The beautiful Loch-Vale of Rocky Mountain National Park

I considered being able to take this photo a privilege and a significant accomplishment at the same time. The scene you see above is what I found at the end of a two and a half hour hike to an elevation of 10,200 feet in Rocky Mountain National Park. I know Everest would be infinitely more impressive but, you see, ten short months ago it was all I could do to take a single lap around the surgical trauma floor at our local hospital. Without getting into the gory details, what I thought was going to be a routine laparoscopic gall bladder removal last January turned into a a full blown invasive abdominal surgery that included a bile duct exploration and transduodenal sphincteroplasty topped off with a pulmonary embolism for bad measure. Talk about a surreal experience. In an instant, I was confronted with a potential life changing event over which I had no control.

When I reflect on the ordeal, I did not seem all that worried at the time. I just wanted to feel better. Nothing else mattered. I later asked myself why and came to the conclusion that I seem to worry more about the things I perceive I have control over. I worry about the outcomes of decisions I may make that could turn out badly. My medical condition, however, evolved so rapidly that I felt like I was just along for the ride and the outcome for better or worse was out of my hands. What good was worry when there was no way that I could alter the outcome? My biggest fear, quite honestly, was that I might not be there after the surgery for my wife and son. Aside from that, I felt I had, by the grace of God, lived a blessed life beyond my greatest expectations, rich with experiences and deeply meaningful relationships.

A day after surgery, I woke up with a nine-inch incision across my abdomen and all the fun that came with it. My surgeon told me I would be at the hospital recovering for a while and that he would need to follow my progress for three months. Despite the pain, I was out of bed that day and thought I was on my way back. My general surgeon, who brought four other doctors onto my case, came in to check on me later in the afternoon. With a slight wave of emotion, I said, “Thanks for pulling all the talent together and helping me get better.” To my surprise, he said, “Wait a minute, you are not out of the woods yet.” I was shocked. At that point, I had not thought for a second that I would not get completely better. It hit me in an instant that many of the things that I had enjoyed in life were now threatened by this unplanned turn of events.

Fortunately, after leaving the hospital nine days later and and five weeks of follow up, my surgeon told me I did not have to come back to see him again. He said, “You have had a very good result. Much better than it could have been.” With that, I was free again. Free to enjoy life to the fullest with a new respect for the frailty of life. I am completely better now and consider myself a very lucky man indeed.

What did I learn from this life experience? I learned that I REALLY love my wife. Her unwavering support in every aspect of my life has made me a better and stronger person. I can strive to attain the highest levels of self proclaimed importance at work or anywhere else, but in the end, my wife, family, and close friends are who I can depend on to be at my side.

The experience also drove home the importance of the A Day Not Wasted concept for me, which I had embraced long before the events of last January. If things had turned out worse and I had lost the freedom to do the things I love, I would still have all of the great memories from the experiences that Donna and I have shared together. My passion for living life to the fullest would have paid off. All I would have had to do is close my eyes and remember hiking the Alps in Switzerland, meandering the canals of Venice, and marveling at the grace of Paris, among other truly memorable experiences. Those memories are mine forever and they can’t be taken away. Run, don’t walk, to enjoy your life. Every day is a gift that is not to be wasted. Are you pursuing your passions and creating memories? I hope so. If not, put a plan together today that moves you in that direction. You will not regret it.

This post is a lot more personal that I usually get on the ADNW blog. I have wanted to write this for a while and finally had the clarity to put it down. Thanks for listening and have a fabulous weekend!

Lee@ADNW

Ingrid Fliter's Chopin Piano Works

My bucket list includes a trip to the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland. The competition was first held in 1927 and has been held every five years since 1955. It is being held this month so I will have to wait five years to go when the next one comes around. It is one of few competitions devoted entirely to the works of a single composer. In 2000, Ingrid Fliter was awarded the silver medal at the Competition, which is how I came to know her work.

