civilized ku # 2639-42 / diptych # 56-57 ~ seasonal offerings

The Grinch ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
PBS Downton Abbey Season 4 Premier Dinner ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
Starving Artist Sale / Bluseed Studios ~ Saranac Lake, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
Instruments / Bluseed Studios ~ Saranac Lake, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
Spuyten Duyvil / Bluseed Studios ~ Saranac Lake, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
Candlelight dinner ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggenIt's that time of year which is jammed up with parties / gatherings / events (a few pictured herein), some of which are mandatory - the wife's on a zillion organization boards - some of which are voluntary, some of which are fun, some of which not so much. But like the trooper and all-around swell arm-candy guy / husband I am, I soldier on.

pictures + words project ~ picture 8 / words g

picture 8 • click to embiggen
words g • click to embiggen

Thoughts. Ideas. Synaptic pings reflected from the gravity-free weight of a thousand days and nights, whistling by the graveyard on threadbare treads of lost wisdom. Free association obstructed and obfuscated beneath the digital-noise whine, unrelentingly crashing and breaking on the extracranial barriers of prejudice and assumption. Convoluted contradiction competing with the light and darkness for attention and adulation. Never ending, always working. Never ending, always working. Restless thoughts and vague ideas.

civilized ku # 2637-8 ~ who the hell really knows

Former residence - 1513 Fleck Street ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
St. Anthony's Chapel ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggenLast week while in Pittsburgh, the wife, the daughter, and I took time to visit our former residence / neighborhood on Troy Hill. During our neighborthood walkabout we also stopped in St. Anthony's Chapel. Stepping into the relatively small neighborhood church is like entering into a very strange world inasmuch as the church contains the largest public collection of relics in the world - over 5000 relics and only the Vatican in Rome has more relics.

For those not in the know, relic means "remains." Relics are venerated on the premise of "beneficent contagion" in which the supernatural graces received by a Saint do not die with him but remain in the body after death and can be received by those who come into close proximity with the "eyes of faith." GOD’s work was done through the lives of the Saint's and so His work will continue after their deaths, if GOD wills it. Or so many believe.

Relics come in 3 classifications - 1st Class - Typically remains from the Passion of our Lord, Jesus Christ or a bodily remain of a Saint. 2nd Class - Any item or possession of a Saint (i.e. Prayer Book, Rosary Beads, Vestments...) 3rd Class - Typically a piece of cloth that comes in contact with a 1st or 2nd class relic - and St Anthony's is repeat with all 3 types.

Most notable amongst the collection are 5 relics consisting of 5 splinters from the "true cross" on which Jesus was crucified. The non-believer / Doubting Thomas in me believes that, if all the splinters of the "true cross" were to be gathered together, one just might be able to build a decent sized house or two using just the splinters. But, then again, who am I to judge.

My picture was made from the very rear of the chapel and the group on the right was venerating a tooth from St. Anthony which was on view in a reliquary / monstrance in the tabernacle under the statue of St. Anthony. FYI, a heavenly host of reliquary/monstrance(s) can be seen behind the main altar in the center of the picture.

If interested, click to learn more about St. Anthony's Chapel.

civilized ku # 2636 ~ making art

Making art in the cold ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggenMet a painter making art in Pittsburgh. It was cold. So we talked about making art gear. In this case, the thinnest yet warm gloves to use when making art in the cold.

civilized ku # 2533-35 ~ history/memories

Twas the night before turkey and all through the house, expectation was stirring and no one got soused ... ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
Turkey ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
Post turkey ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen

Memory demands an image. ~ Bertrand Arthur William Russell

The difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for jewels: it is always the false ones that look the most real, the most brilliant. ~ Salvador Dali

civilized ku # 2532 ~ be and wannabe

The wife + the daughter ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggenThe wife's a lawyer and the daughter's a wannabe. The daughter is in lawyer school studying to be one.

It's the present and the future all in one picture.

Update on Wednesday, December 4, 2013 at 10:38AM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment: Peter Nilsson wrote: "I suddenly noticed - no black border, very subtle vignette...? Personally I prefer the cleaner look, but find it interesting that the reduced vignette still focuses my attention on the image.

my response: when I post pictures while I am away from home, the pictures are processed on my iPad which does not allow me to do my "normal" thing. The border and vignette thing are so ingrained into my processing procedure and, I might add, how I see my finished work, I might not be able to change it even if I tried.

civilized ku # 2627-31 ~ out of town

Blooms Cigar store ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
Santa Baby ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
Pastrami + cheese + fries + cole slaw / Primanti Bros. ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
Sid the Kid speaks to the faithful ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
Pre-game warmups / Pittsburgh Penguins ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggenWednesday in the Burg: a procurement visit to Blooms, a walk down East Carson, lunch at Primanti Bros., and a Penguin game (300th consecutive sellout) with Hugo. A good day. Thursday (today)in the Burg, it's turkey day with the wife, the son (Cinemascapist), his the wife, Hugo, Jimmi Nuffin, and the daughter who is in law school at Dusquesne University here in Pittsburgh. Another good day. Pictures tomorrow.

civilized ku # 2626 ~ look, see, and react - throw caution to the wind

Transformer ~ Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggenJason Landry, when asked: If you were advising a young photographer today, what would your words of wisdom be? His answer, in an interview on LENSCRATCH, was:

Stop worrying about the nature, design or qualifications of your equipment. Master your equipment so you know how to get the shot you want, but above all, search for the reason to be taking pictures. Why are you taking pictures? Why do we shoot pictures? ... You must master your craft and then put it aside and concentrate on the more difficult aspect of the work. What is it that you want to do with that craft? What do you want to express? What do you want to explore? What do you want to find out? What do you want to present to people? Those are the issues that you have to search for.

IMO, when searching for those issues, one must throw cautions / fears to the winds and start making pictures of what is in front of you - just look, see, and react. Do so with an open mind - dismissing all thoughts of what is or is not a "proper" subject for picture making - and the answers to all of Landry's questions surely will follow.