wetlands photos...

here are some photos of the wetlands described in this post.

most beautiful place on earth...

hope you are all having a good weekend. mine is going well. now that i am back to school the concept of "weekend" means something.

new cd's i'm excited about in upcoming months: sheryl crow, dire straits (who knew they were still alive) and most of all nellie mckay....

i command all my loyal readers - yes, both of you...to go to fluidpudding and show her much love. hers is one of the best written blogs there is and she's recently gotten some negative comments from some folks. funny thing about some folks - they love seem to love irreverence except when directed at them...

anyhow, playing with my new camera - i love taking pictures - i mean the "act" of taking pictures. i love taking pictures of things in my everyday surrounding - many of the photos i post are from my own backyard - and most of the rest are from local metroparks...

there are two reasons for this - the mundane and the pretentious...the mundane reasons is, i never go anywhere... the pretentious is that for me, photo taking is kind of a meditation. the point of most meditiation is cultivating awareness. remember, the buddha isn't a g*d or a superhuman - merely an ordinary person who is completely aware. the thought is, once one is aware of one's actions and their consequence and the inter-relationship of all - one cannot help living in a loving and compassionate manner. taking photos of the things around me has helped me *see* and realize the beauty around me - making me more aware and appreciative. i love taking photos of weeds - to find the beauty in them - i think is a great lesson in life - by the way, i hate the distinction between flowers and weeds...the standard definition: a weed is something i haven't planted is as good an expression of humanities view of the environment - if i can't control it, it ain't any good...

anyhow, i took some photos friday at a metropark - might post some soon - and a guy there told me about a reclaimed wetlands in the area. no exaggeration, i have never been in a more beautiful place. here is a photo and i will post more as time allows:



while there i listened to hanne hukkelberg. imagine if bjork and brian wilson had a baby - and it was raised by dido - beautiful, earthy, ethereal and otherworldly - a perfect match for the landscape...


i am amazed that such a place is 20 minutes from my home. i strongly feel the most beautiful place on earth is where ever you find yourself - no matter where it might be...

fall shows...

i am considering entering some shows and i want you to tell me which pictures you like...

go here and comment....

i reserve the right of course to do whatever i want, but you are my focus group

afternoon at my sister's

spent the afternoon at my sister's place - out in a rural area - i always ask her when i get there, "am i still in ohio?"

ask and you shall receive...

emily asked for hi-res versions of the duck picture, so here are two, suitable for wallpaper...

if anyone else has a fave photo they want a high-res version (or even a print, if you ask nice), ask and i'll see what i can do...

duck wallpaper 1
duck wallpaper 2

warning: large files (~1.7meg each)

for your viewing pleasure, here is a duck...

this and that

here's the moon


in columbus for the weekend. nice hotel. great view.

photography

here are the first photos i'm publishing that i have taken with my new camera...

also, this month's outside magazine has a great feature about brad washburn - a little known photographer who took some of the most impressive photos of mountains ever...

questions from...

jen...

1) Knowing your children as you do, if you HAD to pick what careerwould be best for them (as in what they would be best at and could stand doing), what would you choose?

younger: artist and/or writer
older: she's expressed an interest in pharmacy - that might be good - others thoughts: IT, doctor or attorney maybe - this is the harder...

2) What song never fails to make you happy/feel better every time you hear it?

lol - it's a running joke in my family, based, iirc, on a beavis and butthead episode, when a sappy song comes on, i say "this song makes me feel good"...
anywho: the entire album: introducing reuben gonzales
abba: waterloo, dancing queen, most of their big hits...
santana/michelle branch - a little bit of this - prob. my oddest chocie - i don't like santana's all-star cast records - and i have never thought twice about michelle branch - but this one's a winner...
many of the beach boys records...


3) When was the last time you danced in public?
if dance dance revolution counts - then last night...
if it doesn't - who knows...

4) What was the most recent act of kindness you did for a
stranger/someone you didn't know well?

sadly, a tough question to answer - i donate monthly to habitat for humanity - does that count?

5) Is your wife still infatuated with Gerard Butler?

not to the same degree - he has fallen on the scrap heap and has been replaced by stargate stars michael shanks and ben browder. oddly enough, i like gerard butler more - perhaps cause now i identify with him ;-)

big news...

got a new camera

i think where i am at right now with my photography hobby, it was a good choice...

more details to follow...time to play.

which do you like better...

color

b & w

of course,

there are some nice things to be seen...

life is pain. so is cycling.

some christians could heed this advice as well...

salman rushdie on a "moslem reformation"

Rushdie wrote that "the insistence within Islam" that the Quran "is the infallible, uncreated word of God renders analytical scholarly discourse all but impossible" and the rigidity "plays right into the hands of the literalist Islamofascists."

"If, however, [the Quran] were seen as a historical document, then it would be legitimate to reinterpret it to suit the new conditions of successive new ages. Laws made in the 7th century could finally give way to the needs of the 21st. The Islamic Reformation has to begin here, with an acceptance that all ideas, even sacred ones, must adapt to altered realities."

which is why i respect the dalai lama who has said if science disproved reincarnation, then buddhists should no longer believe in it...

photos

photos from our short, but sweet camping experience

fotos

misc recent photos that caught my fancy

i have a crush on...

