Ride On, Soldier

Where: West Village, NYC
When: December 19, 2009

How badass is this Vespa rider? At least, I think it's a Vespa, feel free to correct me.

Christopher Street

Where: West Village, NYC
When: December 19, 2009

I love these murals

Where: West Village, NYC
When: December 19, 2009

Particularly with the snow, it looks like the pictures are getting blasted by the same wind.

Where: West Village, NYC
When: December 19, 2009

Standing Stoic

Where: West Village, NYC
When: December 19, 2009

Where: West Village, NYC
When: December 19, 2009

Standing Like John Wayne

Where: West Village, NYC
When: December 19, 2009

Whee! Snow! Title is from Ani DiFranco's song If It Isn't Her, which is one of my all time favorites. Check out this verse:

Standing like John Wayne
She is full frame
She is center stage
My imagination
is rattling in its cage.

(I had originally posted with a different title, but then this song came on and I decided it was better.)

All Its Might

Where: Bradford, VT
When: November 7, 2009
"Life must function as activity that manifests life as life... The lily blooming in the field - why does it bloom? It does not bloom for any particular purpose; it blooms solely because it has been given life...

The flowers blooming in the field do not feel with pride that they should win first prize in a beauty contest; they do not feel that they are in competition with the other flowers. The violet doesn't develop an inferiority complex... It simply manifests its own life force with all its might."

Kosho Uchiyama, "Opening the Hand of Thought; Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice"

The body of this deluded being

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: December 15, 2009

"This small individual 'I' we talk of will always be deluded, but regardless of that, zazen is buddha. We take the Buddha's posture with the body of this deluded being and throw ourselves into it."

Kosho Uchiyama, "Opening the Hand of Thought; Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice"

Past Peak

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: December 15, 2009

"We want Truth badly, but we mistakenly look for it in concepts, in words, or in phrases. We act as though it were something we could stuff in our pockets and take out once in a while to show people.

Yet while we labor hard to promote and protect what we believe to be the dazzling beauty in our pocket, Truth continues to reveal to us nothing but constant flux - total relativity, thoroughgoing change."

-- Steve Hagen, "Buddhism Is Not What You Think: Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs"

Take Refuge

Where: Bradford, VT
When: November 7, 2009

"Take refuge in self, take refuge in dharma [truth], take refuge in nothing else."
-- The Buddha

Flame On

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: December 15, 2009

Finally took my camera out yesterday, here are the results. I have a couple others I really like as well, in a similar vein. Can't wait to get to Vermont and really go nuts!

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: December 15, 2009

Where: Bradford, VT
When: November 7, 2009

Where: SoHo, NYC
When: September 13, 2009

I wish I had noticed that the bottom of the railing was cut off. Makes me nuts. Otherwise I really like this shot. Bubbles are fun.

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: October 31, 2009

Where: Bradford, VT
When: November 7, 2009

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: November 24, 2009

Finals this week, and then I'm free! I'll be in Vermont for a chunk of the break, hoping for a return to a more creative place, I miss my camera.

Where: Natural History Museum, NYC
When: November 11, 2009

Cat, With Bowl, and Sky

Where: My apartment, NYC
When: December 9, 2009

Variations on a Theme: Billboard Wisdom (take 2)

Where: Chelsea/West Village, NYC
When: September 26, 2009

Another variation on this billboard. I think I like this one better.

Water Colors

Where: Hudson River, NYC
When: November 24, 2009

All in a row

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: November 10, 2009

Drop down

Where: Bradford, VT
When: November 7, 2009

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been distracted and busy - finals are next week. And I keep failing to get a good night's sleep, so this morning I am officially wearing cranky pants.

Patinad

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: October 25, 2009

Vanishing Points

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: November 26, 2009

Where: The Met, NYC
When: November 11, 2009

Where: Central Park, NYC
When: November 11, 2009

Where: Central Park, NYC
When: November 11, 2009

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: November 24, 2009

Home Field

Where: Bradford, Vermont
When: November 7, 2009

Werewolves in which city now?

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: November 24, 2009

I love her mane, it's so glorious. And she's much too sweet looking to be mistaken for a werewolf. But now I can't get the song out of my head. ;)

Circular

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: November 24, 2009

Where: Bradford, Vermont
When: November 7, 2009

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: November 26, 2009

Let's blow this joint

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: November 24, 2009

Went out with my camera again, and it was great. I apparently didn't need that much time off, which is excellent.

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: November 24, 2009

mmmmm moody black and white deliciousness.

Letting Go

Where: Bradford, Vermont
When: November 7, 2009

Transparencies

Where: Tuckahoe, NY,
When: November 4, 2009

Drifting Down

Where: West Village, NYC
When: October 23, 2009

I just like the colors against the white background. It's not really my favorite shot, to be honest.

Form follows function

Where: West Village, NYC
When: October 9, 2009

I love how the chain link and the vine have similar properties, and actions.

Building Blocks

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: November 9, 2009

I had a dream last night, where I'm in a room with a task. I need to set up a chalk board with several moving parts. I try to do it all at once and fail, I can't get the various sections to support each other, can't establish a firm base. The room is crowded with people trying to achieve the same task, a cacophony of clattering, gestures and conversation.

In the middle I see one young girl sitting on the floor, patiently lifting and lowering one side of the chalk board over and over, with a focus that is both intense and diffused. I sit down next to her with my chalkboard and do the same thing, and feel calm and certainty return in the effort to master one small portion of the task, and I realize that I'm dreaming, and that it is a metaphor for meditation practice.

"I've built a grass hut where there's nothing of value...
Meet the ancestral teachers, be familiar with their instruction,
bind grasses to build a hut, and don't give up."

By Shitou Xiqian [700-790], "Song of the Grass Root Hermitage".

I've been distracted, busy and, most recently, sick the last several weeks, and my practice has dropped off, so I was happy to have a dream reminding me to start again, binding a few grasses at a time.

I don't see it.

Where: Hudson River Park, NYC
When: November 10, 2009

I love the futuristic/retro look of these things. Wish I had had a stronger light that day to really pick up on the shapes. I also should have brightened this before exporting/resizing - sorry it's a bit dark.

Variation on a Theme: Same Sun, Different Day

Where: Solterreno, Vall de Laguar, Spain
When: July 2, 2009

Same sun on other days (these were meant to be links to old posts, but I couldn't figure out how to do it, so I'm putting them all here instead. I kind of like this better, actually):






Editing to add one more that I forgot to include: