Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
my picture's on flickr blog
my picture, mars and the brightest full moon 2010 observe athens is being featured on the flickr blog!
nice.
nice.
mars and the brightest full moon 2010 observe athens
edit: wooohoooo! this is on the flickr blog!
i arrived home tenthirtyish and looked up at the moon -- i saw a reddish-orange star next to it and wondered if mars was so close to the moon, as i'd been aware that the red planet is exceptionally close to the earth these days.
click any image
neil degrasse tyson's tweet clinched it -- the moon and mars were, indeed, close, and both exactly opposite the sun, so very, very full. i got out my little white, set the tripod on the balcony, connected the camera to the computer, launched EOS utility and shot a few.
a long exposure
i tried a long exposure and got quite a cool effect and a lovely halo on the moving clouds. fast shutter speeds intensified the clouds' haunting shapes and framed the moon nicely.
i had to take two separate exposures for this shot as the full moon is an unusually bright object -- so the slow image got the clouds and mars, the fast one, the face of our satellite.
more clouds
later, the sky cleared up and i got a minimalist image of the pair.
the sky cleared up just before dawn
i stayed up till moonset and slept all morning today.
btw, have you seen the xkcd webcomic about rover? so sad... rover did a very good job. i hope we recover it someday.
i arrived home tenthirtyish and looked up at the moon -- i saw a reddish-orange star next to it and wondered if mars was so close to the moon, as i'd been aware that the red planet is exceptionally close to the earth these days.
click any image
neil degrasse tyson's tweet clinched it -- the moon and mars were, indeed, close, and both exactly opposite the sun, so very, very full. i got out my little white, set the tripod on the balcony, connected the camera to the computer, launched EOS utility and shot a few.
a long exposure
i tried a long exposure and got quite a cool effect and a lovely halo on the moving clouds. fast shutter speeds intensified the clouds' haunting shapes and framed the moon nicely.
i had to take two separate exposures for this shot as the full moon is an unusually bright object -- so the slow image got the clouds and mars, the fast one, the face of our satellite.
more clouds
later, the sky cleared up and i got a minimalist image of the pair.
the sky cleared up just before dawn
i stayed up till moonset and slept all morning today.
btw, have you seen the xkcd webcomic about rover? so sad... rover did a very good job. i hope we recover it someday.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
richard dawkins on haiti and the hypocrisy of christian theology
biting words from richard dawkins :
'educated apologist, how dare you weep christian tears, when your entire theology is one long celebration of suffering: suffering as payback for 'sin' - or suffering as 'atonement' for it? you may weep for haiti where pat robertson does not, but at least, in his hick, sub-palinesque ignorance, he holds up an honest mirror to the ugliness of christian theology. you are nothing but a whited sepulchre.'
read it at its entirety at on faith at the washington post
via RDF
edit: extended version here.
'educated apologist, how dare you weep christian tears, when your entire theology is one long celebration of suffering: suffering as payback for 'sin' - or suffering as 'atonement' for it? you may weep for haiti where pat robertson does not, but at least, in his hick, sub-palinesque ignorance, he holds up an honest mirror to the ugliness of christian theology. you are nothing but a whited sepulchre.'
read it at its entirety at on faith at the washington post
via RDF
edit: extended version here.
Monday, January 25, 2010
a carl sagan mosaic
at science, reason and critical thinking:
click to embiggen at the original page... and contact the designer if you'd like a full-size poster!
via the friendly atheist
click to embiggen at the original page... and contact the designer if you'd like a full-size poster!
via the friendly atheist
Sunday, January 24, 2010
bilingual brains
from scientific american:
'the ability to speak a second language isn’t the only thing that distinguishes bilingual people from their monolingual counterparts—their brains work differently, too. research has shown, for instance, that children who know two languages more easily solve problems that involve misleading cues. a new study published in psychological science reveals that knowledge of a second language—even one learned in adolescence—affects how people read in their native tongue. the findings suggest that after learning a second language, people never look at words the same way again.'
read more...
'the ability to speak a second language isn’t the only thing that distinguishes bilingual people from their monolingual counterparts—their brains work differently, too. research has shown, for instance, that children who know two languages more easily solve problems that involve misleading cues. a new study published in psychological science reveals that knowledge of a second language—even one learned in adolescence—affects how people read in their native tongue. the findings suggest that after learning a second language, people never look at words the same way again.'
read more...
open your eyes
'after sleeping through a hundred million centuries we have finally opened our eyes on a sumptuous planet, sparkling with colour, bountiful with life. within decades we must close our eyes again. isn't it a noble, an enlightened way of spending our brief time in the sun, to work at understanding the universe and how we have come to wake up in it? this is how i answer when i am asked -- as i am surprisingly often -- why i bother to get up in the mornings. to put it the other way round, isn't it sad to go to your grave without ever wondering why you were born? who, with such a thought, would not spring from bed, eager to resume discovering the world and rejoicing to be a part of it?
