as a tourist

Expecting some visitors today, from abroad, & wondering
what to suggest. Will they like the beaches best, or driving
around; the small towns, how green it is, the tropical bits,
or will it be the idea of mango trees leaning over the fences?
Impossible to know even what another sees..

I'm waiting, with trepidation, to see a second proof of my book.

Far away, in new york, some interesting portraits

black and white India

Top line is Kashmir, then Ladahk, & Dalhousie ~ again,
I've only damaged contact prints; that's what happens with
a hundred moves, along with other unforseen factors.
The children are at the school/day care centre I helped start.

I stayed for months in Varanasi. Having decided to go north,
I was waiting for the train when the loudspeakers
announced an 'indefinite' delay, so I returned to the
small hotel. A fascinating city. I'd walk each morning to the river,
once there were these large boats, it felt like a slip in time,
as it often did. Photos are another form of time travel, no?

Look through all of this site, great photos.

india

Awful news from India today (it's actually Nov 28, posts always
say one day earlier, don't know why) I scanned them from small
contacts, negs got lost in the mail, I think, long ago.
From Kashmir & northern India, where I lived for 5 years.
I travelled in the south for the winters.

I enjoy Stephen Huyler's site, he clearly has
such rapport with many Indian crafts people & artists.

frost bird

I woke to this cold, frosted window in Colorado, & wanted to fly
away to somewhere warmer.
Looking through notebooks I found this quote from Octavio Paz:
La luz es tiempo que se piensa.(Light is time thinking about itself.)
That's better than any link I can find today.

china

This was at a Singapore temple, wonder what it means?
Have the digital proof of the book, & don't know
what that means, either: it does not inspire confidence in
the finished result, am waiting to find out why it's so.. off.

Lettering artist here

the view

This was part of the view from the house I rented in
the mountains in India. It changed constantly with rain, mist,
clouds, seasons, & never failed to captivate. At that time,
there were many Tibetan refugees living in the area,
I loved to meet them on my walks.
Perhaps now it is like that Italo Calvino story, with houses
& people crowding in all directions..

Here for a short video of Tibetan yogis.

gold Buddha

The most beautiful Buddha image I've seen,
it's a solid gold statue in a Bangkok temple; it brought
tears to my eyes when I saw it this year, such a presence.
Apparently it was covered over, long ago, because
of invading armies, & then forgotten until quite
recently, when the outer casing broke.
I want him here today because a family member
is having a healing; & also the book proof arrives.
May your day be blessed , too !

More about Thai temples

painted walls

Just now I scanned these photos of an LA mural, &
only afterwards paused to wonder about the subject:
the title of the painted movie is The Fall of Icarus...

Related, kind of, in the way we make up stories for ourselves.

waves

Perfect morning for a walk on the beach, reminded me
I haven't for some time. As I don't drive,
it's harder to slip out for half an hour.
The phenomena called 'schoolies', where really a lot of kids
descend on a place after their final school exams, is upon us.
Locals in Byron Bay go early into town, to avoid the crowds.

Lovely short movies: Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was in retreat
for many years; such a beautiful presence.

blue again

We've had a lot of rain, & some big storms this week

The blue sky after a week of rain is so very blue.

Still organising various things for our book, & anxiously awaiting
the digital proof early next week.

The sites about books I most enjoy are
book by it's cover, 5b4 , bookcoversanonymous,
caferoyal , mendelsund , nytimesbooks .. there are lots.

running around..

There's an expression in Australia: running around like
a chook (chicken) with it's head cut off. Not quite accurate,
but I've certainly been running in past 10 days or so,
to get our book print-ready, plus all the other details that implies.
It went to the printers yesterday.
Could have a digital proof in another week. Seamail copies
will be early next year, maybe I'll get a box air freighted
just before christmas. I'm linking another blog, with a few
pages from Burning Questions, & finding the best way to
make buying easy. (Wont be selling till copies arrive here.)
see some of the 46 full colour spreads on the new blog
(also at top of right hand column)
Above is one of my altered photos, a rooster in Darjeeling,
with friend..

shops

Shops are also often distinctly of that place. Here's 2 from Chungking,
2 in India, lower right is in Ladahk.

