Life of Tom Seiler

I just completed a project I have been thinking about doing for a long time. It is a composite photo of my life starting with me in my Mom's belly. There are 70 photos total. Each row represents 10 years of my life. The first row is 1948-1957, the second row is 1958-1967, etc. The last row is only 2008-2013. So basically you look at the photos like you would read a book, left to right starting in the upper left hand corner. When you get to the end of the first row you go to the left end of the second row, etc. It is fun for me to see my hair go from blond to brown to grey to blond to grey to blond. Beards and mustaches come and go. My neck starts drooping. Yes, I have too much time on my hands...

It might be easier for you to view by right clicking and selecting "View in new tab".

Wow -- that's quite a project, Tom! I doubt I would be able to come up with a third of the time related photos for such an array. I did the right click, then opened in a new window - with an F11 for full screen. We probably would all like to see such an array or ourselves, but more hesitant about posting than you.

The pics also show your activities over the years - scuba and water skiing for example. BTW, was that a water ski handle around your neck? That might have been the last picture if so! I got my hand caught one time just as the driver was looking away - so was pulled under water about 10 yards and wound up in emergency. It happened on Folsom Lake outside of Sacramento. In those days (the 60's) it was 45 minutes from my office to boat launch with the beer iced and ready to go.

And the beards. We should have a topic where all the forum men post their best bearded pic. Your longest reminds me of the 60's on Haight and Ashbury in SF. So what where you smoking in those days??

Do you wear/need glasses today? Some eyes get better with age, some go the other way.

It's hard to tell from the pics when you went from a well behaved young lad to the onery old guy you are now - did it happen all of a sudden or has it been a slow process over time. 

It would be nice now to see a short narrative as to what was happening in the timeline of your life under each pic. FB has added timelines w/maps, pics, and narrative. It's been fun looking at that feature of my friends that have kept it up to date.

Anyway, well done, young fellow. Thanks for posting.

Bob Buchanan said:

Wow -- that's quite a project, Tom! I doubt I would be able to come up with a third of the time related photos for such an array. I did the right click, then opened in a new window - with an F11 for full screen. We probably would all like to see such an array or ourselves, but more hesitant about posting than you.

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Thanks Bob. About 20 years ago I decided to digitize my life. All my photos, documents, music and video tapes. I got a scanner in the mid 90s and scanned in every photo I could find of myself. I put them in a folder and bugged my relatives to send me any photo they had of me. Since then every time someone takes a photo of me I ask them to email it to me. Right now I have 550 photos of me in the My Life folder. I have put a date and a geotag on every one. So it was a simple matter to pick out the 70 to be used. Putting together the collage took about two hours, that part was really easy, actually boring. Crop, resize, copy, paste ad nauseum.

The pics also show your activities over the years - scuba and water skiing for example. BTW, was that a water ski handle around your neck?

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That was a water ski handle around my neck. In 1969 I bought a new 16 foot Tahiti with a 140 horse Merc in and out and proceeded to wear the thing out over the next decade. We did so many crazy things on skis that I will never figure out how I lived though it. I remember once at Lake Naciemento the level dropped one year and there were two small rocks sticking up out of the water. One about the size of a sofa and the other about the size of a footstool. They had a gap of about 12 inches between them. Every time we skied past it we had to ski in between the two rocks. The ski was about 8 inches wide. We would be skiing about 30 miles per hour. How come I never hit one of those rocks is a mystery to me.

And the beards. We should have a topic where all the forum men post their best bearded pic. Your longest reminds me of the 60's on Haight and Ashbury in SF. So what where you smoking in those days??

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I am one of the weirdos who didn't some anything in the 60s. I was a late bloomer so to speak. I didn't smoke anything until 1977.

Do you wear/need glasses today? Some eyes get better with age, some go the other way.

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I am as blind as a bat. You can see I started with glasses at about age 8. I was horrible in school before then since I could not see the blackboard. Around 1962 my parents got me contacts. I am still wearing them today. I am still blind as a bat. When I go to the eye doctor to have my vision checked he makes me remove my contacts and then says "Read line number four on the eye chart". My response is "What eye chart?".

It's hard to tell from the pics when you went from a well behaved young lad to the onery old guy you are now - did it happen all of a sudden or has it been a slow process over time. 

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I started out as an ornery young guy and slowly graduated to an ornery old guy. Well behaved and Seilerbird don't belong in the same sentence.

It would be nice now to see a short narrative as to what was happening in the timeline of your life under each pic. FB has added timelines w/maps, pics, and narrative. It's been fun looking at that feature of my friends that have kept it up to date.

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I have thought about that but there really isn't enough room below each photo to explain it. I would basically have to write the story of my life.

Wow, I'm compelled to write this post and let you know that I really love that and thank you for sharing. Quite a life story in just a few pictures, very intriguing.
Wouldn't it be amazing if we could all know even that little bit of history about each other.

Alisa

OMG, Tom. I swear that 4th picture in the top row is a picture of my younger brother in 1956!  Really, just kidding that we could be related; my Mom was from MI and my Dad from MA., and it sounds like you were reared on the West Coast.  I have got to meet you someday along this RV road. I'm sure you have a lot of interesting stories you can tell. What a great project, very well done! 

By the way, did I miss it? How did your adventures in FL end up? Did you get your rig fixed and have you returned to CA?

