Whether it's natural, or someone was inspired by the shape of the breakage in the stone to fill in the iris/pupil, it was startling in any case.
Makes one think of the animistic belief about spirits residing in everything in nature.
It's been five and a half years since I moved to Korea, and I had not yet tried this popular street treat. But the other day I happened to watch a YouTube video on how it's made, and it looked so very rich and tempting, I just had to try one. So I bought one from a street vendor for 2000 won (1.40 usd) and ate it right then and there. It was soft, sweet and delicious, with just enough sticky-chewy-ness to the breading to make it interesting. There is egg in the batter, among other rich ingredients, and in each little loaf there is another whole egg baked in. It would make a nice quick and simple breakfast on the go. Unless you're used to eating a full English fry-up every morning, with fried eggs, bacon, sausages, black pudding, baked beans, toast, mushrooms, and fried potatoes and tomatoes.
2 views of the Moon taken today, a couple of hours apart.
The feelings these images generate in my mind are polar opposites. While the first one may make the Moon seem to be in a somewhat precarious position, balancing on and sliding down a cable, at least it's still resting on a thick sturdy baseline. It's the playful instability of a playground slide. Whereas in the second photo the Moon is floating free, lonely and untethered with no support, inviting anxious comparison against the firm solidity of the construction in the foreground.
I've used this title before, and I like it very much. I think it's poetic.
Just walking along, down a busy sidewalk, looking up at the sky every so often as I always do. And at one point I look up and see this striking pair of dense, almost solid-looking oblate spheroids. It seems cloud creatures reproduce via a process resembling cell division, just like the organic cells of terrestrial creatures. Either that, or these were UFOs hiding in plain sight inside synthetic clouds.
"Serendipitous", maybe? That doesn't seem quite appropriate either, but plain old "coincidence" doesn't seem to do the incident justice, somehow. A "meaningful coincidence"? Maybe, but I don't really know what meaning to ascribe to it.
Anyway, a few hours earlier I set out on a walk, like I do every day. As I was passing by this grocery store I heard a dull thud; I turned to look, and there was what might have been a crumpled hat (I was wearing very dark sunglasses and it tends to filter out details to some degree). Thinking it might have been dropped by a construction worker working high up, I went and looked closer -- and realized it was a dove.
It was still alive, just barely. I immediately took out my phone camera, and as I clicked away it closed its eyes (well, its nictitating membranes) and stopped moving -- I had just witnessed the death of the creature. I should have switched to video mode and recorded its dying moment, I could have kicked myself.
if I do say so myself.
Yesterday I went to check out a Seoul district known as Noryangjin. It's famous for its huge seafood market, but I've visited the place before, so this time I wanted to explore the side streets and back lanes of the area.
And just beyond the busy, fancy facades facing the main streets, it was largely a collection of quiet, time-worn neighborhoods filled with a mixture of older and newer buildings, hole-in-the-wall stores and residences, some few of which were actually derelict and cordoned off.
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I so wanted to stay longer and play with this cutie, but... ah, well.
Maybe tall buildings attract cloudfalls, like lightning rods attract lightning strikes?
Which reminds me -- one night some years ago, when I was still living in downtown L.A., a heavy rainstorm happened to rage over the city, with lots of thunder and lightning, and naturally I wanted to go out in the cool, wet night air and experience the rare thrill of a rainstorm in SoCal. Only, instead of going down to the street below, I chose to go up on the roof and walk around taking in the view of the city. I had my umbrella of course, but after a couple minutes of enjoying the wonderful sight of nighttime L.A. with all the bright lights in the rain, it suddenly occurred to me -- here I was, slowly walking around on the roof of a 12-story building in the midst of an electrical storm, carrying an umbrella with metal ribs over my head!
I ducked inside, and fast.
The Golden Calf still stands!
Praised be his power
from one end of the world
to the other
In praise of this infamous idol
kings and peasants alike
to the jingling of coins
dance a wild round
around his pedestal
And Satan leads the dance!
I don't normally like to post links to YouTube videos, because they might end up disappearing at some point. But I think this performance by Boris Christoff of "The Golden Calf" from the opera Faust by Gounod is fairly safe from that worry, it's a classic. That scary smile at the end of the first verse!
And, perhaps I risk being rather impertinent with my cartoonish effort here, but I think this face below is also a pretty good visual fit for Mephistopheles, as he sings in praise of his master, the Devil. Also, I didn't think of it at the time I drew it, but that bare suggestion of hair even looks a bit like a ram's horns. That mirthless smile...!
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All shot in and around the very busy plaza above the neighborhood subway station.
A pretty moth
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