Tom Turner in an Existential Moment — Image by kenne
— George Orwell
— kenne
Tom Turner, a Rainy Day on the Seattle Waterfront (June, 2000) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
(These quotes were among Tom’s handwritten notes.)
— Paul Theroux
— Kierkegaard
Jonathan, Joy & Kenne, Seattle Skyline (September 1, 2009) — Image directed by kenne
— Richard Bach
Seattle Sunshine in a Misty Rain — Image by kenne
— kenne
This morning was as if we had brought the Seattle area fog and drizzle to Tucson. Fog, like snow, can be a real big deal in the desert, making for a pleasant change.
Meydenbauer Bay On Lake Washington, Bellevue, WA — Images by kenne
Tanuri Ridge Patio View (West)
Tanuri Ridge Circle View (East)
Desert Fog
— kenne
(Go To kenneturner.com to see all the “Becoming is Superior to Being” Postings.)
Thomas R. Turner, On The Waterfront (June 2, 2006) — Image by Mary Ann
– from Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett
Dedicated to Brother Tom (RIP) and Daughters, Vanessa and Lisa — Images by kenne
Marcy Now
— Mary Gauthier
Mother (Agnes), with sons Kenne and Tom (Bobby), and Tom’s daughters Lisa and Vanessa
— Late 80’s image in Seattle by Joy
Susan Sontag — Regarding the Pain of Others
Photography obsessed Sontag and became the subject for two of her best books. Her preoccupation with photography is the single clearest example of her shifting a previously disregarded mass medium into the realm of acceptable highbrow discussion. The photograph, in her view, had changed the mechanics of memory. Our minds, she argued, no longer stored narrative; they stockpiled images. “The problem,” she wrote in Regarding the Pain of Others, “is not that people remember through photographs, but that they remember only photographs.” And in a way, that sentence anticipated her obituaries, which dwelled at length on the many photographs of Sontag.
— from a profile on Susan Sontag, Susan Superstar in the New York Magazine
Tom Turner (Seattle, June 12, 2000) — Image by kenne
Poverties, Wincings, and Sulky Retreats
Ah poverties, wincings, and sulky retreats,
Ah you foes that in conflict have overcome me,
(For what is my life or any man’s life but a conflict with foes,
the old, the incessant war?)
You degredations, you tussle with passions and appetites,
You smarts from dissatisfied friendships, (ah wounds the
sharpest of all!)
You toil of painful and choked articulations, you meannesses,
You shallow tongue-talks at tables, (my tongue the shallowest of
any;)
You broken resolutions, you racking angers, you smother’d
ennuis!
Ah think not you finally triumph, my real self has yet to come
forth,
It shall yet march forth o’ermastering, till all lies beneath me,
It shall yet stand up the soldier of ultimate victory.
— Walt Whitman
Tom sent this Whitman poem to me the day before my 65th birthday — “I knew you would like it.”
He was correct!
Pete was someone I knew only when we were in high school, yet I still remember the fun conversations we often had while killing time at track meets. (This was back when he was a tall skinny high jumper.) He had the kind of spirit that has always attracted me to very creative people. I don’t recall our physically crossing paths after high school, yet he has always remain the bigger than life figure I had of him from high school, occasionally embellished by stories told by the nieces’ (Vanessa & Lisa) Pete and I shared.
One story I recall my brother Tom telling me had to do with Pete leasing the gatehouse to an estate that my stepmother and I had previously leased. Tom was visiting with Pete when he noticed a painting of a woman on the wall. Tom asked Pete where he got it, and his reply was, “it was here when I moved in and I like it.”
The reason why Tom asked about the painting was he recognized that it was my painting of a former girlfriend. When I heard the story, I was impressed to hear that Pete kept it because he liked it. We all appreciate compliments from those we admire and respect.
You may know, from previous posting, Joy and I traveled to Seattle to attend Lisa and Michael’s wedding on Lummi Island. One of the reasons I wanted Joy and I to be at the wedding was the opportunity to see Pete. I was really looking forward to the opportunity, since I knew he would not miss your wedding. But, as fate would have it, his health didn’t allow him to make the long trip from Fort Myers.
I know Pete will be dearly missed by a lot of people. The Emerson line in Lisa’s blog posting is so fitting. (“It is not length of life, but depth of life.”) Some of the most endearing people have been those with whom I have only briefly traveled in life’s journey. Pete was one of those endearing, unforgettable people.
I share these feelings now, yet regret having waited too late to share them with Pete. At least, with all of today’s social media connections, I was one of Pete’s Facebook friends. We linked up in August of 2009, but like many of our generation he said, Hello. Have no idea what I’m doing with FACEBOOK. 😦
Sometimes, it’s the little things that mean a lot. Pete passed away January 10, 2011, just a few weeks before his 71st birthday.
kenne
(Image: Pete Schmieler with niece, Lisa Wheeler — Source: http://wheelskeeponturning.wordpress.com/about/ )
The Head and The Heart — Source: http://www.myspace.com/theheadandtheheart
Seattle continues to create great music. The Head and the Heart, although made up of mostly transplants, this new group captures that folk/rock sound common the the great northwest and appreciated very much in the southwest (Tucson).
kenne
Image by Chase Jarvis — Source: chasejarvis.com
Over the years, photography has become my primary vehicle for carrying me through the door to the world of art, all it’s beauty and expressions of our universal connections. The Internet has made my wish to connect and share easier and more profound. Hardly a day goes by that my existence isn’t extended in-depth and insight.
For sometime my blog has had a link to the blog, chasejarvis.com. Chase Jarvis is a well-known photography and filmmaker based in Seattle. I love his work, but more importantly, I’m impressed with his use of social media as a creative outlet to the world of art. For Jarvis, social media is not going away, “. . . I think it’s going to change a lot over the next couple of years, but it’s interesting how that integrates with a creative person or with creativity in general.”
Yesterday, Jarvis posted a short entry, titled, “Whatever Makes You Nervous,” where he references Michael Jordan’s response to his golfing friends wanting to know how much they’re betting against one another on each hole. Apparently, Jordan’s stock response is: “Whatever Makes You Nervous.”
For Jarvis, that’s what we should bet on ourselves, every time. “Not what makes you comfortable, but what makes you nervous.” His point being that we must push our comfort level to grow.
All of us who have ever experienced some degree of success, did so by our willingness to take risks. As a young adult, one of my biggest fears was speaking in front of a group of people. But, I knew I needed to take on the fear and face the risk of making a fool of myself, which I have done many times. The degree my skills have improved, and any level of success I have accomplished, has been due to my confronting and pushing the stress level.
The Jarvis posting is a great reminder of how to succeed in life. And, as one reply to the posting noted by sharing the Woody Allen quote:
“If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough!”
kenne
Embracing the Extremities of the Sacred and Profane
Like most journeys, our trip to Seattle, Lummi Island and Vancouver was a source of much inspiration, both sacred and profane. If art is something that can be admired in its own right, then all human creations are works of art. Both the artist and the observer share the inspiration, a duende resulting in a collaborative incarnate experience. 
Whether the choreographed fish throwing of fishmongers at Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle; the enigmatic bronze figures in Ann Morris’ Sculpture Woods on Lummi Island; the poetry Lisa and Mike’s wedding ceremony; the southern shore skyline of Vancouver; or the many stone statues left by stone stackers adorning the English Bay shoreline.
Additional words and images will be forthcoming.
kenne
Image source of “Dance of Life,” by Ann Morris is “Sculpture Woods – Studio Grounds of Ann Morris
Becoming is Superior to Being 