低调

国内目前一个流行词叫“低调”。比如，“低调奢华”，“低调！才是最牛B的炫耀！！” 仿佛低调只是一种类似摄影的手段，目的仍是表现一个主题:“奢华”或”炫耀“。前日读新闻，看到一片关于Steven Jobs夫人, Laurene Powell Jobs的报道，应为“低调”的正面注释。

"Marlene Castro knew the tall blonde woman only as Laurene, her mentor. They met every few weeks in a rough Silicon Valley neighbourhood the year that Castro was applying to college, and they emailed often, bonding over conversations about Castro’s difficult childhood.

Without Laurene’s help, Castro said, she might not have become the first person in her family to graduate from college.

It was only later, when she was a freshman at University of California, Berkeley, that Castro read a news article and realised that Laurene was Silicon Valley royalty, the wife of Apple’s co-founder, Steven P. Jobs.

“I just became 10 times more appreciative of her humility and how humble she was in working with us in East Palo Alto,” Castro said.

The story, friends and colleagues say, is classic Laurene Powell Jobs. Famous because of her last name and fortune, she has always been private and publicity-averse. Her philanthropic work, especially on education causes like College Track, the college prep organisation she helped found and through which she was Castro’s mentor, has been her priority and focus."

(Source: The Telegraph, "Jobs widow tiptoes into public sphere-Philanthropy Laurene’s priority," May 17, 2013, last accessed, May 19, 2013))

(100mm/f6.3 macro len, Canon EOS 7D)

Doodling...

Doodling, an unfocused act of drawing, can be therapeutically potent.  Once in a while I have to set aside some time to engage in this mindless activity, just to break the routine, or to escape into a world different from where I am in.

Last weekend I ordered a Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2, which I consider to be a fancy digital doodling pad for adults.  It arrived Tuesday, even before I came back from the city.  I had a very short week this week.  I needed sometime to relax and recover from a few very intensive weeks, which almost led to severe brain damages.

After spending a couple of days at home sleeping, drinking, idling and, more importantly, doodling, I found myself gradually crawl back to near normalcy, although it may take some time, hopefully soon,  to get myself primed again.

Doodling in my case also takes the form of processing prior photos using different software, just to see different visual effects.  Whatever those effects may have been, the net effect is that I feel much better now.

The First Church of Christ, CT

绘画，记录“无”的工具

数码相机几乎每几个月就有个新型号上世。我自己除了四台单反机外，还有一些早已蒙尘、永不会见天日的早期数码相机，加上从黑莓到“爱疯”等各类手机里的相机，似乎自己生活每日每个细节都有可能被充分记录了。常听人说些，摄影设备无所不在，绘画在未来似乎生存的空间会越来越有限了。

其实不然。比如我们无法带相机去梦中旅行，去记录那些千奇百怪的思想残片。对于我们不再重回的一段童年往事、记忆中那座被雪覆盖的城、传说中的那个元宵节、古曲中的那个有月光的夜晚…，我们拿什么去记录呢？

几天有个朋友寄个我一份关于刘墉的配乐ＰＰＴ画集。刘墉是作家，也是个有很高才能和故事的画家。他用国画的形式，回答了上面的问题。他的作品展示了许多现实中或许永远也不曾存在过、但无人会怀疑它们真实性的场景。构成他心中世界的元素，有圆月、老城，还有许许多多小房子。这些小房子密密麻麻地挤在一起，重新让一个过去的时刻活了过来，如同氨基酸分子排在一起，产生了生命奇境一般。

摄影是记录存在的或“有”的工具；绘画是记录“无”的工具，我们永远需要它，去表达只存在我们心中的那个世界。

新正端雪

童年暮霭

龙山寺庆元宵

春江花月夜

宝马与奔驰

纽约街上什么车都有。那天看见宝马边急驰过一辆另类“奔驰”车。…

奔“吃”车

人间五月天

鸭间五月天（纽约中央公园）

鸽间五月天（纽约第六大道）