Drawing while riding the light rail.
1/23/12
Never Miss An Opportunity
To be creative no matter where you are...
Drawing while riding the light rail.
Drawing while riding the light rail.
1/20/12
1/19/12
Beware The Spine Of Prickly Pear
It's deceptive and bears fruit and flowers...
Be aware of things in your surroundings that seem hostile but underneath the barbed exterior may serve as protection.
The prickly pear cactus with its paddle shaped pads that are actually branches and stems modified for desert living seems foreboding but has purpose as do most living things. Woe to that animal or human who disregards its self protection mechanism of spines. Like most plants and animals those spines are the products of a long history of adapting to its environment and serving as a defense against hostile forces.
This plant has functional purposes though within it to maintain itself but also is deceptively productive and serves several objectives. Although it looks unlikely it bears a fruit that is edible as well as the pad branches are a source of food. Acting as a host within its domain for other plants it serves as a fortress protecting them. It also is a water storage cistern to be used as a source for hydration as well as bears beautiful rose like flowers that enlighten the environment around it once a year. Pay attention and be aware of things in your surroundings that seem hostile but underneath the barbed exterior may serve as protection and as a source of ingenious resources.
Be aware of things in your surroundings that seem hostile but underneath the barbed exterior may serve as protection.
The prickly pear cactus with its paddle shaped pads that are actually branches and stems modified for desert living seems foreboding but has purpose as do most living things. Woe to that animal or human who disregards its self protection mechanism of spines. Like most plants and animals those spines are the products of a long history of adapting to its environment and serving as a defense against hostile forces.
1/18/12
My Stop SOPA Protest Support
Don't know what the SOPA and PIPA legislation is and what the fuss is about?
SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act and you can read "What is SOPA?" on Gizmodo's website and CNET News has ongoing coverage "SOPA bill draws fire." SOPA is a US Congressional House bill that has a counterpart in the US Senate called PIPA and PCWorld's article "SOPA and PIPA: Just the facts" provides an explanation of who and why are for or against the bills. Many well know websites used daily are "going dark" or protesting in some method today and WebProNews article "SOPA Blackout Set For January 18th: Here's All The Info" gives a list and explanation of sites participating.
My support for the protest is based on several objections. First and foremost it is the US Congress interfering with something they know nothing about, the internet and the World Wide Web and its infrastructure. They are attempting to interfere with the tradition of free exchange of information on what is now the primary method of communication on multiple levels and is a complex network with an infrastructure not easily altered for political ideologies. Especially since those political motives are promoted and funded by lobbying special interest groups of major media and entertainment corporations.
The magnificent thing about the internet is that it has allowed millions of people such as myself not only access to unprecedented information and ability to communicate but be able to become our own content providers. Content providers without contracts, controlled by conglomerates and censored by social groups and the political and bureaucratic classes. I am able to have my own small dedicated following of people who appreciate my creative endeavors and publish those works myself under protection of my name and Creative Commons licensing. No lawyers, agents, middlemen, exclusive distribution channel needed.
SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act and you can read "What is SOPA?" on Gizmodo's website and CNET News has ongoing coverage "SOPA bill draws fire." SOPA is a US Congressional House bill that has a counterpart in the US Senate called PIPA and PCWorld's article "SOPA and PIPA: Just the facts" provides an explanation of who and why are for or against the bills. Many well know websites used daily are "going dark" or protesting in some method today and WebProNews article "SOPA Blackout Set For January 18th: Here's All The Info" gives a list and explanation of sites participating.
My support for the protest is based on several objections. First and foremost it is the US Congress interfering with something they know nothing about, the internet and the World Wide Web and its infrastructure. They are attempting to interfere with the tradition of free exchange of information on what is now the primary method of communication on multiple levels and is a complex network with an infrastructure not easily altered for political ideologies. Especially since those political motives are promoted and funded by lobbying special interest groups of major media and entertainment corporations.
The magnificent thing about the internet is that it has allowed millions of people such as myself not only access to unprecedented information and ability to communicate but be able to become our own content providers. Content providers without contracts, controlled by conglomerates and censored by social groups and the political and bureaucratic classes. I am able to have my own small dedicated following of people who appreciate my creative endeavors and publish those works myself under protection of my name and Creative Commons licensing. No lawyers, agents, middlemen, exclusive distribution channel needed.
1/17/12
Central Corridor
Metro living on the grid plan...
Phoenix is like many western cities and streets are built on a square mile grid plan with a planned number design. The entire state as a matter of fact was laid out by the General Land Office under the Public Land Survey System with a system originally proposed by Thomas Jefferson. The system in integral to American history and lore including railroad line grants, use of the metric system, land grant schools and the phrase "forty acres and a mule." The grid street plan makes for easy traversing across and around the city. The Phoenix Light Rail System works its way around the plan primarily the Central and Camelback Corridors, Washington-Jefferson Street Corridor and Apache Boulevard as well as 19th Avenue until it is expanded.
The Phoenix metropolitan area is laid out based on an arterial grid with section lines using a meridian and baseline (hence Baseline Road) and is divided north and south by Washington Street and east and west by Central Avenue, known as the Central Corridor. The street numbering plan to a newcomer can be confusing at first until it's fixed in the mind that numbered streets (such as 24th Street) are east of Central Avenue and primary streets are even numbered while numbered avenues (for examples 19th Avenue) are on the west side of Central Avenue and the main avenues are odd numbered.
There are variations on the theme due to irregularities in terrain, surveying, historical and practical matters such as freeways and the canal system that provides water within the central portion of the original Phoenix metro and nearby outlying communities. Many of the east to west primary roads have become miles long corridors in their own right. Most of my life has been spent in the Camelback Corridor intersecting with either 32nd Street or the Central Corridor. The Valley of the Sun would be snarled like some east coast city if it wasn't for simple navigation with the application of grid blocks in the urban landscape.
Phoenix is like many western cities and streets are built on a square mile grid plan with a planned number design. The entire state as a matter of fact was laid out by the General Land Office under the Public Land Survey System with a system originally proposed by Thomas Jefferson. The system in integral to American history and lore including railroad line grants, use of the metric system, land grant schools and the phrase "forty acres and a mule." The grid street plan makes for easy traversing across and around the city. The Phoenix Light Rail System works its way around the plan primarily the Central and Camelback Corridors, Washington-Jefferson Street Corridor and Apache Boulevard as well as 19th Avenue until it is expanded.
There are variations on the theme due to irregularities in terrain, surveying, historical and practical matters such as freeways and the canal system that provides water within the central portion of the original Phoenix metro and nearby outlying communities. Many of the east to west primary roads have become miles long corridors in their own right. Most of my life has been spent in the Camelback Corridor intersecting with either 32nd Street or the Central Corridor. The Valley of the Sun would be snarled like some east coast city if it wasn't for simple navigation with the application of grid blocks in the urban landscape.
1/16/12
Black and White Make Gray
Not necessarily a blue mood...
Admittedly I would not like to live in a place that rains a lot, gray clouds are the norm and the landscape seemingly bleak. We've experienced gray clouds and rather stark skies this past weekend for desert country that is usually bright and clear. Some would say that the desert is austere and monochromatic but since I know where and how to look for the beauty and color I think not.
Therefore I tend to view a gray and bare day as a rare opportunity to explore how to make it have a life of its own and discover the hidden beauty in it. I'm supposing that people who live in that type of climate all the time and like it do the same thing as those of us who enjoy the desert do. As a matter of fact I've come to think that the real art in living and creative endeavors is not what strikes you right away. It is that which is subtle and the allure takes time to absorb its values that make it attractive.
In reality whether urban or rural the aesthetic must be sought since it rarely makes itself obvious immediately. Taking photographs in color is wonderful because color bursts out at you and makes itself known right away to be worked with. Working in black and white or with sepia and other forms of monochromatic pictures is another application of art of itself. Both are satisfying but the challenge is enhancing the beauty that is not quite so evident. The education is that this is a case of art imitating how to live life.
Admittedly I would not like to live in a place that rains a lot, gray clouds are the norm and the landscape seemingly bleak. We've experienced gray clouds and rather stark skies this past weekend for desert country that is usually bright and clear. Some would say that the desert is austere and monochromatic but since I know where and how to look for the beauty and color I think not.
In reality whether urban or rural the aesthetic must be sought since it rarely makes itself obvious immediately. Taking photographs in color is wonderful because color bursts out at you and makes itself known right away to be worked with. Working in black and white or with sepia and other forms of monochromatic pictures is another application of art of itself. Both are satisfying but the challenge is enhancing the beauty that is not quite so evident. The education is that this is a case of art imitating how to live life.
1/15/12
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