Wednesday, March 11, 2009
my new website & blog
If anyone still comes to this long-out-of-date blog, I can tell you where to find me now. Two places:
1) My brand new photography website at
http://www.patricialaydorsey.com
2) My brand new photography-related blog at
http://patricialaydorsey.blogspot.com
1) My brand new photography website at
http://www.patricialaydorsey.com
2) My brand new photography-related blog at
http://patricialaydorsey.blogspot.com
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
January 2008 photo blog
I invite you to join me over at pbase.com where I now keep my daily photo blog. The URL is
http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker/photoaday1_08
To see all my photo galleries simply click on
http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker
See you there!
http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker/photoaday1_08
To see all my photo galleries simply click on
http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker
See you there!
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Saying it like it is...finally!
To start this New Year, I'd like to reprint the lead editorial in The New York Times, America's most important newspaper. It was their summation of the year as it came to its end.
December 31, 2007
EDITORIAL
Looking at America
There are too many moments these days when we cannot recognize our country. Sunday was one of them, as we read the account in The Times of how men in some of the most trusted posts in the nation plotted to cover up the torture of prisoners by Central Intelligence Agency interrogators by destroying videotapes of their sickening behavior. It was impossible to see the founding principles of the greatest democracy in the contempt these men and their bosses showed for the Constitution, the rule of law and human decency.
It was not the first time in recent years we’ve felt this horror, this sorrowful sense of estrangement, not nearly. This sort of lawless behavior has become standard practice since Sept. 11, 2001.
The country and much of the world was rightly and profoundly frightened by the single-minded hatred and ingenuity displayed by this new enemy. But there is no excuse for how President Bush and his advisers panicked--how they forgot that it is their responsibility to protect American lives and American ideals, that there really is no safety for Americans or their country when those ideals are sacrificed.
Out of panic and ideology, President Bush squandered America's position of moral and political leadership, swept aside international institutions and treaties, sullied America's global image, and trampled on the constitutional pillars that have supported our democracy through the most terrifying and challenging times. These policies have fed the world’s anger and alienation and have not made any of us safer.
In the years since 9/11, we have seen American soldiers abuse, sexually humiliate, torment and murder prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq. A few have been punished, but their leaders have never been called to account. We have seen mercenaries gun down Iraqi civilians with no fear of prosecution. We have seen the president, sworn to defend the Constitution, turn his powers on his own citizens, authorizing the intelligence agencies to spy on Americans, wiretapping phones and intercepting international e-mail messages without a warrant.
We have read accounts of how the government's top lawyers huddled in secret after the attacks in New York and Washington and plotted ways to circumvent the Geneva Conventions--and both American and international law--to hold anyone the president chose indefinitely without charges or judicial review.
Those same lawyers then twisted other laws beyond recognition to allow Mr. Bush to turn intelligence agents into torturers, to force doctors to abdicate their professional oaths and responsibilities to prepare prisoners for abuse, and then to monitor the torment to make sure it didn't go just a bit too far and actually kill them.
The White House used the fear of terrorism and the sense of national unity to ram laws through Congress that gave law-enforcement agencies far more power than they truly needed to respond to the threat--and at the same time fulfilled the imperial fantasies of Vice President Dick Cheney and others determined to use the tragedy of 9/11 to arrogate as much power as they could.
Hundreds of men, swept up on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, were thrown into a prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, so that the White House could claim they were beyond the reach of American laws. Prisoners are held there with no hope of real justice, only the chance to face a kangaroo court where evidence and the names of their accusers are kept secret, and where they are not permitted to talk about the abuse they have suffered at the hands of American jailers.
In other foreign lands, the C.I.A. set up secret jails where "high-value detainees" were subjected to ever more barbaric acts, including simulated drowning. These crimes were videotaped, so that "experts" could watch them, and then the videotapes were destroyed, after consultation with the White House, in the hope that Americans would never know.
The C.I.A. contracted out its inhumanity to nations with no respect for life or law, sending prisoners--some of them innocents kidnapped on street corners and in airports--to be tortured into making false confessions, or until it was clear they had nothing to say and so were let go without any apology or hope of redress.
