Man, Woman

 

Mantis Rescue

Well, maybe not "rescue" quite so much, but definitely "guidance" at the very least.  I came across this mantis on a sidewalk on my daily walk.  It was in a dangerous situation, as it was in the middle of a busy path, and even as I was watching people walked past it, a few of them narrowly missing it.  I wanted to take it to a safe location, but I wasn't sure about how it would react to my picking it up -- mantises do have those powerful front limbs with the sharp claws;  I've seen a photo of a large specimen actually spearing a hummingbird with them! -- so I chose to gently prod it toward the edge of the sidewalk, where it would be safer.

Turning to look at me when I touched its rear end^^

Safe at last

Related post:  worm rescue

I Went Back

to the Needle today, to see if the dragonfly would be there again.  And yes! it was there again (at least I think it was the same one), and not only that, it had brought a couple of its fellows.  I wonder what's there at the tip of the needle to attract dragonfly-kind.

Cryptid

A strange misshapen fish-like creature with fins (or flippers), tentacles growing out of its head, and walks on land.

Dragonfly On A Needle

Today I went to see the "needle" (actually an iconic sculpture symbolic of the future of Goyang, the Seoul suburb I live in;  I've posted it before).  I took a shot,

then I noticed something -- something at the very tip of the monument that looked like a tassel or a bit of fuzz or anyway some piece of shmutz that wasn't supposed to be there.  I looked hard, but it was so small and indistinct (presbyopia setting in, sigh...) and I was unable to make it out against the backdrop of the bright sky.  Then I got the bright (ha!) idea to check it out with the phone camera at maximum zoom, and...

it was a dragonfly!

I took a couple more shots, then I went over to sit on a bench in the shade and take a break while I checked out the day's photos.  After several minutes I went back to the monument to see if the dragonfly was still there, but it had gone away.  Ah well, I thought.  Then, just as I was about to turn back, I saw it coming back,

to take up its commanding post at the tip of the needle again!

Cloud Flashes Nipple

Woulda been even better in sunset pink, but hey, I'll take what I can get^

How Unusual

is this!  I've never seen anything like it before.  Even for most other cloud watchers I daresay this has to be pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime sighting.

 

Nature Imitating Art

So I finally went to see The Odyssey today.  I have to say its portrayal of Polyphemos the Cyclops was the most grotesque and pervy-looking version I've ever seen, totally unlike the poignant, 'pathetically endearing depiction' in the painting by Odilon Redon.  I had gone in feeling ambivalent about the movie because of all the negative publicity that had preceded its release, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by how comfortable I was with all the "inaccuracies" that were the cause of so much fuss.

Anyway, this post isn't about that.  When I came out of the cinema it was evening, the Sun was setting and everything was enveloped in the nostalgic gold-and-violet twilight that I find so lovely and comforting.  Then I looked up, and saw this:

and I was instantly reminded of the famous print by Hokusai, The Great Wave;

Consider:

2 Mutated Flowers

In each case the blossom looked as if it were trying to give birth to a whole other flower.

From this

to this

And from this

to this

Lone Dove

 

Thank You, Ralph Bakshi

 

Man, this takes me back.  That's me and my girl Holli Would at my friend Evelyn's house all those years ago.  We (I mean me and Ev^) went to see the night's last screening of the Ralph Bakshi animated film Cool World.  When we came out after the movie it was way past midnight and there was no one else in the lobby except for a few frat-rat type young guys hanging around for whatever reason.  There was also this life-size cutout of Holli, and Ev and I both knew immediately what we wanted to do with it.  We hung about for a bit, waiting for the college kids to leave, but they weren't budging -- and it soon dawned on us that they were actually waiting for us to leave😁  So I did the manly thing to do -- I marched on up to them and told them that if they were planning to steal Holli, they could forget about it because we'd thought of it first.  I don't know if they found it convincing -- probably they were just chagrined/embarrassed over being so transparent about their plan, and also that somebody else was being so openly bold about planning the same larceny😄😆 Oh, it was a glorious heist!  Ev and I talked like pirates and sang made-up sea chanties the whole drive home that night!

After this photo was taken, however, Holli came to live with me and sat on the edge of my piano for years, until time came for me to sell everything off and move to Korea.

Another Instance Of

"uncanny" (to me anyway) resemblance.  This out-of-nowhere cloud mass so reminded me of Polyphemos the Cyclops in 'this' painting by Odilon Redon.

Another Alfalfa Lookalike

 

Related post:  Is That You, Alfalfa?

Cloud-Struck Building

Thank Providence for that lightning rod!^

 

Related post:  Cloud-Struck Tree

I Can't Believe

I never posted this pic here.  I always thought I had, but I guess I posted it on Facebook and that created a false memory.

This is from 2020, when soon after I moved to Korea I was afforded an unexpected opportunity to have my first show.  I needed to complete some unfinished projects in a hurry to fill the exhibition space and I was working like crazy (I hate that) to finish them.  This batch of faces was the major part of it.  Some of them dated back, in their unfinished form, to my L.A. days;  others were newly made specifically for the show.

Another One Taken At Golden Hour

Just a pretty picture, taken at my favorite time of day.

 

Baby Dolphin

 

Beauty IV

 

Toilet, But...

?

Light And Dark Kissing

This actually reminded me of the upside-down kiss scene between Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in the original Spider-Man movie.

7 Images From A Night Walk

Maybe it's just me, but it just seems that everything takes on an extra layer of meaningfulness by night.

Also, I just felt somehow "in the wrong" photographing things in dark alleys, like people were going to report me for acting suspicious.  But that's nonsense, isn't it -- given that if it's all A-OK to photograph something by day, it should be OK to shoot it at night.

But that could just be my memory of all that wrongdoing I'm guilty of doing at night, way back when.

 

No vampires in that alley!^

Amazingly Vivid Cloud At Sunset

You'd almost believe it's North Korean missiles falling behind my apartment^