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Living in Transit: The Thinkers of a World in Turmoil
War looms over Europe, uncertainty seeps into everyday life, and the weight of history presses upon the present. The world is burning, and yet—there are those who seek understanding, those who bury themselves in the quiet refuge of books, the dim glow of libraries, the solitude of knowledge.
This series captures the introspective minds of young academic women—readers, thinkers, seekers. They wander through old university halls, their fingers tracing the spines of forgotten books, pulling out volumes of poetry, philosophy, and psychology. They drink coffee, they drink tea, they stay up late with ink-stained fingers, trying to decipher the world through words.
They turn to Simone Weil for moral clarity, Hannah Arendt for political insight, Rilke for existential wisdom. They read Baudrillard to untangle the illusions of modernity, Byung-Chul Han to understand society’s exhaustion, Camus to grasp the absurdity of it all. They devour Celan’s poetry, searching for beauty in catastrophe.
But they do not just read—they reflect, they question, they write. Their world is one of quiet resistance, an intellectual sanctuary amidst the chaos. In their solitude, they are not alone. Across time, across history, across the pages they turn, they are in conversation with those who, too, have sought meaning in troubled times.
This is a series about thought in transit—about seeking, reading, questioning, about the relentless pursuit of knowledge when the world feels on the brink.
Where the Thinkers Go
They gather where the dust has settled,
where books whisper in the hush of halls.
Pages thin as breath, torn at the edges,
cradling centuries of questions.
They drink coffee like it’s ink,
trace words like constellations,
follow Rilke into the dusk,
where solitude hums softly in the dark.
Outside, the world is fraying—
war threading through the seams of cities,
the weight of history pressing forward.
Inside, they turn pages, searching
for answers, for solace, for fire.
And somewhere between the lines,
between time-stained margins and fading ink,
they find the ghosts of others who
once sought, once wondered, once read—
and they do not feel alone.
Three Haikus
Night falls on paper,
books stacked like silent towers,
thoughts burn in the dark.
Tea cools in the cup,
a poem lingers on lips,
war rumbles beyond.
Footsteps in silence,
the scent of old ink and dust,
pages turn like ghosts.
ooOOOoo
Reading as Resistance
These young women do not read passively. They underline, they take notes, they write in the margins. They challenge the texts and themselves. They read because the world demands it of them—because, in a time of conflict and uncertainty, thought itself is an act of resistance.
Their books are worn, their pages stained with coffee, their minds alive with the urgency of understanding.
1. Political Thought, Society & Liberation
Essays, theory and critique on democracy, power and resistance.
Chantal Mouffe – For a Left Populism (rethinking democracy through radical left-wing populism)
Nancy Fraser – Cannibal Capitalism (an urgent critique of capitalism’s role in the destruction of democracy, the planet, and social justice)
Étienne Balibar – Citizenship (rethinking the idea of citizenship in an era of migration and inequality)
Silvia Federici – Caliban and the Witch (a feminist Marxist analysis of capitalism and gender oppression)
Didier Eribon – Returning to Reims (a deeply personal sociological reflection on class and identity in contemporary Europe)
Antonio Negri & Michael Hardt – Empire (rethinking global capitalism and resistance from a leftist perspective)
Thomas Piketty – Capital and Ideology (a profound analysis of wealth distribution, inequality, and the future of economic justice)
Mark Fisher – Capitalist Realism (on why it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism)
2. Feminist & Queer Theory, Gender & Body Politics
Texts that redefine identity, gender, and liberation in the 21st century.
Paul B. Preciado – Testo Junkie (an autobiographical, philosophical essay on gender, hormones, and biopolitics)
Judith Butler – The Force of Nonviolence (rethinking ethics and resistance beyond violence)
Virginie Despentes – King Kong Theory (a raw and radical take on sex, power, and feminism)
Amia Srinivasan – The Right to Sex (rethinking sex, power, and feminism for a new generation)
Laurent de Sutter – Narcocapitalism (on how capitalism exploits our bodies, desires, and emotions)
Sara Ahmed – Living a Feminist Life (a deeply personal and political exploration of what it means to be feminist today)
3. Literature & Poetry of Resistance, Liberation & Exile
European novels, poetry and literature that embrace freedom, revolution, and identity.
Annie Ernaux – The Years (a groundbreaking memoir that blends personal and collective history, feminism, and social change)
Olga Tokarczuk – The Books of Jacob (an epic novel about alternative histories, belief systems, and European identity)
Édouard Louis – Who Killed My Father (a deeply political and personal exploration of class struggle and masculinity)
Bernardine Evaristo – Girl, Woman, Other (a polyphonic novel on race, gender, and identity in contemporary Europe)
Maggie Nelson (though American, widely read in European academia) – On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint (a poetic, intellectual meditation on freedom and constraint)
Benjamín Labatut – When We Cease to Understand the World (a deeply philosophical novel on science, war, and moral responsibility)
Michel Houellebecq – Submission (controversial but widely read as a dystopian critique of political passivity in Europe)
4. Ecology, Anti-Capitalism & Posthumanism
Texts that explore the intersections of nature, economics, and radical change.
