let me roar.

[san francisco. -taken by john ward]

how marginalized can you get.

an x-ray photo, so to speak.

[ -taken from BBC News]

this is neither a picture nor a photo, but a visual and clear enough representation of our consuming the earth- our ecological footprints.

the cost of our rate and scale of living, to animals:

marine species ... saw their numbers plummet by 28% in just 10 years, between 1995 and 2005.

Populations of ocean birds have fallen by 30% since the mid 1990s, while land-based populations have dropped by 25%.
(quotes from) bbc news

and for a quick sound bite on how it is rebounding back unto us:

"Reduced biodiversity means millions of people face a future where food supplies are more vulnerable to pests and disease and where water is in irregular or short supply.

"No-one can escape the impact of biodiversity loss because reduced global diversity translates quite clearly into fewer new medicines, greater vulnerability to natural disasters and greater effects from global warming."

James Leape, director general of the WWF

...every mainstream finds its radical alternatives, and No Impact Man is interesting to follow in his attempts to live outside how we have been comfortably taught to live, and are pressured to live. his is an example in not simply leaving as friendly and small an ecological footprint as possible, but one that works with the ways of nature- quippily speaking, it doesnt trample, it treads alongside.

by uncanny coincidence, tis Endangered Species Day today in the U.S., where bush&co have listed the polar bear as endangered.

manmade: these shoes aren't made for walking...

my pedantic prelude ...

... this blog began as a place to keep photos of real memories, as having existed within the boundaries of my daily world. then the photos begged for more than mere reminiscence; it offered intriguing questions and thoughts, of what actually occurred and what could or might happen. their significance spread beyond a point in time to encompass implications for an entire life.

photos hinted at how much more colourless, and less fascinating, our world would be if confined to our own experiences, with our own eyes- how narrow. how little we would have gotten if we had not paid due attention to the endless sensory stream we have neatly framed in little pocketbooks of picture memory- how shallow, how thin.

... the photos in this blog became a record of the tangible world we live in: visual documentations of people and places around us, among us and within territories unimagined. the pictures taken by me and by others sealed the memory of an ocean's wave or forest lane; it captured social realities in place and time. we spend too many of our days within the four walls of our homes, friends and day-to-days, and too much time in our own heads. time to see more, i thought. time to pay more respect to all around us.

the many pictures of realities everywhere taught me much; humbled me and broadened my vision, challenged my conceptions. then from fellow minds came fantastical imaginings and brilliant ideas. here were not political turmoils or social discontent captured in the news media or a travel writer, but stirrings from within a personal place born into a work of art. these pictures displayed talent, passion, skill, visionaries, humour, labour, intellect- the very best of human qualities. these also humbled me, and uplifted me, encouraged exploration of new depths and heights.

photo-plumbing for this blog has led me to think thus far, we need to break out of our narrow shells to encounter the real, but we also need to rise above comfortable mundanity to feel inspiration and feel ourselves capable of inspiring again.

and so,


... to the official first in the series of manmade muses and musings:



[-all images by Violise Lunn at violiselunn.dk]

when are shoes not shoes?
when they have other functions and purposes.

in this case, danish violise lunn's paper shoes are ethereal and fragile, meant to carry (pardon the pun) you off to a pretty-trimmed fantasy world, not across hard traverses.

or perhaps it is precisely when in a wearing landscape, dotted with obstacles and dour odds, that we need the sustaining oxygen of our ideals and visions- considered as impractical/ inconsequential against the 'real world'- to pull us across. no point hunkering down, sweating blood and tears if you haven't got something, or someone, to give it meaning... i dont quite mean your office boss either.


[-from violiselunn.dk]

your dream needs a backbone;
your efforts need a muse.

see breeze.

[california, pacifica beach. -from kukyideas]

- the swathes of gray,
insistent thin spills;
you see the architecture of nature
coming together
to create a very pleasing juxtaposition
of harsh and soft,
wet and acrid.
damp salt through your body -
(men only dot the landscape)
-as you turn
letting your vision skim, sail
wide across low, virile waters.
and you hear,
voices, above and around, intermingling
and smell, the sweat
and fervour of pure energy in motion.

(looks like my kind of beach. reminded me of:)


[malaysia. beach at eastern coast of desaru]

right now i'm on the other side of the pane, looking in with awe... that just mere surrender (does not equate) being wholly with Truth, with Freedom, which in it's dangerous moments leads to feeling (seeking) the waves of the ocean closing in around me- no human flesh can resist its insistent pure waves, even if the unfortunate effect is Death. -dec2006

dog and boys.

[bangkok. -from this flickr set, via here. (thanks hc)]

comments at the flickr site:

grytlappar says: So great!! Yay for those sweet boys!

Sweetsop says: how courageous indeed!

and at neatorama:

Larry Sheldon: And here we see the truth. People tend to be despicable. Kids tend to be creative, compassionate and responsible.

(... hurray for mankind extending a hand to otherkind.)

Ray: And then they ate him.