Testing The Waters

Optical Illusions hav e always fascinated  m e mostly b ecaus e th e eff ect of th e i llusion is dependent on th e human experience . We are a participant in the creation of the end product because our ey es and brain gath er th e information from the image and its this information that cr eat es th e eff ect th e artist int end ed .   Look at the picture b elow , it was drawn by famous illustrator C. Allan Gilb ert   in 1892. It was first publish ed in Lif e Magazin e in 1902 and its title is: "All Is Vanity"  From clos e-up the view er can not h elp but to b e pull ed into th e setting of a woman sitting at h er vanity, staring at h er own r efl ection. But take a st ep back and another figure emerges ... that of a human skull.         Som e p eopl e may find th is visual morbid but I am intrigued  by i t and inspired by its practical m essag e .  Th e us e of this optical illusion highlights ou...

In the 15th century Japanese shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasu, sent a broken tea bowl to China to have it fixed. The bowl was returned held together with staples. Outraged the shogun set out to discover a better, more pleasing to the eye answer to repair broken pottery. His winning solution was to add gold dust to adhesive resin, so that cracks are made attractive. "When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when somethings suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful."- Barbara Bloom The technique is known as Kintsugi, "Golden Joinery" -  Instead of trying to make the object look like new, and hide the cracks the focus is placed on the imperfections, they are front and center -   what a beautiful metaphor for life.    We all have our flaws - we've all said or did things we wish we could take back - we've all felt broken at times - Right? Well what if, instead of tr...

Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" opens this Friday and I for one can not wait to see it.  I mean when ever I see the print ad's for it I get goose bumps -- and the cast -- OMG - WHAT A CAST!!!! Imagine my surprise when I found out that Sally Field had to fight for her role in the film.  I mean the woman won 2 Oscars (and yes, in one acceptance speech she famously said "You like me, you really like me.") and an Emmy for her work on Brothers & Sisters. How and why did she have to fight for the role?    Well, in 2001 Spielberg acquired the rights to historian Doris Kearns Goodwin's book "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln." In 2005 "Lincoln" went into development with Sally Field cast in the role of Mary Todd Lincoln and Liam Neeson in the role of Lincoln. It languished in development for years and finally Neeson backed out of the project. Enter Daniel Day-Lewis. After Steven Spielberg cast Day-Lewis in ...

Last night was El ec tion Night - I sat glued to the TV watching the coverage. With many important issues hanging in the balance I was watching the numbers come in filled with so much anticipation and anxiety that it felt more like I was watching the Super Bowl. Women's issues ranked highest on my list but so did the E conomy and Foreign policy and then there were all those Prop's on the ballot - needless to say my nerves were fried. When Ohio was called for Obama I did not celebrate victory (2004 taught me well). It was not until I watched the E lectoral votes surpass 300 that I did a victory dance in my living room.  After said victory dance, out of nowhere, tears of joy streamed down my face.  My investment in this election was all-encompassing and it was then that I began to empathize with Romney supporters.  They too had an unwavering belief and investment in their candidate - they believed that Romney could lead us out of our economic quagmire. Watching Romney...