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RACE AGAINST TIME
Despite strenuous training and conditioning, Murgatroid found it difficult to beat the clock.
The Illustration Friday theme for this week is “Time.” So, since it is 11:00 pm on Thursday, with only an hour left to post… time is running out!
What’s an idea? The mere concept of an idea is difficult, maybe even impossible to perfectly define. Even notable philosophers couldn’t seem to agree on what an idea truly means. The Free Dictionary Online indicates that according to the philosophy of Plato, the definition of an idea “is an archetype of which a corresponding being in phenomenal reality is an imperfect replica.” The web source goes on to say that according to the philosophy of Kant, “an idea is a concept of reason that is transcendent but nonempiral.” But, even Hagel said it differently. He claimed that an idea means “absolute truth; the complete and ultimate product of reason.” In the dictionary, the definition of an idea reads “something, such as a thought or conception that potentially or actually exists in the mind as a product of mental activity.”
To me, an idea is something that begins as a glimmer; a mere flicker in the mind that can suddenly grab hold, and unfold through any period of time, like the single root of the ivy plant that grounds itself deeply into the soil before it grows upwards, clinging to a wall with its tiny tentacles, reaching out and hanging on, until it forms its own shape and dimension. The ivy grows and grows, like no other ivy plant in existence, and reaches for the sun in a way that suits itself in order to flourish. Like an idea, the ivy didn’t plant itself. Someone had to place it there. The gardener of the ivy had to have foresight to buy or rent the house, invest in the fertilizer and the soil and the tools; he had to invest in the plant and spend his time digging the hole and planting it in the hopes that it would grow.
Like the gardener; creative professionals must make an investment in time, be committed to the outcome, and diligently work to understand and meet the project objectives. That’s a lot of footwork and fancy dancing already. But, what about the ideas you generate…those tiny seedlings of thought, that grew and took shape and added a dimension to the project that were unlike every other idea before it…those absolute truths…those nonempiral transcendent concepts of reason…those imperfect replicas…what about those? Those ideas, my friends, have value and they are your greatest asset. Sometimes, we forget that and give them away too freely, as if they have no value. So if you’re questioning your creative worth, maybe you should start looking first at your assets. #yourideashaveworth
Well, last week my Dad reached the grand old age of 90. (Cheers deafen the blogger as she grins.) And as oldest daughter and avid amateur party-planner, I took the helm and planned an awesome party for my Dad for last Saturday. (I also had a ferocious head cold that evolved into an upper respiratory infection. But, who cares about that?)
So, here are some things I learned in the process:
1. Don't count on a 90-year-old to show up for his own party. He did not show. As a matter of fact, he ended up in the hospital for emergency surgery the very next day. Some people will do anything to avoid a party!!!!
2. You can add diacritical marks to a Pages document just by holding down a couple of keys. I've already forgotten what those keys are but now that I know it can be done I will find the instructions.
3. Those "Help" windows are actually helpful in many, many programs.
3a. Use those "Help" windows. Staring at a computer screen will not get the job done.
4. The best ideas are hatched right before the party when there is no time to implement them. For instance, Face Sudoku - thanks to my sister CG. There are 9 siblings and 9 numbers in Sudoku. Just substitute a different face for each number and there you go.
OR, slide photo Bingo. Make Bingo cards with photos from the event's slide show and everyone will be sure to watch the slide show very carefully. (My family LOVES slide shows. Our spouses - not so much!)
But, now, my Dad has another hurdle to overcome. Just how he will get back to charging the net for a backhand return, I don't know. He won't be playing tennis anytime soon.
5. The last thing I learned is this. Time is finite. Don't waste any of it. 90 years seems like a loooong time but it is never long enough if you love someone.
clock 1 |kläk|
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch klocke, based on medieval Latin clocca ‘bell.’
noun
a mechanical or electrical device for measuring time, indicating hours, minutes, and sometimes seconds, typically by hands on a round dial or by displayed figures.
• (the clock) time taken as a factor in an activity, esp. in competitive sports: they play against the clock | her life is ruled by the clock.
• informal a measuring device resembling a clock for recording things other than time, such as a speedometer, taximeter, or odometer.
verb [ with obj. ]
1 attain or register (a specified time, distance, or speed): Thomas has clocked up forty years service | [ no obj. ] : the book clocks in at 989 pages.
• achieve (a victory): he clocked up his first win of the year.
• record as attaining a specified time or rate: the tower operators clocked a gust of 185 mph.
2 informal hit (someone), esp. on the head: someone clocked him for no good reason.
PHRASES
around (or round ) the clock all day and all night: working around the clock.
run out the clock Sports deliberately use as much time as possible in order to preserve one's own team's advantage: facing a tie, he decided to run out the clock in the final moments.
stop the clock allow extra time by temporarily ceasing to count the time left before a deadline arrives: he agreed to stop the clock as negotiations continued.
turn (or put ) back the clock return to the past or to a previous way of doing things.
watch the clock (of an employee) be overly strict or zealous about not working more than one's required hours.
