Let's Wear Plaid

out of touch.

2009-03-18T13:57:00.003-05:00

So I've been away from this blog for a while now. My semester has been crazy. I'm doing the photo editor and trying to graduate thing all at the same time. Bad idea.

I haven't actually been shooting that much this semester, but here are a couple that I've taken on the few things that I've shot.

Construction science sophomore Connor Zwinggi earned a purple heart from injuries he sustained while serving in the Marine Corp while in Iraq. Zwinggi never expected to play lacrosse again after the injuries he suffered but is now the starting goalie for the OU lacrosse team.

Wide reciever Quentin Chaney leans toward the final cone of the 20-yard shuttle Tuesday March 10 in the Everest Training Center. Chaney posted times of 4.36 and 4.49 seconds.

Road to Miami...

2009-01-07T17:11:00.007-06:00

I landed in OKC from Denver an hour late with a monster headache from the altitude change, so the plans changed.

As a side note, I had an amazing time in Colorado. It’s always great to get together with that group of guys. I wish we got to hangout more often.

We drove down to my parents’ house in north Dallas and crashed there for the night.

We got up the next morning and were on the road by 4:45 AM. You know it’s an early start when you have to drive an hour before McDonald’s opened, so we could get our overly nutritious breakfast.

It rained for the first 7-8 hours of driving or so, until we got halfway through Louisiana, so that was fun. Especially when my wipers were sitting out in the cold at the OKC airport for ten days and insisted on making an obnoxious noise every time the rain turned to a drizzle.

I must say that there were stretches of Louisiana that literally stank. But there were also parts of Louisiana that I hadn’t anticipated. There was so much water. There was an intimidatingly large amount of water. We drove past a stretch where they were building a new bridge over a lake; according to Mike the one we were driving on was deemed unsafe after Katrina (not what you want to hear while driving over a large body of water). Nonetheless, it was extremely impressive to see the machinery and equipment that goes into building a bridge across a large body of water.

The Superdome

After a short stint in Mississippi and Alabama, we hit Florida, which meant we were a little past halfway.

We kept ourselves entertained by watching the first season of Bones. We hooked the FM transmitter to the headphone jack on my laptop and let it roll. This turned out to be a great way to pass the time. Thanks to Mike’s forethought, we also had some great snackage. How do I always forget how awesome Teddy Grahams are?

We grabbed some photos along the road, but once we hit Florida we played around with Mike’s wide angle and some SB-800s as another way to keep ourselves entertained. We kept hoping for more background imagery, but by this point there wasn’t much traffic and even if there was there was a large median separating us from the traffic going the other way, thus no cool taillights.

At 3:00 AM and 20 miles from our hotel, the turnpike we were on was completely shutdown and we had to take a monster detour to get back on it. Not exactly something that makes you happy after 22 hours of driving. Finally we rolled into our hotel about 3:30 AM, exhausted.

Corey made it to the hotel around 5:30 AM, apparently. I didn’t even hear him knock, but he was sleeping on the floor when I woke up at 2 PM!!! To be fair, it’s an hour later here, but I woke up at 9:30 and considered getting out of bed, and then it was 2, not sure how that happened.

Tonight, I want to make it down to Miami (we’re at the media hotel is in Ft. Lauderdale) to cover some of the Miami nightlife surrounding the National Championship game.

Then tomorrow is the big game. I hope to cover the tailgating tomorrow morning/early afternoon before the game.

More to come…

2009-01-05T11:02:00.001-06:00

booger |ˈboŏgər|
noun
1 another term for bogeyman .
2 informal a piece of dried nasal mucus.

Big 12 Championship

2008-12-09T16:08:00.003-06:00

Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City, MO
December 6, 2008
Oklahoma 62, Kansas 21

Thanksgiving

2008-12-03T16:33:00.002-06:00

My family spent a few days in a cabin in Oklahoma with my aunt, uncle, and two little cousins. Here are some of the photos...