"there is an anaesthetic of familiarity, a sedative of ordinariness which dulls the senses and hides the wonder of existence. for those of us not gifted in poetry, it is at least worth while from time to time making an effort to shake off the anaesthetic. what is the best way of countering the sluggish habitutation brought about by our gradual crawl from babyhood? we can't actually fly to another planet. but we can recapture that sense of having just tumbled out to life on a new world by looking at our own world in unfamiliar ways."
— richard dawkins (unweaving the rainbow: science, delusion and the appetite for wonder)'
via RDF
Saturday, January 23, 2010
i can see clearly now
like it? click it!
.... yeah, i wish i could see clearly....
i shot this in the summer and didn't post... obviously it's not a great picture of anything very interesting but i like how the light shines through and the cool white balance saves it.
i'm not on flickr a whole lot these days even though i do pop in to see wonderful work and be inspired. the work's piling on and i'm starting to get a bit more serious about my photography projects.
maybe. it's always maybe with me.
so far, i'm taking a course in photoshop. these are great to do, especially if you've already fiddled a bit with the software -- it patches up gaps in knowledge and opens up new ways of doing things. the thing is, like autocad, photoshop is so powerful that there are many ways to achieve similar effects -- it's always interesting to see how someone else processes their work.
another thing that was fun was being asked by Digital SLR Photography magazine in the UK about publishing some of my shots and then writing a DIY article for explaining how to do a shot very similar to my lightfall... it's for one of the upcoming issues -- maybe even the next one published -- not sure. i show my setup and discuss camera settings and a bit of my post-processing. i've seen the spread and it looks pretty good! and i've actually got a second DIY due -- hope to finish it up this weekend.
lightfall:
last week i spoke to an old friend about possibly doing an exhibit and a new friend about using my photographs through his agency and maybe a book or calendars. i don't know how much of this will pan out, but, after decades of doing fun stuff but ultimately feeling somewhat weary of it, it's good to have fresh goals.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
more pages to look at
i did a little experimenting with blogger static pages, adding a photography, video and favorite posts page (for now). you can find the links on the top of the blog. i'll probably fiddle with it for a bit as ideas come to me.
never delete a picture
i had a picture of the google sign at an event in front of beijing university.
with current events being what they are, i would've liked to have shared it.
but i can't find it anywhere on my disks! and i almost never delete any pictures.
with current events being what they are, i would've liked to have shared it.
but i can't find it anywhere on my disks! and i almost never delete any pictures.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
not-so-famous-quotes xiii
'i hate to break it to you but there is no big lie. there is no system. the universe is indifferent.' - donald draper, mad men, S1
no, i haven't seen this series... i just fell on the quote, and i like it.
no, i haven't seen this series... i just fell on the quote, and i like it.
carolyn porco deserves a star trek cameo!
click pic to source
anyone who visits this blog regularly knows of my deep appreciation for carolyn porco's work. here's a cause that gets my wholehearted, enthusiastic support:
'WHEREAS: dr. porco is as gifted a public speaker as any scientist we've ever heard; and
WHEREAS: there is probably no one living today who's as tirelessly dedicated to space exploration as dr. porco; and
WHEREAS: we think she'd look pretty awesome in a federation uniform
THEREFORE: we the undersigned propose that j.j. abrams & co. ensure that carolyn porco has a cameo appearance in the next installment of the star trek film series.'
go sign on the petition site, now!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
chios harbor in indigo -and- non-believers giving aid
like it? give it a click
this was the evening of wednesday, jan.13 2010.
i'm not thrilled with it, but i had little energy or patience to seek a better spot or perfect the shot. that buoy in the middle of everything is not the best of luck, but there it is.
in other -- important -- news...
almost everyone has received a call to prayer for the victims of the earthquake in haiti. i don't pray. prayer is a way to do nothing and still think you're helping. nothing fails like prayer.
i was looking for a way to donate some money but was wary of organizations' ulterior motives or handling of finances. so, today, when i saw this, i gladly made a donation. i can't give a whole lot, but it's not futile as i know that, under these circumstances, a little goes a long way.
