Outside Looking In

Outside Looking In
Originally uploaded by lucienphoto

The story of the times. Man drinking alone in a bar...sort of inside a glass house. Hope that he is not throwing stones anyplace else.

Portrait as Still Life

Portrait as Still Life
Originally uploaded by lucienphoto

Here is the meta photographic image. A still life photo of a group of people looking back at the camera in a mirror. Fun, fun, fun!

Going Someplace

Escher mode
Originally uploaded by lucienphoto

The election has now been over one month. People are still fuming about the outcome. I am shocked by the vitriol spewed in net letters and editorial comments. Some people simply do not seem to understand that we have a new president elect. Come 1/21/09 he will have completed his first full day in office and there are bound to be some changes.

As a nation we can choose to wallow in what we perceive to be defeats or we can pull together to tackle the problems that got us here. In mental health circles we call this being solution-focused. Think about asking the drowning man how he came to be in his position rather than focusing on assisting him to safety.

Yes, we do have problems. And addressing those problems will not be easy. Let's try to go back to being The United States of America rather than the Blue or the Red States that are in proximity to each other. You have to be the one that makes the first move. We have to be willing to get our hands dirty. We have to be willing to add value to what we produce. We have to be willing to not buy from seedy producers or contractors. We have to be willing to pay our neighbor a living wage. We have to be willing to not buy convenient or cheap and purchase quality. We have to be willing to forego the quick buck and support all those other ideas. Think crystal versus plastic. Diamonds versus fakes.