"Welcome to McCalpin's HomePage" mccalpin's Profile

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Here in the heart (and heat) of North Central Texas, I live for the memories of living in Europe and for the hope of going there again.

In the meantime, I pursue work and a little winemaking (see http://www.poison-ivy-vineyards.com).

Talk to me about Rome, Italy, and the Etruscans!

Bill

Novelty photos

the little mermaid and stained glass from Chartres

During December 76/January 77, I took a trip through Northern Europe and Ireland while on Christmas break from the university. I obviously shot a lot of photos.

However, unknown to me, one of the rolls of film that I used had already been exposed by one of my students. She had failed to rewind the roll completely after shooting it and so sold the roll to me by mistake. She had shot the roll in Chartres, London, and possibly Paris, and all of her shots were superimposed on my photos.

So, while you might think that some of these photos make a political or artistic statement, in fact, they're all accidental(!). But what accidents(!)

The photo here is of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen (mine) superimposed on a photo of stained glass windows inside the church at Chartres (at a right angle)...

Gallery #1
Gallery #2

Why I have Trouble Working on VT Sometimes

Bill and his three cats

See the photo here, which should clearly explain why I have trouble sometimes working on VT. Not only do I have a cat on the back of my chair breathing down my neck as well as a cat glaring at me from the monitor, but I have a third cat draped over my right arm, inhibiting any wild mouse action!

Believe it or not, this is how they arranged themselves...

The Personal Photo

Dawn in Texas on a January morning

The PP is a shot just after dawn in January in Texas, taken in my backyard. This morning (Jan 11, 2012), there was a light fog on the ground and especially in the trees in the creek at the back of my lot. With the sun still coming up and not clear of the trees, "all" I had to do was march down into the "south 40" (that's what we say - ask an American what it means) and stand in the shadow of a tree so the direct sunlight wouldn't wash out the image.

Yeah, it really turned out well...and people would never guess that this is suburbia...

In the top 100!

Under the old scoring system that VT used which rewarded you only for tips, my score hovered around 1400-1500. But under the new scoring system, you can be rewarded for forum postings as well as tips...which is good for me because I have many more forum postings than tips.

This week, I've broken into the top 100! Now if this VT gig only paid me ;-)

Intro Updated Jan 12, 2012
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Personal Pages (5)

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Comments (218)

riorich55 12 hours ago Report Abuse

Bill, see we learn something new every day don't we?
rexvaughan May 21, 2012 at 5:34 PM Report Abuse

Bill, I am sorry I missed out on Richardson but was so focused on getting with my old schoolmates that I really didn't think about much else. Would love to meet you sometime, though.
wise23girl May 12, 2012 at 10:24 AM Report Abuse

<<<>Very sound advice on Venice forum
Marg
travelgourmet May 9, 2012 at 10:33 PM Report Abuse

Bill, Nice photo on your profile pic space. The shooting star,"Yellow Columbine", one of my favorite flower in the garden. :-)
goodfish Apr 26, 2012 at 4:09 PM Report Abuse

Less than 3 weeks to go now - and my list of churches is now 33. This trip had better get here in a hurry before I add any more!! Eeesh. Plan to take a long stretch of the Via Appia, a wander in Cimitero Acattolico, and probably up to Verano Cemetery as well. Those darn burial grounds make for some great shots and are usually relatively tourist-free. :O)
pirace Apr 25, 2012 at 8:53 PM Report Abuse

Thanks for checking on the restaurant in Ravenna. I'll try to find name of main road. I remember the street the restaurant was on was the same as the region of Abruzzi. Will let you know if I find anymore info.
sheherezad Apr 25, 2012 at 1:53 AM Report Abuse

Hi! Whilst I am not following the post anymore, I think I owe you an explanation for my stance on the Medan post - it is because I was the one who suggested that @cleopatra re-post her query (which she had tagged onto another post) separately (in order to get a better response to her specific query), whereby G came in to guide her as to how to do it (after she asked me how), and, therefore, somehow felt 'responsible' for the responses she received, which in our culture are considered 'kasar' :(
olddude Apr 11, 2012 at 4:54 PM Report Abuse

Hey Bill! I was off the grid for awhile. With the move and the new job, been sort of busy. However, I will be going to Orlando and New Orleans this year. May hit Lancaster, PA as well.
lmkluque Mar 20, 2012 at 9:40 AM Report Abuse

Thanks Bill, for the invitation! Dallas has grown and developed so much since I was last there, it would be like I've never seen it before. I haven't been doing any editing for a long time and don't know how it will be working now--yet.
nicolaitan Mar 19, 2012 at 4:32 PM Report Abuse

from a renowned futzer, you did just fine with the spelling. hey, been busy and a while, do hope you have been well. n.