And that's game.

I made it to 600 posts.

It wasn't difficult. That initial sentence made it sound like it might be. I wish that I could brag about the fact that I put up a new image at every post, but I did not.

Still, there are so many more than 600, sitting around here. It makes me wonder what one would do with all of them, besides back them up onto disc. Future media won't be compatible, will it? An archive of pixels, made from an archive of film. Who will acknowledge film in the next 100 years? What about the next 20 years?

I hope to be still at it, even then. I hope film will still be there.

Till the next milestone

Darkroom Update

It's done. Not perfect, but done. It's actually very low on the ecologic impact scale too! I have prints up at work that I made the this weekend as a practice run. Now I just need to get the other 2(!) enlargers working so I can do whatever I would need to do with three enlargers...

...which is really nothing but feel incredibly lucky and maybe not have an issue with Newton's rings.

So in order to not show the fresh prints which are for proof-of-concept purposes only I will leave you with this, which I caught on Wooster just a minute ago.

Another awesome public art performanceperformance by Improv Everywhere. bloody-awesome.

Happy Birthday Caleb

20.

Foreign

Pork and chicken for tamales is cooking as I write. I pulled a pepper out of the 'early' garden and chopped it up to cook in with the meat. After the chili powder, green chiles and some onion are added there will be a pepper in there from my grandfathers old garden -a family batch.

Yesterday, I broke off one leaf of mint, placed it into my mother's hand and we thought about growing up in a small house in Peoria, Arizona.

Moving on

ain't life grand

Hundred and a Box

Had to break down and get another pack of archival neg holders. I'm proud enough of it to post that probably-insignificant fact. To me, it means that I thought enough of the work at some point to buy these sheets and protect the rolls of good bad and ugly. Oh and that I also have stuck with it. If you've ever had more than a ten-minute conversation with me, you know that I have a tendency to 'drift'. Here I am [at least] a hundred rolls later.

I might even get around to putting the box of 'pre-serious' stray negatives away too. But the least I can do is say thanks for being here for some of them. To celebrate, maybe a nice big panoramic or how about a shot of that Tri-X dipped in Diafine, finally? Let the scanner finish up and then we shall have a look at this 2-stop magical push.

Now Playing: Jolie Holland: Black Stars

Friends

Good people shouldn't have to work so damn hard so that their bosses can be wealthy. There are leaps of faith everywhere.

and they all probably hurt at least a little.

Results -2-4-07

from the live painting, Sunday nights at the Lure.

I wont lie. It was a struggle. First off, Superbowl Sunday. Nobody is really thinking about showing up to have drinks somewhere (else) that doesn't involve couches and chip crumbs. Where were the ladies at?! Aren't you supposed to be angry and neglected or something by 9 PM? Well some people do go to work, I suppose. Huge thanks to the four friends who showed to support BCD and I, the dueling painters who stayed with their own canvasses this time.

Meanwhile all kinds of people decided that they were the real artists there (which I don't feel I qualify for) and proceeded to coach us, tell us how we were doing, ask us about the 'motivation', what we were 'feelin' etc.. What I was feeling was can you please let me at least figure out which piece of board or plastic I'm about to throw some paint on? I needed a drink after 5 minutes. In fact, aren't you supposed to be making food for these nice folks? Good thing I'm working for a bar tab.

I'm not saying I need silence or certain things in place for it all to fall together but damn, people. I'm not even a painter. This is exercise for me. I'm trying to stretch. It means a lot to my soul to be able to do this so don't ruin it for me. I walk in every time thinking "Don't fuck up and paint something that you would be embarrassed to put on your own walls, cuz that's probably where it's going to end up." Meanwhile the root of the live painting experience -the music- was sort of not participating much. So there's the struggle.

But I walked out with something I really like. Something I'm proud of. I just started with a set of colors in mind and went from there. The DJ was sort of entertaining friends and painting her own stuff up in the booth for a show she committed to. (I understand but just please please don't ever treat this like a joke again. Because if it's a joke to you and you called and asked me to do this, then what does that make me?) Damn. My point was to be happy about this painting.

