Wednesday, January 21

Snow + Quotes of Note + A Book Recommendation


This is what we woke up to yesterday morning. 3" and still falling. Bah. We got about 4 " altogether.


My back yard.

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I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House. I am living witness that any one of your children may look to come here as my father's child has.

Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the U.S. (1809-1865)

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We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it -- and stop there -- lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again, and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one any more.

Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910)


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The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

Marcel Proust, novelist (1871-1922)

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I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty.

Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel laureate (1879-1955)

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The souls of emperors and cobblers are cast in the same mold. The same reason that makes us wrangle with a neighbor creates a war betwixt princes.

Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592)


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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.


John Kenneth Galbraith, economist (1908-2006)


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Until yesterday, I had 45 "followers" and now I have 44. Who broke up with me? Was it something I said?

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I've just read "The Year of Fog", by Michelle Richmond, and I recommend this page-turner! The book jacket reads....."Here is the truth, this is what I know: I was walking on the beach with Emma. It was cold and very foggy. She let go of my hand. I stopped to photograph a baby seal, then glanced up toward the great Highway. When I looked back, Emma was gone."

This book is a mystery, and it is educational and thought-provoking too. Here are some quotes from the book:

"A painting can last for centuries, even millennia. The Sistine Chapel, the Mona Lisa, and the Mayan cave drawings are proof of this. But a photograph is, by its nature, a transient work of art. The moment a photograph is transferred to paper, the slow process of erasure begins. The purpose of photography is to stop time, but time inevitably erodes........Photographs represent our endless battle against time, our determination to preserve a moment: the sweet baby girl before she become a difficult teenager; the handsome young man before his body is won over by baldness and fat; the honeymoon trip to Hawaii, before the happy couple becomes two strangers, living angrily under the same roof. I have a hunch that our obsession with photography arises from an unspoken pessimism: it is in our nature to believe that the good things will not last."

There is a lot in the book about memory; how it functions and how it serves us.

"Memory is not unlike a photograph with multiple exposures. One event is layered on top of another, so that it is impossible to distinguish between the details of the two. The older we get, the more multiple-exposure memories we have. Temporal relationships become elastic. As the years progress and we experience more and more, the mini-narratives that make up our lives are distorted, corrupted, so that every one of us is left with a false history, a self-created fiction about the lives we have had."

I found it very engaging and I hope you will enjoy it too. Admittedly, it will probably interest women more than men.

22 comments:

Kay Dennison said...

Love the photo!!! Love the quotes!!! The book goes on my "gotta read" list.

Tabor said...

Thanks for finding this quotes...very good at this time in our country's history. ANOTHER BOOK to read?? Gol I have such a pile now.

Anonymous said...

"Memory is not unlike a photograph with multiple exposures. One event is layered on top of another, so that it is impossible to distinguish between the details of the two. The older we get, the more multiple-exposure memories we have."
Ooh ooh, I like that. Also Michel de Montaigne struck a cord. And I am darn jealous of your lovely snow. Where I am we get the cold and none of the pretty. Enjoy.

Tammy said...

Your back yard is lovely and inviting....bet it's even more awesome in the Summer.

I just got the collection of Jane Austen books. Seven novels in one. It should keep me busy at least until the weekend.

Peter said...

I have lost a follower or two as well Judy, some say that it slows their computer down running through all the followers.. who knows, perhaps it does???

Beverly said...

I know you don't like your snow, but it is pretty in the pictures. I would be on the inside looking out, if I were there.

themom said...

I don't mind looking at the snow these days, but to have to fight the roadways is a whole other subject.

Anonymous said...

It really does sound good. I remember so much of my life through the photographs taken, things I would have otherwise forgotten.

Darlene said...

The photos, while beautiful, remind me of why I chose Arizona as my home.

I need to read the book on memory. While I find I remember the event, I am prone to place it in a different time or place.

whimsical brainpan said...

You got more snow than we did. The photos are beautiful and the quotes are great.

I just finished a book I think you might like if you haven't read it yet; The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain.

Bobkat said...

I love the first photo; snow always looks so pretty even if it is a pain to live with.

I am intrigued by this book. I might have to get it myself :)

Tony Gasbarro said...

Wow, Judy. I'm surprised that you included that particular quote from Albert Einstein, avowed atheist. Maybe there's hope for you, yet! ;)

signed,
Farrago
Avowed Atheist

sage said...

I'm so glad my home state is receiving some snow!!!

Jamie Dawn said...

The snow looks pretty, but I sure don't like living in it.
I'm enjoying this lovely southern CA weather at my brother's place. We will visit Naomi this Saturday!
:-)

Pat said...

You have 44 followers and you're grumbling? I have a measly 23:)
Did you use black and white film on the super photos?
Liked the quotes - especially Proust

rosemary said...

I have 4 followers....I have no clue what that means. Some very profound quotes, Judy.

rosemary said...

and PS....gee, sorry about the 4 inches of snow Judy. you'll probably have to drag out the tractor. snicker

Evil Twin's Wife said...

The book sounds interesting. I'll have to track it down. :-)

OldLady Of The Hills said...

This sounds like a very very interesting book...That quote about memory and our memories being corrupted, reminds me of Lillian Hellman's book, PENTIMENTO, which is a collection of short and not so short story's of her memories---And in the Forward she explains what Pentimento means, and it has to do with the latering of things which then changes what was there....sje was really saying that HER memories may be "corrupted" in a way. That is the book that her story "JULIA" is included in that was made into a film with Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave...mabny years ago...And i very good film, it is!

BTW: A "surprise" is coming your way Judy. Hopefully you will recieve it on Saturday, OR Monday..., depending on weather conditions...! The pictures of the snow are quite beautiful...!
ENJOY!

OldLady Of The Hills said...

"...And A Very good film it was..." My one finger was zipping along the keyboard TOOOOO FAST, as usual...There were other mistakes, too....lol....Sorry about that.

Fran aka Redondowriter said...

I read this book and I agree it is very good, though it wore me out, too. Lots of emotion. Like all your quotes.

As for the snow, glad it was by you and not in DC on the 20th.

Mojo said...

Maybe the dingo stole Emma?

Obviously the author hasn't discovered digital photography. Once transferred to optical media, a photograph could conceivably endure for eons.

Of course finding a machine to read it could be tough.

Heh. Word verification fun:
Stilyze: A fashion magazine for dyslexics.