These are not the only shocking abuses of President Bush's two terms in office, made in the name of fighting terrorism. There is much more--so much that the next president will have a full agenda simply discovering all the wrongs that have been done and then righting them.
We can only hope that this time, unlike 2004, American voters will have the wisdom to grant the awesome powers of the presidency to someone who has the integrity, principle and decency to use them honorably. Then when we look in the mirror as a nation, we will see, once again, the reflection of the United States of America.
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/opinion/31mon1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print
December 31, 2007
EDITORIAL
Looking at America
There are too many moments these days when we cannot recognize our country. Sunday was one of them, as we read the account in The Times of how men in some of the most trusted posts in the nation plotted to cover up the torture of prisoners by Central Intelligence Agency interrogators by destroying videotapes of their sickening behavior. It was impossible to see the founding principles of the greatest democracy in the contempt these men and their bosses showed for the Constitution, the rule of law and human decency.
It was not the first time in recent years we’ve felt this horror, this sorrowful sense of estrangement, not nearly. This sort of lawless behavior has become standard practice since Sept. 11, 2001.
The country and much of the world was rightly and profoundly frightened by the single-minded hatred and ingenuity displayed by this new enemy. But there is no excuse for how President Bush and his advisers panicked--how they forgot that it is their responsibility to protect American lives and American ideals, that there really is no safety for Americans or their country when those ideals are sacrificed.
Out of panic and ideology, President Bush squandered America's position of moral and political leadership, swept aside international institutions and treaties, sullied America's global image, and trampled on the constitutional pillars that have supported our democracy through the most terrifying and challenging times. These policies have fed the world’s anger and alienation and have not made any of us safer.
In the years since 9/11, we have seen American soldiers abuse, sexually humiliate, torment and murder prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq. A few have been punished, but their leaders have never been called to account. We have seen mercenaries gun down Iraqi civilians with no fear of prosecution. We have seen the president, sworn to defend the Constitution, turn his powers on his own citizens, authorizing the intelligence agencies to spy on Americans, wiretapping phones and intercepting international e-mail messages without a warrant.
We have read accounts of how the government's top lawyers huddled in secret after the attacks in New York and Washington and plotted ways to circumvent the Geneva Conventions--and both American and international law--to hold anyone the president chose indefinitely without charges or judicial review.
Those same lawyers then twisted other laws beyond recognition to allow Mr. Bush to turn intelligence agents into torturers, to force doctors to abdicate their professional oaths and responsibilities to prepare prisoners for abuse, and then to monitor the torment to make sure it didn't go just a bit too far and actually kill them.
The White House used the fear of terrorism and the sense of national unity to ram laws through Congress that gave law-enforcement agencies far more power than they truly needed to respond to the threat--and at the same time fulfilled the imperial fantasies of Vice President Dick Cheney and others determined to use the tragedy of 9/11 to arrogate as much power as they could.
Hundreds of men, swept up on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, were thrown into a prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, so that the White House could claim they were beyond the reach of American laws. Prisoners are held there with no hope of real justice, only the chance to face a kangaroo court where evidence and the names of their accusers are kept secret, and where they are not permitted to talk about the abuse they have suffered at the hands of American jailers.
In other foreign lands, the C.I.A. set up secret jails where "high-value detainees" were subjected to ever more barbaric acts, including simulated drowning. These crimes were videotaped, so that "experts" could watch them, and then the videotapes were destroyed, after consultation with the White House, in the hope that Americans would never know.
The C.I.A. contracted out its inhumanity to nations with no respect for life or law, sending prisoners--some of them innocents kidnapped on street corners and in airports--to be tortured into making false confessions, or until it was clear they had nothing to say and so were let go without any apology or hope of redress.
These are not the only shocking abuses of President Bush's two terms in office, made in the name of fighting terrorism. There is much more--so much that the next president will have a full agenda simply discovering all the wrongs that have been done and then righting them.
We can only hope that this time, unlike 2004, American voters will have the wisdom to grant the awesome powers of the presidency to someone who has the integrity, principle and decency to use them honorably. Then when we look in the mirror as a nation, we will see, once again, the reflection of the United States of America.
