h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As I sit at my computer, I see feathery white clouds against a gentle blue sky. The clouds are like cotton candy, they're that wispy. I regret never having taken up photography, but on the other hand the sky never looks the same way for more than a few minutes. Something just as nice will be there the next time I look.

Do we need to capture things for posterity, or would it be just as good to live for the moment, knowing that it is special?

This is my journal, so I'm going to go off on a bit of a tangent, though there are connections.

The late composer Charles Ives resisted efforts to get him to write down the notes for his "Concord Sonata"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDNPpsUaVYo

The piece was somewhat different each time he played it, and that was the point. If we want to record this or that moment for posterity, can we be sure that the ones we record are better than the ones we didn't? I can't. More to the point (if there is one in any of my journals ), experts say that you miss out on some of what's going on when you're busy writing things down or recording them or photographing them. If you're the recording secretary for an organization, you have no choice; you're just doing your job by writing notes or typing them in your laptop. In my case, I think that I pick up things few other people notice, despite having my head bent over my notebook.

I really, honestly, earnestly want to live in the moment and be present. This is said to contribute to one's sense of peacefulness. I will never be as serene as I would like, nor do I want to be so serene that I can;'t care about or connect to the world. So I just do the best I can.

Two clouds that were far apart a few minutes ago are gently kissing each other.

The sky never looks as good in a photo. Bob Stafford's tips on photography might help you improve it, but if you only have a simple camera or just your phone, it's not worth the memory space, in my experience. The only way to capture it is by painting it.

Just enjoy looking at them.

"If we want to record this or that moment for posterity, can we be sure that the ones we record are better than the ones we didn't?" [paulh]

A few years ago Neil Young recorded his album "Living With War". Shortly after he recorded "Living With War In The Beginning" because he wasn't happy with the first record. Interesting, yes?

Creative people get frustrated when you tell them they can't go back and rewrite the hits that have made them famous. Some of them do it anyway. Arlo Guthrie made a habit of updating "Alice's restaurant" regularly. Cole Porter wrote so many new verses for "Anyhthing goes" that the music company told him to stop.