Bruno Latour – Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climatic Regime (rethinking ecology and politics in a world of climate crisis)
Andreas Malm – How to Blow Up a Pipeline (on the ethics of radical environmental resistance)
Emanuele Coccia – The Life of Plants: A Metaphysics of Mixture (rethinking human and non-human coexistence)
Isabelle Stengers – Another Science is Possible (rethinking knowledge and resistance in an era of corporate science)
Kate Raworth – Doughnut Economics (rethinking economic models for social and ecological justice)
Donna Haraway – Staying with the Trouble (rethinking coexistence and posthumanist futures)
The Future of Thought
These are not just books; they are weapons, tools, compasses. These women read not for escapism, but for resistance. In a time of political upheaval, climate catastrophe, and rising authoritarianism, they seek alternative visions, radical possibilities, and new ways of imagining the world.
Their books are annotated, their margins filled with questions, their reading lists always expanding. Knowledge is not just power—it is revolution.
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the spiral jetty is an outdoor artwork constructed of rock and extending into the Great Salt lake. this image does not give you any idea of what the jetty looks like on a large scale, but the artist had to construct it bit by bit, so this gives you an idea of the steps along the journey to get to the massive stone formation that was his end result.
You reach this by driving several miles of one-lane dirt road leading out from the transcontinental railroad memorial museum up at the top of the promontory at the north shore of the Great Salt Lake.
Compositionally, I probably should have gone with the obvious crop of that rock/reflection at the right of the image, but I liked how it contrasts against the sun glare off the water and the "islands" rocks at the upper left.
Hassan Ganda was in a very introspective mood , a lot of people who don't know me at the Dhuni think I shoot pictures of the Bawas and sell them in the international market, but most of the Bawas know its my fascination for their life style and their spiritual adventurism ..I dont even give prints to people whose pictures I have shot, the only exception was Heena Hijda the prostitute transgender from Peela House I gave her 100 copies - she deserves it , for allowing me to shoot her in the notorious Mumbai Red Light Cages.
So whenever someone talks ill about me its Hassan Ganda who takes up cudgels and stands up for me.
This is a dangerous zone of the mind , most of the Bawas and the guys around are high on dope, its a non stop round of chillums.
So the nerves are frayed , now if I paid for the dope instead of the money I give to buy milk for the tea I would be easily accepted by all.
I don't do drugs or drinks so I don't encourage this at all.
A lot of guys who hang around the bawas are unemployed washed out , drug addicts, here they get free drugs and free food and tea so from evening till late night this gathering continues.
The rich patrons bring in the hash and the cash, these are builders, loan sharks, drug lords, that is why I don't shoot them or include them in my picture frame, this is one of the reasons I am protected , and above all these guys know I am under the patronage of Handi Sai, Amanat Ali and Barsat Bawa who call the shots here.
The upkeep of the Dhuni requires money..so the Rafaes are hired for their acts by various sandals that come to Maqdoom Shah Baba..this brings in a fairly good amount.
Women are a taboo, and strictly not allowed at the Dhuni, the women stand on the periphery take their blessings from afar...
I take pictures I move away..now the Urus will get over in a day or two, the entire jing bang will move on the Mahim main Road at the Dargah of Fakhruddin Shah Baba.
This is a very small Shrine but is connected spiritually to Maqdoom Shah Baba.
Munna Bhai the decorator of this Shrine has gone for Haj , he takes care of this Holy Shrine along with the other members of the Dargah committee.
What I really want to shoot is the area near the side entrance to the Dargah where the ladies possessed by evil forces or demons, stand, moving their bodies , shaking their heads , but it has got stricter of late and the cops sit close by..
I did manage to shoot a possessed man carrying the sandal on his head.. last evening.Here again , there is no pictorial etiquette , no composition, it all happens too fast..I also do not work on my pictures keeping the spiritual aura intact..I try not to play God..
Hassan Ganda is known as Ganda as he has lifted a 50kg boulder with his penis..
Hudson Medal Luncheon - By Bart M.J. Szewczyk
Bruno Simma—former judge at the International Court of Justice and currently a judge at the Iran Claims Tribunal and professor at Michigan Law School—was this year’s recipient of the Manley O. Hudson Medal, the Society’s highest honor for “scholarship and achievement in international law.” Before Judge Simma was formally awarded the prize at the Annual Dinner by Sir Daniel Bethlehem (chair of the honors committee), he was interviewed by Joseph Weiler of NYU Law School in a wide-ranging, introspective, candid, and thoroughly captivating conversation.
Professor Weiler began by asking about the origins and history of Judge Simma’s relationship with the United States. “If I say love/hate, that’s exaggerating on the hate side,” Weiler stated, “but you have in your writings and some judicial opinions been very critical of the United States. Yet, we love you and you love us.” Judge Simma recalled receiving care packages from the United States as a four-year old in 1945. At the age of sixteen, he lived in East Moline, IL as part of a student exchange program, which he found very exciting in comparison to the conservative environment of Austria where he grew up. At the risk of “destroying his image,” Judge Simma also revealed that he even had a gun, which he enjoyed firing on a regular basis. Subsequently, he kept close touch with his host family on a nearly annual basis and recently attended the funeral of his host father in East Moline.