PHRASAL VERBS
clock in (or out )(of an employee) punch in (or out).
Here's a gift idea that every writer can appreciate: TIME TO WRITE.
What to write under "Details":
Depending on your relationship with the recipient, you could offer to do dishes for a week, pick up the kids from school, # hours of running errands, grocery shopping and so on.
Just download the high-res version (1.3 MB), print it, cut out the certificate using the guidelines, fill in the information.
Ideas for presenting the gift:
- Slip the certificate into a white envelope & then decorate the envelope with Christmas stickers, sparkles, etc.
- Roll up the certificate and tie a colorful ribbon around it. Present it as is, or wrapped in gold tissue paper.
Enjoy!
by Kelly L. Stone
Back in mid-April, at Beach Haven, when sweaters were de rigueur and wet hair dried in chilly crisps, when I rose early to meet the dolphins, when I tried to get away but work kept finding me anyway—back then, there was this woman by the sea. A retired school teacher, she told me. Never married. The kind of person who only ever reserved rooms in hotels where dogs are welcome and where you can bring a little pan of some pre-concocted stew and heat it. She was an off-season Beach Haven regular. She liked to sit in an old beach chair, its plastic weave gone slightly awry, with a fishing rod poked into the sand.
Today, I thought to show you all something I do from time to time. Enjoy.
Today, I thought to show you all something I do from time to time. Enjoy.
Some caffeine-fuelled thoughts:
“That’s that,” quoting Ace Rothstein at the end of Casino. I didn’t end the Martin Scorsese chapter on an optimistic note in the fourth edition of A Cinema of Loneliness. There is more than a hint that the Scorsese’s creative energies might be flagging.
My pessimism grew from the direction — or lack of direction — Scorsese’s films had taken over the past decade. I thought that the big productions of the 2000s — Gangs of New York, The Aviator, and The Departed — indicated some kind of flailing about for ideas. These films were not as lean and mean as the earlier gangster movies that worked at the speed of light and were deliriously comic in their basic brutality.
Copyright Paramount Pictures. Source: shutterisland.com.
Shutter Island seemed to seal the decline. An unofficial remake of Samuel Fuller’s 1963 Shock Corridor, the film could have been made, I thought, by anyone. It bore none of the hallmarks of Scorsese’s style and all of the hallmarks of an overwrought Hollywood gothic tale.
An obvious riposte to my pessimism is that I am not in a position to question an artist’s evolution. Scorsese no more than any other filmmaker is bound to repeat himself, and the great gangster and street films of his early period are a thing of the past. Artists change with time, and the results of that change may not be to everyone’s taste. At least not to mine.
With this in mind, I went to see Hugo with a lot of skepticism. Why would Scorsese make a film in 3D? The only reason I could come up with — aside from the fact that he might just wish to experiment with the old/new screen technology of the moment — is that Alfred Hitchcock made a 3D film when that format was first introduced in the 1950s: Dial M For Murder. Scorsese almost always roots his work in films of the past. His imagination is constructed of film. He is an amateur archivist, with a huge collection of movies that he watches continually. He has his cast and crew look at old movies when they are preparing a new one. His films become something of archival works themselves, full of allusions to their predecessors. But there is more to it than this.
I have resisted the recent 3D craze. I did go to see Avatar out of curiosity. James Cameron does not often repay curiosity. But something stood out in that film. The mise-en-scène of Cameron’s mythical world, with its floating vegetation in a liquid like atmosphere, reminded me of the underwater sequences of Georges Méliès’s A Trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la lune, 1902). This magical film — Méliès was a magician as well as a filmmaker — was just one entry into his enormous filmography of fantasy filmmaking, his counter to the
Yesterday, a local reporter interviewing me at toddlers asked me the question everybody thinks:
“But you have 4 young children. When on earth do you find time to write?”
I wanted to say something profound or glamorous, like: "I have a wonderful nanny called Beatrice Lightheart who does most of the menial tasks." Or, "I share a delightful singing governess with a family called the Von Trapps."
“Sleep deprivation,” I said.
Now, I'm not as impressive as Cindy's son (see the post 3 below). But I have exchanged sleep for writing. And it shows. (Well, my Mum says it does – but I have a sneaking suspicion that this is just age and I’m about as good as I’ll get). But it also shows in my work: my first ever book is full of broken nights: sleep walking, night-feeds, yawns, siestas and general, unadulterated exhaustion . . .
The reporter looked rather unconvinced as a small person threw a dinosaur in my coffee. (The small person was of course mine).
Now, I know that sleep deprivation isn’t completely advised. In fact, it’s decidedly not. (I believe it accounts for quite a lot of health-related conditions – depression, anxiety, stinted tissue repair, that sort of thing). And I wouldn’t exactly recommend it. But if you’re doing it anyway, (with 4 young children, it’s kind of a ‘life-style’ choice), then isn’t it best to put it to good use?
My best-friend (or am I too old for those?) is married to a pilot, and she tells me that I’m writing "in the Window of my Circadian Low." Isn't that wonderful? It makes my nocturnal scribbling sound so grand. And wait, it gets better!
