because a Reverend can't be wrong.
Don’t call your wife repeatedly at 5:30am her time wondering if she’s just sleeping and will eventually answer the phone or if the next voice you hear will be that of a police office or hospital worker because you’re worried that she didn’t make it home in the rain last night before you check your mobile phone call log to see that she did call and that you did indeed talk to her and that she is absolutely safe and sound.
I hate being out of town without her.
I’m in Indiana again. Without my own car again. This will be the last week. No, really.
Jess’ cousin came to visit last week. Much fun. We had blast at the Halloween party last Saturday. I went as a bad undercover cop. Thanks for being such a generous host, Skwid.
I got 4 “job offers” last week. The two most tempting wouldn’t start until next year, would involve a raise, and a promotion. They also involve a move to New England. That’s a very tough choice for me to make right now, but, I’m very, very tempted.
Amanda had her baby. Adorable. I’m just about ready for some myself.
My sister’s bridal shower is this coming weekend. I’m playing DJ. Jess is playing co-host. Immediately after the shower I have a commitment ceremony to photograph. I hesitate to say “wedding” for several reasons. First, I’m not in the photography business any more. Second, even when I was, I didn’t do weddings. Third, aside from the bride and groom, I will be the only other person in attendance. Finally, it’s more like a ceremony followed by a photoshoot than it is a wedding.
The weekend after next Jess and I will be in Austin seeing Mike Doughty and Bare Naked Ladies. Woo!
The weekend after that there’s a possible camping trip. Either to TRF near Houston, or to some place out in West Texas, or to Daingerfield State Park. This is still undecided.
There’s a lot you can learn from a Heroin Junkie. There’s a certain glamour in doing whatever pleases you most and answering to no one but yourself and, of course, your addiction. When you boil away all the impurities it becomes clear what makes a Junkie capable of living this way. First of all, they place themselves at the center of their own world. Secondly, they have no concern for anything more than a few days or weeks into the future. Maybe they exhibit these traits naturally, perhaps the addiction pains them enough to make them this way, or a combination of both. I’m not sure that it really matters.
Of course I’m not saying that I want to be on Smack. If that were the case, then attaining that goal would be simple enough. But there is a part of me that wants to be that free, that confident, and have all of the possibilities that that represents. I have my own Dragons to Chase.
So it looks like I’ll be in Indiana again next week. I’m beginning to feel a bit like Josh, though. It’s one part glamorous, one part business-man feeling, and one part utterly annoying. This should be the last one, though.
Being here without my own car is starting to get very old very quickly. I don’t mind hanging out with my boss. He’s actually a great guy and we get along great. But, it’s 8:40pm now, he’s in his room, and I’m itching to get out of mine. Walking isn’t really an option. Being in Indianapolis itself, I might be able to swing it. But here, North of the city, it’d be a 5 mile walk – maybe more – just to find the nearest retail/food establishment.
So, I implore you – my fine friends of the Intarweb – entertain me. Suggest things in and around a typical hotel room that I can try to photograph in the most artistic way possible with the equipment I have. You have until midnight tonight (Indiana time) to make your suggestions. The best suggestion wins…. something. I’m not sure what yet.
GO!
We were a corn field dressed in fall colors;
Each beautiful, vivid, trembling leaf
a glorious indication of the cold end.
We burned our safe green hues at one another.
One last display of Yellow, and Red
and deep, deep, Orange.
All of our secrets clearly visible in the veins
that held our various colors together.
And our eyes never closed
for fear of missing anything.
We gave everything we had
knowing we’d have nothing left to give.
Burnt up, our exteriors became stiff and brittle
as quickly as our now darkened leaves once burned
from innocent green to the hottest of yellows.
The winds blew and we fell
down, down, down to lay
cold on the the earthen floor of winter.
Thanks to good friends, old friends, new friends, great conversation, and low cut shirts, Jess and I had a great time Friday night out at Jupiter House. Enough, perhaps, to make this a recurring, informal gathering. More on that later.
