http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/06/prisoners-at-tamms-supermax-prison-get-invited-to-request-a-photo-of-anything-in-the-world.html

What would yours be? 1 week ago

http://www.thenation.com/blog/171520/she-who-dies-most-likes-wins3 weeks ago

“The Disapproval Matrix,” Ann Friedman’s graphic representation, which makes me smile—but even better, makes me think!

http://annfriedman.com/post/49152967734/in-my-ongoing-quest-for-the-perfect-framework-for

(All rights reserved by the author.) 3 weeks ago

Maya Lin’s current/ongoing work-in-progress:

http://whatismissing.net

Truly amazing (in both good & bad ways).

For some additional/background information, see:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pr/Maya_Lin_pr.html1 month ago

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2012/07/if-you-were-x-ray-entire-office-building-it-would-look-something/2581/

A cool way to look at (think about) the world. smile2 months ago

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/arts/design/the-last-supper-by-julie-green-at-arts-center-in-oregon.html3 months ago

on American adolescence &, in particular, our high schools as a place of (dys)socialization:

http://nymag.com/news/features/high-school-2013-1/3 months ago

ONE TODAY

“One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,
Peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces
Of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth
Across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.
One light waking up rooftops, under each one a story
Told by our silent gestures, moving across windows.

My face, your face, millions of faces in morning’s mirrors:
Each one yawning to life, crescendoing into our day.
The pencil-yellow school buses; the rhythm of traffic lights;
Fruit stands: apples, limes, and oranges arrayed like rainbows
Begging our praise. Silver trucks, heavy with oil or paper,
Bricks or milk, teeming over highways alongside us:

On our way to clean tables, read ledgers, or save lives; to teach geometry,
Or ring up groceries as my mother did for twenty years, so I could write this poem
For all of us today. All of us: as vital as the one light we move through,
The same light on blackboards with lessons for the day:
Equations to solve, history to question, or atoms imagined;
The “I have a dream” we all keep dreaming;

Or the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won’t explain
The empty desks of twenty children marked absent
Today and forever. Many prayers, but one light:
Breathing color into stained glass windows, life into the faces of bronze statues,
Warmth onto the steps of our museums and park benches,
As mothers watch children slide into the day.

One ground: our ground, rooting us to every stalk of corn,
Every head of wheat, sown by sweat and hands;
Hands gleaning coal or planting windmills in deserts and hilltops
That keep us warm; hands digging trenches, routing pipes and cables;
Hands as worn as my father’s cutting sugarcane
So my brother and I could have books and shoes.

The dust of farms and deserts, cities and plains,
Mingled by one wind—our breath. Breathe: hear it
Through the day’s gorgeous din of honking cabs;
Buses launching down avenues; the symphony
Of footsteps, guitars, and screeching subways;
The unexpected songbird on your clothesline.

Hear: squeaky playground swings, trains whistling, or whispers across cafe tables.
Hear: the doors we open each day for each other, saying:
Hello, shalom, buon giorno, howdy, namaste;
Or buenos días in the language my mother taught me—
In every language spoken into one wind: carrying our lives
Without prejudice, as these words break from my lips.

One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed their majesty
And the Mississippi and Colorado worked their way to the sea.
Thank the work of our hands: weaving steel into bridges; finishing
One more report for the boss on time; stitching another wound or uniform;
The first brush stroke on a portrait, or the last floor on the Freedom Tower
Jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.

One sky: toward which we sometimes lift our eyes
Tired from work; some days guessing at the weather
Of our lives; some days giving thanks for a love
That loves you back; sometimes praising a mother
Who knew how to give, or forgiving a father
Who couldn’t give what you wanted.

We head home: through the gloss of rain or weight of snow
Or the plum blush of dusk, but always, always home;
Always under one sky: our sky. And always one moon,
Like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop and every window
Of one country, all of us facing the stars. Hope: a new constellation
Waiting for us to map it, waiting for us to name it—together.”

BY RICHARD BLANCO

[my transcription from the URLhttp://video.msnbc.msn.com/nbc-news/50536318/#50535503] 4 months ago

Clever idea—

http://ablogthat.sarahmak.es/?p=8642601439

—& interesting (albeit US-centric) information. 4 months ago

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/archive/2013/01/fauna-the-beautiful-and-hilarious-mating-dances-of-birds-of-paradise/266842/

Amazing natural beauty! 4 months ago

http://live.wsj.com/video/the-flautist/72DBF425-FF73-4C2D-9536-4911D9471CC4.html?mod=WSJ_Mag_Culture_VideoModule_1#!72DBF425-FF73-4C2D-9536-4911D9471CC4

http://live.wsj.com/video/mephistopheles/EF29E925-ED03-4B76-970A-D6ABEF04BF17.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_VideoModule_2#!EF29E925-ED03-4B76-970A-D6ABEF04BF17

http://live.wsj.com/video/the-clown-magician/93177B26-9BC0-4CCD-9B22-5F82E791C200.html#!93177B26-9BC0-4CCD-9B22-5F82E791C200

wow! So old, so cool…. smile6 months ago

to make you smile…. grin

http://www.retronaut.com/2012/11/delivering-a-dinosaur-to-the-boston-museum-of-science/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=delivering-a-dinosaur-to-the-boston-museum-of-science6 months ago

by how moved I felt when watching this…perhaps because I’m a “child of the Space Age”?

