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the dawning of the light, volume 4

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{a photo project honoring radiance, one of my words for 2012 :: 52 photos that represent radiance, 52 photos that represent luminosity.}

apparently i am taking nothing but photos of radiance these days, because i had a number of sets of radiance photos to choose from.

i picked these photos - from one particular set - because they aligned so well with my reason for choosing radiance and with what i am working on.

radiance is a patch of mud.

luminosity is a mud puddle.

really. is that not too perfect for words?

Posted on 01/28/2012 in a nearsighted perspective, in and around portland, my word for the year, photography | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

lost lake

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see. it doesn't have to snow this winter. i've already seen snow.

i saw snow last may when my sister helen and atlas and i went to lost lake and found ourselves driving through snow to get there. it was a warm day in portland and i thought hiking around a lake would be a great way to cool off.

we arrived at the lost lake campground - ready for a picnic and a hike around the lake - only to discover that it was chilly and snow-covered and the trail was mostly inaccessible. apparently they had plowed the road in order to open the campground for the year only a few hours before we arrived.

(i commented on how surprised i was to run into snow and helen said, "didn't you see the line in the guidebook where it said alpine lake?" apparently i did not. i was wearing shorts and sandals. let's just say that hiking in snow in sandals is not for the faint of feet.)

chill aside, lost lake has a lovely view of mount hood.

Posted on 01/26/2012 in pacific northwest, photography | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

overheard in my house

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"oh, atlas, you're so cute when you smell things."

Posted on 01/25/2012 in b&w, daily life, in and around portland, iphoneography, my atlas pup, photography, weimaraner wednesday | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

random quirks

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i like to dunk cookies in my soup, especially oatmeal raisin cookies. i think this started years ago during a period when i was buying my lunch in the cafeteria. i usually got a cup of soup and an oatmeal raisin cookie. i'd eat the cookie first, to give the soup time to cool, and dip the cookie into the soup a few times to check the temperature. it turns out that soup plus cookie is awfully tasty, so it stuck. (i would just like to say, for the record, that cookies are practically like bread, and most everyone likes soup plus bread.)

i only cut nine nails at a time; i always leave one thumbnail uncut. once i finally had fingernails again - after reiki helped me stop chewing my nails in my sleep - it seemed like every single time i would cut my nails, something would happen almost immediately that would make me wish i hadn't cut my nails. i would need them for something and they would be gone. to solve this problem, i started leaving one thumbnail uncut. whenever i cut my nails now, i just cut the thumbnail that is longer. it is such a handy practice. feel free to adopt it yourself.

when left to my own devices, i am a very strange movie watcher. first, i watch the beginning, maybe a chapter or two. then, i watch the ending, to make sure everything is going to be ok. then, i back up a chapter and watch to the beginning of the ending (because i have to know how they got to that ending!). then, i back up yet another chapter. then, i do this a few more times (though sometimes i'll back up two or three chapters instead of just one). sometimes, i watch the entire movie backwards. sometimes, i'll watch half of it backwards and then go back to where i left off in the beginning and watch the other half of it normally. sometimes, if it seems like the movie might be a little intense, i will look it up on wikipedia and read the entire synopsis so that i know exactly what happens (i love wikipedia for just this purpose) and then watch it in my usual unorthodox fashion. this particular habit got started because, for lack of a better way to explain this, i am sensitive to what happens in movies. i think this helps keep things at a distance. however, i will confess that it's gotten to the point where i watch most movies this way. it's probably a good thing i am not friends with any movie directors, because i feel sure they would not approve. (also, yay for dvds, without which i could not have started this practice at all!)

if you have any quirks you'd like to share, i'd love to hear them, because i say hurrah! for all the things that make us us.

Posted on 01/24/2012 in daily life, in and around portland, iphoneography, photography | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

this and that

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i can't quite put my finger on why, but i really really like this photo.

remember my year of trust? well, erin at vulnerable pulp is looking for trust this year. i loved seeing her first glimpse of it.

it turns out that ice skating is like riding a bike and also not at all like riding a bike, at least when you haven't skated in ten or so years. as in, you might not fall, but you might not be able to do much more than remain on your feet either. the ice is a slippery place, and those blades are awfully thin.

atlas is getting up at least twice a night for potty breaks lately. it might be just a habit, but i cannot figure out how to change it. sometimes i wonder why i thought i would die of sleep-deprivation if i ever had children. when i think about it, i've been somewhat sleep-deprived ever since i got atlas - over eight years ago - and clearly i'm still functioning. i might not be at peak performance, but i'm definitely functioning.

i stumbled upon a website for someone who creates digital mandalas and i cannot stop watching the mandala movies. watching each mandalas morph and dance and transform is quite possibly the most mesmerizing thing i have ever seen.

how are you? what is going on in your world today?

