You're gonna feel this one...
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Showing posts with label life and stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life and stuff. Show all posts
30 March 2010
Last Minutes With Oden
19 March 2010
MTAL
200210 M
240210 K
260210 S
130310 BM
190310 R
090410 MI
No, they're not lotto numbers, although they're just as lucky ;-)
16 March 2010
Serendipity
According to Wikipedia: Serendipity is the effect by which one accidentally stumbles upon something fortunate, especially while looking for something entirely unrelated.
It's derived from Serendip, the Persian name for Sri Lanka. The Persian word itself has been derived from Sanskrit name for Sri Lanka viz. Swarnadweep (Swarna meaning golden and Dweep meaning island)
The word has been translated into many languages (French sérendipicité or sérendipité but also heureux hasard, "fortunate chance"; Italian serendipità; Dutch serendipiteit; German Serendipität; Swedish, Danish and Norwegian serendipitet; Romanian serendipitate; and Spanish serendipia).
Now, let's put aside the definition and etymology of the word. The moment you realise what you've found, eventhough you weren't looking for it... isn't it just fucking fantastic?!
03 March 2010
If
I'm sure there is a word to describe all that, but I can't think of it at the moment. -----------------------------------------------
03 February 2010
Getting the Ball Rolling Again
I was recently backing up my computer when I realized that I hadn't taken a single photo for at least three months! I couldn't believe it! I had slowly sunk into this rut and become disillusioned with my photography to the point where I hadn't even picked up my camera.
That was my "rock bottom". I reached the point where the only way out was up. In the past week I've shot more than I can remember. At first, the camera seemed foreign in my hand. I had lost touch with what had become an extension of my hand. Fortunately, yes, it is just like riding a bike. I've since shot more than I can remember. I've re-familiarized myself with my camera again. The functions, menu items, button locations and feel that had become second nature to me have all come back. I've taken the damn thing everywhere with me. It's like having gotten back with an old flame and not being able to stop touching eachother. Ok maybe that was a little too dramatic and creepy, but you know what I mean.
Another thing I noticed is how my way of seeing an image has also shifted. I honestly don't know how to explain this one, but something has definitely changed. Perhaps it was having the time away from the camera, or seeing so much of other people's work without creating any of my own. I don't know. However, I'm sure that it's going to start showing in my work.
The only down side to all this is all the editing that's waiting for me on the computer right now. I really need to work on my editing.
I guess the moral of the story is... You know what? I have no idea what the moral of the story is. All I know is that I'm back doing what I love with the passion I thought I had lost, and that's all that counts.
01 December 2009
Do Epic Shit
The graphic above was something random I found on the web. The reason I'm using it for this post is because I feel it somehow fits my hopes, not sure if that makes any sense but there it is.
It's officially the first day of Summer today (Southern hemisphere) and I've been contemplating some big changes on various fronts. I figured getting them started on the 1st of December instead of the usual 1st of January might produce some better results. However, I seem to be having problems getting the ball rolling. Is it procrastination, apprehension or just plain ass laziness? Honestly, I don't know. It might just be a cocktail of all three with a dash of 'what's the use'. Whatever the stumbling block is, I'm sure I'll find a way around, over or under it.
I can hear all the cliches regarding change, resolutions and fresh starts already. Why am I writing this here? Well, the discipline to both update this blog more regularly and to change it's course to something different (you'll slowly see what that is) is one of those changes.
So, with a little luck and I'm sure a shit load of harder work, frustrations and the occasional 'oh yeah!' (when something works out as planned) we head out into the unknown with plans of epic proportions.
Wish me luck...
26 November 2009
In Search Of Eustace
The Anthropologist, a site owned by The Urban Outfitters, "is an online space for inspiring works and inspiring individuals. It is a testament to the idea that revealing the passions of one person can result in the progress of many."
The newest project to be showcased on their site is that of photographer David Eustace.
Scottish photographer David Eustace is a seismograph - his portraits have a way of exposing what lies beneath the surface.
