Into The Mystic

"... hark, now hear the sailors cry, 

smell the sea, and feel the sky

let your soul and spirit fly,

into the mystic..."

~Van Morrison

"Into The Mystic"

I took this photo off the Marin County coast, near the Headlands, back in February. It had been a good day with the camera, but the day was coming to an end. I was tired from the workout of capturing the beauty around me, saved forever in a tiny SD card. Knowing I can put that card in my computer, and feel once again the first time I saw a scene, makes me amazingly happy! On this day, it was one mystical, magical moment after another. The sea became silver, and it looked like little diamonds shimmering. The color scene that was in front of me a few minutes began to look gray. It gives the area around it a timelessness. I love when the sun is shining, and I can still capture what appears to be a black and white photo. For me, it's a little bit of Heaven. It always reminds me that seeing things in color isn't always the way you will see them, but it's okay to be black and white or gray under the right circumstances.

Mood: Inspired

~Me :)

Art About Town: San Francisco... "Always Hope."

"Be still, sad heart! And cease repining;

Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;

Thy fate is the common fate of all,

Into each life some rain must fall"

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Complete Works Of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Okay, still a little tender, but doing better... just not enough to get out with the camera. Someone was a bad kitty (cough...DYLAN) and meowed LOUDLY after Alan left for work this morning, which made my attempt at sleeping nearly impossible. Good LORD that cat hates to see Alan leave for work! The naughty kitty finally came to his sense around 8:30 AM. By then I was exhausted... again... so I caught a couple more hours sleep before baby cat Joey woke me so I could give him a big bowl of crunchy cereal for cats, also know as, Purina Cat Chow Indoor Formula.

So, it was a day of cleaning, feeling sad, and tip-toeing through my archives. In an effort to help myself out of the funk I have been in, I have been revisiting some of my favorite photography subjects from years past. A big help in times like this are the photos I have done of Bay Area public art exhibits. One of my very favorite being the, San Francisco General Hospital, Hearts In San Francisco project!

Each year since 2004, the hospital puts out a call to local artists to design different themed hearts, which are then put on display throughout San Francisco. The hearts are eventually auctioned off, with the proceeds going to fund programs at at the hospital. It is their mission to... "... provide life-saving care to anyone in need, regardless of ability to pay." What public art project could be more life affirming and heart warming than that?

Here are two of my very favorite...

"I Left My Heart And Shoes In San Francisco"

2007

"America's Greatest City By The Bay"

2004

Designed By Tony Bennett

The call for artists to submit their heart designs for 2015 closed on August 1st, 2014, and the designs that are chosen will go on display throughout the city next February, just in time for Valentine's Day, and American Heart month! Excellent... I am already looking forward to putting on a lovely red outfit, to help promote Women's Heart Awareness, grabbing my hubby Alan and taking him for a heart friendly mean, before we go in search of the Hearts Of San Francisco!

It's A Plan!

Mood: Encouraged! Inspired! And Getting Better All The Time!

 "Always Hope"

~Me :)

To visit the official website, and see the galleries from past years click here.

It Was A Walk In The Park...

"A lone walker is both present and detached, more than an audience but less than a participant. Walking assuages or legitimizes this alienation."

~ Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History Of Walking

Is it really only Thursday? It's been a very long week so far, oh it was the usual number of days, but it has had a god-awful... I don't know... darkness to it. There is nothing more depressing than a beautiful summer day that carries the weight of grief as a companion. Yes, I took Robin William's death hard, I am, in truth, devastated. I have some very personal reasons for that, and as such I will probably never share why, but believe me the grief I feel right now is deep, but I will be okay because I know, this to shall pass! Cold? Perhaps! True nonetheless. The loss itself, however, will haunt everyone who loved him forever. That's what suicide does.

Forgive me, I had no intention of getting this into things. I guess I am just sharing about how dark I feel at the moment. It's the same darkness I felt a few months back when our friend "J" took his own life, in the middle of a cool, dark, mid-spring night. No sign was shown by him that day, it was business as usual, and yet within a few short hours he was gone. Just gone. And the rest of us were left with little information about why he made that decision. I have come to the conclusion that truth is... it was none of our business! So, when that fact finally sinks in, it both simultaneously heals you, and drives a stake through your heart. 

Nice!

Thanks friend!

What choice do I have now? The same I had a few months ago. None. So yesterday, I decided to take Alan's advice, and grab a cold drink at Starbucks, and head out with the camera! Alan reminded me that when I grieve, I tend to see things I photograph differently. My perspective is, or seems to be, finer tuned. He reminded me that I took some of my best photographs after the death of my friend Pam, and again after the death of my Elvis. I don't know if I took any photos yesterday that would qualify as "some of my best" but I made the effort. And what did I find through the tainted eyes of grief? Autumn is beginning to kick summer out on it's treacherous ass! 

 "But then fall comes, kicking summer out on it's treacherous ass as it does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he had done since last he saw you."

~Stephen King

I am glad I made the effort. At first it didn't sound like a good idea. I was tired, and really just wanted to nap, but moving forward has to start somewhere, right? Starting at the end of summer seems fitting somehow. The old wound for my friend, and the new one for Robin Williams are two separate spaces that need time, space, and in the end, letting go of. 

"The scariest moment is always just before you start."

~Stephen King

Mood: Quiet But Okay

~Me

Goodnight, Lauren Bacall

 

"You can't start worrying about what's going to happen. You get spastic enough worrying about what's happening now."

~Lauren Bacall

Rest In Peace Beautiful One!

~Me 

Oh Captain, My Captain...

I will miss you! 

God is a tough audience, but I know you will do your best!

Rest In Peace

~Me

One Photo, Two Versions...

 

"Weeds are plants too, once you get to know them."

~A.A. Milne

A little over 10 years ago, I spotted this in a yard in Berkeley. I was just out doing errands, and looking for a parking place. The parking sucks in Berkeley, but sometimes I am thankful for that irritation because you can happen upon the most interesting things on your travels around town, and your quests for a parking place.

I don't know why, but I LOVE this planter/yard ornament! The first time around the block I saw it, and it just struck a cord. The second time around the block, I got a better look, and kinda felt a weird draw to it! The third time around, I gave up, parked the car, and got my camera out. I tried to be discreet, and not make the homeowner nervous, but I knew I couldn't go home that day, without photographing it! 

I am still not sure why I find it so intriguing, but I do!

I just do!

Version #2

 What do you think?

In color or Sepia?

Mood: Creative

~Me :)

Photography In Black And White

 

"The Friendship Embrace"

March 21st, 2007

San Francisco, California

"When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls."

~Ted Grant

I took this photo back in March of 2007. I haven't posted it before because, as a rule, I feel like it would be improper to steal one's moments. I do take the pictures, obviously, but usually it is for my own education about doing spontaneous photography. When I do a photo like this one, nine out of ten times I am a passenger in a car, and an opportunity will present itself. Like this one did! I have always liked this picture, because the gentleman in the photo knew I was taking the photo, and seemed quite okay with it... flattered almost!

But I never posted it until today.

I think it deserves to be seen.

Mood: Creative

~Me :)