Surpass yourself and better be running...

Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.

African Proverb

The version that I received from my friend Brian ends with ... It doesn't matter if you are a Gazelle or a Lion... when the sun gets up, you know that to suceed, you must be able to surpass yourself ... I am fascinated by the word surpass. So challenging! So big! So meaningful!

New York High Dramatic Range Images

For quite sometime now I'm amazed by HDR (High Dynamic Range) architecture photography . I used to work in Real Estate Consultancy and one of my colleague, a graphic designer, was a passionate architecture photographer. He used to make HDR magic. High Dynamic Range (HDR) is a term used when speaking of images and image processing that makes images look like viewed through 3D glasses. You can use the processing carefully to create natural looking photos but you can use your creativity to create intense, dramatic and even apocalyptic images. In any case images will be more detail in the highlights and shadows than normal photos. For that reason HDR is popular in architecture photography because architecture requires very deep details, shadows and color range. What's interesting, the film industry uses HDR to create special effects.
I found some New York City HDR photos to share.

All photos from: http://abduzeedo.com

Empire State of Mind - New York

Today I live in Buenos Aires. But I would rather move to New York City on the next occasion. There's something magical about NYC. The City where you don't grew old. The City of dreamers, achievers, survivors and wanna-bes... The City where girls run in high hills all day long, where you wrap your hands around a coffee cup to warm up freezing fingers, where you look up to the sky, where the sky is the limit...

In New York, Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
There's nothing you can’t do, Now you're in New York!!!
These streets will make you feel brand new,
the lights will inspire you,
Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York

One hand in the air for the big city,
Street lights, big dreams all looking pretty,
no place in the World that can compare,
Put your lighters in the air, everybody say yeaaahh
come on, come, yeah...

In New York...
"Empire State of Mind" Jay-Z | Alicia Keys

My favorite thing is to go where I've never been

My favorite thing is to go where I've never been. Quote by Diane Arbus (1923 – 1971), an American photographer and writer noted for black-and-white square photographs of "deviant and marginal people (dwarfs, giants, transvestites, nudists, circus performers) or else of people whose normality seems ugly or surreal."

Sex Sells !!!

Diesel latest campaign for Spring 2010 is tagged "Sex Sells *Unfortunately We Sell Jeans". Maybe Diesel don’t, but someone else in the fashion industry does sell sex indeed. Designer and movie director Tom Ford is a man. He’s quite a brand building genius I must admit. He’s not just selling cloths, cosmetics and sunglasses, he’s representing and promoting a hedonistic lifestyle. His brand's modern design with sharp, sleek suits, appeals even to my boyfriend. He knows best how to shout for attention using sex and eroticism as an explosive marketing tool. Ford become one of most talked about designers of our times, his biography is impressive. He gave Gucci that famous eternal youth and the mysterious sexuality called the „Gucci sex factor”. In 2005 he created his own brand TOM FORD that became famous for stirring some controversy each time when releasing new ad campaign. His collaboration with a provocative photographer Terry Richardson resulted in “various fashion-forward, decadently deviant photographs”. And in 2008, Tom Ford outfitted gorgious Daniel Craig as James Bond in Quantum of Solace! Who can resist hot, steamy eroticism?! Sex truly Sells?

Imagination - more important than knowledge

Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) was a Jewish, German-Swiss-Austrian-American physicist who is widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists of all time. I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. I believe in intuition and inspiration. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research. Albert Einstein as quoted in "What Life Means to Einstein: An Interview by George Sylvester Viereck" in The Saturday Evening Post (26 October 1929)

That is a truly interesting quote that starts a discussion about superiority of imagination upon knowledge. While some find it irrelevant to measure one against the other I believe knowledge wouldn’t exist without the imagination. The source of knowledge is curiosity about the world, a search for explanations and answers, it’s a creative process driven by imagination. Einstein used to think beyond the norms and it is why he was able to develop his Theory of Relativity in the first place. Einstein also had passion for creative arts such as literature and music. Later in life, he found relaxation in improvising on his violin: "First I improvise, and if that doesn't help, I seek solace in Mozart [surely one of the greatest improvisers!]. But when I am improvising and it appears that something may come if it, I require the clear constructions of Bach in order to follow through" (Ehlers, p. 132). Variations, then, but on a theme.

References: Wikipedia, http://www.psychologytoday.com
Ehlers, Anita. Liebes Hertz! Berlin, Birkhauser, 1994; Calaprice, Alice, Ed. The Expanded Quotable Einstein. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Polyvore - playing paper dolls or Vogue's fashion editor?

Last week I had a paper dolls story. Today - Polyvore, internet fashion and shopping platform, IS a lot like playing paper dolls but with pictures of real clothes. Or better, playing Vogue's fashion editor with so much more fun! You can spend hours working on your unique fashion collage, flicking through images of millions of clothing items, shoes, bags and accessories. You drag and drop items until you decide your set is ready, than you can e-mail it to a friend, post it on your Facebook, Twitter, blog or share it with the Polyvore fashion community and let them judge your personal style and taste. Feel free to judge mine. My set is here beneath:

Walking on a beach by Cashewnut featuring JLo accessories

Within 3 years, the site grew from 0 to 1.4 million registered users. Over 6 million unique visitors makes Polyvore the largest fashion community site consisting of trendsetters, shoppers and amateur stylists who put together thirty thousand sets a day and post them on all sorts of social networking sites. That buzz helps to score 140 million page views per month.
So what is Polyvore? It’s an innovating online shopping experience that facilitates mixing and matching products from any online store to create fashion collections. In fact it’s an outstanding e-commerce, merchandising and marketing tool that inspires millions of enthusiastic people like me:) It opens new ways of communicating with global fashion-oriented and fashion-forward consumers. It’s an excellent tool for monitoring fashion trends and spotting new talents. As a prove, in 2009 Polyvore entered partnerships with brands including Calvin Klein, Marc by Marc Jacobs,Gap, Lancome and Nike among others. Nike, for example, frequently host fashion contests for best fashion sets that include one particular Nike clothing item. It usually generates 2000 - 6000 contest entries. The prizes are worth $100 gift card.
Here I posted few rndom communty members' sets. Check them out:

Head over heels by Jozefien featuring Balenciaga bags

Silk charmeuse top, $767
Knotted suede trench coat, $3,995
Stella mccartney skirts KHAKI, 345 GBP
Buckle Slingback Sandal, $695
Arena Giant Covered Velo - Sahara, $1,795
BVLGARI Chains & Leather Cords | Chains & Leather Cords | Yellow Gold..., $1,150
Limited-Edition Spring Look Palette, $65
Morning Beauty | Lily Donaldson by Sølve Sundsbø | Fashion Gone Rogue

this is so me by Anquetta featuring Gucci shoes

chic and effortless by lisaLockhart featuring French Connection shoes