Judge Simma also described his long-standing ties with Michigan Law School. He was Eric Stein’s student at the Hague Academy in 1971 and was invited to pursue an LLM at Michigan, but had to decline on account of being appointed professor of international law at the University of Munich. In 1985, Professor Stein spent time at the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin and invited Judge Simma to visit Ann Arbor the following year, which began his “long love story” with Michigan Law School. “I really felt much more at home academically and intellectually in Ann Arbor than at my alma mater at Innsbruck.” Michigan was also where Judge Simma and Professor Weiler met in the late 1980s and gave birth to the idea of the European Journal of International Law in the law school’s quadrangle. “You were the fucundate” of the conception, Simma told Weiler.
Judge Simma also spoke about the differences between teaching and learning in the United States and in Europe. “Walking through the book stacks in Ann Arbor,” he said, “it was the first time I felt like a student or a young assistant where I was turned on about new ideas and research after twenty years of teaching public international law at Munich.” In Europe, by contrast, professors are “overwhelmed” with teaching, examinations, and other matters that have nothing to do with “intellectual stimulation.” And so he found teaching in the US much more gratifying. “I also loved and hated exchange with colleagues. I love a good exchange,” Simma said. “What I hated, because I wasn’t used to it, was getting all these manuscripts from colleagues, where you weren’t expected to merely say—‘Oh, that’s very nice’—but actually had to provide substantive comments and point out areas you found problematic.” “That would never happen in Germany or Europe,” Simma argued, “because, as the US Supreme Court once said, no one sits in judgment of another sovereign.” He found both the teaching and scholarship in the US “very rewarding.” Judge Simma also like the “chutzpah” of students in the US. He described once asking his students to polish the language of his commentary to the UN Charter, which they did—including polishing the UN Charter itself! Simma also discussed the differences in scholarship in the US and Europe. He admired in the US scholarship the “courage” and “lack of respect” for what others had written. Seventy percent of international law publications in the US are “hilarious” and sometimes “very bad,” he claimed, but some of the “very good” ideas come out in the remaining thirty percent. He also criticized US scholarship for not incorporating non-American references.
Judge Simma then discussed how and why he became interested in international law. His mother had told him that, as a young boy in wartime Austria, he heard bombers in the sky make noise that sounded like “unordnung”—disorder in German—and so she thought he wanted to bring order to the world through international law. But he described his motivations as much less “romantic” and more “pedestrian,” as he found other fields of law, such as torts and civil law, “boring and parochial” whereas he was “turned on by international law.” “To me, it was just love with international law,” Simma said, revealing that his relationship to international law for many years was “neurotic,” in Freudian terms. After three decades of teaching in Europe and the US, Judge Simma was hired by Germany to represent the case of the LaGrand brothers before the International Court of Justice. Having won the case against the United States, Simma was the natural pick for a judgeship at the Court, where he served between 2003 and 2012.
To close, Professor Weiler asked about Judge Simma’s favorite music, book, and movie. Verdi’s La Traviata, Joseph Roth’s Das falsche Gewicht (Weighs and Measures) and Radetzky March, and the Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading–came the replies. “I love Jewish humor!” Simma explained.
*******
This image is part of a series of images produced as an introspective journey into the self. The project can be viewed on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iYI2igpyUw&feature=mfu_in_or...
My images are posted here for your enjoyment only. All rights are reserved. Please contact me through flickr if you are interested in using one of my images for any reason.
I was/am in an introspective mood this morning so i decided to post this group of selfies. Leica M6 Kodak ProFoto XL 35mm film.
I'm ready now.
I've been roaming around, always lookin' down at all I see.
I know that I could use somebody.
Someone like you.
24/365
Brolly behind camera, strobe at background.
Looking rather introspective for someone so young.
Ashikari Yama - the has the oldest figure in the parade, a doll dating back to the 16th century, though the clothes are relatively new. The float refers back to an old Noh drama wherein a husband and wife have to separate due to their extreme poverty. The wife moves to Kyoto to work in the Imperial Palace, and when she returns to her hometown she finds that her husband's situation has worsened. He is now an ashikari, or "Reed-reaper."
So, not a happy story, really....
I was simply trying something more introspective with the Buffy doll. Normally i'm all for dynamic poses, staring into the distance but wanted to see if I could do something different.
Yeah yeah, green velvet, yada yada. It's such a lovely piece of fabric and it looks so nice as a background,
Not sure what to say about this. Instead, I'll talk about my day.
I went to work this morning. Got a pizza from Subway for lunch. Got sick about half an hour later. Got off an hour earlier than expected. Beat Justin home. He came home, we went to Chick-Fil-A. Was sick by the time we got home. He packed up his crap, and left for the weekend. I removed most of my clothes and reclaimed the spare bedroom as my "studio room" and took pictures of myself.
Now I'm going to go eat ice cream and watch TV in my underwear. Why? Because I'm home alone, and that means I can do whatever I want.
Ah, check it: my tattoo was featured on www.tattooconfidential.com/!
I could have called this image so many things. "One Day at a Time"? Nah, too "rehab". "The First Step"? Accurate, but I think today was more than just 1 step. Today encompassed a huge step. Is it forward, backward, or sideways? Time will tell, but I plan to make it a step forward, which is why I chose "The Road Ahead". Change is coming, and I have no choice but to meet it head on.
