My top 40 favorite Photos found on StumbleUpon – Selected from a pool of over 1200 photos compiled during my 4 year stumbling addition…

Yes – I’m still addicted to Stumbling through the Blogosphere looking for that next eye-popping photo or mind blowing post. Stumbleupon is by far – my favorite social media site for a myriad of reasons.  The first being that Stumbleupon keeps me attuned to the best blogging practices and trends on the net. The second benefit is connecting with like-minded internet users who share their discoveries and work in collaboration online. But the addiction factor is the result of all the great artists who have inspired me, given reason to smile or elicited a good laugh-out-loud. Yesterday, I painstakingly went through all the photos I’ve given a thumbs- up over the past 4 years – a total 1200. You can visit my Stumble blog at Alchemy33 to see all 4,733 of my favorites.

I selected my favorite 40 photos to share on EYD and made certain to link each of them to the original source I found while stumbling. The result is my Top 40 photos found while stumbling. I hope you enjoy and drop me a comment below with your favorite photo and why….

“Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph.” – Matt Hardy

More Beautiful photos found on Stumbleupon

“Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.” ~Roger Miller

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief…and unspeakable love.”  Washington Irving

“Two lovers in the rain have no need of an umbrella.” ~ Japanese Proverb

“Rain showers my spirit and waters my soul.”
~Terri Guillemets

“Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you.”Langston Hughes

“Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.”  Frank Howard Clark

“No person has the right to rain on your dreams.”  Marian Wright Edelman

“God didn’t promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.” Unknown

“In our lives there is bound to come some pain, surely as there are storms and falling rain; just believe that the one who holds the storms will bring the sun.” Unknown

“The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed- It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.”  William Shakespeare

“May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you and all your heart might desire.” Irish Blessing

“The best kind of rain, of course, is a cozy rain. This is the kind the anonymous medieval poet makes me remember, the rain that falls on a day when you’d just as soon stay in bed a little longer, write letters or read a good book by the fire, take early tea with hot scones and jam and look out the streaked window with complacency.” ~Susan Allen Toth, England For All Seasons

Money is only good for a weekday, a holiday, and a rainy day.~ Russian Proverb

“Life is like this: sometimes sun, sometimes rain.” ~ Fijian Proverb

“The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.”  ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“…Be still, sad heart, and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.”
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807-1882, written in 1845?

“In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer”  Albert Camus

I love the first snowfall of the year; with the arrival of winter I feel close to home. We have our Christmas rituals and family dinners. And as I reflect, I smile at the nostalgia of my life.

I have lived in three different cities since leaving home long ago, but in truth – home will always be where my mother lives. I remember her looking out the window of our old house and asking me if I thought it was going to be a white Christmas. And I can’t help but somehow feel that when the snow finally fell – those words made it magical.

That old house my father rebuilt was a castle.  I remember how much cool stuff my parents had stashed everywhere. The basement was a maze filled with antiques and treasure boxes of new things.  So many important memories live on that street. When my mother finally sold it, I walk around for one last time and cried my eyes out.  I realized that until I had my own family, nothing would ever feel that safe again.

Heart warming Winter quotes and photos is my 5th photo Blog collection.  Each photo links directly to the original source.

Of winter’s lifeless world each tree
Now seems a perfect part;
Yet each one holds summer’s secret
Deep down within its heart.
~Charles G. Stater

One kind word can warm three winter months. ~Japanese Proverb

“Lovers, forget your love And list to the love of these She a window flower And he a winter breeze …” Robert Frost

Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories. ~From the movie  An Affair to Remember

Every winter,
When the great sun has turned his face away,
The earth goes down into a vale of grief,
And fasts, and weeps, and shrouds herself in sables,
Leaving her wedding-garlands to decay -
Then leaps in spring to his returning kisses.
~Charles Kingsley

Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts. ~Janice Maeditere

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall. ~Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ~Norman Vincent Peale

The message of Christmas is that the visible material world is bound to the invisible spiritual world. ~Author Unknown

