Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Contributing Writer’

In the Hallway

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

In the hallway of the house with all the windows and the oak tree outside, there’s a wooden table covered by a paisley scarf.  On the scarf sit many planters filled with plants of course and also items like this turtle surrounded by sweet marjoram, and the dragonfly I found this past summer.

I have small bolts of cloth given by friends who know my love of orange, and a soft green mug also from a friend who knows, in the end, I love all colors.

And in silhouette on cream-colored walls … and both in silhouette and reflection on multiple panes of glass … there are the leaves and branches of the oak tree moving in the stiff autumn breeze making me pause and take a rest no matter what shenanigans I’m preparing to deal with that particular day.

Read Full Post »

Hot Off the Press: Ephemeral Beauty …

Posted in Contributing Writer, Inspiration, Nature Notes, Photography, Publication Updates, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 10, 2011| 1 Comment »

Ever try to hold onto summer, even in the midst of winter?  You’re not the only one. 😉  Hot off the press is a new article on Creativity Portal. com, Ephemeral Beauty, Enduring Inspiration.  Enjoy!

Summer Dragonfly Found

 

Read Full Post »

My Old-Fashioned Nook

Posted in Inspiration, tagged , , , , , , , on October 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Of course, I mean nook as in my “small corner, alcove, or recess” and my  somewhat “hidden, secluded spot” where I can sit in sun or moonlight, to think, to write, to photograph … however the spirit moves me.  I feel very lucky to have access to such a place.

Read Full Post »

Birdsong

Posted in Books I Love, Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 5, 2011| 1 Comment »

Several years ago I attended a national conference sponsored by a major environmental organization.  The conference was held in a lovely out of the way place in a southern state.  I and a colleague had petitioned our company to pay for our attendance as part of our professional development.  When we arrived and began to mingle amongst the other 498 guests, I noticed something immediately but I didn’t say anything to my colleague.  However my colleague quickly pointed out the unspoken:  that I was one of just three brown people at the multi-day event.  As I attended the various sessions, I listened as people discussed how to save rainforests and wildlands, and contemplated strategies to bus minority children out of cities to visit green spaces.  I understood the intent behind the words, but I was troubled.  As the days progressed, I felt something building inside me until …

… near the end of the conference, I sat in a small group session.  I don’t remember the session’s focus.  But I remember the look on a well-meaning person’s face as she all but called me “you poor thing” when I admitted out loud that I had never seen the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone.  As someone else went on to raise how do we (as in environmentalists) get more African Americans interested in the environment, I snapped.  Let me tell you, I was much more shy then than I am now.  So it was a big deal for me to open my mouth in that group and give them a piece of my mind about labeling and having narrow views about who was interested in the environment.   Afterwards I raced to the restroom.  I was shaky.  I was new to the environmental field.  Many of the people in that room had been working in the field longer than I had been alive.  What did I know?

As I slowly washed my hands, into the restroom walked Terry Tempest Williams, one of the conference presenters and a well-known writer and activist.  I loved her work but at that moment I just wanted to dash right pass her. However, she held me with her eyes.   “Well said in there.”  That’s it.  That’s all she said, but it was all I needed to hear.  That moment, that encouragement has stayed with me over the years and came to mind this morning as I read one of her recent essays, “A Disturbance of Birds.”  It is a beautifully written piece about her discovery of a brain tumor.  Woven throughout her story are the stories of other people.  Dotting this narrative quilt are birds in all forms.

I highly recommend a read of this essay.  Her words greatly moved me.  At first I found myself thinking of loved ones recently lost and then of loved ones who are currently not in good health.  I thought of loved ones traveling who I wish were home.  And then I thought of birds.  The ones I watched with my mom.  The robin described by my uncle.  The blue herons I see with Steve.   The birdsong I cannot photograph but which inspires me so.   And then finally I was filled with gratitude.  I am grateful for the people I have met throughout my life and hopeful for the ones I have yet to meet.  As the sun shines bright today, I know that I have been lucky. 😉

Read Full Post »

Dark Beauty

Posted in Guest Contributor, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged , , , , , , , on October 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Imagine the adventures these two brothers, Peppy and Ash, must get into everyday … or at least dream about.  I have not used a photo writing prompt in many years, but I declare, these fellows with their wise — and wily — outlook do inspire this writer’s imagination.  How about you?  What story comes to your mind? 😉

Photo shared by Dixie.

