August 31, 2004
The commercialization of liberty
A photosymbolic analysis in honor of the Republican National Convention
The American evolution from democracy to plutocracy .
Notice that old style American flag is blurred and flacid in the background.
Notice the hollow round ball with prominent ears shaping the symbol of liberty in the foreground.
Notice the nifty new packaging of Old Glory.
Notice that Mickey Flag looks cute and harmless .
Notice that Mickey Flag is mounted on top of a radio antenna.
Notice the connection between Mickey Flag and the corporate media.
Notice that a hollow ball on a radio antenna is rigid, it does not ripple gracefully when you wave it.
Notice that we are at war with civilians who are angry that we have devastated their country in the name of bringing them democracy . Oh well.
Notice that the three hundred terrorists that originally had it out for us, have multiplied exponentially.
Notice that when Timothy McVeigh behaved badly, we treated him as a heinous criminal. We searched relentlessly for him, rooted him out, and punished him mightily for his crime. We did not start a war.
But I digress.
August 30, 2004
Midconvergence, arrived puffing
This is a photograph of why my life in virtual reality has been non-existent for the past few days --lots of bright colors, in all sizes and shapes, draped artfully over he furniture in amusing poses . Imagine this scene peopled, in motion, for the full effect. You should see my refrigerator. (I will actually spare you that photo, as I have spared you photographs of the ravages of my flat surface disease. It just isn't pretty.)
I'm finding it hard to parse photosymbolism in the chaos, but you're welcome to try.
Aside: I have made some headway into my piles and collections in preparation for filling my house with people rather than possessions. Having ascended, sorted out and disposed of a few major mountains, I feel more hopeful about clearing the rolling hills that remain. Perhaps I will photograph some of them, since they seem easier to tackle, and I can approach them with a lighter heart.
August 25, 2004
Convergence
The great convergence is happening this weekend. All of my progeny , their significant others and mini progeny will be congregating. I wonder if they've all been in the same room before together.
The convergence will involve sleepovers in two venues, which has precipitated a possession purge, in order that the room sized dust bunnies in all the guest quarters can be trapped humanely . Allergies abound among us.
The problem with having a large house is that one can be most undisciplined when it comes to recycling or discarding one's possessions - especially when said possessions can be stored from view in unused areas. Flat surface disease is rampant in the genetic pool. One can keep all the art that one has produced in a lifetime, all the books and papers from four years of college (layering, one over the next, in good archeological form) all the vintage clothing one has collected at rummage sales, all the loose change from foreign lands, all the sets of dishes and silver and furniture one has inherited -- altogether, an impressive bunny breeding ground.
Spending so much time in child's pose , has been very hard on my poor plantar flexed forefeet . I am proud, but excruciatingly achey today. Somewhat more unpossessed than usual.
Bird, pig, dog
I couldn't get close enough to this monument to absurdity to take a really great shot, since I was busy being ware.
Just in case you cannot see it clearly, the figure in blue, above the BEWARE sign is a pig, perhaps Porky. He is usually more formally attired in blue jacket and red bow tie, though he does change outfits . Maybe it's one of his cartoon country cousins, definitely not Petunia though. But I digress, which I haven't done in pages and pages --subtract sixteen points.
Google responds to my "bird pig dog" quest with--- "sort of way But they will be in the Form of THE Good Shepherd. is a member of the Wedding by: Nicholas Sparks at Amazon. com for Dummies� by Ward Silver, Paperback, April, Books: did". I stopped here, once you get "did" you must sit through endless "dids". That's a tip.
or
Esme is a bit more entertaining.
Dakota: "bird, pig, dog what is the meaning?"
Esme: "Of course I did, pretty thing. Feeling cold today?"..........
and you are free to continue the dialog
Don't want to make any real effort? Try the clickies in this entry
Unrelated just increasing the cuteness quotient in the mystery of the universe.
August 24, 2004
Firecracker
"Caution
emits flame
and
sparks"
deep meaning
eludes
photographer
I am beginning to sound just like google . Try visual poetry .
August 20, 2004
More concentric circles with triangles
This is a sprinkler, sprinkling at dawn. See that blade of crab grass on the left? (Lest you think I have been in outer space ). You probably think that anyway....and it's not as if I feel resistant to the idea .
I am told by a compatriot, that it is important to count the spokes around the circle. There are twelve . I could google that, but then I have to sort through 41,00 entries. Here's where it pays to fraternize with a mystic . I can just ask why.
