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Ways of seeing

Published October 27th, 2006 in Miscellaney, Mostly a picture.

Dipped by Unca
Special Uncle facilitates a fresh perspective.

One wonders whether the frequent realignment of the kiddle point of view, literally, has an impact on their capacity to conceptualize a broad range of possibilities? That, and the tablula rasa brain. Buddhists call it “beginner’s mind,” and revere it. In her lecture on beginner’s mind, Abbess Zenkei Blanche Hartman cites this gem from Suzuki Roshi: “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s there are few.”

Now, just for fun:

  • The Upside Down Map page,

  • a really nifty book from which I’ve gleaned hours of fun and scads of unexpected insights, The Art of Looking Sideways (picked apart & cited here),

  • a bit about “social codes of looking,” from Notes on ‘the Gaze,’ offered up for general edification by a Welsh professor, and

  • this here series of pages on Seeing, accompanying an exhibit of the same name from San Francisco’s Exploratorium. [BTW: the uattributed quotation at the top of their page is from the incomparable Anaïs Nin.]

    • 3 Responses to “Ways of seeing”

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    1. 1 Momai Oct 29th, 2006 at

      My partner bought me a copy of The Art of Seeing Sideways last year for Christmas. I love using it to spark new creative ideas, and it’s a great source of random knowledge.

      They say that the two-year-old who sees a parent suddenly float to the ceiling will be momentarily surprised, and then accept it as just one more thing that happens in the world. Understanding the reaction of any other (older) people in the room would prove much more difficult.

    2. 2 LesbianDad Oct 30th, 2006 at

      !

    1. 1 18th of 20 at LesbianDad Pingback on May 28th, 2008 at

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      amor2

      LD tweets: Less is, well, less

      [The whole LD Twitter enchilada would be here.]
      fight

      Prop 8 / The LGBTQ civil equality fight

      I've archived LD stuff at a No on 8 page. These days, to my mind, Join the Impact is the best place to find out about ongoing coordinated citizen participant campaigns, detailed below.



      • In the next three months:



      • Ongoing: Project Postcard. Let Obama's administration know your concerns for LGBTQ civil equality

      • Nov 24 - Jan 18: Marriage Equality USA town hall forums & post-election debriefings (CA, FL, & NY).

      • Nov 28 - Dec 20: National LGBTQ Food Drive.

      • Dec 5-7: Milk Movement. Help the Harvey Milk biopic open to a strong release.

      • Dec 10: Day Without a Gay. Economic boycott. LGBTQ community contributes $700 billion/yr to the US economy. For one day, let's us (and our allies) withhold it, and instead do visible service work.

      • Dec 20: Light Up the Night for Equal Rights. Candlelight vigil for visiblity.

      • Jan 10: National Protest Against DOMA.

      • Feb 12: Freedom to Marry Day, nationwide.
      • Feb 16: Love and Marriage Rally, Sacramento, CA.
      • Feb 17: Marriage Lobby Day, Sacramento, CA.

      Selected news items /analyses thereof:



      "In a First, Gay Rights Are Pressed at the U.N.," Neil MacFarquhar, The New York Times, 18 Dec 2008.



      "On Civil Rights, Obama Must Lead, Not Tinker," Jeffrey Feldman, The Huffington Post, 18 December 2008.



      "Milk and the Idea of California," Eli Sanders, The American Prospect, 5 Dec 2008. [h/t Terrence at Republic of T.]



      "The New Politics of Yes: Yes We Can... Overturn Prop 8," Torrie Osborn, The Bilerico Project, 1 Dec 2008



      "NYT op-ed on Prop 8, blacks and a 'moral minority,'" Pam Spaulding, Pam's House Blend, 1 Dec 2008.




      Earlier:




      Previous election news/analysis links can be found at this here Election news links page.



      sideways2

      Lesbian Dad 101

      Lesbian Dad Lesbian Dad is written by a parent who answers to the name "Baba" and works toward a world in which amor does indeed vincit omnia.

      Still curious? You'll find a ton more on the About page. Baffled by the lingo? Peruse the Glossary. For the proper immersion experience, I highly recommend a visit to the Best of LD.

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