Beth from Brazil

Sights

As a kid, I used to watch Candid Camera--and now that I have my own lens (albeit the single image type) I revel in the occasional capture that is not set up, planned, or posed. One of my favorite photos is the one of two ladies in San Juan Capistrano walking their dog. The shot shows the love and concern of the two adults. I had seen them approaching as I prepared to have lunch with my girlfriend in a Mexican restaurant across the street from the old mission.

They were across the street--foolishly I had left my trusty Pentax *istDS in the car, not wanting to get salsa on it. I ran outside (as best I could, not as fleet or fit as I was in my younger years), hurriedly got into the car, retrieved the camera, and ran up the street to intercept them.

From Wildspirit Poetry, Prose, Pictures

So my capture of the year is titled, 'Walking The Dog.'

Taking Things To Heart

A thought just entered my mind a few minutes ago as I was watching a TV broadcast involving teaching grade-schoolers. Things have changed so drastically with the advent of the computer.

I remember when I was in the first grade, we had to memorize things until we knew them 'by heart.' What is the real correlation to memory and 'by heart'--is there any, or is it just a matter of semantics? Are both condemned to antiquity by the computer?

Now, no one 'memorizes' and the term 'by heart' is never heard. Everything is online. Just buzz it up, twitter it by, google it, ASK, or WIKIPEDIA or even YOUTUBE it!

Memory Lane...Cognitive or Recall is no longer relevant. Just hit a button.

I think when we committed something like the Pledge of Allegiance or the lyrics to America The Beautiful to memory that it meant a lot more than it does now.

We took it to heart back then.