Beautiful Park Bench

Really liked this concrete park bench, and the light and its resulting shadows.

Concrete Angles  wdsiemer

Dandelion

If you didn't know better, you'd think a dandelion was a beautiful flower. It is.

Inner Beauty

A single rose on top of my grave is the most beautiful thing my life every gave. wdsiemer ii

Facebook Posts I've Seen (a lot)

Click "Like" if you STILL think she's beautiful. I know people have good intentions, but this only seems to bring attention to the fact something is wrong or flawed about a person. I would hope nobody would react negatively, but I know this isn't the case because people are bullied every day. In a perfect world, appearance would not be a topic of conversation.

I believe the old adage of "inner beauty" remains true. In the end, we are all stripped of our flesh, and leave behind the memory of the type of person we were. "Like" this is if you agree. :)

Other posts:
"Just saying"
"Dear guy who did this to me. Please bla bla. Sincerely, Me"
Those quotes...

You Are Beautiful (Re-Post from 3/31/11)

You Are Beautiful (Re-Post from 3/31/11)

William D. SIEMER II

I am tired. I'm getting older. Age has taken a toll on my body and my appearance. The rates of wrinkles, crevices, and bags under my eyes are only increasing.

I wake up, get a shower, put on some clothes, and head out the door for work. I get into my equally worn Ford Focus, and glance up at the rear-view mirror. Staring back at me is a man who has seen better, younger days. This is only the beginning...

Every day I drive the same stretch of Cincinnati highway, so every day I see the same billboards. They are mainly littered with ads for hospitals, digital internet providers, and miscellaneous retail stores. However, on this day I am feeling particularly self-conscience, and apparently more aware. I pass the downtown sport's arena and see a large digital display promoting $1,500 eyelid plastic surgery. Hmmm... my eyelids are looking a little saggy. The next billboard that catches my eyes is a surgeon who touts performing "3,000 facelifts." That might help get rid of my crow's feet and sunken eyes. Another billboard. Another facelift. That will assist with "The Tracks of My Tears" and the canals leading from my nose to mouth. In total, I passed six billboards for plastic surgery within 10 miles. I would make some Michael Jackson reference, but I'm actually a fan so I will leave it at that.

Maybe I chose the wrong profession. I get a few hundred dollars for advanced Photoshop editing--these doctors get a few thousand. That's not the point (I don't actually do much digital facial reconstruction.) However, how many times do we need to exploit the insecurities of people with the promise of youth, the forecasts of before and after, and the hopeful advancements of skin care products?

As I've aged, I've realized that beauty truly does come from within. Furthermore, I now find beauty in "flaws." After all, everyone has their own idiosyncrasies that make up their personality, so why not characteristics that distinguish their individuality? Gray hair is a color in my palette; a wrinkle is a simple stroke from my brush; old age is a priceless Van Gogh painting.

I didn't buy into my own philosophy a few years ago. I remember writing the following lyrics, "I'm sorry that I'm not the person you want, I'm not symmetrical and my body's not proportional. I'm not the pretty face in your magazine. Oh no, I'm not."

Still, I may not be the pretty face in your magazine, but I am trying to embrace my aging. Wiser? I don't know, but I need to come to terms with reality. I'll end up looking like my father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, and that's fine. I'm tired, but so is everyone else.

If I had infinite money, maybe I'd purchase those six billboards to tell you you're beautiful the way you are. Sure, I'd be putting people out of business, but maybe the doctors could concentrate their efforts elsewhere. I am not against people resorting to facial reconstruction. All I am asking is to consult with people around you, and look at yourself as a piece of art.

Some of the most beautiful pieces of art do not concentrate on perfectionism, but on substance. What are the impressions, moods, and beauty of the message? Look deeper.

My message is you are beautiful. Hopefully, someday I’ll realize this is true of me. I am a perfectionist, but I need to make peace with the face in the rear-view mirror, so someday I again ignore the billboards that eluded me for all this time.

Out of Context

Out of Context

This project took me an hour to complete. If you knew what these dots were for you would understand, but as is it doesn't make sense and seems like a complete waste of time. I like it that way.

Sometimes there's a beauty about mystery. In the age of social media it seems we have lost some of this beauty.

Mysterious Dots. wdsiemer ii

Making A Photo Uniquely Yours: An Initiative

While everyone else was taking photos of the White House, I took this textured photo
of the brick from the park across the street. This is a singular experience. -wdsiemer

Making A Photo Uniquely Yours: An Initiative
William D. SIEMER II

Everybody takes photos of statues, monuments, historic buildings and landmarks. There are probably millions of people with similar photos of Times Square or the Washington Monument. On my recent trip, I took some photos like these for keepsakes, but I find myself doing it far less often. I want to experience a trip through my own eyes, not a camera viewfinder. Therefore, when I take a photograph I feel the scene was important enough for me to want to share its beauty, ugliness or message.

