Philosopher’s in town so we went into D.C. today to check out the sights. We came across this duck at the Constitution Gardens Pond… little did I know it was a wounded fellow! I quickly left him alone after that.
Hobbling duck
laelene Post in video blog，Tags: animals, experiences, philosopher, videos
25
April
2012
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Handheld checkout
laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: experiences, pictures, technology
24
April
2012
At Giant supermarkets, you can use these portable scanners to do a pre-checkout of sorts. Fun!
Contemporary art
laelene Post in general blog，Tags: art, opinion
21
April
2012
I, like Morley Safer, have never really understood contemporary art. After watching his report on the art market as aired on 60 Minutes, I realized that I hope I am never like those people, spending millions for art that often just look like household items. Maybe I just don’t get “it” (whatever “it” is…), but when I look at those art installations I see messes, boring items, or just plain confusion. I don’t feel anything; I don’t see the artist’s message. Honestly, if I had millions to spare, I would rather spend my money helping people than decorating my house with art I don’t get.
I always felt that art should evoke emotions, and with more traditional pieces I can usually appreciate what the artist was conveying. If not, at least I could admire the skill it took to create a piece like that. With contemporary art however, all I get is a big fat blank. Occasionally it’ll look kind of cool, but that’s as far as it goes. I can’t think of any installation I’ve seen that makes me feel something or connect with the work in any way. That’s why it baffles me that people will pay so much for these pieces.
Then again, I’m not sure I understand spending millions on any art, unless you’re a museum. Why are rich people so obsessed with procuring items for their private collections, only to have them collect dust in a room that they never use? I think part of it is a lack of outlet for their riches – they’ve bought the homes, the cars, the yachts, and the private jet, what else is left? And so art comes along to fill a void in their life. It helps them feel like they’re a connoisseur and oh so classy. To me, fashion also helps to fill that void.
Perhaps I just don’t get it because I don’t have all that money. Maybe my perspective will change one day when I find myself in that position. I just hope that I won’t fall into that trap, living up the “high life” just to fit into that society. I have no problem with being a patron of the arts, but I think that should mean you donate to museums and other institutions (or start your own). Why bother collecting all this stuff, hoarding it for yourself, and not allowing the public to experience it too? Isn’t art supposed to be shared and appreciated by all?
Bunny stalking
laelene Post in video blog，Tags: animals, behavior, observation, videos
20
April
2012
It’s hard to see, but those blotches are bunny rabbits hiding in the darkness. For awhile, every night they’d come out and nibble on the grass by the neighborhood pool, so one night I decided to do a little paparazzing.
Dragonfly encounter
laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: animals, nature, pictures
19
April
2012
Of all the places to land, this dragonfly chose Panda’s leg, so we gave it a photo shoot. It was a great model, keeping still for me!
Need to know
laelene Post in general blog，Tags: behavior, habits, observation
18
April
2012
I have an almost insatiable curiosity that drives me to want to know just about everything, particularly when it comes to stories. That’s why I’m not into excerpts of writing or clips of video. When I read a book, I don’t like to skip around (even with textbooks where it doesn’t really matter). When I watch a show, I hate missing any part of it so I prefer watching online, where I can pause and rewind as needed. I guess part of it is due to a desire to experience things as the author meant it to, but mostly it’s because I don’t want to miss a thing.
Whenever I find a new TV show to watch, I have to start from the beginning – I usually have to go back 4-5 years and watch for weeks to catch up, but that is exactly what I do. I can’t just hop in partway through the story and be satisfied. When it comes to news stories, I usually have to find half a dozen sources to read through before I am satisfied that I know all there is to know. Often I still feel like they left me hanging though, not providing the deep level of details that I was hoping for. This is typically because they only provided one point of view or didn’t plot out enough historical information to provide a rich context.
And so I find myself spending a great deal of my time looking into things, finding articles linking to articles in a seemingly infinite loop of reading material. Or I spend a lot of time sitting there patiently watching all the old episodes of a show in its 5th season and still going strong, until the day that I finally catch up to modern day and the most recent part of the story. The desire to know – the need to know is a strong motivator for me and drives a lot of behavior, all because of my inquisitive mind.
Lego rollercoaster
laelene Post in video blog，Tags: legoland, legos, videos
15
April
2012
Even Lego people get to have their fun on the Stratosphere!
Accents
laelene Post in general blog，
14
April
2012
Why is it that people almost universally prefer certain accents over others? I’m talking about English, but I’m pretty sure this holds true in other languages as well. Some accents appear more refined and “proper” whereas other accents appear less refined. What exactly causes this difference? I think that it’s partly due to enunciation on top of pronunciation. Pronunciation determines what type of accent is perceived; enunciation affects how “good sounding” that accent is considered.
Just about any American will tell you they love a British or Australian accent. Perhaps just because it is different, or perhaps because of something more. Why do we like a British accent, but not the one from the foreign citizen who immigrated and learned English later in life? Even within foreign accents, there is a divide, such as an Eastern-European’s English accent compared to a Chinese person’s English accent. I think that I find the Eastern-European accent more pleasing to the ear because they enunciate more when they pronounce words. Maybe the sounds that they make in their languages sounds more like the ones needed for English, so it’s easier to form the sounds.
Whatever it is, it’s really interesting why this effect works. I wish I had the kind of academic background to analyze the parts of language, pronunciation variances as related to enunciation, and any other factors. It’d be an interesting thing to better understand what the underlying reasons are.
Fun photoing
laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: artistic, fun, inspiration, pictures
12
April
2012
I don’t consider myself that great with creative stuff in the artistic sense, which is why I never really got into Instagram and other photo-editing tools like it. However, I decided to give it a shot last night and had some fun with it so I might try doing it more. It’s so much effort though!
The original.
And the edited version.
