• coffee life,  People/Portraits,  quotes

    The Artist

    January 25, 2024

    Behind the facade of image and distraction, each person is an artist in this primal and inescapable sense. Each one of us is doomed and privileged to be an inner artist who carries and shapes a unique world.

    John O’Donohue

    Baristas are artists. As artists they are a part of the creation of our day because when we walk into a coffee shop, they greet us by name and then provide the drink we want. I consider them an artist because they can make a latte, while carrying on an intelligent conversation with us at the same time. They are artists because of their craft and skill in creating latte art from the crema of steamed milk: the heart or the rosetta with many leafs. I’ve even found myself not wanting to drink my latte and mess up their creation. And as we get to know each other, we get to see that inner beauty in each one of them, the person they are becoming and gift they are to the world. Go ahead, try and tell me that Keera’s smile is not a work of art.

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  • Candid Portraits,  People/Portraits,  quotes

    Moving on…

    January 13, 2024

    “Whether we experience what happens to us as obstacle and enemy or as a teacher and friend depends entirely on our perception of reality. It depends on our relationship with ourselves.”

    Pema Chödrön

    Weather app says it’s −11° and feels like -24°. They are spot on. We also had a dusting of snow overnight. After quiet time I made myself a bhakti chai, wrapped a blanket around myself, settled in for some reading and journaling. After my phone call with Eric I drove to Starry Night because today is Stephen’s last day as my barista. He’s a very good barista and very personable, one of my favorites. No one who walks in will feel like a stranger when he is working. So, I wanted to say goodby on his last day. He has been working and studying to be an EMT and was just hired by the fire department in Johnstown. I enjoy watching as young people move on to new paths. I’ve seen that a lot with baristas, which means I have to train another barista. Good luck and have fun, Stephen! Its now 11:43 am and we’ve warmed up to −6°.

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  • journaling,  quotes,  Self-portraits,  writing/reading

    Give it now…

    December 20, 2023

    One of the things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.

    Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

    As I was journaling at Mugs yesterday morning i noticed the lighting was perfect for a photo that symbolizes my journaling. So I asked one my barista, to take this image. Jess volunteered and this what she gave me. I like it.

    I’ve journaled for years and feel that the past five years have been the most productive. I don’t mean that in quantity but in the quality of my writing. Every time I put pen to paper I find unexpected words. I’ve uncovered truths and lies I’ve told myself for years. My journals have help me dig deeper into my soul helpsing me to know myself more while hopefully being a better human being. I am learning to put into words how I see the gift of this natural world I live in. I also am learning to put into words the gift of this inner landscape of myself.

    Finishing up laundry then some reading, walking and photography. It is overcast but warm.

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  • Candid Portraits,  People/Portraits,  quotes

    Mystifying world…

    December 1, 2023
    So many unknown people in this world

    The world… is indeed a strange and deeply mysterious place, forever changing and remaking itself anew. But this is not a novel condition, our world hasn’t only recently become bizarre and temporary, it has been so ever since its inception, and it will continue to be such until its end — mystifying and forever in a state of flux.

    Nick Cave

    This quote hits home for me. I suggest going to this link and read more about what he has to say about our mystifying world. From what I’ve read about him and his life, I’d like to invite him to join us for coffee. Enjoy your day and and the upcoming weekend.

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  • Candid Portraits,  coffee life,  quotes

    Empathy and Compassion

    November 22, 2023

    It says something about our species that we have eradicated smallpox and invented vaccines and antibiotics for yellow fever and the Black Death, but war continues to plague us; that in the past century — this supposed pinnacle of enlightened modernity — war has claimed or maimed more of our children’s lives than any virus or bacterium. It says something about both our immense imagination and our immense blind spots: Our species’ failure to eradicate war is a failure of the imagination, a failure to imagine what it is like to be anybody else, without which there can be no empathy and compassion — those vital molecules of harmony, the other name for which is peace.

    Maria Popova

    Maria’s quote is spot on. Could it be that much of our world is unable to imagine what it is like to be anybody else, find our similarities, because we are trying hard to be somebody we aren’t rather than accepting who we are. I love her idea that molecules of harmony, empathy and compassion, will bring peace.

    About a month ago I posted a quote by Vincent Van Gogh which I liked. Just after I posted that quote they put up this new mural at Starry Night coffee shop. I had to have a photo the moment I saw the mural and quote. It’s interesting that as a photographer we can draw people’s attention to things they have not yet seen while sitting right next to them. You can see how the one woman turned to see what the silly photographer was pointing his camera at. Happens all the time! I’m off to meet Mark for breakfast and conversation.

    May you have a wonderful day and may what you do in love today be done well!!

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  • Candid Portraits,  coffee life

    Halloween – 2023

    October 31, 2023

    Looks like James, my barista, had a long night but is still smiling this morning. And, coming home from coffee shop I saw a six foot tall fluorescent green bunny rabbit walking along West Prospect. Suspect they were headed towards campus. Could be an interesting place to visit today.

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  • coffee life,  coffee shops,  Humor,  People/Portraits

    One of the regulars

    July 30, 2023

    This is my reflections on Sunday morning from Starry Night. A young man sat against the south wall, phone in hand and a latte sitting on his table. He was not familiar to me. Sitting next to him was a couple who come here often, what we call regulars. A couple men sat in the lounge chairs near the front window deep in conversation, more regulars. Then Lucy came in who is one of the solid regulars. I see her almost every time I come to this coffee shop. She usually is out walking and stopping here is part of her routine. Sometimes she meets up with friends and sometimes she reads the paper. The baristas know her, as do us regulars. I asked if I could take her photo today. So meet Lucy!

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  • People/Portraits,  Portraits,  quotes

    I was wondering

    July 14, 2023
    Jamie

    I’ve read where every photograph is intended to express everything about the subject whether that’s nature, street or portraits. Not sure I am able to do that with portraits, yet. This is an image of a flight attendant I worked with back in 2009. Today I was wondering where she is in life, who she is today. I wonder what sort of portrait I’d see of her today.

    The most difficult thing for me is a portrait. It’s a question mark you put on somebody. Trying to say, “Who is it? What does it amount to? What is the significance of that face?” The difference between a portrait and a snapshot is that in the portrait, the person has agreed to be photographed.

    Henri Cartier-Bresson
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  • Candid Portraits,  Documentary/Street,  People/Portraits,  street photography,  Uncategorized

    Forgot My Phone

    July 11, 2023
    Students waiting at the CSU Transit Center

    After arriving at the Starry Night coffee shop and settling into my favorite chair, I realized I’d forgotten my phone. I’ve done this now a couple times over the past two weeks. It was interesting (almost frightening) to observe how often I reached for that phone but more frightening at how often I thought about it. These two episodes have sent a loud message as to how attached I am to that small device, as if its tendrils are wrapped around me. I made it through the two hours without it, no one got hurt and I actually was able to spend more time in my journal. Out of curiosity, I checked when I got home with the Screen Time Report on my phone (be warned of what that report may tell you) and it told me I was staring at the screen for an average of 2 hours and 56 minutes last week. In a posture of justification, at least 40 minutes a day is attributed to my meditation timer but still… In my mind this tells me I spend 2 hours a day not present to the world around me. Pretty scary to realize how attached I am to that thing. It also asks the question, “How did we survive without them?” Thinking I need to write more about this. Anyway, hoping you have a great day, with or without your phone!

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