Cornucopia - The Horn of Plenty

Happy Accidents

I have an old camera buried in my bag. I use to enjoy taking photos, the fancy word for pictures, when I was younger. There was always something appealing about escaping into the viewfinder. At the time my mom was diagnosed and then terminal with brain cancer, the escape afforded by a camera kept my mind off the reality of what was happening.

I was in the photography club in high school. My mom would pass away by the time I would reach the midpoint of senior year. I don’t have any photos from the period of time. They vanished and only appear in my mind from time to time.

When you made a good photo, Mr Nussbaum our teacher running the photography lab and club use to say, “that’s a happy accident.” I understood him perfectly. It was that sensation when you blend fresh skills, yet you're uncertain about how to utilize them effectively. While learning and doing, you create something that resonates with you, even if you can't pinpoint why it feels so good.

Happy accidents are an essential part of the journey to understanding. Embracing a bit of mystery is wonderful. So, when you create something and you're not entirely sure why it turned out so well or why you love it, take a moment to appreciate the mystery and respect that feeling.

Once Upon a Time…

I caught up with my reading this week and wanted to highlight a selection for the fans of Quentin Tarantino, Cinema Speculation. It’s semi-autobiographical as he runs through the movies of his youth growing up in the 70’s. Great takes on lots of films like Bullitt, Dirty Harry, The Outfit and more. You can read between the lines and see the influence on his classics.

I always felt I had a few things in common with Tarantino; I too worked in a video store in the mid 1980’s, my formative movie years. But it seems we were both allowed to go to the theater at a young age to see films like, The Godfather, Dirty Harry, MASH, and more. His mother took him, and my much older siblings would take me to legitimize their late date evenings. I kept my mouth shut, since the films were amazing even though the themes were very intense for a seven year old. “Do you know who I am? I’m Moe Greene. I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders.”

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