Showing posts with label Mirror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mirror. Show all posts
December 23, 2024
May 4, 2023
August 23, 2021
Giraffe Lady
She's got the makeup, nice hat and jewelry and is relaxing with her back to the mirror.
Life is good!
On second thought, why the heck is a neck as long as a giraffe?
What is this another version of Pinocchio or something!
Wake up lady, you've got problems to deal with here. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
October 26, 2020
Chucky Rules The Road
This was a scary mother of a truck.
It had Chucky perched spread-eagle over the front crash bumper.
Imagine looking in your rearview mirror and seeing this barreling down on you.
Chucky rules the road and he's coming for you.
It's too late to run and hide.
He's gonna get you!
Consider yourself dead meat and it's not even Friday the 13th. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
February 17, 2019
You Can't See Yourself
But what is really interesting to me is that when you stand in front of it (like I was literally doing here), you can't see yourself.
It made me wonder how you can look at yourself and yet not see yourself.
And I thought of this as being a bigger lesson in life.
When we are looking at ourself and there is a big donut whole in the mirror of ourselves then we are left blind to what should be reflecting back at us.
No matter how hard we try to see ourselves and what we are doing right and wrong, it's like a ghost out there--we are blind to it.
To really see ourselves, our heart and mind have to be receptive to seeing the full picture.
That means looking at ourselves as we really are, even when there seems to be a piece missing to the puzzle, and we have trouble being honest about what we see.
To change, learn, grow--to become a better person, we need to look full on and be willing to see what we will see.
You can't see yourself until you can. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
October 26, 2018
A Window and A Mirror
And how money can corrupt our vision of what is truly important.
This is the story:
A rich man became ill.
He looked out the window and saw his old friend who was a poor man.
The rich, sick man invited the poor man, his friend into his house.
After talking awhile, the rich man asked the poor man to tell him what he sees.
The poor man told the rich man to go over to the window and asked:
What do you see?
The rich man said:
I see men, women and children in the street.
Then the poor man took the rich man over the mirror and asked him:
Now what do you see?
The rich man taken aback for a moment, said:
I see myself.
The poor man says:
Ah, that is the difference. Both the window and the mirror are both made out of glass. But when you look into them, you see different things. The window is just plain glass. But the mirror is glass covered in silver. When we look through just the glass, we see others! But when we look through the glass tainted with a coating of silver (i.e. money), we only see ourselves.
Wow! Think about it a moment. Shabbat Shalom! ;-)
(Story adapted from Bishvil Ha-Ivrit)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 15, 2018
Reflections B4 Yom Kippur
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, "Reflections Before Yom Kippur."
"I get up in the middle of the night, and I’m still 3/4 asleep. My mouth feels dry, and I walk over to the mouthwash to refresh. I reach for the bottle, but I grab the image in the mirror..."
Hope you enjoy this true story and the parable for living our spiritual lives and not just reach for the ego image in the mirror.
May you be sealed for another year in the book of life. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
November 15, 2017
Body Morphic Disorder
This is a psychiatric disorder where people are obsessed with their real or perceived body flaws.
Often their notions of a physical flaw is widely exaggerated like someone who has a barely noticeable mole, but they see it as a major blotch on their skin that everyone must be staring at and repulsed by.
People with this disorder may often stand in front of the mirror starring at themselves obsessing over these minor imperfections.
But there is something major that is missing here.
And it is the polar opposite of BDD.
I would call it the Body Morphic Disorder (BMD).
My notion of BMD is where people are similarly obsessed with their bodies, but rather than real or perceived flaws, they are focused on real or perceived notions of their body's beauty and perfection!
Instead of looking in the mirror and perceiving problems and feeling self-loathsome, these people are excessively vain and see themselves as a (near) perfect specimen of a human being.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"
Or the equivalent of ain't I just grand!
It's funny-weird that we perceive criticism and self-contempt (BDD) as a psychiatric disorder, but we don't generally see narcissistic self-worship as a personality disorder!
Yet any extreme is a bad thing.
Excessive loving or hating of your physical self--is the kiss of death when it comes to seeing things the way they really are and being a genuine human being. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
December 9, 2016
Reconstituting The Water Of Antarctica
It is 5.4 million square miles, and it is larger than both Europe and Australia.
But it has only a temporary population of 5,000 people, mainly researchers.
About 70% of the world's fresh water is held in the Antarctic ice sheet, which is 90% of all the world's ice.
And the ice there extends 7,000 feet thick.
If all the ice would melt, the global sea levels would rise 2,000 feet!
Despite 95% of models over the last 30 years predicting the ice sheet melting due to global warming, it actually continues to expand.
It's a paradox for the science community, but one of the explanations is that as ice shelves break off, they actually forms a protective barrier for the new ice being formed along the main ice landmass.
Even with global warming, the average temperature in Antarctica is still -35 degrees Fahrenheit, and most parts never get above freezing.
So here's an idea--rather than fear global warming, is there an opportunity to use it and advance it, if only we can channel the effects of it for the good of humanity.
The Antarctic Treaty System prevents nuclear weapons explosion there, but wouldn't that be a cool way to melt some ice and get some fresh drinking water for this thirsty planet or even to somehow move to MARS for colonization there?
Also, we could place solar mirrors in space to redirect sunlight to melt the ice--that's either some probably some pretty big mirrors or the dispersion ray of a space laser(s).
