Thursday, February 25, 2010

Writerquake: a space in the blogosphere for two years



Today is Writerquake's SECOND BLOGOVERSARY! I wondered what would come to me to post for this occasion, as my thoughts have been scattered lately and I am feeling physically wired and mentally spacey. I am just not grounded and haven't been for some weeks now. What has helped me to cope with this sense of unease is the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. The nightly escape into the coverage of events from the day has kept me going and I will go through Olympics withdrawal when it winds down this weekend. Maybe that will be what finally gets me back into a yoga and meditation practice.....

I thought that since it's my blogoversary I should be able to post something just for me, something that makes me feel good, and I figured that you wouldn't find fault with my selfishness. This, my favorite advertisement shown during the Olympics, is what I wanted desperately to post in celebration of Year Number Two at Writerquake. Not only wanted to, but needed to have here. And once it was embedded into the post I realized why I love the ad so much. Aside from it being such an obvious ad-age winner, aside from the very fine song by Lou Reed (and I do not care if his song might actually be about heroin, as discussed in comments at youtube, because it is perfect in context with the ad's intent and artistic impression), I love the ad because it reminds me of all of you.  It reminds me that, although my blogging friends are scattered on all parts of this beautiful planet, we are not so far apart or so different from one another and that the differences that do exist are wondrous. It reminds me of how much you have come to mean to me in these past two years. Then I realized that this post isn't just for me after all; it is for us.

In watching the ad here I forgave myself for being so ungrounded lately. In fact, my communication with many of you has led me to a self-forgiveness that I had not attained before joining the blogosphere. Reading your posts, viewing your expressions of art, having comments from you after my own posts have all gone into a kind of soul-bank for me, a place of honesty where I've found freedom to be myself again in ways I had allowed to be suppressed during the last decade.

So, thank you for looking at the squiggly ugly things crawling away when we turned over the rocks they were hiding under. Thank you for showing me your parts of the world that help me to dream beyond mine. Thank you for soaring in the blogosphere with me, especially today!

Perfect Day - lyrics (portion) 

Oh it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.



I discovered something amazing in working on this post, something that highlights the synchronicity of pieces of my life, when I am open to seeing them........
NASA's Earth Observatory website features an article with photos taken from the space station of various cities at night. What serendipity to read that they exist as a result of a device constructed by astronaut, Don Pettit, who is a native son of my town Silverton, Oregon! We absolutely love the guy here. Although he resides with his family elsewhere he returned to be the Grand Marshal in our annual festival parade after his first trip aboard the space station. He is a focal point in a mural painted on one of the downtown buildings (Silverton is a "mural art" town and I promise to feature some of the murals here in the future.)

This is an excerpt from the article linked in the above paragraph:

In late 2002 and early 2003, astronaut Don Pettit, part of International Space Station Expedition 6, spent some time accumulating spare parts from around the space station, and constructed a device called a barn-door tracker. A barn-door tracker is a camera mount commonly used by astronomers and photographers on the ground to capture images of stars and planets in the night sky. The camera is mounted on a hinged platform that can be moved very slowly and precisely (by turning a knob). On the ground, the device allows photographers to compensate for the rotation of the Earth relative to the stars. In space, it allows astronauts to compensate for the movement of the Space Station relative to the Earth below. The careful coordination keeps the targeted city in the same position in the camera’s field of view during the long exposure, even though both the station and Earth’s surface are moving.
Pettit’s tracker and nighttime photography techniques produced hundreds of images of cities from around the world that had estimated resolutions (level of detail) of about 60 meters. Since then, a few other crew members have been able to successfully master night photography techniques. . .

Recently, Don Pettit assembled a sequence of several of the most striking images of city lights at night into an animated “world tour” [high-resolution (126 MB MPEG), web-resolution (39 MB QuickTime)] of cities at night (script). This video, produced entirely by Pettit, takes you on a quick trip comparing cities from different regions, all viewed from the International Space Station. . .

The video is SPECTACULAR!
What a world we live in. What a world we are.........

