Creepy Parrot Lamp ....and other Christmas Stuff

It makes much more sense, to live in the present tense -PJ

It's almost Christmas!!! It's amazing how much Christianity has fashioned itself with this time of year. I guess I should start stating this another way. We've passed winter solstice!!!! Longer days, more sunshine, happier people (some) and new beginings.

Hope - an all encompassing word for the holiday season. A time when most surround themselves with loved ones and are greatful for all we have. Good will towards others, smiles abound, and that lightness that all of us have as children returns, even if for a short moment, or memory. I love the holidays.

HAppy Holidays and best wishes for the coming new year.

Love,

Hunter

Oh yea that's right - even the new frame is Christmas-y

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Hell yea thats a threaded 1 inch fork on a cross check

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My Edumacation......

 I believe it was Bostonian John Adams who said :

There are two types of education..... one should teach us how to make a living. And the other how to live.

Logical and right, yet I sometimes think we lose focus of both of these facets of education. I recently had a chance to go meet up with a good friend residing in the city of Boston I  took a week to see what the place is all about and visit with someone with whom I've managed to build a very special friendship. Good talks were had, wonderful people met, and amazing food eaten so no complaints.

Boston is home to scholarly giants Harvard and MIT. The two campuses are right next to one another and across the river from another large educational center Boston University. I love being around educational facilities like these- they instill in me the feeling of endless possibilities - so much knowledge and so many knowledgeable people - and usually a young feel -if not in body at least in spirit. My friend is acctually attending one of these prestegious institutes working on her PhD * Harvard- Immunology. As such I was permitted a tour of incredible reasearch facilities and got to talk about what it is to be a part of these programs and departments.

Intense is the first word that comes to mind. Very intense. It seems as though many that get into programs here have managed to combine the how to make a living with how they live to a degree that seems beyond my comprehension. Life is devoted to study, practice and research. It wouldn't be my choice of lifestyle (obviously I'm not in the program) but it seems a nobel persuit and kudos to those willing to tread such a path. I'm not sure I would cut it. Loads of very knowlegeable people, all very good at playing the academic game.

I find my interests a bit broader. Not dumb I think, but not as focused or as good at said game. While not as speciallized or specific I think there is something to be said for being multifaceted. Maybe i'm just trying to make excuses though, for not being at that level.....meh.... i think not.

All in all I really enjoyed Boston. Youthful energy in an older style american metropolis. Fredrick Olmstead- hailed as the first american landscape architect designed the city with numerous green swaths and centralized parks. His sons were responsible for much of the design of green space in the Pacific Northwest ie: Seattle. The style seemed familiar.

The green space together with the myriad of historic monuments and buildings and the scholarly giants give the city a great feel. The north eastern weather with full seasons (including a real winter with snow!) and coastal local also endeared the city to me. I'm sure it being the Holiday season also helped.

Uncertainty

“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.  Delicious Ambiguity.”

I've been thinking a lot about where this adventure of life has taken me recently . We can strive and work and want so bad for something only to be set off in another direction. Sometimes it's confusing sometimes it can be amazing and sometimes it just hurts. There is something to be said for making the most of whatever circumstances you are in and appreciating the little things and good people along the way.

Talking to an old friend I was reminded of a talk we had some 12 years ago  about what we would like to do in our lives and where we wanted to end up. I didn't remember but at the time I had said that a big goal for me was to live in Europe, and not the standard 4 week trip, or semester abroard  but accutally live there. This friend was struck that I accutally made it happen. I wasn't so sure . It wasn't so much a conscious decision or thing I was really driven to do...but maybe that conversation had more of an impact than I thought. Odd to think about wheather or not my travels would have happened without that conversation. The strength of saying something out loud to someone else.


This Swiss Dude does some awesome work with paint and motion. Maybe this would be a project to look into.

Fabian Oenefer - Black Hole



Also I was reading about photography with - highlighter, cut flowers, and blacklight. It can create an actual Avatar (the movie) plant glowing effect.


Ha!! So which are you?




A nice to end a 6 mile hike.