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/opinion/31mon1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
December photo blog
Better late than never...
The link to my December photo blog on pbase.com is
http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker/photoaday12
To go to my pbase.com home page where you can access all of my galleries, click on;
http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker
The link to my December photo blog on pbase.com is
http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker/photoaday12
To go to my pbase.com home page where you can access all of my galleries, click on;
http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker
Sunday, November 04, 2007
November photo blog
Sorry, friends, I'm a bit late putting up a link to my November Photo Blog on Pbase.com It is:
http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker/photoaday11
That's where I now post my daily photos and written blog entries. To see all my PBase photo galleries, go to
http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker
By the way, you can leave comments there if you'd like. I always appreciate hearing from you.
http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker/photoaday11
That's where I now post my daily photos and written blog entries. To see all my PBase photo galleries, go to
http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker
By the way, you can leave comments there if you'd like. I always appreciate hearing from you.
Monday, October 08, 2007
photo blog
Friends, the URL for my PBase.com photo blog changes every month. The October photo blog can be found if you click here. Come visit. I update it every day. And if you're interested in seeing my photo galleries, simply click here.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
photo blog
Friends, I encourage you to start going to a photo blog I've just created on PBase.com. Click here to see it, and be sure to bookmark it for future reference. I'll be updating it daily.
photo-a-day
The waning days of summer
As the Labor Day weekend gets underway here in the U.S., every moment of warm sun, green grass and leaves, flowers in bloom--even those on their last legs like the ones shown here--becomes precious. I scoot down our neighborhood streets with heightened appreciation for the gift of summer, my favorite season. Already I see the occasional red leaf, but I don't want to photograph it. Not yet. Fall will come soon enough, barreling through on gusty winds with outrageously brilliant colors. But today, all I want to do is savor the birdsong that comes through my open bedroom windows, air so warm it caresses my skin like a tender lover, clothing so light I even don't know it's there, and a long holiday weekend of glorious, free jazz in downtown Detroit. I know the season to come will bring lessons in letting go, but not yet. I'm not ready to learn those lessons just yet. Today is for holding tight to the wonders around me, the joy whose name is summer.
Friday, August 31, 2007
photo-a-day
So much for any U.S. rationale to bomb Iran
Reuters article published Thursday, August 30, 2007
Iran Atom Work at Slow Pace and Not Significant: IAEA
Thu Aug 30, 2007 10:07 AM ET
By Mark Heinrich
VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran's uranium enrichment program is operating well below capacity and is far from producing nuclear fuel in significant amounts, according to a confidential U.N. nuclear watchdog report obtained by Reuters.
A senior Iranian nuclear official said the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) report showed U.S. suspicions about Tehran's nuclear intentions were baseless.
Officials familiar with the report said the IAEA could open future inquiries into Iran's atomic activity if new suspicions arose, even after Tehran answers questions about the program under a transparency deal reached this month.
Western leaders suspect Iran wants to build atom bombs, not generate electricity, and were alarmed when Tehran said in April it had reached "industrial capacity" to enrich uranium.
But the IAEA report said Tehran remained far short of that threshold. Iran had just under 2,000 centrifuges divided into 12 cascades, or interlinked units, of 164 machines each refining uranium at its underground Natanz plant as of August 19, it said.
A 13th cascade was being run test-run empty, another was stationary undergoing tests under vacuum and two more cascades were being assembled, said the report, sent to the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors and U.N. Security Council members.
"Iran made a fast start but then there was a leveling off," said a senior U.N. official versed in the IAEA's findings. "We don't know the reasons, but the slow pace continues."
The report's detail on new Iranian cooperation with inspectors and Tehran's lack of significant enrichment progress are likely to blunt Washington's push for painful sanctions.
Western diplomats fear Iran scored a victory in its deal with the IAEA by allowing it to answer questions one by one, prolonging the process and foiling more punitive U.N. action.
Russia, a Security Council veto-holder which does not think Iran poses an imminent threat to world peace, opposes more sanctions while Tehran's rapprochement with the IAEA moves on.
