Words and pictures (1)

David Lodge observes that we use pictures to sort out space and narrative to organize time. With the addition of ensemble for describing people, it becomes a story. 

Narrative and images are the yin and yang of memory, really, and I enjoy reflecting on experiences through photographs and essays.  I’ve been gathering memories of last week’s vacation, events along the road and time with people, selecting, cropping, captioning, editing.  Finally, albums get posted to Facebook (for friends) and Flickr (for parents).

Along the way, I occasionally take photos and make notes simply to remind me of things that I want to reflect on when I get back.  In no particular order, two postings with the crop of observations from the Italian road. 

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A comic art fair overwhelmed the town of Lucca, tents full of Star Wars and Manga drawings, streets swarming with costumed heroes.  It was hard to tell who were in the  minority: the bewildered tourists or the concentrated fans.

Chris Packham at the BBC recently said that the panda was an evolutionary dead end: big, cute, stupid, hungry, unable to reproduce.  Similar thoughts here: which group is the offshoot and which will inherit the earth?

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My Mobile Command Center (laptop computer) is in the shop, so I expected to live off the land, stopping at internet cafe’s to keep up with mail and news. But, like the telephone booth and the corner mailbox, these, too, are vanishing.

It was easy to find HotSpots, but actual computer terminals were few and scattered.  The ones I did find, as in the 4th floor of a department store (above) were pay-by-the-minute.  Interestingly, more people were checking Facebook than email; more auction sites than travel planning.

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Cell phone use is now permitted on RyanAir flights.  Fortunately, nobody around me tried it out, but I dread the day that high-altitude chatter becomes widespread.

Its a bit schizophrenic: the pre-flight announcements remind you to leave phones switched off throughout the flight, while the seat backs and overhead lighting encourage in-flight calls.  I’m sure that everyone is making a killing: what Roaming Charges apply at 30,000 ft?

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I’m growing quite fond of seeing George Clooney everywhere I go.  There’s something familiar and comfortable in his smile, a bit of a Cary Grant for our age.