To Kathy and Bethany - I did not steal your "everything out of focus" fun. There is a VERY fine plane of focus if you look real hard. :)
And if you're creeping on here, that's fine. I am not specifically addressing you.
Didn't had a clue about my subject of today's picture. Asked my daughter Robin if she would like to be my model to shoot outside. The weather is nice here at the moment so could be perfect to have some fun. She was willing to model for some beautyful pictures of her for Facebook and Twitter. I wanted to do something different so we created a win win situation lol.
After the beauty pics I put my Lensbaby on and moved my flash with softbox brolly.
Added a texture for some more atmosphere and post processed in Lightroom.
Lens: Lensbaby Composer with Edge 80 @ f2.8 ISO 160
British postcard by Heroes Publishing LTD., London, no. SPC2580.
Keanu Reeves (1964) is a Canadian actor, producer, director and musician. Though Reeves often faced criticism for his deadpan delivery and perceived limited range as an actor, he nonetheless took on roles in various genres, doing everything from introspective art-house fare to action-packed thrillers. His films include My Own Private Idaho (1991), the European drama Little Buddha (1993), Speed (1994), The Matrix (1999) and John Wick (2014).
Keanu Charles Reeves was born in 1964, in Beirut, Lebanon. His first name means ‘cool breeze over the mountains’ in Hawaiian. His father, Samuel Nowlin Reeves Jr., was a geologist of Chinese-Hawaiian heritage, and his mother, Patricia Bond (née Taylor), was a British showgirl and later a costume designer for rock stars such as Alice Cooper. Reeves's mother was working in Beirut when she met his father. Upon his parents’ split in 1966, Keanu moved with his mother and younger sister Kim Reeves to Sydney, New York and Toronto. He lived with various stepfathers as a child, including stage and film director Paul Aaron. Keanu developed an ardour for hockey, though he would eventually turn to acting. At 15, he played Mercutio in a stage production of 'Romeo and Juliet' at the Leah Posluns Theatre. Reeves dropped out of high school when he was 17. His film debut was the Canadian feature One Step Away (Robert Fortier, 1985). After a part in the teen movie Youngblood (Peter Markle, 1986), starring Rob Lowe, he obtained a green card through stepfather Paul Aaron and moved to Los Angeles. After a few minor roles, he gained attention for his performance in the dark drama River's Edge (Tim Hunter, 1986), which depicted how a murder affected a group of adolescents. Reeves landed a supporting role in the Oscar-nominated period drama Dangerous Liaisons (Stephen Frears, 1988), starring Glenn Close and John Malkovich. Reeves joined the casts of Ron Howard's comedy Parenthood (1989), and Lawrence Kasdan's I Love You to Death (1990). Unexpectedly successful was the wacky comedy Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (Stephen Herek, 1989) which followed two high school students (Reeves and Alex Winter) and their time-travelling high jinks. The success led to a TV series and a sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (Pete Hewitt, 1991). From then on, audiences often confused Reeves's real-life persona with that of his doofy on-screen counterpart.
In the following years, Keanu Reeves tried to shake the Ted stigma. He developed an eclectic film roster that included high-budget action films like the surf thriller Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow, 1991) for which he won MTV's ‘Most Desirable Male’ award in 1992, but also lower-budget art-house films. My Own Private Idaho (1991), directed by Gus Van Sant and co-starring River Phoenix, chronicled the lives of two young hustlers living on the streets. In Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Reeves embodied the calm resolute lawyer Jonathan Harker who stumbles into the lair of Gary Oldman’s Count Dracula. In Europe, he played Prince Siddharta who became the Buddha in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Italian-French-British drama Little Buddha (1993). His career reached a new high when he starred opposite Sandra Bullock in the hit action film Speed (Jan de Bont, 1994). It was followed by the romantic drama A Walk in the Clouds (Alfonso Arau, 1995) and the supernatural thriller Devil’s Advocate (Taylor Hackford, 1997), co-starring Al Pacino and Charlize Theron. At the close of the decade, Reeves starred in a Sci-Fi film that would become a genre game changer, The Matrix (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 1999). Reeves played the prophetic figure Neo, slated to lead humanity to freedom from an all-consuming simulated world. Known for its innovative fight sequences, avant-garde special effects and gorgeous fashion, The Matrix was an international hit. Two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 2003) followed and The Matrix Reloaded was even a bigger financial blockbuster than its predecessor.