DISCREPANCIES
The report countered impressions gleaned by Western diplomats from the August 21 pact that Iran had negotiated immunity to further IAEA investigations after existing issues were resolved, which officials hoped would happen by year-end.
The official said it was unclear if Iran's halting enrichment progress was due to technical problems or political restraint to blunt U.S. sanctions moves.
The report also recapped the phased plan Iran agreed with the IAEA 10 days ago to resolve questions about the scope of its nuclear activity. It detailed how the IAEA had settled one issue already -- past small-scale experiments with plutonium.
But the report made clear the cooperation pact by itself was not enough to give Tehran a clean bill of health.
As long as Iran refused to resume allowing wider-ranging, inspections of sites not declared to be nuclear, under the IAEA's Additional Protocol, the agency would be unable to verify Iran had no secret military nuclear facility somewhere.
"Iran would need to continue to build confidence about the scope and nature of its present and future nuclear program. Confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of (this)..., the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities, (requires) implementation of the Additional Protocol."
U.N. officials also said Iran did not seek in talks on the plan to condition its implementation on no tough U.N. sanctions but Iranian leaders have raised such a linkage in public.
That raised Western concerns Iran has no intent to answer thornier questions and may drag matters out indefinitely. The U.N. has already imposed two sets of sanctions on Iran.
IAEA safeguards director Olli Heinonen, who has led agency negotiations with Iran, also deflected concern of Western diplomats assessing the transparency plan that the IAEA had not ensured Iran would provide proof for its answers.
"Iran is now facing a litmus test to provide answers in a timely manner to our questions. It's important that Iran provides access to documentation, persons, and equipment to help us verify the answers," he told reporters on Thursday.
A senior U.N. official familiar with IAEA-Iranian contacts said if Iran reneged or stalled, "it will come back and hit them in the face (politically).
"But if (tougher) sanctions come, our process will face a setback at a minimum, if not a halt," he said, reflecting IAEA concerns that U.S.-led efforts to escalate penalties could only corner nationalistic Iran and goad it to freeze out inspectors.
© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
Iran Atom Work at Slow Pace and Not Significant: IAEA
Thu Aug 30, 2007 10:07 AM ET
By Mark Heinrich
VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran's uranium enrichment program is operating well below capacity and is far from producing nuclear fuel in significant amounts, according to a confidential U.N. nuclear watchdog report obtained by Reuters.
A senior Iranian nuclear official said the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) report showed U.S. suspicions about Tehran's nuclear intentions were baseless.
Officials familiar with the report said the IAEA could open future inquiries into Iran's atomic activity if new suspicions arose, even after Tehran answers questions about the program under a transparency deal reached this month.
Western leaders suspect Iran wants to build atom bombs, not generate electricity, and were alarmed when Tehran said in April it had reached "industrial capacity" to enrich uranium.
But the IAEA report said Tehran remained far short of that threshold. Iran had just under 2,000 centrifuges divided into 12 cascades, or interlinked units, of 164 machines each refining uranium at its underground Natanz plant as of August 19, it said.
A 13th cascade was being run test-run empty, another was stationary undergoing tests under vacuum and two more cascades were being assembled, said the report, sent to the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors and U.N. Security Council members.
"Iran made a fast start but then there was a leveling off," said a senior U.N. official versed in the IAEA's findings. "We don't know the reasons, but the slow pace continues."
The report's detail on new Iranian cooperation with inspectors and Tehran's lack of significant enrichment progress are likely to blunt Washington's push for painful sanctions.
Western diplomats fear Iran scored a victory in its deal with the IAEA by allowing it to answer questions one by one, prolonging the process and foiling more punitive U.N. action.
Russia, a Security Council veto-holder which does not think Iran poses an imminent threat to world peace, opposes more sanctions while Tehran's rapprochement with the IAEA moves on.
DISCREPANCIES
The report countered impressions gleaned by Western diplomats from the August 21 pact that Iran had negotiated immunity to further IAEA investigations after existing issues were resolved, which officials hoped would happen by year-end.