I spent yesterday hanging out with my Grandparents who are in town until after my sister’s wedding and helping my Dad install two light fixtures in his kitchen. I brought my laptop and several flash cards over to his place so that I could edit a few photo sessions as we sat around and talked afterwards. I need to get a couch and a TV up in my office. That way, I could do more editing while doing other things. It seemed to work pretty well.
Skwid dances with Glow Sticks under the Full Moon at Myschievia 2006.
Despite the fact that I have a huge pile of unedited photographs and lots of unfinished projects, I want to create more. There is so much spinning around inside of me right now — changing, building, breaking down — and I feel like this outlet is my way of expressing that and trying to understand that. So I’ve got this desire to get out and go and do. At the same time it’s coupled with this strong need for social interaction. Photography, however, isn’t really a spectator sport. So, I either need to find some like-minded individuals equally interested in the subject at hand (which varies, of course) to accompany me, or some like-minded individuals willing to be a part of the photographs themselves. Or, of course, find a way to go on my own without wishing I had someone to share it with.
If I didn’t have so many obligations already this weekend, I would have accepted Johnny’s offer to go to Hamilton Pool. Of course, the next three weekends are all at least partially booked as well so, despite this being my favorite time of year to get out into nature and enjoy the world around me, I’m not getting out there very much. So, I’m trying to plan a trip into nature for the weekend of 11/18 or 11/25. I don’t know what or where just yet. Something far enough away that I feel like I’m out of town, and yet close enough that I don’t have to spend a lot of time getting there. 3 to 6 hours away seems appropriate. If you’re interested in coming along, let me know which weekend works best for you and if you have any location suggestions.
Jess and I might head out today for a hike and some photographs. Probably out just past Sherman on the Texas / Oklahoma border, though that’s hardly set in stone. You can come if you’d like just give me a holler.
We had a lot of invitations to Halloween parties this year. However, after much deliberation we’ve decided that Jess, her cousin Ericka, and myself will be at Skwid’s Halloween party this year. Not that we didn’t want to go to the other Halloween Parties or that they wouldn’t have been just as cool. But Skwid’s parties are always fun, I can bring friends along, and many of the people I enjoy spending time with are going to be there. If you don’t have Halloween plans yet lemme know and I’ll see if I can bring a few more along.
We have a few chores to do today before we go out for our hike. We have to prepare a room and such for Ericka, who is coming tomorrow to visit us for a week. I also need to finalize my plans, pack my bags, and prepare for my trip to Indiana. I leave tomorrow at 10am and I get back just before 5pm on Wednesday.
Pssst. Coffee tonight at 9pm at the Jupiter House in Denton. Pass it on. Email or text me dirty pictures or messages in order to confirm your intent to attend.
If it’s too crowded we’ll form a conga line immediately across the street and parade around the square singing “Day-O” until some seats free up.
Hooray for Emergency trips to Indiana.
I trained two full classes of 25+ people. I taught. I joked. I made friends. I had fun. I made up a large portion of the training material on the spot having never performed the task, seen the task performed, or read information on how to perform the task. That was fun.
I drove from Indianapolis to Fort Wayne Wednesday morning to train a class up there that day. Since my Dad was, out of sheer coincidence, in Fort Wayne also that day, I hung out with him and some of his employees Wednesday night and had burgers and played poker.
It always rains when I’m in Indiana.
There are no good coffee shops in Indianapolis. There is a rather nice Starbucks in one of the more Bohemian parts of town, though. I think that, next time, I’m going to stop looking for places to go and just go there.
The leaves on the trees in Indiana are just starting to change color. This brings out a whole range of emotions in me. More on that later.
I took zero pictures. I just didn’t have any daylight hours to spend on my own. I’m glad I didn’t bring all my equipment.
I’ll be in Indiana again next week.
I still don’t know what I’m going to be for Halloween.
Things are changing here. A Lot. You won’t like it. I don’t care.