At Christmas play and make good cheer,
For Christmas comes but once a year
~Thomas Tusser

Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.”  Victor Hugo

“People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy.” Anton Chekhov

“In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.”  William Blake

“Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life’s relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the window-panes, which vanish with the warmth.” Soren Kierkegaard

On a lone winter evening, when the frost Has wrought a silence.
John Keats

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. ~Roy L. Smith

In the bleak midwinter Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter, Long ago.
Christina G. Rossetti

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveler, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home! ~ Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, 1836

Wouldn’t life be worth the living
Wouldn’t dreams be coming true
If we kept the Christmas spirit
All the whole year through?
~Author Unknown

Remember
This December,
That love weighs more than gold!
~Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon

“Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it.”
- A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

“Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,” said Scrooge. “But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!”
- A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens.

Previous Photo Blog spotlights include: a Definition of Originality, photography captured in a Kiss, Enchanting Autumn incantations, and Yaletown 2010 Olympic Canvas.

The world has been invited to my doorstep, and I plan on seizing my Olympic moment. As you may know, I live in swanky Yaletown located in the core of beautiful Vancouver BC. Home to the Stanley Park, Big Buds, and a culture open to the free-will of a changing generation. There is something about that West coast dream that is nurtured by the Ocean breeze and fading mountain tops: it draws the artistic and free-spirited to its canvas.

Forget all the naysayer and protester crap for a moment, and answer this question.  Is there any other time, when the world unites to compete and celebrated the human spirit?  For 16 days, it’s the precious dreams of a hard working few that span every color and race, that capture our imagination and teach us that we are all capable of individual greatness.  Dreams do come true, and the tears of pure joy and pride that flow from victory and defeat are the best tears we can hope for… The best tears we can dream for…

This is Yaletown Citizen.  A local artist walking the streets of Vancouver musing about life in the core. The countdown is on, the party tents are up; even the Curling the tickets have sold out.  So let the blogging begin.  Welcome to my Olympic series on Vancouver 2010.

Stumbling through the Social Media Cybersphere, sometimes I find a photo that stills my imagination, and for a brief moment I feel a part of its beauty.  So this is my home in the heart of the Olympic canvas: beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  Each photo links directly to the original artistic source on Flickr. Feel free to drop me a comment below with your thoughts on the 2010 games.“The posters feature the traditional maple leaf rendered in a new way that is symbolic of a country that is young at heart, diverse, dynamic and fun.”  Source: John Furlong, VANOC CEO“An excited crowd of approximately 2,000 gathered at the corner of Hornby and Georgia Streets over the noon hour on Monday, February 12 in downtown Vancouver. They celebrated the spirit of the 2010 Winter Games, which will begin on February 12, 2010, while anticipating the launch of the Official Countdown Clock for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.” Source: Vancouver 2010The Richmond Olympic Oval is located on the banks of the Fraser River, 14 kilometers south of downtown Vancouver. Located in the northwest corner of Richmond, the Oval is across the river from the Vancouver International Airport and near Richmond city centre.

False Creek Community Centre will be part of Granville Island festivities during the Games. Programming and some facility access may be limited in order to allow for special activities between February 1 and March 3, 2010 Source: False Creek Community center

The Olympic and Paralympic Village Vancouver is located on the southeast side of False Creek in Vancouver. With close proximity to the competition venues, athletes will be able to walk or take a short bus ride to the city’s shopping and entertainment districts and can enjoy the nightly Victory Ceremonies and cultural celebrations just moments away at BC Place.