See http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/time-lapse-endeavour-final-journey/ with commentary or http://vimeo.com/51621640 for the original posting. 6 months ago

from that same site (“Behold”):

http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2012/10/15/jay_mark_johnson_s_very_unusual_camera_emphasizes_time_over_space.html7 months ago

& a bit disorienting….

http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2012/10/04/hyper_photos_jean_fran_ois_rauzier_attempts_to_create_the_most_detailed_images_in_the_world_.html

but worth a look (or three)! 7 months ago

I love the creativity & sense of humor at work here:

http://imgur.com/a/lUWTG#Jl086

What’s your favorite? I think mine might be “seats reserved for snake charmers”! LOL7 months ago

Last week I got these terrific seedpods at the flower folks’ marketstall—& this week I learned a bit more about the plant. It is one of the milkweed family, a Gomphocarpus (formerly Asclepius) fruticosus or physocarpus, most likely the cultivar “Oscar.” Other names for this plant family – beloved of butterflies & famous for its seedpods – include swan plant, balloon plant, and cotton bush.

Apologies for the poor quality of the image: this photo made with a cellphone.7 months ago

smile

http://photos.msn.com/slideshow/photo/must-see-photos/23aelnx6#587 months ago

From: http://www.blogthings.com/whatpartofnewyorkareyouquiz

You are the New York City Public Library

You are a whimsical and idiosyncratic person. You embrace your quirks—they make you who you are.

You are open-minded and a freethinker. You would like to reform and change things.

You are very profound. You are an intense and deep thinker.

You are wise and thoughtful. You are very philosophical about life. 8 months ago

then this – http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/16/view/23445/yuri-suzuki-london-underground-circuit-map-radio.html – will likely be of interest. smile8 months ago

How wonderful! smile

http://thisiscentralstation.com/featured/mysterious-paper-sculptures/

I hope you’ll enjoy this as much as I have! 8 months ago

I find her installation projects very interesting….

http://neleazevedo.com.br/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nele_Azevedo

smile8 months ago

“Starry Night – Vincent Van Dominogh”

http://now.msn.com/living/0624-starry-night-dominoes.aspx

There’s a “payoff” at 1:30 (& a smaller one at 1:50).

Also – an earlier effort – “Domono Lisa” (complete with watching cat)!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6mLPURj3_k&feature=youtu.be

“Payoffs” at 0:42 and 3:40 (briefer & longer versions, with cat!).

smile11 months ago

has reached 10 million registry members! smile

When I joined the registry in 1987, I was one of 10,000 members; today I’m part of a community 10 million strong.

“Reaching 10 million potential donors is more than a milestone. Each member represents hope to the thousands of patients who search our registry every year,” said Jeffrey W. Chell, M.D., chief executive officer of the National Marrow Donor Program®. “Words cannot express how grateful we are to our remarkable donors. There is nothing more powerful than giving the gift of life. Be The Match Registry® is the largest and most diverse listing of potential marrow donors and cord blood units in the world.”

www.marrow.org11 months ago

http://www.maclife.com/article/reviews/leonardo_da_vinci_anatomy_review

smile11 months ago

Perhaps of interest?

Some theories on why we read & how reading changes us….

http://articles.boston.com/2012-04-29/ideas/31417849_1_fiction-morality-happy-endings12 months ago

As a friend of mine said, when forwarding it to me, this clip:

“illustrates what can be done using computer graphics and computer-generated images.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/34678075?title=0&

I think this has a very serious negative impact on the value of images, both still and motion picture, as reliable historical records.

How will future generations know what is real and what has been fabricated?”

Food for thought! 13 months ago

I’ll be interested to see this art installation at LACMA, the next time I’m in the region; even just the drawing gives a sense of its power.

http://zev.lacounty.gov/news/arts-culture/lacma-rock-could-finally-roll-next-week

I think it would’ve been fun to be one of the crowds who celebrated the passing of “The Rock.”

smile13 months ago

...scent? hyacinth (at least in Springtime)
...city? Venice (& Paris & Vienna & London & Strasbourg & ...)
...non-English language?Deutsch (the one I’m most “capable” in)
...female name? impossible to say…
...male name? impossible to say…
...fruit? passionfruit (no doubt!)
...vegetable? asparagus (hands down!)
...marmalade? lemon curd (or ginger or grapefruit or …)
...dessert?tiramisu (a toss-up with creme brulee)
...author? Margaret Atwood (& two dozen others)
...singer? Leonard Cohen (& two dozen others)
...animal? felines of every persuasion
...accent on English? Irish 14 months ago

Amazing to see what technology can do….

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57376945-1/interactive-canvas-lets-viewers-stir-van-goghs-starry-night/

Even more amazing, of course, the mind of the artist who came up with it originally! smile15 months ago