Black and White and Me All Over

This is my Round Robin Photo Challenge entry.  This week's theme, as suggested by Dawn of Dawn's Drivel, is  "Who I Am in Black & White."

Madeleine L'Engle has said that she is every age she's ever been.  The creative bookworm child, the awkward adolescent, the young woman in love, the mother, the older woman - they're all still inside her, part of her, helping to make her who she is now.  All those Madeleines are filtered through the prisms of memory and fiction, becoming Meg Murray O'Keefe and Vicky Austin, Polly O'Keefe and Katherine and Camilla and Flip and Charlotte in her many novels. 

Well, all that sounds right to me.  So who am I?  I'm this shy seven-year-old with the hand-me-down bike.  I'm JaRu's best friend, age 13, off around town as we experiment with a couple of cameras.  I'm the high school student without a date for the prom after Dan moves to Texas.  I'm the 19-year-old who's barely coping with her parents' divorce.  I'm the 22-year-old who can't handle writing the last few English papers to graduate.  I'm the newlywed, on honeymoon in the rain in John's 1962 Falcon van. I'm the co-owner and manager of Rockarama, packing up for another Pittsburgh record show.  I'm the vagabond on a road trip, writing about Route 66.  I'm the lonely wife, finally writing the rest of her stalled novel while John is out of town.  I'm the long-time employee of Worldwide Travel.  I'm the UoP student who is bummed out by the single undeserved B after a long string of As.  I'm the successful job candidate, crying in a stairwell as the shock wave hits me. I'm the blogger who takes too many pictures and writes too many words, and checks for fresh comments a little too often.  I'm all of these people, at their best and at their worst, and I've learned something from all of them.

  
Left:  self portrait by digital camera.  Right:  The same photo, filtered with a "sketch" effect.  Not very flattering, is it?


I'm also all the people who live only in my head, in Word files, on computer screens and on printed pages.  I'm Joshua Wander, and I'm Rachel Grayson.  I'm Rani and Carli, Fayubi and Li, Darsuma and Cathma.  Oh, I'm not quite as honest or fearless or tactless as Cathma (or her counterpart Crel, for that matter), but she's at least as big an influence on me as the seven-year-old with the bike is.  Rani, that dark-skinned teenaged boy and sometime monster, is even more a part of me than Cathma is, despite the lack of physical resemblence.

Left:  Art by Sherlock.  Below:  Photo by Karen.





  


Left: This one is based on the top photo (flipped).  I wish I really looked like this!

Karen by the numbers:

Born: 3/10/1957.
Height: 5' 6"
Weight: never mind.

On second thought, I don't think I want to make things quite that black and white.

Karen

Time to go a-visiting!

Round Robin Welcome & Rules Of Play:
http://journals.aol.com/ondinemonet/RoundRobinChallenges/entries/331

Round Robin Participants:

Patrick:  http://astopatwilloughby.blogspot.com

Alan:  http://journals.aol.com/botdotdotdot/F-Stop

Renee:  http://journals.aol.com/acyrlicstains/publish/

Dawn:  http://journals.aol.com/auburndawn/DawnsDrivel/

Lisa:  http://journals.aol.com/cw2smom/WearinMyHeartonMySleeve/

Danielle:  http://journals.aol.com/danielled1/Everybodyknows

Deb:  http://journals.aol.com/SassyDee50/SassysEYE

Nancy:  http://journals.aol.com/nhd106/Nancyluvspix/

Aunt Nub:  http://journals.aol.com/montaukny/FoolsParadise

Phinney:  http://journals.aol.com/geminiwilder/Paragon/

Monica:  http://journals.aol.com/photographybymon/Mamarazzi/

Karen (me):  http://journals.aol.com/mavarin/MusingsfromMavarin/

Carly:  http://journals.aol.com/ondinemonet/Ellipsis

Derek:  http://journals.aol.com/deveil/PictureoftheDay

Marie: http://journals.aol.com/mariebm56/PhotographsMemories/entries/742

Celeste:  http://journals.aol.com/csandhollow/Mydayandthoughts/

Steven:  http://journals.aol.com/sepintx/sometimesphotoblog/

Kat:  http://journals.aol.com/mskatdabrat/FromEveryAngle/

Betty:  http://journals.aol.com/rap4143/MyDayMyInterests/

Becky:  http://journals.aol.com/ryanagi/Wherelifetakesyou

Tess:  http://journals.aol.com/tc01hm/FirstDigitalPhotos/

Mary:  http://journals.aol.com/alphawoman1/Alphawomansblog/

Chris:   http://journals.aol.com/jeroldssis/ItsAllAboutMeIthink/entries/108

Robbie:   http://journals.aol.com/krobbie67/RobbiesRantsRaves/entries/2120