 Island full moon- amazing light

 Sunset- From top of the mountain

Climbing to the sun

 Florida pasture.

Slàinte

'Merica

Cowboy hats, tight jeans, plaid shirts, manure, leather boots, hootin and hollerin - This was what I found at the Citrus County Rodeo.

Add to this twangy guitar songs about new loves, broken hearts, tractors, pick-up trucks, field,  creeks and farming and you've just been introduced to a whole subculture of americana -Country

I never realized what an over the top nation the states are when it come to National pride. Living in Spain has grown said appreciation. Americans are nuts about our country. Rightly so in some regards maybe not so much in others. I mean I like to think I appreciate much of what comes from growing up in the states but man.....I've got nothing when compaired to the Citrus County Rodeo.

There was special emphasis placed on the Military there. 15 minutes of "Honoring" the armed forces while calling the US the best-est and free-est thing ever. I mean it is a rodeo so there were some....shall we say conservativly minded people but wow. I guess it was catering to it's clientel.

It was an eye opening experience..... lets leave it at that.
I've been working through some more Island Photos too so I'll work those in somehow too.

There and back again - A lucky Alaskan's adventure to the Caribbean

I've mentioned earlier in this blog......such a fun word to say blog blog blog blog blog....must look up the origin.........As I was saying I mentioned ealier in this blog that along this epic journey of life I have had some amazing opportunities to connect and befriend some incredible people. One of my oldest friends happens to live on a little island in tropical paradise. I've been invited numerous times to come visit and acctually made I promise to. I recently fulfilled this promise and wow....just wow. This island was more than I could have ever believed or expected. 

For those of you curious blog was derived from the term "web log" -learn something new every day

I'm not going to go on and on about this experience but I will let you have some highlights:

Drinking amazing, highly alchoholic fresh picked banana cocktails after buying a pig a beer in the jungle.

On a paddle board and being told - " yea lets not go out too far, it's feeding time"

EPIC BEACHES and tidal pools .

Serendipitously puchased a bike for ridiculously cheap on ebay only to find I wouldn't have to pay shipping because the guy lived where I was going!!

Incredible Thai, Japanese, and Frech Cuisine

Wonderful food, drinks, and friends.

Iguanas!!

Slainte

Life in Black and White

I started to shoot photography in High School. I was dating a gal who loved it and was pretty good at classic black and white photography. I was working in an advanced ceramics class. She wanted to learn how to throw a pot on the wheel and I wanted to learn how to take pictures. It worked out so well that the next quarter of school we each took the corresponding classes.

As it turned out my father had a nice camera, which worked out perfect for the class. The camera was an old Olympus OM1. 

The thing was beautiful, and even today strikes me as what a camera should look like. My pops wanted to capture Alaska at its finest and did manage to get some good shots with it, but never got into the entire process. He always bought his own film and had his pictures processed at a store. I liked the complexity.

Knowing next to nothing about photography, I was amazed by the entire process. My Instructor Mr. Schnider built a great course. We started by learning the basics of optics – how an image is transferred, what things react to provide an image ect… The first pictures we shot were through a simple pin-hole camera that we built!!!

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/education/lessonPlans/pinholeCamera/pinholeCanBox.shtml

We spent a week working with those and getting use to developing the exposed photo paper.  We then learned how to process film – loading it, and unloading in complete darkness and what chemicals and concentrations to use to process film. –this while exploring how to shoot. We were given assignment each week of pictures to build or methods to process and took refresher quizzes over the parts and functions of the cameras. The second semester dealt with processing the film to the actual photo- using different enlargers, a variety of light filters and varied exposure time.  Science and art.  All in the attempt of creating that perfect shot.

I loved learning those basics- I really makes me appreciate the technology behind these new DSLR cameras.  It’s amazing and difficult to classically produce quality images, even in black and white! I was allowed to try the color darkroom a time or two and that was even more challenging.

While it is convenient, faster, and probably much more ecologically friendly with this Digital material I do miss classic developing-the process, the attention to detail, the time taken for each step. Maybe I’m just nostalgic. Still I feel i'm a bit partial to a quality hand processed B+W print.

More shots.....babbling to come later