I have skipped the "larger view" feature here, since it would only expose my photographic inadequacies. Suffice it to say that I do not carry my tripod with me on my
I am impressed that I know what to do to improve this shot. When shooting in the dark, the aperature of the camera has to stay open a long time, and my hand, while steady, shakes just enough over a long exposure to cause blurriness. A tripod doesn't quiver, except in an earthquake, and then that's probably the effect you would be cultlivating.
I learned all this by photographing fireworks most unsuccessfully, not by reading. If I had a real camera, I would have had to absorb this information, and then waste many rolls of film experimenting. That's why I only took four pictures with a real camera in my life before digital.
Photo note: see above
A New Shape
Do those of you who have been following the double triangle series , feel ready for a new shape ? Ready or not , concentric circles seem to be popping up here and there, so we might as well google them .
To quote from the Dream Symbols Dictionary "Concentric circles, or circles within circles, for instance, have a long historical association that depicts the cosmos and its spheres as a microcosm within a macrocosm. These early shapes are imprinted deeply in the soul, emerging through expressive art forms and within dreams quite spontaneously".
As you can see, concentric circles and double(or more) triangles are not mutually exclusive. Of course mandalas just had to emerge, but how about the recipe for Spider Dip and a series of animation mysteries .
Most puzzling was the appearance of Frithjof Schuon. I included him, because his portrait was just too wonderful to pass up.
Did you know that you can now get google to speak to you personally? When I tried it, google's message to me was unfathomable, but there are others who have had their socks knocked off . Maybe you have to be a stockholder .
August 19, 2004
Cosmos up close
When
looking
closely
for
luminiosity
savor
imperfection
Photo note: And you should have seen "the one that got away" yesterday - a field of these with the afternoon sun shining through. Maybe I can snag it next week, if I rememember
Triangles in the cosmos
Sick of photosymbolism yet? As usual, I have a few more of these to go.
Upon viewing this picture, ask yourself the same questions you were asked about the prior entry. Opted out of that challenge ? Perhaps I will repeat the questions here, if I need more separation. I think I have enough to say.
Double triangles everywhere, and double triangles on different levels of reality . And a fine cosmic joke . The dainty flowers in the foreground are cosmos .
Photo note: I think I over-saturated the cosmos (in the photo, that is) and they lost some of their delicacy as a result. I would redo the photo, but it's on my other computer, it doesn't have to be perfect , and you get the idea.
Triangles plus fairy
For those of you who clicked Dakota yesterday, and thought that you had accessed an Olympian sports blog, never fear, we are back to airy-fairy as you can see.
Remember I am reading "The DaVinci Code" , so you will have to put up with my discussions of photosymbolism for the moment.
Here's the assignment. How many triangles can you count in this photo. Double triangles? How many levels of reality can you identify? Are there any eyesores , cosmic jokes ? Is that fairy wearing large white boots and why? Why would you bother to do something like this anyway?
If you found the assignment above tedious , would some commentaries on on good blogging , to capture your attention .
Okay, okay. Belle de Jour I am sure will do it.
Photo note: But it isn't pretty. But I'm trying not to make judgments like that.
August 18, 2004
Pan Mass Challenge
There was a double event in our little seaside town a couple of Saturdays ago. A blues festival and our shorter, domestic version of the Tour de France. the Pan Mass Challenge The events attracted cyclists of both the bi and motor varieties. Since there are several versions of the bicycle route - ranging from 84 miles to 192 miles, some of the short routers, who were doubling back, rode through town twice. The second time at 5 AM, my sunrise shift. The motorcyclists weren't up yet, and we all know why.
You have to look good in spandex to do this ride. You also have to have developed excellent crotch callouses. Some sissies stayed over at the Inn, instead of camping out or bunking at the Maritime Academy .
I, the twenty-mile-a-day-if-I'm-lucky-girl, certainly have a nerve calling anyone on this trip a sissy. Just like George W. questioning the severity of Kerry's wounds in Vietnam. What really counts here? Did you show up and ride the race, or were you AWOL. I was AWOL, taking pictures
Big photo note: As you can see, some of the riders made intimate contact passing by. I can't decide whether to add or subtract points for the glowing ray emitting from the third eye of the first rider. The blues festival is taking place on the right.
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Little photo note: The cycles, bi and motor, mixing it up, with the cars new and antique.
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Little photo note: Going the other way at dawn.
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Little photo note: The Inn stayers costumed to match the flag.
