Casual
"To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event."
-Henri Cartier-Bresson
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Good Samaritan
An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me, it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorry, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, competition, superiority and ego."
"The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you and inside every other person too," he said to the children.
They thought about if for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied... "The one that you feed."
This page is about feeding the wolf inside you that stands for compassion, joy, and benevolence. If you'd like to have the password to the protected galleries, then please send an email to ambagrafix@yahoo.com that describes how you have been a good samaritan to someone else, and fed the better wolf within yourself.
Voices we shall never hear...
Photography is my hobby - nature conservation has been my accidental calling, and my career, for the past 15 years. Xeroxing an article from Outside Magazine for a couple colleagues that I'm sending on a technical assistance mission to Africa, I noticed the following passage cited from "The Outermost House," by Henry Beston:
"We patronize [the animals] for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate in having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations caught with ourselves in the net of life and time..."
Why do I post this, when my usual subject is the species homo sapien, predominantly of the female gender? Well, to try to change your consciousness, to get you to realize that we are all (enter your favorite invisible man who magically farted out the universe)'s children, that we homo sapiens are indeed a part of the animal kingdom, NOT apart from it, and that all sentient beings have dignity and a right to life, not just Christians and Muslims. Amen, salaam, namaste!
God Bless the Rest of the World, Too!
Comedian Chris Rock made a very funny film a couple years ago, HEAD OF STATE. A film review provides this description: "Washington D.C. alderman Mays Gilliam (Chris Rock) is about to lose his job when the sudden death of his party's front-runner in the (US) Presidential elections breathes new life into his political career. He's immediately pegged as the substitute and must deal with his bumbling brother and running mate, Mitch (Bernie Mac), and his social-climbing ex-girlfriend, Kim (Robin Givens), while trying to win the race."
What the review doesn't mention is that his opponent is an incumbent President, who constantly bleats out "God Bless America!" followed quickly by "...AND NOBODY ELSE!" Rock was spoofing a mighty un-Christian attitude prevalent in my country, but in comedy therein lies much truth about contemporary life.
So below are some lovely reminders that we are all god's - yahweh's - buddha's - allah's - or name your favorite invisible man who magically farted out the universe's - children, and that no single nation, least of all mine, has any right to demand the deity's blessing solely for themselves, as outrageously presumptuous as that is, in the first place. Think LARGER!
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Glamour
Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't.-Pete Seeger
Perhaps a little experience shows through here, especially since I doggedly refuse to heed the advice of my far more accomplished, professional photographer friend to read the #$%! manual. : )
Artistic Nude
While this has nothing to do with the content of this gallery, the level of visitation here makes inclusion of the following information potentially useful for someone each of us may know and love in the future...
RECOGNIZING A STROKE -
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately,the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
1. Ask the individual to SMILE.
2. Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
3. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (ie . It is sunny out today) If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
For those wishing to obtain a password to these galleries, send an email to me at ambagrafix@yahoo.com, sharing how you have extended kindness or compassion, small or large, to someone else and I will be happy to share the password with you.
Nude
As with the other password protected galleries, in order to view any of these galleries, please send me an email at ambagrafix@yahoo.com sharing how you extended some large or small, simple or complicated kindness or compassion to someone else. There is a Good Samaritan in all of us, and every day brings many opportunities to be one. I'll be happy to share the password with you if you do indeed write to me. If you would like to purchase a CD of photos from the shoot for any of these particular galleries, please also write me at ambagrafix@yahoo.com.
"Beauty will save the world." Dostoevsky
Tango & Dance
One of my great avocations is dancing, especially Argentine tango. Displayed here are a few photos of tango dancing and some tango venues in the DC area, as well as any dance related scenes, such as these enormous papier machette dancers that the Corcoran Gallery of Art had displayed for many months outside its main building during the spring of 2004.
For info. on where and when to dance tango in the Washington, DC capital region, visit the Capital Tangueros website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/capital_tangueros/ or their calendar at http://www.geocities.com/capitaltangueros/. Don't be surprised to find more than 2 or 3 choices for lessons or milonga...each night of the week!
