jr - art -2

the faces are huge - and on the sides or roofs of buildings.

when the train goes overhead, the eyes make different faces.  

more information here.

creative beauty.

joy to you!

-2

far below freezing sunrise.

peace.

chocolats latour - valentine's day

 dark hand made sea salt caramels come inside

 a hand painted chocolate shell.

 what could be better?

chocolats latour.
valentine's day beauty.

sweet. 

12 miles

 fresh air.  

frozen beauty.

joy!

useful words - bob the builder

in daniel pink's bestselling book to sell is human, he argues that all of us are in sales.  when we have a family meeting about where to vacation, or recommend a course of action at work, we persuade others.

unlike traditional sales gurus, such as og mandino, napoleon hill, or tony robbins, who recommend we tell ourselves how fabulous we are, pink suggests we talk to ourselves the way bob the builder does - in questions.

if you haven't had preschoolers recently, bob is a stop-motion animated guy running a construction company.  in his overalls and hard hat, bob is always running into trouble.  here's what he says:

can we fix it?  

yes we can!

pink argues that recent research shows that when participants used 'interrogative self-talk" in a series of experiments, they achieved more.  

why?  two reasons:

1.  first, asking yourself questions generates helpful feedback.  for instance, say you need to make a presentation.  if, instead of saying to yourself, "this will be easy!", you ask, "can i make a great pitch?", the question elicits useful feedback, such as, "sure!  i've pitched this idea twice before!", or "absolutely, but i spoke too fast last time, so i'll go slower today."  it helps you summon useful resources and strategies.

2.  questions generate intrinsic motivation - why you are pursuing this goal.  

so, here's to useful daniel pink, bob the builder,

and helpful talk.  

as pink says,

Can you do that?

Well, you'll have to ask yourself.

joy to you!
(more of artist jr monday.)

jr - art -1

a hall of candid photos,

a video of the artist putting up his work, 

enormous funny faces, and

photos of those pictures in urban areas

make up this exhibition.

more information tomorrow.

a warm thursday greeting to you.

contemporary arts center, cincinnati

 check out the contemporary arts center.

architectural beauty.

happy wednesday!

buildings as art

the bengals' stadium and practice field,

 john roebling bridge,

our colors,

ice skating rink on fountain square, 

the winding ohio,

the hyatt regency cincinnati, and

a swirling parking garage.

urban beauty.

joy to you.

everyday objects = art

here's everyday beauty in an art museum.

diane landry creates installations from simple materials.

here is a laundry basket with a plastic spoon in front of the light.

this enormous work of art is made of

clear utensils, and

here are plastic water bottles.

the machine with the spoon moves in and out, so the wall art is constantly changing.

check out the contemporary arts center, cincinnati.

peace.

inspiration - bill iffrig

last april 15th, bill iffrig was 78 years old and running the boston marathon for the third time.  as he neared the finish line, the first of the two bombs detonated, and knocked him off his feet.  shortly after this photograph, bill stood up and finished the race.

his time was 4 hours, 3 minutes.  

(photo and quotes: runners world)

before he retired, he was a carpenter and mason for 42 years.  after work, he built his 

house.

I had good rain gear, and even on the worst nights I never got too bothered by the cold, because I enjoyed what I was doing.  It took me one year, working every night and weekend.  We've lived here ever since.

A few days after returning home from boston, iffrig caught up on his yard work. 

A lot of my neighbors hire a yard service, and that's fine, but I like to cut the grass myself.  I've always had a lot of energy.  I'm not much of one for sitting around.  I get home after a 10-mile run, and I look forward to mowing the lawn.

after the deafening bombing, iffrig rose and went 15 more feet, 4th in his age group.  

After i finished they brought out a wheelchair.  I said, "Why don't you give that to someone who needs it more?"  (LA times, april 25, 2013)

inspirational beauty.

book group - top 5

 the book was chosen to be a quick read during the busy holiday season, and to focus us on what's important.  anne lamott's help thanks wow categorizes prayer.  

here are my top 5 from book group:

5.  you don't have to read the book to go.  you don't even have to know the title to attend and enjoy.  

4.  the author is completely non-denominational.  prayer is universal.

3.  the range of topics during the meeting, from commercials to our children's summer schedules

2.  learning about other compelling books members are reading

1.  a quote from the book:

The great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote, "I slept and dreamt that life was joy. / I 

awoke and saw that life was service. / I acted and behold, service was joy."

peace!

winter run

peace.

taste of belgium

you can find cool comfort food at taste of belgium in cincinnati's over the rhine.

an egg covers goetta with peppers and onions over french fries.

not healthy exactly, but delicious.

crepes are never wrong, but you may want to order their famous waffles, and

the coffee is superb.

bring friends and

enjoy!

a gathering place.

joy to you!