A Guy, a Computer, and Entirely Too Much Caffeine
Friday, 2 August • Return of the Prodigal Blogger
OK, I'm back now, trying hard to look fashionably late. Actually, I tip my cap to you for your patience; the grumbling was barely audible. ; ) Tell you what. Next time I shirk my blogging duties, I'll fix you up with the music we all enjoy hearing while holding for "the next available agent." You know, something like John Tesh's tribute to Yanni, or the Boston Pops cover of R.E.M.'s greatest hits. Because hey, that's what customer service is all about, here at A Boy & His Blog: always thinking of you, the reader--even when we're busy ignoring you.
This past week, while playing hooky from the keyboard, I did manage to get out and about, sometimes with camera in hand. As a result, I ended up with several shots for the Mirror Project. And what's the Mirror Project, you ask? Possibly a project of some kind? One involving mirrors, perhaps? Well...yes, as a matter of fact. Or, put another way, it's an online gallery of photo self-portraits, all taken in reflective surfaces of every imaginable sort. The Mirror Project encourages people to get creative and submit their own pictures, and so far hundreds have responded. To contribute a photo yourself, or simply to browse through the images already there, you can check them out here.
Thanks to the kindness of a family visiting from Nigeria, I was able to borrow some mylar balloons for reflective picture-taking at Kansas City's Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Their sculpture garden features, among other installations, a number of Henry Moore's bronzes of reclining figures. One such statue lent itself to the photo below, with the reflection of Yours Truly caught in a balloon. (For once it doesn't matter if I blinked.)
Mirror Project upload: in the embrace of Moore's Reclining Nude No. 4(For luminous beauty in metal, can anything match the warm patina of weathered bronze?)
Despite major renovation underway at the Nelson, it's still a popular spot for people from Midtown and the Plaza at lunchtime, for those lucky enough to have an extended break from work at other times, and for Art Institute students and tourists throughout the day. With that much traffic, and since I was already there, it seemed a perfect place to release a book as part of the growing BookCrossing movement.
As it happens, earlier I'd found myself with two extra copies of Milan Kundera's The Joke. Now, while it's normally true that you can't have enough Kundera, I decided one of them would make a good candidate for release. So, having already registered the book with BookCrossing.com, and having bagged it up (in case it had to spend the night outdoors), I left it on a bench for someone to find and adopt. A unique way to share books with others, and just plain fun, too.
Take me--I'm yours!
A word of sincere thanks for the nice email from some new friends in Berlin. It's hard to know how many readers A Boy & His Blog can count, or who you are, so it's always a treat to get feedback. It doesn't have to be as generously complimentary as the recent note from Stefan, Anna, and Peter...but then I'm hardly going to object, either, am I? Obviously darned good incentive for me to keep the fingers limbered up and blogging, too.
Thought we might get around to movies today, including the new, definitive restoration of Lang's "Metropolis," "Thirteen Conversations About One Thing," and "The Fast Runner"...but it looks like I've run out of time. We'll save it for the next post then, shall we?
I hate to blog and run, but alas, work beckons. Take care; toodles for now.
Thought for the Day:
"When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout."
-- Robert Heinlein
Posted by Spiffy Knickers - 11:40 A.M.
The Archives • The Perpetrator
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©2002 Jerry Armstrong