.

23 comments:

nakedpastor said...

congratulations!! it is a beautiful video. keep on keeping on!

Batteson.Ind said...

happy birthday!... it's been a pleasure dropping by on you for these past few months :-)

It never fails to stun me when i see the planet from above. I can only comprehend what a physically and philosophically, weird feeling it must be for astronauts to not be on their home. For a species that has evolved as earth dwellers, it must strike a human on an almost cellular level!

I think the day when space flight is accesable to all, will be the day human kind finally join together. .. I'd like to think anyway..

Hope this next blogging year brings you to another million places :-) cheers! *raises a glass of finest!

dianasfaria.com said...

Congratulations Lydia! What a great post. I am smiling for you right now.
Isn't blogging great?

Kim said...

Happy Blogoversary! Two years is a long time! Congrats.

Aleks said...

Congratulations my dear! Do not worry,it will pass whatever it is bugging you lately,and you will one morning soon,wake up in to a bright,lovely morning,just as is the feeling you give us trough your lovely blogs.Thank for it,this is another wonderful post,love,light and peace for you!
Aleksandra :O)
PS This what Im saying to my self to keep on going when the tough get rough(or something like that, :O))!!!

viridian said...

Dear Lydia: It's just past my second blogging anniversary too. Happy day! Thank you for your wonderful posts.

Amy said...

I'm a new reader of your blog. I have to say you made my day with the Cities at Night video link. What a beautiful world we live in, truly!

I hadn't seen the ad since I've "tivoed" most of the Olympic coverage, but it was beautiful as well.

Congrats on your "blogversary" - I won't be a stranger anymore!

Lydia said...

nakedpastor~ Thank you for your first comment here, and thanks for putting up with all of mine at your blog!

the watercats~ You cats are so great, and I am loving watching your musical lives evolve over at your blog (and on your YouTube channel also!). Thanks for being here.

Lily~ Hi! It's been awhile but one of the great things about blogging is that connections...and re-connections...seem to happen all the time!

Kim~ Thanks much. I guess statistically the majority of new blogs never make it past the first year. So we're beating the odds. :)

ALeks~ Your words of encouragement mean a lot to me. I'm still working on ordering my schedule around so that I wake up earlier. When I'm finally successful I hope I find that morning you described!

viridian~ So happy to have you here for my second b-day and I apologize for missing yours. Please accept my belated congratulations!

Amy~ Your wonderful comment really cheered me and I'm thrilled that you like it here and that you will be back. I will be over to visit your blog later...my dogs want to know all about yours in your profile pic. :)

Nancy said...

What a beautiful and soulful post, Lydia. I am so glad to have found you, and to be a part of your blogosphere! We have so much in common, coming from the same small city. I really enjoyed the video and agree that it was, indeed, a synchronicity with Don Petit and your research. It's not like Silverton is a giant megaopolis. A man to be proud of, for sure.

Congrats on two years, and I look forward to many more interesting posts.

Looking to the Stars said...

Happy blogversary! Beautifully said. If it were not for you, I would not be here in blogland. I thank you from the bottom of my heart and soul for showing me a path where I could express my deepest joys and pains :)

Lydia said...

Nancy~ There is a bond we share as Reno girls, but we'd never have known one another without blogging. I'm grateful that your blog was named a Blog of Note, which led me to you and I've so appreciated our growing friendship. (It's also fun that you know Silverton!)

Looking to the Stars~ Aw, you are such a dear heart for saying that. :)
You really do express your deepest joys and pains in ways unlike anyone else. It's been an honor to observe sorrows slowly being changed to a bit of solace through your sharing your stories.

English Rider said...

Good Vibes to and from.

Lydia said...

English Rider~ Thanks and likewise. :)

j said...

Happy (slightly belated) blogoversary! And that was a wonderful video. It's funny that you should ask forgiveness for being selfish when much of this post was about the community created through blogging. I think we all benefit from your wide-ranging and thoughtful posts.

