A “Lens-Artists Challenge” from pro photographer Tina R Schell for those of you who do photography as well as poetry, often combining the two. Thanks to the hugely talented Isadora de la Vega for the intro to Lens Challenge. You can visit Isadora here: https://isadoraartandphotography.com
“The things that make me different are the things that make me me.”
A.A. Milne
CACTUS CREATURE
Those who saw my post last week know that I was on the west coast, enjoying the super blooms of Arizona and California along with friends and family. Beyond the amazing flowers, I really enjoyed the differences between the Kiawah scenery and the desert landscapes . As I thought about it, it seemed only natural that this week’s challenge should be “Something Different”.
SIDE BY SIDE
“Insanity – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Albert Einstein
The landscapes looked completely different depending on the time of day. The famous deep purple Arizona sunset cast a golden glow, while the blue sky of daylight provided a colorful contrast to the greens of the hillside sentinels.
PRETTY IN PINK
“There can be no happiness if the things we believe…
If you’re a Capote fan, you’ll learn about his life in Brooklyn and just why he loved it. There are two photographs of a young Truman that some fans might find worth the price of admission. One is on the book cover (above) the other is included in the video below. The photographic collection in this book was originally commissioned to use as a promo for Capote after the publication of his novella, Breakfast At Tiffany‘s (1958).
Capote captures the essential Brooklyn in his writing, the singular gentility of the time and place, the grittiness of certain quarters, and the ways in which it could be excentric. Attie’s photos – taken in 1959 – document the tenor of a time now alive only in the memory of a generation that is slowly passing.
David Attie’s photographs were never published and thought to be lost. When Attie’s son Eli found them, he merged them together with Capote’s narrative and they were published at last, a visual feast, engaging for Brooklynites, Capote fans, literary history and photography buffs.
Photo credit: Jack Mitchell under CC BY-SA 4.0; signature is public domain.
The short video below gives a brief overview of the book and includes many of David Attie’s photographs. If you are reading this post from an email subscription, you’ll likely have to link through to the site to view the video.
What would you find pleasant or helpful on The Poet by Day in 2019? What have you found helpful to date? Link HERE to let me know.
Poet and writer, I was once columnist and associate editor of a regional employment publication. I currently run this site, The Poet by Day, an information hub for poets and writers. I am the managing editor of The BeZine published by The Bardo Group Beguines (originally The Bardo Group), a virtual arts collective I founded. I am a weekly contributor to Beguine Again, a site showcasing spiritual writers. My work is featured in a variety of publications and on sites, including: Levure littéraure, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature,Compass Rose, Connotation Press, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, Second Light, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta / Phor(e) /Play, and California Woman. My poetry was recently read byNorthern California actor Richard Lingua for Poetry Woodshed, Belfast Community Radio. I was featured in a lengthy interview on the Creative Nexus Radio Show where I was dubbed “Poetry Champion.”
“What if our religion was each other. If our practice was our life. If prayer, our words. What if the temple was the Earth. If forests were our church. If holy water–the rivers, lakes, and ocean. What if meditation was our relationships. If the teacher was life. If wisdom was self-knowledge. If love was the center of our being.” Ganga White, teacher and exponent of Yoga and founder of White Lotus, a Yoga center and retreat house in Santa Barbara, CA
“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.” Lucille Clifton
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Some days fall open on an unexpected word,
piercing your too pedestrian obsessions,
pushing you into the doorway of mystery.
You’ve heard all about it: the light, the way!
The truth waiting like a mother for her child ~
and here you are momentarily free, swimming
in the amniotic fluid of your own nascent soul.
(c) 2016, poem and photograph, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved
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Way back when, one of my main motivations for ditching my flip phone and getting a smart phone (best thing I ever did) was the camera. As much as anything, I got my iPhone 5c to take, edit and manipulate photos. I wanted to be able to illustrate poems and other works.
I’ve also had some ideas for videos I’d like to make and the video below is my first experiment. I used Animoto, a cloud-based service founded in 2006 according to Wikipedia. Honestly, it was just the first service that came up when I started my search. No analysis went into the selection. I didn’t comparison shop. Since I’ve never done this before, I can’t tell you how easy or not Animoto is to use relative to other tools. The video is not exactly what I envisioned, but the problem is mine, not Animoto. After awhile I just got tired of fussing over which photos, what order and what music.
I found Animoto easy – intuitive, as they say – to use and affordable, though that’s a relative thing. The videos are loaded into a WordPress post the same way you’d load a YouTube video – by using the URL. Easy.
You can log into Animoto and play around without making any committment to buy, so if it’s something you want to try too – GO FOR IT. The site offers direction, information on copyright, a limited selection of music and even stock photographs if you don’t have your own. Not bad. $8 a month if you pay for an entire year. Otherwise it’s $16 a month. That’s just the basic package. There are two other options.
If you are viewing this from email, it’s likely you’ll have to link through to watch the video.
Thank you for sharing your love of words. Comments will appear after moderation.
CACTUS CREATURE 
SIDE BY SIDE 
PRETTY IN PINK 
Poet and writer, I was once columnist and associate editor of a regional employment publication. I currently run this site, The Poet by Day, an information hub for poets and writers. I am the managing editor of The BeZine published by The Bardo Group Beguines (originally The Bardo Group), a virtual arts collective I founded. I am a weekly contributor to 
Jamie Dedes' THE POET BY DAY Webzine 