2 more in Leh, & a shiny tea stall in Malaysia

I've never yet seen anywhere as vividly coloured as
Rajasthan. These I took at the Pushkar mela in 1971,
even with the saddlemaker hand coloured, my eyes still
read those super bright colours.

Be warned: this site can take you away for hours.

how we recognise

Don't you find it interesting that we know this is english,
or at least europe, just from that green..

Here might be Spain, though in fact it's the beautiful
Posada Carmina, Mexico, where I stayed two summers,
&, right, a country house in Chiapas..

This is ranch land but it's not quite the idea you have of Mexico,
is it?

In Chiapas there are two wet seasons, it has a unique ambiance.
My computer room, now, looks onto a tropical yard.
Storm coming. A link to that foreign country: the past.

a big week

A corner of my courtyard

Mount Warning from the main beach at Byron Bay.
I've been looking at short term accommodation for overseas
visitors, extraordinary prices! Am embarrassed to add links..

This week I was at the computer a lot, getting an
ISBN number, barcode, seeing the pre press guy,
feeling nervously excited ~ because: it looks like
my book is going to happen.
Stay tuned ! I didn't have time to set up a separate
site, it will link to this one. You'll be able to buy the book,
probably not before January 2009
as the main delivery will be seamail. Some pages soon...

next step

It's an Illawarra flame tree.
Yesterday, I took the next step for Burning Questions,
& expect to be busy for several days, finalising details..

More when it's definite.
In the foreground is a grass tree, some can
grow taller than a man, & have a very sentient presence.

green light

There's a lovely wet radiance today, reminds me of
the green light in these shots, at different places.
Plus there seems to be a metaphoric green light
happening ~ shall see how it unfolds.

&, just because I love watching, here are dolphins again.

curves

These two were on top of the 'to scan' pile, today.

I went to a park in Melbourne, & laughed out loud
when I saw a large flock of black swans grazing like
sheep on the grass. At the time I was exploring whether
the road of excess really leads to the palace of wisdom.
I think that phase has passed.
In India, some palaces teeter on the edge.

mornings

Got up even earlier on Thursday morning, looking at my
little garden, then to the farmer's market, where I also
got this gorgeous orchid.
In case you're not already spending too much time on the web..

summer's here

This is one version of summer, here ~ at the beach, or
the hinterland. Northern NSW gets more rain
than many other parts of Australia, it's still a
different- browner - green, especially coming from Europe.
&, on sunny days, a very intense light.
This site will find lots of blogs. I like the comment at the top:
'Thanks, God'.. great what's happened in America !

japan

There was a great deal I enjoyed about Japan in the
few weeks I was there,

love the attention to detail,


yet felt relieved when I got to the Noto peninsula,
& saw some old boats, & farmhouses, trees
that weren't clipped.. I like the idea of a zen-like space,
or garden, but it never stays that way for long.
Fun paintings here
great design here

pictures for poems

An intense few months working with a poet to illustrate
his poems, years ago; these are four of them.
As far as I know, he still has (probably) rather more
paintings by Anie Williams than he really wants or needs.
I got to see a gorgeous part of Colorado, too.

This guy's photos of the yukon make me want to visit.

paintings of stones

Following on from last post, if you want to know more about
the Enneagram, this blog seems quite good. I'm not so
interested in the personal, these days. Although I read
these pages on elephants with pleasure.

At the beginning of my interest in Advaita/nonduality/satsang
painting stopped, first time ever, I guess because there was
a strong identification with being an artist.
Then, in Bavaria, I started to fill a small book with paintings
of the stones collected on walks. These are a few.

(When the AU$ is stronger I'll get book on George Quasha)

personality types

These show the 9 personality types of the Enneagram,
it's a smaller version of my pictures that appeared in the book
by Eli Jaxon Bear. I've added links that
show something about the various types. ( a little ambitious,
& still from the position of a 5 ) One, Two, Three, Four,
Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine.I searched in that order, realised it could take days/months,
so switched to you tube, a picture is always quicker.
(comments are welcome..)