"To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve."(James Allen)
I woke up this morning thinking about Annie Leibovitz, probably because we've been talking about strong women the last few days, and not all of them are in politics. It's especially nice when these women came from the baby boomer generation, because we all know how hard it was to break the glass ceiling (concrete ceiling?).
After much reading, and extensive viewing of her work, which is amazing, I finally decided that I can't possibly say anything about Annie, that wouldn't be better in her own words (so that's what you're getting:
"I wish that all of nature’s magnificence, the emotion of the land, the living energy of place could be photographed. Nature is so powerful, so strong. Capturing its essence is not easy—your work becomes a dance with light and the weather. It takes you to a place within yourself.
I love to spend time in the woods near my home in upstate New York. They never fail to evoke an emotional response in me. The lines of the horizon, the gentle curve of the trees. I feel a responsibility to my backyard, I want it to be taken care of and protected.
My hope is that we continue to nurture the places that we love, but that we also look outside our immediate worlds, to the foreign and the far away. There are still so many places on our planet for me that remain unexplored. I’d love to one day peel back the mystery and understand them.
I know I’ll never be able to experience them all, but I’d like to think that the actions we take today will allow others in the future to discover the wonders of landscapes we helped protect but never had the chance to enjoy ourselves." Annie Leibovitz
.. for more info. on Annie: Wiki/Leibovitz
65 comments:
I know no one here is going to be able to believe this, but her words left me speechless. Artistic people think differently, and the things they say and do, their work, impresses me so much, stirs feelings I didn't even know I had, that I'm just left wondering how they do it.
Not only is she a magnificent photographer (which I consider as special as being an artist), but her words just blew me away. If I could only express myself that way.
Maybe in another life time.
Thanks, Chloe.
Speaking of the unqique mind of the artist, please check out my Snipe Hunting excursion at the end of the previous thread...
...gotta run...lol
March of the Peacocks
"Last week, the Center for American Progress, a think tank with close ties to the Obama administration, published an acerbic essay about the difference between true deficit hawks and showy “deficit peacocks.” You can identify deficit peacocks, readers were told, by the way they pretend that our budget problems can be solved with gimmicks like a temporary freeze in nondefense discretionary spending.
Blame our political culture ......, a culture that rewards hypocrisy and irresponsibility rather than serious efforts to solve America’s problems. And blame the filibuster, under which 41 senators can make the country ungovernable, if they choose — and they have so chosen." PAUL KRUGMAN
Toyota to announce fix for gas pedals next week
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_on_bi_ge/toyota_recall
Hi Ivy!
Yes, I'm going back to see what I missed on the last thread.
Great to see you! We miss you.
Very nice Ivy. I'm bringing your link over to this thread: Dali's Heaven
Coreen, just saw your post about the weather here, and the rain isn't causing any problems in our area. It rained last night, but not today.
Carol may be seeing problems, we'll have to wait to hear from her. The news always makes it sound worse than it is, for some reason. I think they find one tiny area that is having problems, then make it sound like it's the whole city or state.
OK, before I leave, just so everyone knows: If anyone has a post they want to put up, go ahead.
I hate to appear to be hogging things, and only put this up because I knew the last one would run over 200 comments if we get gabby tonight. (That, and I have fun doing them.)
But, please... jump in and put yours up when you're ready.
Ivy, I should have brought your post over here, when I brought the link, so here it is:
"No wait, one more thing to share. The astonishingly wonderful Loveland Museum is in the last few days of their exhibit of watercolors by Salvador Dali from his strikingly inventive "Dante's Divine Comedy" master work. He was commissioned for it by the Italian government, and then fired half-way through for being Spanish, not Italian, but he completed the work anyway. Dali considered the series the most important of his career. Over 100 watercolor prints from wood blocks are on display through January 31. Blew my mind (that's what Surrealism is supposed to do-lol)
"To see the complete set is above all to descend into the breathtaking range of Dalí’s imagination, a cauldron of classical influences and nuclear-age nightmares. Common features are detectable throughout the series — red perspective lines, for example, which Dalí used to map out a landscape or delineate divine light. But no two pictures are very much alike."
he was as prepared as anyone to paint hell, which he did. His model, moreover, was one of the most finely conceived hells in all eternity —"
Posted by Ivy: January 29, 2010 8:40:00 AM PST
Im really liking Obama for the first time...he is on cnn, talking with the republicans, a meeting that has be on for over 45 min..this is what he should be doing, talking about all things that can get them together, and what is not possible......
