More than this

Change of pace: a poem

2010-03-12T15:16:00.004-05:00

Here's a poem I wrote this week in response to prompt: consider a flower. Fathom it deeply. Write a poem about becoming congruent.

The Purple One

The flower doesn't know
that I don't know anything
about the flower.

Except
that last fall the PTA at Middle School 447
sold bulbs to raise money.
That the purple crocus that came up yesterday
was part of an assortment of lots of bulbs
to grow flowers with names I do not know
because I've never put bulbs in a garden before.
I saw the pictures in the fundraising catalog:
the bland little yellow one and
the thrilling little blue one that looks like tiny clusters of grapes
that I recognized: I had seen it before
somewhere in the neighborhood.
They all came in a box that held little bags
on which were printed inscrutable instructions.

Plant three inches deep
and two inches apart
with the point facing...
I don't remember.

The instructions filled me with doubt.
I told myself these
are not things I know,
are not like a subway map
are not like a computer
are not like bike repair.

These were vague and colloquial, like
an old man chewing something that grew in the earth and holding something to work the earth and wearing the clothes that you wear to work the earth and saying to me
yep.

When I was three,
I ran without clothes
in my grandmother's summer garden.
She told me
that the purple vine climbing the archway was wisteria,
and the delicate tree with spindly red leaves like old lady hands was a Japanese Maple
and the rhododendrons were the ones lining the walk with their extravagant old-fashioned blooms and smooth sensible oval leaves.
There were some things that my grandmother loved purely, and I knew that as she walked
me through her garden.

Under three inches of scrap-filled New York yard dirt,
the blue cluster of grapes and the purple crocus and the little yellow one
and some big pink ones I think are coming up later in the spring,
did they tell themselves stories of not knowing what was above the dirt? Of struggle
to get there, to push aside gum wrappers and dirty snow piled on top of the
mulch the Parks Department makes from abandoned Christmas trees?
Did they tell each other Grow!? Grow up!

No. They just know
where up is,
and grow the way
they are pointed,
the only way they can
to see the guy
that doesn't think
he knows
anything.

Thinking about thriving

2010-02-21T22:30:00.003-05:00

This one started out with the following prompt: make a self portrait that shows you in a thriving state, but then it went somewhere else. It is more about the contemplation of thriving than of thriving itself. Regardless, here's the video.

2010 Feb thinking about thiving from Joshua Seiden on Vimeo.

A quick journal entry...

2010-02-11T15:08:00.002-05:00

Some more thoughts about the relationship between fear and creation and the creative urge. Inspired by David Whyte's "The Heart Aroused."

A Journal Entry from Joshua Seiden on Vimeo.

Remembering Bo

2010-02-04T08:19:00.003-05:00

I was sad to hear yesterday that Bo died. Bo, the wonderful cocker-pit who belonged to my friend Jamie was one of a kind.

On Memorial Day weekend in 2006 (I think), we met Jamie and his future wife Anja at a Friendly's near Turner's Falls Mass. As Bo sat outside, we watched everyone walk past our window and check her out. Here's a video of the procession.

Memorial Day at Friendly's with Bo from Joshua Seiden on Vimeo.

Daily Sky for January 27 and 28, 2010 (plus bonus!)

2010-01-29T17:11:00.008-05:00

A couple of Daily Sky videos plus a bonus video of the falling snow coating my beloved Rudge Whitworth. Jan 27, Jan 28, Snow+Rudge.

A thin line between surviving and thriving

2010-01-29T13:14:00.007-05:00

Here is a short video I made about the fear and wonder of making art. (I'm trying something new by embedding the Vimeo version of the movie below.)

The music is Youth Brigade and the video is from the movie Another State of Mind.

The brave diver's name is Craig Lesser.

A Thin Line Between Surviving and Thriving from Joshua Seiden on Vimeo.

Daily Sky for January 26, 2010

2010-01-26T17:47:00.002-05:00

Here's what the sky looked like for a few moments this afternoon.

Daily Sky for January 15, 2010

2010-01-26T17:39:00.002-05:00

Trying something new. I end up taking lots of pictures and movies of the sky. Instead of editing them together into some kind of narrative, I'm just going to try to share them regularly. Here's the first, a shot of the sky reflected in the glass window of a conference room. Look for steam billowing from the chimney.

Snowy evening

2009-11-18T17:50:00.003-05:00

I just found this set of images from the winter of 2008-2009. Snowy nights have become so rare in NY. It's special now when we get a night like this one.

Click here to watch.

In Dan's Barn

2009-01-02T17:03:00.004-05:00

Here's one that I forgot to post. I made it just about a year ago, after visiting my brother in Vermont.

2008 Jan In Dan's Barn from Joshua Seiden on Vimeo.

What I did on my summer vacation

2008-08-31T16:28:00.003-04:00

Watching the sun go down from Indian Neck in Wellfleet, Mass.

Sketch-it is cool

2006-04-10T14:52:00.000-04:00

Pay a buck, get a sketch. Check it out.

Feeling Better, Part 2

2006-03-24T20:10:00.001-05:00

Feeling Better. Coffee!

2006-03-24T19:57:00.001-05:00

Why Am I Doing This? Part 3

2006-02-19T17:03:00.001-05:00

Click the picture or here to watch the video.

Annotation: Rid of Me

2006-02-04T11:26:00.001-05:00

Another of my favorite songs: Rid of Me by PJ Harvey. So simple, using such basic elements, but so carefully rendered. And damn thrilling too.

If you like the song, you can buy it, either on Amazon or with iTunes

Click the picture or here to watch the movie.

Coney Island

2006-01-16T09:27:00.001-05:00

click the picture or here to download

Can eats the eyeball

2006-01-09T23:27:00.000-05:00

At lunch in Hong Kong yesterday, Can demonstrated Can can eat. Not really an eyeball here, but a sweet black sesame dumpling in hot milk.

Outside the Met

2005-12-29T13:42:00.001-05:00

Just outside the Met is a place that is not so much like the rest of New York. It's more like the places outside the Prado and the Louvre and the British Museum. Crowded streets, slanting sunlight, taxis and tourists. Grand buildings and wealth and power.

Who is a native here? Who are the people who have sat on the walls for years and years? Who kissed in the park nearby, fumbled with buttons and snaps? Who drank and dodged and watched the clouds? Who come back sometimes and remember.

My friend Elliott, who wrote the music for this, was one of them too.

click the picture or here to download

Video Guide to the Mapped World

2005-12-19T09:40:00.001-05:00

Recently, I came across Wafaring, a site that allows you to build personal and community maps. I created a community video map, and posted some of my recent videos to the map. I'm hoping that others will contribute to the same map, and help it grow into an alternative map of NY and beyond. If you have videos about a place, please add them to the map.

Update: The folks at Wayfaring just rated this map "best of wayfaring."

Update: It seems that as of August 2008, Wayfaring is no more.

World Tong, Retold

2005-12-14T22:36:00.001-05:00

The more I thought about the previous version of this video, the less satisfied I was with it. Tonight, few days and a bottle of wine later, I figured out what I didn't like. Here's another shot at it.
click the picture or here to download

First Snow

2005-12-12T22:37:00.001-05:00

click the picture or here to download

Dim Sum at World Tong

2005-12-11T20:05:00.001-05:00

Saturday morning dim sum at World Tong in Brooklyn. Mmm. For some reason, almost all of my pictures came out blurry. I think it's because the deliciousness wafting up off of the plate bends the light as it moves through the air. World Tong makes the best dim sum I've had in New York.

click the picture or here to download

De-certified. Non-handicapped.

2005-12-10T17:33:00.004-05:00

At Thanksgiving this year, as the meal was nearing the table inside, I was out on my parents' porch taking pictures of my daughter and thinking about how much we have to be thankful for. I was reminded of this footage yesterday when I went to a meeting at my daughter's school.

click here to download

Why Am I Doing This? Part 2

2005-11-20T17:48:00.001-05:00

click here to download

all'Amatriciana Remix

2005-11-14T00:02:00.001-05:00

Click the picture or here to watch the movie.

Tags:
food, recipe, remixoff2005

Pasta all'Amatriciana

2005-11-13T23:43:00.001-05:00

Click the picture or here to watch the movie.

Tags:
food, recipe

Portrait of Parts

2005-11-10T23:56:00.002-05:00

Click here to watch the movie.

Tag at the Guggenheim

2005-11-08T07:56:00.001-05:00

Click here to watch the movie.

Tags:
guggenheim, family, slideshow,
experience

The Light on the Way Home

2005-11-05T21:09:00.002-05:00

Annotation: Roll Um Easy

2005-11-01T20:29:00.000-05:00

Early October, Flatbush Avenue

2005-10-29T16:32:00.001-04:00

Babycam: Lucas conquers brooklyn

2005-10-22T18:25:00.001-04:00

The dentist and the drawing

2005-10-02T20:28:00.001-04:00

Why am I doing this?

2005-10-02T18:14:00.001-04:00