TromboneAl
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2006
- Messages
- 12,880
Don, you drew that eye?
Yeah. I was learning Painter software and that was an exercise. It is freehand. You use a stylus and pad instead of a mouse. Here is a thumbnail of a self portrait I did later using a photograph as a model. I am not sure I could do that again without a lot of practice and review of the software (also, I cheated a bit on this one by sketching the basic form out as a trace and by sampling colors from the photo with the eyedropper tool). The eye was completely freehand. I need to try bikes if I ever get back to it.Don, you drew that eye?
Nords - um...you mean surfing here doesn't count?No problem-- learn to surf. Longboard, shortboard, paddle, tandem, tow-in, kite, wind... whatever you can get.
Yeah, but have you ever tried to plant 300 daffodil bulbs? In hard pan clay?? It ain't a metaphysical experience, let me and my achin' back tell ya!
(Worth, it, though, since daffodils are about the only pretty flower that deer will leave alone).
Amethyst
I may have chiseled the cheekbones a bit ;-) and it is probably about 8 years old.P.S. Donheff, if that's really what you look like, I hope you know you're hot
From other comments you've made it also seems that your co-workers and supervisors felt that misery loved company, and they wanted as much company as you could give them... even if you should've been taking a sick day or enjoying lunch or telecommuting.The problem was that it entailed way more hours than any normal person would want to put in and way too much stress.
Life lasts a long time; don't sell yourself short.Most likely, this will be a path I will never be able to take (for good or bad).
I am a similar type to Brewer, I tend to constantly plan things out, slowly adjusting the plan over time, at any given point, my whole life is planned out, at least vaguely. I am in my mid 20's, and have been well aware that work sucks since the first time I had to pick up a broom and sweep the leaves when I was six. Work occurs for me in bursts, for a particular purpose in an overall plan. Here is my mentality on work:
Life is spent thinking about many different things at once, that is, if it is not being spent being, enjoying the activities one loves to do best, or finding ways to enjoy being even more.
I've read both editions of the book, although the first ed sat on my reading table for literally about five years. Then I chased down her "Color" and her exercise book as well. I found that "Color" is an absolutely fascinating read into a subject that I only formerly appreciated for its chemistry-- and now I enjoy looking at the world with an entirely new eye. Never had to worry about any of that stuff when I was shooting torpedos.Excellent OP post, Nords. Sorry to hijack, but your mention of Betty Edwards book caught my attention. I could barely draw stick figures when I read Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I didn't become an artist but I learned that I could learn to draw much better and more easily than I had anticpipated. Get the book.
No, it counts, you just need to go a few more miles west:Nords - um...you mean surfing here doesn't count?
So find me an ocean in Central NY and that's a deal!
Nords - um...you mean surfing here doesn't count?
So find me an ocean in Central NY and that's a deal!
Actually, kite flying is one of my fun things to do, along with sandcastle building and spring snow sculpture when the snow melts a little. I have some creativity buried in the ol' brain. I can sculpt a mean "snow bunny" with soft wet snow and a elongated sharp edged stone I saved just for this reason. Using it makes me feel very prehistoric.
Khan - there is hope. I have 2 compost tumblers. They will be perfect for this year's garden. Another source of time to simply "be"...a human veggie amongst the chlorophyll making type of veggies. Now if I could just stop planting my seeds in perfect rows...
All - I writing a lot of this "help me!" stuff with tongue firmly in cheek. Little by little, I am learning to simply "be".
Good post Noords - very thought provoking.
In recent years DW and I have had some vacations in england without kids and I've taken her on long walks along the cliffs and into the countryside where I grew up and where my Dad and sister still live. I've shown her various spots where, as kids, we would simply lie back and look out over fields or the sea, chew on grass, make daisy chains, watch the sky larks etc and just "be". I hadn't realized quite how far we used to roam - up to 5 miles one way. In my last 3 years at High School I had a lot of stress, trying to study for very important exams at 16 and 18 to get into university during a long period of illness with my mother who very nearly died in child birth when I was 16 and then again nearly died from cancer 2 years later, each time spending many weeks in hospital in the spring semester. Being the eldest I had to look after the house and rest of the family.
I used to find downtime by walking the cliffs and just sitting there trying to clear my mind.
Some years later during some very stressful times while we had 2 young children and work and other things were very tough I would de-stress by climbing the hills just outside our home and sit down looking out over the Yorkshire moors and just clear my head.
Reading your post and the responses in this thread makes me realize that I have lost this ability and the last 10 years in particular have needed such meditative techniques.
I look forward now to 're-discovering' myself....
Digital Overload Is Frying Our Brains | Wired Science from Wired.com
The other important thing is to discuss interruption as an environmental question and collective social issue. In our country, stillness and reflection are not especially valued in the workplace. The image of success is the frenetic multitasker who doesn't have time and is constantly interrupted. By striving towards this model of inattention, we're doing ourselves a tremendous injustice.
Nords, et al-
First of all, Nords, you're my idol. I hope to also retire at 41
and I've never regretted a day I spent surfing...
Your post was most thought provoking.
Anyway, this might sound like heresy on this board, but
what about work as a necessary and fulfilling part of being?
I've heard you say words to the effect that growing up, all
you wanted to be was a Navy submariner. Wouldn't you say
that achieving that goal was a helpful for your self-
actualization? Was all that time you spent doing a job you
were passionate about just a "fog"?
Thanks for your post,
LB
I only speak for myself: some things get old after 20, 30 years.
Yep, these are the things that turn your "occupation" or "what you do" into "w*rk." Even if one truly enjoys performing the activity they were (presumably) hired to do, by the time you add in the usual dose of corporate BS (or bureaucratic BS for our military folks), the overall experience gets older and older with time.I have to say that I enjoyed my first 10 - 20 years work. Beyond that the ever increasing need to do more with less, pressures on profits, lay-offs, cut-backs, having to tell very capable people that they no longer have a place in the company, ever increasing business travel .... it all just wore me down so that I will be happy to leave it all behind soon with enough income/assets to enjoy life without the millstone of a job I need hanging around my neck.
That was great!No, it counts, you just need to go a few more miles west:
And Martha can get you a reciprocal membership in the Great Lakes Surfing Club...