Happy New Year, sweety. Be happy and have luck!
Today I'll fly away. I'll no longer write online blog-posts to and for you, right here. What started in July 2009 will end today in 2023. I want to fade away, read books, and write papers. I'll work and live life offline in my forest-garden. As you know, I don't believe in endings; every ending is a new begin.
Take care and give your sons a hug.
... - you know.
Above the list with countries of the readers of my blog-post of the last 7 days. I have no idea who they are. I have no idea who reads my posts and what they read exactly. What they like exactly and what not.
If you want to talk ... write a DM to jeandoorn99 AtSign gmail.com.
P.S. This is the song 'What Will I Do?' (1924) from Irving Berlin in the movie 'The Best of Me' (2004). P.P.S. I cried and cried when I saw this movie last night. And all I wanted was cry in your arms.
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Some pictures are confusing. Confusing for me :)
Something else. Did I tell you that I have a plot of land of 10,000 m2? I am going to plant a forest garden on this. A piece of land where there is room for birds, insects, vegetables, fruit, nuts and people. In harmony with each other. The secret is not to chase partridges, but to take care of the forest garden so they'll come to you.
P.S. The picture is from Benjamin Wolf (EYE on November 13th 2023).
"You're sipping on your coffee, fading away
I can give you some time if you promise that you'll stay
But I sit there saying nothing just watching your hands
I wish that I could hold them but I'm not sure I can
But you still are gold to me
Baby, piece of art to me"
P.S. Song 'By the time you've finished your coffee' (2017) from Korantemaa: song & lyrics.
A room with books is all I really need.
And please, with your eyes on me ;)
The Matterhorn (Italian: Cervino) is for me the most beautiful when we look at it from the North and East. When it rises from the mountain landscape in Switserland like a pyramid. The Valle d'Aosta is located on the Italian side. The world of Paulo Cognetti.
The Matterhorn in three pictures:
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P.S. The quote is from Helena Bonham Carter (born 1966) and the drawing from Enoki Toshiyuki (born 1961).
Poem 'Matins' from Louise Glück (1943-2023):
"I see it is with you as with the birches:
I am not to speak to you
in the personal way. Much
has passed between us. Or
was it always only
on the one side? I am
at fault, at fault, I asked you
to be human--I am no needier
than other people. But the absence
of all feeling, of the least
concern for me--I might as well go on
addressing the birches,
as in my former life: let them
do their worst, let them
bury me with the Romantics,
their pointed yellow leaves
falling and covering me."
P.S. This poem is from her book 'The Wild Iris' (1992). The picture 'Birch Forest in The Morning Sunlight' is from RF Library Wall Murals.
Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) had a simple style she called 'dépouille', which means 'stripped' or 'bare' in French. In fashion, it means being simple and not too decorated.
Hepburn liked to wear
simple black dresses with ballet flats. She picked accessories that added to
her look without taking over. Her style was about keeping things simple and not
going overboard. 'Dépouille' isn't just a word; it's a philosophy. Even when
fashion keeps changing, Hepburn's love for simplicity reminds us that less is
often more. Being elegant is not about wearing the most, but making the most of
what you wear. And a smile every now and then, ofcourse. Audrey: "The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy - it's all that matters."
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P.S. Source pictures (from the top down): Dean Nixon, 'Winter Landscape' (2021) and Ana Luz Rincón, 'Caravana de Camellos en el Sahara' (2023).
P.S. The original picture is from George William Knox. I made a dancing blowball (from a dandelion) in motion of it.
And this too
P.S. Source pictures (from the top down): (1) unknown; (2) Niphisi, 'Digital Art'; (3) Eric Deschamps, 'Nature en vue'; (4) Hitoshi Kobayashi, 'Floral painting; (5) house in Fayence, Var, France.
