haiku, mundane miracle, philosophy, photography

Mundane Miracle — Curl

Posted on 2020-08-082021-05-16 by Mellow Curmudgeon

What works for one seeker of enlightenment may or may not work for another. If listening to JS Bach’s Mass in B Minor does not work, consider something quicker and quieter. Pay really close attention to some of the mundane miracles of everyday life.

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Portal ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #243

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One Way Among Many
|Stiff slick paper slides
|between thumb and blade to form
|a spiral portal.

Here are 2 quick questions for anybody inclined to think they have already paid close attention to the curling phenomenon:
(1) Does the paper curl toward the thumb or the blade?
(2) Why?

Confession: I could not remember which way it curled at the time I took the photo. A few later repetitions answered (1) in the same way. It curls toward the blade. Dunno about (2).

haiku, photography, science

Cracks in a Facade

Posted on 2020-02-29 by Mellow Curmudgeon

As happens in many natural places, this stony mass presents a facade of barren sterility. Gripped by Earth’s gravity, the rock seems weighted down by its own mass. Then we look more closely.

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Mass ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #221

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Morose Monolith
|Sullen mass of stone,
|hosting only black lichen?
|Seeds and spores found cracks.

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humor, math, music

Like a Good Priest

Posted on 2016-02-072021-05-19 by Mellow Curmudgeon

I did not have pen in hand when a bemused radio announcer commented after playing Bach’s 4th Brandenburg recently, so the following quote may not be perfectly exact. It is very very close.

How can anything so complicated and so mathematical be so beautiful?

Imagine a priest who hears one of the great settings of the Mass (or a tour of a Gothic cathedral) followed by

How can anything so complicated and so religious be so beautiful?

That is essentially how I felt. With considerable effort, one could make enough dissonant noise to be as grating as the remark. Scratch a chalkboard with the fingernails of one hand. Bang on the cracks between a few piano keys with the fingers of the other. Step on a cat’s tail and fart loudly. Doing all that would suffice.

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A good priest would redirect any shock or anger at the remark into sorrow and pity for the wayward soul of a heathen who meant no harm. In this one respect anyway, I try to be like a good priest (or a good imam).

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Image Sources

Photos were downloaded from Wiki Commons and are used under Creative Commons licenses.

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