“The three mascots and a sidekick for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver were inspired by traditional First Nations creatures, and introduced Tuesday to 800 schoolchildren at the Bell Performing Arts Centre in Surrey, B.C. ” Source: CBC News

Vancouver’s first park and one of the city’s main tourist attractions, Stanley Park is an evergreen oasis of 400 hectares (1,000 acres) close to the downtown core. Its natural west coast atmosphere offering a back drop of majestic cedar, hemlock and fir trees embraces visitors and transports them to an environment rich in tranquility. Source: Vancouver Park board

Whistler Olympic Park will host 28 total Olympic events (1/3 of all Olympic Winter Games events)

Every good-hearted Canadian is dreaming gold. Olympic gold.  And I got the tickets to the Games.
February 21, 2010. – Ice Hockey – Men’s Preliminary Round – Sweden vs. Finland.
February 24, 2010. – Ice Hockey – Men’s Play-offs Quarterfinals Game 23
February 25, 2010 – Ice Hockey – Women’s Gold Medal Game – Game 20

So stay tuned for more to come… E.Y.D

 “Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile.” William Cullen Bryant

“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.” George Santayana

“Seasons change, friends move away, and life goes on from day to day. Flowers fade and streams go dry and many times we wonder why. Yet we can always be assured because God tells us in His Word, that unlike changes in the weather, love goes on and las”  Unknown

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.” Jim Rohn

Autumn days are here again!

In autumn when the trees are brown
The little leaves come tumbling down
They do not make the slightest sound
But lie so quietly on the ground
Until the wind comes puffing by
And blows them off towards the sky.

“And you would accept the seasons of your heart just as you have always accepted that seasons pass over your fields and you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.” Kahlil Gibran

“Love is the only flower that grows and blossoms Without the aid of the seasons.” Kahlil Gibran

“For him in vain the envious seasons roll, Who bears eternal summer in his soul.” Oliver Wendell Holmes  “No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace
as I have seen in one autumnal face”

by John Donne Elegy IX: The Autumnal

“Don’t doubt the fact there’s life within you. Yesterday’s ending will tomorrow life give you.All that dies, dies for a reason, To put it’s strength into the seasons.” Unknown

“The past is a guidepost, not a hitching post.”
- Thomas Holcroft

“To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.”
- Emily Dickinson

Related Photo Blog Posts:  A photo definition of Originality

The beauty of photography captured in a kiss

“I am a part of all that I have met…” Ulysses by Lord Alfred Tennyson

What defines originality? Setting out to explore this topic, I quickly realized the simple complicated truth: Everything and nothing is original. Each new idea is spun from a web of past experiences and knowledge.

For instance, can anything claim to be more original then the light bulb. And yet, even Edison’s idea is not original. It’s a thought born from the sun, passed onto the candle, until it became the light bulb.
I realize now, my personal quote “I love all things original“, is fundamentally flawed and probably the result of having heard something from a forgotten source. What I should say is, “I love all things”, for everything is connected, everything is a part of something else. Therefore, originality is beyond any definition I can provide for you.

So I decided to transform this question into my monthly E.Y.D Photo Blog hoping it will spark some illuminating thoughts. To compliment these Social media photos, I have added a few appetizers to meditate upon… Each photo was tagged under Originality, and links directly to the Artists kind enough to share their work on Flickr

Can you define Originality?  Drop me a comment with your thoughts on what originality is to you, or just add one idea you think is original.

Related Post:

E.Y.D Photo Blog Part I : The beauty of photography captured in a kiss

E.Y.D Photo Blog Part III : Enchanting Autumn incantations of sublime seasonal change

E.Y.D Photo Blog Part II:  orig·i·nal·i·ty

God has given you one face, and you make yourself another.” Shakespeare

Pronunciation: \?-?ri-j?-?na-l?-t?\ Function: noun Date: 1742
1 : the quality or state of being original 2 : freshness of aspect, design, or style 3 : the power of independent thought or constructive imagination

A

Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempts to display qualities which he does not possess, and to gain applause which he cannot keep.  ~ Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, 1750

“A quality given to ideas expressed as unique, novel or different from any other previously recognized ideas of a similar nature.”

