I may have forgotten to mention my theme – it is fractals, fractal art, everything fractal up to and including my new book Fractal Dreams! Have a look around my pages and such to see lots more fractals. Also, every Friday I post a FridayFractalFeature (fff, for short) for all to enjoy! Thanks for stopping by and engaging in the A to Z 2013 Challenge! This is my FIRST ever, so I’m pretty excited! So every day I will post a fractal whose title starts with the letter of the day… and perhaps other things fractal related.
S is for….
the fractal for S is: Sans Ennui
SANS ENNUI
Sans Ennui is not in my book, Fractal Dreams, which is available exclusively at RedmundPro.
Disclaimer: I am NOT a mathematician, so please forgive the uneducated tone of my definitions. I am an artist, so I try to explain the math of fractals to the best of my (limited) ability.
I hope you might share some of my utter and pure delight…
Lyrics:
[Robert Winston]
It’s amazing to consider that I’m holding in my hands
The place where someone once felt, thought, and loved
For centuries, scientists have been battling to understand
What this unappealing object is all about
[Vilayanur Ramachandran]
Here is this mass of jelly
You can hold in the palm of your hands
And it can contemplate the vastness of interstellar space
[Carl Sagan]
The brain has evolved from the inside out
Its structure reflects all the stages through which it has passed
[Jill Bolte Taylor]
Information in the form of energy
Streams in simultaneously
Through all of our sensory systems
And then it explodes into this enormous collage
Of what this present moment looks like
What it feels like
And what it sounds like
And then it explodes into this enormous collage
And in this moment we are perfect
We are whole and we are beautiful
[Robert Winston]
It appears rather gruesome
Wrinkled like a walnut, and with the consistency of mushroom
[Carl Sagan]
What we know is encoded in cells called neurons
And there are something like a hundred trillion neural connections
This intricate and marvelous network of neurons has been called
An enchanted loom
The neurons store sounds too, and snatches of music
Whole orchestras play inside our heads
20 million volumes worth of information
Is inside the heads of every one of us
The brain is a very big place
In a very small space
No longer at the mercy of the reptile brain
We can change ourselves
Think of the possibilities
[Bill Nye]
Think of your brain as a newspaper
Think of all the information it can store
But it doesn’t take up too much room
Because it’s folded
[Oliver Sacks]
We see with the eyes
But we see with the brain as well
And seeing with the brain
Is often called imagination
[Various]
[Robert Winston]
It is the most mysterious part of the human body
And yet it dominates the way we live our adult lives
It is the brain
Check out http://symphonyofscience.com for more science music videos. You can find links to all the sources used in this video at the website under “additional info” for each one.
Such experiments could perhaps lead to new discoveries about treating such things as depression and different approaches to behavioral issues like ADD or ADHD.
I would like to introduce you all to a very special person, someone who has been an inspiration to me most of my life for his drive to follow his dream of being a “gainfully active” artist.
Ladies and germs… meet my BRO, David J Russell…
David is ten years my junior, the youngest brother in a group totaling 9 (yes, count ’em, nine) siblings (7 still alive and kicking), all sprung from the womb of our tiny (5’2″), late mom, Gloria and all sired by our laid back, late dad, Richard, both of whom always told us all to “get a REAL job”!!! I’m the eldest (chest bump) and there has always been talk that either our folks stole us from wandering gypsies, or they tried to sell us to said wandering gypsies. I’m never sure which. Trust me, that made for lots of sibling rivalry ammo during our formative years!!!
Along with the other younger brother, Patrick, eleven months David’s senior, David moved to Orlando lo these many years ago and both became part of the Disney “family”. Patrick is the IT guy, David, the artist/performer. He is responsible for the creation of many of the interesting audio skits you might hear while waiting in line (and waiting and waiting) to get into some rides or attractions at the world famous theme park. In fact, David has also done voice overs, as a character or two, in said skits. And, naturally enough, Patrick and his Web building/hosting company at the time, SNP, created the SAK website.
