Fordjour

Painting is just me and the surface and God. 

- Derek Fordjour 

Truest

My truest self is returning to the source. 

—

I find my self returning to the roots 

In front of you

Art is right in front of you.

Capture it 

—

Sometime, art is right in front of you.

You just have to capture it 

Ron Padgett

How to be perfect

"Everything is perfect, dear friend."
- KEROUAC

Get some sleep.

Don't give advice.

Take care of your teeth and gums.

Don't be afraid of anything beyond your control. Don't be afraid, for

instance, that the building will collapse as you sleep, or that someone

you love will suddenly drop dead.

Eat an orange every morning.

Be friendly. It will help make you happy.

Raise your pulse rate to 120 beats per minute for 20 straight minutes

four or five times a week doing anything you enjoy.

Hope for everything. Expect nothing.

Take care of things close to home first. Straighten up your room

before you save the world. Then save the world.

Know that the desire to be perfect is probably the veiled expression

of another desireâ€"to be loved, perhaps, or not to die.

Make eye contact with a tree.

Be skeptical about all opinions, but try to see some value in each of

them.

Dress in a way that pleases both you and those around you.

Do not speak quickly.

Learn something every day. (Dzien dobre!)

Be nice to people before they have a chance to behave badly.

Don't stay angry about anything for more than a week, but don't

forget what made you angry. Hold your anger out at arm's length

and look at it, as if it were a glass ball. Then add it to your glass ball

collection.

Be loyal.

Wear comfortable shoes.

Design your activities so that they show a pleasing balance

and variety.

Be kind to old people, even when they are obnoxious. When you

become old, be kind to young people. Do not throw your cane at

them when they call you Grandpa. They are your grandchildren!

Live with an animal.

Do not spend too much time with large groups of people.

If you need help, ask for it.

Cultivate good posture until it becomes natural.

If someone murders your child, get a shotgun and blow his head off.

Plan your day so you never have to rush.

Show your appreciation to people who do things for you, even if you

have paid them, even if they do favors you don't want.

Do not waste money you could be giving to those who need it.

Expect society to be defective. Then weep when you find that it is far

more defective than you imagined.

When you borrow something, return it in an even better condition.

As much as possible, use wooden objects instead of plastic or metal

ones.

Look at that bird over there.

After dinner, wash the dishes.

Calm down.

Visit foreign countries, except those whose inhabitants have

expressed a desire to kill you.

Don't expect your children to love you, so they can, if they want to.

Meditate on the spiritual. Then go a little further, if you feel like it.

What is out (in) there?

Sing, every once in a while.

Be on time, but if you are late do not give a detailed and lengthy

excuse.

Don't be too self-critical or too self-congratulatory.

Don't think that progress exists. It doesn't.

Walk upstairs.

Do not practice cannibalism.

Imagine what you would like to see happen, and then don't do

anything to make it impossible.

Take your phone off the hook at least twice a week.

Keep your windows clean.

Extirpate all traces of personal ambitiousness.

Don't use the word extirpate too often.

Forgive your country every once in a while. If that is not possible, go

to another one.

If you feel tired, rest.

Grow something.

Do not wander through train stations muttering, "We're all going to

die!"

Count among your true friends people of various stations of life.

Appreciate simple pleasures, such as the pleasure of chewing, the

pleasure of warm water running down your back, the pleasure of a

cool breeze, the pleasure of falling asleep.

Do not exclaim, "Isn't technology wonderful!"

Learn how to stretch your muscles. Stretch them every day.

Don't be depressed about growing older. It will make you feel even

older. Which is depressing.

Do one thing at a time.

If you burn your finger, put it in cold water immediately. If you bang

your finger with a hammer, hold your hand in the air for twenty

minutes. You will be surprised by the curative powers of coldness and

gravity.

Learn how to whistle at earsplitting volume.

Be calm in a crisis. The more critical the situation, the calmer you

should be.