So, next time you go to take a photo of something famous, think of turning the camera around and taking a photo of the unimportance of its surroundings, of a piece of chewed gum sticking to the wall, or of the simplicity of the ground you are standing on. It will make the photo unique to you. It will make you unique...

To say--"I visited the Eiffel Tower, but instead I give you a photo of a strange bug at its iron feet." Everybody has seen photos of the Eiffel Tower, and can easily access them online, but not everyone has seen a photograph of that exact bug.

You capture a singular moment; a mystery that is otherwise easy to solve. Only you know the answers, reasons, feelings or location behind your image. Give it a try!

Pretty Places

Take Me To The Pretty Places

I want to go so many places, but I have a limited amount of funds. Like I said the other day, as close as I'll come to visiting most of these places is through a page in Traveler magazine.

Two of the more notable places I've been outside the continental U.S. is France and Hawaii. France for its history, chateaus, culture and gardens. Monet's garden stood out to me as a very inspirational place. You can see his impressionist paintings in real-time. Hawaii was simply beautiful--rainforests, waterfalls, dormant volcanoes, and stunning beaches.

So, it saddens me when I see articles such as the following because I want to escape and be there. (Not writing about it with pictures on my computer screen.)

World's Prettiest Places
by U.S. News

The Palace of Versailles, France

Photo: jasonb42882/Flickr

You Are Beautiful

I am tired. I'm getting older. Age has taken a toll on my body and my appearance. The rates of wrinkles, crevices, and bags under my eyes are only increasing.

I wake up, get a shower, put on some clothes, and head out the door for work. I get into my equally worn Ford Focus, and glance up at the rear-view mirror. Staring back at me is a man who has seen better, younger days. This is only the beginning...

Every day I drive the same stretch of Cincinnati highway, so every day I see the same billboards. They are mainly littered with ads for hospitals, digital internet providers, and miscellaneous retail stores. However, on this day I am feeling particularly self-conscience, and apparently more aware. I pass the downtown sport's arena and see a large digital display promoting $1,500 eyelid plastic surgery. Hmmm... my eyelids are looking a little saggy. The next billboard that catches my eyes is a surgeon who touts performing "3,000 facelifts." That might help get rid of my crow's feet and sunken eyes. Another billboard. Another facelift. That will assist with "The Tracks of My Tears" and the canals leading from my nose to mouth. In total, I passed six billboards for plastic surgery within 10 miles. I would make some Michael Jackson reference, but I'm actually a fan so I will leave it at that.

Maybe I chose the wrong profession. I get a few hundred dollars for advanced Photoshop editing--these doctors get a few thousand. That's not the point (I don't actually do much digital facial reconstruction.) However, how many times do we need to exploit the insecurities of people with the promise of youth, the forecasts of before and after, and the hopeful advancements of skin care products?

As I've aged, I've realized that beauty truly does come from within. Furthermore, I now find beauty in "flaws." After all, everyone has their own idiosyncrasies that make up their personality, so why not characteristics that distinguish their individuality? Gray hair is a color in my palette; a wrinkle is a simple stroke from my brush; old age is a priceless Van Gogh painting.

I didn't buy into my own philosophy a few years ago. I remember writing the following lyrics, "I'm sorry that I'm not the person you want, I'm not symmetrical and my body's not proportional. I'm not the pretty face in your magazine. Oh no, I'm not."

Still, I may not be the pretty face in your magazine, but I am trying to embrace my aging. Wiser? I don't know, but I need to come to terms with reality. I'll end up looking like my father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, and that's fine. I'm tired, but so is everyone else.

If I had infinite money, maybe I'd purchase those six billboards to tell you you're beautiful the way you are. Sure, I'd be putting people out of business, but maybe the doctors could concentrate their efforts elsewhere. I am not against people resorting to facial reconstruction. All I am asking is to consult with people around you, and look at yourself as a piece of art.

Some of the most beautiful pieces of art do not concentrate on perfectionism, but on substance. What are the impressions, moods, and beauty of the message? Look deeper.

My message is you are beautiful. Hopefully, someday I’ll realize this is true of me. I am a perfectionist, but I need to make peace with the face in the rear-view mirror, so someday I again ignore the billboards that eluded me for all this time.