'73 spirit

Happy Birthday, lover.

(23)

this corrosion

Places don't change. We do.

(22)

game day

I often must remind myself that art doesn't appeal to everyone.

(21)

open window

(20)

inside out

Everything is beautiful
in its own way.
-Ray Stevens

(19)

techno fever

The stranglehold technological has over society often drives me crazy. Even though I sell consumer electronics and know far too many seemingly useless tidbits about the ways and means of it all, I care very little about shiny toys and the advances in cellphones and their compatriots. The Florence & the Machine concert my girlfriend and I saw during this past summer was visited by a pseudo-fascist uprising of the smartphone brigade who simultaneously felt the need to video the proceedings for seeming prosperity. The cold glow from the audience resembled a roomful of old school Cylons preparing to overtake the humans en masse.

(18)

black friday.

4:47 AM.

(17)

give thanks

A multitude of simple pleasures create bliss.

(16)

function junction

The optimist already sees the scar over the wound; the pessimist still sees the wound underneath the scar.
- Ernst Schröder

(15)

in communicado

(14)

no comment

!

(13)

mojo rising

Don't neglect to consider the vantage point of someone else.

(12)

filthy beast

For four years, I had long Jesus locks. There were lengths of time when they'd fall halfway down my back, and there were strands of time that I wore it well, and other spurts that I bound it into a ponytail if only to get it the hell out of my way without any thought of appearance.

During the production of my first play, I demanded a beard of a cast member who played a slimy doctor. In what was initially a sign of solidarity with him, I too began to grow out a beard. I had slacked on shaving again and again over time, and soon realized why. It suits me and is a part of who I am that had been lurking underneath for a very long time.

(11)

ventura highway

(10)

say cheese

Smile though your heart is breaking
Smile even though it's aching
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through for you.
- Nat King Cole (1954)

(9)

rain, shine.

Everyone has routine. It's imperative to look forward to some of it.

(8)

unbreakable cycle

Know your place.

(7)

look closer.

I was born an observer. It creates varied perspective and enhances visual memory. Sometimes it suggests regret or disconnection from the action and at other times it offers the chance to miss out on inconsequential dramas.

(6)

maximum exposure

It is said that a picture can express a thousand words. However, our vocabulary will always be limited by the ones we see.

(5)

waste not

(4)

walk about

Those must be comfortable shoes. I bet you could walk all day in shoes like those and not feel a thing.
- My feet hurt.
My momma always said you can tell a lot about a person by their shoes - where they go, where they've been . . . .
-Forrest Gump

(3)

seeking: balance

Many musicians have fielded the question about whether the music or the lyrics come first. It's another variation on the egg-chicken riddle. Like dreams, inspiration comes to us piecemeal, which we glue together after the fact in easier to translate fashion. In life it becomes a matter of finding the proper measurement of looking forward and gazing backward to create the complete image of the present.

(2)

mixed metaphor.

I loathe stating the obvious.

I am fascinated by the power of images. And I adore spinning words into tasty phrases. As should be clear upon reading this blog, I prefer to let them meld on their own. The connection between my choice of imagery and the associated wordplay is yours to make. As I undertake another photo journey, I don't predict a commentary track, but I do expect a deeper exploration of both of these passions.

(1)

π challenge.

(11.11.11, said I) - I am considering committing to another blog challenge. Many others have attempted to undertake a post a day for a 365 day period. I tried two 30 day challenges earlier in the year. I still have a few remaining ideas from bursting those at the seams. As November 10th is the 314th day of the year, and has a bit of multi-layered significance to me, I am leaning toward challenging myself to a 314 photo effort.

The main reason anyone ever undertakes something such as write a novel in a month, or take a picture a day for a year, or drink eight glasses of water each day is to create a verifiable commitment with more likely results. Vague ideas like wanting to write more or exercise more are certifiably the worst ways to ever do something.

So, here goes:

314 posts with 314 photos.
And since I know I can't possibly post every single day,
I'll give myself 365 days to accomplish this.

rust settles

“Rhythm is the basis of life, not steady forward progress. The forces of creation, destruction, and preservation have a whirling, dynamic interaction.”
- Kabbalah (translated)

I have rarely been the sort of chap who accepts things point blank. The standard, the ritualized, the status quo, the accepted all suggest something boring, plain, worn, and wanting to me. I have been known to direct the action, change the rules, or aim my eye for detail toward unforeseen improvements.

Ever since I was a toddler I've had a fascination with construction sites. Though they may have been the requisite boy gift, not surprisingly I grew up on Tonka trucks. These comparatively massive sturdy toys were far more tangible than their contemporary counterparts. I enjoy having grown up on toys and with experiences that threatened or caused injury. The world can be a dangerous place and I think scars create character and daring can be in support of backbone.