Enjoy sex, but don't become obsessed with it. Except for brief periods

in your adolescence, youth, middle age, and old age.

Contemplate everything's opposite.

If you're struck with the fear that you've swum out too far in the

ocean, turn around and go back to the lifeboat.

Keep your childish self alive.

Answer letters promptly. Use attractive stamps, like the one with a

tornado on it.

Cry every once in a while, but only when alone. Then appreciate

how much better you feel. Don't be embarrassed about feeling better.

Do not inhale smoke.

Take a deep breath.

Do not smart off to a policeman.

Do not step off the curb until you can walk all the way across the

street. From the curb you can study the pedestrians who are trapped

in the middle of the crazed and roaring traffic.

Be good.

Walk down different streets.

Backwards.

Remember beauty, which exists, and truth, which does not. Notice

that the idea of truth is just as powerful as the idea of beauty.

Stay out of jail.

In later life, become a mystic.

Use Colgate toothpaste in the new Tartar Control formula.

Visit friends and acquaintances in the hospital. When you feel it is

time to leave, do so.

Be honest with yourself, diplomatic with others.

Do not go crazy a lot. It's a waste of time.

Read and reread great books.

Dig a hole with a shovel.

In winter, before you go to bed, humidify your bedroom.

Know that the only perfect things are a 300 game in bowling and a

27-batter, 27-out game in baseball.

Drink plenty of water. When asked what you would like to drink,

say, "Water, please."

Ask "Where is the loo?" but not "Where can I urinate?"

Be kind to physical objects.

Beginning at age forty, get a complete "physical" every few years

from a doctor you trust and feel comfortable with.

Don't read the newspaper more than once a year.

Learn how to say "hello," "thank you," and "chopsticks"

in Mandarin.

Belch and fart, but quietly.

Be especially cordial to foreigners.

See shadow puppet plays and imagine that you are one of the

characters. Or all of them.

Take out the trash.

Love life.

Use exact change.

When there's shooting in the street, don't go near the window.

Prepare

My life is preparation for my art

Amelia Earhart had her own clothing line

Amelia Earhart broke into an almost entirely male-dominated profession to become one of the most famous aviators of all time, but being one of a small handful of female pilots came with plenty of obstacles. One of the more annoying problems was a lack of flight apparel designed to fit women's bodies. At the beginning of her career, Earhart was saddled with ill-fitting clothing designed for men, which only bolstered her lifelong interest in fashion. As a child, Earhart sewed clothing for herself and her dolls; later in life, she had a reputation for wearing practical clothing, much of which was custom-made.

In 1933, with a couple of transatlantic flights under her belt, Earhart released Amelia Fashions, a clothing line "for the woman who lives actively"; while some of the line was made for aviation, some of it was just stylish and comfortable. Earhart didn't just lend her name to the label — she approved every step of the process and helped sew some of the garments, too. Many of the designs incorporated aviation materials, such as buttons and buckles made of ball bearings, oil cups, and bolts. Some shirts were made from parachute silk and included tails, which were mostly exclusive to menswear at the time. She also designed hats, which she used as prizes for flying contests with the Ninety-Nines, an all-woman aviation society she helped establish. What ultimately doomed the clothing line was that Earhart cared too much about it, and she found that working as a full-time designer took her focus away from flying and lecturing.

Chemicals

We are chemicals.  

We have to regulate our chemicals.

- Loki Muthu 

Escape

I escaped from a controlling woman. 

Black tie optional

Black tie optional is like "tentatively" accepting a meeting 

Original

Better than the original 

On Great therapy

"He reprogrammed me"

Lisa on Robert 

Kelvin

My grandfather is not defined by being black or blind

Kelvin Beachum Jr 

On Vivek

"He runs and gives money to ragpickers" 

Mom Meera on her son, my brother: Vivek 

A seed is a plant egg.

