Day 3612: Focus

"Separate": acrylic paper collage

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2GN2S ... 

 

Born with a rare neurological condition, Lissencephaly, a rare condition in which the brain develops without the normal folds and wrinkles in the cerebral cortex. Lucas doesn’t walk or talk.  Most of his time is spent in a wheelchair and he requires assistance with the most basic of tasks.

But Lucas’s only response to his circumstance is to smile.  The 7-year-old loves to smile, especially when 9-year-old big brother Noah is around.  Lucas’s nonverbal nature doesn’t prevent their relationship in the slightest; a series of glances with a gentle squeeze of the hand or shoulder is all the conversation they need as the two brothers do everything together from watching cartoons to taking walks. 

No one expected Lucas Aldrich to be able to compete in triathlons. But with the help of his big brother, Noah, the two can cross any finish line. A triathlon is running, swimming and biking. 

 

 When Noah decided to do a YMCA Kid’s Triathlon, there was no question that, like everything else, Lucas would be at his side.  From pulling Lucas on a raft for the 200m swim, a three mile bike with a trailer, to finally pushing Lucas in a buggy for a mile run, Noah made sure they stayed side by side from start to finish line.

 

   Meanwhile, Lucas loved the whole experience and wore his trademark smile the whole time.  To Noah, seeing his brother happy was well worth the effort, claiming the most exhausting part was simply “Running, because it’s at the end.”  After all, no weight is heavy enough to break the bonds of brotherly love.  

Two inspiring videos, here and here.

The awe-inspiring Aldrich brothers: 

Duo shows anything is possible.

 

https://www.facebook.com/triathlonbros

 

Update ...

Amanda Nelsen’s junk mail installation

If you visit this blog much at all, you are probably aware that I work a lot with junk mail. Good friend, and stellar Washington artist, John Arbuckle sent me this link, and I loved it! Enjoy.

 

Stirred by the modern day nuisance of recurring junk mail, book artist Amanda Nelsen alters these papers by creating new surfaces, piles and patterns juxtaposing the junk mail with a historic structure, such as a book form. Kinkade Recycled is an installation consisting of 40,000 junk mail pieces folded and string bundled into 2 inch cubes.

 

 

 Wow? I wanted to find out more, so I went here, and found ... an interview/video with Cambridge artist and book-binder Amanda Nelsen, about her work with found paper. You can see more of her work at www.amandanelsen.com. 

 

 

One of the comments stated: "Amanda seems intent on creating something beautiful from the stuff we all receive daily in our lives. I do admire her attitude on this. As the old saying goes "One man's junk, is another man's art" (something like that). I must admit, however, I do not understand the zeal of some in turning waste into serious projects. Taking care of waste for the sake of society is already done pretty efficiently. Does is really matter that much if we become "experts" at waste elimination?"

Me: Really?

 

 

 

 

A weird 4-minute video, Salamanders, here.

 

Just because ...

 

Rose finch

 

Smiles for Sunday ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

                                                               Thanks for coming by today