What Have You Created Lately? May 17, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Books & Movies, Food & Drink, People.Tags: Movies, Seinfeld, Art, Books, Desires, Consumer, Creator
48 comments
In life, we have two principal roles . . . consumers and creators.
Why do we create?
To fill our hearts, homes, and hours with more satisfying fare than watching endless reruns of Seinfeld or I Love Lucy while mindlessly stuffing our pie holes with Hostess Twinkies.
Parents create offspring to nurture. Cooks create meals to savor and share. Musicians create music. Artists create paintings, statues, collages, quilts, jewelry. Photographers create Kodak moments and memories. Architects create buildings, bridges, and alleyways. Attorneys create theories of the case, opening statements, closing arguments. Writers create plot-lines and poetry, heroines and villains. Friends create relationships, connections, and shared bonds. Philosophers create ideas and ideals.
Advertising and marketing moguls create desires for us to consume when we are not creating.
As consumers, we consume an endless array of consumables in every waking and sleeping hour . . . books, sleep, movies, classes, TV shows, meals, lectures, jewelry, alcohol, shoes, handbags, concerts, sporting events, video games, puzzles, magazine articles, and the occasional imported cigar.
Our appetites as consumers are insatiable.
Once we have consumed the object of each current desire, a new desire arises to take its place.
To kill time and fill the void between birth and death, we can consume.
Or we can create.
What have YOU created lately?
Aah . . . that’s better!
Culture April 26, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Blogs & Blogging, Humor.Tags: Culture, Humor, Photography, Smile, Totem, Weekly Photo Challenge
32 comments
Some cultures shun cameras, feeling that photos steal more than the show ~ they steal the soul.
Literally.
They suck the life right out of you.
In those cultures, you’ll never hear, “Smile and say C~H~E~E~S~E!”
No matter how perfect the Kodak Moment.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Up, Up, and Away! April 19, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Blogs & Blogging, Humor.Tags: Blue Crabs, Crabs, Humor, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge
31 comments
Paradise Found April 18, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Humor, Nature, Travel & Leisure.Tags: Anna Maria Island, Beach, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Leisure, Travel
36 comments
WARNING: Postpone reading this post if you are:
(1) nursing, pregnant, or about to become pregnant
(2) overworked, over tired, or just plain cranky
(3) in the middle of changing a smelly diaper
(4) prone to fits of jealousy
Still here?
Okay . . . I warned ya!
If you’re planning a warm weather get-a-way in the not-too-distant future, pour yourself a drink, kick back, and I’ll tell you about an island just off the coast of Florida ~ a multi-faceted jewel which has garnered well-deserved recognition from travel agents, travel writers, and travelers due to its wide sandy beaches and laid-back tropical atmosphere.
Located forty miles southwest of Tampa and just north of Sarasota, Anna Maria Island (AMI) is paradise found ~ a sleepy barrier island filled with wonderful nooks and crannies and more than a few fine dining establishments.
The NY Times Travel article, “A Florida Island, End to End, Table by Table, highlighted the wide variety of dining options available on this blissful island ~ from burger joints, surf bars, and bistros to waterfront restaurants and Zagat-rated fine dining.
But eating a Cheeseburger in Paradise while sipping a refreshing tropical drink is far from the only appeal offered by this gem of an island:
* AMI offers rooms with a view ~ vacation rentals, inns, and small boutique hotels cater to island tourists.
* A free trolley, turquoise to match the Gulf of Mexico, runs the length of the island from first light to late night, allowing tourists covered with oil to hop aboard and leave their cars sitting idle for much of their stay.
* Fishing piers at three distinct bay side locations offer gorgeous and expansive water views, along with waterfront dining, birdwatching, boating and fishing.
At the AMI City Pier, visitors can browse the Pine Avenue Shops, buy provisions for a picnic on the bay, or enjoy lunch on the pier or at the nearby Waterfront Restaurant.
Rod and Reel Pier offers a rustic bar downstairs and amazing views of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and surrounding waters from a 2nd floor dining room.
At the Historic Bridge Street Pier, mid-island, eclectic shops offer island art, apparel, souvenirs, and beach gear. Hungry? Enjoy waterfront dining at Rotten Ralphs, the Bridge Tender Inn, Sun House, and Island Creperie.
* Boat launches are available at several points on the island, as well as on the causeway leading from the mainland.
* Island businesses offer parasailing adventures, bike rentals, charter fishing and sailing excursions, as well as Segway rentals.
* White sandy beaches provide picnic tables, palm trees, playgrounds, and shaded parking to beach goers.
* Beachfront cafes at the two main beaches, Coquina and Manatee, sell seafood, sandwiches, and sides to sun worshippers. Wine and beer are available on the deck ~ alcohol is not permitted on the beach.
* At Manatee Beach, the Beach Cafe offers live music daily from 4-8 pm with a Drum Circle at sunset on Friday nights.
* Small boutiques dot the island, offering island apparel, original artwork and jewelry, seashells, beach needs, and tropical souvenirs.
* Nature preserves on and off the island offer trails for kayaking, canoeing, biking, hiking, birdwatching, and nature walks.
Of course, once you arrive and unpack your bathing suit and flip flops, you may decide to ignore everything but the sun, the sand, and the surf.
We get that.
Relax. Bury your feet in the sand. Enjoy our island ambiance beneath swaying palms. Allow warm gulf breezes to whisk your cares away.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Island Trolley and Sun House by Barbara Hines ~ Island Gallery West
Let Life Unfold April 7, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Life Balance, Mindfulness.Tags: Barbara Hines, Island Gallery West, Life Balance, Mindfulness
39 comments
Fellow sojourners encourage us to map out our lives so they know what to expect from us.
