June, 2005:

Maudit qu’le monde est beau.

In these times of high technology, fast cars, rising costs, and hot women, we keep our eyes focused forward and we go. All that is important and beautiful passes beside us in long streaks of dull blended gray, gradually passing from light to dark with each passing day, with only the differing patterns in the flashes of light or bursts of darkness in the distance to give us any indication that today is a different day than yesterday was.

*STOP!*

Maudit qu’le monde est beau.

Look around you. Stop in the middle of the road, throw your hands in the air and scream, “Damn, the world is beautiful!”. Let those that pass you fade away into their own streak of dull gray. Put your face right into the color of the world. If they should laugh, or point or gasp as you pull away from the herd, remember that you’re the one making those flashes now.

We can learn a lot from our younger selves. Remind yourself of the childish delight you found jumping on a drainage grate because of the noise it would make. Find something that delights you in this way and pour yourself into it.

Remember when you’d pile up two or three people deep in a giant mass of flesh and bone so you could all crowd around to see…. whatever was worth seeing? Remember when your best friend’s thigh made the best pillow for any movie? Don’t be afraid of a little human contact. Don’t be afraid to say what you mean. Don’t be afraid to make a fool out of yourself and enjoy every second of it. Don’t be afraid to do something unexpected.

Stand in the rain in nothing but your underwear. Kiss your wife or girlfriend in the middle of the grocery store because you can. Smack your best friend on the ass because it’s funny.

I’m not talking to you — I’m talking to me. I take myself so damn seriously sometimes. What I really need is to let go. I need to throw my hands in the air and scream, “Maudit qu’le monde est beau!”.

A beautiful photograph doesn’t require the “perfect” lens. An incredible poem doesn’t have to written in the finest of ink. A song can fill my heart even if every note isn’t played perfectly.

a tree just above its own shadow

(click to enlarge)

This is one of the photographs I made in a very cool park in Coppell that I went to with Rachelle a few Fridays ago.

Comments appreciated, as always.

I realized today that, most people spend more time with something to say ready to escape their lips than they do with the desire to listen to each other and learn.

We all have stories we want to tell. We have things we’ve accomplished that we’re proud of, or situations that are funny or interesting that we want to tell to make us appear to be more likable. We all eagerly prepare these stories and begin spouting them off at the first sign of interest, sometimes, even forcefully. At the same time, we know that no one wants to listen to us if we don’t listen to them. So, we pretend to be interested in what the other person has to say just long enough to lure them in to listening to us. This terrible game of waiting for our own turn amounts to a lot of people talking, but very few people actually hearing what we have to say.

The next time you find yourself among friends or family, instead of rattling off the story of your latest adventure, *listen* for a while. And, when someone finishes, instead of anticipating their next breath so you can cram a few of your own syllables down their ear canals, probe for more details, offer advise on the situation, or reflect on what they’ve shared with you. You just might learn something and make them feel good in the process.

The next time you feel like you have something to say, consider, just for a second, *why* you are saying it. If it’s merely an interesting or humorous story that you are telling for it’s own sake, just tell a little of it. Your listener will probe you for more information if they are actually interested and listening. Chances are, they aren’t, and you’re just wasting your breath.

For those of you that like this sort of thing, there are quite a few photos in my Pre-Publish set in “My Flickr”:http://flickr.com/people/revjim/. Several of them were added recently.

It’s been going around this great Interweb quite a bit, so I’m sure it’s not news to you. However, due to our own eyes playing tricks on us, “the moon will appear to be larger than usual”:http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/20jun_moonillusion.htm to most people in North America over the next few days. It has to do with it being a full moon (so that it’s visible as full), as well as the moonrise and sunset corresponding with one another properly so that it’s dark when the moon is on the horizon. With these conditions, your mind and eyes trick you into seeing it larger that usual.

I intend to photograph it. They say that a photograph can’t really display the illusion properly, and I intend to prove that wrong.