We could only oblige when he expressed a desire to document a three-week road trip with his teenage daughter Rachael, as we couldn't imagine a better gift than an everlasting memory with one's father.
Check out this project titled In Search Of Eustace, it's so worth it!
On the site you'll also find projects by Andrew Zuckerman and Jane Campion. -----------------------------------------------
14 July 2009
The Festival of San Fermin
The Festival of San Fermin attracts thousands of visitors to Pamplona, Spain every year. The nine-day festival includes a carnival, bullfights and of course, the famous Running of the Bulls. Deeply traditional, it has been held since 1591, and remains a popular, if dangerous and controversial event. This year, dozens of runners and revelers have been injured, and one has been killed - a 27-year-old man who was gored in the neck, heart and lungs on Friday. Animal rights groups continue to level criticism toward the event, in which dozens of bulls run through small, packed streets toward a bullring where they will be killed during later bullfights. Collected here are some of the scenes from this year's Festival of San Fermin.
Photos from The Festival of San Fermin, 2009 from The Boston Globe.
22 June 2009
Some More Life Tips
Back in December I wrote a post called Some Life Tips. I've found some more:
1. If you’re smiling right now, you’re doing something right.
2. It’s not so much what you say that counts, it’s how you make people feel.
3. The biggest mistake you can make is doing nothing because you’re scared to make a mistake.
4. No matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the way it should be. Either you succeed or you learn something. Win-Win.
5. Freedom is the greatest gift. Self-sufficiency is the greatest freedom.
6. If you catch yourself working hard and loving every minute of it, don’t stop. You’re on to something big. Because hard work ain’t hard when you concentrate on your passions.
7. It’s not about getting a chance, it’s about taking a chance. You’ll rarely be 100% sure it will work. But you can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work. Sometimes you just have to go for it!
8. Complaining is like slapping yourself for slapping yourself. It doesn’t solve the problem, it just hurts you more.
9. The one with nothing to hide is always the one left standing tall.
10. You can press forward long after you can’t. It’s just a matter of wanting it bad enough.
11. There’s a big difference between knowing and doing. Knowledge is basically useless without action.
12. In work and business, when they need you more than you need them, you have succeeded.
13. Everything that happens in life is neither good nor bad. It just depends on your perspective.
14. We are all weird. And life is weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we call it love.
15. True friendship and true love do sustain the tests of distance and time.
16. You can’t change who you are. You can only change what you know and how you apply this knowledge.
17. It is okay to be angry. It is never okay to be cruel.
18. Even when you feel like you have nothing, someone else likely has far less. Find them and help them. You’ll see why.
19. Having a thousand credentials on the wall will not make you a decent human being. But genuinely helping one person everyday will.
20. Remember, change happens for a reason. Roll with it. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.
01 May 2009
When a group of people is thrown...
When a group of people is thrown into a limited space (let's say someone's living room) for a limited period of time (let's imagine a dinner party), there will be many ways for individuals to hide their true personalities behind veils of pleasantries and niceties. This makes getting to know people a little difficult.
However, If you really want to get to know someone within a short time span, without all the camouflage... go on a trip. Go on a road trip to a shared holiday house where everyone is going to have to share everything for at least 2 nights (3 is better).
While you're there, let the "happy juice" flow just to the extent that inhibitions are relaxed (everything in moderation, right?). Then, by the second night or third day, once the initial guards have been lowered and everyone has seen the others in the pale morning light, the real characters begin to peak their head through the fog.
08 April 2009
When You Least Expect It
I've always heard, from every man and his dog, the old sayings that go something along the lines of:
- As soon as you stop looking for it, it will find you.
- When you least expect it, it will hit you.
- It will always be in the last place you expected to find it.
- When the time is right it will appear in front of you.
- Blah, blah, blah...
Heck I'm even guilty of dishing it out to others at times. As skeptical as I might have been of my own dished out advice, I'm beginning to get the feeling that there might be some truth in them there sayings.