Perception allows us the chance to try on so many other pairs of eyes. If you open yourself to it, there's a veritable Sears optical department worth of opportunities to let your soul become reborn. Over time I have discovered that life is usually under construction, which is a mighty beautiful thing. Much like the dramatic moment when the bats fly out of the dank house in a classic scary movie, I look about and find myself so frakkin' inspired. In truth there's no wrangling it, there's no honing it, there's only breathing it in and flowing with it.

veterans day

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose."
-Kris Kristofferson

We all wage our wars. Eventually we must bury our dead.

(-1)

unattributed quotation.

A particular quote has been floating around my Facebook feed of late, and has echoed quite well within my present understanding of the way of things.

If someone wants to be a part of your life, they'll make an effort to be in it. So don't bother reserving a space in your heart for someone who doesn't make an effort to stay.

gimme π.

I am considering committing to another blog challenge. Many others have attempted to undertake a post a day for a 365 day period. I tried two 30 day challenges earlier in the year. I still have a few remaining ideas from bursting those at the seams. As November 10th is the 314th day of the year, and has a bit of multi-layered significance to me, I am leaning toward challenging myself to a 314 photo effort.

freeze frame.

“It's surprising how much of memory is built around things unnoticed at the time”
- Barbara Kingsolver

“Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today's events.”
- Albert Einstein

For five seasons that began in the spring of 1989, Scott Bakula starred in the smart, influential, sci-fi-dramedy Quantum Leap as time traveler Sam Beckett, who bounced through time following an accident during testing at an experimental test site. Each episode found him leaping into the body and into the life of someone else, consistently losing elements of his own memory - a phenomenon referred to as Swiss cheesed in the show.

I get it now. I once had an amazingly detailed memory full of tons of family history, complete with correlating dates for even the most innocuous things, streams of random facts, an endless recognition of actors and actresses at the ready to kick ass at the Kevin Bacon game, and a perfect recall of life events and birthdays.

Christmastime is around the corner. For as long as I can recall this is the time that production companies re-edit, re-package, and re-align band and artists' old material into shiny packages. Without my conscious effort, my brain has been doing similar things with my past. It seems to prefer the Elvis Costello bent of filling itself with B-sides, outtakes, and other randomness. In the stir I find the strangest memories floating to the surface. These are insubstantial lost moments that now have resonance.

In amongst the small amount of bits and bauble I have lugged into my current life is an undeveloped roll of film dating back at least six years, on the inside. For a moment I think it might have been something that may have been way down a to-do list.

Image is an interesting thing, and one that has fascinated me since I was young. Life hits the retina upside down. In time we adapt to seeing it right side up.

keep yearning.

tire rotation

Because things are the way they are,
things will not stay the way they are.
- Bertolt Brecht

Four weeks ago the doors shut hard on my most recent production. This show came and went so fast, I am still recovering from the whole experience it unearthed within me. In my effort to branch out and find undiscovered, challenging material brought with it a tornadoes worth of wonderful. The disarray it caused has offered a healthy opportunity to express things artistically that have been lodged deep within. Voyaging along the unexplored paths of full-on, deft, human comedy has allowed for layers and layers of actual drama to be shorn off, bagged up, and toted away.

The other night I pulled into the parking lot at the local hybrid high school for a theatrical production, feeling vaguely like a parent showing up to support a child's endeavor. Many colors shade the support of a friend:

2 pints want
1 cup obligation
1 tbsp. need
1/2 tbsp. urging
1 tsp. reciprocation
a splash of just because

It was a production of To Kill a Mockingbird, for which my friend did the costumes and make-up. It wasn't quite the amateur hour production I was expecting, having seen my share of teenage Thespian standards, however it did have plenty of awkward moments. It has been said that a weak play needs strong actors to nail, but a great work can be done justice by anyone. If this play fits into the second mold, then it seems surprisingly safe for our current era and almost downright stale and dated. The show had its good moments and my lady love and I picked out our favorite couple of young performers, who probably shouldn't give up the dream.

However, from my viewpoint, taking up the most prominence on stage was an 8 x 8 x 4 foot platform placed at upstage center. It was used to convey an old woman's front porch and the second act colored section of the courtroom. It was hard to look at that chunk of beautifully painted and constructed wood without seeing the lead actor from my most recent show writhing uncontrollably atop our support actor to the subtle tones of Sinéad O'Connor's I Want Your (Hands on Me) during the naughty and hilarious bedroom scene in our show.

If you allow your gaze to open to it, there are hidden depths and unexpected charms to be found in most anything. I find it's like synchronizing your proverbial watch with life. The world expands if you want to see it. Things take new form and new meaning, whether from the simple act of pragmatic sharing of set pieces or from allowing things their own organic reformation.