The Massive Nothingness...

Seems like I owe you a description of the "Massive Nothingness..."

Pictures were taken in Death Valley, California on 1/20/2013 

My Spaceless and Timeless World...

If you ever need a mind-cleansing or a get-away from the chaos around you, come to Death Valley.  I just spent the past 3 days here, and once again, it felt great!!!  Remember I told you last time that my hotel room did not have a TV or Internet or cell signals?  I paid special attention this time, it does not have a clock either.  So, once you are in Death Valley, you are in a spaceless and timeless world filled with massive nothingness!  And yet, there are so many special features of Death Valley that you would never find anywhere else in the world.

When I checked into the hotel, I asked the receptionist: "What's wrong with your phone line?  I've been trying to call you guys over the past week to confirm my hotel reservation and it couldn't get through..."  The receptionist replied: "Well, AT&T forgot that we are here, so they cut off the phone lines.  We didn't know that we were cut off until one of our customers came here and told us."  "Wow, so how do you communicate with the outside world??"  "We DON'T!!!"

This simple reply reminded me of the story below.  True, when you think about it, why do they NEED to communicate with the outside world if they can live a perfectly peaceful life with nothingness??

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.  Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna.  The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.   

The Mexican replied, "only a little while." The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.  

The American then asked, "but what do you do with the rest of your time?"  The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos.  I have a full and busy life." 

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat.  With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery.  You would control the product, processing, and distribution.  You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise."   

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"  To which the American replied, "15 - 20 years."  "But what then?" Asked the Mexican.  The American laughed and said, "That's the best part.  When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!"

"Millions - then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire.  Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

My Photography Lecture

You may or may not remember that in the beginning of 2011, I took a college photography class at COD.  At the time, I couldn't stop complaining about the class because it took soooooo much of my time -- 6 hours each Saturday for 16 weeks!!  I worked really hard for that class, and at the end of the semester, the professor gave me an "A+".  Obviously, I was too technologically challenged to go online to verify my grade... but nonetheless, I blogged on the last day of my class (see below).

Over the past 2 years, I have shared all my award winning photographs with my professor.  Guess what, earlier this week, he invited me to give a lecture to his 2013 class.  As crazy as my life is right now, I think it is important to make time to do it, as this is a great opportunity for me to 1) pay back what my professor has given me and 2) better organize my thoughts about photography -- where I place photography in my life, how I perceive the value of photography and how photography has enriched my life and shaped my way of living.  My lecture will be on Saturday, 2/9/13.  Wish me luck!

The Inspiration

5/7/2011

 

Today is the last day of my photography class.  For those of you who know my work schedule and my general attitude toward classrooms and pure academics, you know I've made a huge commitment to sign up for this class.  I literally spent 6 hours each Saturday for the past 16 weeks to complete this course.    Yes, I learned HDR, I learned Hyperfocal Focusing, I learned Composition, I learned Photo Impressionism, I learned Flash Photography techniques, I learned Wildlife Photography and Macro Photography and much, much more.  Am I a better photographer today than I was 16 weeks ago?  I don't know.  Will I become a much better photographer because of this class?  I don't know.  At this point, I don't believe those are the important questions to answer.  However, I do know that through this class, through the people I meet in this class, I have learned so much more than just the Photography.  It's the people I encounter, their passion, devotion, and their ability to learn and to live a fulfilled life that inspires me the most.   For the last 3 sessions, I had two instructors who taught me Macro Photography.  Barb is 84 this year, Ruth is approaching 80.  They are two of the most prominent macro photographers in the Chicago area.  Barb did not start learning photography until after her retirement at 60.  At age 60, when she signed up for her first photography class, the professor told her that she should take a high school photography class to learn how to load films into the camera...  and so she did.   Twenty-four year later, today, when they showed me a collection of the flower images they took, it was just exceptional.  Barb showed me how to combine images in Photoshop, she showed me how to create star-tracks and then overlay it onto another image in Photoshop, she showed me how to edit parts of the images in Photoshop so the entire photograph can be sharp throughout... She told me she attended Tony Sweet's photography workshop last year at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at age 83, she told me she couldn't wait to read Tony Sweet's book about iPhone Photography, she told me she is not buying iPhone4 right now because she has solid reasons to believe that iPhone5 has a much better camera...     Okay, just close your eyes and imagine for a minute -- what would it take for an 84 year-old lady to keep up with all the technology and software applications and the future?!  How could she do it?  Well, it is her unending curiosity and innate desire to learn, isn't it?  Somewhere down the road, she must also have the courage to start a whole new career at age 60 and be willing to do whatever it takes to become one of the best in that field.  Just think about it -- if this is not inspiring, what is?

Pond of Quotes

It's been soooo long since I cleaned up my "stuff"...  For those of you who know me, you know that I am all about paperless AND I am all about living a truly simplified life!  But you have NO idea how many Michelle's childhood booklets and notes I've kept.  It feels like her little active mind and creative ideas are still all over our house -- you'd find them in just about every drawer and every folder!!

The great discovery of today -- a little piece of paper (attached) with Michelle's imperfect hand-writings from 12 years ago when she was about 10.  She was a good little kid with an unusually active mind -- that's all I can say!

Pond of Quotes:

-- Life is like learning how to ride a bike.  You will fall many times, but you will always find the motivation to get up again.

-- Mistakes do not turn into failures until you refuse to correct them.

-- Doubt is like water, putting out your fire of ambitions.

-- No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.