...the aol "i smell cake" girl

anyone else?

ok, it's just me...

shopping trip observations

give my wife a second in a shopping mall and she can disappear. completely. "osama in the caves of tora bora" completely...

whoever invented the tagless t-shirt should be given a medal

sporting goods stores do not sell sporting goods

it's hard for a 45 year old man to find age appropriate clothing esp. if he doesn't want to look like he's just stepped off the golf course.

that being said, i got a wonderful john ashford shirt

egyptian cotton - mmmmmmm

apparently levi's has gone to the metric system or something, cause my old waist size doesn't fit anymore

i love my nintendo ds (esp. warioware touched and kirby) ok - strictly speaking *not* a shopping observation, but you gotta think of something when the youngins are trying on school clothes

along the same lines, the first person to make a combination women/kids clothing store-sports bar will be rolling in money.

my favorite things...

i know, material possessions are overrated. one will never find happiness in them. it is the people in our lives and our relationships that matter.

ok, i've gotten that out of the way...

why is it that some things are, well, just things, and some seem to take on a personality of their own. in other words, some things we like, or find useful, and some we love... i realize i am starting to sound like a mac user here, but there are some things that seem to go beyond the call of duty. i read a recent book called "emotional design" by i forget who (google it..) whose premise was that making people like an object is key in making a an object functional...style is substance in a way - the argument goes as follows - things we like we are willing to invest the time and effort to figure out - we overlook their flaws, etc...kind of like how it works with people...the difference between, say a cooper mini and my chevy tracker...as someone said, mini coopers always make you smile...

anyway, some of my favorite things: nintendo ds - a birthday gift yesterday - a handheld videogame console - you use a stylus on a touch screen - as well as dragging a finger across the screen, or even blowing on the mic - far different than the typical gta videogame experience - and full of inventive games - such as warioware touched and feel the magic...

my new toshiba laptop - big screen - nice keyboard, great speakers - is it a laptop, or home entertainment system...oh yeah, and wireless internet....

the ipod...yes, Minnie, herself....

my bike, skates, etc....

and my cheap nikon coolpix held together with duct tape. in a way, i want a better camera, in a way i don't...irrespective of the financial issue, in one respect a better camera would give more control to me and most likely lead to better photos...on the other hand, there's something to be said about working within limitations and producing satisfying photos with a cheap camera...


last, but certainly not least, the noodle bowls that gina made - esp. when they are filled with my wife's best dish - her tofu noodley thing...

it's ok to be materialistic sometimes- what are your favorite things?

my 2 photos went for a total of $48 at last week's auction - i am pretty pleased about that...

rip peter jennings

helloooooo....

does anyone read my crap anymore????

serendipity

caught coffee and cigarettes on cable just in time to see the inspired pairing of bill murray and members of the wu tang clan. i assume this is g*d's b-day present to me. thanks...

happy birthday

to michelle yeoh...

oh yeah, and me...

bridget's "free art friday"

bridget ginley gives away free art every friday.
how cool is that? nothing like it in the blogosphere or anywhere else.
anyhow i claimed this piece...

background info...

here is some info about rev phelps, the "man" responsible for protesting military funerals

sickened...

this is among the most disgusting and sickening stories i've read in a while.

apparently, a "christian" group, that has picketed gay churches in the past, is now targeting military funerals.

from the article:

Friday, about 15 members of the group -- some of them children -- picketed the funeral of a St. Joseph soldier who was killed in
Iraq. Mahoney reported that the group stood across the road from the Grace Evangelical Church during the funeral of 21-year-old Spc. Edward Myers.

"The first sin was being a part of this military. If this young man had a clue and any fear of God, he would have run, and not walked, from this military," said protester Shirley Phelps-Roper. "Who would serve a nation that is godless and has flipped off, defiantly defied, defiantly flipped off, the Lord their God?"

One protester had an American flag tied to his belt that draped to the ground. He was holding a sign that read, "Thank God For IEDs," which are explosive devices used by insurgents to blow up military convoys.

Protesters said America has ignored the word of God, and those who defend the nation must pay a price.

"That's the first piece of solid evidence that you have that the young man is currently in hell," Phelps-Roper said.

"The soldier is in hell now, you believe?" Mahoney asked.

"Absolutely," Phelps-Roper said.

the people "protesting" here are sick, evil and totally devoid of humanity or compassion. g*d have mercy on them, cause i don't. american jihadists? some "christians" are mighty scary.

...and on the lighter side...

reportedly, the greatest cyclist ever, eddie mercxx, when asked how one becomes a great cyclist, said "ride your bike a lot."

apparently mercxx is an intuitive zen master as well... what a perfect answer.

kiss my bumper

twice over the past couple of months, i have been driving down the road with my teeth in my mouth, as my dear old dad would say, when a car behind me would start frantically beeping, giving me the thumbs down sign and holding his nose. i believe it was the same person both time. a male - i won't say a man.

now, i thought perhaps i had car trouble - noxious exhaust or a flat - but that isn't the case.

could he be commenting on my hygiene, which is beyond reproach (um, for the most part)? doubt it... besides regardless of any issues i may have, he was not in the position to make the call...

call me paranoid, but i believe he was responding to my bumber stickers (unless he hates chevy trackers, or bike racks)...which i would think are fairly non-controvesial - one for outside magazine urging folks to get outside (wow, that's subversive) one for a little shop named city buddha (which i am considering a tattoo of that motif) a couple nasa and international space station, two for the college which i teach at...

my only thought is the john kerry sticker and aclu, i refuse to surrender my freedom sticker. am i being paranoid here? what has our nation come to when a person can be harassed while minding their own business...

anyhow, advice to anyone who wants to harass someone for their political beliefs. have the balls to do it face to face and not in a potentially distracting manner when one is driving, which could lead to an accident.

saturday night...

here are a couple (1 2) of blog entries from bridget ginley about the benefit for morrisondance.

i was unfortunately unable to attend as i had a previous commitment swilling irish beer and schooling the shorties on dance dance revolution