non-believers giving aid: a religion-free way to help disaster victims
'spurred by the horrific suffering in haiti, the richard dawkins foundation for reason and science (RDFRS) has set up a dedicated bank account and paypal facility to collect donations to non-religious relief organizations. this new account is in the new name of non-believers giving aid, with all of the money donated being distributed to disaster relief.
clearly the immediate need is for the suffering people of haiti, and all the money raised by this current appeal will go to that cause, but the new account will remain available for future emergencies too. there are, of course, many ways for you to donate to relief organizations already, but doing it through non-believers giving aid offers some advantages:
1. 100% of your donation will be go to these charities: not even the paypal fees will be deducted from your donation, since richard will personally donate a sum to cover the cost of these (capped at $10,000). this means that more of your money will reach the people in need.
2. when donating via non-believers giving aid, you are helping to counter the scandalous myth that only the religious care about their fellow-humans.
it goes without saying that your donations will only be passed on to aid organizations that do not have religious affiliations. in the case of haiti, the two organizations we have chosen are:
• doctors without borders (médecins sans frontières)
• international red cross
you may stipulate using the dropdown menu which of these two organizations you want your donation to go to; otherwise, it will be divided equally between them. '
more info
i've placed this image on flickr's map.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
BBC horizon - the secret life of the dog
i just watched this... fascinating whether you're a dog owner or not... especially the bit with betsy and the part about selecting foxes for tameness, which i had already read about in dawkins' the greatest show on earth: the evidence for evolution.
via RDF
EDIT: i came back looking for this but i see that the video's been removed from youtube. i did, however, locate these two articles:
the secret life of the dog on BBC
horizon: the secret life of the dog and horizon country
via RDF
EDIT: i came back looking for this but i see that the video's been removed from youtube. i did, however, locate these two articles:
the secret life of the dog on BBC
horizon: the secret life of the dog and horizon country
Friday, January 15, 2010
james randi on chemotherapy
james randi's acceptance of my friend request on facebook yesterday was easily the highlight of my day!
carl sagan's fireside chats -- the engine of progress
'you have to be open and super-critical at the same time. it's not a contradiction. it's the machinery, the engine, by which progress is made.' - carl sagan
please view the entire carl sagan's fireside chats playlist.
the windmills of her mind
my mom lived in a little apartment in athens. after we lost her, we decided to ship her belongings back to her family's house in chios. they had been delivered to the moving company's warehouse a couple of weeks ago, but i had to go unlock the old, unlived-in, stone house, and let the movers in.
i had just visited the place over the summer with my immediate family and mom... i remember thinking that i might not go to chios again. i never thought that it would be mom who would never return.
like it? well then, give it a click, will you...?
there was no point sleeping tuesday night because i had to start early wednesday morning to catch a 6:15 flight. we landed at 7, i picked up the rented car and started to drive towards vrontados. the cold and rain matched my bitter mood as i followed the east coast. i glanced over towards turkey as the world turned blue. there was to be no glorious sunrise -- just troubled, turbulent sky.
i stopped next to the familiar windmills and tried to get a few shots. having no umbrella, i limited my attempts to brief lulls in the rain. finally, it was time for businesses to start their day, so i made my way up to the house and made the phone call to the movers that i'd arrived.
the house is on the slopes of mount epos and faces east. it's very old, built in the 1860s, and not the most comfortable of places -- but we sometimes visit in the summer. in fact, i'd never seen it in the winter. it looked different... the colors were dark and rich -- some trees were stark and brittle, but the normally dry wild grass in the yard was lush.
the movers came and left.
i hugged our neighbor, despina, when i saw her. she had just lost her own mother last year -- and she loved my mom too -- so we had a good deal to talk about, strangely, for the very first time. she was kind to me and even cooked a wonderful lunch. she cried, i cried. it was hard.
as evening fell, i took a last look at the house. this time, i wanted to save a mental picture only. i said goodbye to despina and drove back to the airport. i felt shattered but still wanted to stop at the harbor along the way to snap a few -- i haven't even looked at them yet. i doubt they're ok but, if they're even halfway decent, i'll post them.
i've placed this image on flickr's map.
i had just visited the place over the summer with my immediate family and mom... i remember thinking that i might not go to chios again. i never thought that it would be mom who would never return.
like it? well then, give it a click, will you...?
