The Iron Lady

The life of Margaret Thatcher (1925 - 2013) was shown in the movie The Iron Lady, made in 2011. Meryl Streep won the Oscar as the Best Actress in the Leading Role. I'm not sure if Margaret Thatcher had seen the movie, or what she had thought about it.

I still remember when Margaret Thatcher said the quotes (from Lao Tsu) in the movie:
        Watch your thoughts, for they become words;
        Watch your words, for they become actions;
        Watch your actions, for they become habits;
        Watch your habits, for they become character;
        Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

2013 - A Retrospective

As the earth revolves around the sun for another cycle, the year 2013 is coming to an end.

Many babies were born this year, including Prince George of Cambridge, who was born on July 22nd.

Many people died this year, including:
Margaret Thatcher (1925 - 2013), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Doris Lessing (1922 - 2013), winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature
Peter O'Toole (1932 - 2013), winner of the 2003 Oscar Honorary Award
Nelson Mandela (1918 - 2013),  former President of South Africa

Some people got engaged, including Philippa Middleton, who is Prince George's aunt.

Isaac Newton

In history, one scientist was born on December 25th, 1642, whose name is Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727). Today, the technologies we are using in our modern daily life are mostly based on Newton's work, and James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879)'s work. They are the 2 of the 3 most famous scientists in the history of physics. As the other is Albert Einstein (1879-1955), whose theories will be the foundation of future technologies. 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! Have you ever wondered who else was born on Christmas Day? Apparently many people. It is likely that 1/365.25 of the total population have the Christmas Day birthday, or any other given day (except February 29th, which is 1/1461, because it comes in leap years, which is once in every 4 years). The current population of the world is about 7 billion, so on average, about 20 million people have the same birthday (except February 29th, which is 5 million). That is to say, about 20 million people, who are alive, have the birthday on Christmas Day.

Theresa Bernstein: A Century in Art

I recently visited the exhibition "Theresa Bernstein: A Century in Art" at The Graduate Center, CUNY (City University of New York).

Theresa Bernstein (1890-2002), was born in Austria, and immigrated to New York with her parents when she was a toddler.

She got married in 1919. In 1920, she gave birth to her only child - her daughter, who later died a few months later as an infant.

Mother and child, 1920

Mother and Child, 1928

Mother and child, 1930s

Mother and Child, 1930s

Still Life: Mother, Child, and Flowers, 1940s

 Actually none of these paintings are in this exhibition, but I feel her sorrow of losing her baby for the next 80+ years.

A Photographer's Story

I recently visited The Metropolitan Museum of Art. One of the ongoing exhibitions is Julia Margret Cameron's photography (August 19, 2013 - January 5, 2014).

In 1863, when Julia Margret Cameron (1815-1879) was 48, her daughter gave her a camera as a Christmas gift. After a few years, she became a photographer. Today, she is considered as one of the greatest portraitists in the history of photography.

Her models include Alice Liddell (1852-1934), and her nieces May Prinsep (1853-1931) and Julia Jackson (1846-1895). The description of one of Julia Jackson's portraits says that she was her favorite niece.

Pomona (Model: Alice Liddell, 1872)

Christabel (Model: May Prinsep, 1866)

Julia Jackson got married twice. In her second marriage, She had four children. Two of them later became the painter Vanessa Bell (1879-1961), and the author Virginia Woolf (1882-1941).

Julia Jackson (1867)

New Year's Resolution

This year, I made a new year's resolution that I would take at least one picture a day. It sounds quite easy, right? But the difficult part is, in order to take a different picture each day, I must live a meaningful life. I can't say that my life is meaningful everyday, but, it is a good start.

American Idol

I used to watch American Idol, a reality TV show. Because it is a singing competition, and I like singing. One season, I think it was season 4, I watched every show and voted for Carrie Underwood every time. It wasn't easy to get through, the telephone line was always busy. I was very happy that Carrie Underwood finally won, and I felt that my votes were counted.