Nebraska vs. Oklahoma

2008-11-02T19:57:00.002-06:00

I'm not a big fan of shooting night games because of the stupid color temperature cycles on the sodium vapors and having to bump the ISO. But not much you can do.

And a big thanks to Crabtree and Texas Tech.

Just Plain Nasty

2008-10-28T10:26:00.002-05:00

Big XII South Tiebreakers

2008-10-20T11:38:00.003-05:00

For those of you who are interested, there would be a Big XII South tie in the case of Texas losing any of their remaining games, and Oklahoma winning the rest of their games. All of Texas' remaining games are against teams Oklahoma will have beaten if they win out. Here are the list of things (in order) that would be used to determine the Big XII South Champion given a three way tie in the conference:

1. The records of the three teams will be compared against each other.

2. The records of the three teams will be compared within their division.

3. The records of the three teams will be compared against the next highest placed teams in their division in order of finish (fourth, fifth and sixth).

4. The records of the three teams will be compared against all common conference opponents.

5. The highest ranked team in the first Bowl Championship Series Poll following the completion of Big 12 regular season conference play shall be the representative.

6. The team with the best overall winning percentage [excluding exempted games] shall be the representative.

7. The representative will be chosen by draw.

Notice #5. Given the fact that Texas' lose would have come later in the season, Oklahoma would be more likely to be ranked ahead of them in the BSC. Oklahoma State or Texas Tech could be ranked ahead of Oklahoma after beating Texas, but Oklahoma would hypothetically beat them later in the season to win out, and Oklahoma would move ahead of them in the rankings.

So after all this is said and done, Oklahoma only needs Texas to lose to Oklahoma State or Texas Tech (if OSU or TT's only loss is to OU) if they win out the rest of the season to be the Big XII South Champs. Following this line of though, if Oklahoma wins the Big XII Championship game, and either Penn State or Alabama lose one of their remaining games (they each play one more ranked team on the road), Oklahoma would make the BSC Championship game.

So think happy thoughts (those of you who care).

Oklahoma vs. Kansas

2008-10-19T14:09:00.002-05:00

Norman, OK
October 18, 2008
OU - 45, KU - 31

A couple celebration photos:

Hosty

2008-09-29T15:19:00.004-05:00

So I had my first Hosty and Red Cups experience last night. I'm not sure how I avoided this for the first five years in Norman, but I'll definitely be going back.

Oklahoma vs. TCU

2008-09-29T15:11:00.004-05:00

Oklahoma just moved into the #1 ranking spot with a 35-10 victory over #24 TCU.

Oklahoma vs. Cincinnati

2008-09-11T11:27:00.002-05:00

September 6, 2008
Norman, OK

[fortune]cookie

2008-09-04T12:56:00.001-05:00

"The simplest answer is to act."

100 Best Things About Being a Photog

2008-09-03T09:23:00.003-05:00

Chip Litherland compiled a list of the 100 best things about being a photographer. Here's a little taste:
...
5. Realizing my entire portfolio adds up to about 10 seconds worth of life.
...
25. Understanding what only half your camera can actually do.
...
32. Avoiding a foul ball.
...
47. “What channel are you with?” “4.”
...
74. “Wow, that’s a big lens you got there, buddy.”
75. Jersey numbers on front, back, and shoulders. (This one made me laugh out loud)
...
95. Media parking.

You should definitely check out the rest of the list. It was definitely entertaining to me.

2008-08-29T09:40:00.004-05:00

I've been busy lately with classes starting back up and moving into a new apartment, so no photos for now. Hopefully I'll get a chance to shoot this weekend.

For now, I'll tell you to go check out these great double exposures by Damon Winter on the NYT website. I found this via Vince Laforet's blog, which is definitely a blog worth bookmarking.

The First Press Conference

2008-08-27T17:31:00.007-05:00

Football season is fast approaching; this is from the OU football team's first weekly press conference of the season.

