Duality and Both Sides of the Brain

Left-handed, right handed, and who's to say which is correct? Well, "them what knows" have always seen the right-brained of us as odd or unusual and even our language directs negativism towards the left-handed of the human species. But it is one brain that we possess isn't it? If it is separate (which I prefer not to believe) then how do we exist and function under that confusion? Does it make us dualistic, and if so why stop at two, why not become pluralistic to the point of many sides? The explanation is that these sides have different functions, different reasons for being the way they are, different purpose. I am questioning how we could manage without dividing up the labor of the mind, how we can daydream and keep track of where and when we are and how we create and destroy at times with equal aplomb.

I'm concerned about where we are as a country and how our leadership has fallen into the patterns of politics that we were promised would change. Robert Indiana created a new iconic text symbol similar to the stacked "LOVE" using the word "HOPE", but I am losing hope as we prepare for a presidential address (from the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, no less) tomorrow night. More troops (our young people) and, of course more fighting and killing... did we learn nothing from leaders of peace such as Ghandi and King? I love this planet and this country, but I hate war and it's contexts, especially the fundamentalist religious ones, whether they be Muslim or Baptist or Catholic. War for gods? Humbug!

Dinnerware on Linoleum & The Last Bike Ride?

Unloading the dishwasher came to an abrupt pause this afternoon, but I got a photo that I would probably never think to shoot or arrange as a still life as it was so random, yet there it was, an arrangement of accidental nature. I sort of stopped, grabbed my camera, and took a series of pictures of this "silverware spill" after I dropped the whole tray of utensils on the pantry floor. I just like this photo for the contrast of materials.

This afternoon was so gorgeous that I had to take my bike out, I was powerless, as it beckoned with a voice that was a mixture of demanding growl and provocative murmur. I thoroughly enjoyed it as the last few weekends were not all that "bikish" and it has been a while since I felt that stream of consciousness flowing. I just set the camera on the ground at the side of the road and used a delayed shutter to capture this self portrait (cropped out a telephone pole in the background) of what might be my last bike ride of the season.

Abstraction and Reality

OK, so the first photo I'll post here really isn't an abstraction, but rather the "reorganization" or "re-perception" of reality into something not immediately recognizable. The futon in my studio is now missing its mattress, so rather than have a useless place to sleep, I moved it to the basement. It was sitting on its side and I noticed this point of view and had to try a few shots.

The sun kept poking through the clouds and the wind this afternoon, and I was at the landing in Sullivan Harbor when the sun was playing hide and seek. The view of the mountains is nice there and I waited a while before it showed through brightly and gave me this image. I also think I may have coined a new meteorological term with the way the weather was early this morning. I say I think it is new because I have never heard it before; "driving drizzle".

Second Thanksgiving

A busy day with finishing up the sign I've been working on and guests almost all day from all over the place. It's funny, but I think I did not even notice the rain until just a few minutes ago when I stepped outside and I've been outside several times today. I don't know whether I was just not paying attention or I just didn't care. But the culmination of today was all about food, and I didn't really eat (aside from a small bowl of cereal this morning after workout) until this evening when my brother and his girlfriend came over for the "second Thanksgiving". It was a good day and I enjoyed everything around me, and I hope it was reciprocated.

The photos posted here were taken during and after our evening meal here. I tried to "tweak" the color a bit with Preview, but these kitchen lights are so warm colored they intensify anything with a yellowish cast. One is of a "turkey meat" closeup and the other is a bag of cornmeal crescent rolls awaiting the fridge.

"Conflicting Dreams"

I've been pretty busy the past few days working on the sign for the new restaurant here in Sullivan Harbor, but I always manage to "squeeze" some time in for drawing and such. While the prospect of a few extra bucks (not a hunting pun) is a good thing, the time it takes usually draws me away from something else I would rather be doing. Making art is a true joy and there are a few things that I do which don't hang around very long. Jen gives my fused glass body adornments away faster than I can make them, but it does seem to bring happiness to a few people, so I'm good with it. The title of the piece I'm posting here is Conflicting Dreams, and I really finished it about a week ago but just finally got around to photographing some of my recent work. I do a "conflict" piece with my Art II students, but I'm sure where this piece came from had to do with where my mind has been recently. Projecting into the future is not a thing I do well with other than the obvious scheduled sort of life tasks and events, but my dreams lately have been all over the place as I have been. I've discovered... no, actually just realized, that I am bound to the sea in so many ways. I don't really have to live on the ocean, but need to be near enough to walk to it. Islands have always held a dearness to my heart and I can't imagine that feeling changing any time soon in my life, but there is so much tangled up in my imagination and my dreaming that I cannot see. If I were pulled away it would be the end of me I am sure, but the image I am posting is more about the inside of my head than my connections to the sea.