-- Goals are like the wind beneath a bird's wings, always carrying it higher and higher and closer towards a great flight. 

"COLD" Hurts!

You would think that after all the craziness in the desert, photographing Lake Michigan in north Chicago should be drama free, right?  Wrong!

So, I got up at 4:30 AM this morning getting ready to go to Montrose Harbor to photograph the icy lake and winter sunrise.  Chicago has had a pretty mild winter, and only in the past week did we have a few cold days...  I thought I picked a good day today, as it was not completely too cold to be out on the lake at 6 AM.  Boy I was wrong!!  You might think "cold winter" is such a simple concept.  But let me tell you, you have no idea how much "cold" hurts until you stay outdoor by the lake in the wind for over an hour under 9F...  During the entire time, I only had one thought -- do NOT drop the camera in the icy lake!

Thankfully, I didn't.  So here are the pictures.  Enjoy!

Picture = Serenity

Chicago, IL

January 5, 2013

        

My Year-end Reflections

So, I finally have time to think...

My "new" job started on Monday, 1/23/12.  It turned out to be far more challenging and overwhelming than I initially anticipated, and it definitely made me wonder why I took it in the first place.  As stressful as the job may be at times, I have no regret.  The most important thing I've learned from this experience is: I've pushed myself to go outside of my comfort zone; I've pushed myself to live through something new and different; and I've convinced myself that, in the end, I am still capable of starting fresh.

I continue to nurture my photography endeavor.  Looking back on the past 12 months, it was Photography that gave me the courage and "reasoning" to take so many untraveled roads; it was also Photography that allowed me to experience nature and life in such a special way that I would never have experienced otherwise.  To me, Photography offers a special lens for me to see true colors in nature and in life, which is precisely why I no longer view Photography as a pure art form or a pure technique -- it helps me shape the way I live!

Michelle came home briefly for the winter break and will fly back to Boston tomorrow for the new semester.  Over the past 17+ years, I have told you so many stories about my little Michelle, and now I have to say that she is really growing up!!  I remember for the past many years, right before each New Year, I would always write Michelle an email with a list of things I hope she could do or improve in the next year.  I didn't do it today, as I really, truly believe that she doesn't need it anymore...  

May 2013 be joyful and prosperous, and I wish you happiness and good health in the New Year!

Michelle's Holiday Letter to Grandpa

Dear Grandpa,

Merry Christmas! I hope you are doing well this holiday season, and staying warm through this chilly winter. I just got back to Illinois a few days ago and have really been enjoying my winter vacation. It is great to be able to relax after a semester of working very hard.

This semester has been quite a busy one, but it has been better than I ever imagined it could be. It has been incredibly stressful at times - to the point where I had weeks where I would just wake up stressed out, feel stressed out the entire day, and go to bed stressed out. However, it has certainly been worth it. I did well in all of my classes and I think that I've finally figured out how to work more efficiently in medical school, so it's been less stressful ever since. I have made some amazing friends already and they make every day at medical school a lot of fun. They're all so smart and have a great sense of humor, so when we get together we have a great time. I can tell that even though we've only spent a few months together, we already care about each other a great deal. It's great to know that I will always have people to count on during this difficult and long journey. 
 
While I have learned a GREAT deal of information in all of my classes (like the entire anatomy of the human body), I have learned even more from the extracurricular programs that I've become involved in. At my medical school, we have two amazing programs that deal with the homeless population of Boston - one is the Outreach Van Project, where we take a van out every Thursday and bring food and clothing to a small group of homeless people in East Boston. The other is the Homeless Health Project, where we go and interview patients that are at the homeless hospital across the street from our school. The amazing thing about Boston University is that we have such a strong connection and concern for extremely underserved people, like the homeless. Not only does our major hospital - Boston Medical Center - take in all patients regardless of whether or not they can pay, but we also have a specialized hospital for homeless patients, with doctors and nurses that have dedicated their entire lives to working with the homeless. Anyway, both of these programs were very selective. There was an application process at the beginning of the year and many students wanted to participate in them, but weren't selected. I was extremely lucky to be selected for BOTH programs, which has been the greatest blessing at medical school. Being in science classes all the time can be really, really dry and you start to lose that sense of why you wanted to become a doctor in the first place. But these two programs have helped me keep that vision alive, because every time I go out in the van or go to the homeless hospital, I talk with these people that don't have anyone else to talk to. They rely on us to care about them, because nobody else will. They are not bad people - most, if not all of them, have had immense hardships that I couldn't even imagine going through. They have been unfortunate. They have not come from good families. But they try to survive nonetheless, and some of them come out of these terrible ordeals with more wisdom than I could ever gain from my own privileged life. And they share that wisdom with me. They try to teach us what they've learned. It's an incredible relationship that we foster with these homeless people, and I am thankful every day that I can be a part of their lives.
 
So that has been my life for the past semester. I still find time to have fun with my friends. Overall, I'd say that I have an incredibly well-balanced life in medical school and I'm really happy with how everything has turned out. The only thing I'm a little sad about is not having time to read or study philosophy anymore... I miss that more than anything. Hopefully this upcoming semester will be a little less busy, and I will be able to spend some time at Tufts on Thursday nights when they have their Philosophy Club meetings...
 
Anyway, I hope that you're doing well. I miss you a lot and I think about you quite often. I hope that you've been taking care of yourself, both in body and in mind. That is the most important thing.

I love you, Grandpa!

- A Bao (阿宝）