The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination

Today i saw this video of the speech of J.K. Rowling at Harvard. Take a look...it quite inspiring.
"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all."

Hachico

In 1924 a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo took in Hachikō as a pet. During his owner's life Hachikō greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno did not return. The professor had suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and died, never returning to the train station where Hachikō was waiting. Every day for the next nine years the golden brown Akita waited at Shibuya station.


Hachikō was given away after his master's death, but he routinely escaped, returning again and again to his old home. Eventually, Hachikō apparently realized that Professor Ueno no longer lived at the house. So he went to look for his master at the train station where he had accompanied him so many times before. Each day, Hachikō waited for the return of his owner.

The permanent fixture at the train station that was Hachikō attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachikō and Professor Ueno together each day. They brought Hachikō treats and food to nourish him during his wait.

This continued for nine years with Hachikō appearing precisely when the train was due at the station

The art of Louis Wain

I recently discovered through a post by KarmologyClinic the art of Louis Wain. Wain was an artist, mostly know for his drawing of cats.

I was drawn by the subject (of course) but also from the amazing colors he used.

Then i read about him in Wiki that "At the age of 23, Wain married his sisters' governess, Emily Richardson... Emily soon began to suffer from cancer, and died only three years after their marriage. It was during this period that Wain discovered the subject that would define his career. During her illness, Emily was comforted by their pet cat Peter, and Wain taught him tricks such as wearing spectacles and pretending to read in order to amuse his wife. He began to draw extensive sketches of the large black and white cat. He later wrote of Peter, "To him properly belongs the foundation of my career, the developments of my initial efforts, and the establishing of my work." Peter can be recognized in many of Wain's early published works."

Moving isn't it?


In his later years he developed schizophrenia and many claim that one can see the process of his illness in his paintings.