Learning from a Crazy One

I'm a PC person. It's in my genes (thanks Dad). However, I love great innovation more. Steve Jobs -- the former CEO of Apple who passed away yesterday -- was the king of great innovation. He defied convention and created new technologies and devices that have revolutionized my life and quite frankly, the world. Not a bad dent to leave in the universe in only 56 years, right?


I use Steve's innovations at work, at home and at play. I even use his camera technology in the iPhone to take photos I've featured on this blog.

In 1997, Apple launched the "Think Different" advertising campaign, one of my favorite ad campaigns during my lifetime. It beautifully summarized what set Apple apart from its competitors, but also defined their leader as well.

Steve Jobs thought differently and looked at the world differently. Instead of stifling or conforming his vision, he took risks and followed his gut to creative genius. As he shared with the 2005 graduating class at Stanford University in his commencement address, change only happens when we dare to be bold and follow our intuition. Thank goodness for the world, Steve Jobs listened to his.

"Think Different" by Apple Inc.

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Spring Always Follows Winter

On my way home from work today with my iPod in my ear, the perfect song began to play that summarized my mood. I won't bore you with the all of the lyrics, but just highlight my favorite part of the song. Its words remind us to never forget that spring always follows winter.

Excerpt from "The Rose"
Performed by Bette Midler
Lyrics by Amanda McBroom

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong,
Just remember, in the winter,
Far beneath the bitter snow,
Lies the seed that with the sun's love
In the spring becomes the rose.

Gold Spire

This is the top of one of the pillars framing the entrance to the Jefferson Family Cemetery at Monticello. At a distance, this gate spire seemed ordinary. But after moving closer, I became intrigued by it.

Jefferson was a collector of ornate objects. He filled his estate with architectural characteristics and decorative items that would tell a story to onlookers, whether pieces were from Lewis and Clark's explorations of the American frontier or portraits of important figures, such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin or Isaac Newton.

Thus, it isn't surprising that his love of ornate elements would be extended to his final resting place as well. This gate spire is gold-tipped. Gold is a repeated design element on the cemetery fencing, and a featured part of the family crest of the front of the gate. Even in death, Jefferson still rested in luxury.

Brilliant Magenta

Here's a close-up image of yesterday's cockscomb photo. The flower's brilliant magenta is so striking. Also, its texture is so interesting. The top of the flower felt like velvet fabric.

Velvet Flowers

I've never seen this flower before my visit to Monticello. It's called cockscomb, named due to its unusual flower-head which appears enlarged and flattened like a fan or cockscomb. According to his records, Thomas Jefferson started sowing cockscomb at Shadwell, his boyhood home, in 1767 and it still grows in his backyard today. It is such a weird-looking flower, but the bright magenta color of the bloom is so striking. Even from great distances, your eyes would be drawn to the cockscomb in the flower beds.

Mulberry Row

This weekend is a meandering weekend filled with slow explorations of new places without agenda or schedule.

Like my leisurely strolls on paths like Mulberry Row at Monticello two weeks ago, I also enjoyed exploring for the first time Fredericksburg, Virginia this weekend and photographing its antique sites and treasures. Since there is still more photographs to share from my Monticello visit, I'll be posting my Fredericksburg photographs later in the week.

Postcard View of Monticello

All landscape photographers are looking to take a photograph that could be used on a souvenir postcard. The most common postcard images of Monticello are either aerial images of the plantation or photographs featuring the entire back side of the family house.

I prefer this side view of the back side of Monticello as a postcard image. From this vantage point, you can really appreciate the architectural attributes of its design, which would not be as apparent when photographing the back straight on and losing depth of field.

Jefferson Coat of Arms

I've mentioned before on the blog my love of lions. So, you can imagine how pleased I was to find a lion used in the gold coat of arms on the Jefferson family cemetery entrance gate.

Inscribed in the seal are the words, "Ab eo libertas a quo spiritus" which loosely translates to mean "He who gives life gives liberty." It's an ironic motto for slave-owning family, because their slaves' liberty was held by man and not their creator.

Inside Looking Out

Underneath Monticello, running the length of the home, is a tunnel used by Jefferson's house staff to maintain the house and grounds. This dark, stone-lined tunnel connected the slaves to a variety of service rooms used for storage, cleaning and cooking for the main house. During the day, the only daylight present came from these half circle windows which were scattered along along the corridor and in the ancillary rooms.

While Monticello's surroundings were beautiful, how sad it must have been for the slaves who spent so many hours in this tunnel, fulfilling their role in Jefferson's household. Whether they prepared the family's meals or maintained Jefferson's extensive wine and beer cellars or laundered and ironed clothes and linens, the only glimpse of Monticello's spectacular view during working hours was through these tiny windows.

The Art of Goodbye

I'm not fond of goodbyes, and I know I'm not alone. Growing up, I was oblivious to goodbyes. Most of the time, I rarely recognized when goodbyes were needed. I assumed that goodbye was something you said when you left someone's company at their home or at the end of an occasion just to be polite. I had no idea as a child that goodbyes are a process, an opportunity to acknowledge the passing or change in circumstances, or perhaps even a relationship.