Rock and roll may be your preferred choice when creating your next masterpiece but I must say that nothing quite does it for me as much as a healthy dose of Ingrid playing Chopin in my studio. I also have her Beethoven works in my collection and I am am contantly checking her performance schedule to see if I Donna and I can fly to hear her play. She was actually in Lake Como, Italy a while back but not the week we were there.

Her talent is quite incredible. If you would like to hear a sample just click here. I don’t get a commission here…I JUST LOVE IT!

What works for you? I would like to know!

Perhaps the best foreign film I have seen - The Lives of Others

I can’t tell you how many people turn up their noses when I recommend foreign movies with subtitles. Guess what? There are tons of great film makers that don’t speak English! Donna and I have watched German, Polish, French, and Danish films. I also have Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese films in my cabinet that are yet unseen. I love being connected to folks outside the United States. My friend Alex from Hong Kong recommended a few great films from Asia to me recently. In fact, the last time I saw him, he handed me three movies to watch from his personal favorites list. Oh, and I always get a chuckle when I see a preview for an American movie after I have already seen the original in another language. They are remakes! I will plan cover some of them in another post.

Tonight, I want to recommend one of my all time favorites called “The Lives of Others.” It is a story about eavesdropping on the comings and goings of other people. Sounds kind of creepy, I know. Fortunately Facebook has made this perfectly acceptable behavior in our modern society. Set in 1980s Berlin, it all begins with a simple surveillance assignment given to Captain Gerd Wiesler, a Stasi officer and surveillance specialist. He is tasked with keeping an eye on Georg Dreyman, a respected playwright, and his actress girlfriend, Christa-Maria Sieland. The story unfolds as the officer becomes emotionally attached to the people he is ordered to surveil. My sense is that he yearns to have the rich and creative life of his subjects, which is one far from his own. Honestly, the story is so riveting that I forget that I was reading subtitles throughout the movie. It also has a great twist at the end that will not disappoint.

If you have not tried watching foreign films, I highly recommend it. It is really refreshing to see a cast of characters you know nothing about. You also gain an opportunity to see a story told from a completely different perspective. I have a pretty good list of films to share and look forward to mixing in a few posts about them going forward.

I blog because I love it. It is something that is uniquely mine that I can do with whatever I like. There is no one standing over my shoulder tell me what to do and how to do it. It is quite liberating to do something just because you love it. That said, it makes it even more fun if someone actually reads what you write. I suppose we all crave attention in some way and the Internet has dramatically expanded our ability to get it. Facebook has become a powerful force in the social networking game and, with over 400 million subscribers, you would hard pressed to find a more effective means to attract attention. So, to that end, I have decided to bring ADNW to Facebook in an attempt to find additional enthusiasic people with similar interests. If you are already on Facebook and would like to see ADNW postings there, please click “Like” in the Facebook Social Widget in the far right column, or click “Follow this Blog” in the NetworkedBlogs box just below that.

Basically I have two Facebook areas. One is my personal area and the other is a public page for ADNW. I think this arrangement will work well because the ADNW Facebook page will stay realtively on topic in the spirit of the site, which is art, travel and creative endeavors. Feedback is always appreciated and if you would like me to share with you how I set this up on Facebook, just ask!

A thank you goes out to Julie Hill for alerting me to the potenial of NetworkedBlogs on Facebook!

Gibson HDR Photo

While stepping out of my zone as a photographer today to learn something new, I ended up shooting a subject that reminded me of something my son and I did 11 years ago to do the very same. The story actually starts 14 years ago when Matt, then eight years old, asked for a guitar for Christmas. We were happy to oblige, but being the practical parents that we were, we delivered on his wish with an acoustic guitar instead of the electric guitar that he really wanted. You see, we were sure that any pursuit of virtuosity must surely have to start on the purest of all forms of the instrument, which was the old fashioned resonating wood box we knew as an acoustic guitar.

Our intentions were pure and although he was excited with his new found instrument on Christmas morning, he quickly lost interest in his weekly lessons and, as happens with many a music student, getting him to practice was a feat of unimaginable magnitude.