Even the best map in the world won’t make life predictable.
Those hit by the proverbial bus seldom see it coming.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Artwork: Barbara Hines ~ Island Gallery West
More Than A Mudge Puddle March 6, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Life Balance, Life Lessons, Poetry.Tags: Happiness, Island Gallery West, Life Balance, Mattie Van Arsdel, Poetry
34 comments
The search for self is riddled with false starts.
If not for memory’s usefulness as a yardstick for how far we’ve come, we might do better to greet each day with a clean slate, forgoing the cloudy backwards glance at all that has come before.
Without judgments framed in past reference and future promise, we would embrace the Here and the Now and remain fully in the flow of life.
We would shed our loyalty to consistency and abandon ritual sameness.
We would reach for our heart’s desire without concern about rocking the boat or capsizing.
We would see glimmers of self, shining like gold, not so far below the surface as we thought.
We would wash off the mud clinging to our countenance without worry that no more than a mudge puddle will remain.
We know that we are more than that.
Any thought contrary to “what is” is energy expended without hope of a reasonable return.
Let us stop battling with imaginings.
That which exists outside the Here and Now does not exist.
We need only deal with the day.
Fear and pain and bewilderment abound and still the moon passes across the sky as birds sing and daffodils bloom and spring returns to warm winter’s soil.
Even in the midst of looming disaster, the sun rises on a new day.
So too will we shine.
Aah . . . that’s better!
* * * * *
Artwork by Maitte Van Arsdel ~ available at Island Gallery West.
Noon At Tiffany’s March 5, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Books & Movies, Fiction.Tags: Books, Clara Driscoll, Echo Heron, Stained glass, Tiffany, Tiffany lamp
35 comments
Noon at Tiffany’s, by Echo Heron, gives readers a chance to experience life in New York City at the turn of the last century ~ when horse drawn carriages gave way to horseless carriages and women traded bustles for bicycles.
Through round robin letters written to and from Clara Wolcott (Driscoll Booth) between 1888 to 1941, we see the challenges faced by young women who wanted more from life than marriage and motherhood.
Echo Heron blends fact and fiction to highlight the talented designer and artisans who created unique handmade Tiffany lamps during the Art Nouveau period.
Although Louis Comfort Tiffany claimed the designs as his own, history has revealed Clara Wolcott Driscoll to be the master designer behind the most creative and valuable leaded glass lamps produced by Tiffany Studios.
As one of the highest paid women of her era, Clara Driscoll labored long hours in Tiffany’s studios:
Clara Driscoll in a workroom with another Tiffany employee (1901)
Source: Wikipedia
To design and create gorgeous stained glass lamps featuring Daffodils:
A Louis Comfort Tiffany & Co. Daffodil leaded glass table lamp (shade shown), designed by Tiffany’s head designer, Clara Driscoll. Source: Wikipedia
And stained glass pendants featuring incandescent Dragonflies:
Pendant “Dragonfly” (replica).
Source: Wikipedia
Clara’s story, told through her letters, reveals the monumental arrogance of Louis Comfort Tiffany and her spirited challenges to that arrogance.
Determined to live life without societal shackles, Clara sheds convention, dons a bicycle suit (with no corset!), and learns to ride. During summer weekends at the Jersey Shore in Point Pleasant, she learns to swim and sail~ pursuits not embraced by many women of the day.
You go, girl!
From the back cover of Noon at Tiffany’s:
In the summer of 1888, Clara Wolcott, a daring young artist from Ohio, walked into Louis Tiffany’s Manhattan office to interview for a job as a designer. For the next 21 years, her pivotal role in his multi-million dollar empire remained one of Tiffany’s most closely guarded secrets ~ a secret that when revealed 118 years later sent the International Art World into a tailspin.
Basing her story on a recently discovered cache of letters written between 1888 and 1944, New York Times bestselling author Echo Heron artfully blends fact with fiction to draw the reader into the remarkable life of one of America’s most prolific and extraordinary artists: Clara Wolcott Driscoll, the hidden genius behind the iconic Tiffany lamps.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Into Journey’s End March 1, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Mindfulness, Poetry.Tags: Haiku, Mindfulness, Photography, Poetry, Wini Esterhuizen
39 comments
Moment to moment
we travel corridors filled
with shadow and light
No time for regret
we stumble forward and fall
into journey’s end
Whispers in the mist
we pass through the last doorway
leaving all behind
Photographer: Wini Esterhuizen
Aah . . . that’s better!
Related post: Sidey’s Weekend Theme
Full Steam Ahead February 22, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Blogs & Blogging.Tags: Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge
52 comments
The weekly photo challenge is FORWARD . . .
Facing forward . . .
Facing forward . . .
Facing forward . . .
Keep moving forward . . .
Aah . . . that’s better!
A Bit of Anti-Gravity Magic February 15, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Fun & Games, Music & Dance.Tags: Dance, Gravity, Leo, Music
33 comments
Have you seen LEO?
Here’s what others have to say about his Anti-Gravity Magic:
LEO is a mind-bending, anti-gravity show. It’s a funny, surreal, and surprisingly touching work that challenges the senses and tests perceptions of reality through the clever interplay of live performance and video projection. Winner of many international awards including Best of Edinburgh.
Time Out New York:
“An eye-teasing, grin-inducing, deeply impressive work of sustained absurdist magic”
The Village Voice
“It’s unusual to hear so many child-like gasps of sheer delighted astonishment in a theater.”
Theatermania
“LEO is utterly delightful. You’re likely to find yourself grinning like a fool while watching LEO. The winner of the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe LEO combines acrobatics and film work to create a rather unique piece of theater.”
Aah . . . that’s better!