Read Full Post »

Strange Cats, a Bug and Music Lessons by a Bunny

Posted in Books I Love, Inspiration, Music, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on September 14, 2011| 1 Comment »

I found this moth on my kitchen table.  I have to admit, thanks to Steve, I see moths just a little bit differently than I did before he and I met.  Because he and I are of different generations, he often introduces me to art and music that I am quite sure I would not chance upon without him.  Most recently he introduced Archy, a philosophical cockroach who used to be a poet in a previous life, and Mehitabel, a wise-talking alley cat who believes she is Cleopatra reincarnated.  Created in 1916 by Don Marquis in his daily column for the New York Evening Sun, the pair share adventures expressed in light verse.  One of Steve’s favorites:  the lesson of the moth. In time, the shorts were compiled into books, and a musical was recorded with Carol Channing voicing Mehitabel.

Steve tracked down a CD containing the original music production.  We listened last night.  It was a treat to hear the actors bringing such unique characters to life.  Now, also found on this CD is the Carnival of Animals, an instrumental work paired with words by Ogden Nash.  When the Carnival music started, it was beautiful … and it was strangely familiar.  I asked Steve who confirmed, “It’s a classic by Saint-Saens.  I first heard it as a child, when my father played it in the 50’s.”  “Hmmm,” I replied.  “I think I first heard it on Bugs Bunny.”  Steve shrugged.  “That’s where you first heard Wagner, isn’t it?”  Well, too true.  Meanwhile …

* You can hear the complete version of the Saint-Saens Carnival of Animals suite via this link.

* Read more about and by Archy & Mehatibel here.

* FYI, Carnival of Animals was featured in a Bug Bunny production which you can read more about at the bottom of this wiki page.  And to learn more about Bugs Bunny as classical music teacher, check out this wonderful page called Bugs Bunny Goes Classical.

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

Through Sound and Image

Posted in Inspiration, Music, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on September 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Reading photographer Jay Kinghorn’s post about how audio affects perception of visual images reminded me of the “soundtracks” I used to create as I wrote short stories.  The music I collected helped me channel, get lost in, build and sustain emotions that I needed to create strong images on the page.  With the support of a tech savvy roommate, I even played around with Windows Media and tried to weave together my written words with still images and compiled music.  The goal?  Simply to tell a story and use accompanying music to create emotional resonance.  Currently I do little with short stories or movie making though music still influences my work … I sometimes listen to music as I walk along the Charles with my camera.  Perhaps this New England winter, I will jump back into the fiction.  Meanwhile, this late summer morning, I find myself pondering the fact that while audio certainly affects image perception, the flipside is also true.  Visuals influence our perception of audio.

Leaf by the Charles River

Yes, there is some connection to recent Sunday musings where I lamented that, in today’s politics, glossy images distract from listening to candidates’ words.  Nothing novel there – just look at the 1960 Kennedy/Nixon debate where television viewers apparently thought the inexperienced yet highly telegenic Kennedy won the debate while radio listeners thought the less telegenic, more experienced Nixon won.  Politics aside, consider pharmaceutical ads especially the ones that air during the evening news and other programs associated with older viewers.  The companies have to share the side effects associated with the drug being advertised.  Notice how the spoken words (e.g. … this drug may cause this that or the other thing and in rare cases lead to death …)  are paired with images of happy people of all ages meandering — sometimes slowly but always with a smile — along beaches, up mountains, through open-air markets, with a dog or two in tow.  Hope is evoked so powerfully, visually that it becomes easy to let words of risk go in one ear and out the other.  In the end, the images convey the message.  Words become irrelevant.

Fallen

Of course, this is nothing new.  Peoples’ visual and auditory responses and perceptions have been manipulated throughout human history, as a means to some end.  I guess that’s what I am struggling with right now.  When I watch a movie or movie trailer or attend a concert or an art exhibit or even a religious service, I am open to being manipulated.  I await the melding of music, words and images to make me experience a story.  But it’s when that manipulation happens in other contexts that I become wary and quite frankly on occasion angry.  Artistically, I am looking forward to exploring these ideas in both my photography and writing, and to better understand how other artists use these ideas and I don’t mean in a Wag the Dog kind of way.