He has been very,very good imo..and should be televised over again, and done more often..and with the Dems also...but talking with the opposing party, and not just arguing.....
Speaking of nature, Tampa Electric has a manatee viewing area near the discharge ports on their power plant. The warm water attracts them in the winter. Granted, the coldest here is still warmer than the warmest in California, but I don't blame them.
I could also see 4' long tarpon, and sting rays were jumping out of the water and doing a belly flop back in. It will be interesting to see how the photos came out, but I'm out of room on this computer.
Ivy,
Sounds like you're having lots of fun. Are you going to get your jackalope license from Ted's Place while you're there?
I'm sure there are many things in CO I haven't seen, I left right after graduating high school.
Just lots of memories from the idealism of youth. I'd love to go back to hike and fish, but don't miss the dry air and drab winters at all.
CEO in Tampa called me, and when he found out he had stalled too long, told me to call as soon as my contract was up and he'd have a job for me. I'm thrilled, I'll have time to sell the house in NC and still have a great job in Tampa.
Solar, your science snippet for the day.
Pass this on to Solar please.
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2010/01/play-of-the-week-obama-disses.html#comment-282647
... and hi to you too Jack.
Don,
Last thread I asked if you saw yourself moving back here to Colorado. I guess from your delight over the Florida weather, the answer would be a resounding "no." lol
I remember my time of "swimming with manatees" in the St. Johns. Scary but thrilling at the same time. I can only imagine the thrill of those who swim with sharks.
Don, Congratulations on Tampa!
How long do you have before your contracts up?
I'm asking around the room about "Ted's Place" and all I'm getting are guffaws...??
Ivy, When are you coming home? Are you having a good time.
Chloe,
We fly back on Sunday. We haven't really "done much." We decided to save Estes Park and the Dam Store for our next trip. Not many stores open this time of year. Rocky Mountain National Park is more of a summer resort place...they have no real winter attractions. They are about the close off the road, Highway 34, from Loveland to Estes Park for road maintenance. That will probably choke off the Dam Store's business for those weeks. Hopefully the owners decided this would be a good time for a vacation to Florida.
When I say "haven't done much," it's all about the family visiting...which is really doing a lot. We have accepted the fact that they aren't coming to us, so we have to go to them.
As for family visiting, we still have the coffee pot brewing, but thank goodness the cigarette smoking has gone by the wayside. lol
The photography post and the art comments are nice. Ivy, I wanted to mention earlier that I checked out the castles in Louisiana from one of your links and found there is one a short way down the road. I've never seen or heard of it. Looks like they use it for weddings.
Ivy, you would like to swim with sharks? Not me. After Jaws, I had trouble getting in the bathtub for a while. But I do swim with sharks every day at work and this week was about as bad as it gets. Had to deal with sharks on both side of the bars. Some even in my department. I barely made it thru the day with my sanity. FGIF afternoon.
Then I got home and with the 4 inches of rain we got today, I had some come thru the roof/ceiling. The squirrels have left so much tree debris on the roof that it's causing water to pool and come thru places where the shingles are worn. Time to hire my guys next door again to clean off and mop the roof with some roof guard until I can put a new roof on that part.
Solar, I have a new metal roof on part of the camp but half the camp has old shingles and there's a relatively flat part has a rolled out shingle material with that little gravely stuff. That's over the kitchen and it looks pretty worn. Would coating that with that Roof Gard stuff help keep the water from coming thru, at least until I can save up to put a metal roof up there? It's like a cool seal.
Glad to see you back visiting Ivy. Love hearing and reading your stuff from Loveland. You seem to find cool culture everywhere you go and I'm glad you share that with us.
Sorry you couldn't get any more dam moccasins this trip . Did you need any dam moccasins or do you already have a closet full? I saw they have some nice dam moccasin boots with fuzzy lining. I could find at least a week or two to wear them down here. Tomorrow will be a good time.
