Monthly Archives: January 2022

Where here and over there come together…

I appreciate a surprising, grand visual moment where you stop thinking and just admire its beauty.

The above picture shot was taken a few weeks ago, between the Snoqualmie forest and Issaquah, an hour east of Seattle. At the time and depending on your direction on the 91 freeway, you will witness an amazing change 15 minutes later in continuous driving. The forest scenery either switches to damp green bareness or all covered in lush white snow. The landscape change is gasping to see witness, seeing how nature can change with the ever-changing, deeply varied Pacific Northwest weather.

That long snowline is unreal, perfectly straight at a very distinct level. I stared, trying to figure out…how? There’s a science in that somewhere, probably with the atmosphere and density. I tried to find more information online, with no immediate answers. I welcome any explanation below in the comments.

Or, just admire the given moment.

– Orion T

The favorite comic book, graphic novels reads of 2021

I love reading new comic books and graphic novels, which has been a constant for over three decades now. I support the sequential arts industry, its creators, the publishers, and all that moves this form of storytelling.

For my annual tradition, I share again my list of the best comic books and graphic novels, released and fresh last year. The list is on strangerworlds.com, a site I contribute too.

Click here or pic for my best of 2021 list:

If you have any favorite comics, graphics novels of 2021 that I missed, or just books I should read….please tell me below (or in the link). And I would love to hear your opinions on my reads, or if you add them to your list.

But most of all, keep on the book shelves and enjoy those new reads!

Let us walk in the white snow…

Here’s a special theme for this post…walking together in the snow. Trailing through a beautiful place where snow cover is an amazing, poetic experience meant to be shared.

So, I hereby mix up today’s pictures recently taken by me, with a poem (Velvet Shoes) by Elinor Wylie, an American poet and novelist of the early 1900s. She lived an interesting yet shortened life of 43 years; married three times, wrote five novels and multiple poems. This poem is timeless, and perfect for a snow walk through the woods.

I will share more details on the pics, at the end.

…

Velvet Shoes

“Let us walk in the white snow
In a soundless space;
With footsteps quiet and slow,
At a tranquil pace,
Under veils of white lace.

I shall go shod in silk,
And you in wool,
White as white cow’s milk,
More beautiful
Than the breast of a gull.“

“We shall walk through the still town
In a windless peace;
We shall step upon white down,
Upon silver fleece,
Upon softer than these.

We shall walk in velvet shoes:
Wherever we go
Silence will fall like dews
On white silence below.
We shall walk in the snow.“

…

The candid pictures were taken at Ravenna Park, a beautiful little ravine forest in north Seattle. The park is a 1/2 mile stretch where you can spend a day not admiring it enough. I can never visit there enough and will take any excuse to trail again. The recent snow here was amazing, and a lot of fun for photography. The first shot was taken above the Ravenna Bridge. The others are of the main path through the park. have more pictures, which I will share soon. These three pics with the theme of others walking though, just deserved its own special post.

– Orion T

Experimenting with Color and Reflection

I’m having fun again, with my old and slowly outdated DSLR camera.

Show me fresh shapes, crazy lights, tricky angles, strange surfaces. With the right camera, fun will will happen, as I shall go for some interesting shots.

Recently here in downtown Seattle, I took my old Canon T5 with a 24mm lens for an evening walk. The weather remained chilly, as some recent snow remained scattered through the streets. I originally looked around for some dramatic themes of cold winter weather, while also picking up some food to go. But upon checking for what remained open, I read on some “SLU After Dark” displays in the South Lake Union area. These were four light-up, interactive art installations. All of which were temporary on display until the end of 2021, and then likely moved elsewhere.

The display labeled Prismatica caught my eye the most, by RAW, a Canadian architecture firm. Prismatica is a series of prisms filled with color lights, where anyone near may give each a spin. It’s simple yet dazzling amusement with an incalculable amount of experiences in visual joy brought with variances of light, motion, position, and your reaction.

So, I took pictures with my camera. At first, very difficult to get a good angle many, while the snow also distracted in each shot. Yet, I was a surprised at some results of myself trying, but up close. Depending on what you looked through, what reflected, finding yourself in them, and different cam settings; some very interesting results. Here are some favorites through different glass layers using a combination of bouncing of colors, reflections, focus depths…

That was all good fun. I love to try this again soon, but with warmer weather.

– Orion T

Welcome this New Year, 2022…

Happy New Year!!!!

Let’s welcome 2022 with cheerful optimism and a positive outlook. Everything we hope and should strive for should be better, right? I plan to, because I am tired of complaining about the previous years, and feeling burned out through each. 2022 has a great ring to it all, because the number and the end of many things are usually great.

I recall 1982, 1992, 2002, 2012 were all great years in my life. Great things often in 2s. The best movie sequels that surpass the first, for example – Terminator 2, Back to the Future 2, Toy Story 2, Spider-Man 2 (of the Raimi trilogy), Godfather 2, Superman 2, Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan. 2 also means you have the initial momentum in succession of something, breaking away from the loneliness that is associated with just 1.

So, that means we can expect better things with twice the 2.

22 is also a mathematical wonder. It’s an even composite number and a semiprime. 22 is also a pentagonal number and a centered heptagonal number. 22 divided by 7 is also Pi (π). The atomic number of titanium is 22. The Paramount Pictures logo has 22 stars. The 22nd letter of the English alphabet is a V, a shape that can symbolize victory or peace. 22 is the number on the legendary football player Emmitt Smith’s jersey of the Dallas Cowboys.

So, I foresee 22 and 2 shared in the same breathe as something that achieve greatness. With that, I have no resolutions for this year. This Calvin and Hobbes moment from Bill Watterson best sums up my plans ahead…

Happy New Year and look forward to 2022, with a smile.

– Orion T