Pattern

It's a lame phone shot. That's like a meta pattern.  But we all have to practice lowering our standards.

Day 23: Patterns

Patterns within patterns?  Are these patterns information or are they only data?

Pattern

I always look forward to 26 particular days per year.  Although they change every year, here are the 2014 dates:

01/8/2014

01/22/2014

02/05/2014
02/19/2014
03/05/2014
03/19/2014
04/02/2014
04/16/2014
04/30/2014
05/14/2014
05/28/2014
06/11/2014
06/25/2014
07/09/2014
07/23/2014
08/06/2014
08/20/2014
09/03/2014
09/17/2014
10/01/2014
10/15/2014
10/29/2014
11/12/2014
11/26/2014
12/10/2014
12/24/2014

Day 23: Patterns

Patterns

It's ironic that this is Day 23 and the prompt is patterns.  

And, until I started this post I hadn't realized what I was destined to write about.  

The 23rd day is very special to me.  

I was born on the 23rd.  

My wife was also born on the 23rd. 

 We met on the 23rd, were engaged and married on the 23rd. 

If that's not a pattern, I don't know what is...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/3893087819/

Patterns

Patterns

Today's prompt made me think of my mom. As an avid quilter and sewer, she utilizes patterns in many ways: cutting from patterns or templates, mixing fabric patterns, and providing patterns of shapes and colors in her finished pieces.  The photo attached is a portion of one of my favorite quilts that my mom made for me.  I appreciate the geometric skill that went into placing the pieces, the symmetry and the colored patterns of the fabric swatches.

inspirational

Sometimes you see a thing, and you know you have to do something with it. What it is isn't always immediately clear.

My wife was going to throw away this cookie tin, but I pulled it out of the trash can and I've been mulling over what I want to do with it this week. She tried to throw it away again when I wasn't looking, but I got it back.

Tonight I started working on it.

Oh - and I have something for you all - will bring them next week - to see if they are inspirational for you.

Inspirational

Inspirational

A collage of people, places, things, and pieces of art that inspire me.  

Day 22: Inspirational

Inspiration for balance:

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... it has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that gives value to survival.

C.S. Lewis

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/c_s_lewis.html#5xZtOJoeQfTPR71P.99

St. Peter's Question

Due to a bottleneck,  a wide variety of newly deceased all arrived at the pearly gates at the same time.  

They came from all walks of life, from all different periods.  

St. Peter, the gatekeeper, interviewed them all as they arrived.  He asked them one simple question.  

"What one thing do you wish that you had had while still on Earth?  Or what do you wish you had done?"


A carnivorous youth from Brownsville, Texas answered, "Pinata sirloin."

The heartbroken, balding, discredited investment banker said, "A loan in spirit."

A failed off-Broadway actor replied, "Nil aspiration."

The shamed and much beleaguered actor from Southern California yearned for "a porn initials."

The nationalistic mathematician cried out, "National, pi, sir!"

The gregarious networker, who had never once been to Hawa'ii or taken part in its infamous conferences, longed for "a lanai intro sip."

A visionary blacksmith from the Bronze Age had wanted to be "spatial in iron."

The beauty queen who had had a great deal of misfortunes with her crown blowing off at outdoor events had always wished for "tiara loin pins."

The optometrist turned proctologist who had failed to achieve his pioneering yet radical cataract surgery technique, always regretting that he never had an "anal iris point" mechanism.

A rapper from Compton who wished that more people had been able to recognize him when he made hotel reservations, wished that he had "no rap initials."

The Navy SEAL who felt that he got to the party too late had wished that he "ran initial ops."

A pain management-conscious podiatrist wanted "Aspirin to nail" so that maybe, just maybe, he could have prevented the "nail pain riots."

An old Dutch sailor wished that he had had a "sailor pain tin" that could have eased the suffering of his mates.

And a Jolt Cola distribution manager, assigned to Rome, had committed suicide because he could never generate a "Lira nation sip" while still on Earth.