Now a major, bonafide box office star, Keanu Reeves continued to work in different genres and both in big-budget as in small independent films. He played an abusive man in the supernatural thriller The Gift (Sam Raimi, 2000), starring Cate Blanchett, a smitten doctor in the romantic comedy Something’s Gotta Give (Nancy Meyers, 2003) opposite Diane Keaton, and a Brit demon hunter in the American-German occult detective film Constantine (Francis Lawrence, 2005). His appearance in the animated Science Fiction thriller A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater, 2006), based on the novel by Philip K. Dick, received favourable reviews, and The Lake House (Alejandro Agresti, 2006), his romantic outing with Sandra Bullock, was a success at the box office. Reeves returned to Sci-Fi as alien Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still (Scott Derrickson, 2008), the remake of the 1951 classic. Then he played a supporting part in Rebecca Miller's The Private Life of Pippa Lee (2009), which starred Robin Wright and premiered at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival. Reeves co-founded a production company, Company Films. The company helped produce Henry's Crime (Malcolm Venville, 2010), in which Reeves also starred. The actor made his directorial debut with the Chinese-American Martial arts film Man of Tai Chi (2013), partly inspired by the life of Reeves' friend, stuntman Tiger Chen. Martial arts–based themes continued in Reeves's next feature, 47 Ronin (Carl Rinsch, 2013), about a real-life group of masterless samurai in 18th-century Japan who avenged the death of their lord. Variety magazine listed 47 Ronin as one of "Hollywood's biggest box office bombs of 2013". Reeves returned as a retired hitman in the Neo-Noir action thriller John Wick (Chad Stahelski, David Leitch, 2014). The film opened to positive reviews and performed well at the box office. A sequel, titled John Wick: Chapter Two, is currently in production and is scheduled to be released in 2017. This year, he could be seen in the psychological horror film The Neon Demon (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2016) and the romantic horror-thriller Bad Batch (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2016). Reeves’ artistic aspirations are not limited to film. In the early 1990s, he co-founded the grunge band Dogstar, which released two albums. He later played bass for a band called Becky. Reeves is also a longtime motorcycle enthusiast. After asking designer Gard Hollinger to create a custom-built bike for him, the two went into business together with the formation of Arch Motorcycle Company LLC in 2011. Reported to be one of the more generous actors in Hollywood, Reeves helped care for his sister during her lengthy battle with leukaemia and has supported such organisations as Stand Up To Cancer and PETA. In January 2000, Reeves's girlfriend, Jennifer Syme, gave birth eight months into her pregnancy to Ava Archer Syme-Reeves, who was stillborn. The strain put on their relationship by their grief resulted in Reeves and Syme's breakup several weeks later. In 2001, Syme died after a car accident.
Sources: Biography.com, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Since 2018, Tony Dočekal has spent several months volunteering in the United States for an organisation that helps the homeless. Between Arizona and California, the Dutch photographer meets these people who, by obligation or choice, live on the margins of society. Out of these exchanges comes a series of analogue photographs, taken over a six-year period during the artist’s numerous visits to the American West. On her travels, Dočekal also photographed a young girl whose family leads a nomadic existence out of an anti-establishment philosophy. Referring to the colour green, which evokes luck and nature, Dočekal’s project questions the pursuit of success and highlights the negative aspects of the American dream. Part life story, part introspective journey, The Colour of Money and Trees is a human tale of the things that bind us.
French postcard, no. Ref. 1109.
Keanu Reeves (1964) is a Canadian actor, producer, director and musician. Though Reeves often faced criticism for his deadpan delivery and perceived limited range as an actor, he nonetheless took on roles in various genres, doing everything from introspective art-house fare to action-packed thrillers. His films include My Own Private Idaho (1991), the European drama Little Buddha (1993), Speed (1994), The Matrix (1999) and John Wick (2014).
Keanu Charles Reeves was born in 1964, in Beirut, Lebanon. His first name means ‘cool breeze over the mountains’ in Hawaiian. His father, Samuel Nowlin Reeves Jr., was a geologist of Chinese-Hawaiian heritage, and his mother, Patricia Bond (née Taylor), was a British showgirl and later a costume designer for rock stars such as Alice Cooper. Reeves's mother was working in Beirut when she met his father. Upon his parents’ split in 1966, Keanu moved with his mother and younger sister Kim Reeves to Sydney, New York and Toronto. As a child, he lived with various stepfathers, including stage and film director Paul Aaron. Keanu developed an ardour for hockey, though he would eventually turn to acting. At 15, he played Mercutio in a 'Romeo and Juliet' stage production at the Leah Posluns Theatre. Reeves dropped out of high school when he was 17. His film debut was the Canadian feature One Step Away (Robert Fortier, 1985). After participating in the teen movie Youngblood (Peter Markle, 1986), starring Rob Lowe, he obtained a green card through his stepfather Paul Aaron and moved to Los Angeles. After a few minor roles, he gained attention for his performance in the dark drama River's Edge (Tim Hunter, 1986), which depicted how a murder affected a group of adolescents. Reeves landed a supporting role in the Oscar-nominated period drama Dangerous Liaisons (Stephen Frears, 1988), starring Glenn Close and John Malkovich. Reeves joined the casts of Ron Howard's comedy Parenthood (1989), and Lawrence Kasdan's I Love You to Death (1990). Unexpectedly successful was the wacky comedy Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (Stephen Herek, 1989) which followed two high school students (Reeves and Alex Winter) and their time-travelling high jinks. The success led to a TV series and a sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (Pete Hewitt, 1991). From then on, audiences often confused Reeves's real-life persona with his doofy on-screen counterpart.