there was no point sleeping tuesday night because i had to start early wednesday morning to catch a 6:15 flight. we landed at 7, i picked up the rented car and started to drive towards vrontados. the cold and rain matched my bitter mood as i followed the east coast. i glanced over towards turkey as the world turned blue. there was to be no glorious sunrise -- just troubled, turbulent sky.
i stopped next to the familiar windmills and tried to get a few shots. having no umbrella, i limited my attempts to brief lulls in the rain. finally, it was time for businesses to start their day, so i made my way up to the house and made the phone call to the movers that i'd arrived.
the house is on the slopes of mount epos and faces east. it's very old, built in the 1860s, and not the most comfortable of places -- but we sometimes visit in the summer. in fact, i'd never seen it in the winter. it looked different... the colors were dark and rich -- some trees were stark and brittle, but the normally dry wild grass in the yard was lush.
the movers came and left.
i hugged our neighbor, despina, when i saw her. she had just lost her own mother last year -- and she loved my mom too -- so we had a good deal to talk about, strangely, for the very first time. she was kind to me and even cooked a wonderful lunch. she cried, i cried. it was hard.
as evening fell, i took a last look at the house. this time, i wanted to save a mental picture only. i said goodbye to despina and drove back to the airport. i felt shattered but still wanted to stop at the harbor along the way to snap a few -- i haven't even looked at them yet. i doubt they're ok but, if they're even halfway decent, i'll post them.
i've placed this image on flickr's map.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
haiti, pat robertson and insanity
rachel maddow discusses with haitian ambassador to the united states, raymond joseph, pat robertson's despicable, irresponsible delirium about haiti's pact with the devil.
via boingboing
behold evil, by any measure of human decency, or as rachel maddow, 'the unintended consequence of your [u.s. citizens'] first amendment':
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
via boingboing
behold evil, by any measure of human decency, or as rachel maddow, 'the unintended consequence of your [u.s. citizens'] first amendment':
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
icu2
like it? click it!
unny how it's always acceptable for us to be monitored, but when we try to take pictures, we're harassed. not that i had a problem at this place.... just sayin'.
of course, you know where this is.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
richard feynman talks about light
'you gotta stop and think about it to really get the pleasure about the complexity -- the inconceivable nature -- of nature.' - richard feynman
Sunday, January 10, 2010
friends' photography videos: 5ERG10
another beautiful 'a year in photography' review by my friend, 5ERG10. check out his photostream for awesome landscapes and architecture imagery, among other subject matter.
i think i've created a trend!
i think i've created a trend!
the antikythera mechanism on scientific american
on scientific american:
hundreds and thousands of years of lost time -- how much would we had progressed is the darkness and superstition hadn't halted human ingenuity in its tracks? i keep wondering where we would be without religion, and i keep concluding that it would be in a much better place.
more info
via io9
hundreds and thousands of years of lost time -- how much would we had progressed is the darkness and superstition hadn't halted human ingenuity in its tracks? i keep wondering where we would be without religion, and i keep concluding that it would be in a much better place.
more info
via io9
Saturday, January 09, 2010
alive in joberg
by neill blomkamp, maker of district 9. i saw the film a few days ago and was reading reviews -- and i stumbled on this short film.
at first, district 9 was hard to watch but it grew on me... and now i found myself surfing for more information. so, yeah, i liked it.
at first, district 9 was hard to watch but it grew on me... and now i found myself surfing for more information. so, yeah, i liked it.
christopher hitchens vs jay richards
a salad of intelligent design, argument from morality, anthropic principle and plugs for a not-yet-flopped expelled.
etc., etc., etc.
Friday, January 08, 2010
a simpler, happier time
on the daily show.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Even Better Than the Real Thing | ||||
| ||||
the third and the seventh
these are not photographs -- they're computer generated animations, and this is one of the most beautiful videos i've ever seen.
enjoy it full-screen, if you can, in the dark:
via lightscript
enjoy it full-screen, if you can, in the dark:
via lightscript
Thursday, January 07, 2010
the only home we've ever known
a beautiful pale blue dot inspired video:
the sound could be improved, but it's still very cool.
via pharyngula.
more pale blue dot inspired videos at my dedicated label.
the sound could be improved, but it's still very cool.
via pharyngula.
more pale blue dot inspired videos at my dedicated label.
symphony of science: the unbroken thread
the fourth wonderful installment of symphony of science, with david attenborough, jane goodall and, of course, carl sagan:
lyrics:
[david attenborough]
all life is related
and it enables us to construct with confidence
the complex tree that represents the history of life
our planet, the earth, is as far as we know
unique in the universe; it contains life
here plants and animals proliferate in such numbers
that we still have not even named all the different species
darwin's great insight revolutionized the way in which we see the world
we now understand why there are so many different species
[carl sagan]
every cell is a triumph of natural selection
and we're made of trillions of cells (within us is a little universe)
those are some of the things that molecules do
given four billions years of evolution (we are, each of us, a multitude)
now how did the molecules of life arise?
