July 8, 2005
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…I almost believe that the pictures are all I can feel…
© The Author, 2005I’m not thinking in words this week. Instead, my buzzing brain is alive with little movies of life’s possibilities that play in my head incessantly—images, clips, phrases repeated, noises, music, whiffs and sniffs. I can feel my hair growing, autumn encroaching. I can hear the fruit in the kitchen bowl ripening and then rotting. I can feel a change happening—the cataclysmic burst of my synapses learning something new (something damaging?) about adulthood, about the meaning of meaning. But words fail me. So I can’t really name what that something is. So here are some pictures for your enjoyment. I hope to be verbal again soon. Really, I do.
I like this picture. It’s by our apartment. I get sad when I look at it though. In real life, beyond the weeds a bit you can see a little encampment that a homeless man that I’ve named Jesus Dude (because of his long hair and constant shirtless-ness) lives in. Sometimes other shopping cart people camp out with him, but mostly I see him alone there, staring up at the sky.
The two pictures above were taken at Chicago Botanic Gardens, which is not in Chicago at all. It’s in Glencoe, which is a suburb that you have to take the commuter train to and then a slow Pace bus. Shaun and I nearly walked the two miles there before a Pace bus picked us up. It was worth the trip, though. Very pretty indeed. And free too!
The two gangly, lovely teenage guys are my brothers, Anthony (16) and Julian (13). The older gentlemen is my step-dad, and the young guy is my partner. They came for a visit in early May and I was able to snap a few family pictures by the lake. We walked all the way from Wicker Park to the Museum Campus that day. For those of you who are Chicagoans–yes, it took a really long time. But it made the pizza we ate for dinner that much more delicious.
This is just a little collage that I made last summer. I just thought I’d share, since the inside of my mind looks pretty much exactly like this picture right now.
This is a picture of me and my partner with our new nephew, baby Noah. This child is brought to you by Shaun’s lovely sister Melissa and her husband Pat. Noah is a cool baby. He digs us and we dig him too.
I named this one “Lovely Shaun,” because I think it’s lovely. I’m lucky to have someone look at me like that. It’s nice, you know?_________________________________________________________________________________________________
How are your thoughts compiled these days? Do you typically think in pictures or words?P.S. Oh yeah–I forgot to mention: Dig my new profile pic! I’ve taken a few (orange) liberties with Mr. Roy Lichtenstein’s work, but I don’t think he’ll mind too much. Lichtenstein is a contemporary pop artist that I like. You might like him too. Click here to see if you dig him too!
Comments (10)
Love your new profile pic. Love the photos. Love Noah.Great post.Lynn
To answer: I’ve always been a word person, and when I take pictures they somehow don’t ever do the scene justice. And while my words cannot do a scene justice either, I can at least fill in little details as well as sound, smell, taste and touch beyond a camera’s capabilities.Did you know where Roy Lichtenstein’s first teaching job was? Yes, that’s right, SUNY Oswego. It’s too bad he didn’t leave much work behind when he moved on.ryc: You’re right about anarchy. I mean, anarchists can’t exactly hold committee meetings, can they? How can they follow leaders? It’s a self-defeating movement, and we shouldn’t be surprised that any anarchist factions have never really gone anywhere.
PS: Smashing album choice. Easily one of my all-time favorites!
I love love love, your profile pic! It doesn’t creep me out like your other one.
Roy Lichtenstein is awesome I love his work. Um…I’m a picture person, I love taking them and if possible developing them myself. But money does not allow this.
It’s funny because words can not capture what a photo can, yet a photo cannot capture the things that the senses capture. I guess you need words and pictures to get the complete feel. On another note, it’s nice to put a face to Shaun. It’s weird when I hear about people a lot and never see them.
ryc: (I finally got what that stands for. Lol I’m a lame I know) My hair turned out magenta and now is a mix between blonde and red/pink. Lol, I’ll dye it a normal color soon.
I did a project last year on a photographer named Nan Goldin, have you heard of her? I thought you might like her photos. http://www.designautopsy.com/blowup/portfolios/e-h/Nan_Goldin-01-/index.asp?link_id=37 she has a few pictures that are a bit uninhibited, but they’re cool.
I forgot to add that my hubby loves Lichtenstein. We have two huge prints in our house that have the subject talking or thinking about someone called “Brad.” Since hubby is named Brad, it all fits pretty nicely. We went to see the Lichtenstein show at the MCA a few years ago. Were you working there then?Lynn
RYC: I think that most people are like you–they like to exercise in the a.m. Otherwise, why do they usually schedule exercise classes for early mornings? But I think my doctor made a lot of sense when she explained about the blood sugar. Sugar fuels the brain, and if you aren’t getting the blood-sugar balance right in the a.m., you are not going to be operating a peak efficiency. I’ve had low blood sugar for a long time, although it’s managable. But I really think it’s the reason I’m a total klutz in the morning. By noon, I’m fine. In fact, noon to 3 p.m. is my peak time.MCA: the Lichtenstein show was fabulous. Disturbing videos leave me…disturbed. Lynn
I love the photos. “I can feel a change happening—the cataclysmic burst of my synapses learning something new (something damaging?) about adulthood, about the meaning of meaning. But words fail me.” It always amazes me when people articulate things I feel so clearly. It’s not that I don’t think I have the ability, but when it comes from a different perspective it pierces through all my self-obsession and over-analyzing of myself. While words are my primary choice of communication, music has some inexplicable and unattainable quality at which I can only express awe. I remember listening to Robbie Williams’ Feel for the first time and wanting to track him down and…I don’t know. Tell him I get it. Have you heard of string theory? I always get it slightly wrong when I explain it, but here goes. Everything we think of as particles are really musical notes coming from a universal guitar string. The nature of each particle is determined by how the string is plucked, just like notes. So humans, rather than being complex combinations of molecules, are more like songs. I like to think I think in song. Not like a Broadway musical, but in a way that kind of turns of my word making and sentence structuring ability and lets experience and emotion flow through me like melody.
Dang it. My html skills suck. That string theory link didn’t work. And since posting twice seems to be required for this entry, I can use post number two to give you the string theory address: http://superstringtheory.com/. I know you were all probably tearing your hair out at the possibility of not being able to read about advanced physics, but you can stop worrying. The link is here.
I am a much more visual person but I also feel a narrative is necessary in order for me to be completely understood. When I finish a painting and it’s hung I always wish I could put a placard next to it explaining exactly what I was thinking and why I created what I did. I think that’s what you did in the above post. You were feeling pictoral yet felt the need to explain at the same time. The Cure seems an appropriate music choice considering your mindset. Hope you’re feeling verbal again soon