09 March 2009
The Rain is Back
The rain is back and it makes me feel better for some reason. I've missed the rain, the cloudy weather, the diffused light.
Yeah yeah, I know, sunny days are so much better blah, blah, blah.
Me, I prefer this cloudy, rainy weather, it's just one of those things. It's like a genetic mutation you have to have to actually appreciate the gloom as something more uplifting. The air is cleaner, the leaves are greener, colours more vivid and people are even a better dressed. Sure I miss the bikinis at the beach like any other guy, but there is definitely something to be said about a nice gloomy rainy day.
03 March 2009
Nostalgia
I have come to realize that there are two schools of thought on the subject of nostalgia. Those that are not nostalgic and those that are to a fault.
Two conclusions have come about from this realization. The non-nostalgic tend to live less cluttered, more relaxed lives and rarely think of the past in a romantic way or cling to memories with fondness. Those that are nostalgic to a fault however, tend to be more emotional, have clutter around them that remind them of moments in their past, and tend to be more romantic in the way they see and interact with their surroundings.
From these two conclusions it might seem that being a non-nostalgic individual might mean a less stressful existence, but does it really? Which one are you?
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Nostalgia: Nos.tal.gia
Pronunciation: \nä-ˈstal-jə, nə-
— nos·tal·gic \-jik\ adjective or noun
— nos·tal·gi·cal·ly \-ji-k(ə-)lē\ adverb
— nos·tal·gist \-jist\ noun
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, from Greek nostos return home + New Latin -algia; akin to Greek neisthai to return, Old English genesan to survive, Sanskrit nasate he approaches
Date: 1729
1: the state of being homesick : homesickness
2: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition ; also : something that evokes nostalgia.
20 January 2009
Transition
At 12.01pm today, special agent Donald White will take a few small steps that will mark a giant leap for his country. The secret service officer will move away from George Bush and stand behind President Obama, marking the transition of his protection to a new presidency.The full article on the handing over of the presidency by Ed Pilkington of The Guardian can be read here. -----------------------------------------------
11 December 2008
Some Life Tips
1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
2. Marry someone you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
4. When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.
5. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.
6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
7. Believe in love at first sight.
8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
11. Don't judge people by their relatives.
12. Talk slowly but think quickly.
13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
15. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.
16. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
17. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.
18. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
19. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
20. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
21. Spend some time alone.
03 December 2008
A Few Pearls
Seek elegance rather than luxury, refinement rather than fashion. Try to be worthy, not respectable. Think quietly, talk gently, and act frankly. Listen intently, and look deeply.
-----------------------------------------------01 December 2008
Speak Softly
Over the weekend while sitting at my local cafe, I overheard a young woman sitting at the next table softly say to someone on the phone: "The door is open. If not, the key is under the mat." The words stayed with me. It was the subtle way she spoke them that seems to have struck a cord. The words were not spoken as if she was talking to a relative, contractor or delivery guy. They were spoken to someone close, someone more intimate. They were meant more as an invitation than a statement of fact.
There are phrases and words haphazardly strung together that seem to trigger a more nostalgic or emotional response than others, whether they're a line from a movie or something you were told or said. More often than not, they tend to be related to matters of love, lust or loss. Nevertheless, they have an intangible quality, precision and honesty that makes their combination so much more potent and memorable.
Whether negative or positive, if you read this and have one of those phrases or grouping of words that have stayed with you for some reason or another, please share them in the comments of this post.
17 November 2008
Fall in Love
When some of the most influential photographers of the famed Magnum Photos photographic co-operative were asked what their advice would be to aspiring photographers; the only Iranian photographer to be a member, known only as Abbas, simply said:
"Get a good pair of walking shoes and...fall in love"
Read the full article on the on the Magnum Blog here. -----------------------------------------------
14 November 2008
Friends
For the uninitiated and those of you living outside of Australia, you might understand this more if you try and remember the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". However, if you haven't seen that movie: AUSSIE FRIENDS = Well, those that have grown up with an Australian or let's say Anglo-Saxon background. WOG FRIENDS = Those that have grown up with and ethnic or "old country" background like Greek, Italian, Lebanese, Iranian, Turkish, etc..., you get the idea. Anyway, here's a funny little comparison list I got in an email.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: Move out when they're 18 with the full support of their parents.