All of these answers are inspirational.  Do you know why?

Day 22: Inspirational

Inspirational Misquotes (or are they?)

1.       There was a fork in the road and I took it.  –Robert Frost

2.      You miss 60% of the shots you don’t take. –Wayne Gretzky

3.      Every strike brings me closer to the next home run. –Babe Ruth

4.      You can do anything you put your mind to. – Benjamin Franklin

5.      Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. –John Lennon

6.      Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for yourself. – JFK

7.      We become obsessed with what we think about. –Earl Nightingale

8.     The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is whenever you get around to it. –Chinese Proverb

9.      A life with too many investments exams is not worth living. –Socrates

10.  Fifty percent of failure is not showing up. –Woody Allen

11.   Anything worth doing is worth overdoing. – Anonymous Army Major

12.  Your time is limited, so don’t waste it with an Android. –Steve Jobs

13.  Winning isn’t everything, but not losing is. –Vince Lombardi

14.  I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. –Stephen Covey

15.   Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. –Pablo Picasso

16.  You can never cross the ocean until you learn to swim. –Christopher Columbus

17.   Jump seven times and land six. –Japanese Proverb

18.  When I let go of what I am, I fall. –Lao Tzu

19.  It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for you, that will make them successful servants.  –Ann Landers

20. If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them, and half as much money. –Abigail Van Buren

21.  Education is cheap.  Stupidity is expensive. –Sir Claus Moser

22. The most important person you’ll talk to all day is your wife. –Zig Ziglar

something inspiring

My daughter Elena put this on the fridge during her last visit.  I see this picture of a house and I am inspired to keep studying so I can finish the program, get out of my apartment and get back into a house with my family.  

Day 21: Faceless

Mr Stevens, the protagonist of The Remains of the Day is faceless in this picture.  Part of the symbolism is that he is blind and disconnected from most of what happens around him.  In effect he has no face but his "dignity" with which he does his job.  His own face having long since been lost.

Faceless Mona Lisa

Faceless Mona Lisa

I wamted to play off of themes from How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci.  I know Donnie mentioned one day during class how he tried to look at other parts of the famous painting and noticed the scenery.  I wanted to use the subtraction method to see if the face of Mona Lisa was removed, if you could still appreciate the painting and the feelings it generally envokes.  Usually when you think of Mona Lisa, you think of the face and the expression.  When it is removed, I noticed the folds in the fabric, the folding of her hands, and the road in the background. 

Faceless

The kid volunteered to help me with my post today.

I tried to think of how I could incorporate "Faceless" with her.

Then I thought of this creepy scene from Twilight Zone: The Movie, and took it to the next level.

I don't have photoshop, so it's the MS Paint version.

faceless

My daughter has off-campus privileges this year, so she usually comes home and eats lunch and talks with her mom. The cat has decided that this is dedicated lap time for him. Since he's not all that much of a lap cat, it's a bit odd that he gets up on her lap almost every day.

Day 21: Faceless

Faceless

The deadline approaches.

A faceless reaper comes

He wants more, he takes more.

But he is merely doing his job,

Faceless and emotionless.

A man collecting a paycheck,

By taking part of yours.

Forms and rules are his life.

Does he feel sorry for you?

Do you feel sorry for him?

Either way, he comes to call.

The tax man comes on April 15^th.

Sic 'em, Bears!

Faceless

 I immediately thought of this painting when I saw todays prompt. 

The original below is a 1964 painting by Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte titled 

"The Son of Man"

what's in my bag

So you all know I'm on a wellness kick. As of today, I've lost 24 pounds since Jan 2. I had to run out and do some grocery shopping this evening. This is what was in my bag. It's not that I didn't have this stuff before in my bag, it's that I also had a lot of bad stuff alongside the good stuff. The bad stuff has been reduced in proportion. Small steps towards a better future.

I'm co-blogging about this process here: http://morethan100.blogspot.com/

in case you are interested.

In my bag

I like my bag better than your bag!

