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  <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2011-12-26:1277314</id>
  <title>Mallory's Camera</title>
  <subtitle>Every Day Above Ground</subtitle>
  <author>
    <name>Every Day Above Ground</name>
  </author>
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  <updated>2026-06-14T14:40:29Z</updated>
  <dw:journal username="mallorys_camera" type="personal"/>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2011-12-26:1277314:1298015</id>
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    <title>Nameless Narrators</title>
    <published>2024-12-21T14:53:08Z</published>
    <updated>2026-06-14T14:40:29Z</updated>
    <category term="intropsection"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>2</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">Oh, it’s bitter outside this morning!  Temps well below freezing, &amp; the winds churning up snow devils that importune against my window, rather like the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw pleading with the nameless narrator of &lt;i&gt;Wuthering Heights:  Let me in!  Let me in!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Not on your life, snowflakes!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I did a shitload of Remuneration yesterday.  I was on the Remuneration Soul Train!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With the pleasing consequence that I don’t have to Remunerate today.  I can spend the day thinking my own thoughts and actualize accordingly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;###&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My life right now is a flat line and likely to remain so until after the first of the coming year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In itself, this is neither a good thing or a bad thing.  It just &lt;u&gt;is.&lt;/u&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of course, I can push it in either direction.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=mallorys_camera&amp;ditemid=1298015" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2011-12-26:1277314:1296732</id>
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    <title>Battle Paint</title>
    <published>2024-12-17T18:29:50Z</published>
    <updated>2026-06-14T14:40:27Z</updated>
    <category term="beauty"/>
    <category term="intropsection"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>8</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">&lt;center&gt;&lt;a href="https://mallorys-camera.dreamwidth.org/file/1376899.jpg"&gt;&lt;img src="https://mallorys-camera.dreamwidth.org/file/600x600/1376899.jpg" alt="" title="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Short hair really brings out the Bambi eyes (as &lt;span style='white-space: nowrap;'&gt;&lt;a href='https://smokingboot.dreamwidth.org/profile'&gt;&lt;img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href='https://smokingboot.dreamwidth.org/'&gt;&lt;b&gt;smokingboot&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; calls them.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’m not sure whether I look &lt;u&gt;good&lt;/u&gt; in this photo or whether I look like one of those little old ladies riding the bus when I was a teenager whose full-court lipsticked Cupid’s bows, tweezed eyebrows, and powdered rouge always annoyed the shit out of me.  This was the battle paint of their &lt;u&gt;youths&lt;/u&gt;, you see.  The little old ladies  saw “beauty” in them, but to me, the effect was very &lt;i&gt;Whatever-Happened-to-Baby Jane&lt;/i&gt;-ish &amp; grotesque.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;In the photo above, I am wearing the heavy eyeliner that was a makeup trend of &lt;u&gt;my&lt;/u&gt; youth. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;### &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is the time of year when I think a lot about death &amp; failure.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(It’s that wacky Seasonal Affective Disorder!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But how does one define “failure” anyway?  By accomplishments?  By monetary liquidity?  By happiness?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Was Vincent Van Gogh a success or a failure?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Am &lt;i&gt;I&lt;/i&gt; a success or a failure?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’ve certainly lived one of the more interesting lives I know in terms of the sheer variety of experiences I’ve garnered, and my two kids have turned out well—meaning my negligible parenting skills didn’t fuck them up entirely.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But from &lt;i&gt;Daily Mail&lt;/i&gt; stories about Celebrities! They’re Just Like Us—Only Better! to the smug Trump voters in the  &lt;i&gt;Wallkill 12589&lt;/i&gt; FB group, I’m surrounded by yardsticks that tell me, &lt;i&gt;Whoa, girlfriend!  You are a &lt;u&gt;mess&lt;/u&gt;!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;###&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Meanwhile, we’re having another spate of relatively warm weather:  It’s in ther 50°s today, and all the snow has melted.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’m gonna get out &amp; &lt;u&gt;tromp&lt;/u&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=mallorys_camera&amp;ditemid=1296732" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
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