Early Winter Snow On Branches Of A Japanese Maple. 12/10/2017, Maplewood, NJ.

Tabby on Tiles, 7/23/2017

Tea with the Poet (dialogue with @soulreserve) Murmurs over a cup of tea, A heart half-hid, not all can see: Her heart obscured in formulary, And veiled beneath arcane vocabulary. Yet warm within, her heart beats strong, Love, joy, and passion her inner song. Her words be freed of technical efficiency, Woman whole again--the gift of poetry.

An extreme digital reworking of a detail from the image.

https://richard-laeton.pixels.com

@Tumblr Support

Hi everyone! 

We have a bit of a crisis on our hands. Our lead contributor TURECEPCJA has had her blog improperly deleted due to DMCA takedowns. This would be acceptable if the takedowns were not addressed, but each time a DMCA takedown was received, it has been dealt with quickly and to the artist’s immense satisfaction. Each time a DMCA takedown notice was filed, it was successfully countered.

DMCA takedown notices can happen for a variety of reasons:

An artist decides they’d like all previous instances of a work deleted off the internet. Because of the way Tumblr is designed, the only way to have all traces of a post removed is through DMCA takedown. If Tumblr allowed curators to have all instances of a post deleted whenever the root post was deleted, this would solve this.

An artist signs a future exclusive deal with a gallery or collector. As per the agreement, featured works included in the deal are now exclusive to the owner. For curated blogs such as Cross Connect Mag, this can spell trouble for any of the 11,282 posts we’ve previously made.

We want TURECEPCJA back on Tumblr!!!

A curator should never be punished for something they can not control. We have exhausted all options to get this resolved. We followed the steps provided by Tumblr to take down all associated posts. The artist has written Tumblr directly to rescind the takedown notice. Their response: no

Tumblr has essentially turned their backs on us. Please help us by reblogging this post for maximum visibility!

╭☆花點時間什麼都別做，往往能瞭然一切。 Taking time to do nothing often brings everything into perspective.  

Digital Play #4: Late Autumn, 12/09/2017.

Autumn rose, rainy Sunday, 11/05/2017

I catch your scent,

Am breathless.

I hear you whisper,

Am speechless.

I dream of you,

Am defenseless.

Come morning,

I am bereft.

I cannot hold you.

@soulreserve

dreams full

I’ve held on to you

In fists-full

In breaths-full

In dreams-full

© SoulReserve 2018

92 Random Questions

Especially for @soulreserve

THE LAST:

1. Drink: Diet Coke.

2. Phone call: Last night with my daughter in New Orleans.

3. Text message: With my friend about a Twentysomething sex term she didn't know and was hesitant to lookup online for herself.

4. Song you listened to: "Drive It Like You Stole It" (from "Sing Street" soundtrack.).

5. Time you cried: I was seriously depressed.

HAVE YOU:

6. Dated someone twice: Yes.

7. Kissed someone and regretted it: No

8. Been cheated on: No.

9. Lost someone special: Yes.

10. Been depressed: On and off most of my adult life.

11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: Yes. More than once.

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:

12. Green. *** 13. Saffron. *** 14. Rose.

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. Made new friends: Not in person.

16. Fallen out of love: No.

17. Laughed until you cried: Had some hearty laughs, but nothing _that_ hearty.

18. Found out someone was talking about you: Yes, but it was idle chatter during downtime at work--my "monster hours" at my desk--and exaggerated.

19. Met someone who changed you: Beginning more like 16 months ago, and we're still at it.

20. Found out who your friends are: Not new news, but they're still with me.

21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: Yes. My wife.

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: Almost all of them--mostly it's family and friends.

23. Do you have any pets: Yes. An elderly beagle and the purrfect cat.

24. Do you want to change your name: No. But I sure wish there were fewer guys in the world with the same name as me.

25. What did you do for your last birthday: Celebratory dinner at our favorite local Asian restaurant with our closest local friends, in the tatami room.

26. What time did you wake up: 6 AM (on Saturday morning!!). The cat wanted his breakfast.

27. What were you doing at midnight last night: Sleeping.

28. Name something you can’t wait for: The next US solar eclipse in April 2024.

29. When was the last time you saw your mom: More than 25 years ago.

30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: The endless commentary in my mind expressing trivial dissatisfactions.