So here we go, 3 coats of spray varnish later, I'm done with it. Except, I might take this wood trim I have had here in the basement forever and knock out a black slim-box frame. More experiments. It's 10 inches up by 26 inches across 3/4 inch deep or so, painted on wood scrap (repurpose whenever possible, baby!). The DJ wants to buy it, but her price is low and I'm sortof attached to it. I told her I wanted to at least post a picture of it here, see if someone else likes it out in the world and could part with 80, shipped. Friend prices. So that's that. Meanwhile did you see the picture down there by Lisa? More importantly, did you feel it?

I did.

Someday we'll talk about cake and why it sucks to miss it. Sorry, you can't bake it for yourself.

In that headspace: Now Playing" Pigeon John, She Cooks Me Oatmeal (I saw this cat a few months ago in Boulder and he was on-point AND funny) Hip-hops heads should check it out and remember that it ain't all cash, cars and ho's.

Without further ado

kekida.com has launched!

A long while ago a couple of photographer friends had the idea of starting up a small website that could feature some of their and their friends' work. Through this idea, 'kekida' was born.

As I remember it, my two friends, Dan and Kirsty approached me with these thoughts and the feasability of creating something together, something for us, our humble corner of the big internet universe. We could show what we have seen in our times and locations, scattered across the world. We could build a sense of community and these could be our stories to swap over a campfire someday. I happened to know a certain creative genius that could probably handle some of the odd whims that artists can have and make them web-chewable. Contact was made, in hopes that he would want the job. Sketches were sketched, scribbles were coupled with cross-outs and a few (37?) beer-soaked coasters later, it began to come together. The fact that three artists in very distant cultural and geographical areas could even agree on site colours (they're in the UK and AUS) was amazing. Asking someone to code our ideas into something presentable was asking a lot, but Tom was up to the task without even being sure exactly what that would mean. We had our codewrangler. Another photographer was asked later in the game to come ride with us making another corner of the world, Japan and South Korea, seem even closer. Ina liked the idea and joined up not too long before committing to hard-core photographic schooling in NYC.

We hoped, and still do, that if we built it, people would come. Maybe if we just keep swapping our stories, someone else would do so as well, in their corners of this vast world. Maybe it could inspire, maybe it could make the world a little smaller and a little more vivid.

So please visit us there. Come often! (we made the banners and lead image so they would randomly change when you came back)

We'd like to know what you think...

Making good

Simon of The Jimi Austin, or at least his bass.

mini-flashback

I've blogged about my love of music. I've even been lucky enough to have photographed some amazing musicians in the time I have tried to do so. I am lucky, it seems, in this endeavor.

So tomorrow night, I will be able to be there for one my favorites. Jolie Holland will be performing tomorrow night at the Soiled Dove Underground and I've been granted some credentials. She has one of the best voices in music today in my opinion. At the risk of repeating myself, she whistles better than most people sing.

So if you're free and within 100 miles or so, you should check the show. You won't be disappointed.

Congrats to me

Driving around town today was pretty unbelievable. People are ignoring the fact that it's a time for community, love, giving, even if you don't have shit to give. Did I buy presents? Very few, too little probably. I'm sure my family understands. The rage that this season generates is scary. Do you think your loved ones want you to turn into a horn-pounding maniac that blows through slush puddles next to bus stops? Please don't think that they will love you less. Please don't let the bit of guilt I have for not fully 'participating' in the scene make me feel worse. They will understand. You will understand, right? I'd rather push cars out of the snow for the next 3 hours than purchase anything. But I will show love. I have it, so you can have it.

S.A.S.E. returned. Not sure I have a picture for that feeling.

I need a shower.

Free

Dirty Cash

'got her working with the Viv-macro. She won't meter, but all that means is I have to know what I'm doing. damnit.

Had some great conversations with loved ones at airports today. This post marks the first time that I know that family has found their way here. So, welcome. Here's some of the stuff I do and the things I think. It's real and it's where I'm at. Love you though, no matter what. Always will,

-k

We keep our eyes open

You never used to take notice when something was innocent.

Then, maybe...
you grew up.