Category Archives: Life

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on February 14, 2012 by | 10 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

10 Comments

Posted in Life

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Versatile Blogger Award

Posted on January 4, 2012 by | 15 comments

By Vladimir Brezina and Johna Till Johnson

We’ve received a Versatile Blogger Award! This award, which is passed on from blogger to blogger, honors “the quality of the writing, the uniqueness of the subjects covered, the level of love displayed in the words on the virtual page…(and)  the quality of the photographs and the level of love displayed in the taking of them.”

Composer in the Garden has passed the award to us, and we’re thrilled and honored by this recognition by a fellow blogger, particularly one whose own blog we follow and admire. And now we need to pass the award on in our turn…

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Posted in Awards, Life, The Virtual World

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Learning to Look, And See

Posted on January 2, 2012 by | 37 comments

By Johna Till Johnson
(Addendum and photos by Vladimir Brezina)

I’ve never had much of an “eye”, in the sense of being able to relate to things visually—or even notice them in the first place.

The opposite, in fact. I’m one of those people who can walk by a large object—say, a 60-story building—every day for a month before exclaiming, “Has that always been there? I’ve never seen it before!” And I’m perfectly sincere: I really haven’t noticed it. I think in terms of narratives, not pictures—and I often fail to see what’s literally right in front of my nose.

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37 Comments

Posted in Life, Nature, New York City, Photography

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Christmas Tree Light, The Old-Fashioned Way

Posted on December 27, 2011 by | 40 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

At this season, there are Christmas trees everywhere you look in the city, in stores, banks, apartment building lobbies. Most are only superficially decorated, standing under bright lights which reveal all there is to see at one glance, mere abstractions of the idea of the Christmas tree…

To me, a proper Christmas tree should be large, dark, mysterious, and excessive, full of possibilities. No doubt this is some Proustian attempt to recapture the Christmas trees of my childhood. I remember that Christmas trees were so much bigger then, with spreading branches that allowed glimpses into the dark interior where all kinds of ornaments glinted in the soft candlelight. (Many of the ornaments were wrapped candies that I hunted for in the days after Christmas…)

So, now that I have to be my own Santa Claus, a few rules: No artificial trees—it has to be a fragrant, real tree. As large as possible. Richly decorated. And above all, lit not by artificial Christmas lights, but by the unique, unmistakable glow of real candles!

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40 Comments

Posted in Art, Culture, Life

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