Looking at me...

 

Update on Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 9:33PM by Cannibal

and sometimes i see the whole damn thing as a pitfall - as a waste of energy. what value does being attractive have? none. worth is not measured, by me, with a scale by which others judge me.
so i suppose the truth of it is this: sometimes i guess i allow myself to fall into that line of thinking, but not always - not usually - not me.
i know who i am. i know where i rate on the scales and the perceptions. i know where it all leads to.
I don't feel it, because it isn't important. i don't feel it because i don't need it.

Steve is good

 

8/24/11 - Steve announced today that he is stepping down as the CEO of Apple. Much of my initial reaction is wrapped up in worry for his health - for him, and for his family... And then it spirals out from there. Tim Cook is the new CEO, and that'll take some adjusting. He cannot be Steve. He can only be Tim. And that will be enough. He isn't alone, he has Jony Ive who is an artist, through and through - He has Phil Schiller who is in charge of the Marketing at Apple (I think that people forget that that is what Phil does - THAT man works magic, folks)... Tim has been trusted to lead a business that millions care deeply about, and he has passionate and remarkable people at his side to support him.

Of course, I am sad to see Steve step down. It brings with it, ill tidings. But I am also hopeful at the same time. I am looking forward to Apple blowing away all of those that think that Apple is Steve.
Steve is Apple, but Apple is not Steve.

1/17/11 - Be well, Steve... Be well.

12/27/10 - Steve had a good year. Hell, he has had a great decade. Steve has created the tools that have enabled my ability to create the content for this site (as well as www.rated-q.com) - So yes, Steve is good... And at this time, when we should be thinking about the good things in our lives, the things that make us happy... I have to think of Steve Jobs, and say thanks.

Update on Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 11:03PM by Cannibal

I've been trying to figure out what to say. What to type. What words to string together, my hands shaking and my vision blurred by tears for a man that saw the future - and brought it to us all....

Was Steve perfect? No. He was abrasive, by most accounts. He wasn't really approachable, and he was VERY opinioated. To gloss over things like that is to deny that he was human. Just like me. Just like you. It's funny to think about him being JUST a human... Think about all of the impact  that he had on the world, and then realize that he's not SO different from you and I.

But then.... He was different. I'm not trying to be coy and slip in a reference to Apple advertising. Steve was different than I am. I dream about what technology could be, and Steve dreamed about what it WILL be.

There's a difference there. Kevin Smith (the film director) tells a story about telling his sister that he wanted to be a film director. She told him"Then be one. Don't say that you WANT to be one. Tell me that you are one, and then be it." (paraphrased)

On a personal note - I am heartsick at the loss of Steve in the world. I feel like I just found out that there will be no new instances of the color Blue anymore. All of the other colors are going to be there, and you can still see Blue in older things - but not from this point forward. Never again. We'll look back and say how great it was when we had it, we will know that we are missing it, and we will know that nothing can be the same without it. But there will be nothing that we can do about it.
To his family and friends, my heart is sore for your pain and suffering. To the Apple faithful, my eyes are wet aas we mourn the loss of the light that was his vision. o those that choose to gloat and troll - I have nothing but silence for you, for it is all that you are worth.

Be at rest, Steve

naught

12/27/10 - Started as a picture of a statue from the Italy pavilion in Epcot. Ran it through PhotoArtista - Haiku, and then used Phoster to add in the text, and give it the dotted effect. Meaning of the post - nothing, really... Just words that popped into my head while I was inside the post. What does it mean to you?

illumination

 

12/23/10 - The picture came from my friend http://mrandmrszombie.blogspot.com/ - she had posted it to Instagram, and I really liked it. The original is really dark, so I blew out the colors, which caused some artifacting and digital fuzz - but I found that I liked the effect. Made me think of the old pictures that I have from when I was a kid. The words were a reflection of the image, they were in there just waiting to be discovered.

sufficient

 

 12/23/10 - This is one of the first images that I ever made -AGES ago... But it didn't look this good back then.

It was a simple yellow flower on a black textured background. When I made it I was like a school boy. I had created a pice of digital art. Back then I created a lot of fractal images and things like that to be used as desktop images.



So this stared out as that yellow flower, and it has evolved. You might say that it has blossomed. I could have posted this one without any words at all - I could have made this just the image, ansd I think that would have been enough.

Being...

 

12/23/10 - Monsters are real. Never forget that.

Look To The Sky

 

 12/23/10 - This post is different on every screen that I see it on... on my iPhone you cannot see the face of the alien (spoiler alert: there's an alien face in the image) - On my iPad it is as clear as day... I wonder how it looks on an iPhone 4... I will have to test that out (on someone else and their iPhone 4, as I do not have such a thing).

Tech as Zen

 

12/23/10 - Technology and zen... These are things that I think upon, relect upon, and ponder... When I saw this screen I was struck by the perfection of the sentiment. Sometimes... Sometimes there is nothing to undo, so you have to not undo it.



You don't always have to walk the path in order to have taken the path.

In Contrast...

 

12/23/10 - Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the ToonPAINT application for my iPhone? Seriously... I was able to take a (GREAT) photograph, and blow out the colors to create a piece of digital art that just screams at me... I also used an app called Phoster to do the text, and I am REALLY liking the way that it works. It does limit you to certain presets, and that may be an issue down the road... But for now it is kicking me into interesting places.

Strength of Self

 

 12/23/10 - When I posted this to my Facebook I got a long string of comments from people who were NOT believing in themselves... It was so odd. It was like looking at the Trade Towers fall though... I just couldn't look away.

One is enough

 

 12/23/10 - Ok... This is not another riff on the "One Leaf Tree" concept, no - not at all.
The words are a reference to words. The words are about words.
We communicate one word after another, one at a time... and sometimes -

Sometimes one word is enough.

Hero hero

 

12/23/10 - I fancy myself a Dragon Slayer at times. Many of my friends fall into this category as well. We want to fix things, make them better for others - We want to be the one that slays the beast, and saves the day... But there are times when the dragon is not for me to slay. There are times when I have to accept that this is neither my victory to have, nor my defeat to suffer. That the battle for me will be staying out of that fight.

The Struggle

 

12/23/10 -  I had a late night conversation with Emily Dickinson in my mind, and she was lamenting the fact that people find poetry hard to read. I remember remarking that with clear and well set typefacing, nothing should be "hard to read" - we laughed, and I was set upon with an idea to make a poem or two that would be truly fitting of that literary criticism. I hope that Emily enjoyed the fruits of that conversation, as they have blossomed in many places along this site...

Reason

 

12/23/10 - I try not to cross the streams to often from the world of this site, and my other digital love child - www.rated-q.com - but a long time favorite from that playground found his way into this sandbox and I just couldn't ask him to go home... So welcome, Zombie Jesus... Welcome

Perception makes truth

 

12/23/10 - I LOVE me some visual irony. Lets see...

Poem about perspective and vision, that is murky and distorted.

Yup... That is enough for me.

Kidnapped Kitteh

 

12/23/10 - I hi-jacked this cat from instagram where Sarah Lane had posted it. Sarah is awesome, and I just really liked the look on the face and HAD to do something with it. You can tell Sarah that you like it at www.twitter.com/sarahlane.

Unwanted