Beautiful conversations, people, places, design+photography
“The most beautiful thing we can
experience is the mysterious.
It is the source of all true art
and all science. He to whom
this emotion is a stranger,
who can no longer pause
to wonder and stand rapt
in awe, is as good as dead:
his eyes are closed”.
Albert Einstein
I’ve become mesmerized lately by following the
magical work of Richard Koci Hernandez.
His photos tell a magical, mysterious story and
I can’t get enough. Every day I look forward to his
latest post on Instagram. Take time to enjoy it.
“The more often we see the things around us – even the beautiful and wonderful things – the more they become invisible to us. That is why we often take for granted the beauty of this world: the flowers, the trees, the birds, the clouds – even those we love. Because we see things so often, we see them less and less.”
Joseph B. Wirthlin
“Beauty is unbearable, drives us to despair, offering us for a minute the glimpse of an eternity that we should like to stretch out over the whole of time.” Albert Camus
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thanks to the wonderful word of Instagram,
artful photography has never been so user
friendly. Everybody can do it – even the
mini Lego peeps. U.K.-based photographer
Andrew Whyte reveals the world through
the lens of a Lego man who is obviously
having adventures of his own whether it be
climbing a fence or slipping on a banana peel.
My favorite? The diminutive little man
facing a lonely bench looming in the
background. Enjoy more Legography here.
Steven Siegel has been photographing the streets and subways
of New York City for 30 years, and his Flickr album is a time
capsule of a grittier, feral city — before Times Square was
scrubbed clean and 9/11 changed the metropolis forever.
His photos are remarkable. Siegel and friends created several
dreamlike scenarios (in a pre-Photoshop era) with clever
angles, poses, and accidental exposures. Take a closer look
and visit Siegel’s Flickr page for a trip back in time to New York
in the 1980s.
All photos by Steven Siegel
Good Morning! I want to wake up to this
every. single. day. Simply stunning.
Taken with an iPhone4, Seattle, WA
Javier Gomez’s bold, abstract photographs are
ephemeral and otherwordly. I’m particularly drawn
to his abstract architectural images. Beautiful.
Some end-of-the summer shots of some sites around Seattle. The views
never get old and some are simply magical.
Chihuly Garden and Glass
Seattle Great Wheel
Ferries everywhere to every island
All my life, I have loved Halloween. I’m calling it now:
Halloween, with all its tacky, kitschy goulishness, is the
best holiday. It’s a legit time for just having some ol’ fashion
fun with pranks and mischief-making. Halloween is the only
time kids AND adults can be silly, juvenile idiots and get
away with it. And for those who are into a little history
here is an abbreviated version:
Today is All Hallows’ Eve, or Halloween. The modern
holiday comes from an age-old tradition honoring the
supernatural blending of the world of the living and the
world of the dead. Halloween is based on a Celtic holiday
called Samhain. The festival marked the start of winter
and the last stage of the harvest, the slaughtering of
animals. It was believed that the dark of winter allowed
the spirits of the dead to transgress the borders of death
and haunt the living.
Eventually, Christian holidays developed at around the
same time. During the Middle Ages, November 1 became
known as All Saints’ Day, or All Hallows’ Day. The holiday
honored all of the Christian saints and martyrs. Medieval
religion taught that dead saints regularly interceded in the
affairs of the living. On All Saints’ Day, churches held masses
for the dead and put bones of the saints on display. The night
before this celebration of the holy dead became known as
All Hallows’ Eve. People baked soul cakes, which they would
set outside their house for the poor. They also lit bonfires and
set out lanterns carved out of turnips to keep the ghosts of
the dead away.
Credit: The Writer’s Almanac
I drove by this display of Halloween silliness yesterday and
made me stop and smile.
Happy Halloween, fall has officially begun.
Fall has arrived, oh how I already miss summer.
Beneath a yellow fading tree,
As red suns light thee, Autumn-morn,
In wildest rapture let me see
The sweets that most thy charms adorn.
O while my eye the landscape views,
What countless beauties are display’d;
What varied tints of nameless hues, —
Shades endless melting into shade.
A russet red the hazels gain,
As suited to their drear decline;
While maples brightest dress retain,
And in the gayest yellows shine.
From Autumn by John Clare
(from The Village Minstrel, 1821)
Simple.
Look beneath.
Look in.
Seek meaning.
Find beauty in clouds. Of people. Of minds.
And what lies underneath?
YOU.
Relishing the last day of summer enjoying a rare moment doing nothing
but leisurely reading a New York Times magazine article about Lena
Dunham…turning real paper pages (usually I’m always reading from a
phone screen) as the last rays of a disappearing summer filters through
the window rendering tree shadows.
Pure perfection.
Beautiful Musings 