|| Jungle

I walked on the streets of the museum district in DC, ran into a certain jungle, the Henri Rousseau: Jungles in Paris exhibition in the National Gallery of Art. This showcase celebrates the broad range of his work: landscapes of Paris and environs, biblical and ancient Greek characters, allegories, portraits, as well as the largest grouping ever assembled of his iconic jungle paintings. Rousseau's fantasy landscapes depicting a seductive and terrifying faraway world, reflect the fears and desires of a modern era.

Some claim that this painter of exotic locales are merely the fantasies of a city dweller, constructed from visits to the botanical gardens and the zoo, as well as book, magazine, and postcard reproductions of dangerous beasts from distant lands, by the way, there are quite a few original sources of journals and docs on display as well. I found all characters, in animals or human beings, have expressions that only the profound minds could detect. They look like comic books, but more than the certain laughters or curiosities that the onlookers could ever ascertain.

This summer has extreme heat, but there's something else more than I can bear. Intolerable, human tolls are raising high, Rocky leaving the eastern coast. I try not to be sentimental, but having nothing to occupy my mind for now, I can only sympathize. Shopping at 9pm in the chinese grocery store, music bringing sorrows to my eyes, I walked up and down the isles, very empty, very lost, very sad.

|| The Original Word

" ... I am leaving ___. D_ and I are moving to ___. It's a relo package for D_ (with Kraft Foods) and I'm switching careers. I'm getting out of the finance gig and going to pursue a couple of my passions; aviation and photography. Though its been awhile since I'm taught flying, I'm planning on jumping back into that field. On the photography front, I'm planning on marketing my current portfolio as well as getting out and taking more pictures. The move gets us closer to home, gives D_ career advancement opportunities that she had put on hold due to my career, and allows me to move in a direction that will be more fulfilling ... "

-- Jim A., from a DW update

|| Weep You No More Sad Fountains

Sleep is a reconciling

Ä rest that peace begets

Doth not the sun rise smiling

When fair at ev'n he sets?

Rest you then, rest, sad eyes

Melt not in weeping

While she lies sleeping

Softly, softly, now softly

Softly lies sleeping

-- at the anniversry of a forever sad day