Category Archives: Life

Jul2

an instant out of time.

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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.

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“photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.”
– dorothea lange

 

 

 

 

 

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source credit: historyfacts

 

 

Jul1

pining.

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something special about being in the pines

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‘between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life.”

-john muir

Jun29

polling.

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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.

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‘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.

 

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image credit: shepard fairey

Jun28

‘time is more valuable than money. you can get more money, but you cannot get more time. -jim rohn

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the last paycheck. the day hath come.

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*‘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

Jun27

scout.

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scout (in the original), walks home dressed as a ham.

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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.

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“drama starts where logic ends.”

-ram charan

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a repost – follow up to yesterday’s post

image credits: ‘to kill a mockingbird’ -universal pictures

Jun25

heat wave.

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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.

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‘if you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?’

-steven wright

 

 

 

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image credit: nature is amazing

Jun24

on the hook.

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how exciting to find a real working payphone

caused me to do a double take

the umbilical cord connecting to many a ride home

 the joy of finding a quarter in the coin return.

 

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“the telephone gives us the happiness of being together yet safely apart.”

*mason cooley

 

 

 

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 *mason cooley, 1927-2002,  was an american aphorist known for his witty aphorisms. One of the aphorisms Cooley developed was “The time I kill is killing me.”He was professor emeritus of French, speech and world literature at the college of staten island and an assistant professor of english at columbia university.

 

 

 

 

Jun22

‘okily, dokily’- ned flanders.

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not long ago

i was stuck for an unexpectedly long chunk of time

waiting to have my car repaired

(some of you may remember my tire store post from a couple of weeks ago)

i entertained myself

by reading, writing, watching things on a big screen

thinking about

the phone calls and paperwork and research

i still needed to complete

questions i hoped to have answered

now that i was officially retired.

nothing to be done about it

i’d deal with it later when i got home.

armed with a mean cup of mechanic-grade coffee

(i drink all coffee)

accepted i’d be a captive audience

to whatever happened for the next couple of hours.

in walked a quiet, unassuming man

who sat down at the table

where i was working on my computer

he began working on his

asked me how long i’d been waiting

he had a long wait ahead of him too

i shared that i had just retired

 wanted to be home lolling around

instead of sitting in an auto repair waiting room.

(first world whining on my part)

that opened the genie’s bottle

for the next 100ish minutes

 he told me

about he and his wife’s retirement last year

she was a teacher too

he was an engineer

gave me tips

answered all of my questions

told me what not to waste my time on

offered me shortcuts

suggested what not to forget

talked about life after retirement.

 after their double retirement

he decided to get social

formed a book club with his guy friends

mapped out his garden projects

set up a spread sheet system for them to keep track of things

started exercising more

i had more of that coffee…

 shared some of the things that i’d learned as a newbie.

such a sincere, humble, genuinely friendly guy

(all i could think of was ‘ned flanders’)

a character on the long-running animated tv comedy, the simpsons.

he was smiling, happy, optimistic, helpful, and so very cheery

just like ‘ned.’

i have no idea what his real name was

but we happened to be stuck waiting together

at the just the perfect time

(i wonder if he was thinking ‘marge simpson’ with regard to me)

our long waits flew by

we chatted about family, teaching, the city, the world..

 he helped me fill in so many blanks in the retirement universe

gave me confidence that i could navigate it easily

thank you, ‘ned’

sometimes you find your answers in the least expected of places.

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“the measure of wisdom is in simplicity, humility, and in friendliness.”

-debasish mridha, m.d.

 

 

 

 

 

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image/show credits:  the simpsons, fox broadcasting

 

Jun20

unimaginable.

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above created by a 7 year old boy, met by doctors without borders 

– on world refugee day

“Humanitarianism is about more than medical efficiency or technical competence. In our choice to be with those who suffer, compassion leads not simply to pity but to solidarity. Solidarity implies to demand a minimum respect for human life and to recognize the dignity and autonomy of others, and asserting the right of others to make choices about their own destiny. Humanitarianism is about the struggle to create the space to be fully human.”

-doctors without borders

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“in a way, the same is true of the immigrants.

they have contributed in their way to the flowering of the community,

and their individual striving and suffering have remained unknown.

unemployment is not decreased by restricting immigration.

for unemployment depends on faulty distribution of work among those capable of work. 

immigration increases consumption as much as it does demand on labor.

immigration strengthens not only the internal economy of a sparsely populated country,

but also its defensive power.”

-albert einstein, in a speech at the World’s Fair, New York, USA 1939

 

Jun19

on *juneteenth.

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Jordi Prat Pons.Books that had been cast aside, unwanted.

Villa del Arte Galleries Barcelona (at Mandarin Oriental). Passeig de Gràcia 38-40

 

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“it really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tired into a single garment of destiny. whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.”

-REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

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*Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. On June 17, 2021, it  officially became a federal holiday.