That was suppose to be Thank God and not Frank God. I was using my Chinese accent there.
Carol,
I was nervous enough being up close and personal with the manatees and, they are "gentle creatures." So, no thanks on the sharks. I was about to lose it with Bear Woman's bears. lol
Sorry Ivy, I guess I implied too much. I don't miss the dry air and the cold, barren winters in Colorado. I'd love to spend a couple of months there over summer, just traveling around and hiking. I've always loved the oceans. Sailing, snorkeling, and kayaking. It's hard to sail in colorado. At least very fast.
Is there any better way to pass time than with friends and family? Sounds nice.
Annie is a fascinating artist Chloe. She does seem to be able to find and express the very essence of a person.
I talked everyone here into going to see the Dali "Divine Comedy" exhibit before it closes up on Sunday. None of them have seen it, and they live right here. So I'm going to see it again tomorrow. It's odd how we end up not paying attention to our own local attractions, no matter where we live. How many New Yorkers have never been out to the Statue of Liberty? It takes out-of-towners looking for entertainment to get us to pay attention to what right in front of our eyes.
Carol,
So funny...ironically, we were just laughing about the scene in the Monty Python movie, "Life of Brian" where they people in the back of the crowd cannot hear the Sermon on the Mount, and they think Jesus says, "Blessed are the Cheese makers." lol
Don,
The dryness is what gets me the whole time I'm out here. My hair goes straight up in the air the minute I arrive, and I must bathe in lotion all day.
Have you been to the Dali museum in St Petersburg Ivy? I keep getting close, but haven't been inside yet. i hear it's great.
Yes Ivy, we don't realize how lucky we are with all the soggy air we have down here, at least here in La. It may be hard to breath it and hot and cold feels hotter and colder but our skin doesn't dry up and crack. Every time I went to Colorado to ski and took one deep breath, my nose hairs would stand at attention.
It's been quite an art history lesson this week at the Swamp with Monet and Dali. Might be able to get a little college fine arts credit for being here.
Just came in from checking (a quick check, its pretty cold/windy still, but clear)the full moon, if you take a quick look out, just to its left is Mars...
Didn't know that each full moon has a name, & tonite is the Wolf Moon...
And Carol, what's up with the who dat, who owns it? The dustup with the NFL about trademark/name infringement because of the
'who dat' tee-shirts being sold in NO..now they are collector's items....
Don,
I haven't been to the St. Pete museum, but I'm putting it on my list after perusing the website. Seeing this Loveland exhibit has newly turned me on to Dali's art.
I had never paid any attention to Salvadore Dali. In fact, one time a long time ago, we had a chance to buy one of his works. Hubs said, let's get it; he'll die some day and it will be valuable. I said no way, that guy is too weird, and even "not yet dead," Dali was pretty pricey. Then, of course, Dali did die less than a year later. Oh well, we missed our chance.
Don't know where "Who Dat" came from Coreen, that's just how many of us talk down here in Swamp country. Don't see how anyone could own those words.
Sorry Ivy that you missed out on that Dali investment. You have my luck. I'm always a day late and a dollar short. If I had a nickel for every good idea I had that someone else later made a fortune with, I'd have at least 25 cents.
I remember being out on a date in the early 80s and stepping into a gallery where they were selling signed prints or something. No way on an Air Force salary, but it was tempting. I've always liked Dali. i was introduced to him in a film class where we studied Un Chien Andalou.
Don,
That great about Tampa. Glad that it is going to work out for U.
Ivy, keep trying to culturize me, it almost working...
Oh Carol.....no, no. not the song. Oh I forgot to reply to your roof post...yes that would help temporarily, I would tell whoever is going to do it, on a little bit of warm day, so the mtl can spread...to sweep all the gravel into a corner, and dot the rest of the roof, then clear that corner, and do that part right away,...also to caulk where any two mtl's meet.
Or Duck-tape the whole darn roof....hahaha ahhhh I quake me up sometimes....hey U R the one that said that U like ducking everything in site....
Talking about strong women.....
I will tell U a little story about what, and why I love and respect women so much:
Whatever you give a woman, she will make it greater.
If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby.
If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.
If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.
If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.
She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.
So, if you give her one iota of crap, be ready to receive a ton of chit.