In My Bag

In My Bag

In my bag I have many books.  I took photographs of two bags, because I generally bring two to school with me.  I like to be prepared. 

Day 20: In my bag

My Bag

This semester has made my bag heavier than ever.

Today, my bag was full of goodness: 

Books for all sorts of great classes

My writing utensils 

(ironically I only really use the one in my jacket)

The computer that I couldn't live without this year.

What if this bag had a 5-point harness?

What fun I could have spelunking or window washing!

In Your Bag

My daily carry:
Timbuk2 waterproof messenger bag
notebooks
current book
glasses
bamboo spork
Lamy rollerball
various pens
little knife/ (can't find my camp knife!)
Pelican case for audio stuff
Altoids tin headphone amp. (JDS Labs cMoy BB)
iPhone
Line out dock to bypass iPhone amp (it matters)
Etymotic IEMs with custom molds (35-42 dB of sound isolation- same difference as quiet bedroom at night vs. a vacuum cleaner one meter away)
a snack
access card
high-viz vest for biking
wallet
keys

Her Bag is My Bag

So the theme was your bag.  I couldn't think of anything outright cool to come up with using my bags.

But, given the logic that what's mine is hers and hers is mine ... I shot this photo of my wife's bag of newly arrived, dyed and carded batts.

Her soon to be spun yarn reminds me of those old red, white, and blue icicle pops as a kid, and of this painting by Ernest Trova, titled "Save Our Planet, Save Our People."

Something you want

Purple oatmeal. Part of my ongoing health kick. The blueberries make it purple. I was really hungry tonight and this is what I realized I wanted.

Something you want

Wishful thinking!

Something you Want

Something you Want

I have a big sweet tooth, so I find that I want cupcakes fairly often.  I tried to utilize the resources in my apartment to define something that I wanted, implementing "Inside the Box" recommendations.

Something You Want

Days racing faster
life is but a fleeting joy
please make time slow down

Day 19: Something you want

Day 19: Something You Want

...just five more minutes.

Who am I podcast

Who am I? Radiolab podcast. 
http://www.radiolab.org/story/91496-who-am-i/

Something to think about as we complete our projects.  If you have never heard of Radiolab I highly recommend it

Your Shoes

The mysterious case of the missing boot.

Where did it go?

Day 18 Your Shoes

These are my favorite shoes.  People ask where I got them all the time- maybe they want a pair.  I want another pair.  These are the best.  The are soooo very comfortable.  But, I got them at a street market in Taipei and even though I sent my sister-in-law back there to find another pair, she never found them.  I looked online and found nothing.  They are starting to wear through on the bottom, but I still love them.  These are my favorite shoes.

Your Shoes

Your Shoes

When I saw today's prompt, I thought about "walking a mile in your shoes."  I try to gain a sense of understanding for what other people are going through and think that using this mantra helps me to gain this understanding. 

Day 18: Your shoes

My Shoes...

...and my hat

Your Shoes

These are not my shoes, well I paid for them so kind of.... but anyway these are my childrens shoes.  I was missing my family today when I read the prompt for today and decided to do something with that.  I miss my wife too, but taking pictures of womens shoes might send the wrong message :)

Goodnight Technology

In the great tech room

There was a telephone

and a red vacuum

and a picture of-

a telescope seeing the moon

and there were three different tones from three different phones

and ten LEDs

and a set of car keys

and a washing machine

and an E magazine

and an electric razor

and a new coffee maker

and a ticking alarm clock

shaped like Picard’s phasor

Goodnight room

Goodnight moon

Goodnight telescope seeing the moon

Goodnight light

And red vacuum

Goodnight tones

Goodnight phones

Goodnight LED’s

And goodnight car keys

Goodnight dryer

And humidifier

Goodnight washing machine

And E magazine

Goodnight shaver

And electric razor

Goodnight white-noise

Goodnight coffee maker

And goodnight to the alarm clock shaped like Picard’s phasor

Goodnight screens

Goodnight AC air

Goodnight noises everywhere
(w/ regard to Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon)