"I copy that" is walkie-talkie talk for - I understand, will do, gotcha, ok, alright, yup, uh-huh, and much more depending on the inflection of the voice.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

I'm doing it this year. seriously.

I'm going for the novel again this year... I think the trip to argentina slowed me down a bit last year - by "bit" I mean "to a painful, grinding halt".

"National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30."

what this also reminds me is that it has been two years of blogging soon. Man, I'm old.

The problems I encountered before- I am not a good writer... no, that's not fair... I'm... not... "good". no, that didn't come out well either...

I do not develop good characters.

there we go.

I am more of a Vonnegutish style writer, so I am going to write like that... by "that" I mean, "any damn way I feel". I am just going to try and get the words out and then see what happens

So, this year it is going to start off with a series of observations - because I do that well. I observe. I punctuate how I think> maybe I'll even start making up some of my own+

{interesting}

*

moving on (I have to figure out how to separate my thoughts... a line? a star? number? ... I am very form orientated)> I am going to dork out here for a second>

I love the new feature in firefox that checks the spelling as you type in a web browser - as I am typing now there is a red line under "vonnugutish" and "firefox". if I "ctrl+click" on the word I am given spelling options. loutishness's and Firefox are the first options, respectively.

this is a god send for poor spellers like myself. Maybe I'll show you my childhood tests someday.

~

(that's sort of classy and not used very often... maybe that is a good separater (I don't think "separater" is a word... my firefox spell check doesn't think so.))

~

apple came up with a new upgrade for its professional photography software, aperture. it fixes a bunch of things, like the file storage problem I was having. it's a lot of work, but I finally may have all of my photos in one place and immediately searchable.

~

I am getting a new computer. anyone want this one? It's really good, it just doesn't run aperture> and I need it to run it when I am on the road or in "the field". So, I am upgrading to the brand spankin' new MacBookPro. It came out (and I bought it) on tuesday. it comes next week.

weeee!

I don't think people who buy Dells get this excited.

~

This was my stretching for writing... I may make it this year. 462 words.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Paxil Back

This song was created while I was in LA with People Food. Watch it, link it, pass it on... we are going viral, baby.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

jog

I'm back from the eddie adams workshop... no, my body is back - my mind is still somewhere upstate. It was one of the more intense weekends I have ever had. I am having a great deal of difficulty explaining it - it is sort of like the Sundance of photography - a learning and teaching and shooting weekend that has brought every major photographer to the barn in the last 19 years.

I mean, seriously. every famous photo that has moved you - that photographer was at the workshop at some time, probably multiple times.

It wasn't only about photojournalism, it was about the industry as a whole.

needless to say, I haven't even really gone through my photos, this is just one that I liked right now, it was taken at the monticello track. I was on the "sports" team with Bill Frakes as my leader. if you don't know who he is, google him, he is the top sports photographer in the world.

I have averaged about 3 hours of sleep a night for the past five days.

Monday, October 02, 2006

LA stuff

How was LA?

fine.

I really don't like going into it more than that... it just isn't a place for me, I knew that most of all riding in my taxi back to my apartment and saw the skyline of manhattan.

I was gone a long time - and I needed to be away from new york, but I learned LA wasn't it either. I will go back because there are some great people and great opportunities.

Everyone drives in LA. Now, I grew up like that... I guess, but it is different in LA, it is part of the culture, it's dumb.

The "scene" is a big deal. Who, where, and what you are matters, it is the way that things get done.

It is one of two major cities that are built around one thing. LA is only about the "biz" the entertainment industry. everyone works either in it, or for someone who is in it. Lawyers are entertainment lawyers, accountants are film/tv accountants, dentists whiten and straighten actors teeth, car salesmen are screenwriters, and so on. The other place is Las Vegas.

Girls are different. Beautiful, hot, tanned and toned... but, different. They are all, obviously, in the biz - but it is something else too. compared to NY girls they are very... smooth, like something you touch and caress while new york girls have more ... substance? something you can grab on to, something with attitude. I don't mean to be mean, it is just what I experienced most of the time - there are always exceptions to the rule. oh, and they wear high heels all of the time, because they can.

People get J-walking tickets. Seriously. Plural.

It is warm and sunny. I know this may be obvious, but I really like the seasons - it is jacket time here, I love it, the smells, so good.

that's it for now. I missed driving my vespa, skateboarding, cabs, good food - OH, food, seriously, FOOD... it is bad out there - unless you are only eating mexican or hamburgers. Why is that? Why wouldn't there be good restaurants everywhere? so weird. I missed sleeping on a bed, the familiar noises - there are new york noises and minnesota noises - I didn't get used to LA noises.

I'm sorry for this odd posting, I'm just trying to purge all of this stuff so that I can categorize it and move on and come back to LA in January with a clear, good head.

I'm back

yup.

I need a vacation. maybe that is what today will be, a one day vacation. then I get to start planning for the eddie adams workshop... this means creating a portfolio, which is sort of a big deal, and packing. Now, this may not sound like a lot, but I am categorizing a lot of things into "packing and portfolio". like clearing off two hard drives, with hundreds of thousands of photos, organizing those photos and choosing, printing and binding them into a kick ass presentation. I also need to buy boots. I am very excited by this - all of it - but the boots part is very exciting.

I don't shop. I hate it... I think it is just the part that I am spending money on things that I will someday have to replace. So, the things I DO enjoy buying are things that will last a long time, or I will use a great deal. Things like my computer, or camera, or vespa, or bike, or bed.

Growing up, I went canoeing for a month or so every year - I would need to shop for the things that would need to keep me alive, literally. My paddle, leatherman/gerber, boots, and rain jacket were the most important. I spent hours on each of these things. My mother loves to shop - she hates to shop for these sort of thing, it was funny how that worked out.

I still have my boots and jacket from 10 years ago. They are still awesome. I have lost or broken a paddle and knife or two, but they were good purchases. My new boots need to fill another purpose - they need to be flexible, comfortable, and waterproof. These are new categories, so I need new boots.

anyway, weird post, maybe I'll write another.