[attenborough]
it began in the sea
some 3 thousand million years ago
complex chemical molecules began to clump together
these were the "seeds"
from which the tree of life developed
they were able to split, replicating themselves
as bacteria do
[sagan]
the secrets of evolution
are time and death
there's an unbroken thread that stretches
from those first cells to us
(refrain)
[jane goodall]
there isn't a sharp line dividing humans
from the rest of the animal kingdom
it's a very wuzzie line
it's a very wuzzie line,
and it's getting wuzzier
all the time
we find animals doing things that we,
in our arrogance,
used to think was "just human"
(refrain)
[attenborough]
its continued survival now rests in our hands
lyrics:
[david attenborough]
all life is related
and it enables us to construct with confidence
the complex tree that represents the history of life
our planet, the earth, is as far as we know
unique in the universe; it contains life
here plants and animals proliferate in such numbers
that we still have not even named all the different species
darwin's great insight revolutionized the way in which we see the world
we now understand why there are so many different species
[carl sagan]
every cell is a triumph of natural selection
and we're made of trillions of cells (within us is a little universe)
those are some of the things that molecules do
given four billions years of evolution (we are, each of us, a multitude)
now how did the molecules of life arise?
[attenborough]
it began in the sea
some 3 thousand million years ago
complex chemical molecules began to clump together
these were the "seeds"
from which the tree of life developed
they were able to split, replicating themselves
as bacteria do
[sagan]
the secrets of evolution
are time and death
there's an unbroken thread that stretches
from those first cells to us
(refrain)
[jane goodall]
there isn't a sharp line dividing humans
from the rest of the animal kingdom
it's a very wuzzie line
it's a very wuzzie line,
and it's getting wuzzier
all the time
we find animals doing things that we,
in our arrogance,
used to think was "just human"
(refrain)
[attenborough]
its continued survival now rests in our hands
reddit.com Interviews christopher hitchens
on blog.reddit where you can find links to answers for specific questions. via the friendly atheist.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
pz myers: we need to call ourselves atheists
from the video description:
'pz myers shares his views and experiences as an advocate of atheism. pz states that it is important to actively engage in civil discourse with those who fundamentally disagree with you. (Includes input from sam harris).'
if you don't know pz myers, you're living under a rock.
find out about him at his most-famous and my much-loved blog, pharyngula.
astrology posts on facebook
i'm weary of seeing astrology posts on FB, especially now in the new year where people naively check their horoscopes. hundreds of years after the intellectual foundations of astrology were shattered, people still take it seriously.
'astrology survived and flourished. why? because it seems to lend a cosmic significance to the routine of our daily lives. it pretends to satisfy our longing to feel personally connected with the universe. astrology suggests a dangerous fatalism... if our lives are controlled by a set of traffic signals in the sky, why try to change anything?' - carl sagan
and
'the desire to be connected with the cosmos reflects a profound reality... for we are connected... not in the trivial ways that the pseudoscience of astrology promises, but in the deepest ways.' - again, carl sagan
ask me what sign i am. you will never, never, never get a straight answer. i don't pander to this... lunacy [pun intended].
'astrology survived and flourished. why? because it seems to lend a cosmic significance to the routine of our daily lives. it pretends to satisfy our longing to feel personally connected with the universe. astrology suggests a dangerous fatalism... if our lives are controlled by a set of traffic signals in the sky, why try to change anything?' - carl sagan
and
'the desire to be connected with the cosmos reflects a profound reality... for we are connected... not in the trivial ways that the pseudoscience of astrology promises, but in the deepest ways.' - again, carl sagan
ask me what sign i am. you will never, never, never get a straight answer. i don't pander to this... lunacy [pun intended].
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
the carl sagan collection as CSI
a series of articles, by sagan and about him, at the committee for skeptical inquiry.
'as this collection of articles, both by sagan and about him, shows, sagan was that rarest of individuals. he was a true scientist and researcher who was also adept at communicating scientific ideas to the general public, a person equally comfortable with solving strings of equations and creating strings of words, a skeptic who routinely disproved the unfounded and often dangerous beliefs of his fellow humans without ever losing his belief in humankind. we hope you enjoy this look back at sagan’s work and are as inspired as we are to continue bringing his unique blend of skepticism and wonder into the future.'
this is a great collection -- some i've read, some i'm eager to enjoy.
