spring.subtleties
seattle, wa
16 may 2013 - g10, f/4 1/160s, iso-200

sometimes stepping back outside with a flashlight after checking the mail is worth it. even if you're going to look a little bit crazy but the thing is, sometimes life might be telling you things, but you just have to be looking around. you can't let something surprise you if you don't give it a chance.

~ = ~

speaking of, this film was a pleasant, feel-good surprise:


populaire :: a film by régis roinsard

a romantic comedy about typing (yes, with typewriters)? i like to catch at least one french film each time SIFF rolls around mainly to keep my french listening skills from going completely dull, but also because i've loved the way the french filmmakers seem to have a mastery of the human condition. they know how to work tension and release, or to make you clearly feel a given emotion in the most elegant of ways, whether it be a serious film or even in a romantic comedy.

it's one of the few times where i get to see so many foreign films in one go, so i try to make sure i take advantage of the opportunity. and with this film, i was left smiling because it left you feeling so good. naturally, there isn't anything groundbreaking in this film, but if you just let go of this elitist need to always find a film that does something different or something that you've never seen before, this takes something that's been done before and it does it well. it made you feel really, really good. and i think that's why i fell in love with this film.

~ = ~

on a side note, i'm noticing that as a result of this film festival, i'm getting more and more familiar with the actors and actresses of french cinema; i think the first time i had seen romain duris et déborah françois two were in different SIFF screenings in different years, paris and tribulations d'une caissière.

connections are happening. :)

anyway, i sure hope they release this soon; i'd like to add it to my personal collection.

it's been a feel good type of weekend, if you ask me. after seeing this, i couldn't help but smile even bigger because in the back of my mind was the knowledge that two time zones away, a friend (that i made more or less by surprise) was getting married, but then again, that's something that'll make me smile regardless. so happy for you, sleepysouthie--congratulations to the two of you!

tomorrow...err...later today, playing in a concert.

magically,
-j

challenge.milestones
seattle, wa
9 may 2013 - gopro HD hero, exposure data unrecorded

the interesting part about training is that when you have an instructor that constantly pushes you even on "easy" days, pushing you to the point until you start to feel like you're on the edge of your ability and your ability to keep the composure of the situation (and sometimes just a little bit beyond just to let you know what it's like), it makes some of the milestones on the horizon seem a bit less daunting when you get there. all i can say is that with each lesson my appreciation of pilots grows even more than it had been even before i started, and for all of the people going through lessons, or have finished their lessons and have earned their private pilot certificate (and i place great emphasis on the word earned), i completely appreciate what it takes to fly even a relatively simple airplane.

and so, the first day in the eleventh year of this blog, i completed my first solo flight. all i can say is thanks to my brother for keeping me inspired and for my instructor that keeps pushing me each lesson, throwing things at me just to let me see how i fare when things start to fall apart. there's always something to learn. it's consumed my life for the time being, but the reward is very clear, and that first solo, with the challenge, the rush, and the views, was just a very small taste of what's on the other side--and it was absolutely wonderful.

can't stop learning. must keep learning.

magically,
-j

Currently Reality Bites (10th Anniversary Edition) By Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Steve Zahn see related

sky.wander
seattle, wa
30 april 2013 - g10, f/4 1/1600s, iso-200

they thought the people who were trying to fly for the first time were crazy because human flight was impossible. of course, that was until they proved them wrong. in the meantime, you'll find me "chair flying," flipping switches and moving levers and slides that that don't exist, looking a bit crazy but it'll make sense when you put an airplane around me.

we have to be ready to look crazy before we do amazing things. perhaps that's why they're amazing.

~ = ~

in other news, i fell for this:

:)

magically,
-j

Currently Information Manual: Cessna 1980, Model 152 By Cessna Aircraft Co. see related

spring.work
seattle, wa
21 april 2013 - g10, f/2.8 1/40s, iso-800

get up close to your life and look at the details, then step back and look at the big picture. don't forget to look at everything.

spring is coming together. slowly, but surely.

always magically,
-j

Currently Brain Games see related

globe.trot
luzerne, switzerland
14 march 2009 - eos-1ds mk1, f/10 0.5s, iso-400

keep your eyes open. you might see people that might know people, but whatever the case may be, you will always know poeple that will know someone else, and sometimes a name you might see in passing might cross your path again. the world is smaller than we think, and when we pick up a book that catches our interest from the bookstore shelf and read it through, there might be a surprise waiting for us in the back pages--a surprise that has been with us all along, just waiting for us to discover it.

it might be a big surprise or it might be just a little one to make us smile, but all of it will keep life interesting.

