Not living here any more

Imaginação has a new house, a new name and a new concept.

Fresh air and a fresh look.

http://doktersil.tumblr.com
 
See you there!

Just after Midsummer

It is just after midsummer.

The birds seem to be tired of everything,
Like I do.
The plants seem to have given all their strength,
Like I do.
And nature gives the first signs of tiredness,
Like i do

Red thai lentil soep

I always photograph food but either is a bad light or a bad food: there is no meaning on sharing here. But this one I really need to register! Because it was tasty and because light was kind.

Ingredients are listed at the end of the post.

Shop the onions and the red pepper very fine and fry it on a low/mid pit until soft and a bit golden.



Add: the chilli,


ginger,






the garlic,






curry,


 

cinnamon,



salt




and tomato paste.




And now comes the secret: fry it very slowly, on a low fire, until it softens and make a fragrant paste, almost dry. It is not to burn, but the key here is to feel and enjoy the mixing of the ingredients.

If it is to grow a belly lets do it with class OK?


When you feel that color and taste are good, add the lentils, the water and coconut milk.




Lower the heat and leave it to simmer in the covered pan for 30 minutes at least. Control it around 20 minutes to be sure that water has not completely dried out. Also taste at this point. More salt? More spices?

When ready, put the fire out and set it to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.


Add the lime juice and the cilantro and then.. eat it!



 Ingredients:

• 2 cups redlentils
• 1 onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon chilli powder
• 1 tablespoon ginger (I used sushi conserve ginger)
• 2 garlic cloves, squeezed
• 1 tablespoon curry paste
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 little can tomato paste 
• 7 cups water
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• fresh cilantro

A short story

On the spring of 2010 I was biking near the office when suddenly, an avalanche of ideas popped. I stopped the bike and took some notes.

The text is very small, is written in Portuguese but contains 1.000 ton of information.

The last paragraph says: "Life is a spark. Is a tendency van each and every species to mute, to manifest. Life is born from life. Life transforms e multiplies".

I have just finished reading a book called "A short history of nearly everything " and, within 460 pages, the author manages to feed us with a bunch of stories, ideas and descriptions around science and the natural world.

This book is for me, the key that linked my brief short-contact moment back on the 2010 and the now. It closed a cycle.

x

Consciousness

This is an old image. I am becoming a photographer of old images: I don't have time for new ones (except the ones I take with Instagram but that is another story for another post).

I like the skyline in Rio. I like it soooo much! I find it one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen in my life. Rio is a gorgeous city. I believe that ecological conscience is something that has been always present among most of the Brazilian people. And this is why you have a city of almost 8.000.000 people like this: green!

You can say it is decadent, poor, criminal but nowhere in the world you see this harmony.

Homesick would you say? Yes I am. And again, I will make the time needed to go to all of these touristic places again. Stroll through the real "stuff". The green!

Love,
S.

One step at a time

Yesterday I was ironing some clothes and watching You Tube films about photography as fine art. I like the idea of "creating" an image. Slowly and steady. And this idea attracts me more and more.

The film starts by showing one picture, as it was out-of-camera and slowly transited the image into something really magical.

And then I saw it.

There is always a point of attention, and then ONE SINGLE point. Not a lot of stuff, not a lot of photoshop. I saw one point: could be either a color, or an element on the photo, or a design or form. But on all of them there was one single point to catch your attention.

Amazing how I lack some basic design concepts! I almost burned the clothes. I learned something.

x
S.

Another brick

The last couple of months have been very funny. Preceded by turbulence, everything suddenly got very calm, as if it is a after-storm period.

Funny.

In the meantime, my intuition keeps screaming, and I obey it, diligently. Resiliently.

I think I know what waits ahead. I am ready. I think...

In the meantime, a picture of amazing Berlin. This is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  A place capable of invoking very strong feelings. Astonishment by how human life is treated without any respect sometimes. Astonishment with the crazy humans and their ideas. Everything loaded with the best intentions of the world.

The light was playing tricks on the day I went to Berlin. And here is a very nice example of that. It was cold and sometimes, the sun would come out between the clouds, projecting very sharp shadows on one side of the blocks. I accentuated this contrast and got as a by-work, the contrast of the clouds. Which I didn't like, but anyway, it is there.

I also gave permission to myself to eliminate two heads and one body that were distracting my vision. Funny me. This is no documentary work. I was just full of the best intentions of this world.

Have a cheerful week!

S.

Orbits

I have grown up with the idea that someone is or either "Very Good" or very bad. And the very bad ones, should well, be extinguished.

I have never learned that there is a "gray shade".

With this idea, I have implicitly inherited the erroneous concept of "just give up if you can't do it".