University of Oklahoma Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables (left) fields questions for the media while OU quarterback Sam Bradford gives an interview. The OU football program has high hopes this season with a preseason ranking of five after a couple disappointing bowl game loses during the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

Beer Pong

2008-08-23T17:54:00.001-05:00

Bizzell

2008-08-22T14:25:00.002-05:00

Just walking around campus before everyone got back in town.

What have I done lately?

2008-08-22T01:04:00.004-05:00

Check out Joey Lawrence's website, and then consider that he's only 18. And you'll be asking yourself the same question.

Here's an interview with this kid on Strobist from last October, when he was only 17 and already extremely successful.

Nuts.

Family Photo Blog

2008-08-19T10:18:00.002-05:00

So I've been flipping through this blog that I found on Photoshelter's Shoot the Blog this morning. I can't read a single word of it, but for some reason I can't stop flipping through it. I just thought I'd share.

2008-08-19T09:54:00.000-05:00

A Photo Editor

2008-08-19T09:43:00.002-05:00

There is a pretty interesting post on A Photo Editor today about the newspaper industry. A little bit different take on the same issue that every always talks about.

"I suspect the real reason German papers still thrive is their embrace of competition. Unlike so many U.S. papers, Bild was never part of a quasi-monopoly that allowed complacency. It’s telling that Bild doesn’t deliver —it depends on newsstand sales. ‘Bild has to prove itself at the kiosk every day,’ says Deputy Editor-in-Chief Michael Paustian."

Olympic Photo Blog

2008-08-12T12:38:00.003-05:00

If you haven't checked this out yet, you should. Newsweek sent three photogs to the Olympics and is having them do a behind-the-scenes style blog about their photos. Very interesting. And if you don't find it as interesting as me, there's always pretty pictures to look at.

This is the personal blog of Vincent Laforet. He is one of the Newsweek photogs and has some interesting posts, including Tech Tips for you Mac users.

Apartment Fire

2008-08-08T16:58:00.008-05:00

There was an apartment fire in the apartment complex right behind where I live. It was pretty intense. We saw the smoke over the roofs of the apartments closest to us, and it just kept growing. I decided to go investigate. I think I got there right after the fire department because I walked up and the couple who lived in the apartment were sitting on the curb and the police hadn't started talking to them yet. The middle section of a stand-alone building containing 12 or so apartments was engulfed in flames. There were probably 100 people standing outside across the parking lot watching what was going on. Here is a shot not long after I got there.

Frita

2008-07-27T19:37:00.002-05:00

Originally posted: July 26, 2008
Updated: July 27, 2008

Here's a little more detail on this photo:

I shot this with the SB-800 on about 1/32 or 1/64 power into a white door.

Here is the original photo:

Post-processing in Photoshop:
1. Adjusted levels a touch (brought whites in)
2. Copy layer
3. Use Unsharp Mask at a very large radius (~80px) at a relatively small amount (~35)
4. Desaturate this layer
5. Adjust opacity of this layer to liking (I think I was about 75%)

Question: Does anyone know how to apply an Unsharp Mask as a seperate layer?

DIY Macro-Studio Revisited

2008-07-27T19:13:00.004-05:00

So I busted out the DIY macro-studio that I put together a little while back (and I remember to take a couple set up shots this time ::pats self on back::).

The first one I just shot this chess piece on a blue infinity-sweep with each flash slightly angled from the back side. There flashes were set at something like 1/16th power. The two flaps left on the front side of the box at as gobos to prevent flare.

Here is the end product. All the crap you see in the blue is just what you get when you buy the cheapest poster board.

Next, I decided to move one of the flashes inside the ~~box~~ macro-studio to light the background. I could have done this from outside the ~~tracing paper~~ diffuser and used something to gobo the light so it only hit the background. But I wanted to play with a strong specular highlight behind the chess piece. I also used the black granite tile I previously used to produce a good reflfection the first time I played with DIY macro-studio.

...and here is the final result.

OKC Memorial (continued)

2008-07-25T14:38:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple more from the Memorial. Any and all feedback is welcomed.

OKC Memorial

2008-07-24T15:40:00.001-05:00

Some photos from the OKC Memorial I took the other day.

