Charting the passage of time, activities, and identity:
what I do.
There's a lot more humor and a lot less ego involved in the parade of profile pics; at least, that's the way I see it. (Judge me, if you want, but I don't intend to lose sleep over the matter.) I have written before of Rembrandt's many selfies and of the third-person would-be objective perspective of mirror-images offered in John Fowles' novel Daniel Martin, an old favorite.
Tracking my age and how the lines on my face and how the gray or white hairs on my head accumulate can be a sport with different events. Guessing where the next ache or sore muscle will appear is another such event. I am not getting younger, right?
But I am also still paddling and diving and reading around and pursuing other such richly-enlivening activities. (Man alive, I miss the studio and clay.). I like to keep track of all those activities I am fortunate enough to pursue -- and keep track of the different people I seem to be and have been: Diver Matt, Kayak Matt, Teacher Matt, Clay Matt, and so forth. After a long day desk-bound, there's a uplifting joy in checking what I was doing, who I was, in times past. Sometimes, checking the last trip to Mendocino, for example, can spur me to check the weather and start making plans for the next outing,, however long or far away. And, if that planning proves merely mental, proves merely daydreaming, that's good too. I return to the matter at hand at the desk a bit more energized, a bit more ready to dig in.
What with the pandemic, remote teaching, and reaching 59, I have been feeling reflective.
As a Gemini, I am used to seeing the world and myself through a two-fold lens.
Here are a few more recent examples.
(A) stern and serious, working at it --
B) Having fun on the water -- salt salvation --
THE VINTAGE LOOK / BLACK & WHITE GAMES:
(A) Ducking down an alleyway -- "Call me Ishmael." (Thanks, Herman Melville.)
(B) A "Pirate" Looks Toward 60? (Thanks, Jimmy Buffett)
(A) Post-dive, unmasked:
red from too much sun and the cold cold water;
slightly saltdrunk --
(B) Post-paddle, pandemic ready --
This last shot: that mask gets lots of smiles, lots of laughs, from children and adults alike.
It's a sea lion mask, technically, but many kids think it's a dog--and why not?
Sea lions bark too, don't they?
So, I oblige.
Any man who barks in public can't take himself too seriously.