August 17, 2004
On the triangle theme
I'm having a bit of trouble with my restart button - the internal one that is. Although I imagine I must have things to write about, I can't think what they are, or they seem too complicated, like comparing and contrasting Metallica: Some Kind of Monster and DeLovely; Cole Porter , Lars Ulrich or James Hefield , and their respective creative processes. .
Oh well, I will just keep pumping out the triangles, until I run out of them -- then maybe switch to sunrises and flowers.
Photo note: Under the awning at a diner. When you're stalking triangles you have to look up and stay on your toes .
August 16, 2004
More triangles
And here is our plastic slide, overturned at dawn, revealing six luminous triangles, or a hexagon. How's that for photosymbolism ?
Can you tell I'm finally reading "The DaVinci Code" ? So far (given my short attention span , I'm only fifty pages along) it's chock full of symbolic images. Just goes to show you that you don't have to be a curator at the Louvre to get in on the "message" business.
Double triangle
In further pursuit of photosymbolsim, one of the images I stalked on my vacation was that of the double triangle . Come to think of it, that's not much of a challenge when you are inundated by sailboats. Oh well. Nonetheless, here is a nifty example.
Welcome back
The tees
feeling glee
to see
me
Photo note: Another architectural color combo. The proprietor did a great job with the shirts and the petunias, I must say.
Suspicious Activity
Here is your assignment, should you chose to accept it. Go to the entry "Bloggish Narcissism" and read the comments.
Am I suppporting a drug deal? They came to the wrong blog. They need one that gets 650 comments a day, where they would be more adequately camoflagued .
Photo note: I was searching for this picture before I went on vacation, thinking I would photosymbolize closing down. Now I can use it for opening up again.
Further commentary: Several years ago, an architect became very interested in my seaside town, and applied for a federal grant to gussy up the local storefronts with paint and molding. He picked the colors. Take my word for it, neither the pharmacist or the grocer would have created this combination.
August 15, 2004
Wild flowers
Queen Anne's Lace
Black-eyed Susan
shot through with
Lavender stalks
Run amok.
quite nicely,
in August
Reentry
Hi there, did you miss me ? This is where I've been - at least for a few minutes everyday on my bike. Not a bad manifestation, if I do say so myself.
I'm back a day early due to Hurricane Charley , who is spoiling the weather and inspiring me to tackle laundry and regroup.
I thought I'd reenter with a couple of panoramas, since I tend to be one of those people who go someplace and take pictures of the fire hydrants , so you can't tell where I've been . This is definitely a sense of place photo. It could be on a postcard , which is the problem with it.
Yet another.
August 04, 2004
Yet another message from the Bardo
Interviewer: I thought you said you were going on vacation .
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Dakota: I know, I know, this has gone a bit beyond a little intermittant reinforcement, hasn't it? I'm compelled to do this when I have an internet connection. I'm anticipating deprivation. I could be going to the beach and riding my bike .
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Interviewer: Perhaps you don't need a vacation after all? Or maybe you should just stop.
Dakota: Okay, I was just waitng for a message from the universe. Here it is -- directly from the parking lot at Target.
Seeing beyond
Another photo from the Bardo. Notice the moth , which looms over the first frane, has significantly diminished in the second. In fact, it is an interesting, somewhat out of focus, point in front of an arched wall with light and shadow, in perspective. There are bougainvillea , complementing the arches, adding interest, beauty and color. Maybe its a metaphor.
A complicated vacuum
Here begins a series of photographs that I took in the Bardo . Guess it's up to me to figure out the messages.
This is, as the title clearly states (A Condoleezza Rice blunt instrument kind of title), a complicated vacuum. It's major green hoses are forming the letter B, for Bardo and Blog.
The message. I spent my life trying to find my way through the tangle to the vacuum. There was lots of complexity and lots of action, but little meaningful understanding of my projections onto reality. Unless or until I can acquire some consciousness, I will be relegated to sorting out wires and tubes, repeating the past instead of creating the future.
If I can appreciate the power of my early experience, honor the forces that created it, stop, and begin to look beyond the fear, I'll be in good shape. I will have reached the vacuum from which I can examine my thoughts with some objectivity, and take in more of the wonders of reality. That is if I don't watch too much Fox TV .
While I was snapping this shot, a little old lady asked me, suspiciously, what I was doing. She could not fathom why I would take a picture of something like this, and refused a peek at my camera screen, when I offered to show her what I saw. She really wasn't interested. I can really understand that.
Lesson: Spending too much time in the Bardo can have a strange effect on your blog.