Long Live Love

Donald Lorenzo Phillips
April 24, 1982 - May 31, 1998

Long live love, long live love, long live love
Long live love, long live love, long live love

Why do people fight?
They know it isn't right
When will the hate be gone?
Get some brotherhood
In your neighborhood
Let love go marching on

Long live love, long live love, long live love
Long live love, long live love, long live love

Down with dirty names
Up with fun and games
Make the world a happy thing
There's no better place
For the human race
Let's everybody sing

Long live love, long live love, long live love
Long live love, long live love, long live love

If everyone would start
To do their little part
A lotta good it sure would do
So when we pass the plate around
Let benevolence abound
And brother, that means you

Long live love, long live love, long live love
Long live love, long live love, long live love

By Aaron Schroeder, George Coehring and Bobby Ronda
Copyright Dandy Dittys, 200 West 51st St, NY, Y 10019 (212) 582-8995

Gathering light

" The thing about light is that it really isn't yours: it's what you gather and shine back. And it gets more power from reflectiveness; if you sit still and take it in, it fills your cup, and then you can give it off yourself." Anne LaMott quoting her dad in Traveling Mercies.
Check out Paula's reflections. This is a picture I took at the botanical gardens on my birthday outing. One jellyfish tank reflecting the other. A place to gather light and reflect.

A rose by any other name

Would be as sweet and still smell the same... It's a cold, gloomy sorta kinda rainy day here in ABQ so I am concentrating on these instead. Happy Thursday.

More toy photos

Really love the new toy and the simple fixes in Picasa.

Playing Tourist in my own town

Thought about having my fortune told but wasn't sure if I would get a fortune or a spear
Found a Rt. 66 horse
Encountered a few deities...don't ya love the gang sign in front of Jesus?
Located a secret chapel in the middle of Old Town.. well, secret to me anyway!
Found magic paths to follow

Stopped to smell the flowering trees
Paid tribute to Freida

I had such a lovely day yesterday. I probably will have to consult a thesaurus more than once in this post to find more adjectives since I thought everything was so wonderful.

I walked through Old Town like a tourist and found a magical path and followed it to the Albuquerque Museum It's free on Sunday mornings for residents! What a deal. I hadn't really been keeping track of what was there (been kind busy and/or out of pocket lately ya know) so I was pleasantly surprised to find a fabulous photography exhibit there, a retrospective of Bill Brandt's work. It was so amazing and wonderful and touching and really, really good. All of his photography were done using a “big, old wooden Kodak” that he found in a junk shop in London. He was a student of Man Ray, among others, and loved using what ever it took to get the image he wanted including retouching and collage.

His work was amazing but a bigger surprise was the Focus on Youth exhibit from the Albuquerque Public Schools. I was so astounded by the incredible work from high school kids. They think more out of the box, aren't as bound by rules and regulations, etc and have really good teachers. Some of these photos could compete with Bill Brandt's. Most of the work was framed in simple silver frames, of the same size, with bright white mats and then this wonderful photography. There were some Artist Photography books that were basically altered books/journals of photographs and one magnificent floor to ceiling cyanotype on fabric as well. A special category for digital and one for special techniques added to the variety. Even the simple black and white photography was amazing but really, there was nothing simple about it. One that caught my eye was a self portrait that was framed in box like a window that opened and transparencies of other self portraits were the window panes. Many were taken in our beloved Rail Yard.

An additional unexpected surprise was the work of Douglas Kent Hall, another photographer. His La Frontera series is a treat for the eyes as well as the heart. It's all about boarder crossings between Mexico and the US. He has made the crossing in many different ways including crossing with illegal immigrants through cut fences and from a helicopter. But the real treat was the assemblage frames. The photographs were mounted and then displayed in wooden boxes, like produce boxes, that had been painted in bright colors, topped with a piece of barb wire, some milagros or other charms and a saint or two. Thought provoking and beautiful.

Hope you all had a great Sunday/Mother's Day too!

This post has nothing to do with the photo

I read with interest yesterday an article by Mary Otto of the Washington Post in our Sunday paper. I was intrigued because the headline (is that what you call them if they are not on the front page?) was Civilization Craving Civility. How you could pass that up? I just spent 2 weeks in a strange hospital environment with people forced to be together that would never in a million years think to seek each other out. Waiting rooms and hallways and even the cafeteria. I saw lots of opportunities for civility that went by the way side. And after my experience up close and personal with so much of humanity in a concentrated space and time at the State Fair last fall, I am very aware of the lack of civility in my community. And the apparent lack of concern that there is no civility.

So I read on to find out that a professor at Johns Hopkins, Pier Massimo Forni, has written a book called “Choosing Civility: The Twenty-Five Rules of Considerate Conduct.” Well, there's the problem. 25 rules? I thought that the sign we found on the wall in a bar in Texas years ago pretty much covered everything. It said “Be Nice or Leave.” But no, it seems there are 25 rules to being nice. I read on.

The rules are good,I thought, nothing too hard or should I say shouldn't be too hard. (1.) Pay attention. I like that one. It seems important to pay attention to where you are (like the guy who forgot he was on the bus and spit on the floor argh!!!) and who you are with and what they are saying( or in my case who the email is going to...) But some of the rules I have a little trouble understanding in the grand scheme of things. (17.) Assert yourself. I need more explanation with this one, especially since #18 is Avoid personal questions.

I do need to read the book, but from just the list, it seems like civility is reserved for strangers and not close personal friends. Aren't we supposed to be civil to our friends? Many could apply to friendships, but how do you make grow a friendship if you follow (12.) Be agreeable (always? Too hard for me) or (23.) Accept and give constructive criticism. You can do that with someone you can't ask personal questions of and must be agreeable around? I don't have that skill at all. So how do you do that? Be agreeable and try to work through differences? Try to be assertive and still be agreeable. I think I really have a problem with that be agreeable one, huh? He does say he is a “flawed messenger bearing a good message.” I respect him for that and will try to read the book. Maybe I should carry them around for awhile and pay attention to how I act around both strangers and my friends before I give constructive criticism to the author? I still think “Be Nice or Leave” pretty much covers it.

PS: the photo? My first attempt with my new toy, a Pop 9 lomography camera I bought in Denver is a fit of retail therapy.