!

kopaczandras · 2008-02-27: 13:48

I am going to keep my comment simple.
Beautiful set and words, Andrea.

ambersunsets · 2008-02-27: 14:19

I LOVE picture #7!!!!
wonderful set!!

abbeyh13 · 2008-02-27: 14:28

Love the beach shot and the whole set..

joycephotography · 2008-02-27: 15:08

Great set! Good work!

Kovac · 2008-02-27: 15:10

Fun commentary! And I love that last shot!!!

DancingDolphin · 2008-02-27: 15:30

what a gorgeous and fun set - really enjoyed your post!

angeldevil1980 · 2008-02-27: 15:44

you have pulled together such a meaningful and thought provoking post .. love all the elements you touched on and love the last shot .. saved that .. wonderful and touching post :)

Lindyart · 2008-02-27: 16:34

i made your screen shot!! i'm so honored andyroo! (that's today's nickname, in case you're wondering)

really i just love this theme. how true are every single one of these things. we all do it, and kick ourselves in hindsight. it's just the nature of the human mind to over analyze and over stress. life would be beautiful if only we could all point and click with our barbie cameras in hand. which btw is my favorite shot today, other than my bias towards number 5.

the best part about this is the truth behind that last shot. there is just no obstructing the simplicity of walking in the sand. i have this little movie of nick and i on the beach in the outer banks and i just love watching it over and over again and revelling in our freedom and joy. (i'll have to send it to you, you'll laugh).

anyway, now that i've made a complicated mess out of this simple response, i'll stop babbling ~_^ l&h!

BreezyOnTheEyes · 2008-02-27: 17:10

So why complicate things...relax and enjoy!

Love all your photos today, again.
Water restrictions? We don't have that here yet.
Complicate a walk on the beach?...a few things that could be stepped in that might not be so nice.

oldbabe · 2008-02-27: 18:42

I think we all (as in society) have a tendancy to overcomplicate simplicity - as we strive for "greater", "bigger" and "faster". As a species, humans could be classed as extreme perfectionists, or at least that's my little take on the situation. ;)

aurian · 2008-02-27: 19:23

If you miss a day (or 2) on photoblog, you shouldn't worry so much. It's not mandatory that you comment on every single thing, and if you are really backed up, you spend more time commenting, and less time just enjoying the pictures. Lots of times I just look, it's just sometimes, everyone ahead of you has already said what you want to say, there are no more words. When that happens, just enjoy the slide show!

veganess · 2008-02-27: 21:48

WOW buddy, what a wonderful set! I've mentioned on nearly everone's Simple Joy's posts that this was a wonderful theme idea and I've gotten so much joy by slacking, and not posting my own post, but rather enjoying everyone else's simple joys. You have such a wonderful perspective. Isn't it truly amazing how we can take everything that is simple and fun and make it difficult and unenjoyable?!

I've gone over the post a couple of times. Everything about it is so true (for me at least!) We're very similar, so much so in fact, its rather scary! Let's make a photoblogging post to be like Jess and simplify... and not complicate EVERTYTHING!

MHJphotos · 2008-02-27: 23:45