WOG FRIENDS: Move out when they're 28, having saved for that nice house and are a week away from getting married...unless there's room for the newlyweds at home.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: When their mum visits them she brings a nice bunt cake and you sip coffee and chat.
WOG FRIENDS: When their mum visits them she brings 3 days worth of food and begins to immediately tidy up, dust, do the laundry or rearrange the furniture.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: Their dads always call before they come over to visit them and it's usually only on special occasions.
WOG FRIENDS: Are not at all fazed when their dads come over, unannounced, on a Saturday morning at 8:00am and start pruning the trees with a chainsaw or renovating the garage.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: You can leave your kids with them and you always worry if everything is going to be OK plus you have to feed them after you pick them up.
WOG FRIENDS: No problem, leave the kids there and if they get out of line the WOG friend can set them straight...plus they get fed.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: Always pay retail and look in the yellow pages when they need something done.
WOG FRIENDS: Just call their dad or uncle and ask for another dad's or uncle's phone number to get it done...cash deal, know what I mean.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: Will come over for cake and coffee and expect cake and coffee, no more.
WOG FRIENDS: Will come over for cake and coffee and expect an antipasto, a few bottles of wine, a pasta dish, a choice of two meats, salad, bread, potatoes, a nice dessert cake, fruit, coffee and a few after dinner drinks...time permitting there will be a late lunch as well.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: Think that being a wog is a great thing.
WOG FRIENDS: KNOW that being a wog is a great thing.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: Never ask for food
WOG FRIENDS: Are the reason you have no food.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: Will say hello
WOG FRIENDS: Will give you a big hug and a kiss.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs.
WOG FRIENDS: Call your parents mum and dad.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.
WOG FRIENDS: Cry with you.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: Will eat at your dinner table and leave
WOG FRIENDS: Will spend hours there, talking, laughing and just being together.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back.
WOG FRIENDS: Keep your stuff so long they forget it's yours.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: know a few things about you.
WOG FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
WOG FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowds' ass that left you.
AUSSIE FRIENDS: Would knock on your door.
WOG FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, 'I'm home!'
AUSSIE FRIENDS: Are for a while.
WOG FRIENDS: Are for life.
12 November 2008
The Under 30 Crowd
When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning, uphill, barefoot, both ways.
I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it! However, now that I'm over the ripe old age of 30, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn utopia!
I hate to say it but, you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!
When I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves.
There was no email. We had to actually write somebody a letter with pen and paper! Then you had to go to the Post Office, buy a stamp and mail it. Then it would take somewhere around a week to get there!
There were no MP3's or Napster. If you wanted to steal music, you had go to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself, borrow someone else's cassette tape or vinyl record to copy it or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJs usually talked over the beginning and fucked it all up!
We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it! We didn't have fancy Caller ID either. When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was. It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know! You had to pick it up and take your chances! Never mind if you needed to make a call while you were out and about. There were no mobiles; you had to find a pay phone, make sure you had enough change and make sure nobody had stuck chewing gum or some other crap on the receiver before you put it to your ear.
We didn't have any fancy Sony PlayStation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics either! We had the Atari 2600! There were games like Space Invaders and Asteroids. Your guy was a little square, you actually had to use your imagination and there were no multiple levels or screens. It was just one screen forever and you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died. Just like life!
You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing. You actually had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons On Saturday morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!? We had to wait all week for cartoons; you spoiled little rat-bastards!
What happened if you were hungry and wanted to heat something up? Well, we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove... Imagine that!
That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in the 1980's!
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