Lane Change Art

Election Day 2008: Finally the End

2008-11-05T21:03:00.000-08:00

All evening I had been screaming with delight as each state was called for Obama. Pennsylvania set the tone in the room as my daughter and son-in-law, both previously Bush supporters, joined in the celebration. My phone rang every few minutes as friends and family called to share the excitement. I had control of the remote and channel-flicked nervously from MSNBC to CNN, to the three major networks, and back again to MSNBC. Could I allow myself to feel a glimmer of hope when hope had been crushed so many times in the past eight years?
I glanced at my normally vocal partner and saw only a clenched jaw. Things were looking really good, I thought. Why won't she let herself enjoy the moment? It's true that she and I are different in many ways, especially our political backgrounds. She was born and raised in the lower tip of Illinois, a very "southern" area, and had been a lifelong Democrat seeing bigotry and hatred with a front row seat. I on the other hand was the granddaughter of Italian immigrants and Missouri pig farmers, all staunch Republicans who had settled and merged in Southern California. I had been a Republican until '92 when my party decided to spout vitriolic hate speech aimed at gay America. That's the moment when I began to let go of my Republican identity and get involved in the political process as I redefined myself.
So here we were, Democrats in common yet completely differing in reaction as the evening unfolded state by state. And then that magic hour arrived when the polls closed on the west coast. 8:00 PM. I had landed on MSNBC and clutched her hand as it was announced: Barack Obama would become the 44th president of the United States. The chatter stopped as the cameras alternated from Chicago to New York to California and even to Kenya. I was crying. The world was crying! No one called on the phone as we all savored this glorious moment in history that was unfolding before our eyes. Yet the woman whose hand I clutched so joyfully was still eerily silent.
"Are you okay," I asked as I tried to break through the wall she had erected.
She sat still for one moment longer, and then the tears finally welled up in her eyes. She said softly and simply, "The Civil War is finally over."

2007-12-17T16:50:00.000-08:00

The Coloseum, Rome, Italy

2007-12-17T16:31:00.000-08:00

Pieta, Michaelangelo
My apologies right off the bat to those of you who are art purists. I have indeed altered this photo of a perfect work of art, but not without good reason. The photo was taken holding the camera up over the tops of hundreds of heads with a telephoto lens and through a bullet-proof barrier. Since it was slightly blurry, I felt free to play a bit with it and add a water-color type of finish.
There are hundreds of statues from that time period, but when one compares them to the likes of Michaelangelo's Pieta, one can then understand why his work is so revered.

2007-12-17T16:21:00.000-08:00

Vatican: Walkway to the Cistine Chapel.
This photo is not altered, except for cropping. The walkway is absolutely magnificent, and a work of art in its own right. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will notice a leg hanging down at the very top edge. There are actually figures of naked women hanging three dimensionally from the ceiling every so often.

2007-04-09T14:57:00.000-07:00

Calla Lily 2007

2007-01-30T17:05:00.000-08:00

Instability
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2007-01-24T18:51:00.000-08:00

Last Supper Switzerland
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2007-01-24T17:11:00.000-08:00

Dome of St. Peter's Basilica
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2007-01-20T21:01:00.000-08:00

Lake Como
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2007-01-20T19:34:00.000-08:00

Castle at Rapolitano
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2006-04-28T16:54:00.000-07:00

Orchid 1
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2006-04-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

War is a coward's escape from the problems of peace.
Rev. William Coffin

2006-04-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

Spring Rose No 2 Var 1
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2006-04-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

Gazania
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2006-04-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

Spring Rose No 1
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2006-04-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

Thought for the Day
Education: The path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty.
Mark Twain

2006-04-01T20:38:00.000-08:00

Spring Rose No 2 Var 2
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2006-04-01T20:37:00.000-08:00

Spring Rose No 3 Var 1
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2006-04-01T20:36:00.000-08:00

Spring Rose No 3 Var 2
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2006-04-01T20:35:00.000-08:00

Spring Rose No 4
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2006-04-01T18:38:00.001-08:00

Calla Lily 2006 No 1
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2006-04-01T18:38:00.000-08:00

Calla Lily 2006 No 2 Var 3
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2006-04-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

Calla Lily 2006 No 2 Var 1
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2006-04-01T18:36:00.000-08:00

Calla Lily 2006 No 2 Var 2
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2006-03-02T21:41:00.000-08:00

Electra
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2006-03-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

Sprig
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2006-03-02T20:31:00.000-08:00

Through the Rigging
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2006-03-02T20:15:00.000-08:00

Light Overcomes Darkness
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2006-03-02T20:04:00.000-08:00

Moment of Bliss
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2006-02-08T18:33:00.000-08:00

Cliffhanger
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2006-02-06T18:21:00.000-08:00

Waiting for the Big One
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2006-02-06T17:19:00.000-08:00

Observation
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2006-02-06T17:13:00.000-08:00