Jan, Jan, where are you? Did you take a vacation? Old Ruby D. called me yesterday to ask me to come join her and the some of the other old retired nursing faculty for lunch in a couple of weeks. I used to be the baby of that group. Ruby is 88 years old and still kicking. It's amazing how well these old nurses are holding up. Of course none of them ever worked at a jail.
Coreen,
One more night of cold, and it goes back into the 20's and into the 30 next week...like U I don't like the weather people...I looked outside for our next home-Mars, but didn't see it.
Ya know the Media should show more of these political turkeys and some of the dumb things they say more often on TV. C-SPAN does it but few people watch CSPAN. Obama had to trick the Repubs into showing their asses and having it filmed for the news today. He was the crafty one this time. Fox News will never purposely show a Repub doing something dumb and when they accidentally do, they label the person a Dem. I've seen that happen quite a few times and they have been called on it.
Anyone see if Fox is covering this meeting today?
Carol,
I watched the whole thing from a clients office...it was great..I can truly say that for the first time...I really liked Obama. It might be on again late at night..will take a look for you.
Solar,
Love your story on why you love and respect women. LOL.
I hear Fox cut away early today. At least that's what a little tweeter told me.
Mary, if Solar didn't love and respect women, he wouldn't be hanging out with us pinks, he'd be playing golf with Tiger.
I'm watching some of the excerpts from that meeting now Solar. The Rachel Show is showing a lot of it right now.
Solar,
I thought you, in particular, would be drawn to Dali's Surrealism. He's so cosmic.
Ivy,'
I really like his cosmic dust....it's like Iv'e said...when we go to the big up above...we are all a little bit of cosmic dust...Im going to take a closer look at the rest tomorrow, thanks.....keep it coming..
We are a sports oriented culture and unfortunately politics is just another sport. As with sports, people have their favorite team and no matter how rotten their team is playing, they are still faithful fans. I doubt that will ever change.
If politics has to be a sport, it needs to be more like golf, where there are no teams.
Yeap, I'm watching cable news again.
You quake me up too Solar!
And I may have enough duck tape.
should have been quack me up...but U know what I meant....
We walked outside (braving patches of ice) to gaze momentarily at the Wolf Moon. Brilliant.
Howling at the Moon
This is so true about the media
"During this afternoon's Q&A session between President Barack Obama and the House Republican Caucus, Obama, in responding to a question from Representative Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), castigated the media for their obsession with the baser aspects of our political discourse, and the way they reinforce the incivility in Washington because the incivility is the only product they're genuinely excited about."
And Ivy, I see more interesting things even down here when my older sister comes to visit and we go exploring. I've found things I didn't know were here.
Drats, no Wolf moon visible down here. We have lots sheep clouds hiding it.
Actually Solar, that's what I meant too and I misspelled it. I guess we are mis-thinking alike.
Solar, I'm watching that Link TV and it's showing the Haiti news coverage from different countries perspective. How competitive each country is. How different countries are trying to one up each other. Many other countries criticizing the US News coverage. Questioning our motives there. It's pretty interesting.
Carol,
Did you learn anything interesting about your local castle you can share with your adoring public?
Nothing more than what I read online Ivy. The outside looks more interesting than the inside. I still don't know exactly where it is. It's somewhere about 20 miles down the road.
I've been watching this program on Link about this virtual world online that pretty much mimics the real world with all it's virtual ickies. It's called Second Life. It involves real money. You can buy and sell imaginary stuff and people are really doing this. It's virtually scary.
Second Life
How strange is this? A link about Tweet Kimball's (last owner of Cherokee Castle) jewels reveals one of her items was a tiara, and a ring designed by Salvador Dali.
"...until now, few people ever got a glimpse of the Belle Epoque diamond tiara studded with a pear-shaped 7.2-carat diamond, and the diamond and enamel ring designed by artist Salvador Dali in the 1950s that starred in her collection of fine jewelry.
Diamonds by Dali
During the tour, we were told a story that Tweet hid her jewels all over the castle. Supposedly following her death, a maid discovered a tiara and other jewels stashed inside a coffee table that had been in plain view the whole time. I wonder if it's the jewelry designed by Dali?
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