from amber:

After my mother almost died, all my close connections have become more precious, more keenly felt and enjoyed, knowing how special and tenuous those links are.

from kenneth:

the expression on ellen’s face in the photo taken of us just after finishing our vows.

When the train stops short and a stranger hovers a hand near the small of her back, just in case.

seeing my grandmother dance for the first time in 64 years.

We found a bird with it’s feet rendered useless by knots of matted twine and hair. It couldn’t walk or fly. We kept in a room, away from the cats. The next day, we gently cut away at the threads with nail scissors and tweezers, piece by piece, as the bird lay belly-up, completely helpless. We worked with great care, first on one foot, then on the other. When we were finished, the sight of it’s tiny, smooth claws was beautiful. We set it free in a nearby park and knew we had done something good.

anti-beautiful is not ugly, just an idle, painful,observation….

from emrys

Going for a bike ride through the countryside on a sunny day, hearing crickets chirp and enjoying the many colours (purple, yellow, green, orange) of grass swaying slowly in the wind.

this is a perfect moment. you are lying next to me, still sick from bad chicken. (I am surmising that you have been working too hard.) I am listening to the new New Pornographers album and working on an essay. this song starts poorly but really makes up for it at the end. your hand is on my arm as I write this. this is perfection. I know things are hard some days. but moments like this make them disappear.

i was with my wifey , when she was laying horizontal,
with belly-side-up in the OT for ‘OUR’ elective cesarean,

she was as good as a wood, administered and rendered motionless,

and me with my DSLR strapped around my neck, as a doting dad and a pro-photographer,

i was almost floating in joy, for the magic to happen.

time flies. . .
gloves get busy, scalpels intervene . . .

omg _ what all they do to a woman ?
and heavens, isn’t the tear hurting my wife ?

i was so knocked by the fact , that a woman
really have to go thru so much – pain , discomfort et al

her perfect body ripped apart mercilessly
gosh, this cant be humane

i was completely frustrated that she has to take all the pain/s

time flew . . .

baby happened . . .
snaps clicked . . .

but my wife has left me indebted . . .
there is no way i can repay of how beautiful
she has made my life look . . .

all i can aspire is to make her feel
at-least half of what she has given me

that will be really beautiful,
making life come full circle 🙂

Hearing someone confess their secrets is beautiful to me. We all have secrets and the act of exposing them is so raw that I am awestruck every single damn time I get to bare witness to it.

Kissing his coffee-flavour lips after boring routines.

As my eyelids began to shutter, she came into my vision. Her rather languid movements veiled such extraordinary power. No one could possibly look upon her without feeling her force. Her sights then met mine, and her lips began to move. I did not know what she was saying, but it enthralled me. Unknowingly, this strangely captivating figure would soon save me, and everything else would slip away like sand.

-Matthew Raymond Diomataris