Traditional Iconoclast

Don’t Say Pre

Posted on 10 November 2017 by Isabel Gibson

At home, we live in pre-fabs with pre-schoolers and pre-teens. At play, we watch pre-game shows on TV, and pre-pay for our online pre-registrations. At work, business consultants urge us to (shudder) pre-plan. As we pre-maturely pre-determine and pre-configure our pre-ferred (furred?) options and look for work-arounds for any pre-existing conditions, sometimes it seems that all of society conspires to reassure us that we can, and should, get ahead of things.

How can we push back? Quite simply.

Don’t say pre.

Continue reading →

Posted in Language and Communication, Laughing Frequently | Tagged Word Play | 4 Comments

Manhattan from Brooklyn

Posted on 09 November 2017 by Isabel Gibson

Brooklyn has reclaimed its riverfront industrial land and made a great park that runs under the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. It’s a spot frequented by tourists and locals alike, and provides lots of interesting and different views of Manhattan’s skyline.

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Photos of Built Stuff | Tagged Bridges, Buildings | 2 Comments

Mid-Week Movie #13: Where the Wind Goes

Posted on 08 November 2017 by Isabel Gibson

After two largely technical exercises, this week brings something a little different: matching poetry to video images, trying to enhance both, while using a soundtrack that works for both mood and pace.

At the same time, I’m continuing to experiment with various effects: in this one, primarily cropping and blending (in which one video overlays another in some fashion).

Great fun!

Posted in Feeling Clearly, Nature Videos | Tagged Flowers, Skies, Weather | 8 Comments

Manhattan from Staten Island

Posted on 07 November 2017 by Isabel Gibson

As Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders would say, “Manhattan is uge.” Emphasis on the “u.”

So uge that it’s hard, if not impossible, to photograph it from Manhattan. To do that requires some distance and a different vantage point: a view from a ferry, perhaps, or a view from one of the other boroughs.

Here’s how Manhattan looked from Staten Island. Continue reading →

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Photos of Built Stuff | Tagged Buildings, Travel | 2 Comments

National Treasure #168: Filip Konowal

Posted on 06 November 2017 by Isabel Gibson

Your exploit is one of the most daring and heroic in the history of my army.
For this, accept my thanks.

I was so fed up standing in the trench with water to my waist
that I said the hell with it and started after the German army.
My captain tried to shoot me because he figured I was deserting.

Well, there you have it: the perspective of King George V versus the perspective of the corporal himself in the trenches, as laid out in a comprehensive article on this Victoria Cross recipient in the Canadian Encyclopedia. Continue reading →

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Through Canada, Through History | Tagged Military | 2 Comments

Gift from the Beach

Posted on 05 November 2017 by Isabel Gibson

What Was

Take it.

I make no move to reach for the shell in her outstretched hand. I had seen her picking up shells I didn’t recognize ““ lettered olives, it turned out ““ and asking about them led to her telling me how to search this beach and that led to me openly admiring the bigger shell in her bag. But now I’m horrified that she thinks I was fishing for it.

Lettered olives

Continue reading →

Posted in Day-to-Day Encounters, Feeling Clearly, New Perspectives | Tagged Citizenship, Community, Conversations | 10 Comments

Redux: Day of the Dead & Uluru

Posted on 04 November 2017 by Isabel Gibson

Day of the Dead

The original: I’ve written about the Day of the Dead: here and here and here.

The follow-up: Smithsonian’s daily email (yes, they of the concatenated and spurious-relationships subject line) highlighted photos of participants in Day of the Dead celebrations, taken by Mexican photographer Miguel Gandert.

Uluru

The original: I’ve posted photos of birds near Kata Tjuta, the conglomerate formation close to Uluru, the famous sandstone monolith. I was surprised that I hadn’t actually posted photos of Uluru itself, and rectify that omission here.

The follow-up: As of Oct 2019, climbing on Uluru will be prohibited. Right now, visitors are asked not to climb it, to respect aboriginal beliefs.

Posted in Another Thing, Feeling Clearly, Photos of Landscapes, Through the Calendar | Tagged Community, Death, Desert, Mountains | 4 Comments

From This Time Forth

Posted on 03 November 2017 by Isabel Gibson

Once upon a time, I killed time without a second thought. Time after time I wasted time. I was a good-time Charlie, having a good, high, whale, and hell of a time. Oh, how time flies when you’re having fun, and I’ve had more than fun: I’ve had the time of my life.

But at my time of life I’m feeling pressed for time — indeed, I find I have no time on my hands and am almost in a race against time — and now I want to play for time. On borrowed time, I want to turn back the hands of time, although I’ve heard that you can’t make up for lost time. Continue reading →

Posted in Language and Communication, Laughing Frequently | Tagged Word Play | 10 Comments

That’s the Deal

Posted on 02 November 2017 by Isabel Gibson

Grief is the wind: the hurricane that passes, the breeze that persists.

Grief is the sea: the tide that rises and falls but never stops, the sneaker wave that soaks my shoes when I’m not watching.

Grief is the memory: the longing for times past, the regret for time wasted. Continue reading →

Posted in Feeling Clearly, Mortality, Through the Calendar | Tagged Culture, Death | 8 Comments