Flash forward three years later when he mustered up the courage to ask again for what he really wanted. No particular brand was mentioned. He just wanted something that plugged in with a volume knob. Well, I broke down and set out again to the music store in pursuit of what I thought would be a noise machine of unimaginable proportion. After nice chats with a variety of veteran music store salesmen, I ended up buying him a Fender Stratocaster and practice amp with all the accessories like cables and picks to round out the present.

Christmas morning came with a noticeably higher level of excitement and it was no time at all before the unholiest of sounds started emanating from the eight inch speaker of the practice amp. As he fiddled with the guitar for several weeks, I started thinking about ways to get him motivated. My solution was to buy my own Stratocaster and go to lessons with him. His was black and mine was transparent red. I told him that we only had to take joint lessons until he felt like going it alone. We ended up taking lessons together for about four months. After that he took off with unbridled passion and has not put the thing down since. Call it father’s pride but the kid is awesome on the guitar. He first learned all the songs he liked on the radio from bands like Green Day, Fuel, Blink 182 and Third Eye Blind. He then moved on to Classic Rock, John Mayer and Dave Matthews and threw some jazz and bluegrass in for good measure.

I ended up taking lessons for four years after we split up and loved every minute of it. The picture above is of my Les Paul 1959 40th anniversary reissue. I used it today as a subject for learning to shoot and process digital high dynamic range (HDR) images. More on that later.

When Matt entered college four years ago, he was a little uneasy about the transition. I told him he would do fine and that, as long as he kept his grades up, he was getting the opportunity of a lifetime to expand his horzions free of charge…for him anyway. He said he would give it a go but said that he envisioned that he would pretty much stay to himself, doing his school work and playing his favorite video games in the dorm. Well, the guitar ended up coming to his rescue. Four months later, the self proclaimed recluse was playing in front of 300 people at the Aggie Theatre in Fort Collins while standing on top of the bass drum no less.

Although I don’t play as much as I used to due to other distractions, I will forever take pride in the accomplishments that Matthew has attained with his instruments. Playing guitar for him will be a lifelong passion that all started with a simple request fulfilled. Since then, my goal as a father has been to expose him to as much as possible so he has the opportunity to latch onto something that he loves. I firmly believe that passions lay undiscovered in all of us. We must put forth the effort to grasp opportunities to learn so we can travel the road to excellence, which is the fuel for passion.

3D Model of My Favorite Mac

As fruitful as my professional career has been, I feel it has created a few challenges with my transition to fine art. I am not complaining. I know that having spent endless hours laying out brochures, designing logos and rendering 3D graphics has helped me make progress in my fine art pursuits. The problem is all my work on the Mac has wired my brain for detail and precision. Basically, I have spent about 20 years spinning and re-spinning concepts until I am thrilled with them or run out of time under deadline. As a result, I seem to fight to allow feeling and emotion to take over my in my oil paintings. I could just accept my leanings and focus on photorealistic painting but I don’t feel that I would be expanding my artistic horizons. Don’t get me wrong, I love looking at and admire photoreal paintings. Just check out Daniel Sprick’s work if you want to be blown away. Anyway, I will continue to strive to reach a new place with my art and keep practicing. I look forward to the day when I consistently turn out pieces that I like and feel like I have achieved my artistic objectives.

Full Frame Render of My Mini

The image above is a project I did for fun to learn the latest version of Lightwave 3D. 3D is a wonderful invention that has allowed me to create photorealistic models that can be spun in any direction for my advertising projects. I am so in my element when I am working in 3D. I do the model building and the computer does all the painting. Instead of pushing paint around the canvas, I push buttons to get the computer to do what I want. If the lighting is not right, I just move the lights, tweak the surfaces and hit render. It is quite fun really and the results can be very satisfying. I don’t do much of this anymore now that oil paining is my primary pursuit. I do, however, get the urge from time to time to satisfy my predisposition to get into the detail!