19 Clicks

14 billion pages that make up the network of the web

Hungarian physicist

Albert-László Barabási

discovered that from every single one of these pages you can navigate to any other in 19 clicks or less.

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Visions of God - Power of Symmetry

 sublime symmetries, central infinity:

visions of heaven:

"order-creating gesture of mirror-symmetric composition...

directed by another kind of intelligence beyond the mind..."

Andrea Bátorfi 

Wisteria Tunnel

Kawachi Fuji Gardens

Kitakyushu, Japan

Heroism

Clinton Lovar "Clint" Romesha

On 11 February 2013 the former United States Army staff sergeant received the Medal of Honor in the White House for actions during the war in Afghanistan.

Medal of Honor citation

Staff Sergeant Clinton L. Romesha distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Section Leader with Bravo Troop, 3d Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, during combat operations against an armed enemy at Combat Outpost Keating, Kamdesh District, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan on October 3, 2009. On that morning, Staff Sergeant Romesha and his comrades awakened to an attack by an estimated 300 enemy fighters occupying the high ground on all four sides of the complex, employing concentrated fire from recoilless rifles, rocket propelled grenades, anti-aircraft machine guns, mortars and small arms fire.

Staff Sergeant Romesha moved uncovered under intense enemy fire to conduct a reconnaissance of the battlefield and seek reinforcements from the barracks before returning to action with the support of an assistant gunner. Staff Sergeant Romesha took out an enemy machine gun team and, while engaging a second, the generator he was using for cover was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, inflicting him with shrapnel wounds. Undeterred by his injuries, Staff Sergeant Romesha continued to fight and upon the arrival of another soldier to aid him and the assistant gunner, he again rushed through the exposed avenue to assemble additional soldiers. Staff Sergeant Romesha then mobilized a five-man team and returned to the fight equipped with a sniper rifle. With complete disregard for his own safety, Staff Sergeant Romesha continually exposed himself to heavy enemy fire, as he moved confidently about the battlefield engaging and destroying multiple enemy targets, including three Taliban fighters who had breached the combat outpost’s perimeter.

While orchestrating a successful plan to secure and reinforce key points of the battlefield, Staff Sergeant Romesha maintained radio communication with the tactical operations center. As the enemy forces attacked with even greater ferocity, unleashing a barrage of rocket-propelled grenades and recoilless rifle rounds, Staff Sergeant Romesha identified the point of attack and directed air support to destroy over 30 enemy fighters. After receiving reports that seriously injured Soldiers were at a distant battle position, Staff Sergeant Romesha and his team provided covering fire to allow the injured Soldiers to safely reach the aid station. Upon receipt of orders to proceed to the next objective, his team pushed forward 100 meters under overwhelming enemy fire to recover and prevent the enemy fighters from taking the bodies of their fallen comrades.
Staff Sergeant Romesha’s heroic actions throughout the day-long battle were critical in suppressing an enemy that had far greater numbers. His extraordinary efforts gave Bravo Troop the opportunity to regroup, reorganize and prepare for the counterattack that allowed the Troop to account for its personnel and secure Combat Outpost Keating. Staff Sergeant Romesha’s discipline and extraordinary heroism above and beyond the call of duty reflect great credit upon himself, Bravo Troop, 3d Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and the United States Army.

Clinton Romesha

Cover-Up Benedict

"He presided over one of the darkest eras in the church... the horrifying crimes he enabled... and his record of negligence and cover-up... has rendered him morally incapable of leading such an institution" 

Sullivan

Chinese New Year 2013 London VI

in Covent Garden

Chinese New Year 2013 London V

in Covent Garden

Chinese New Year 2013 London IV

in Covent Garden

Chinese New Year 2013 London III

 in Covent Garden

Chinese New Year 2013 London II

in Coven Garden

Chinese New Year 2013 London

in Covent Garden

On Maturity

Paul Delvaux painting

Dear Frida,

I do not mean to be cruel but I shall write to you exactly what I consider to be your faults and I hope sincerely that what I have written will influence you. Like most people, you are not able to face more than one fear during your lifetime. You also spend your life fleeing from your first fear towards your first hope. Be careful that you do not, through your own wiliness end up always in the same position in which you began. I do not advise you to spend your life surrounding yourself with those things which you term necessary to your existence, regardless of whether or not they are objectively interesting in themselves or even to your own particular intellect. I believe sincerely that only those men who reach the stage where it is possible for them to combat a second tragedy within themselves, and not the first over again, are worthy of being called mature. When you think someone is going ahead, make sure that he is not really standing still. In order to go ahead, you must leave things behind which most people are unwilling to do. Your first pain, you carry it with you like a lodestone in your breast because all tenderness will come from there. You must carry it with you through your whole life but you must not circle around it. You must give up the search for those symbols which only serve to hide its face from you. You will have the illusion that they are disparate and manifold but they are always the same. If you are only interested in a bearable life, perhaps this letter does not concern you. 

                              Jane Bowles: Two Serious Ladies

Cold Song

Purcell-Sting

What power art thou, who from below

Hast made me rise unwillingly and slow

From bed of everlasting snow?

See'st thou not how stiff and wondrous old

Far unfit to bear the bitter cold,

I can scarcely move or draw my breath?

Let me, let me freeze again to death.

Winter Loneliness

Winter Art

Freedom...

Mossy Times II.

Mossy Times

Neujahrskonzert Wien 2013 ballett

ballett

Neujahrskonzert Wien 2013

Blue Danube