The official said it was unclear if Iran's halting enrichment progress was due to technical problems or political restraint to blunt U.S. sanctions moves.
The report also recapped the phased plan Iran agreed with the IAEA 10 days ago to resolve questions about the scope of its nuclear activity. It detailed how the IAEA had settled one issue already -- past small-scale experiments with plutonium.
But the report made clear the cooperation pact by itself was not enough to give Tehran a clean bill of health.
As long as Iran refused to resume allowing wider-ranging, inspections of sites not declared to be nuclear, under the IAEA's Additional Protocol, the agency would be unable to verify Iran had no secret military nuclear facility somewhere.
"Iran would need to continue to build confidence about the scope and nature of its present and future nuclear program. Confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of (this)..., the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities, (requires) implementation of the Additional Protocol."
U.N. officials also said Iran did not seek in talks on the plan to condition its implementation on no tough U.N. sanctions but Iranian leaders have raised such a linkage in public.
That raised Western concerns Iran has no intent to answer thornier questions and may drag matters out indefinitely. The U.N. has already imposed two sets of sanctions on Iran.
IAEA safeguards director Olli Heinonen, who has led agency negotiations with Iran, also deflected concern of Western diplomats assessing the transparency plan that the IAEA had not ensured Iran would provide proof for its answers.
"Iran is now facing a litmus test to provide answers in a timely manner to our questions. It's important that Iran provides access to documentation, persons, and equipment to help us verify the answers," he told reporters on Thursday.
A senior U.N. official familiar with IAEA-Iranian contacts said if Iran reneged or stalled, "it will come back and hit them in the face (politically).
"But if (tougher) sanctions come, our process will face a setback at a minimum, if not a halt," he said, reflecting IAEA concerns that U.S.-led efforts to escalate penalties could only corner nationalistic Iran and goad it to freeze out inspectors.
© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
photo-a-day
Photoshop composite
It had been SO long since I'd used Photoshop for anything but editing that I'd almost forgotten how to play! But, like riding a bike, it came back quickly enough. Such fun!
chilling news
A European study has been released to The Raw Story in which the Bush administration's plans for "massive attacks" on Iran are laid out more clearly than ever before. Who can stop them now???
Study: US preparing 'massive' military attack against Iran
by Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane
Published: Tuesday August 28, 2007
The United States has the capacity for and may be prepared to launch without warning a massive assault on Iranian uranium enrichment facilities, as well as government buildings and infrastructure, using long-range bombers and missiles, according to a new analysis.
The paper, "Considering a war with Iran: A discussion paper on WMD in the Middle East" – written by well-respected British scholar and arms expert Dr. Dan Plesch, Director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, and Martin Butcher, a former Director of the British American Security Information Council (BASIC) and former adviser to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament – was exclusively provided to RAW STORY late Friday under embargo.
"We wrote the report partly as we were surprised that this sort of quite elementary analysis had not been produced by the many well resourced Institutes in the United States," wrote Plesch in an email to Raw Story on Tuesday.
Plesch and Butcher examine "what the military option might involve if it were picked up off the table and put into action" and conclude that based on open source analysis and their own assessments, the US has prepared its military for a "massive" attack against Iran, requiring little contingency planning and without a ground invasion.
The study concludes that the US has made military preparations to destroy Iran’s WMD, nuclear energy, regime, armed forces, state apparatus and economic infrastructure within days if not hours of President George W. Bush giving the order. The US is not publicising the scale of these preparations to deter Iran, tending to make confrontation more likely. The US retains the option of avoiding war, but using its forces as part of an overall strategy of shaping Iran’s actions.
Any attack is likely to be on a massive multi-front scale but avoiding a ground invasion. Attacks focused on WMD facilities would leave Iran too many retaliatory options, leave President Bush open to the charge of using too little force and leave the regime intact.
US bombers and long range missiles are ready today to destroy 10,000 targets in Iran in a few hours.
US ground, air and marine forces already in the Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan can devastate Iranian forces, the regime and the state at short notice. Read more.