Thanksgiving 2009

My sister-in-law is cooking at the assisted living center that her and Jen's mom is at and today (Thanksgiving Day) she was the on-duty chef, so we went down there for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a chance to visit with "Mom" and see the residents and chat, which is always good for those involved, and there are a lot of nice people down there. I guess it is appropriate that I dedicate this post to my my mother-in-law.

My parents are both gone now, but the girls are fortunate to still have their mom. I always give thanks for the time I had with my folks, but have managed to resolve their absence into memories that I will appreciate for the rest of my life, knowing that my children will miss me when I am gone as well.
Giving thanks is something that I find myself doing often, but the formality of this day sadly gives in to the commercial aspect and justifies for many people a reason to join with family. Shouldn't we do this sort of thing more often without the commercialism or "mandatory" nature of it all?

Edge of Sleep

I don't know what goes on with these sleepless nights. Last night it was to bed at eight and waking up at midnight to a mind full of nothing and everything, not being able to fall into a sound sleep until just before four a.m., when it was almost time to rise. I have ideas of why, but not substantial or definitive and certainly not with any kind of resolution or closure to what is fleetingly passing through the chaos I call my mind. Fantasy or reality, or even both of them simultaneously, align my thinking with the possibilities of life that I imagine, but can only imagine. Damn this imagination, that which is such a joy and pleasure becoming a curse for me that burdens my thoughts and reduces my sense of self, rendering me transparent, a frail ghostly image of who I should or could be without the depths of soul that quench the thirst of my spirit.

The edge of sleep is actually the edge of my bed, empty of me but nonetheless harboring years of memory and history, dreams elusive always and thoughts confused by fatigue, inebriation, excitement, anger or combinations of all of those. I don't hate my bed, but I often resent it.

Morning Tree, Long Day and The Sign

Actually I think it is two long days, the first with so much stuff around the house, car repair (my son's car, not mine) and getting brother-in-law's boat out of the water for the winter. Three years ago we sailed that boat here to the bay from Winter Harbor in late December and I didn't want to have to mess with a sailboat (you never see many of them sailing around these parts during the winter) much later in the season.


Yesterday morning was a beautiful start with the light on the apple tree catching my eye... there is so much beauty around us all the time. The day ended after my "brothers" and I got the sailboat settled into the cradle and we came back up the bay to the house just before dark. Kind of an interesting photo with the silhouettes of them climbing ashore.

Today was commercial work... the stuff I am not most fond of but I do get satisfaction from a job well done and positive comments by viewers. And painting is something I always enjoy! One side down and I will do the other during Thanksgiving break, hopefully.

Break of Dawn...

...and I spent it in Trenton watching the sky lighten through the clouds . I like this photo better than yesterdays', and the puffy clouds in the top were a nice element. A great conversation (critique) today with my Photo One class on their portrait project.

I should also include a portrait (hard to choose "a best" one) from that class.

Frosty, Misty Morning

I could see leaving the house this morning that we had another case of Frenchman's Bay being socked in with morning misty fog. The tops of the mountains were the only thing visible and as I came into Trenton the frosty fields were gorgeous with their sparkling coat of thin ice. The "mist" seemed a bit lighter than fog and it was apparent that the sun was having a profound effect on how long those suspended particles of moisture could stay afloat.

As I drove down the island, the light streaking through the trees was beautiful in so many places, and I could only grab a couple of random shots. I've been telling students of the "work"of the photographer; finding the shot is not always easy and it takes perseverance and determination to get a really good shot. I find it a shame that I don't have time for either on my drives to work. If I left an hour early (moot now because of darkness) I would have time to search out and pursue those "great" shots, but as it is, I count up the "missed shots" and lament them all.

Is this last photo a "pun"? I "shot some film" this morning, with my digital camera!