The year is half over. It's time to assess what I have accomplished and set objectives for the rest of 2013.
I have a feeling that I'm going to need to work aggressively on multiple projects or the year will go down as a disappointment.
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
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Sunday, June 30, 2013
South of Someplace
My name is South, a name that I share with my father and his father and his father before him.
I'm not certain how far back this ancestry can be traced, but each of us was named for some person, some Englishman, whose family took on the name of South. My guess is that this family lived in some southern region and was thusly named. But south of what? The South of England? South of London? South of Someplace.
What is certain is that my Great Ancestor South did indeed live in centuries past. And here I sit today musing about his life and times and wondering whence he came. Clearly he had a family and male offspring, but I doubt that we'll ever know the rest of his story.
A family is an amazing thing to which to belong. All of their adventures, all of their successes and failures and loves and laughs and merits and flaws somehow led this moment which I and my siblings occupy along with our own generation of children.
From South of Someplace to where we are now, all of us scattered about. I wish that I understood more details about the history of my family's journey, but I am proud to play a role in it.
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
I'm not certain how far back this ancestry can be traced, but each of us was named for some person, some Englishman, whose family took on the name of South. My guess is that this family lived in some southern region and was thusly named. But south of what? The South of England? South of London? South of Someplace.
What is certain is that my Great Ancestor South did indeed live in centuries past. And here I sit today musing about his life and times and wondering whence he came. Clearly he had a family and male offspring, but I doubt that we'll ever know the rest of his story.
A family is an amazing thing to which to belong. All of their adventures, all of their successes and failures and loves and laughs and merits and flaws somehow led this moment which I and my siblings occupy along with our own generation of children.
From South of Someplace to where we are now, all of us scattered about. I wish that I understood more details about the history of my family's journey, but I am proud to play a role in it.
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Warm Rain
Rarely do I feel so alive as when I'm walking or running through a warm rain.
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Friday, June 21, 2013
San Francisco
It's always a good day when you find yourself in San Francisco.
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Ladies in the City
All of the ladies in the city
Look so beautiful tonight
Nicely dressed
And their hair fresh and perfect
From an expensive trip to the salon.
I want to touch them on the face
And feel their hair feather between my fingers
Then slide my arm around their waist
And hold them in a safe and strong embrace
As we begin to dance
A very simple dance
Full of passion.
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Look so beautiful tonight
Nicely dressed
And their hair fresh and perfect
From an expensive trip to the salon.
I want to touch them on the face
And feel their hair feather between my fingers
Then slide my arm around their waist
And hold them in a safe and strong embrace
As we begin to dance
A very simple dance
Full of passion.
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Top 12 of 2012
Dan's Top 12 Experiences of 2012:
1. Photographing Death Valley and Grand Canyon
2. NY Giants Super Bowl and Ticker Tape Parade
3. Starting and contributing to my three (!) blogs
4. Visiting Hearst Castle, Hollywood, and Malibu with my lovely travel companion
5. Celebrating a 25 year anniversary with a core group of good friends
6. My solo photo exhibition: Summer In New York. Thanks to all who attended and made it possible!
7. Watching my dedicated, hard working students make progress every week
8. The Olympic Games
9. Hiking the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
10. Touring Italy and surviving a rough trip home
11. Marking my first full year as a New Yorker (although I still feel like a visitor)
12. Celebrating Christmas and other important occasions with my loving family
(Originally posted on FB in December 2012)
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
1. Photographing Death Valley and Grand Canyon
2. NY Giants Super Bowl and Ticker Tape Parade
3. Starting and contributing to my three (!) blogs
4. Visiting Hearst Castle, Hollywood, and Malibu with my lovely travel companion
5. Celebrating a 25 year anniversary with a core group of good friends
6. My solo photo exhibition: Summer In New York. Thanks to all who attended and made it possible!
7. Watching my dedicated, hard working students make progress every week
8. The Olympic Games
9. Hiking the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
10. Touring Italy and surviving a rough trip home
11. Marking my first full year as a New Yorker (although I still feel like a visitor)
12. Celebrating Christmas and other important occasions with my loving family
(Originally posted on FB in December 2012)
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
On Keeping Christmas Well
"Many laughed to see this alteration in him, but he let them laugh and little heeded them, for he knew that no good thing in this world ever happened, at which some did not have their fill of laughter. His own heart laughed and that was quite enough for him. And it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well if any man alive possessed the knowledge."
- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Merry Christmas, friends! Keep Christmas well!
(Originally posted to FB in December 2012)
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Merry Christmas, friends! Keep Christmas well!
(Originally posted to FB in December 2012)
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Overnight Airport Haiku
Overnight Airport Haiku
Storm in the forecast
Not such a good idea
To fly into it
We would all get rooms
But we traveled far in snow
To a full hotel
It feels like camping
Figuring out just how to sleep
On an airport bench
Glad I bought trail mix
Nothing much else to snack on
Here at three AM
Automatic sink
What dance must my hands perform
To get some water?
Time to catch my train
Take some money for the road
And a strong coffee
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Storm in the forecast
Not such a good idea
To fly into it
We would all get rooms
But we traveled far in snow
To a full hotel
It feels like camping
Figuring out just how to sleep
On an airport bench
Glad I bought trail mix
Nothing much else to snack on
Here at three AM
Automatic sink
What dance must my hands perform
To get some water?
Time to catch my train
Take some money for the road
And a strong coffee
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Post Newtown, Connecticut School Shootings
I was disheartened by the NRA's proposal of putting armed volunteers into schools across America. First of all, the popularization of loosely regulated militias can and will lead to all sorts of abuses such as intimidation and vigilante behavior. Secondly, it will lead to an escalation of firepower.
If a killer knows that armed guards are in a school he will bring more guns or will plan to eliminate the guards - or students - from afar with a sniper rifle. Or he'll resort to explosives or other means of killing. It doesn't address the problem of violence, it encourages and exacerbates it. But I can't say the I'm shocked. For the NRA, more guns is the solution to every issue.
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
If a killer knows that armed guards are in a school he will bring more guns or will plan to eliminate the guards - or students - from afar with a sniper rifle. Or he'll resort to explosives or other means of killing. It doesn't address the problem of violence, it encourages and exacerbates it. But I can't say the I'm shocked. For the NRA, more guns is the solution to every issue.
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Freedom Of Speech
If you'll support my right to freedom of speech, I'll support your right to be offended by what I say.
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
My True Love
Call me a fool for love, but I love her more than any thing or any other or any delightfully enticing possibility that could ever come along. And when our time together comes to an end, for whatever reason, if I have more days to spend on this Earth, they will be but bleak, withered shadows of the life and the joy that I have known in her loving, gracious arms.
Thank you, My Love, and Happy Valentine's Day!
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Thank you, My Love, and Happy Valentine's Day!
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
World Traveler
I have visited 23 countries outside of my native USA. Three of them, Bosnia, Liechtenstein, and Monaco were drive-bys on the way to somewhere else. And yes, I do count England and Scotland as two separate countries. Do you have a problem with that?
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Enthusiastic Students
Enthusiastic students are among life's great treasures! It's important to cherish the time that you have with them and to give them your absolute best every time that they walk into your classroom.
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Free Advice
If I had a dollar for every time there was no free lunch, I'd take a wooden nickel in a New York minute and look a gift horse in the mouth for a month of Sundays. It's always darkest before dawn except when there's a light at the end of the tunnel and you realize that every cloud has a silver lining and good things come to those who wait. Sure, there's no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for a fool and his money, and the love of money is the root of all evil, but a penny saved is a penny earned, and you can take that to the bank when the cows come home and the fat lady sings!
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Get Over Yourself!
I'm trying to get over myself, but it probably will require a stronger antibiotic!
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Fashion Sense
I enjoy wearing inexpensive, off-the-rack clothing, clothing that makes ultra-stylish people cringe, clothing that screams "Heterosexual Male" from every thread and button.
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
The Best Day Of Your Life
Sometimes you have to suck it up and make things work. Sometimes it's best to put your pride aside. Sometimes a person is special simply because they are the one who chose to be with you in this moment. Time is the most extraordinary gift that anyone can offer.
Someday you might look back at a moment and realize how precious it really was. Will you be glad that you stayed the course? Or will you wonder how you let it slip through your fingers?
One day will be the best day of your life. What if that day is today? Are you open to that possibility?
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Someday you might look back at a moment and realize how precious it really was. Will you be glad that you stayed the course? Or will you wonder how you let it slip through your fingers?
One day will be the best day of your life. What if that day is today? Are you open to that possibility?
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
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