BirchLane.net
February 2006
(COMPUTER CRASHED Thursday night. I lost all e-mails & addresses)
Tuesday 28
You have to take risks, he said. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.
Every day, God gives us the sun -- and also one moment in which we have the ability to change everything that makes us unhappy. Every day, we try to pretend that we haven't perceived that moment, that it doesn't exist -- that today is the same as yesterday and will be the same as tomorrow. But if people really pay attention to their everyday lives, they will discover that magic moment. It may arrive in the instant when we are doing something mundane, like putting our front-door key in the lock; it may lie hidden in the quiet that follows the lunch hour or in the thousand and one things that all seem the same to us. But that moment exists -- a moment when all the power of the stars becomes a part of us and enables us to perform miracles.
Joy is sometimes a blessing, but it is often a conquest. Our magic moment helps us to change and sends us off in search of our dreams. Yes, we are going to suffer, we will have difficult times, and we will experience many disappointments -- but all of this is transitory; it leaves no permanent mark. And one day we will look back with pride and faith at the journey we have taken.
Pitiful is the person who is afraid of taking risks. Perhaps this person will never be disappointed or disillusioned; perhaps she won't suffer the way people do when they have a dream to follow. But when that person looks back -- and at some point everyone looks back -- she will hear her heart saying, "What have you done with the miracles that God planted in your days? What have you done with the talents God bestowed on you? You buried yourself in a cave because you were fearful of losing those talents. So this is your heritage: the certainty that you wasted your life."
Pitiful are the people who must realize this. Because when they are finally able to believe in miracles, their life's magic moments will have already passed them by.
-- "By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept," by Paulo Coelho --Monday 27
235 Photos.
Sunday 26
Before Sunset.
Saturday 25
Before Sunrise.
Friday 24
Treydon's.
Thursday 23
Kayla.
Wednesday 22
Back to Boston.
Tuesday 21
Northeastern.
Monday 20
A photographer friend reports:
Some good news for photobloggers and fans of street photography: a Manhattan judge has ruled photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia was well within his rights to sell copies of this photograph of an Orthodox gentleman. The shot was taken as part of diCorcia's "Heads" project, which involved shooting pictures using a concealed camera. The Post reports: LINK ...Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Judith Gische ruled that the head shot showing Nussenzweig, with a white beard, a black hat and a black coat, is art — even though the photographer took it surreptitiously near Times Square in 2001 and then sold 10 prints of it at $20,000 to $30,000 each...
...New York's right-to-privacy laws prohibit the use of someone's likeness for commercial purposes without the person's permission. But if the likeness is deemed to be art, the commerce restrictions do not apply.
This seems to reaffirm the right of photographers to take and sell pictures of people without getting signed waivers, as long as the purpose of the pictures is making art.Sunday 19
Saturday 18
Continued Working on Scanning Negatives.
Friday 17
Working On Project. But taking time to read notes friends send:
On my ceiling above my bed is a poem.. on a long poster...
Here are the words...
Love is like wildflowers.
It’s often found in the most unlikely places.
To get more out of life, give more of yourself.
Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb.
That’s where the fruit is.
You’ll learn more about a road by traveling it
than by consulting all the maps in the world.
When fate shuts a door, come in through the window.
No failure is ever final, nor is any success.
If you’re doing your best,
you won’t have time to worry about failure.
Dreams come true for those who work while they dream.
No one is guaranteed happiness,
life just gives us time and space.
It’s up to us to fill it with joy and meaning.
Do for others with no desire of returned favors.
We all should plant some trees we’ll never sit under.
True wealth is what you are, not what you have.
Almost all of our unhappiness is the result of comparing ourselves to others.
We can’t do much about our appearance, but we have total control over the kind of person we become.
To change everything, simply change your attitude.
Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.
Carrying a grudge is like a run in a stocking –
it can only get worse. Forgiveness is the answer.
When you remember how hard it is to change yourself,
you begin to understand what little chance we have of changing others.
Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers,
why not gather your own bouquet.
A friend is a person who knows all about you
but likes you anyway.
Friends are like a beautiful garden.
They require regular care.
The people on our planet are not standing in a line single file.
Look closely, everyone is really standing in a circle, holding hands. Whatever you can give to the person standing next to you, it eventually comes back to you.
Today, give a stranger one of your smiles,
it might be the only sunshine they see all day.Driving into Northampton today; Edwards Church:
And back at the mountain:
Thursday 16
Working on Slide Show. I am exhausted: after a scanner malfunction and then time at the Epson help page I still managed to scan 49 negatives today. I am thinking 300 images for the
sneak preview slide show of my book (with new-wave and punk rock music) would be fun; we'll keep the slides changing pretty fast. Anyhow, here is one I have to re-scan (there is a thin black line running through it; this was the malfunction).
In other news I also spent 20 minutes on the phone with someone at the Division of Employment Training. I found out I am not receiving my unemployment check this week because I did not sign up in time for a seminar on "how to find a job" and as the woman said "unemployment checks are not distributed on merit," but on bureaucratic rules that must be followed. Oh my God.
A friend sends me this:
~ Osho ~
Wednesday 15
Ballet. Tonight began, I hope, a series of Wednesday night movie screenings (maybe even poetry readings) at Dennis Luzuriaga's studio here in Eastworks. We watched some 1967 found family footage and some old DaDa/Surrealist movies, including Ballet Mechanique, which is included in an amazing 19 hour DVD collection called "Unseen Cinema Early American Avant-Garde Film 1894-1941." I was asked if I would show my Times Square images and I agreed; thus, I have a lot of scanning to do these next 10 days.
The slide show version of my book
Famous People Famous Places
(an unedited first preview)
Will be premiered (with music)
Wednesday, March 1, 2006
In Eastworks. Beer, Wine and Food
Will be served.
More details will be forthcoming.
Dada & Surrealist movies will also be shown.Tuesday 14
Overall. What was good about today was a message from an old friend who wrote:
Monday 13
Sundays with... The storm really didn't get too bad here yesterday . So Daryl 'n' Kiley and Danielle and Mike came over for dinner ( Roasted Chicken with a Maple Syrup glaze and a Beer Bath, Gently Cooked Broccoli in Virgin Olive Oil, Garlic, White Wine & Red Pepper Flakes, Sage Stuffing). It was Mike's birthday. He is 21. I gave him a BIG bottle of beer. And I bought a strawberry/rhubarb pie--and ice cream! And they brought Daisy over! And we watched the Olympics--snowboarding.
Angela arrived with Nadine in the early afternoon. It was a difficult moment for Angela and she was in tears but because she knows me she will be able to visit her cat, Nadine.
Later in the day:
Sunday 12
Snow. Early morning:
I went for a walk:
12:30
Saturday 11
Old Photos of Friends. I am devoting most of my time to scanning negatives for my book. When Betsy and I worked in New York City (she was a film editor and I was a writer and photographer) we regularly had dinner parties at our brownstone in Weehawken, New Jersey. Eight, ten, twelve people would take the Path Train from NYC and spend hours and hours
at our place: eating, drinking, smoking, talking, listening to music. The dinners were sometimes rather elaborate (as in 14 course Chinese dinners) and sometimes rather simple--the rule always
being one bottle of wine per person (The New York Times suggested this in an article). The woman looking at us was an actress. On the right is Maggie, the owner of Tin Pan Alley.
We share the same birthday.
Ann Weinstein (sp) on left--a writer. On right: Steve.
John and I celebrating our Walking Tour of Hoboken's Most Famous Establishments.
Friday 10
Nadine. The flyer on the bulletin board in my building:
Thinking about the approaching snow storm and taking photographs.
Thursday 09
My Job. My job is to continue to scan my negatives and share the images with my editor in New York City. Today I worked from 8--1, took a lunch break, and then worked from 1:30 to 5:00 on the images.
Wednesday 08
The Pond Changes.
Sonnet
I am in need of music that would flow
Over my fretful, feeling finger-tips,
Over my bitter-tainted, trembling lips,
With melody, deep, clear, and liquid-slow.
Oh, for the healing swaying, old and low,
Of some song sung to rest the tired dead,
A song to fall like water on my head,
And over quivering limbs, dream flushed to glow!
There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the sub aqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep.
~Elizabeth Bishop
~from The Complete Poems: 1937-1971
Tuesday 07
Matthew Jackson. I find Matthew's art very interesting; exhilarating--and if I still had an art gallery I might actually consider showing his work (the gallery was dedicated to promoting young women photographers). Matthew and I talked about having an exhibition of his work at Studio19 but I ran out of money, closed the gallery and moved.
Alfred Cove Artist Matthew Jackson examines the essence of innocence in his new exhibition, ‘But Wait!... There’s More’.
Matthew’s superbly crafted paintings manage to capture the innocence and vulnerability of Youth. As a consequence, viewing his art as adults, we are sublimely aware of the lack of innocence and vulnerability in adulthood, when the true nature of the world around us is revealed. Jackson invites us to take this ponderous journey with him.
His catch is the line complete with image of carrot, as seen in Fishing. Is the carrot the starting point of the piece or the end? What will the little boy catch with that, some hungry little bunnies one suspects? Following the line we find a boy, awkward, alone, on a sea of pink, focusing on his shadow or the end of his rod. Do boys exist in Pink, one asks? Mesmerized by the boy we are caught for a moment in nostalgia, this is further enhanced by the imprinted images of perfect teddies on a picture perfect blue background. In a wonderful way it calls into question the roles of boys and girls and the way that an individual can be exist surrounded by the two.
Fishing is a delightful piece of art and it is truly reflective of all of Jackson’s work. His work is a visual feast that creates an even better internal dialogue, within the viewer. Great art is defined by its ability to be visually and intellectually stimulating and this is great art. Jackson’s social and political commentary is evident, he is the thinking public’s artist, readily tackling the important issues of the modern age, innocence or lack thereof, gender issues, stereotyping, commercialization of imagery. It is all there, come and follow the line, But Wait!... There’s More.
Jackson graduated from Edith Cowan University in 2005. His last solo exhibition held at Elements Art Gallery in Subiaco (end of 2005) attracted a huge amount of attention with many of his works selling on opening night. Jackson is a prolific artist who has been collected nationally and internationally and who will continue to astound critics and audiences the world over.
Monday 06
Nature.
Sunday 05
Saturday 04
Driving with Darcia.
Friday 03
@8:00
@9:20
@5:00
Thursday 02
Question. Many people have asked me if I am going to put a photograph of myself in my book, which I am now thinking of calling Famous People Famous Places, Bruce Barone, Photographs of the Early Eighties (after Let Us Now Praise Famous Men). I hadn't though of it until I was asked the question. And do I put in one from the 80s or one from today? This is from the 80s--in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Wednesday 01
Insomnia.
in·som·ni·a noun Definitions: difficulty in sleeping: inability to fall asleep or to remain asleep long enough to feel rested, especially when this is a problem that continues over time
[Early 17th century. < Latin < insomnis "sleepless" < somnus "sleep"]