Camp Registration

2008-07-21T16:25:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple more from Camp Crimson. I know the two posts are probably out of order, but these are from the first day when campers were registering.

courtesy OU Student Media

Camp Crimson

2008-07-19T17:03:00.004-05:00

As part of OU's orientation-type camp, Camp Crimson, in-coming freshman built cardboard boats and then raced them in OU's outdoor pool. Here are a couple from the take. I'm pretty sure the next boat race of these kids' college experience will involve Solo cups and not cardboard boxes.

I'm pretty sure I have better photos compositionally from this push to the finish, but I keep coming back to this one because of the guy's face in back.

thedarkknight

2008-07-18T03:31:00.000-05:00

mustgosee. nowsleep.

My days...

2008-07-11T18:08:00.000-05:00

...have looked a little bit like this lately.

It's not fun, but it's paying my rent for the time being.

New Camera

2008-07-10T15:38:00.013-05:00

So as many of you might already know, my Canon 40D crapped out. It was still under warranty, so that was good. However, it pushed me over the edge with Canon. It was the second Canon DSLR that stopped working for me in the past 6 months (that reminds me, I need to go pay the $200 it cost to fix the AF on my other Canon, since the AF broke 3 days after the warranty expired - super). And I digress. Back on topic, fed up with Canon, I decided to make the switch the Nikon. I've been really impressed with everything I've read about the D300. With a little finagling and a good bit of luck, somehow I got Circuit City to exchange my broken camera for the D300. So I'm officially a Nikon man.

Because of all of this, I don't have any fourth of July photos and missed a couple excellent potential photos that I wish I could've had a camera for, but I'm happy that I was able to get the D300.

So I ordered a couple SB800 Speedlights to make use of Nikon's CLS (Creative Lighting System). Waiting for those to come in, I decided to build a makeshift, DIY macro studio. I sprung for a $6 piece of black granite tile and a $6 100W, 4500K light bulb (it was the highest wattage light bulb I could find around sunlight temperature). If I remember the next time I bust it out, I will take a couple shots of my setup. For now here are two images that I made while using the macro studio, the aforementioned light bulb, and a piece of aluminum foil on cardboard as a reflector. Because of the low power of the bulb, I wasn't able to get too much DOF out of these guys. I didn't want to up the ISO too high (I think one is 800 and the other 1600), and I didn't want too long of a shutter speed (otherwise the background would have been too gray), so I just stopped the aperture down as much as possible.

Oh by the way, these are Fimo Clay figurines made by Jon Anderson. They're pretty incredible if you have a chance to read about how they're made.

Reading, PA

2008-07-01T19:53:00.006-05:00

These are from the Pagoda in Reading. It's this weird Chinese influenced building at the top of the hill bordering downtown Reading. It's very random, but also sort of an icon for Reading. And Lauren was very patient with me, as you might've noticed. I put a couple more up on Flickr, to avoid being redundant here.

The Last from Sedona

2008-06-29T16:56:00.003-05:00

Ok, so here are the last photos I'm going to post from my trip. Hopefully I can offer a little diversity from here on out. Thanks for any feedback.

"The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination"

2008-06-22T00:55:00.008-05:00

If you have not had a chance to hear or see J.K. Rowling's Harvard commencement speech, you should. It's great.

You can youtube it or read (or watch) it here or listen to it here.

It's 20 minutes long, but it's worth every second.

Follow up

2008-06-21T01:50:00.002-05:00

Here is a follow up to something I had posted previously about Richard Prince. It still blows me away.

d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s

2008-06-21T01:16:00.002-05:00

This was my first experience with chateaubriand at El Chorro in Paradise Valley, AZ on our first night of vacation. It was quite tasty.

Mas Grand Canyon Fotos

2008-06-21T01:08:00.004-05:00

More Grand Canyon photos. With the exception of the one of my brother, these were all taken from the trail on the way down to the bottom. Sorry that there are some that are quite similar, but I'd really like to hear from you guys which one(s) you think are the strongest images. Thanks.