Study: US preparing 'massive' military attack against Iran
by Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane
Published: Tuesday August 28, 2007
The United States has the capacity for and may be prepared to launch without warning a massive assault on Iranian uranium enrichment facilities, as well as government buildings and infrastructure, using long-range bombers and missiles, according to a new analysis.
The paper, "Considering a war with Iran: A discussion paper on WMD in the Middle East" – written by well-respected British scholar and arms expert Dr. Dan Plesch, Director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, and Martin Butcher, a former Director of the British American Security Information Council (BASIC) and former adviser to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament – was exclusively provided to RAW STORY late Friday under embargo.
"We wrote the report partly as we were surprised that this sort of quite elementary analysis had not been produced by the many well resourced Institutes in the United States," wrote Plesch in an email to Raw Story on Tuesday.
Plesch and Butcher examine "what the military option might involve if it were picked up off the table and put into action" and conclude that based on open source analysis and their own assessments, the US has prepared its military for a "massive" attack against Iran, requiring little contingency planning and without a ground invasion.
The study concludes that the US has made military preparations to destroy Iran’s WMD, nuclear energy, regime, armed forces, state apparatus and economic infrastructure within days if not hours of President George W. Bush giving the order. The US is not publicising the scale of these preparations to deter Iran, tending to make confrontation more likely. The US retains the option of avoiding war, but using its forces as part of an overall strategy of shaping Iran’s actions.
Any attack is likely to be on a massive multi-front scale but avoiding a ground invasion. Attacks focused on WMD facilities would leave Iran too many retaliatory options, leave President Bush open to the charge of using too little force and leave the regime intact.
US bombers and long range missiles are ready today to destroy 10,000 targets in Iran in a few hours.
US ground, air and marine forces already in the Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan can devastate Iranian forces, the regime and the state at short notice. Read more.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
photo-a-day
Her labor has begun
Last week I was privileged to watch a cow giving birth to a bull calf at the Michigan State Fair. I've just put up a gallery with photos showing the entire process. Click here to see my "A Calf Is Born" photo gallery.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
photo-a-day
Turned Into Water and Fled Away - 19
I am a wandering gypsy vulnerable to all beauties
These beauties attempt to throw a net over me.
Afraid that some nameless season of flowers might trap me,
I never stray into the garden alone.
I lay eggs in volumes of books, I hatch my eggs in corners of pages,
I am the cock that crows before sunrise.
I do not flee from loneliness anywhere.
Remaining in the midst of objects an
engaging my soul constantly In search of their essence,
I achieve my solitude-
Where can the months escape? As long as I hold the moon in my hand.
While man runs to capture the peaks of life,
Death runs to seize him by his hair. This very problem which
Exists in creation, is the birthplace of the tear.
Even though you keep time in a gold watch; it will not stop
From driving you towards the railway train.
Death lives in the dropping leaves of autumnal trees.
The first leaf that leaves the branch on its journey to earth
Is the prologue of autumn for the coming rain of leaves-
My feet are parched with thirst for travel.
Thirst is not quenched although I wander about
Huddle and huddles of villages and towns-
As I travel making a railway train out of all sorts of things,
Winds, clouds, leaves birds and so on.
Death tries to stop the train and arrest me; but none of them are those
That will ever stop.
They are perpetually in a state of flux, passing through endless chain
States of visibility and invisibility.
My travel has neither beginning nor an end much less a destination.
In this wild chase death meets only death.
If my book is in your hands, is it not as good as being in your hands?
by Seshendra Sharma
(b. 20th October 1927 in Andhra pradesh, India)
Monday, August 27, 2007
photo-a-day
photo-a-day
Sunday, August 26, 2007
photo-a-day
Another self portrait
This is one of three photos I added today to my Facing Up to My Face at 65 photo gallery. I think/hope they will fill in some gaps in the story.
