Cyber Sojourn: The Journey Begins
Today I stumbled upon the blog of Marie Javins, a solo traveler in Africa. I had been reviewing self published books on Cafepress.com, which took me to a group of comic book authors at www.comiculture.com. From this site there was a link to Ms. Javin’s blog at http://mariejavins.blogspot.com.
After reading a bit of her tale it occurred to me that here was a most interesting woman, someone whose thoughts and intellect appealed to me. My heart was set to thump, thump, thumping and I mused, perhaps I should introduce myself to Ms. Javins. Then a little voice in my mind said that this would be pointless, given this girl was off in Afrinca following here own heart and the odds that there could ever be a heart connection between us were therefore quite remote.
However, my mind continue to muse over introducing myself to Ms. Javins. Perhaps I could pen her an email:
Dear Marie Javins,
Hi, I just happened to stumble upon your blog while browsing the net. I am an artist/naturalist working on a number of projects and was exploring the net to see what others were up to. I must confess that your blog is the most interesting one I have come across of late, not so much because of your rambling adventure, but because of something about your reflection which immediately drew me into your muse.
When I learned that you were reflecting upon the title for your current work I thought to myself that certainly you would decide this for yourself, as that is what I’d do. The name we give to our adventures is, however, not nearly as important as that which we reflect, for our impression of life and the world is really a way we have to make a difference, to effect the lives and minds of others, to change the world even if it is but in a small way, to make it a better place.
This got me to thinking about not just a name for your book but a cover design, given that it might be nice to do a cover that is not just a photograph taken from your travels, but which represents a pattern that you might discover upon the way. It has been a preoccupation of mine to search for patterns in nature and I often find myself photographing pattern that no one else seems to notice. This seems to be the case whether I find myself atop an extinct volcano or strolling along the shore looking for shells. Quite often I discover the most beautiful forms in nature in minute creatures that others over look entirely, given I have half a dozen microscopes and enjoy peering into the worlds found upon the underside of mushrooms, leaves or in the pattern of a butterfly’s wings.
Now I do not know if this will interest you at all or if you will even get the connection, coming from a perfect stranger from afar, but of late I have been doing a series of heart designs, putting patters taken from nature and enhanced via computer graphics programs inside of hearts to make unique designs. This effort was compelled after lawyers from the New York State Department of Tourism threatened to sue me for making an "I (Heart) New York" designs, claiming it resembled the one they use to boost tourism. Well, I had no idea they actually had a trademark on "I Love New York" and was simply making a series of heart designs for all the states. I saw no reason to leave New York out just because some greedy lawyers thought they could put their trademark upon "I Love New York." But they are a multi-million dollar empire and seemed not to care about my creative concerns. So I simply told Cafepress.com that I could make a dozen better New York heart designs, which is exactly what
I did, this evolving into so many heart designs that they now fill much of the on line gallery at http://www.cafepress.com/bytelandart.
Should you happen to visit the Byteland Art Gallery you will see that I am engaged in creating a most beautiful series of star bursts heart designs that evolved from a photographs taken of camellia; i.e. the Chinese Rose, which has its origin in China and Japan and worked its way to my back yard of my country estate via the East Indies Company that imported these flowering trees to England and the Americas in the 1700s and 1800s. So being involved in this creative project the idea occurred to me, what might happen if you searched for some designs and/or patterns in nature that could be incorporated into a heart design? Then this could be used to create a most unique book cover design as well as put on products as I do with all my designs. Plus we might even be able to work out a way that this could help sponsor your travels. I was thinking that then a good title might be African Romance: A Woman’s Solo Adventures in Africa. Thus the cover and title would fit together and the cover design could also be used at the start of each chapter to create a nice, repetitive design which brings the entire manuscript together. This is a technique that has been used in many books that I admire, from Note to Myself to Life on a Little Known Planet.
Of course this is just a idea for you to tumble around inside your mind. But perhaps you will enjoy toying with the idea and may be inspired to search for some patterns in nature, taking a closer look at the bark of trees, lichen growing upon rocks, peddles of flowers, colors of leaves or other marvelous sights that you may stumble upon.
Should you wish to share your muse in these or other regards you are welcome to share email. I can be reached at http://mailto:terrylynch@aol.com.
Wishing you a safe and exciting sojourn across the Dark Continent.
May peace be with you.
TAL
After writing this bit of muse it occurred to me that I had just started my own new blog. So why not just post this proposal as a blog and publish my own sojourn through cyber space, given certainly I spend so much time upon the Internet that it is about all the traveling I am doing these days. It might make for an interesting blog. Who knows, maybe I will make some new friends like Marie Javins in the process.
In this regard I should perhaps take my own advice and use one of my star burst heart designs to illustrate Cyber Sojourn: The Romance and Adventures of a Naturalist through the Wilds of the Internet.
Ah, this quest is off to a good start. Looking down the road I see a distant horizon and wonder what lies beyond? That is how all journeys begin. What we can not tell is what we shall find along the way or how they will end, least we die upon the way.