 

Read Full Post »

Sunflowers and Yellow Finches

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 14, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I have written before of my views through various Somerville windows especially the ones in Steve’s kitchen.   From one window in particular I like to stare down into a small garden.  This year the landlord has been preoccupied so the garden is overrun in a beautiful way.  Rose and purple morning glories entwine every surface, including the tall stalks of the sunflowers.

Greek oregano overshadows Thai basil.  Rosemary holds its own against a crumbling retaining wall.  Green tomatoes grow ever larger watched lustfully by gray squirrels that live in the adjacent oak tree and the “rat” whose home is beneath the garden.  I put rat in quotes because there is some disagreement whether the furry fellow is a rat or some other long-nosed, long-whiskered, long-tailed creature. Regardless, I still call him Roscoe Rat when I spy him nibbling on roots.  No names do I give to the sparrows, starlings and sparrows.  There are just too many and while lovely they seem indistinguishable as they skip around for insects and seeds.  Nor do I try to name the most recent visitor, a bright yellow finch.  Each morning for a week it has dropped out of the sky to alight upon the sunflowers.  Each visit is only five seconds or so.  How much longer he will visit before migrating onward I do not know.  Even if he should appear no more the memories of his presence remain indelible.  Two shades of gold together, feathered and petaled, touched by early morning sunlight.

 

Read Full Post »

Creative Outlets

Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged , , , on February 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »

So the way our schedules have been working out lately, Steve races off to work across town, leaving me to work from home on various writing projects.  As he heads out the door, I toss him a lunch I’ve quickly prepared.  Just leftovers pulled together from his fridge.  Some sliced fruit.  A bit of cheese.  Nothing elaborate I thought.  But recently he commented on the fanciness of these petite meals.  I rolled my eyes.  Me? Fancy? Not!  But then this morning, a realization.

I had chopped sun-dried tomatoes, scallions and capers and then layered the concoction over cold pasta from last night’s dinner.  After peeking in various cupboards, I decided to finish off the little dish with a bit of garlic and a little parmesan cheese.   As I stepped back to admire the marriage of color and textures, it hit me.  These lunches have become a creative outlet of sorts.  Almost like culinary morning pages, warming up my mind and fingers for the day’s work.

Many of my current writing projects involve taking the basic ingredients that make up my clients’ programs and putting those ingredients together in a proposal or a report in such a way that they whet the appetite of a potential funder.  Time will tell if I am successful in that endeavor. Meanwhile, Steve doesn’t seem to mind my morning experimentations.

Read Full Post »

Fall Update

Posted in Contributing Writer, Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, Publication Updates, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 5, 2010| 5 Comments »

Watching me from a nearby oak tree is a large male cardinal with bright black eyes.  My camera is across the room.  He will surely be gone before I can grab it and race back to the window.  What to do?  Just remain still and enjoy my unexpected encounter with a red-feathered friend.  Unexpected.  There is no better word to describe my life at present.  Since my last update, there have been lots of unexpected experiences.  Some have been as simple as spotting the cardinal at my window, or the above leaf as I walked to the grocery store.  Others instances have been more complex.  Their creative impact and outcomes remain to be seen.  Meanwhile, here are some brief highlights of experiences from the past month, with a focus on recent travels.  Enjoy! 😉

***

Virginia

In September I traveled with Steve to Virginia and West Virginia.  Virginia is my  home state.  While there, I visited one of my favorite nature trails along the Blackwater Creek.  See the little fish at the bottom of the picture?  Other sights along the trail:

And in a neaby national park  …

 

West Virginia

In Virginia, I showed Steve my old haunts.  In West Virginia, we journeyed to one of his, Seneca Rocks.  There I had several unexpected and memorable experiences, first attempting to climb a mountain, and then riding a horse.  When I wasn’t afraid of tumbling, off the mountain or the horse, I managed to snap a few photos. 😉

 

On the Horizon

Well, one of the most unexpected opportunities is an upcoming trip to Japan.  I don’t expect to encounter any horses, but Steve is determined to introduce me to octopus in all its varied culinary forms.  We’ll see about that one!

Also, I’m pleased to share that I will be making a guest blog appearance November 1st on The Evolving Critic, A Metro Boston Blog for Art, Architectural, Urban Planning and Community Explorations.  I’ll be sharing words and images about one of my favorite Boston sites, the Charles River Esplanade.

That’s the quick scoop from me.  Wherever you are in the world today, I hope you are healthy, happy and feeling inspired!

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »