Items in: Art-Literature-Film

Items posted to this category relate primarily to creating, engaging, contemplating, and valuing creative cultural artifacts.

Across Iceland, you can find many, many local churches. Sometimes a church is close to a large home or farm, sometimes in a town. Others, like the one whose graveyard is pictured here, are between towns, situated among pastures and fields along a highway. The small churches being spread generously among the local communities, the cemeteries are not large, and the dates on the crosses and headstones may cover large […]

Icelandic Sunset over Graveyard

SHOP-BUY: Film & Photography
Across Iceland, there are many local churches with small cemeteries. Here were three wooden crosses, highlighted by the long sunset of late autumn in Iceland.
Croatia is rich with dramatic sunsets by the sea. Just off the coast, the mist around countless Adriatic islands and peninsulas catches the fading sun, casting a warm evening glow. The mountains tend to come straight down to the sea, so the coastal highway often sits several hundred feet above sea level and affords a high vantage point for taking in the sunset. Image Information Limited Edition Availability Open Edition […]

Adriatic Sunset over Slano, Croatia

SHOP-BUY: Film & Photography
Croatia is rich with dramatic sunsets by the sea. The country's many peninsulas catch mist and haze that glows as the sun goes down.
For 20 minutes in my backyard, I watched a serene bobcat relax under a bush by the grass, her eyes closed unless I made a sound — then after a few seconds, her eyes would again drift closed. She cared little about my presence, and I even had time to go back into the house and get my more powerful zoom lens. Suddenly, her ears perked up, her eyes flashed […]

Bobcat, with Purpose

SHOP-BUY: Film & Photography
Reclining under a bush in my suburban backyard, a bobcat leisurely took in the day, unconcerned about my camera. Then, something caught her attention and she was off like a shot.
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When the aurora borealis – the Northern Lights – are visible in Texas, they are most often reddish in color. This is due to a combination of factors including the altitude at which charged particles from the Sun interact with elements in Earth’s atmosphere. Sometimes, though, us Texans are able to see a bright glimpse of green lights, as in this image from October 2024. Image Information Limited Edition Availability […]

Northern Lights, Texas #1: Red & Green Near Wichita Falls

SHOP-BUY: Film & Photography
From Texas, one sees mostly reddish northern lights, but in October 2024, I was able to catch a rim of bright green lights.
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In October, 2024, an unusually strong geomagnetic storm made aurora borealis, the Northern Lights, visible from Texas. The night had a full moon, clouds, and thunderstorms – any one of which can make it a bad night for catching the Lights with a camera. Instead, it made for very nice shots like this one, where Texas put on its own light show beneath the clouds, and the clouds wore bright […]

Northern Lights, Texas #2: Double Light Show, Near Wichita Falls

SHOP-BUY: Film & Photography
When the Northern Lights came to Texas in October 2024, I was able to catch the aurora across the expanse of the Texas sky, along with a thunderstorm in the distance.
You said you would be back, and I long for it. So I wait. They said you would come in the same way as you came before. So I wait here, where people arrive from the air. You could not say, did not know, when you would return. So I wait long hours that blend one into another. Days. Years. I am learning to wait. And watch. I watch the […]

I Am Waiting #1

Digital Art
Beside an airport, over a lake, I long for a return. And I wait. And I watch the light. This is a digital art piece based in photography, paired with a short bit of prose.
I have not been to our old spot since you went away. I trust what you said, that you will come back, but by now it feels like the waters flow without me. I know you get the notes I send to you, but I wish it were possible for you to reply. I remember the things you told me, but I long to again hear your voice. Or maybe […]

We Will Meet Again #1

Digital Art
Welcome to the Brazilian rain forest. This is a digital art piece based in photography, paired with a short bit of prose.
Crossing Red Square, I heard two women, clearly mothers, agree that they wanted their children to be happy. The fathers, apparently, wanted the children to be high achievers and that would be fine, said the mothers, so long as. Just then, I tripped over nothing. This would not have been unusual except that spirits don’t trip. The mothers didn’t realize I had bumped into them. They were concerned, the mothers. […]

Mother of Russia

Short Story
Crossing Moscow's Red Square, a wandering mother longs to know about the happiness of a son she has not seen for decades. She listens to others, observes the Square, and seeks to find him.
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Why the film is worth your time If religion is a poison (as Hitchens would have it), Godspell is an antidote. Playfully serious, musically excellent, and rich in spirit, the film romps through New York City exploring and embodying wisdom from the Bible’s Gospel According to Matthew. If that already puts you off, stick with me a minute before you decide against it, because the film is a lot of […]

Watch This: Godspell

Before Viewing Film Guide
In 1970s New York City, eight twenty-somethings are shoved, yelled at, and indoctrinated by force into the city's fast-paced, me-first grind. A colorfully and curiously dressed man calls them together at Bethesda Fountain, where they play in the water and go romping, teaching, singing, and living life to the full.
I awoke to unusual shadows flitting across the ceiling. Heads and arms. A baseball bat. I grabbed the phone. 911. No signal. Nothing. Dead. As I would soon be. The shadows changed to scratching at the wall. Then clawing at the door. Someone wanted in. Or something. This mountain cabin was a bad idea. In the wild, I thought, I can write. Discover reality. Achieve my dream. Ha. Who am […]

You Can Do It (or Maybe Not)

Flash Fiction
I awoke to unusual shadows flitting across the ceiling. Heads and arms. A baseball bat. I grabbed the phone. 911. No signal. Nothing. Dead. As I would soon be.
The Beatles, for their part, lasted three years after saying “all you need is love.” For us it was only two. “What’s next? The art museum or the ice cream shop?” It was a typical choice we’d pose to ourselves, walking the town of a Saturday. “As you wish,” the other would reply. Or, “Where shall we live? Uptown or East End?” “Vacation in Jamaica or Rome?” Whatever the question, […]

You’re Wrong About Love

Flash Fiction
The Beatles, for their part, lasted three years after saying "all you need is love." For us it was only two. This possibility was not in our minds as we walked the town on a Saturday.
As the spite and malice of the gathered crowd rose, my certainty in being there fell. What am I standing for. What does my presence say. How does this fix anything. I should go. I don’t question the cause…the reason I came. There my confidence is unshaken. Wrong is wrong. The world must change. It’s here. Me being here, part of this increasingly raucous, pulsing, boiling, thundering crowd. What am […]

Tilda’s Brick

Flash Fiction
As the spite and malice of the gathered crowd rose, my certainty in being there fell. What am I standing for. How does this fix anything. This is not even my city.
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How the film enriched and changed me Hirokazu Kore-eda’s intimate observation and deliberate pacing in After Life draw me beyond its central notion (choosing a single memory from one’s life) and into a longing to be more often fully present in all the moments in my life. I want to be more fully alive and aware so I might see and feel the significance of each moment and every memory. […]

After Life: Finding Life Before Death

After Viewing Film Analysis
Seeing the film After Life, I want to be more fully present for and more deeply experience each moment. I want to be more deliberate about how I find meaning and significance, grounding it in community and camaraderie with the people around me, both momentary relationships and lasting ones.
Why the film is worth your time Imaginative, compassionate, and perceptive, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s After Life creates a crucible of sorts to distill a person’s life down to its essence — specifically as the person identifies, in hindsight, the most significant event in their life. The film puts 20 or more characters in its crucible, exploring a kaleidoscopic landscape of lives and memories. After Life is very much worth the time, […]

Watch This: After Life

Before Viewing Film Guide
After Life movie poster: Five Asians stand on plain dirt ground with a cloudy sky of blue in the background.
After Life creates a crucible of sorts to distill a person’s life down to its essence — what was the most significant event in their life? The film puts 20 or more characters in its crucible, exploring a kaleidoscopic landscape of lives and memories.
Way back in second grade, I was good at math. I enjoyed it; it felt good to be good. One day I brought home a test result (oh my! a test…how abusive!). My parents’ reaction was positive, understandable, and well-intended, even loving, but it sent me far enough downhill that I intentionally failed the next test. I simply marked down mostly what I knew to be wrong answers. What was […]

Beyond the Roller Coaster

Who We Need to Be
Having failed a second grade math test, intentionally, I now better understand why I love deeply entering a film's world to experience its odyssey and the destination to which it takes me.
How the film enriched and changed me I came away from Smoke Signals wanting to be more of a force for healing rather than discord in my relationships. If I can notch down my sensitivity to the wrongs others do against me, maybe I can see inside their lives enough to find greater compassion not only in spite of, but perhaps even because of, their failings. Maybe if I can […]

Smoke Signals: Journey to the Heart of Forgive­ness

After Viewing Film Analysis
Beyond its tongue-in-cheek insights into the Native American milieu,Smoke Signals' universal story and themes left me wanting to be more of a force for healing and forgiveness in my relationships. I want to see the heart and humanity of an offender and to see my own humanity in theirs.
Why the film is worth your time Made by Indians about Indians (we can say “Indians” rather than “Native Americans” because they themselves say it that way in the film), Smoke Signals is actually about us all. It creatively mixes humor — about Indians, about reservations, about how others see Indians, about the history of USA-Native American relations — with serious explorations of relationships and family that ring true beyond […]

Watch This: Smoke Signals

Before Viewing Film Guide
Smoke Signals movie poster: Three Native American young adults — a woman in yellow in the middle and a man on either side, all with long, dark hair — are shown standing, from the waist up, in front of a desert landscape and many puffy white clouds in a blue sky. Accolades on the image include "Two BIG tumbs up!" "One of the best films of the year" and "Very funny!" (Siskel & Ebert, Rolling Stone, and Good Morning America, respectively)
On the Coeur d'Alene reservation, Victor rails against his peoples' — and his family's — failure to live up to its heritage. Duty calls him on a road trip, unwillingly accompanied by Thomas Builds-the-Fire's nerdy and mystical storytelling, which only irritates Victor all the more. Made by Indians about Indians, the universal story in Smoke Signals is really about all of us.
“I do it myself!” I was taken aback at my little Mary’s forceful demand, so long ago, to tie her own shoes. I was not surprised, really — I had heard similar protests from others’ children — but her intensity caught me out. What had she to worry? I was the grand and great parent: the one who watches over all my wee bairns. All will go right with all […]

Every Little Detail

Flash Fiction
Little Mary's "I do it myself" — a cry for independence and freedom — caught me out. I withdrew, grinning at the image of myself as Kim Jong-il.
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Why the film is worth your time What makes a momentary acquaintance more than just momentary? In Goodbye Solo, it’s a quick, sharp moment of insight combined with great concern for other people. It drives the title character, Solo, to relentlessly pursue keeping the relationship alive. The film excellently explores profound depth and sincerity of human care, offering a rich perspective on awareness of and love for others, including strangers. Introduction to […]

Watch This: Goodbye Solo

Before Viewing Film Guide
Goodbye Solo movie poster: Solo stands on a rock ledge, his hand up to the sky and a young girl behind him, silhouetted by the setting sun.
A quick, sharp moment of insight combined with great concern for other people drives the title character, Solo, to relentlessly pursue keeping alive a relationship with a stranger.
How the film enriched and changed me I came away from Goodbye Solo wanting the capacity to love as quickly and intensely as Solo did in the film. Having experienced his immediate — and sustained — reaction to a fellow human in crisis, I want to be that ready to reach and stretch to care for another life. The moment (two minutes into the film) when Solo realizes that William has […]

Bahrani’s Goodbye Solo: Love Pursues the Stranger

After Viewing Film Analysis
Having experienced the lead character's immediate and sustained care for a fellow human in crisis, I came away from Goodbye Solo wanting to love even a stranger as quickly and intensely as Solo did.