'as this collection of articles, both by sagan and about him, shows, sagan was that rarest of individuals. he was a true scientist and researcher who was also adept at communicating scientific ideas to the general public, a person equally comfortable with solving strings of equations and creating strings of words, a skeptic who routinely disproved the unfounded and often dangerous beliefs of his fellow humans without ever losing his belief in humankind. we hope you enjoy this look back at sagan’s work and are as inspired as we are to continue bringing his unique blend of skepticism and wonder into the future.'
this is a great collection -- some i've read, some i'm eager to enjoy.
Monday, January 04, 2010
the evolution of life in 60 seconds
the interesting thing, for me, is lack of speech for most of the video and the bombardment towards the end:
via io9
via io9
carl sagan's fireside chats -- a playlist
i'm gathering midhrifs' carl sagan fireside chats into a playlist which i'll keep updating if he uploads more. a huge thanks to him for these clips!
view playlist:
view playlist:
friends' photography videos: mojoey and mukumbura
two friends have just uploaded their 'best of 2009' video reviews of their photographs after seeing mine (tmt pats herself on the back)... and they're both jawdroppingly inspiring!
here's mojoey's philosophically wise eye and urban cool:
and mukumbura's love of beauty, nature, and skillful captures:
makes you just want to go out and shoot something, eh?
here's mojoey's philosophically wise eye and urban cool:
and mukumbura's love of beauty, nature, and skillful captures:
makes you just want to go out and shoot something, eh?
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Saturday, January 02, 2010
my year in pictures
this is a video with the images i shot for my picture-a-day project through 2009. it's both a lot and too few.
i'm exhausted!
happy 2010 to everyone.
the entire set of photos can be viewed invdividually here.
i'm exhausted!
happy 2010 to everyone.
the entire set of photos can be viewed invdividually here.
Friday, January 01, 2010
and the year sets
highly clickable
new year's eve in athens: the view from pendeli mountain towards ymittos.
as we progress through life, we tend to ignore our surroundings, navigating through life based on prior experience instead of taking in information anew, selectively noticing only that which we have never before encountered. i suppose it's a basic strategy of survival, helping our species endure in an otherwise bewildering environment… at the same time, it is one of our properties that we sometimes need to defy.
imagine that your life is the length of the sidewalk of a city block… at first you're in the beginning of it, then the middle and soon you will be at the end.* how do you make every step worthwhile? i honestly don't know… but suspect i've found some clues.
appreciate immense scale by looking up at the sky and peer down at the smallest beings. get a fresh perspective by finding a spot to gaze across great distances across a city or a landscape or the sea. observe the simplest but wondrous tools that bring an unprecedented quality of life. venture to a new place on the planet and see how things can be confusingly different yet exactly the same. consider the wonders of science, simple and complex, that help you achieve the extraordinary, communicate with people across the globe and discover the profoundest of secrets of the cosmos. have fun!! learn or do something that you've never before attempted. search out heart-wrenching art and writing that moves you to elation and tears. feel compassion for every single human being around you, every fellow traveler in life who is just trying to make sense of it all, each in his or her own way. have a lingering look at your home, family, and friends… cherish them because tomorrow -- and i do mean, literally, tomorrow -- you may not have them anymore.
each of us has arrived in an infinitely exciting universe, against astronomical odds, for a brief moment in infinite time. none of us should waste it... not a single day. there is nothing that is boring -- there is nothing that might not provoke the deepest awe.
a year ago i wondered how i could possibly find 365 interesting things to shoot -- how silly i was. i've revisited the mundane and amplified my perception. i've felt exuberant inspiration and abysmal grief. i'm indebted to family and friends, old and new, who not only put up with my obsession -- but wisely encouraged me.
and all because i decided to pick up a camera.
my 365 project
a year ago today, from the same area: yearbreak
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* "now imagine these two characters, named christine (miranda july) and richard (john hawkes) as they walk down the street. she suggests that the block they are walking down is their lives. and so now they are halfway down the street and halfway through their lives, and before long they will be at the end. it is impossible to suggest how poetic this scene is; when it's over, you think, that was a perfect scene, and no other scene can ever be like it.' - roger egbert, a review of 'me and you and everyone we know'"
the new year's blue moon eclipse
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ella, elle l'a:
the perfect way to start the new year: keep looking up, my friends...
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