Pictures and Words, a Blog: July 2024

Monday, July 29, 2024

National Chicken Wing Day

July 29th is National Chicken Wing Day

Chicken Wing Dinner: photo by Cliff Hutson

Another Monday post. Another "National Day". I would like to point out that I only resort to these days if I have an appropriate photo in my oeuvre, or can readily create one. Today might be a bit of a stretch as some sources imply that this day actually celebrates "Buffalo wings". But, I prefer the kind pictured above; which are reminiscent of my mother's southern fried chicken. Back then, she only cooked whole chickens; wings were not a thing. But, nowadays, it seems that wherever in the world you are, chicken wings of some sort are on the menu.

Fried Chicken and Bourbon: photo by Cliff Hutson

For many years, my go to place for chicken wings was the very same Pioneer Chicken stand that Warren Zevon wrote about in his song – Carmelita. However, as Pioneer began closing its locations and Popeyes became more prevalent in Southern California, I switched loyalties.

I read that an average American eats 90 chicken wings per year. For me, it is about a dozen at most. And, today I plan to work toward this year's quota.

Monday, July 22, 2024

What Was I Thinking?

A Record of My Living

Self-portrait (2005)

As I write this, my part of the country is experiencing a day when it is just too darn hot. Too hot for me to think anyway; so I am going with another "blast from the past" post.

Weather (2006)

This is a sampling of photographs I made on this date in prior years.

Home Cooking (2009)

I have often said that, "My photography is a record of my living". However, that does not mean that I always have a good recollection of what was going on in my mind at the time.

Ramble (2010)

Still, it is fun for me to look back on what can seem like the ancient past.

All writing and images ©Cliff Hutson unless expressly noted. Do not use without permission.

Monday, July 15, 2024

My Shinola

Does anybody really need a Rolex?

Shinola Runwell: photo by Cliff Hutson

Once again I was hunched over my table struggling with the, admittedly, increasingly arbitrary deadline for this blog. [Really, who would notice if I missed publishing on a Monday: or even skipped a week altogether?] But, then I fortuitously ran across a photograph of former President Obama wearing the same watch that I had purchase back in 2017. It is a Shinola 41 mm Runwell Sub Second. So, that makes two things that we have in common.

Clearly, he is a person that can afford, or has already been gifted, any watch that he wanted. Yet, he chose this “affordable” one. My grandson, who follows these things, says that Obama also has a Rolex. But, the GQ story got me to thinking, does anybody really need a Rolex? Apparently, I am not the only one who has had this thought.

Note:

Readers of my generation might recognize that the title of this post is a play on the title of a well known song.

Monday, July 8, 2024

Photo a Day

AKA: Photography 365 Challenge

Another Monday, another cop out. One might think that a retired person who has made a commitment to post to their blog every Monday should be able to easily follow through on that with something at least a bit substantial. But, once again, I got distracted and am resorting to a fluff piece.

I am in the middle of an ongoing Photo a Day (PaD) project. The photo at the top is the one that I am using for today's effort. What follows is a random sampling from this year.

The project has become a mix of food photography, street photography, nature photography, and what may as well be called snapshots. Some days the result is much better than others. If your curiosity has been piqued, the oeuvre is available in my PBase.com gallery.