More Than Kids

Festa da Capoeira and Ginga Mundo

This is part of my continuing "notes on a blog" feature. This post references Four Capoeira Festivals at Bryan Farley Photography.

My son turned 11 a few days before the recent capoeira festival. He received his first adult belt. Capoeira belts have many shades and colors. I don't understand how the belts are awarded in capoeira or any other martial art.

 

2017

 

 

Capoeira is a martial art, but it is also dance and music. I have included this link for a reference. Capoeira started in Brazil, but there is some mystery about Capoeira's origins. African slaves were probably instrumental in capoeira's development.  Since slaves were not allowed to practice fighting and military training, some argue that slaves incorporated music and dance to hide their subversive activities. Did the rhythm help with the training or did the training evolve?

 

 

2016

 

 

I recently watched a show about evolution. Supposedly, humans are special, because we use and develop tools. In many schools, our children do not have the opportunity to use tools. In capoeira, the students work with their hands and make musical instruments. The students also play the same instruments.  Somehow, working with our hands has become devalued, despite the brain science that proves humans thrive when we move and create. The students literally connect learning from their hands to their brains. Learning becomes relevant at the cellular level.

 

My son needs to move. Often in school, kids are rewarded for sitting still. I think that educators must be cautious of rewarding students for sitting still and being quiet, especially considering our world's complex history.  My son often finds himself caught in the middle... between parents who recently divorced, between two languages, between two (or more cultures. He often wants to speak out against injustice, and he is often told to remain quiet by both sides. He needs space to move.

 

2015

My son is the kid jumping in the air with his hands above his head. This pictures was taken at the end of third grade. 

 

December 2013

This picture was taken in December, 2013. My son was in second grade and he already loved capoeira. His confidence was growing, along with his coordination and commitment. He seemed unable to stop playing some days.  Fortunately, he had people to guide him... who will continue to guide him. 

 

Deuces Wilde

I am continuing my Notes on a Blog with some notes on a few blog posts over at www.bryanfarleyphotography.com

On the last blog post of 2015 with Christine and her daughter, despite claiming that I would not use another Oscar Wilde quote, I included two.

The previous year, I started my post with a quote from Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Later in the post, I wrote a phrase to describe parental love. I called it "the importance of being Christmas." I still like it.

When I photographed Christine in 2014, I noticed her The Importance of Being Earnest book cover/box. I thought it might be a clue. More than a year ago, I searched for clues EVERYWHERE. I have since learned that I have prosopagnosia (or face blindness). I don't recognize people by their faces. However, in 2014, I just thought that people were intentionally changing identities and appearances like characters in a Wilde story. Now I wonder if Wilde was face blind.

The 2015 Christine and Ava blog post title is an intentional play on the Paul Simon song Mother and Child Reunion. I remembered the song being happier, so throughout the post, I misquote "Kodachrome" a different Paul Simon song. Trains reappeared again this year. (read the previous year's post.) The number two also connected the last four posts. Sometimes the number appeared literally. Sometimes a mother and child made a family. Two wild turkeys crossed the road. We didn't know why. (We didn't take their photo either.)

I photographed another mother and daughter the previous month... but mostly the daughter. Sometimes I include photos like this to document location. I also want to document that the mother was with us, even though we are good friends. I don't know if this is necessary or important, but I do it out of habit I guess. Photographing Haylie was really fun. I have known her mother since we were both in high school (we actually met as kids). I also enjoyed photographing Haylie, because she is photogenic. Many people correctly say that they are not photogenic. I am not. It's strange to come alive when someone points a tool at you, but some people do. Haylie does. It makes photography even more fun.

When I photographed The Women Who Code event, I kept seeing Two's. There was a Giving Tuesday promotion. WHC is a technology organization, so I thought about 2.0 and connecting through technology. I also thought about zeros and ones, but there was this big number 2 on the wall. I think it was produced with a 3D printer.

 

The final post was for the Epilepsy Gala. I tried to write as little as possible and still say a great deal. The author of the American with Disabilities Act is from Dos Palos, California, a small Central Valley town. When translated from Spanish, Dos Palos means "two sticks." I wanted to emphasize that often people who dance to their own drummer, or who come from unlikely places, transform the world. We often look to the big city for change, even though the outcast often comes to the big city and changes it. Those of us with epilepsy would do well to remember that we can change the world because we are out casts, instead of thinking we can do it despite of our status.

Those of us who are artists might want to remember something similar. I forget who said it, but it was probably some often quoted author referenced in another blog post, "No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist."

Or she

and one last image from my archive (my daughter)

 

Another Year Being a Father

Last year I posted a story with pictures for the 10 year anniversary of being a father to my little girl Emily. You can read the pictures and words at Bryan Farley Photography.

It's been another year. Today, Emily turns eleven years old.

Yesterday a friend asked my what I see when I see God. I told her about the George Strait song that I mentioned in last year's post and how I see God in my daughter and the flower growing in concrete. I also explained that I see God in the way that I want to be as a person. God holds me to a higher standard and loves me when I fail to reach it. God is like a really good parent.

I have been reading a booklet from church called Forward Day by Day. It's filled with inspirational quotes and stories. Today's quote is from Psalm 27:11. (The corresponding story if from Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Signs)

You speak in my heart and say, "Seek my face," Your face, Lord, will I seek.

Today I also photographed my neighbor's new baby. It was a present to me and all the other babies who grew up to be fathers who cry a little when they hear songs about seeing God in common spaces.

Oakland Piedmont Youth Ballet 2013 Cookie Party

In 2009, I wrote an article for a local community paper about a ballet program. My daughter had recently started taking ballet with Ms. Patricia Hunter at Oakland's Redwood Park Recreation Center and I knew I had a good story. I also took photographs.

This year was the 22nd annual celebration. My daughter, who is nine, received her five year trophy. I took several photos of the dancers, but nothing like the 2009 photo gallery. I have included the original story and photo gallery below.

2009 blog post with links to newspaper article

2009 photo gallery

Tommie Smith Mexico City 45 Years Ago

I met Tommie Smith this year. Today is the 45th anniversary of his victory in Mexico City. He became more famous for his actions on the podium.

Tommie Smith continues lifting athletes. Read more on my other site about Tommie Smith.