“The training of the mind is an art. If this can be considered art, one’s life is art.” Dalai Lama
Training the Mind
Category: Sony 35mm f/1.8
The Game of Life
“For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.” T.S. Eliot
Inside Looking Out
“Standing, looking out of the window makes me wish that I had a door.” Anthony T. Hincks
What is Reality?
“What is reality? An icicle forming in fire.” Dōgen
The Good Conductor
“There’s a metal train that’s a mile long and at the very back end a lightning bolt struck her. How long till it reaches and kills the driver, provided that he’s a good conductor?” Bo Burnham, New Math
Farm Living
I stopped to photograph this Amish farmer getting his field ready for planting and it was such a tender moment that tears came to my eyes. It might have been the near freezing temperature and biting wind, but the scene reminded me of many things.
Time passing so quickly, the changing of the seasons, the beauty of spring and the hard work of these farmers. As the smell of horse manure rose into the air, I thought of the show Green Acres, and Oliver deciding that working with his hands was more important than working as a lawyer in the big city.
I would say that farm livin’ is the life for me, keep Manhattan just give me that countryside. But I don’t like getting muddy, or working in a field all day, or having obsessive photographers standing there taking my picture while I’m trying to do my job.
Melting Attachment
“Melting our attachment to self is the most powerful medication for bringing mental and emotional imbalances in check.” Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
Why Black and White?
I asked these two horses this morning to try to get a completely unbiased opinion on the subject, right out of the horses mouth sort of speak. The first one laughed and walked away so I asked his buddy. The second one ignored my question, looked me right in the eye, and asked me why I never bring them snacks.
The Lititz Chainsaw Massacre
It was 50 degrees and climbing this morning when I headed to Lititz, which has been called the coolest small town in America. The Fire & Ice Festival begins tonight and I wanted to watch them carve the ice sculptures and take some photos.
As usual I got there way too early but eventually they began to massacre the blocks of ice with chainsaws, then use other tools to chisel out amazing detail. There was a large ice chair, a John Deere tractor and this one which will be a newspaper boy.
In hindsight I should have paid more attention to the background, used a very wide aperture, shot in manual and got closer ignoring the ice chips shooting everywhere. I knew they would be carving 72 more sculptures but I had no intention of waiting.
Being a perfectionist bordering on obsessive (see blog name) I have to learn to enjoy the experience, good photo, bad photo or no photo. Author Edmond Mbiaka wrote: “When it comes to perfection, the most that we could possibly do is to continuously push closer and closer to it. It is truly something to aim at, just to see how close you could get to it.”
I knew I should have got closer!
The Ten-Per-Cent Solution
“90% of every art form is garbage. Focus on the 10% that’s good, suck it up, and drive on.” Patton Oswalt