More Sedona

2008-06-18T00:34:00.003-05:00

Here are some more photos from Sedona. I took all of these within just a couple minutes walk of our hotel at sunset-ish. The first and the third ones are my favorites. I like the third one even though silhouettes are a little cheap, so maybe it's the extra layer created by the sun spreading out on the far left of the frame. Who knows? Anyway, like before, any and all feedback is appreciated. I still have more to come. Thanks for looking.

Grand Canyon

2008-06-16T17:15:00.006-05:00

Here are some photos from my day spent at the Grand Canyon with the family. Overall, I'm not that satisfied. I didn't have very long to explore or try to find a good spot, so I got stuck on the trail on the way down to the canyon while the sun was setting. So I was really limited on the shots I could get. C'est la vie. These a few of my favorites. Let me know what you guys think, especially of the third one. I'm not sure how I feel about it. For the third one, I set up a long shutter speed and changed the focal length (on the 16-35mm) during the exposure.

More from Sedona soon to come...

The Kissing Stone

2008-06-14T18:45:00.003-05:00

Here's a preview of some photos from Sedona, AZ.

I took this with a 16-35 L f/2.8 II with a Circular Polarizer filter that I rented for the week. I've been pretty happy with the lens so far. I shot in RAW for the trip, so I'll put them up as I edit them.

I think Blogger is sucking some of the color out of my photos. Ugh. Oh well. I think they look a little better on my Flickr site if you care enough.

Arizona

2008-06-13T00:32:00.001-05:00

damn umbrellas and reflection...

...almost.

my dog

2008-06-10T23:00:00.001-05:00

he's ferocious...

Water

2008-06-08T21:43:00.004-05:00

Just passing some time earlier tonight.

An Afternoon in the City of Brotherly Love

2008-06-04T13:03:00.008-05:00

Lauren and I spent last Sunday in Philadelphia because I had to fly out of Philadelphia early Monday morning to head back to Dallas. We drove from Reading to Philadelphia. We missed a couple of exits but eventually made it there. After finding our hotel, we dropped off our stuff and explored the city a little bit. Thanks to Red's employee discount, we were able to stay at a super nice Hyatt right on the Delaware River only a few blocks from the Historic District.

____________

Here's a grab of our hotel in some good lighting on our way back in after exploring.

As we set out to explore some of the city, we noticed there were many ships outside our hotel. One of them looked like this:

We passed some interesting things on our way to the Historic district.

Once we got to the Historic district, we stopped in to check out the Liberty Bell.

I actually own the same shirt.

Who's at the Liberty Bell and has two thumbs? This girl...

After the Liberty Bell, we crossed the street to check out Independence Hall. The line was long, so we figured since we had only an afternoon in Philly we didn't want to spend a good bit of it waiting in line. But we did get some shots from outside Independence Hall to mark our proximity to it.

This is a shot from the other side that I got a little bit later.

After Independence Hall, we walked across the street to Washington Square (one of the original parks designed by William Penn). It was a beautiful day, so people were out in mass.

It was now about 5 PM, so we set out to find an early dinner - namely a Philly Cheesesteak. We walked back towards Independence Hall where we had seen a street vendor. As we get there, he tells us that he only has drinks left. When we ask him, where we could find a cheesesteak, he tells us that everywhere is closed. Lauren and I don't believe him. We walked around quite a while, and apparently most of Philadelphia shuts down at 5. It was so weird (or at least we thought so). These are a couple of shots just from walking around looking for a place to eat.

Finally, we found a pub. They had cheesesteaks on the menu. They were good, but somehow I think they lacked the authenticity of the street vendor. But we had some tasty beer to make up for it.

After our delicious meal, we headed back to the hotel. It was a little early, but I had to be at the airport at 7, and Lauren had to make the hour and a half drive back to Reading before work the next morning.

Once we got back to the hotel, we went down to the fancy dancy restaurant and had some delicious cheesecake. After we got back up to the room, we had some fun with the night skyline.