A picture of one dove as an artificial object (left in blue) and its shadow (right in yellow). In Plato's words (source: here; bold by J.D.):
[514a] “Next,” said I, “compare our nature in respect of education and its lack to such an experience as this. Picture men dwelling in a sort of subterranean cavern with a long entrance open to the light on its entire width. Conceive them as having their legs and necks fettered from childhood, so that they remain in the same spot, [514b] able to look forward only, and prevented by the fetters from turning their heads. Picture further the light from a fire burning higher up and at a distance behind them, and between the fire and the prisoners and above them a road along which a low wall has been built, as the exhibitors of puppet-shows have partitions before the men themselves, above which they show the puppets.” “All that I see,” he said. “See also, then, men carrying past the wall [514c] implements of all kinds that rise above the wall, and human images [515a] and shapes of animals as well, wrought in stone and wood and every material, some of these bearers presumably speaking and others silent.” “A strange image you speak of,” he said, “and strange prisoners.” “Like to us,” I said; “for, to begin with, tell me do you think that these men would have seen anything of themselves or of one another except the shadows cast from the fire on the wall of the cave that fronted them?” “How could they,” he said, “if they were compelled [515b] to hold their heads unmoved through life?” “And again, would not the same be true of the objects carried past them?” “Surely.” “If then they were able to talk to one another, do you not think that they would suppose that in naming the things that they saw they were naming the passing objects?” “Necessarily.” “And if their prison had an echo from the wall opposite them, when one of the passersby uttered a sound, do you think that they would suppose anything else than the passing shadow to be the speaker?” “By Zeus, I do not,” said he. “Then in every way [515c] such prisoners would deem reality to be nothing else than the shadows of the artificial objects.” “Quite inevitably,” he said. “Consider, then, what would be the manner of the release and healing from these bonds and this folly if in the course of nature something of this sort should happen to them: When one was freed from his fetters and compelled to stand up suddenly and turn his head around and walk and to lift up his eyes to the light, and in doing all this felt pain and, because of the dazzle and glitter of the light, was unable to discern the objects whose shadows he formerly saw,
P.S. Picture is from @waldemar_walczak.
My title for this picture (source: Evren Kemer @evrenkemer): 'A Catcher of the Sky in a Puddle of Rainwater'. #PlanetEarthArt
P.S. Source picture: https://easydrawingguides.com/how-to-draw-the-wind/
Look how beautiful. This more than 1,944 year old fresco from Pompeii appears to depict a round focaccia bread (and not a pizza) on a silver tray serving as a support for various fruits, including a pomegranate and possibly a date.
Let's visit the library of Bayt Yakan in Cairo, Egypt.
A house dating around 1640. The house was restored and reflects Cairo’s layered culture, which has been influenced by both colonial occupation and multi-ethnic immigration. Now it houses a library with 20,000 rare books focusing on architecture.
I would love to visit it. To smell. To see. To have you near.
Source: here.
Nice movie.
Quote from the book (in the Dutch translation):
"Misschien is het waar, zoals mijn moeder beweerde, dat ieder van ons een favoriete hoogte heeft in de bergen, een landschap dat op ons lijkt en waar we ons goed voelen. Het hare was ongetwijfeld het bos op vijftienhonderd meter hoogte, met schaduwrijke sparren en lariksen, waaronder bosbessen, jeneverbessen en rododendrons groeien en waar de reebokken zich verschansen. Ik voelde me meer aangetrokken tot de bergen die daarna komen: alpenweiden, bergbeken, veengronden, hooglandgrassen en grazende beesten. Nog iets hoger verdwijnt de vegetatie, is alles tot het begin van de zomer bedolven onder de sneeuw en is het grijs van met kwarts dooraderde en met geel korstmos ingelegde rotsen de voornaamste kleur. Daar begon de wereld van mijn vader."
My favorite hight in the mountains is without doubt the grassland in the high mountains (German: Alm) where the animals graze in the summer. Meadows everywhere, groups of houses, views all around and the light brighter. The promise of summer.
The Amish's way of life and their Ordnung rules fascinates me:
All in all. "Amish practices evolve over time. As modernization takes place, the Amish negotiate to what degree they will accept and utilize technology and other practices of the outside world. This cultural compromise has allowed the Amish to remain a distinct group, yet survive economically."
P.S. They fascinate me but for me it's a no go because they indirectly reject books and science. Curiosity and wonder are not one of their core values. Such a shame.
Quote from the film (source): The marsh knows all about death ... and doesn't necessarily define it as tragedy. Certainly not a sin. It understands that every creature does what it must to survive. And that sometimes, for prey to live ... its predator must die.
Quote from the book (source): The tide was coming in, and a wave flowed over his feet, taking with it hundreds of seashells back into the sea. Kya had been of this land and of this water; now they would take her back. Keep her secrets deep.
And then the gulls came. Seeing him there, they spiraled above his head. Calling. Calling.
As night fell, Tate walked back toward the shack. But when he reached the lagoon, he stopped under the deep canopy and watched hundreds of fireflies beckoning far into the dark reaches of the marsh. Way out yonder, where the crawdads sing.
The artist of the featured watercolors in the film is Alice Ravenel Huger Smith (1876-1958).
P.S. Watercolor on top: 'Iris in Swamp' (around 1925-1935). Watercolor below: 'Lotus in the Great Blake Reserve' (around 1926-1936). Source: here.