After reading a bit of her tale it occurred to me that here was a most interesting woman, someone whose thoughts and intellect appealed to me. My heart was set to thump, thump, thumping and I mused, perhaps I should introduce myself to Ms. Javins. Then a little voice in my mind said that this would be pointless, given this girl was off in Afrinca following here own heart and the odds that there could ever be a heart connection between us were therefore quite remote.
However, my mind continue to muse over introducing myself to Ms. Javins. Perhaps I could pen her an email:
Dear Marie Javins,
Hi, I just happened to stumble upon your blog while browsing the net. I am an artist/naturalist working on a number of projects and was exploring the net to see what others were up to. I must confess that your blog is the most interesting one I have come across of late, not so much because of your rambling adventure, but because of something about your reflection which immediately drew me into your muse.
When I learned that you were reflecting upon the title for your current work I thought to myself that certainly you would decide this for yourself, as that is what I’d do. The name we give to our adventures is, however, not nearly as important as that which we reflect, for our impression of life and the world is really a way we have to make a difference, to effect the lives and minds of others, to change the world even if it is but in a small way, to make it a better place.
This got me to thinking about not just a name for your book but a cover design, given that it might be nice to do a cover that is not just a photograph taken from your travels, but which represents a pattern that you might discover upon the way. It has been a preoccupation of mine to search for patterns in nature and I often find myself photographing pattern that no one else seems to notice. This seems to be the case whether I find myself atop an extinct volcano or strolling along the shore looking for shells. Quite often I discover the most beautiful forms in nature in minute creatures that others over look entirely, given I have half a dozen microscopes and enjoy peering into the worlds found upon the underside of mushrooms, leaves or in the pattern of a butterfly’s wings.
Now I do not know if this will interest you at all or if you will even get the connection, coming from a perfect stranger from afar, but of late I have been doing a series of heart designs, putting patters taken from nature and enhanced via computer graphics programs inside of hearts to make unique designs. This effort was compelled after lawyers from the New York State Department of Tourism threatened to sue me for making an "I (Heart) New York" designs, claiming it resembled the one they use to boost tourism. Well, I had no idea they actually had a trademark on "I Love New York" and was simply making a series of heart designs for all the states. I saw no reason to leave New York out just because some greedy lawyers thought they could put their trademark upon "I Love New York." But they are a multi-million dollar empire and seemed not to care about my creative concerns. So I simply told Cafepress.com that I could make a dozen better New York heart designs, which is exactly what
I did, this evolving into so many heart designs that they now fill much of the on line gallery at http://www.cafepress.com/bytelandart.
Should you happen to visit the Byteland Art Gallery you will see that I am engaged in creating a most beautiful series of star bursts heart designs that evolved from a photographs taken of camellia; i.e. the Chinese Rose, which has its origin in China and Japan and worked its way to my back yard of my country estate via the East Indies Company that imported these flowering trees to England and the Americas in the 1700s and 1800s. So being involved in this creative project the idea occurred to me, what might happen if you searched for some designs and/or patterns in nature that could be incorporated into a heart design? Then this could be used to create a most unique book cover design as well as put on products as I do with all my designs. Plus we might even be able to work out a way that this could help sponsor your travels. I was thinking that then a good title might be African Romance: A Woman’s Solo Adventures in Africa. Thus the cover and title would fit together and the cover design could also be used at the start of each chapter to create a nice, repetitive design which brings the entire manuscript together. This is a technique that has been used in many books that I admire, from Note to Myself to Life on a Little Known Planet.
Of course this is just a idea for you to tumble around inside your mind. But perhaps you will enjoy toying with the idea and may be inspired to search for some patterns in nature, taking a closer look at the bark of trees, lichen growing upon rocks, peddles of flowers, colors of leaves or other marvelous sights that you may stumble upon.
Should you wish to share your muse in these or other regards you are welcome to share email. I can be reached at http://mailto:terrylynch@aol.com.
Wishing you a safe and exciting sojourn across the Dark Continent.
May peace be with you.
TAL
After writing this bit of muse it occurred to me that I had just started my own new blog. So why not just post this proposal as a blog and publish my own sojourn through cyber space, given certainly I spend so much time upon the Internet that it is about all the traveling I am doing these days. It might make for an interesting blog. Who knows, maybe I will make some new friends like Marie Javins in the process.
In this regard I should perhaps take my own advice and use one of my star burst heart designs to illustrate Cyber Sojourn: The Romance and Adventures of a Naturalist through the Wilds of the Internet.
Ah, this quest is off to a good start. Looking down the road I see a distant horizon and wonder what lies beyond? That is how all journeys begin. What we can not tell is what we shall find along the way or how they will end, least we die upon the way.
posted by TAL | 4:56 AM
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1 Comments:
Oh my God! I just got a spam comment from some idiot who I am sure did not read a word of my blog. If anyone knows how I can stop such blog spamming, please let me know. Thanks
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