Success, Sort Of

BUT AT LEAST IT'S PRETTY

Finally caught a hummer in mid-flight in a relatively clear shot, except that dang branch happened to intrude itself, making the birdie look sort of like it's attached to the branch by the head^^  So this is actually another one of those "Oddly-Timed" images.

Related Posts:  Patience Pays Off!,  Another 'Just Looks Odd',  Another Well-Timed Shot

"Selbstbildnis"

WILLIAM BLAKE'S GIFT/MADNESS

If there are godlike beings who see all of humanity in their true -- "spiritual" -- form, to them I imagine I look something like this when I am experiencing a panic attack -- as I did while taking a math exam in 4th grade.

Odd Little Dreamlet

Strange -- it cannot have been more than 2 days since I had this dream, yet I cannot recall whether it occurred during a night's sleep or an early-evening nap.  Anyhow, what makes it intriguing and somewhat humorous is that the dream was about this blog, or more specifically one of its running themes, the 'Verbal Synchronicity' series (it's a collection of memorable coincidences, specifically the kind that happened to include a linguistic element -- where I happened to read or see a certain word and simultaneously heard someone speak it next to me -- if you haven't come across these posts before, check out the link at the bottom of this post).

In the dream I was talking to someone about red beans (the kind that's also known in English-speaking countries by the Japanese name 'azuki'), with the radio playing in the background.  It was probably an echo of one of the movies I watched last weekend with my friend Ev at one of our 'Korean Movie Night' get-togethers;  in one of the movies red bean porridge was featured as a plot element.  Anyhow, just as I said "red beans" in the dream, someone on the radio said "adzuki" (as I heard the word I simultaneously saw the word in my dream head, and it was spelled with a 'd').  I immediately made a mental note to my dream self to post it on this blog as the latest Verbal Synchronicity incident^^

Related posts:  Synchronistic Incidents

Airliner And Hummingbird

Big Phone Doodle

I call these free-associative figures "phone doodles" because they owe their origins in part to the little meandering doodles I used to absently draw while talking on the phone.  Then I began to draw them deliberately sometimes, when I was bored.  Like today, when I had a lot of free time at work.  I just kept making more marks and this one grew and grew, putting out buds and pseudopods like some monster plant, and I had to tape on extra pieces of paper to accommodate the growth.  It ended up being 17 inches high, and I did not want to just chuck it in the trash after using up so much graphite.

The eye of hindsight notes the vaguely fractal-like character of this figure, its thematic spiky shape being repeated at ever decreasing scale.

Also, I find it interesting that the maze-like construction and multiple outlines bear more than a passing resemblance to certain automatic drawings that I've seen,

and also to some of the products turned out by psychiatric patients in art therapy, perhaps most famously represented by the cat paintings of Louis Wain, who is believed to have suffered from schizophrenia.  Check out these samples of his work for comparison:

Related post:  A Doodle From Last Week

Dumbo Comes In For A Landing

Tall Bird

Dandelion Seed 2

Related Post:  Dandelion Seed

Patience Pays Off !

IN AN UNEXPECTED BUT DELIGHTFUL WAY

For a long time now I've been trying to catch a hummingbird in the midst of free flight, close-up.  Which is pretty much impossible -- the critters move so fast and so suddenly that a lumbering human with a cheap hand-held camera could never hope to move quickly enough.  The most one can do is to find a bird in repose, aim the camera and wait -- zoomed in halfway so that the partial shrinkage of the visual field, which decreases the chances of snapping an image before the subject flies off-frame, is balanced out by the increase in the size of the image if one somehow manages to click the shutter in time.  A compromise of compromises, but that is all I could come up with.

And that is what I was doing today with this hummingbird, when it suddenly spread its wings, leapt off the branch, then quickly returned to its perch, only to take off again immediately, this time not to return.  I pressed the shutter convulsively, certain it was useless -- and sure enough, when I checked the image there was no flying bird silhouetted against the sky.  Foiled again..!

But then, I noticed something, and when I zoomed in, I realized I had inadvertently caught the bird at a truly unique moment -- the very instant it was launching itself off the branch!

I love this image!  And I'll wager there are no other hummingbird photographs like this on the internet.  In this "shoving off" position it looks so odd and awkward, so out of kilter with the usual, dragonfly-like grace of its kind;  makes me think of a child making like a flying superhero with its arms stretched forth^^.

Sun Tree Iridescence

Another Well-Timed Shot (On My New Computer)

MORE RANDOM ASSOCIATIONS

My computer crashed a while back.  It's been almost two weeks since the last post, but finally my new computer is hooked up!

Anyway,

this image reminded me of:  #1. the old naval tradition of marking the crossing of the International Date Line with a ceremony;  and #2. the Relativistic effect of different observers experiencing the same event as occurring at different times, depending on their frame of reference (^^).

Related post:  A Well-Timed Shot

Pair Of Crows

This slightly odd chance image made me think of technical illustrations showing objects in different views^

And heat mirages and inversion layers.

Perhaps a crow haunted by her freefloating shadow...

A Monster Swallows The Sun

Related posts:  Monster Could Not Swallow The Sun ; Heliophagous Celestial Dog

The Secret Language Of Clouds (Pt. 4)

Parking Lot Cracks

Two weeks ago I had occasion to visit the County library at Montebello.  While walking up the parking lot I noticed numerous cracks in the asphalt that had been filled in.  They made for some very interesting designs, so naturally I took out my camera and photographed the best ones.  Some look like mysterious writing, others rather resemble humorous cartoons, and some have been 'enhanced' with little whimsies of my design, to complete the picture.

An Old Sketch For Something...

A rummage session in a box of old stuff produced this nigh-forgotten little... gem(?) from the bad old days.  Wonder what the heck I was smoking when I drew it--

'Cause I definitely want some more.

Twisty Snaky

My Favorite Time Of The Day

The all-too-brief magic half-hour, when everything is bathed in a nostalgic, otherworldly golden glow.  When Day and Night meet to trade places, and earthly lights begin to assert their own claims.

Related post:  Magic Hour

Ascent

Related post:  Descent

Haven't Done One Of These For A While

Black Beauty

For crows are beautiful.

The Many Colors Of A Hummingbird

So far we have had unseasonably warm weather this winter.  Which means unusually frequent hummingbird sightings in January and February.

Scenes From A Winter Forest

The Moon Is Very Far Away, Little Bird... But I'm Coming With You

BTW, the phrasing of the title is borrowed from the ending of the science fiction short story by Keith Laumer, "The Last Command".  It's about an old war veteran who feels out of place in the new society, and an old self-aware AI war machine that he used to be in charge of.  Both were relegated to the past, being no longer needed;  then suddenly they are revived and reunited, and ultimately they choose to go to certain death together -- "It's a long way Lenny... but I'm coming with you..."

I know, it's sentimental...

How To See