If a pilot has to report to their place of work before 6am (disturbing the rhythm of their natural body clock), then they hav
“Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
"Time ripens the substance of a life as the seasons mellow and perfect its fruits. The best apples fall latest and keep longest."
Earth advances 18 1/2 miles (30 kilometers) in its orbit around the sun.What can happen in a day?
People use the equivalent of 200 billion sheets of letter-size paper.In a year?
A termite queen will lay almost 3,000,000 eggs.With his trademark illustrative style, customary accuracy, and imaginative perspective, Steve Jenkins shows us the concept of time through a variety of aspects. From the briefest second in which a cheetah can sprint 100 feet, to the unfathomable span of 2,000,000,000 years that it would take a spacecraft to traverse our galaxy, Jenkins offers illustrated facts, charts and graphs that are sure to interest kids of all ages. Facts are presented in white text on colorful pages, accompanied by cut paper illustrations.For teachers, it is a cross-curricular treasure trove. Highly recommended.
Once during a time before this time there was an advanced group of people living on what is now called earth. They were advanced enough to be in the beginnings of off world flight and living for extended ages in the quite of space. These people had several colonies on outer planets and were mining comets for iron to build fantastic ships that would support large colonies for ages in flight to other galaxies.
By the time they had 3 expeditions launched the earth was pretty depleted of those who were capable of living off planet even with their work in the nano-health sciences making the remaining population live longer and healthier, the greatest of their minds had opted for the grand travel in search of new worlds and higher learning.
As the last, as it turned out, star ship was leaving the galactic boundaries it learned of a catastrophe about to send solar debris toward earth in a massive wave that was more than the inhabitants could overcome and an almost complete annihilation of life on earth would happen but because they would be drawn in and also destroyed if they tried to reverse course to help, they stayed their course and the ships leader General Odessa Davis sent word to the other outbound vessels of the destruction and that he and his crew would go into dormancy except for the AI and robots who could carry out advanced scientific studies that could be fed into the human bodies as they rested in stasis and would come out after a period of time when it was again safe to venture back to help what ever was left of society in the solar system.
After many eons Davis was awakened, fully rejuvenated by the internal bot-medics, his DNA advanced and most known human physical problems dealt with. His crew as well had been resurrected to a much advanced state of physical ability. The AI was far advanced but still willing to be part of “The new humanity”.
On returning to Earth they found all the outposts along the way had suffered total annihilation and only Earth was left with life but not human in nature. Only larger land animals and ocean creatures lived well but were in an altered state from the creatures who the space dwellers had left behind before the destruction of the planets they knew as home.
The land masses had turned under in the violence and no sign of the former intelligence was in evidence beyond things that were rusting beyond recognition or were soon to be abducted under the volcanic eruptions still roiling upon the surface.
General Odessa Davis’ crew was small compared to the other colony ships human cargo but it had wide diversity in genetic standing. It was agreed that a new human society was to be created on this “New” Earth and their ship would explore the outer reaches of this galaxy while it naturally built itself with no artificial intelligence help.
Science Administrator Thomas Alvin Nester was assigned to find suitable earth hosts for DNA from the ships ancient cold storage to start the new humans on the planet. A few examples where gathered from warm blooded species that could simulate human form though not so close as to copy human form as it was in the past and the most dangerous animals that would be a hazard to these prototype “New lifers” would be eliminated using low tech asteroid bombardment which would also rearrange the world to have more water segregated continents for the experiment to give more chances one would work in favor of a new society that would eventually be allowed to carry on the work of the ancients in outer space while giving diversity to the human body form.
S.A.Thomas A. Nester or as his suit tag read S.A.T.A.N. was told to give the subjects only pure original DNA because G. O. Davis wanted Independent natural growth before any advanced knowledge was invested in this new human experiment. But Nester thought he knew more about science and what should be the new form of things than the General and allowed advanced knowledge to be a
This Day in World History - Why does most every country in the world agree on how to determine what time it is? You can thank the International Prime Meridian Conference, which began on October 13, 1884, and lasted nearly ten days. The twenty-five countries that gathered in Washington , D.C., agreed to accept the line of longitude that passed through Britain’s Royal Observatory as the prime meridian—the line of 0° longitude (just as the Equator is 0° latitude). The nations also agreed that the time at Greenwich would be the standard time against which all other times would be compared—Greenwich Mean Time.
I came across this very old drawing in one of my sketchbooks dating from my period at Wyatt Cattaneo animation studio. It shows Tony Cattaneo, Ramon Modiano (standing) and Alison deVere. These guys taught me more about drawing in two weeks than I learned in four years at art school.
My Books I Want to Read list has reached critical mass. There are not enough hours in the day. Help! Must....read.....books.....
You won’t believe this but I had a vision of a clock running for this weeks IF!
Great idea.
So cute!! I, too first envisioned a running clock, but ended up going in a different direction. I love your whimsical characters!
Thanks! Great minds, eh? Hee hee!
Doesn’t look like Wonderland, though
Love your sketches!