David has always been the ham of the family, and the only one who dared to defy the parental edict “get a real job”!!! His performing, directing and producing career came out during his days at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. This now 42 year old festival is also where David met the love of his life, the sweet Morgan.
Any of you remember MD20-20? A kosher favorite, also popular among high school kids and broke hippies, seeking substance aided alteration, especially during the 60’s and 70’s. Well I just have to say, good thing it all worked out for Morgan/David, or I’d forever have lost a perfect mnemonic memory aid for we indulgers, who suffered early and sudden bouts of Alzheimer’s, even for family member names. And even now, when the memory is more like a sieve or a colander when it comes to information.
So, they all moved to Orlando after finishing college. Orlando is where Morgan is from. Not sure what brought her up to Minnesota, but, kind of a moot point now!!!
And, to fill things out, here, in David’s own words, he tells us about himself:
About me: I am the President of SAK Theatre Co. and served as the Artistic Director and Managing Director for SAK Comedy Lab for 10 years. SAK is a 200 seat live Improv Comedy Theater in Orlando, FL.
I have a lovely and wonderful wife Morgan who also performs at SAK (and Disney’s World Showcase Players) and is the Director of Interactors at UCF for the TeachLive program. We have two awesome children, (Marina and Walker) who I just adore from head to toe.
I also serve as a Show Director for Walt Disney World Entertainment.
So, that, in a nutshell, is my youngest brother, David. As I mentioned, being the only Russell Sprout (as I call us) who dared defy the parental edict “GET A REAL JOB”, David has always been an inspiration to me. Their children are now putting David and Morgan through the wonder years (parenting 2 adolescents).
So, I’ll leave you with this little vignette:I’m about 15ish, David is 5ish. I am the designated babysitter, so, of course, I am performing my duties in front of the TV, probably watching the Twilight Zone. I am totally immersed in whatever’s on TV, barely hearing in the background the sound of a wax paper bag rustling, coming from the kitchen. It probably would never have risen to my consciousness, had not David (wearing that shit-eating grin he still wears today) said to me, out of the blue, as he walked from kitchen into the living room, “I’m not eating potato chips, Janet.” (Word for word, hand to god!!!)
Badum-CHING!!!
🙂
filed under:
D is for… (David)
R is for… (Russell)
S is for… (Sprout or SAK)y’all take care now, y’hear‽‽‽‽
This started out a comment to Hobbs‘ post about some pretty serious and basic beliefs from April… when my comment got so long, I could only see my comment box on the screen, I realized it’s time for me to do the same thing she was doing – reviewing options, asking questions, listening to what others had to say, etc, etc, etc.
so, I think I’m just gonna go with that flow… so…
hey, sweetie… I’m late to the party, but that’s just how I roll!!! I couldn’t read all the comments, because it’s all been said. Before. And some of it even makes sense. But your quandary reminds me of myself, now, and as a teen, becoming a truly self aware person who thought it important to do the right thing, above all else. I don’t mean someone else’s right, but what my spirit, my soul, my heart and my brain told me was right. Kind of like selecting someone to vote for when the time came.
Then I got really confused, because, who am I to decide what’s right – I don’t have all the facts, so how can I make an informed decision about what’s right. It took many years of just plain living to help me understand one thing. It’s not about making a decision for me. It’s more a gut, instinctual, perhaps spiritually guided feeling. They say that’s what falling in love is. I guess – I’ve been in and out of love and that’s a whole ‘nother subject, not to mention blog. But once I understood that my spirit totally knew what was right in my eyes, my choice was to do it or not. Never was it based on someone else’s view of right. I mean, like, don’t kill. Except when you have to. Well that’s just plain stupid. Either you do or you don’t. I know, that can be debated, but that’s where my heart/soul/spirit landed. I didn’t decide. I just discovered what was right for myself. So, from that point forward, I hardly ever… kill an insect (had ya going, didn’t I?), unless I do. Which, really hasn’t been, if ever, many times. Either I capture it and release it to “out of my house”, or I leave it alone. Both have their merit. Relocation happens, so that’s not too bad. And if I just leave it alone, I’ll always have the knowledge that next time I see another member of that same family of critter, it’s probably the one I let live, so there’s not so many of them after all. Silly, I know. But I didn’t decide, I just know, then choose my course of action or lack thereof.
