The Clock of Life

I stumbled across this poem the other day and can't believe I haven't read it before. I think it's awesome. Profound, beautifully written, overall lovely. So in that spirit, I'm sharing it with you. Because I think it's worth reading. It's not mine, of course. It was written by Robert H. Smith, I think. Some places on the internet say "author unknown," but I also found his name. So correct me if I'm wrong, please!


Enjoy!

The Clock Of Life

By Robert H. Smith

The clock of life is wound but once,

And no man has the power

To tell just when the hands will stop

At late or early hour.

To lose one's wealth is sad indeed,

To lose one's health is more,

To lose one's soul is such a loss

That no man can restore.

The present only is our own,

So live, love toil with a will—

Place no faith in tomorrow,

For the clock may then be still.

Pathological Picture Taker

I love writing. Writing is such a creative release. I find it relaxing in a way that few other things can be. But another thing I love to do is take pictures. Of anything, from my favorite Frappuccino, to my pets, to trees, clouds, anything. I think credit, in part, definitely goes to my parents. My Mom is the family photo taker in our household. Vacation, birthdays, I always expected to see my Mom behind the camera. Family reunions, Christmas, those are my Dad. But then again, he's the professional picture taker. He usually works with video rather than still pictures, but he knows what he's doing. I've learned a lot from my Dad when it comes to photo composition, subject, technique.

There's just something about taking a good picture that's very rewarding. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and as someone who works with words, I can really appreciate that analogy. I'm thinking about starting a new project, putting words to photos. I think it might be an interesting personal challenge to see what I can pair up with the photos I take.

But for now, I just have a series of photos I took today. More clouds. Hopefully they bring some rain. Again, all of these were taken with my iPhone 4, and all the effects were done with CameraBag and Best Camera, which can be purchased in the App Store.

And now for the photos + effects.

Inspiration, where ARE you?

I'm a lazy bum. And most of the time I like it. But lately I've been jonesin' to do something productive, creative, and have found myself completely lacking in the inspiration department.

I have a few things I'm working on, but I'm blocked. I know some tricks that work for me when it comes to fending off writer's block, but the problem is... I'm a lazy bum. I haven't felt like I've got what it takes to just sit down and work.

I've been blaming summer classes. Spanish 4 and me are hoping to break up soon, and Self Defense and I just parted ways. So I'm running out of excuses. I'm hoping in the next few weeks I'll be able to relax and add some words to my work in progress, or W.I.P. as I'm known to call it. Wip. Close to whip. Which is what it's doing to me right now—whipping me—considering I'm totally stuck on the plot.

The secret cause of writer's block.

When I took Creative Writing at TCC, one method I learned for scaring away writer's block was to write blindfolded. Which can admittedly look a bit odd if you're, say, at Starbucks to write. But the way I like to do it is to dim my screen completely and type away. I've found it really helps because you can't judge yourself based on how much (or how little) of the page you've filled up. You can't see your word count, so you can't feel behind. You just type, and keep typing until you run out of steam. It's actually quite nice.

What do you guys like to do to get out of a funk? Do you break out the blindfolds? Or are you less kinky than that? ;-)