The response to that gallery has left me speechless. When I created it, I wasn't even thinking of PBase. It was originally a Powerpoint presentation I made to share with the folks at the writing retreat that had triggered this whole exploration. But when I returned home, I decided to turn it into a gallery here on PBase. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would land me a spot in the Popular Galleries! I've been under the radar for so long that it feels strange now to be so public. Strange but nice. My thanks to all who have visited, voted and left comments. You have touched me deeply.
photo-a-day
Saturday, August 25, 2007
photo-a-day
Friday, August 24, 2007
photo-a-day
Thursday, August 23, 2007
photo-a-day
Bull calf aged 30 minutes
I watched this bull calf being born today. His mother and I had been relating for about 45 minutes when I saw the first ripples of contractions run down her back. She had a rather lengthy labor for a cow, almost two hours. But all went well and mother and calf are doing fine. For a city girl like me, this was an amazing experience. How grateful I am to my husband Ed for suggesting that I go to the Michigan State Fair today!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
photo-a-day
Vstar's tattoo
Perhaps the most amazing part of taking photos of women's tattoos at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival was hearing the stories of what their tattoos meant to the women, who had inked them, and what tattoos they were hoping to get in the future. For instance, I was deeply moved when Vstar told me that her tattoo was intentionally inked over her cancer port scar.
I've just begun to post these photos in a new gallery called "Womyn's Tattoos." Click here to see it. But keep checking back. This is just the beginning!
photo-a-day
Life is to be lived FULL OUT!
Bob Rein at 92 seemed more full of life than any of the youngsters having lunch today at the Subway across from the high school. He still works full time as an accountant, and had airline tickets to Jamaica on Monday when Hurricane Dean cancelled all flights. He and his young lady friend will be rescheduling their trip just as soon as that battered island can recover from the destruction. As our friend, neighbor and accountant, Bob is showing Ed and me that, if you so choose, life can be an adventure to the end!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
photo-a-day
Jo savors the last drop of her fudgesicle
This is the final photo that completes my Michigan Womyn's Music Festival 2007 gallery. Now I can start working with the hundreds of photos I took there of women's tattoos!
Monday, August 20, 2007
photo-a-day
Facing up to my face at 65
I have just posted a gallery of self portraits called "Facing up to my face at 65". I invite you to visit and comment if you feel so inclined.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
photo-a-day
A preview of coming attractions
Terrie's tattoo is a teaser to keep you tuned in while I go away for a four-day writers' workshop. I have pix of more tattoos than you can imagine. And I'll be starting to post these photos just as soon as I get back home again.
The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival is a veritable gallery of body art, especially tattoos. And when you see what these women choose to put on their bodies, you'll see why I wanted to focus my photographic energy on this particular project. No skull-and-crossbones there, just creative expressions of where these women have been in their inner & outer lives, and where they hope to go in the future.
While I'm gone you can see more of my festival photos by going to my brand new Michigan Womyn's Music Festival 2007 gallery. I've still got more photos to add, but this is a good beginning.
So please check back in. I'll be home by Monday night. Until then, dream of wild and wonderful images forever inked onto backs, arms, legs, bellies and even fingers.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
photo-a-day
A music festival means lots of music!
This is a photo of Teri Catlin, a performer at this year's Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. She was accompanying the campers' One World Inspirational Choir at their Saturday rehearsal. She also joined them onstage during Sunday's performance at the Acoustic Stage.
Festival is like that: everyone comes together to share their gifts and talents. Just the way we'd like our world to be.
photo-a-day
Our young womyn
One of the best parts of this year at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival was the presence of so many young women on the Land. Their energy is amazing! I've got to hand to Lisa Vogel, the festival owner/director, for her foresight in bringing in performers who would appeal to this next generation. There for awhile the majority of women at festival were pushing middle-age, but at my first festival in 1994, Tribe 8 appeared and every year since then the numbers of punk rock, spoken word and hip hop womyn artists has grown. And so have the numbers of festi-goers in their late teens, 20s and 30s. I love it! In fact, my "Michigan Moment" (highlight) came at the Saturday Night Stage when I was up dancing on my own and four young women got up from their beach chairs to dance with me. Their grins and sweet energy will stay with me for years!
This photo was taken during Friday evening's Femme Parade. On Thursday there was the Butch Strut, but on Friday the girlie girls put on their "best" and paraded from Triangle all the way to the Kitchen tent. Fest is a lot about silliness!
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