The key now is to get the water to where you want it to go and not to destroy by massive flood our worldwide seaboard cities--and that's where a mass molecular transporter comes along.
There is still much to discover and invent, but when it's done, I think we will definitely be heading to Mars and beyond.
Really, we have to, there is no other long-term survival choice for humankind.
And perhaps, G-d placed the survival pod for us right under our feet at literally, the southern most point of the world, Antarctica! ;-)
(Source Photo: here via Wikipedia)
August 6, 2015
Looking At Ourselves In The NUKE Mirror
Yet the deal with Iran--a member of the "Axis of Evil" and the #1 state sponsor of terrorism worldwide and of the worst abusers of human righs is trustless, especially when verification mechanisms are weak and Iran is non-complaint?
So where's the trust headed now (has anything changed, what are the signs so far)?
T - Turning away - Iran continues to turn away and refuse access to inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) who are tasked with the verification of Iran's non-proliferation of nukes.
R - Restraining people - Iran continues to disrespect us and holds 4 Americans hostage with no sign or promise of release.
U - Undermining - Iran continues to undermine any relationship with the West by affirming that hostile policies toward "arrogant" America will not change.
S - Swindling - Iran continues to swindle and deceive the West going so far as to publish a 416-page manifesto by the Ayatollah on destroying Israel, "the ally of the American Great Satan."
T - Threatening - Iran continues to threaten the West most recently warning of a "Third World War" sparked by terorrism, and continuing chants of "Death to America!"
So what's the future of this deal in protecting the world from nukes and terrorism--let's be honest and look in the mirror and ask what's the deal here? ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
March 18, 2015
Seeing Double
No this is not someone leaning up against a mirror.
This is two people, back-to-back on the train.
They have the same jacket, haircut, glasses, as well as pants and shoes (although you can't see these in the picture).
They are looking in same general direction.
The only difference is the collar that's up on the guy on the right.
Imagine if we all looked and dressed and even acted identically...one big homogeneous and ultimately boring and uncreative society.
Please give me some individualism, spontaneity, and make me whole. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
December 9, 2014
Hair Please Don't
I took this photo in the mall on Sunday of this mannequin head with hair in multicolors sticking up out of her head in all directions.
Uh, you gotta be kidding--is this actually going to sell anybody on a new hairdo (unless of course maybe you count it's shock value)?
See the mirror lying next to it too, so you can actually see how you would look in one of these get ups--if, of course, you really want to.
When the nice young Asian attendant lady saw me looking at this monstrosity, she runs over like can I help you, seriously.
Yeah, I'm doing some holiday shopping (Chanukah's right around the corner you know), and I'd like to get a new look JUST LIKE THIS!
Not today, but thank you. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
August 17, 2014
Reflections
I couldn't believe they open at 6:30 in the morning already to rent boats on a Sunday.
In the boathouse, there was a huge spider on the floor crawling around, and the boat attendant came with a thingamajig to grab it and throw it back in the lake.
As he took the spider away, he made sure to tell us that is was POISONOUS!
On the lake, I took this photo of the gorgeous trees and greenery and it's reflection on the water...a perfect mirror image.
Thank you G-d for the amazing world you have created and allow us to enjoy. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
February 18, 2013
Playing Hats
This was so cute--this girl was doting over this little boy playing hats.
She put 2, 3, 4 hats on his small head, while he's running around looking at himself in the mirror.
They were laughing and having fun and it was a joy to watch.
Some things are too precious. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
January 20, 2012
That Special Cane
This is not an ordinary bamboo cane as you can see, but one with a rear-view mirror for passing, a honking horn for warning people out of your path, and even a little green change purse for the toll. :-)
While I am no spring chicken anymore, I am still not old enough to receive my special cane--oh shucks!
But this did give me pause to think about what it means as we get older and the weeks and months at work turn into years and decades.
Before we know it, the up-hill climb of life, plateau and eventually heads in the other direction.
It reminds me of whenever someone asks my father how old he is...he flips the numbers--so for example, when he was 72, he would say I "turned" 27 and so on
It's not easy getting old(er), we all want to be back in our youth or prime of life, which my father calls the time period, "when the world is too small," and I think what he means is our aspirations are large.
This week at work, I learned that one of my colleagues who retired just a few years ago passed away from one of the horrible "C's" -- it was terrible to hear this.
Moreover, it reminded me of other colleagues who I have seen work hard their whole life, sacrificing and putting off all types of enjoyment, and waiting for that big day when they would retire and then they "could live the good life."
And one guy, I remember, did retire after putting in his time and within about 3 months, he dropped dead of a massive coronary--I don't think he even made it with heart beating to the hospital.
Life is too short! And of course, life is hard--that's how we are tested and grow--but we can't wait for the good times. We need to savor every moment of our lives, appreciate our loved ones , and enjoy what we do day-in and day-out.
Else, we may miss the finest times that we have here on earth and then we really will be left holding that special cane and looking back at our lives in the rear-view mirror wondering why we wasted so much precious, precious time.
March 19, 2011
Who Are You Trying To Please?
by Dale Wimbrow, (c) 1934
When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.
For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.
He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.
You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.
You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the guy in the glass.
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In grateful memory of our father, the author, Dale Wimbrow
1895-1954
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