Inspiration

Images inspire. These are snippets of three of the many beautiful male images created by Varanasi, India based photographer, Laurent DG. See more here:

• Laurent DG homepage
• Sunkissed Skin (image one above)
• Real Masculinity (image two above)
• Angular Perfection (image three above)

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My funny Valentine
Sweet, comic Valentine
You make me smile with my heart

Your looks are laughable
Un-photographable
Yet, you're my favorite work of art

Is your figure less than Greek?
Is your mouth a little bit weak?
When you open it to speak, are you smart?

Don't, baby don't, don't you change your hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay, stay little Valentine
Stay

Each day is Valentine's...
Each day is Valentine's Day

Stay, little Valentine, stay, Stay, STAY!

Each day is Valentine's...
Each day is Valentine's Day
Sung by Chaka Khan

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Before there was a Rodgers and Hammerstein (The Sound of Music, The King and I, Oklahoma!, South Pacific), there was Rodgers and Hart. Richard Rodgers the composer and Lorenz "Larry" Hart the lyricist teamed up while Rodgers was in college at Columbia University. A mutual friend acquainted the two, Hart being a Columbia graduate.

"Like Rodgers, Hart nourished dreams of glory–accomplishments in the theater that would win him fame and wealth. That’s where the similarity ended, however. Rodgers had a muscular work ethic; music flowed out of him like conversation; he was handsome and, at least at this point, upbeat, attracted by–and attractive to–women.

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Hart was an undisciplined, unprepossessing man, whose furtive homosexual liaisons invariably ended in sorrow. Despite these differences, the young men hit it off: 'I left Hart's house,' Richard observed, 'having acquired in one afternoon a career, a partner, a best friend and a source of permanent irritation.'"

Despite a tumultuous collaboration, Rodgers and Hart together penned some classic songs, including the oft-covered "The Lady Is A Tramp," "Have You Met Miss Jones?," "Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered," "I Could Write A Book"...and the immortal "My Funny Valentine."

Who wrote "My Funny Valentine"?

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I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I been a runnin' ever since

It's been a long, a long time coming but I know
A change gon' come oh yes it will

It's been too hard living but I'm afraid to die
Cuz I don't know what's up there beyond the sky

It's been a long, a long time coming but I know
A change gon' come oh yes it will

I go to the movie, and I go downtown
Somebody keep tellin me "don't hang around"

It's been a long, a long time coming, but I know
A change gon' come oh yes it will

Then I go to my brother
And I say "brother, help me please"
But he winds up knocking me
Back down on my knees

There been times that I thought I couldn't last for long
Now think I'm able to carry on

It's been a long, along time coming but I know
A change gon' come, oh yes it will
Sam Cooke, on the coming change.

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Inspiration



Images, music, poems and lyrics inspire. A scene in a film or an event in real life inspires. So many things can inspire, yet we often lead our lives uninspired.

Inspiration sneaks up on us when we are unaware and unprepared. Just as quickly it vanishes, like the flame of a candle in a sudden breeze.

What has inspired you today? Someone's selfless act, a photograph, a song on the radio...


Remember Martin Luther King, Jr.

The photos appearing in this SLM post are from a variety of sources (sometimes referenced) and have been edited to complement the theme of this post. I place no claim of ownership on any but original SLM images, indicated when such is the case. Original SLM images are free for use in any format, but I request a courtesy link back to this website.

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