___________

And there it is, the extensive recap of our afternoon in Philly.

I'll put some more photos up on Flickr, but I figured this was wayyy too much for a single post already.

In the PA

2008-05-30T10:38:00.004-05:00

I'm being a bum in Pennsylvania right now. I drove up here with Lauren to help her get settled in with her internship. I need to get out and take some photos, but it's been nice to sit around all day. Hopefully I'll find some energy before I head back.

Here are a couple of photos from John and Lisa's wedding. When I get a chance to go through all of them, I will put them up on my Flickr.

The above photo was taken by Lauren

Congratulations, Matt!

2008-05-14T22:07:00.007-05:00

Matt with the 'rents.

2008-05-14T18:54:00.002-05:00

Apes of Wrath

2008-05-13T14:03:00.007-05:00

Some of my favorites from OU's "Apes of Wrath" at Ultimate Frisbee Sectionals in Tulsa, OK.

Images courtesy OU Student Media

humor...

2008-05-13T12:39:00.002-05:00

This is an outtake from an assignment from a few weeks back. This is the owner of a gun shop talking in front of a concealed handguns class. It was very unfortunate (or perhaps fortunate) timing of expression and positioning.

Another outtake...

For a real photo from the same endeavour...

Images courtesy OU Student Media

Polyphonic Spree

2008-05-03T13:48:00.007-05:00

I shot the Polyphonic Spree at the Norman Music Festival Saturday night and these are some of my favorite images. [Courtesy Student Media]

Canon 40D, 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 3200

Canon 40D, 1/160, f/2.8, ISO 1600 – post: noise reduction

Canon 40D, 1/640, f/2.8, ISO 1600 – post: levels, noise reduction

Canon 40D, 1/250, f/2.8, ISO 3200 – post: noise reduction

I’m not sure but I might like the last two better as a diptych.

2008-04-24T22:09:00.001-05:00

Medieval Fair

2008-04-20T11:24:00.009-05:00

Reeves Park
Norman, OK
April 5, 2009

Playing with film. I must say I do enjoy it - too bad it's so expensive.

2008-04-20T00:05:00.000-05:00

2008-03-25T11:18:00.006-05:00

Big XII Tournament

Quarterfinals
Oklahoma - 49, Texas - 77
Friday, March 12, 2008
Kansas City, MO

2008-03-24T15:31:00.003-05:00

Kids these days…

2008-03-20T00:29:00.001-05:00

Kyle and I were driving back to Norman from Kansas City after shooting the Big XII tournament. Somewhere between Wichita and the Oklahoma border, we stopped at the McDonald's that you're forced to stop at unless you want to get off the turnpike.

Something happened that made me a little concerned about today's youth...

A boy, probably around ten, walked up to fill his drink at the soda fountain as I stood behind him waiting. He deliberated over which one he desired most. Sprite. He filled it with great caution, stopping intermittently to measure the precise amount. When his cup is half full of Sprite, he is content with the amount. Maybe he just wanted a couple more sips before he had to get back in the car for the rest of his drive. Wait. He's pensive, almost frozen in thought. A splash of Coke. What is going on? Again pensive. Strawberry. Have you no shame?! He turns and walks away as if he has solved his puzzle and had no other business to complete. Wrong! Orange, Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, Root Beer – all utterly critical elements of a proper suicide. Sprite, Coke, and Strawberry? What is that? That is weak. That is disgusting. This should be inherent knowledge for a ten year old boy.

I pray for our youth.

Big XII Tournament

2008-03-14T21:42:00.014-05:00

Quarterfinals
Oklahoma - 54, Colorado - 49
Friday, March 14, 2008
Kansas City, MO

Spring Football

2008-03-10T13:13:00.008-05:00

2008-03-09T21:59:00.001-05:00

2008-03-03T20:58:00.003-06:00

2008-02-26T10:23:00.002-06:00

2008-02-25T18:41:00.001-06:00

Flickr Account

2008-02-11T17:29:00.000-06:00

Here it is, kids.