As an adult, goodbyes have become something completely different. At times, goodbyes can be as simple as "see you later" or "see you again soon," or more complex as in "I'll miss you" or "we may never see each other again." As the years pass, I'm faced with more complex goodbyes and I'm not happy about it. I cry less now at these complex farewells; in the beginning, I would cry like a baby. I try to end these goodbyes with "I love you," recognizing that life is short and may not provide other moments to share those feelings. It's comforting to say during those departures. Plus, I like "I love you" to be the last words for awhile.

Goodbyes signal endings, but can be beginnings too. Goodbyes herald change -- good or bad. Goodbyes require our hearts to be steadfast, yet flexible to changing situations and relationships. So all we can do is seize these goodbye moments when they happen and make them honest and memorable. And always give big hugs. The bigger the hug goodbye, the longer the warmth of that affection lingers after you leave. In my experience, it makes saying goodbye a little easier.

Jefferson's Grave

Since Monticello was Thomas Jefferson's favorite place on Earth, he arranged to be buried there. Today, his grave -- marked by a larger obelisk erected by the United States government than the original one designed by Jefferson himself -- sits in the Jefferson family's private cemetery. Fenced in and not accessible to Monticello visitors, linear descendants of Jefferson are buried here and the family oversees the management of the cemetery. Jefferson's descendents resulting from his relationship with his slave, Sally Hemings, are not allowed burial in this family cemetery.

While the obelisk that serves as Jefferson's headstone is a common symbol of Freemasonry, Jefferson was not a member. According to his letters and personal documents, Jefferson did not approve of fraternal organizations, although many of his contemporaries, such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Marquis de Lafayette, were Freemasons.

The only element that remains of Jefferson's original design for his grave is the inscription on his grave marker. He only wanted to be remembered for three things, and as such, his epitaph reads:

Here was buried Thomas Jefferson
Author of the Declaration of American Independence
of the Statue of Virginia for Religious Freedom
and Father of the University of Virginia.

His epitaph does not mention his presidency or even Jefferson's tenure as governor of Virginia or U.S. Secretary of State. Interestingly, Jefferson thought of these roles as civic duties, not life achievements. Instead, he focused his epitaph on his considerable accomplishments, which one would have been heralded as a great legacy.

Jefferson's Weather Dial

Thomas Jefferson was obsessed with the weather. Twice every day, he would collect and record weather measurements. He installed a large weather vein to the top of the main entrance to Monticello. However, in case of inclement weather, Jefferson also devised this weather dial that was connected to the weather vein but placed on the ceiling of the main entrance. Instead of needing to walk outside to gather his wind measurements, Jefferson would just need to step out his front door and look up at the exposed weather dial.

Ingenious, right? Jefferson was well-known for devising efficient, easy ways to conduct day-to-day tasks. He even boiled down how to live your best life into ten simple rules. A poster of the Jefferson's Ten Rules, which I've included below, is sold at the Monticello's gift store. I love the rules' simplicity and timelessness. Jefferson selected words and phrases thoughtfully, as evidenced by his evergreen prose found in the Declaration of Independence, intending for his words to live beyond him. He succeeded.

Jefferson's Ten Rules
By Thomas Jefferson

• Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
• Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
• Never spend money before you have earned it.
• Never buy what you don't want because it is cheap.
• Pride costs more than hunger, thirst and cold.
• We seldom repent of having eaten too little.
• Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
• How much pain the evils cost us that never happened.
• Take things always by the smooth handle.
• When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, count a hundred.

Little Mountain

According to our tour guide at Monticello yesterday, Thomas Jefferson was fluent in seven languages. Monticello in Italian -- one of Jefferson's languages -- means "little mountain," appropriate since the plantation was built on a mountaintop.

From Monticello, Jefferson and his family could see the Blue Ridge Mountains and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville to the west. This image was taken looking south from Mulberry Road which runs along the southeastern side of the main house. On a clear day, the Jeffersons must have had quite a view. It is understandable why Jefferson and his family loved this estate so much.

Beautiful Monticello

Today, I finally visited Monticello, the former home of Thomas Jefferson near Charlottesville, Virginia. It was spectacular and lived up to all of my expectations. This is a photograph of the well-known back of the main house, which faces a large lawn bordered by flowering plants and oak trees.

I've always held a deep appreciation of Jefferson's brilliance, but exploring his home today raised it to a higher level. Jefferson designed Monticello himself and personally oversaw its construction. Inspired by his extensive reading about architecture, as well as his years living in France as an American diplomat, Monticello reflects more Roman, Greek and French architecture than the colonial style of the period. He also used the house and 3,000-acre plantation as a laboratory for his inventions and experiments. His innovations, such as doors that automatically open and a wine dummy system to transport wine from the underground cellars to the dinning room, provided efficiencies and ease of living that were before its time.

While Jefferson has his critics, due to his hypocrisy of being an advocate for Americans' freedoms yet owning at least 130 slaves at Monticello, you cannot disregard his contributions because of it. His forward-thinking  and leadership helped a fledgling nation start its journey in the world and billions of people have benefited as a result. Monticello's slavery past may represent what was disappointing about Jefferson, but Monticello as a whole illustrates his greatness.