In the following years, Keanu Reeves tried to shake the Ted stigma. He developed an eclectic film roster that included high-budget action films like the surf thriller Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow, 1991) for which he won MTV's ‘Most Desirable Male’ award in 1992, but also lower-budget art-house films. My Own Private Idaho (1991), directed by Gus Van Sant and co-starring River Phoenix, chronicled the lives of two young hustlers living on the streets. In Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Reeves embodied the calm resolute lawyer Jonathan Harker who stumbles into the lair of Gary Oldman’s Count Dracula. In Europe, he played Prince Siddharta who became the Buddha in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Italian-French-British drama Little Buddha (1993). His career reached a new high when he starred opposite Sandra Bullock in the hit action film Speed (Jan de Bont, 1994). It was followed by the romantic drama A Walk in the Clouds (Alfonso Arau, 1995) and the supernatural thriller Devil’s Advocate (Taylor Hackford, 1997), co-starring Al Pacino and Charlize Theron. At the close of the decade, Reeves starred in a Sci-Fi film that would become a genre game changer, The Matrix (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 1999). Reeves played the prophetic figure Neo, slated to lead humanity to freedom from an all-consuming simulated world. Known for its innovative fight sequences, avant-garde special effects and gorgeous fashion, The Matrix was an international hit. Two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 2003) followed and The Matrix Reloaded was even a bigger financial blockbuster than its predecessor.
Now a major, bonafide box office star, Keanu Reeves continued to work in different genres and both in big-budget as in small independent films. He played an abusive man in the supernatural thriller The Gift (Sam Raimi, 2000), starring Cate Blanchett, a smitten doctor in the romantic comedy Something’s Gotta Give (Nancy Meyers, 2003) opposite Diane Keaton, and a Brit demon hunter in the American-German occult detective film Constantine (Francis Lawrence, 2005). His appearance in the animated Science Fiction thriller A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater, 2006), based on the novel by Philip K. Dick, received favourable reviews, and The Lake House (Alejandro Agresti, 2006), his romantic outing with Sandra Bullock, was a success at the box office. Reeves returned to Sci-Fi as alien Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still (Scott Derrickson, 2008), the remake of the 1951 classic. Then he played a supporting part in Rebecca Miller's The Private Life of Pippa Lee (2009), which starred Robin Wright and premiered at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival. Reeves co-founded a production company, Company Films. The company helped produce Henry's Crime (Malcolm Venville, 2010), in which Reeves also starred. The actor made his directorial debut with the Chinese-American Martial arts film Man of Tai Chi (2013), partly inspired by the life of Reeves' friend, stuntman Tiger Chen. Martial arts–based themes continued in Reeves's next feature, 47 Ronin (Carl Rinsch, 2013), about a real-life group of masterless samurai in 18th-century Japan who avenged the death of their lord. Variety magazine listed 47 Ronin as one of "Hollywood's biggest box office bombs of 2013". Reeves returned as a retired hitman in the Neo-Noir action thriller John Wick (Chad Stahelski, David Leitch, 2014). The film opened to positive reviews and performed well at the box office. A sequel, titled John Wick: Chapter Two, is currently in production and is scheduled to be released in 2017. This year, he could be seen in the psychological horror film The Neon Demon (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2016) and the romantic horror-thriller Bad Batch (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2016). Reeves’ artistic aspirations are not limited to film. In the early 1990s, he co-founded the grunge band Dogstar, which released two albums. He later played bass for a band called Becky. Reeves is also a longtime motorcycle enthusiast. After asking designer Gard Hollinger to create a custom-built bike for him, the two went into business together with the formation of Arch Motorcycle Company LLC in 2011. Reported to be one of the more generous actors in Hollywood, Reeves helped care for his sister during her lengthy battle with leukaemia and has supported such organisations as Stand Up To Cancer and PETA. In January 2000, Reeves's girlfriend, Jennifer Syme, gave birth eight months into her pregnancy to Ava Archer Syme-Reeves, who was stillborn. The strain put on their relationship by their grief resulted in Reeves and Syme's breakup several weeks later. In 2001, Syme died after a car accident.
Sources: Biography.com, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
British postcard by Heroes Publishing LTD, London, no. SPC 2897.
Keanu Reeves (1964) is a Canadian actor, producer, director and musician. Though Reeves often faced criticism for his deadpan delivery and perceived limited range as an actor, he nonetheless took on roles in various genres, doing everything from introspective art-house fare to action-packed thrillers. His films include My Own Private Idaho (1991), the European drama Little Buddha (1993), Speed (1994), The Matrix (1999) and John Wick (2014).
Keanu Charles Reeves was born in 1964, in Beirut, Lebanon. His first name means ‘cool breeze over the mountains’ in Hawaiian. His father, Samuel Nowlin Reeves Jr., was a geologist of Chinese-Hawaiian heritage, and his mother, Patricia Bond (née Taylor), was a British showgirl and later a costume designer for rock stars such as Alice Cooper. Reeves's mother was working in Beirut when she met his father. Upon his parents’ split in 1966, Keanu moved with his mother and younger sister Kim Reeves to Sydney, New York and Toronto. As a child, he lived with various stepfathers, including stage and film director Paul Aaron. Keanu developed an ardour for hockey, though he would eventually turn to acting. At 15, he played Mercutio in a 'Romeo and Juliet' stage production at the Leah Posluns Theatre. Reeves dropped out of high school when he was 17. His film debut was the Canadian feature One Step Away (Robert Fortier, 1985). After participating in the teen movie Youngblood (Peter Markle, 1986), starring Rob Lowe, he obtained a green card through his stepfather Paul Aaron and moved to Los Angeles. After a few minor roles, he gained attention for his performance in the dark drama River's Edge (Tim Hunter, 1986), which depicted how a murder affected a group of adolescents. Reeves landed a supporting role in the Oscar-nominated period drama Dangerous Liaisons (Stephen Frears, 1988), starring Glenn Close and John Malkovich. Reeves joined the casts of Ron Howard's comedy Parenthood (1989), and Lawrence Kasdan's I Love You to Death (1990). Unexpectedly successful was the wacky comedy Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (Stephen Herek, 1989) which followed two high school students (Reeves and Alex Winter) and their time-travelling high jinks. The success led to a TV series and a sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (Pete Hewitt, 1991). From then on, audiences often confused Reeves's real-life persona with his doofy on-screen counterpart.
