to ponder.

John Karavas photographs the water in New York City, New York, Sunday, August 28, 2011 after Hurricane Irene swept through the area. Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times (Read more)

First of all, thank god the storm wasn't quite as colossal as everybody feared it to be and that my people are all safe and sound.

Now to why this pic spoke to me. You see, often I think about this, whenever I have a camera in hand... sometimes the compulsion to take just one more photo or "the photo" for that matter is so strong, we (or I) forget where we are and suddenly everything is less important than that "perfect shot".

In my case, I often think if a should be appreciating more the moment than the process of taking a photo... sometimes I even have to make myself stop taking them and just enjoy the moment.

In the case of the guy in this photo, I'm thinking : Shouldn't you be somewhere else? The water level seems to be rising around your feet...

quote of the day #74

Since the weather is a bit nippy outside tonight and I was watching Sleepless in Seattle, this seamed fitting.

Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories... 
we've already missed the spring!  

- in An Affair to Remember

poetic Education #30

If I Had My Life To Live Over

by the late Erma Bombeck

If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television - and more while watching life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."

There would have been more "I love you's".. More "I'm sorrys" ...

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute... look at it and really see it ... live it...and never give it back.

random iotd #5089

Time of Your Life

by Matthew Kavan Brooks

Poetic Education #29

"Viens, Mallika, les lianes en fleurs ... Dôme épais, le jasmin" 

|||||

Flower Duet

"Sous le dôme épais" from Lakmé by Léo Delibes in 1883. 

Sous le dôme épais
Où le blanc jasmin
À la rose s’assemble
Sur la rive en fleurs,
Riant au matin
Viens, descendons ensemble.
Doucement glissons de son flot charmant
Suivons le courant fuyant
Dans l’onde frémissante
D’une main nonchalante
Viens, gagnons le bord,
Où la source dort et
L’oiseau, l’oiseau chante.


Sous le dôme épais
Où le blanc jasmin,
Ah! descendons
Ensemble!


Sous le dôme épais
Où le blanc jasmin
À la rose s’assemble
Sur la rive en fleurs,
Riant au matin
Viens, descendons ensemble.


Doucement glissons de son flot charmant
Suivons le courant fuyant
Dans l’onde frémissante
D’une main nonchalante
Viens, gagnons le bord,
Où la source dort et
L’oiseau, l’oiseau chante.


Sous le dôme épais
Où le blanc jasmin,
Ah! descendons
Ensemble!


*


Flower Duet (English)


Under the thick dome where the white jasmine
With the roses entwined together
On the river bank covered with flowers laughing in the morning
Let us descend together!
Gently floating on its charming risings,
On the river’s current
On the shining waves,
One hand reaches,
Reaches for the bank,
Where the spring sleeps,
And the bird, the bird sings.


Under the thick dome where the white jasmine
Ah! calling us
Together!


Under the thick dome where white jasmine
With the roses entwined together
On the river bank covered with flowers laughing in the morning
Let us descend together!


Gently floating on its charming risings,
On the river’s current
On the shining waves,
One hand reaches,
Reaches for the bank,
Where the spring sleeps,
And the bird, the bird sings.


Under the thick dome where the white jasmine
Ah! calling us
Together!

quote of the day #73

"...the Masochist says to the Sadist, 'Hurt me'? 

The Sadist smiles and says, 'No.'"

By the river up high.

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FOS

Portinho.

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A storm is brewing on the west.

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As I was saying...

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Gray but still pretty the Sado is, hum hum. ;)

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quote of the day #72

Sometimes, the simpler the better.

"Have faith in your dreams, and someday

Your rainbow will come smiling through

No matter how your heart is grieving,

If you keep on believing

The dream that you wish will come true."

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes from the original Disney movie Cinderella.

random iotd #5088

STELLAR photographic project by Ignacio Torres

quote of the day #71

“It’s a wonder that humankind has constructed any kind of civilization with this 

monumental distraction at hand.”

—	[while in bed, after having sex] Nick Twisp/Francois Dillinger

Again and again and again...

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Going south...

What a mild summer this is!

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I dare you to see this & not smile.

They did not did this when I was there. For shame! :) 

quote of the day #70

“I am so clever

 that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.”

  —Oscar Wilde 

random iotd #5087

James Brown was occasionally a wise man.

by Julie Mack Boyce

Swallowable Parfum.

You know me right? You know how I love to pamper myself with luxurious scents, right? As for long as I can remember I've been controlled by scents, they entice me and evoke of me the most different memories. Certain smells will report me to very specific times. I remember the smell of my childhood home, and the smell of the town were I grew up after it rained there, I remember the exact smell of my first boyfriend and the orange scented air in Positano... So scents are as important to me as colors or forms. Therefore, imagine my absolute delight when I found out that body architect Lucy McRae teamed up with acclaimed Harvard biologist Sheref Mansy to create a Swallowable Parfum. In my humble opinion a piece of art, a wonderful censorial experience. A capsule that after consumed will combine its content with that of your bodies' scent in order to generate an unique perfume that will be recognizable not only by the particular way you smell but in the way it will come out of your body, while excited or aroused, in beautiful golden drops surfacing your skin. Sometimes you just have to love science!

SWALLOWABLE PARFUM® from Lucy McRae.

Best European Branded Short - Young Director Award '11, Cannes

WE MISS YOU from fireapple films on Vimeo.

a Glimpse of.

Ok, so this is not the best video ever, and they are really hard to find at this point yet, but, here it goes, a small glimpse... almost 60000 people, hands in the air, jumping and singing as one, Livin' on a Prayer has to be one of the best moments ever.