The sun sets at 8:40ish every day this week. It should be very dark by 9:45ish (the beginning of Nautical Twilight). Tonight in Dallas, the moon rises at 9:49pm. Tomorrow at 10:44pm and Thursday at 11:30pm. I intend to shoot one or all three of these. I just need to find a good shot that exploits the properties of the illusion.

Anyone interested in joining me is welcome to do so. We’ll see how it goes.

Thanks to those of you who sent me warm wishes for day 100. Despite my anti-climactic attitude towards the number 100, it meant a lot to me to see so much support from all of you.

As I anticipated, day 100 wasn’t any more difficult than day 99, nor was it any more difficult than day 101. I think the most important thing is that with each new day the number of days since I last had a cigarette is higher than it was the day before. Regardless of how many times I fail at quitting, or how many days the count is “0″, any day that the count is higher than it was the day before is a day in the right direction.

Thank you all for your support in both words and photographs. I have some incredible friends (and family).

My inside source from the interview says I “wowed them”. They have another guy to interview on Thursday and then I should find out as early as Friday, no later than Monday or Tuesday. My source said that the other guy looks good on paper but “he ain’t no Reverend” (substituted with my actual last name which, until the super revjim.net cleanup happens, still doesn’t appear on this site). By this he means that 1/2 of the people making the hiring decision are familiar with both me and my father, and the high quality of work and support we provide regardless of the task at hand.

All in all, it looks pretty strong. I tend to downplay myself in my own head (after all, I’m just me) but, after thinking about my responses during this very long and structured interview, and my experience and ability, I realize that I am a very knowledgeable, qualified individual with the ability to learn quickly and adapt suddenly. In all of the interviews I’ve administered, I’d be happy to have someone like me.

It’s an interesting turn for a usually rather modest ego. I’m sure it wont last long but it’s fun for now.

I have a job interview in 30 minutes. I haven’t interviewed for a job in over 8 years. It’s a very strange feeling.

Wish me luck.

Sunday morning we stopped by Fry’s Electronics and I picked up a 200GB hard drive and a external USB 2.0 enclosure for backup purposes. I’m not sure that I like the enclosure I got though. It doesn’t have any lights or indicators that it’s doing anything. And, other than that, has no “features” really. There were plenty of other models for the same price. So, I might swap it out for something else.

Later that night I came home and backed up all of my photographs, video, music, important documents, email, and critical log files on to the new drive. I found lots of stuff I had forgotten about. Sort of an interesting little trip to take. It took quite a while for everything to copy over, but, future incremental backups should go much quicker. Over the next week or so, I’m going to write a backup process that I can run once a week (or after a large update) to ensure that all of the important stuff is taken care of.

Now that I have a good backup, I’m considering wiping the whole machine clean and trying something new. Windows XP? Ubuntu? I’m not sure yet.

Saturday morning Jess and John took their sweet time getting out of bed (or maybe they were just anxiously waiting for me to get out of the house). Meanwhile, I mowed, edged, and weed whacked our lawn and 2/3rds of the next door neighbor’s yard. After getting *most* of the way through it, she came out and fired me.

So, I lost my first job. I’m really upset about it. Ha.

Actually, she said she had already hired someone and that they were just unreliable and didn’t show up last weekend. It’s not like I was hell bent on mowing her lawn, so it didn’t hurt my feelings any. But, it was weird because, the only “reason” she gave for keeping them (not that I asked for any) was that they would mow the lawn and “blow” it for $20 per week. She said she didn’t even know if they would weed whack or edge. Granted, I don’t have a blower, and, therefore, didn’t blow her sidewalks off, but I did sweep them with a broom. But, she wouldn’t have even known that, because she wasn’t there when I did it. I think she maybe assumed that I was *only* mowing for $20. Heh. So, maybe we’ll need to make another friend to watch the cats and feed the plants while we’re away.

Later Saturday morning we enjoyed some Salvadorian food with John before heading over to my parent’s house for my niece’s 1st birthday. Afterwards, we met Brad and Morgan and a very sleepy Zoe for coffee in Keller. Brad had something he needed to get done at his parents house so, eventually, they went home and we went back to my parents house for a while. A few glasses of wine later we headed home for the evening.