And I'm sorry that you've been feeling scattered lately. Me, too. Sometimes those feelings seem as if they will never go away, but they eventually do. It might be a February thing, a desire for greenness and more light. At least that's part of what I think is going on with me.

Take care, Lydia.

francessa said...

Great video, Lydia!

Happy second (belated) blogoversary! (I seem always to be late these days)

Just one sentence: You've so enrichened our lives. Keep going on and on and on ... :-)

Lydia said...

Jennifer~ Glad you enjoyed the video.
You know, I think you might be right about the February thing. I'm glad it's a short month!
Here's hoping that March brings a change of interior scenery... :)

francessa~ I sure thought of you when I saw that video, over there in other parts of the world. I want to see Vienna at night from the city streets!
Your wishes are dear to me.

francessa said...

You sure will see those lights from so many points of view, from the roof deck cafés, from the woods surrounding the city, from all the avenues and alleyways (wasn't this a Tony Christie song?)):-)

Lydia said...

francessa~ O, it's so exciting to dream of all that!
Guess what? I do not know who Tony Christie is, so now I have something else to look up in the afternoon following the USA/Canada Hockey Game. :)

valerie walsh said...

Happy Bloggaversary! yes, you captured the true intentions of what a blog really is in your words! It is an amazing and special gift having a blog and all the receivers and givers :) i also love the phrase that is bandied about: blogging without obligation. It makes you not feel so bad the times when you need to just spend time with doing other things ;) Another amazing post!

Unknown said...

Amidst technology
And despite its cold digital embrace

How fortunate are we
To discover such a personal
Human
Space

For ourselves
To share

This wonderful phenomena
Pleases me
But not so much
As the way
That people like you

Make the most of it

Happy Blogversary

And thank you

Erin Davis said...

Here's to anniversaries and self-forgiveness and serindipity. Your blog brings us all so much, Lydia! And you're right, that video and song is perfect.

Rhiannon said...

Well Happy 2nd Blog anniversary Lydia! Forgive my being so late in commenting here to wish you a Happy Blog anniversary....only two years hey? I thought you'd been on blogsphere longer for some reason.

I can't believe you played and liked Lou Reeds "Perfect Day" as I have the album of his (Walk on the Wild side) that this song was on, and I love this song! I've had a thing for the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed ever since they started. I also liked when Nico was in their band. Amazing that Lou Reed is still around eh? He made it through it all.

I think your blog is all about you so you just be as selfish as you want...this is "your space" and "your place". So none of that "forgiving" you for something you don't need forgiveness for!

I didn't really get into the Olympics at all. But I'm happy it helped you through the "Foggy mist"...I've been going there a lot of late also.

It is wonderful to have blog friends throughout the world isn't it? I'm happy also that it has helped you to be less supressed of who you really are. I've felt that myself in the blog world, with so many being so kind to me for so long...and understanding. Accepting me as "I am".

Hope you have a wonderful week to come Lydia, and remember to "Walk on the Wild Side"...;o)

Love Rhi

Lydia said...

ValGalArt~ Thank you for your amazing art and amazingly artful way of expressing yourself even in comments. Thanks, too, for the reminder of a "blogging without obligation" frame of mind. That is important, too. For balance.

Citizen of Earth~ On the day I read your blogversary poem the day itself had some unnerving aspects that left me totally spent. But your words went a long way in making for a better tomorrow. Thank you.

Erin~ Your thoughtful comments and validation of the rightfulness of the vid/song to be here felt just right. :)

Rhi~ So you are a Lou Reed fan too. I think we may be among an eclectic group, but I don't think it's an especially small group or the song wouldn't have attracted the attention of AT&T! I think you must have a marvelous record collection, because as you've commented on albums you own and written about some at your blog I am always impressed with how unique your tastes are. Besides that it is nice to be reminded to Take a Walk on the Wild Side every once in awhile!
My husband didn't very much get into the Olympics either so you have company. He and I differ in our appreciation of the Olympic games. oh well.

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