Happy 4th of July!
‘in the midst of chaos, beauty is born.’
– The Glassblower, Petra Durst-Benning.
—
art credit:Dale Chihuly,”Boathouse 7 Neon” (2016), in glass,
at The Boathouse in celebration of the 2016 Seattle Art Fair
© 2023 Chihuly Studio
‘lots of good, cheap food, and dozens of beers’
—
celebrating four family birthdays
12 to 73 years old
at casey’s tavern
neighborhood favorite
historic building
once a lumberyard
casual, relaxed, friendly
nothing fancy
eclectic menu
we were happy, loud, full, laughing
a win for the day and a win for the birthdays.
—
‘nothing is inherently and invincibly young except spirit.’
*george santayana
—
*Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as Geroge Santayana, (1863 – 1952), was a Spanish-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist.
The first candid photograph of a person was taken in 1838.
Before the 19th century, photography did not exist, so people who wanted a lasting image of their home, their family, or themselves had to have one painted, sculpted, or drawn. In the early 1800s, inventors in France and England were at the center of the effort to create photographic representations of objects and people. In France, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce stunned the world in 1827 when he released what is believed to be the first photograph ever taken, titled “View from the Window at Le Gras.” Niépce rendered the image using a camera obscura combined with a light-sensitive metal plate, a process he called heliography. Despite its success, the heliograph required several days of exposure to capture the scene, eliminating the opportunity to photograph any people who may have been on the street
In 1829, Niépce met artist and printmaker Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre. Each man was familiar with the other’s work. Niépce admired Daguerre’s rotating diorama that had captivated Parisian audiences in 1822. Daguerre, like Niépce, saw the potential of improving upon the camera obscura to create clear and permanent images. They entered into a business partnership that resulted in the creation of the daguerreotype, an innovative photographic process that required only four to five minutes of exposure. The quicker shutter speed allowed Daguerre’s camera to capture an image never seen before: a photo of a human being. In 1838, he debuted a daguerreotype of a street scene on the Boulevard du Temple in Paris. In the lower left corner of the photo we can see a man having his shoes shined; remaining stationary allowed him to be included in the photo, something that would have been impossible using the multiple-day exposure that heliographs required. This anonymous stranger on Boulevard du Temple was not simply the subject of the world’s first candid photograph— he’s also believed to be the first human being ever photographed.
—
“photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.”
– dorothea lange
—
source credit: historyfacts
something special about being in the pines
—
‘between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life.”
-john muir
no, this is not a giant hairy spider
it’s just a conspiracy of ring-tailed lemurs
having a snack at their mobbing planning session.
—
A group of lemurs is called a conspiracy. Lemurs are social animals and live in mini communities of around 10-25 members. As a result of this, they often work together, or ‘conspire’ to outwit predators using a technique called ‘mobbing’.
—
image credit: nature is amazing
recently went through my training
to work at the polls
in the upcoming elections
primary election – august 6
general election – november 5
with a diverse group of community members
of all political leanings
wanting to help to support the system
a lot of work, training, time, planning, set up, security measures
go into the process
i saw firsthand how much integrity
figures into the equation
and is top of mind
trying to make is as accurate, easy, and accessible to all people
absentee voting, early voting, drop boxes, in person, and mail-in voting options
i feel good about it
hoping people will
read, listen, talk, watch, question
learn all they can
exercise their right to choose
i’ll be ready for you
and will see you there.
—
‘every election is determined by the people who show up.’
-*larry sabato
*Dr. Larry J. Sabato is the founder, director, and professor at theUniversity of Virginia Center for Politics. He has had visiting appointments at Oxford University and Cambridge University in Great Britain. A Rhodes Scholar, he received his doctorate from Oxford, and he is the author or editor of two dozen books on American politics.
—
image credit: shepard fairey
the last paycheck. the day hath come.
—
*‘fear no more the heat o’ the sun, nor the furious winter’s rages.
thou thy worldly task hast done, home art gone and taken thy wages.’
– william shakespeare, cymbeline
*i know shakespeare wrote this about the final goodbye, but it also works for commuting and retirement
scout (in the original), walks home dressed as a ham.
—
I was cast to play scout
in a scene from ‘to kill a mockingbird’
as a favor for my friend
who was in an oral interpretation class
during her later in life college days.
the scene was the one
where scout was dressed as a ham
walking home through the woods
and the victim of an unknown attacker.
as I’m an incredibly horrible actress
I double-checked to see if she was sure
about wanting me for the role.
she was desperate and had no one else
so I was perfect, and was in!
she also cast my boyfriend at the time
as my brother
and our about to deliver a baby any second friend
as the narrator
that was it.
the only actors in the scene.
we were the holy trinity of non-talent.
one important thing that I needed to know
in spite of knowing my few lines
to be delivered in a frantic southern accent
with lots of screaming and thrashing movements
was that my attacker was not going to actually exist on stage
it was all interpretive
I had to imagine and act
like I was being attacked
as I wrestled with my invisible assailant.
at last the big day finally arrived
the curtain rose
I drawled and shrieked out my part
rolling around, slamming into the walls
and fighting my attacker who did not exist
all while dressed in my ham costume.
once it was over
we all took our bows
happy when the curtain finally went down.
after, I asked my friend’s husband,
(who was kind enough to have been in the audience
so we would be sure to have someone who clapped)
what he thought of my performance
and while his review was not exactly as expected
it was probably right on the mark:
‘you were like a cat in heat!’
my friend got an ‘a’ on the project.
—
“drama starts where logic ends.”
-ram charan
—
a repost – follow up to yesterday’s post
image credits: ‘to kill a mockingbird’ -universal pictures
“summer was our best season: it was sleeping on the back screened porch in cots,
or trying to sleep in the tree house; summer was everything good to eat;
it was a thousand colors in a parched landscape; but most of all, summer was Dill.”
– harper lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
one of my all-time favorite books and movies and here were are once again, in summer.
i even played ‘scout’ once in a scene of a play, and it was something.
—
credits: j.b. lippincott & co., universal pictures
not my bear, not my state, not my deck
but i get it
everyone needs relief from the heat
such extreme weather
just a quick over the shoulder glance
and then –
relief
you find it where you can
careful not to bother anyone else in the process.
—
‘if you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?’
-steven wright
—
image credit: nature is amazing
I didn't have my glasses on.... 