An egg is an animal sea seed not seed

Spirituality

Our spirituality is the highest order of our lives.. 

Lisa Opoku 

Leke Osinubi

You will never regret following your intuition

picasso

Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working...

poem idea notes

Everyday I land on a mysterious shore.

I hear the waters and the gushing.

I feel the froth and the gentle pebbles

I see the sun rise in the morning 

and the orb leave in the evening

The canvas of dark the glimmer of stars

I see sparkling beautiful things up above

Sometimes they move, so mysteriously 

The flicker of a distant airplane tail

when the light hits the side of the plane

when the sun sets or rises, it is a shining mysterious delight on air

----

Poem Notes

My life is just beginning 
I am a deep thinker
I can move mountains
I sleep for decades
Wake up one weekend 
And work in fists of flurry
Constantly seeking the skies 
And birds and falling leaves 
Gazing at the horizon 
Delighting my eyes with 
The soot of charcoal on paper
Walking, leveling the ground of me
Into tiny boxes with travel ephemera 
And restaurant receipts that record 
My vagabond gastronomies as I catch
The curled up autumn leaf 
This circumambulation of loki muthu
One day in the clackety train parsing
Over paddy fields near jolarpet 
Where dim lights of thatched homes
Illuminate families in their act of living 
Triggering for me 
A deep longing for belonging 
Feeding on sound, the snare of the wild
The clarion hold of the the temple bell 
The deafening drone of the lawnmower 
The thunder of the tread on a pothole 
On a Sunday spring morning, awakening 
You to the land of sedated sleep
The injunction of the trucks 
Silky movement of pajama against sheet 
Repeating this zigzag pattern 
The murky mind ambling through the 
Snares and traps of everyday, 
Everyday avoiding traps and potholes
Centering myself to the rays of the sun. 
Missed by its rays reminding me to 
Thank God that I am here now somehow. 

Loki muthu

Swimming in the ocean of sound 

Swimming in the ocean of listening 

I swim in the ocean of sound

I swim in the ocean of listening 

Frida

High society people lead the most stupid lives 

Prince

I'd like to think that all my music is one song… 

Technique

Technique should be hidden, not obvious

Barbara Karuth-Zelle

The tech transformation was the most exciting journey in my career, as I learned so much about the importance of clear scope, clear KPIs, the right people, a change mindset, taking on projects that aren't too big and aren't too small, and delivering as quickly as possible.

Barbara Karuth-Zelle

For me, the foundation for a successful transformation is the mindset of sharing, curiosity, creativity, and a can-do attitude. This goes along with an agile way of working and a diverse, experienced, expert, and inclusive workforce that gets the most out of people's talents.

Barbara Karuth-Zelle

My advice, applicable to everybody: if you need something, please ask for it. This opens discussions and can open doors. Speak up if you want to make a change.

Safe

Love has to be safe

On Rachmaninoff

I played one of his own preludes once, and he took me to the window and he said look down at those trees, those are mimosa trees and I want you to play this melody with a golden sound. And I said but how can you make color into a sound on the piano? And I then said the magic words,I said "show me", and he played the first few bars of this prelude and I knew exactly what to do; from there on I was able to do it.

Ruth Slenczynska

Ruth Slenczynska

I believe that every individual is entitled to dream and to think and to wish for herself what she would like to do and to try to follow that path.

Ruth Slen-CHIN-Skaa

PoemIdea

Sometimes I am u reachable to myself. 

Sometimes I call me and hear silence. 

Sometimes I call me and there is nothing there, there 

Poem idea

I could be drinking the rain of coffee

I could be pouring the water of Bethlehem

I could be frying the grass of 

Attention

I think that paying attention is a way to love the world.

Kate de Camilo

Do the work

Do the work
Read the book
Earn the degree
Bite the bullet
Drink the medicine 
Swallow the bullet
Burn the check
Buy the ticket
Demolish the house 
Torch the prison 
Pay the bill
Eat the bones