The drive back

Well the day is closing. Going out on the glass bottom boat was different than what I had expected. Maybe it was due to the excessive amount of plankton in the water as the crew suggested or due to the wind that has been blowing from the east for the last several days churning up the bottom, however the visibility was on the poor side. I also think that I have been spoiled since being in Pohnpei I has 100 plus feet of clear visibility. But it was fun nonetheless.

On a more successful note I also made it a point to have some key lime pie that was made with key limes from the keys.... Mmmm Mmmm good.

Well the drive back to the main land was also good. Saw a pair of key deer, a guy reeling in a bone fish, several new birds. All in all a good drive. Well time to roll in. Just a few more hours left down here so I think I am going to wake up early and do some birding before the flight back home.

Key West.....

Its been a while since I got on here and blurted my brains out. Much has happened. Well since I am sure to not remember everything let me start going backwards. Right now I am sitting in a hotel room in Key West. Looking out the window the sun is shining and the weather forecast is predicting it to be in the 70's yum... I've been in florida for the last couple days and had the opportunity to visit the everglades and walk down south beach in Miami. 

Last quarter was a blast. I got to teach my first college class as the main teacher... which might explain the lack of time to spend drooling brain. Well maybe I was also being a bit lazy... I guess this trip and being down in the Keys is a good way to finish off my lazy phase. 

I had not been photographing much over the last few months. One because I have been quite occupied with work and school and two its been a little on the cold side which is not my cup of tea. But I guess its another day and adventure awaits, so maybe I will have a longer and more detailed description of the day tonight... till then... enjoy what sun you may have and if the clouds come by then remember the sun and let the thought of it keep your heart warm till the real deal can cover you with golden goodness.

What's been going on...

Its been a few days since I have had the time to post here. This is not because I have not had anything to post, more so because I have been very busy this week that I have not had the time to post. And while one might say... it only takes but a few minuets to put something up I must confess that the posting of blogs has become an activity that requires time to think and relax. 

Well having the disclaimer out there... over the past several days I have been quite active at the college in both personal projects as well as those related to classes. One activity, the photo shoot of last weekend, has to a small extent extended into the week worming its way into my time with minor clamor for attention. I have been able to edit a couple images and fine tune them and have posted them on my Deviant Art site. 

In addition to this I would also like to share with you a web-casted presentation that is of interest to me and possibly might catch your attention as well. This presentation which deals with the topic of Environmental Stewardship from a Christian perspective.

Igniting the creative spark

During the past several days, nay weeks since I was last here pouring out my thoughts I have had the opportunity to view some remarkable works of art and creativity. Some of the projects are available for your viewing pleasure on the internet. 

The first such site which I discovered not more than a few hours ago is a flash site dedicated to the painter Jackson Pollock who was born on this day many years ago. This site of his name is an interactive application that allows one to create art imitating the use of gravity and the viscous nature of paint in a very un-messy yet still creative digital medium.

The other links that I would like to share with you are found on the Youtube site and include a fascinating song compilation of street musicians performing the same song.

And the last link of the night is another Youtube video of painting with light and stop-motion photography/video creativeness.

Hope you enjoy as I did and find your creative spark ignited.

Weekend

Its a good thing that we have weekends to break up the monotony and stress of the week. I have to confess however that sometimes the weekend is as or more busy that the week its self however on the whole its a different kind of busy and thats good.

The weather here in the valley has been its usual grey overcast and has gone back to being cold. Makes me long for the warm days of summer even more and look forward to the spring when the sun will be out on a more consistent frequency. Till then think warm thoughts....

Inspired by cut grass.

This afternoon as I stood outside enjoying the balmy weather that the Chinook wind was bringing the valley and enjoying a moment of conversation with a colleague I was regaled with the sound of a gasoline lawn mower. As I looked towards the sound I saw a gentleman in the distance mowing a patch of grass no larger than my living room. This grass which had withstood the crushing grip of a couple feet of snow, locked in its icy cocoon without the light of day was freed from this only to be cut down as it raised its blades to the bright and warming sun that was shining today. 

I was recently listening to a talk by Michael Pollan on the Ted Talks site. While his talk had a distinctive Darwinistic twist to which I cant say I give much credence to I was nevertheless fascinated by his overall idea that we humans though we think of our selves as the king of the hill, top dog in the pound and such similar titles we may indeed be just being led along by the lowly grass, corn... other more intelligent ones.

Among other things though this brief encounter of sound and sight took me down memory lane it also inspired me to go out and spend some time further exploring my environment through the eye of the camera and see what other interesting encounters I might find.

How things are shaping up...

Well so far 2009 seems to going well. After some trepidation my first class went without any problems and I am actually enjoying the challenge of teaching an entire class on my own. Now with that under my belt it is the long run, the pacing of myself to continue passing on what I have gathered over the past several years to people eager to learn. 

On a completely different topic I had a funny event happen to myself that gave me pause. Not having my own class schedule on hand I had the opportunity to sit through a class introduction with the nagging feeling that I was in the wrong place... well I guess my gut is a pretty good indicator because I was in fact in the wrong place. It happens to be that the class I was supposed to be enrolled in was actually the next hour. However is was in the same room and taught by the same teacher. When he saw me in the class and was going over the class roster he called my name thinking that I just had not finished my registration and was attending the class till I got my paperwork in and I having heard my name during the roll call told my self that the feeling my gut was telling me that I was in the wrong place must be just first day of school jitters... after all my name was called in the roll call.

It all goes to show that sometimes it pays to double check however it is also good to be able to sit back and enjoy ones own goofs... Lucky for me I had not missed any other class that I was supposed to be in because that hour happened to be the one hour that I had all day without a class or work scheduled... I guess I needed to hear a syllabus read to me and the feel of being part of a class.