In the following years, Keanu Reeves tried to shake the Ted stigma. He developed an eclectic film roster that included high-budget action films like the surf thriller Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow, 1991) for which he won MTV's ‘Most Desirable Male’ award in 1992, but also lower-budget art-house films. My Own Private Idaho (1991), directed by Gus Van Sant and co-starring River Phoenix, chronicled the lives of two young hustlers living on the streets. In Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Reeves embodied the calm resolute lawyer Jonathan Harker who stumbles into the lair of Gary Oldman’s Count Dracula. In Europe, he played Prince Siddharta who became the Buddha in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Italian-French-British drama Little Buddha (1993). His career reached a new high when he starred opposite Sandra Bullock in the hit action film Speed (Jan de Bont, 1994). It was followed by the romantic drama A Walk in the Clouds (Alfonso Arau, 1995) and the supernatural thriller Devil’s Advocate (Taylor Hackford, 1997), co-starring Al Pacino and Charlize Theron. At the close of the decade, Reeves starred in a Sci-Fi film that would become a genre game changer, The Matrix (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 1999). Reeves played the prophetic figure Neo, slated to lead humanity to freedom from an all-consuming simulated world. Known for its innovative fight sequences, avant-garde special effects and gorgeous fashion, The Matrix was an international hit. Two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 2003) followed and The Matrix Reloaded was even a bigger financial blockbuster than its predecessor.
Now a major, bonafide box office star, Keanu Reeves continued to work in different genres and both in big-budget as in small independent films. He played an abusive man in the supernatural thriller The Gift (Sam Raimi, 2000), starring Cate Blanchett, a smitten doctor in the romantic comedy Something’s Gotta Give (Nancy Meyers, 2003) opposite Diane Keaton, and a Brit demon hunter in the American-German occult detective film Constantine (Francis Lawrence, 2005). His appearance in the animated Science Fiction thriller A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater, 2006), based on the novel by Philip K. Dick, received favourable reviews, and The Lake House (Alejandro Agresti, 2006), his romantic outing with Sandra Bullock, was a success at the box office. Reeves returned to Sci-Fi as alien Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still (Scott Derrickson, 2008), the remake of the 1951 classic. Then he played a supporting part in Rebecca Miller's The Private Life of Pippa Lee (2009), which starred Robin Wright and premiered at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival. Reeves co-founded a production company, Company Films. The company helped produce Henry's Crime (Malcolm Venville, 2010), in which Reeves also starred. The actor made his directorial debut with the Chinese-American Martial arts film Man of Tai Chi (2013), partly inspired by the life of Reeves' friend, stuntman Tiger Chen. Martial arts–based themes continued in Reeves's next feature, 47 Ronin (Carl Rinsch, 2013), about a real-life group of masterless samurai in 18th-century Japan who avenged the death of their lord. Variety magazine listed 47 Ronin as one of "Hollywood's biggest box office bombs of 2013". Reeves returned as a retired hitman in the Neo-Noir action thriller John Wick (Chad Stahelski, David Leitch, 2014). The film opened to positive reviews and performed well at the box office. A sequel, titled John Wick: Chapter Two, is currently in production and is scheduled to be released in 2017. This year, he could be seen in the psychological horror film The Neon Demon (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2016) and the romantic horror-thriller Bad Batch (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2016). Reeves’ artistic aspirations are not limited to film. In the early 1990s, he co-founded the grunge band Dogstar, which released two albums. He later played bass for a band called Becky. Reeves is also a longtime motorcycle enthusiast. After asking designer Gard Hollinger to create a custom-built bike for him, the two went into business together with the formation of Arch Motorcycle Company LLC in 2011. Reported to be one of the more generous actors in Hollywood, Reeves helped care for his sister during her lengthy battle with leukaemia and has supported such organisations as Stand Up To Cancer and PETA. In January 2000, Reeves's girlfriend, Jennifer Syme, gave birth eight months into her pregnancy to Ava Archer Syme-Reeves, who was stillborn. The strain put on their relationship by their grief resulted in Reeves and Syme's breakup several weeks later. In 2001, Syme died after a car accident.
Sources: Biography.com, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
The colors are real bricks, just a little bit punched.
Have a look here:
www.brickshelf.com/gallery/olivgrau/Minifigs/psb_original...