31. What are you listening right now: The tick-tick of the living room clock, rain on the street, and my tinnitus.

32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Yes. One of them was a long-ago workmate from Martha's Vineyard. He was a good guy.

33. Something that is getting on your nerves: The mess verging on disaster area that fills the room at home where my desk is.

34. Most visited website(s): Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook, NY Times, in approximately that order.

LOST QUESTIONS. I JUST PUT IN RANDOM INFO ABOUT ME:

35. Mole/s: None. Some freckles.

36. Mark/s: Scars from a boisterous boyhood--face, belly, legs.

37. Childhood dream: To be a great scientist or an astronaut.

38. Hair color: Gray. Used to be mousy brown.

39. Long or short hair: Short. But it get longish and scraggly between haircuts.

40. Do you have a crush on someone: Yes. There's always someone, but secret, minor, and evanescent.

41. What do you like about yourself: Those all-too-rare flashes of creativity when everything just flows

42. Piercings: None.

43. Blood type: A+

44. Nickname: Some of my colleagues at work occasionally call me "Doc."

45. Relationship status: Married nearly 36 years.

46. Zodiac: Taurus in the cusp of Aries.

47. Pronouns: He, him.

48. Favourite TV Show: Working my way through the seven seasons of the current reboot of Hawaii Five-O. It's decent trashy TV. Started watching Friday Night Lights recently, and like it.

49. Tattoos: None. Am puzzled by their profusion among younger people. I always thought they were a bit déclassé. But times change.

50. Right or left hand: Right.

51. Surgery: Most recently left wrist after a fall. Long ago--tonsillectomy and hernia surgery.

52. Hair dyed in different colour: Never.

53. Sport: To watch: baseball, hands down. (Go O's!) To play: Bocce with friends on summer evenings.

55. Vacation: To North Carolina for a family eclipse viewing get together. Our group got rained out. Other members of the party were luckier.

56. Pair of trainers: Nearly every day since childhood.

MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating: Dim sum.

58. Drinking: Calvados.

59. I’m about to: Feed the cat, feed the neighbor's cats, make supper, wash dishes, order toilet parts online. The life of a householder.

[60. Supply your own--> Last Can of Soup: Chicken noodle.]

61. Waiting for: The clear, cool skies of early fall.

62. Want: Self acceptance.

63. Get married: Been for 36 years and still at it.

64. Career: Archaeologist and historic preservation consultant.

65. Hugs or kisses: That's not an either/or. Both, for sure

66. Lips or eyes: Eyes.

67. Shorter or taller: Just right.

68. Older or younger: My generation and younger.

70. Nice arms or nice stomach: Stomach.

71. Sensitive or loud: Sensitive. Occasionally loud, but only in brief bursts.

72. Hook up or relationship: Relationship, hands down.

73. Troublemaker or hesitant: A bit of both.

HAVE YOU EVER:

74. Kissed a stranger: Don't recall; maybe.

75. Drank hard liquor: Yes.

76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: Misplaced? You bet. Lost? No.

77. Turned someone down: Yes.

78. Sex on the first date: No.

79. Broken someone’s heart: Yes.

80. Had your heart broken: Yes. First serious girlfriend, long ago. But we're Facebook friends now, and I am happy we're in touch again.

81. Been arrested: No.

82. Cried when someone died: Yes.

83. Fallen for a friend: Yes.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84. Yourself: Sometimes. Not always.

85. Miracles: Wish for them; don't expect them.

86. Love at first sight: Yes.

87. Santa Claus: No. But in my scraggly periods, strangers sometimes mistake me for him.

88. Kiss on the first date: Depends on what came before the date.

89. Angels: No. OTHER:

90. Current best friends names: Celeste. Rob.

91. Eye colour: My drivers license says blue. I'd call them gray, like the goddess Athena.

92. Favourite movies: Rom-coms first: Practical Magic (my go-to movie when I feel pushed around by the world); Bossa Nova; Love Actually; Groundhog Day... All the others: Monsoon Wedding; Ghostbusters (the original); Argo; K-19 the Widowmaker; Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon; Hero; Kagemusha; and the list could on for quite awhile longer... 2Sept2017-6PM