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Respite

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"But moving a ship over a mountain is not stupid. It’s a big, big, big metaphor …" — Werner Herzog During my last year as an undergraduate student, I became a big fan of Werner Herzog's films. I came across this interview with Herzog this morning.  In the interview and in the context of the Corona virus and the indifference of nature, Herzog is asked about an artist's search for a deeper truth, beyond "the truth of accountants." He responds: "I'll make it very simple. My witness is Michelangelo, who did the statue of the Pietà. When you look at Jesus taken down from the cross, it’s the tormented face of a 33-year-old man. You look at the face of his mother: His mother is 17. So let me ask: Did Michelangelo give us fake news? Defraud us? Lie to us? I’m doing exactly the same. You have to know the context in which you become inventive." Interesting thoughts. Keep in mind that the stress we're all under can be a power...

21 March 2020

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Hi! I'm thinking that a whole lot of folks suddenly have a whole lot of time. Me? Well, I guess that's the case. Mostly, I need some distractions so as to not make everyone in my home crazy. I'm a photography professor at a large community college in the southwestern United States. Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, I'm having to put courses online mid-semester. I know enough about online delivery to be dangerous, but maybe not enough to be effective. So that's frightening. But not as frightening as what I see on the news every night. This is bound to get worse before it gets better. I am an Asian American. My wife and I learned today that our good friend got asked if she carried the "Chinese virus." Our friend, who was standing in line, waiting to enter Costco at the time, swore at and called the questioner a racist. At least she fought back. Here's a picture I made today: I blogged once before at a site called Car-sin-no-Da . I hope t...