Author: Tisha
Madrid, 2010
In parapsychology and many forms of spiritual practice, an aura is a field of subtle, luminous radiation supposedly surrounding a person or object (like the halo or aureola of religious art) that some people are claimed to be capable of observing by means of their third eye.[1][2] The depiction of such an aura in religious art usually connotes a person of particular power or holiness.
Metaphysical contexts
In metaphysical terms, "spirit" has acquired a number of meanings:
1.An incorporeal but ubiquitous, non-quantifiable substance or energy present individually in all living things. Unlike the concept of souls (often regarded as eternal and usually believed to pre-exist the body) a spirit develops and grows as an integral aspect of a living being.[citation needed] This concept of the individual spirit occurs commonly in animism. Note the distinction between this concept of spirit and that of the pre-existing or eternal soul: belief in souls occurs specifically and far less commonly, particularly in traditional societies. One might more properly term this type/aspect of spirit "life" (bios in Greek) or "ether" rather than "spirit" (pneuma in Greek).
2.A daemon sprite, or especially a ghost. People usually conceive of a ghost as a wandering spirit from a being no longer living, having survived the death of the body yet maintaining at least vestiges of mind and of consciousness.
3.In religion and spirituality, the respiration of a human has for obvious reasons become seen as strongly linked with the very occurrence of life. A similar significance has become attached to human blood. Spirit in this sense denotes that which separates a living body from a corpse — and usually implies intelligence, consciousness and sentience.
4.Various animistic religions, such as Japan's Shinto and various Native American and African tribal beliefs, focus around invisible beings which represent or connect with plants, animals (sometimes called "Animal Fathers"), or landforms; translators usually employ the English word "spirit" when trying to express the idea of such entities.
5.Individual spirits envisaged as interconnected with all other spirits and with "The Spirit" (singular and capitalized). This concept relates to theories of a unified spirituality, to universal consciousness and to some concepts of Deity. In this scenario all separate "spirits", when connected, form a greater unity, the Spirit, which has an identity separate from its elements plus a consciousness and intellect greater than its elements; an ultimate, unified, non-dual awareness or force of life combining or transcending all individual units of consciousness. The experience of such a connection can become a primary basis for spiritual belief. The term spirit occurs in this sense in (to name but a few) Anthroposophy, Aurobindo, A Course In Miracles, Hegel, and Ken Wilber. In this use, the term seems conceptually identical to Plotinus's "The One" and Friedrich Schelling's "Absolute". Similarly, according to the panentheistic/pantheistic view, Spirit equates to essence that can manifest itself as mind/soul through any level in pantheistic hierarchy/holarchy, such as through a mind/soul of a single cell (with very primitive, elemental consciousness), or through a human or animal mind/soul (with consciousness on a level of organic synergy of an individual human/animal), or through a (superior) mind/soul with synergetically extremely complex/sophisticated consciousness of whole galaxies involving all sub-levels, all emanating (since the superior mind/soul operates non-dimensionally, or trans-dimensionally) from the one Spirit.
6.Christian theology can use the term "Spirit" to describe God, or aspects of God — as in the "Holy Spirit", referring to a Triune God (Trinity): "The result of God reaching to man by the Father as the source, the Son as the course ('the Way'), and through the Spirit as the transmission"[cite this quote].
7.In (popular) theological terms, the individual human "spirit" (singular, lowercase) is a deeply situated aspect of the soul[citation needed] subject to "spiritual" growth and change; the very seat of emotion and desire, and the transmitting organ by which humans can contact God. In a rare theological definition it consists of higher consciousness enclosing the soul.[citation needed] "Spirit" forms a central concept in pneumatology (note that pneumatology studies "pneuma" (Greek for "spirit") not "psyche" (Greek for "soul" — as studied in psychology).
8.Christian Science uses "Spirit" as one of the seven synonyms for God, as in: "Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love"
9.Harmonism reserves the term "spirit" for those which collectively control and influence an individual from the realm of the mind.
Verb:
protecting
1.Present participle of protect.
Noun:
protection
Plural
countable and uncountable; plural protections
protection (countable and uncountable; plural protections)
1.The process of keeping (something or someone) safe.
2.(computing) An instance of a security token associated with a resource (such as a file.)
energy (plural energies)
1.The impetus behind all motion and all activity.
2.The capacity to do work.
3.(physics) A quantity that denotes the ability to do work and is measured in a unit dimensioned in mass × distance²/time² (ML²/T²) or the equivalent.
I decided to take these because i've been having a tough time lately, and i wanted to depict my state through photos. I probably took them around 1am - 3am
I deserve better than what I've settled for.
I have more worth than I realize.
I will not let anyone walk all over me again.
I am strong.
I am beautiful.
I am grateful.
I don't need to be defined by a man.
Thank you for making me realize it
Again.
Freedom, to continue to be a free spirit.
Nobody will ever chain me to the ground- I need someone to fly along with me. Spread my wings, and fly beside someone that will discover alongside me.
Perhaps someday.
If I choose to pick up the pieces of my shattered heart. But I doubt it. I suppose we'll see.
I'll miss him, but I don't need him.
I do love him still. Always.
But I am me, and I will not change.
Not for someone that wants to mold me into something they want- if I change, it's because I want to. NOT because I'm told to.
Perseverance.
Strength.
Courage.
I can do this.