There is just one life for each of us: our own. ~ Euripides

“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.”  Herman Melville

How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.  ~ Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. ~ Dr. Seuss

“Originality is simply a pair of fresh eyes.”   Thomas W. Higginson

Wherever you go, go with all your heart. ~ Confucius

“Utter originality is, of course, out of the question”  Ezra Pound

“Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it”

.  Laurence J. Peter

Most people are other people.  Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.  ~ Oscar Wilde, De Profundis, 1905

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius & it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring…” ~unknown

If you are ashamed to stand by your colors, you had better seek another flag. ~ Author Unknown

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring two pence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. ” C. S. Lewis

“Be yourself” is about the worst advice you can give some people.  ~Tom Masson

Originality is nothing by judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another.  Voltaire

If you cannot be a poet, be the poem.  ~David Carradine

“You’ve gotta be original, because if you’re like someone else, what do they need you for?”  Bernadette Peters

“Should we all confess our sins to one another we would all laugh at one another for our lack of originality”  Kahlil Gibran

Related Post: E.Y.D Photo Blog Part I : The beauty of photography captured in a kiss

The beauty of photography captured in a kiss.  Thy Addiction to Stumbleuponhas brought forth a new love in my life. The love of photography. The extraordinary amount of breathtaking pictures I have viewed on social media sites has been a wonderful experience. So I have decided to highlight each month, one Photo blog and an assortment of pictures I discover on the net. This month, I am highlighting both Design Swanand Kiss Me Daily.  Design Swan is a wonderfully unassuming blog with mind boggling photos that elevate the imagination. Check out this amazing set of photos: Droste Effect: magic happens when math meet image…

Kiss Me Daily is so simple it’s sweet; its greed  “A kiss is all we need….”. I have decided to use this theme for my first post in this new continuing series on Photography and Photo Blogs.

“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.” ~ Ernst Haas

Part 1.  ”A kiss is all we need…”  Inspired by Kiss Me Daily

Related Posts: Enchanting Autumn incantations of sublime seasonal change

A photo definition of Originality

I recently Stumbled-upon a social bookmarking website for images and photos called Vi.sualize.us. I found some terrific photos and pop culture quotes that inspired me to put together my fourth collection of inspirational favourites found on Stumble. Are you a Stumbler? Feel free to check out My Stumbleupon Blog and subscribe to my stumbles here at: http://alchemy33.stumbleupon.com

Drop me a comment below with your favourite pick from this fourth selection.

Stumbleupon is thy addiction!  The beautiful picture, the inspiring passages, the laughs, the smiles and the wonderful lessons learned… Stumbleupon has become one of my favorite hobbies, and so I thought to once again share some of my favorite lessons from this great community.

If you enjoyed this post then give it the Thumbs up…Cheers

cute (ky t) adj. cut·er, cut·est 1. Delightfully pretty or dainty.2. Obviously contrived to charm; precious:

Promise me you’ll never forget me because if I thought you would I’d never leave.” Winnie the Pooh

“”I don’t see much sense in that,” said Rabbit.
“No,” said Pooh humbly, “there isn’t. But there was going

to be when I began it. It’s just that something

happened to it along the way.””

Winnie the Pooh

You haven’t lost your smile at all, it’s right under your nose. You just forgot it was there.”

Winnie the Pooh

“Love is what makes two people sit in the middle of a bench when there is plenty of room at both ends” Winnie the Pooh

“Some love one, some love two. I love one, and that is you.” Winnie the Pooh

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like “What about lunch?” Winnie the Pooh

If the person you are talking to doesn’t appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.” Winnie the Pooh

Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” Winnie the Pooh

“A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference.” Winnie the Pooh

“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”

Winnie the Pooh

“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.” Winnie the Pooh

Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” Winnie the Pooh

Related Posts: My response to Ed Varney’s poem titled Happiness

Enlightening quotes from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

I believe you can find Zen anywhere you look.  So today, I thought I would share a few lessons and a little Zen from the pictures I have found on Stumbleupon.  Help enlighten someone’s day by giving this the thumbs up, a review, or send it to a friend.   Thanks, I hope you enjoy.

All children are Zen Masters, because everything is an eye opening experience to a child.

“Your eyes show the strength of your soul. ” Paulo Coelho
The Alchemist

Sometimes It is Hard Being Different

“Mother’s love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved.”

Love is everywhere, all you need to do is look…