Under Duress
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2006-02-06T17:11:00.000-08:00

Fog
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2006-02-06T17:10:00.000-08:00

Evening Attitude
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2006-02-04T22:32:00.000-08:00

Masts in Harmony
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2006-02-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

Welcome Home
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2006-02-04T22:30:00.000-08:00

Meditation
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2006-02-04T21:48:00.000-08:00

Anthuriums
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2006-01-06T12:36:00.000-08:00

Thought for the Day:
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

[Has been attributed to Wendell Phillips, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry]

2006-01-06T08:33:00.000-08:00

Coastal Dream
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2006-01-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

Gulls at Rest 2
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2005-09-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

Indecision
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2005-09-29T09:14:00.000-07:00

Resntment is like taking poison and hoping the other person will die.
--Unknown

2005-09-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

RIver's Turn
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2005-09-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

Delusion
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2005-09-17T22:27:00.000-07:00

Our firmest convictions are apt to be the most suspect; they mark our limitations and our bounds. Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable urge to extend its boundaries.

José Ortega y Gasset

2005-09-17T22:15:00.000-07:00

Loose Grip
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2005-09-17T22:14:00.000-07:00

Song of Harmony
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2005-09-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

Combat
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2005-09-17T22:12:00.000-07:00

Intrusion
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2005-08-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

Seismic Interruption
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2005-08-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

Michelle
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2005-08-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

Pink for Mary
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2005-07-12T14:45:00.000-07:00

We must not believe the many who say that only free people ought to be educated, but we should rather believe the philosophers who say that only the educated are free.

Epictetus
55-135

2005-07-09T21:05:00.000-07:00

Clinging to Illusions
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2005-07-09T20:45:00.000-07:00

Agility Required
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2005-06-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.
Diane Ackerman

2005-06-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

Setting the Tone
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2005-06-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

Feeling Blue #1
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2005-06-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

Feeling Blue #2
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2005-06-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

Hydrangeas
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2005-06-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

The Long Wait
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2005-06-25T16:09:00.000-07:00

Future Considerations
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2005-06-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

Rebirth Pains
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2005-06-02T17:51:00.000-07:00

"If you let your fear of consequence prevent you from following your deepest instinct, your life will be safe, expedient and thin."
Katharine Butler Hathaway

2005-05-29T01:20:00.000-07:00

Anthesis
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2005-05-29T00:31:00.001-07:00

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

Robert F. Kennedy, June 6, 1966
Cape Town, South Africa

2005-05-29T00:31:00.000-07:00

Prom Impending
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2005-05-29T00:27:00.000-07:00

Awaiting the Moth
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2005-05-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

"Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning; that there is always another dawn risen on mid-noon, and under every deep a lower deep opens."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

2005-05-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

Patience
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Original photo by Becky Mahon.

2005-05-18T14:43:00.000-07:00

Thought for the Day:
"The only man who behaved sensibly was my tailor; he took my measurement anew every time he saw me, while all the rest went on with their old measurements and expected them to fit me."
George Bernard Shaw

2005-05-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

Almost Soup
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2005-05-14T01:08:00.000-07:00

Intensity
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2005-05-14T00:40:00.000-07:00

Confusion
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2005-05-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

The Kiss
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2005-05-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

Points of View
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2005-05-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day was in part inspired by a woman named Julia Ward Howe who nursed the wounded durintg the American Civil War. In 1870 she started a crusade to institute a Mother's Day as a Day for Peace.

"Arise all women who have hearts, say firmly: Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. In the name of womanhood and of humanity, take counsel with each other as the means whereby the great human family can live in peace..."
Julia Ward Howe

What a shame that we mothers have allowed PEACE to be removed from our symbolic day.

2005-04-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

Basics
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2005-04-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

Laughing Matter
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2005-04-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

Inspiration
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2005-04-25T06:57:00.000-07:00

Schism
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2005-04-24T22:44:00.000-07:00

Camouflage
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2005-04-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

Breaking Free
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2005-04-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

Peacemobile
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2005-04-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

Synergy
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2005-04-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

Evidence?
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2005-04-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

Back to the Beginning
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2005-04-05T08:42:00.000-07:00

Forest Chapel
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2005-04-04T19:41:00.000-07:00

Nature's Delight
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2005-04-02T09:27:00.000-08:00

Thought for the Day:
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
Kahlil Gibran

(I really love that!)

2005-04-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

Along the Path
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2005-04-02T09:25:00.000-08:00

Crossing
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2005-04-01T09:33:00.000-08:00

Calla Lily Series: #9
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2005-03-30T08:59:00.000-08:00

Calla Lily Series: #8
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2005-03-30T08:56:00.000-08:00

Calla Lily Series: #7
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2005-03-30T08:54:00.000-08:00

Calla Lily Series: #6
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2005-03-29T13:16:00.000-08:00

Calla Lily Series: #5
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2005-03-27T15:22:00.000-08:00

Calla Lily Series: #4
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