Wednesday, July 29, 2009

123 Calories: Breakfast



What was supposed to be 174 calories is actually 123 because of my snail's pace. Found a new route that has almost no traffic so I can go a little faster. Anyway, I first photographed a couple of guys at my favorite breakfast taco place... but it wasn't very decisive. Then as I was putting my iphone down I saw my empty plate as an Edward Weston (for you photo people) seashell.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

When I was a child...



"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an [adult], I put an end to childish things." –Cor 13:11

174 Calories: Two Decisive Moments



Today I helped cook a zen meal for a 5 day sit (I wasn't doing the sit). Sweet potato and miso soup, short grain brown rice ((with a mixture of sesame seeds and salt (1:16) that people put on it)), and a salad with romaine lettuce, cucumbers and tomato. I was under suspicion of mis-measuring the rice and water, but it turned out fine. Seeing the fine lunch ready for the sitters was a good moment, though maybe not decisive.


Stupidly the second half of my walk today was when it was 101 degrees. Shade and a breeze were my best friends. And then I saw this sign. As confused and tired as I was, it seemed to define the moment.

Monday, July 27, 2009

...a son obeys the father....



"A minister serves the lord, a son obeys the father; not obeying is not filial, and not serving is no help." –Song of the Jewel Mirror
See Animation (takes a few minutes to load)

174 Calories: The Strange Marking



500+ feet above sea level, 30.3100 N, 97.7447 W (I got an app. called Distance for my iphone) total distance= 2.92

Anyway, found this painted on the sidewalk and thought it related to yesterday's painting. After finding the first one, I saw that there were many others... but it was the first one that was that "love and kisses (XO)" moment.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

It was the best of times...



"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way...." Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
See Animation (takes a minute or so to load, depending on your connection)

174 Calories: The Decisive Moment



So I decided today, instead of going to a $15 hatha yoga class, to walk for one hour, which expends the same number of calories. And further more, in my true obscessive compulsive behavior, I would take one picture (iphone) depicting the "decisive moment" of my walk (I actually made two exposures...I can not tell a lie). Oh yes I can... tell a lie, that is.

Anyway, I found this great trail blocks from my house that goes along a creek. A major discovery.

Also saw a squished dead frog on the street... but the decisive moment had passed so I could not take a picture.

Here's from Wikopedia (don't laugh) on Bresson's Decisive Moment:

In 1952, Cartier-Bresson published his book Images à la sauvette, whose English edition was titled The Decisive Moment. It included a portfolio of 126 of his photos from the East and the West. The book's cover was drawn by Henri Matisse. For his 4,500-word philosophical preface, Cartier-Bresson took his keynote text from the 17th century Cardinal de Retz: "Il n'y a rien dans ce monde qui n'ait un moment decisif" ("There is nothing in this world that does not have a decisive moment"). Cartier-Bresson applied this to his photographic style. He said: " "Photographier: c'est dans un même instant et en une fraction de seconde reconnaître un fait et l'organisation rigoureuse de formes perçues visuellement qui expriment et signifient ce fait."[citation needed]

Here's a translation from WebMonkey: Photography: it is in the same moment and in a split second to recognize a fact and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that express and signify this fact.

Receiving and Giving