Former President Clinton speaks at OU

2008-02-10T23:47:00.003-06:00

Men's Basketball - UT vs. OU

2008-02-10T00:07:00.000-06:00

the.road.home

2007-12-29T01:52:00.001-06:00

swwwwwiiiiing

2007-12-28T09:45:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T23:22:00.000-06:00

The New York "Good" Times

2007-12-25T00:02:00.000-06:00

Headlines

- Switzerland is Still Neutral -
- Victoria Secret Still Puts Out a Catalog -
- No Civil War in Canada -
- Free Speech Rocks My Socks Off! -
- Diversity Ends Boredom for All -

Tomorrow's Headlines (Optimisically)

- Tom Cruise Becomes Inaudible -
- Celery, Grapefruit, and Donuts: How they burn calories -
- Al Gore's Nobel Revoked (Miscount due to hanging chads) -
- Carrot Top and Prop Comedy Outlawed in US -
- Tic Tac's Replace the Euro -

I suppose we can all dream. It would, however, like to be able to read an entire newspaper without suddenly falling into a deep depression. I feel like (or at least hope) that the negativity in the news isn't proportional to that of reality.

Is Photography Dead?

2007-12-14T16:26:00.000-06:00

"Film photography's artistic cachet was always that no matter how much darkroom fiddling someone added to a photograph, the picture was, at its core, a record of something real that occurred in front of the camera."

Newsweek Article (12/10/2007)

GIMP

2007-12-14T15:52:00.000-06:00

Gimp.org has free photo editing software that is quite excellent. If you're looking for an alternative to Photoshop because you don't want to shell out the cash, GIMP is definitely a good way to go. It seems to have all of the primary functions and it even opens .psd files. You should check it out.

Wintry Mix

2007-12-13T19:45:00.001-06:00

Richard Prince

2007-12-09T23:09:00.000-06:00

This is pretty ridiculous. Richard Prince takes pictures of other people's pictures, enlarges them, and then sells them for absurd amounts of money. Why would you pay over $1 million for an unoriginal work? If you just don't know it's unoriginal, wouldn't you think you'd do some research before you spent that much money? I don't get this. How can this be legal?

2007-12-09T21:09:00.001-06:00

2007-12-08T16:27:00.000-06:00

Two Beatles' songs keep running through my head, "Let it Be" and "With a Little Help From My Friends."

2007-12-04T06:46:00.000-06:00

School is killing me.

Every time I'm driving around 5 or 5:30 in the morning, I wonder if the cars I pass are going home or leaving home. Today I was one of the ones leaving home.

Jefferson City

2007-11-18T22:59:00.000-06:00

MLC

2007-11-14T16:57:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite people...

2007-11-01T09:25:00.001-05:00

sent me a text message a while back.

the whole thing is a shit bin but at least at the end of the day you are still a great person, that is the sweetest consolation

Some of the weirdest things make you smile. For those things and those people, you have to be thankful.

This also convinced me that I should incorporate "shit bin" into my regular vocabulary.

::happiness::

2007-10-31T10:27:00.001-05:00

"A certain shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world. The lad wandered through the desert for forty days, and finally came upon a beautiful castle, high atop a mountain. It was there that the wise man lived.

Rather than finding a saintly man, though, our hero, on entering the main room of the castle, saw a hive of activity: tradesmen came and went, people were conversing in the corners, a small orchestra was playing soft music, and there was a table covered with platters of the most delicious food in that part of the world. The wise man conversed with everyone, and the boy had to wait for two more hours before it was his turn to be given the man's attention.

The wise man listened attentively to the boy's explanation of why he had come, but told him that he didn't have time just then to explain the secret of happiness. He suggested that the boy look around the palace and return in two hours.

'Meanwhile, I want to ask you to do something,' said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil. 'As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill.'

The boy began climbing and descending the many stairways of the palace, keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. After two hours, he returned to the room where the wise man was.