Steve & Linda said:

OMG, Tom. I swear that 4th picture in the top row is a picture of my younger brother in 1956!  Really, just kidding that we could be related; my Mom was from MI and my Dad from MA., and it sounds like you were reared on the West Coast.  I have got to meet you someday along this RV road. I'm sure you have a lot of interesting stories you can tell. What a great project, very well done! 

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The ironic thing about the 4th picture in the top row is that it is the only photo I have of me in which I am a dead ringer for my dad's father, Grandpa Walter. He was a jazz drummer and I ended up being a drummer also. But I don't look like him in any other photo of me.

I was born in the Chicago area and when I was 11 we moved to the Los Angeles area. We actually drove Route 66 all the way from Chicago to LA. I hope we do get to meet up some day.

By the way, did I miss it? How did your adventures in FL end up? Did you get your rig fixed and have you returned to CA?

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I have rented a space in an RV park in Kissimmee Florida and the RV is still not running right. My plan is to stay here a year or so saving up for a newer RV. Meanwhile next week CaptSteve is planning on coming down and visiting me and he says we are going to fix it. In his words "We will be all over it like a bloodhound". I don't know if it will work if it is covered in blood ;D

DKL said:

Wow, I'm compelled to write this post and let you know that I really love that and thank you for sharing. Quite a life story in just a few pictures, very intriguing.

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Thank you for your kind word Alisa.

I just wanted to add a note here for anyone who is horrified by the photo of me with the ski rope around my neck. It was not nearly as dangerous as it looks. First off I was a really really good skier with hundreds of hours of skiing under my belt. I did not ever fall unless it was on purpose. Second, we only skied when the lake was as flat as glass. And third anytime anyone of us was doing a crazy stunt the driver always had his hand on the throttle and we had three spotters. If I would have feel the gas would have been shut off immediately and the boat would have come to a complete stop almost immediately.

We would put the handle behind out head when we had a single handle rope and when we had a double handle rope we would put the handles behind our back and interlock them and ski for a long time no handed. Gosh we were stupid. 8)

Here are two water skiing shots. The first is the original of the neck rope shot. Every time I look at that shot I marvel at how beautiful my waist looked in those days. The second is a show off shot. Almost getting my elbow wet. ;D

The 7th picture on the top row is a picture of Mike, really ! Or was that what all little blonde-haired boys looked like in the 50s ?

Wendy said:

The 7th picture on the top row is a picture of Mike, really ! Or was that what all little blonde-haired boys looked like in the 50s ?

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I think we all looked that way. I have seen countless photos of kids from the 50s and they all look like me. ;D I'm older so I had the look first 8)

Thanks for taking us through your life, Tom.  I loved it.  What an ambitious project. 

Margi

What a clever thing to do Tom!  You looked so angelic in the top row!  ;D  I love all the hair changes!  Boy you sure can tell the era in which the photos were taken.  Anyway, thanks for sharing it with us.

ArdraF

ArdraF said:

You looked so angelic in the top row!  ;D

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So are you saying I don't look angelic in the bottom row :-[

Actually, each row has at least one where you're at least somewhat angelic, but maybe there were more of them when you were little! 

ArdraF

That's really cool! Thanks for sharing.

Ray

Great series and a good idea. I'm sure there would be many gaps in my life line if I tried a project like this.

I would be missing several years in early childhood and teen years.  Parents did not have a camera nor could afford a photographer, but  during my 33 years in education I did have a "school picture"  taken each year.  It is embarrassing to watch the aging process.  Where was photo shop touch up when  I needed them?  Now I am just glad to be alive and well.

Thanks Tom for sharing your  life chronology.  Since we are almost the same age I appreciate the eras! Life is sweet is it not?

You are welcome Betty. I was lucky to have a dad who was into photography. He bought me a Brownie when I was about 8 years old and he passed on his love of photography to me. He also passed on his love of music and for these two gifts I am eternally grateful.

I do not get embarrassed at all watching the aging process. In fact I relish it. My dad died of a heart attack at age 50 and my doctor told me shortly after he died that heart disease was hereditary and so therefore I would die at around age 50. I lived the next thirty years thinking I would die young. Well I am almost 65 now and I think the doctor was wrong.

Getting fatter, wrinklier and grayer is a natural phenomena and I am thrilled I am getting to do it. Yes, I was much better looking and thinner when I was younger, but now I am richer and have much more knowledge and experience than I did when I was young. A pretty good trade I think. I have no desire to Photoshop any of my photos because I am proud of the changes.

I have seen lots of photos of Hollywood stars with an unlimited income that do everything that money can buy to keep themselves looking young. And instead of looking young they all look like old people who look really stupid trying to buy youth.

You are correct, life is sweet.

Amen, Amen, SielerBird.  I like my laugh lines (wrinkles) and treasure the moments I earned them.  But .... if I could just add a dose of "Betty" to my face and old bod, I'd be happy as a surgically altered starlet.  ;D  Loved your photo series!

Margi

Tom and Margi said:

  But .... if I could just add a dose of "Betty" to my face and old bod, I'd be happy as a surgically altered starlet.  ;

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You made my day and I saved bundles in cosmetic surgery!  Zumba to all!

Its great you have such wonderful photo memories. I wish I did, but alas, my step father destroyed all of mine when mom died. I don't even have one of her.
With my memory slipping a bit these days there are lots of events I don't remember at all.

Gee, I think what you have done with that album is super.