Posted on 01/23/2012 in a nearsighted perspective, daily life, inspired by, link love, photography | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

the dawning of the light, volume 3

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{a photo project honoring radiance, one of my words for 2012 :: 52 photos that represent radiance, 52 photos that represent luminosity.}

i keep trying to write a post about the darker side of radiance - the things that have come up for attention since i invoked the power of radiance - but it. is. just. not. flowing. it feels sluggish and heavy and dark.

sluggish and heavy and dark is rather how it feels to work on all of this at times, but the thing that saves me is my sense of humor and my fascination with how my mind works, so the energy of this particular post is all wrong and i cannot publish it.

instead, here is a quick list of things i have learned this month. as i write each one down, i am sending the underlying pattern love and giving it permission to exist. and i am also giving myself permission to be glad that most of them are on their way out.

  • it doesn't really matter what nice things people say about you, unless you believe them yourself.
  • voices that are older and more familiar, even if they are mean and hurtful, are easier to believe.
  • even if i believe i am worthy now, old patterns that are based on the (now faulty) premise that i am unworthy need to come up for attention so i can look at them with fresh eyes.
  • i am very good at projecting my own beliefs about myself onto the people in my relationships, which is why i am always waiting for the moment when they leave.
  • of course it is hard for me to be vulnerable and to tell people how wonderful i think they are and how much i care about them if i am waiting for them to leave.
  • my identity for 30 plus years has been based on the belief that i am unworthy. by invoking radiance, i am asking for my entire identity to shift. i sort of missed this part.
  • practicing vulnerability in relationships is hard and important and very worth it.
  • goodness, or the anticipation of goodness, can be scary too.

om shanti shanti shanti.

Posted on 01/21/2012 in a nearsighted perspective, in and around portland, musings, my word for the year, photography | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

oh, serendipity

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it occurs to me that if one is invoking the spirit of serendipity because they are hoping it will cause one specific explicit particular exact precise thing to happen that day, they might, in fact, be missing the whole point of serendipity.

and by one, of course, i mean me.

Posted on 01/19/2012 in a nearsighted perspective, daily life, in and around portland, photography | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)

if i were going to write a dog book

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last tuesday night, i hopped into bed and pulled the covers up to my chin.

the sheets get a little messy during the day, what with atlas hopping on and off and on and off the bed, so i used my hands to smooth them out around me.

i felt something hard and round.

i squeezed the hard round thing between my fingers. it was cold (and hard and round) so i figured it was a rock. i wondered why there was a not particularly tiny rock in my bed, but i got out of bed so i could throw it away.

it was not a rock.

it was a hard round cold ball of dog poop.

that is the first thing people do not tell you about having a dog.

the second thing people do not tell you about having a dog is that after years of living with one, this won't even phase you.

you will look rather bemusedly at it (why exactly is there dog poop in my bed? how did it get under my covers?), chuckle at the dog and tell him he's a silly goose, and carry the poop into the bathroom and throw it in the garbage.

then, you will wash your hands three times and go back to bed.

in the morning, you'll wash your bedding, though in all honesty, you won't be sure whether you aren't only washing it because washing the bedding was already on your list of things to do on wednesday.

seriously.

if i were going to write a dog book, this is the dog book i'd want to write: "the things no one tells you about having a dog (& if they did, you wouldn't believe them anyway)".

Posted on 01/17/2012 in daily life, iphoneography, my atlas pup, photography, weimaraner wednesday | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

red is for the rosy blush of surprise

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it was such fun offering postcards the other week that i decided to do something similar for cards. i know, you could just pop over to my etsy shop and buy them, but this seems easier and - in this moment - more fun.

besides, there might be other people who are like me and just wrote a year's worth of birthdays in their 2012 calendar and subsequently realized that they might, in fact, be slightly behind already. (though in all honesty, i like to send cards belatedly. it makes them even more unexpected.)

$17 gets you 6 {happy surprise} cards. shipping is included. (if you want to see some examples, you can pop over to the shop.)

if the offer speaks to you and the timing is right, just click the rosy red button.

yay! more mailbox goodness!

sunday update: i removed the buttons because this round is done! yay! thank you!

Posted on 01/15/2012 in news & announcements, photography | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

the dawning of the light, volume 2

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{a photo project honoring radiance, one of my words for 2012 :: 52 photos that represent radiance, 52 photos that represent luminosity.}

you know what's funny? i spent part of a sunny afternoon taking pictures specifically for this project and the photo for radiance is not one of those photos.

i hung a crystal in my window this week to reflect the winter sunlight around the living room and i was taking photos of that for my project. when i was done, i took a few photos of the daisy just for fun.

when i went through my photos to find the perfect crystal photo, this daisy photo raised its hand and said, "me, me, me!" it turns out it was absolutely perfect.

Posted on 01/14/2012 in my word for the year, photography | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

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