'Well,' asked the wise man, 'did you see the Persian tapestries that are hanging in my dining hall? Did you see the garden that it took the master gardener ten years to create? Did you noticed the beautiful parchments in my library?'

The boy was embarrassed, and confessed that he had observed nothing. His only concern had been not to spill the oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

'then go back and observe the marvels of my world,' said the wise man. "You cannot trust a man if you don't know his house.'

Relieved, the boy picked up the spoon and returned to his exploration of the palace, this time observing all of the works of art on the ceilings and the walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around him, the beauty of the flowers, and the taste with which everything had been selected. Upon returning to the wise man, he related in detail everything he had seen.

'But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you?' asked the wise man.

Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone.

'Well, there is only one piece of advice I can give you,' said the wisest of wise men. 'The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon.'"

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

2007-10-29T14:26:00.000-05:00

2007-10-28T16:54:00.000-05:00

ground on down

2007-10-28T12:42:00.001-05:00

I believe in a few things :
God, the Devil and Love,
Cause I've looked up from the bottom and I've stared down from above.
And I have faith in a few things :
Divinity,
Divinity and Grace,
But even when I'm on my knees, I know the devil prays.

And you're working your way,
From the ground on down.

I hate to say I love you,
Because it means that I will be with you forever or will sadly..., say goodbye.
And I love to say I hate you,
Because it means that I will live my life happily without you or will sadly..., live a lie.

And you're working your way,
From the ground on down,
On down.
Your way,
From the ground on down.

Life is short and if you're looking for extension,
With your time, you had best do well,
Cause there's good deeds and there is good intention,
They're as far apart as heaven and hell.

And you're steady working your way,
From the ground on down,
On down.
Your way,
From the ground.

anywhere but here

2007-10-28T12:23:00.000-05:00

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness -- all foes to real understanding. Likewise, tolerance or broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in our little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
- Mark Twain

Take me away, and I'll be ok.

2007-10-27T15:55:00.000-05:00

2007-10-24T15:39:00.000-05:00

2007-10-17T10:00:00.000-05:00

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. [...] This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron."
Dwight D. Eisenhower

2007-10-15T21:00:00.000-05:00

Al perderte yo a ti,
Tú y yo hemos perdido:
Yo, porque tú eras
A quién yo más amaba;
Y tú, porque yo era
Quién te amaba más

Pero de nosotros dos,
Tú pierdes más que yo,
Porque yo podré amar
Tanto como te amaba a ti,
Pero a ti no te amarán
Como te amaba yo.

Ernesto Cardenal

2007-10-14T00:12:00.000-05:00

2007-10-11T15:02:00.000-05:00

2007-10-10T23:18:00.000-05:00

2007-10-09T00:43:00.000-05:00

2007-10-08T00:12:00.000-05:00

2007-10-07T10:24:00.000-05:00

gooseberry

2007-09-30T11:53:00.002-05:00

sore thumb

2007-09-06T18:25:00.000-05:00

forgive me you
cut out again.
it seems so easy just to blame
the reception.
there’s something wrong.
i don’t know why
why you, you never say goodnight.

so please just leave,
you don’t mean that much to me.
you keep the ring,
i’ll take those saturdays in bed
cause i know you need them.
as for me it’s nothing new just another two years.

i wish we'd always wake up new,
refreshed and born again with nothing left to lose.
but we dream too much.
who needs a crutch?
pull off the bandage,
there’s no wound.

so please just leave,
you don’t mean that much to me.
give back the ring,
keep all those summers with your friends
cause you know you need them.
as for me it’s nothing new just another two years
while i’m here losing sleep.

your sore thumb,
your best defense is miles from home.
oh, and it reads like a letter with the words
all broken.
erased them with a razorblade,
cause you’re gone.

i was lost then i found you,
but i’m breaking down now that…

your sore thumb,
your best defense is miles from home.
oh, and it reads like a letter with the words
all broken.
erased them with a razorblade
cause you’re gone.

born again

2007-08-21T22:50:00.000-05:00

2007-08-13T16:02:00.000-05:00