~ = ~

sometimes i like to think about the strangers in some of the pictures i've taken on my adventures, some of the faces in the pictures that my friends have taken on their journeys, and wonder when the next moment will come when i see somebody i know in another friend's picture--where two friends of mine, strangers to each other, cross paths--unknowingly connected...

keep those eyes open, stranger friends.

magically,
-j

Currently Cloudbusting see related

shared.experience
seattle, wa
14 april 2013 - iphone 5, f/2.4 1/1400s, iso-50

the plane received its certificate of airworthiness in october of 1980, and i'm sure has seen (and experienced) its fair of student pilots, many of whom have gone to fly much bigger, much faster, much more advanced airplanes. we all have to start somewhere, and i think it's hard not to have some sort of appreciation for this design, its limitations, and exactly what it can teach someone when it comes to safe and knowledgeable wanderings in the sky. every 100 hours it undergoes a check-up above and beyond its annual, and the fun part is it seems to have signs of its own personality--how the panels overlap, the cut-outs for the rudder cables were shaped to fit by experienced hands, the way its engine sounds when it starts, the chop of the propeller when it's at idle, and how it behaves when you lean the mixture a bit once the oil pressure is at its nominal level.

everything tells you something: from the instruments, the sounds, the feel of its behaviours, but it takes a keen instructor to help you begin to learn its language, and i've been so fortunate to have one that is doing just that. some days can be frustrating when it feels like i've been placed in a situation without much guidance, but there's a level of trust in the instructor that is there, and knowing that they're doing this because they think i can find a way to learn how to keep myself afloat is both scary yet reassuring.

combined with all of the advice that he and my brother have given me (and have yet to give), this has been an amazing adventure so far, and i can't help but keep looking forward to the next challenge. my instructor is relentless, never letting me stagnate or come to a complete rest; he has been moving me along and making sure i've been moving right along. it's been quite the challenging experience, sometimes overwhelming, but never helplessly so.

when and if you're able, this is a journey that i highly recommend.

magically,
-j

Currently Tear Down These Walls By Billy Ocean see related

getty.set
los angeles, ca
8 december 2012 - g10, f/3.2 1/60s, iso-80

i flew to los angeles in december to see a magic show, and i was going to go regardless of whether i would be alone or have friends with me, so when i proposed the idea to two friends that i had owed a visit (overdue by at least two years), i was starting to get excited when they were interested! see, there is so much bad magic out in this world that it's easy to be immediately compartmentalised and mocked under the stigma created by it and in all honesty, can you blame those that do this? so, when i heard about this show in all of the right places, from all of the right sources, i knew i couldn't pass this opportunity up.

there's a reason why i revived that hobby i put away toward the end of high school, and it's all driven by the desire to keep some ounce of creativity and imagination alive and well. there's this drive inside of me to keep alive a childlike (not childish) fascination with thinking so far out of the box that the effect of the seemingly impossible is, well, possible.

inherently in all of this, however, is a small dilemma: fascination and wonder are primarily products of a lack of knowledge, yet as people are normally driven by a thirst for learning, our seeking knowledge ends up doing away with a few select pieces of amazement as a result.

perhaps the lesson instead becomes developing some instinct or understanding of what knowledge is worth seeking and what knowledge is best left as a mystery. knowing why planes fly in the interest of becoming a pilot? that's definitely a required piece of knowledge, but it is highly unlikely that that knowledge will erase the fascination of seeing the world from a very unique viewpoint. to watch a performance of magic? that's a piece of knowledge that many, many times i am simply content with the feeling of being completely fooled. it doesn't diminish my appreciation for the skill by not knowing what set of moves or gimmicks were used to provide some desired effect, what i appreciate is that someone selected and executed some set of techniques that left me with an impossible result. and you'll always find me smiling because of it.

i think, the more we try to focus on demanding a magician baffle us by not letting us catch them, the more we miss out on the rest of the magic that is happening around us. we are so busy expecting something or looking for something that we want to happen that we miss some larger point. we become overly suspicious of everything that even if we are truly fooled, we will never be satisfied. this is especially true if our learning is largely driven by our fears of the general unknown and rarely is this type of desire for knowledge (if ever at all) healthy.

my point is: revel in the mystery. there are so many unknowns in all of our lives, and one can't have a pleasant surprise when they know it's coming (and it's important to note i am talking about a pleasant surprise). yes, learning tends to erase certain opportunities for wonder, but, again, i firmly believe that being able to know instinctively what is something to learn versus what is something to keep as a mystery is something that is an important part of life.

and developing that instinct, if you think about it, is still learning in itself.

~ = ~

music tends to drive my mind to think sometimes.

there's magic in the tingle in our fingers when we come in contact with others, and there's magic in the heartbeats (heard or even unheard) in the close proximities of a hug, there's magic everywhere around us and we can only find it if we open all of our senses, sending and receiving life. life.

fingertips alive. superhuman touch.

~ = ~

there is much intense learning that is going to happen in these coming days, especially leading up to the first stage check; this is no mystery. this is simply an understood and accepted part of a passionate chasing of a childhood dream of flight--all of this knowledge is necessary to realise a much greater magic at the other end of all this hard work. flight is magical, and if you want a small clue in understanding why i am trying to learn how to fly...

...here's something to think about: magic isn't always top hats and rabbits, nor does it need to be. any kind of magic, however, has one very important characteristic: it's only magical when it's shared. 

~ = ~

a few more minutes of studying, then a wish of good night to all. dear stranger friends: i hope you are well.

magically,
-j

(thanks, g and m, for being so willing to share in the wonder. it truly meant a lot. :)

Currently Black Swan By Athlete see related