So, like they say about being gay, or whatever, it’s not decision or choice (though I’m not sure of that either), it’s about KNOWING who you are and living true to yourself. Believe me, I know that’s not as easy as it sounds. I’ve always had trouble answering questions like “where do you want to be in 5 years?” How the HE double L do I know what my circumstances will be in 5 years. So how can I say X is where I want to be? Or Y? What if something happens that disallows both X and Y? Am I a failure then, because I didn’t reach that spoken goal? Or, back to the metaphysical, how did I know what I would feel in 5 years? Today I like doing crafty things. Or writing music. Or making fractals. Or writing. Maybe I won’t like it in 5 years.
So, for me, that could mean one “truth” today might be another “truth” tomorrow, because of an experience, an idea, a thought, an external occurrence, or even something I thought about recently. And, I realized it’s not a function of the intellect to “decide” what is right or true (for ME), rather it is something that comes from all of the experiences and knowledge and mistakes and successes and observations and stuff that just seem to be part of who I am and I have no idea how it got there. AND it has to be right and true at the moment I make that choice. So I make a choice for now. I don’t mind not knoowing. I know I can go in directions now, for example, like getting a PhD in AstroPhysics, that will make my options way different in 5 years than if I DON’T get that doctorate.
So, God, religion, faith – these are all just words to me. And it’s not in the words I’ll find my truth. It’s in seeking and finding who I really am and what I believe to be right/true for me.
So what does that all mean? Damned if I know, but, that’s how I roll.
I do know that I get annoyed when someone posts a video/song/whatever on YouTube and the commenters take it as an opportunity to espouse their “platform”, make their beliefs known. That might be ok, but what the devil is the reason for name calling and trolling and otherwise being rude and bullyish. I just don’t get it. Like this video I found the other day.
I listened to it, watched, read it. Much of the content was not necessarily part of my belief system, but that did not stop me from appreciating the intent in which it was made, uploaded, shared, etc. I found it to be very kind and compassionate, which are things that ARE part of my truth, part of what I believe is honorable and good.
So, WTF were all the commenters doing debating religion, god, atheism, the bible, etc, etc, etc. I don’t judge. I just don’t get it. In my world, there is definitely a place for those things, but not as comments on a video that some caring person thought would be nice, perhaps helpful to share. Hopefully that person didn’t take all this personally, or as a reflection of how people saw her. But, many did appear to make judgements about her, because of the content of that video. IDK…
And that is where I must end my rant. Is it a rant? IDK. Maybe I see it as a way to work some things out for myself. And, why, then would I turn it into a blog post? IDK. Maybe because I think there might be others working on similar things for themselves. IDK. Maybe, it will inspire to think about these things and discover their own personal truths. IDK.
It comes down to, I blog, therefore I am! And thanks, Hobbs, for writing, publishing and encouraging communication in the comments of that post (and all your posts, really). It all made me think of these things in a particular way, that may help me know myself better today, than I did yesterday. IDK. If not, fine.
↬ inspired by and kind of a response to IzaakMak’s “perspective – restored” post of earlier today.
which guided me to ᔥYouTube and the “Natural Science” vid, which I decided to post because I too have been watching science based TV all day plus I’ve been thinking of posting some 6WS’s, and the lyrics just seemed to tie it all together for me, even though they’re some thirty-plus years old (seems like only yesterday)…
thank goodness for gravity… (I could listen to this all day…)
this is just jaw dropping fokking awesome and amazing…
I just HAD to share… (I couldn’t figure how to embed this weird graphic, so… go ahead… click on it… you know you want to…) it’s really fun… Magnifying the Universe by Number Sleuth.
when/if you get to the bottom, that’s where my jaw will be….
BuddhaKat 