Can't sew a dress at first? Give up.
Can't be a Leibovitz in photography? Give up.
Can't put your leg around your neck on the yoga class? Give up.
Can't stop smoking on the first trial? Give up.

And today I realized how mischievous this thought was for my entire existence on earth! How I have just delayed my progress on many senses to things I loved to just because "I was not good enough".

While I was doing the yoga today, I got amazed how I progressed if compared to when I started on November last year.

And I almost had a heart attack when I realized how angry and sad I would become when my personal trainer was knocking at my door in Rio at 5:30AM every Mondays and Wednesdays.

I hated sports. I hated to move my little body but somehow I insisted, even "not being good enough". I was the last one to cross the 10km line on Kika run three years ago. In fact, I run as a turtle. But I insisted. And yet, instead of being happy for insisting, I was SAD. I was kicking my own butt and telling how weak I was. Instead of just doing it (Nike!) I just would sit and stop for a while and think that it was worth nothing. Just to start again.

And today, I saw the light. For my own progress and to understand the weakness of others.

Progress is like an orbit... sometimes you are closer of your objective and sometimes you go a bit far, just to get back again closer of your objective. And there we go... there is no such a thing of  "walking behind". Just go, advance, keep doing it. And you will come closer of your goal once again. Didn't collide yet? Doesn't matter! Another trip, another turn, and there we go again. Closer and closer.

The Universe is so wise!

X

S.

Oh Nature!

Some time ago, we flew to Turkey. We wanted to have a nice break under the sun and the Turkish riviera seems to be nice: a good price and a good accomodation.

We had many bad advice: because Turkey is a cheap place, we would have a lot of noisy dutch families shouting around us and no rest. But we decided to pick up a very luxurious and yet kitsch hotel at Antalya. Man, it was the best choice. We had a kings life over there and no loud dutch family around. Perfect!

On the third day, after a big storm, we went to a jeep safari at the mountains. It was extremely cold but a crispy sunny day was waiting for us.

Turkey is the farthest place to the east I have been to. Needless to say my ears and eyes were very well open.

The first thing that called my attention was the color of the landscape. It was early spring and the mountains were very green already but because of a very bad storm during summer last year, I have seen a lot of "bald" places. We heard that the water went so high that has swept all the green along the river's margin.




Second, the color of the water. It was a between the blue and the green, a turquoise tone that we can only find along the Mediterranean waters: south Italy, Greece, Turkey...





I enjoyed the days over there and I am for sure getting back. May be in a couple of years and for sure after April (March is still too cold!).

I haven't been writing a lot. I was just giving some time to myself to decide if I would keep this space or not. It was as if suddenly, I had no need to write any more, and a kind of indifference took care of me. Whatever I would have to say, had no importance at all. It is still like this: I see no point. At the same time, it was for me a strong wake-up call. Because if I am so indifferent to what I say, is that I couldn't care less for what others have to say.

Honestly, it worked as a kind of mirror to me. Some people look after this feeling but for me, it works like dumbness: My mojo was gone!

A kind of existential crisis.

At the same time, I felt judged and evaluated. Although a blog is a blog, a public thing, for the first time I noticed people out of my small circle reading about me and I heard a lot of judgmental statements. That is scary!

And yet, I have a lot to say and register. If not with long stories, at least with small images!

A good coming week for all of us,

S.


Bram Vermeulen - de steen

Ik heb een steen verlegd in een rivier op aarde.
Het water gaat er anders dan voorheen.
De stroom van een rivier hou je niet tegen.
Het water vindt altijd een weg omheen.

Misschien eens gevuld door sneeuw en regen,
neemt de rivier mijn kiezel met zich mee.
Om hem dan glad en rond gesleten,
te laten rusten in de luwte van de zee.

Ik heb een steen verlegd in een rivier op aarde.
Nu weet ik dat ik nooit zal zijn vergeten,
ik leverde bewijs van mijn bestaan.
Omdat, door het verleggen van die ene steen,
de stroom nooit meer dezelfde weg kan gaan.

Ik heb een steen verlegd in een rivier op aarde.
Nu weet ik dat ik nooit zal zijn vergeten,
ik leverde bewijs van mijn bestaan.
Omdat, door het verleggen van die ene steen,
het water nooit dezelfde weg kan gaan.

Get better!

Sometimes it's just fine to get a bit ill. It is a time I can use to soothe myself. I have never had this need. In fact I didn't know I have ever had this need. I think I didn't need it, but now, as my mind gets sharper, I perceive the needs. Mine and of others.

Nurturing is a sense I have only grasped recently. And I am loving it!