storkeyes

Aerial photography.

2005-12-19T02:47:16Z

Yes, that's right ladies and gentlemen, aerial photography! I had my first experience with that on Saturday, and it was the most fun I've had in a very long time. Taking off in a helicopter is not like a plane, no sudden rush, no pushing g's or anything like that. It's smooth and graceful, watching the land slowly slip further away until rooftops replace walls. It's quite beautiful. For those who're interested (Eric, this is for you), I flew in an R-22 with an open window. Let me clarify that last point. Open, as in there was no window where there normally is, not as in car window that's been rolled down. I was exposed to the elements at 700 ft in the air, which to my surprise wasn't much colder than the air temp at ground level. I shot aerial photography of a Recreation center that's being built in the middle of a park near a city called Tysons Corner, close to where N 28 meets Interstate 267 for those who'd like to know.

The experience of photographing from the sky was fascinating. I got to see a place from an unbelievable angle, which allowed me a lot more artistic freedom than I expected. Roads and treelines suddenly become significant landmarks, the curve of a baseball field sharing a similar curve to the curvature of the building, etc. Trying to take pictures from an airplane window seat is nothing compared to what I experienced. My camera lens was actually outside of the helicopter (as well as part of my arm) while I was working.

The highlight to the whole afternoon was my last few shots. At one point on our way to the site, the pilot had to make turn so sharp that the body of the helicopter was perpendicular to the ground i.e. if I looked out the window, I was looking straight at the ground. Frightening and fun at the same time. So, at the end, he asked if I wanted to take a shot from directly above. I had enjoyed our sharp turn earlier, and I trusted that I would have the presence of mind to focus on the photography during the whole ordeal. I was right and wrong at the same time; right in that I could focus on the photos, wrong in that it was still invigorating.

I went to the studio immediately afterwards, and Duane (the photographer training me in the art of aerials) and I checked them out. I loved nearly every shot taken. That's the first time I've had real fun at site. I'm hoping to do more in the future for construction sites. :)

In closing, I'd like to say this; if you EVER get the opportunity to fly in a helicopter, do it. It'll be worth it.

- I'm out!

storkeyes @ 2005-12-11T11:16:00

2005-12-11T16:33:41Z

Been a long time since I've updated here. My apologies. Not much really going on over here in VA. We got our first snow here last week, which would make most of you laugh 'til you cry. People freaked out, driving like the end was soon to follow, raiding grocery stores of toilet paper and bottled water because apparently, as one radio DJ put it, "snow makes thirsty people have to poop more." Most of the snow was gone by the middle of the day, but school was still cancelled in Prince William county, so Shari got a couple of days off. I drove into work a little later, and the roads were fine. I don't know what everyones problem is out here. *shrug*

I've been playing a lot of FF X lately, in the hopes of soon checking it off of my list of video games that needs to be beaten. Some days I feel like I'm not playing the games, more like it's a chore for me to do. Probably just need a new game or something. City of Heroes is pretty fun, but since I don't have City of Villains, I can't really interact with most of my friends since they're playing Villains.

Shari had a kid's mom go nuts last week, accusing her of not properly grading papers and in general being a poor teacher. I know that Shari's a new teacher, and the first year will have rough spots, but this nonsense is ridiculous. The final result thus far is the student has been moved out of her classroom, which I suspect was the motive the entire time, but the mother and/or student wouldn't just come out and say that. *Grrrrrrrrrr*

Work's been ok for me. Not much new business, but I'm making some contacts who might be throwing work my way. I had some trouble this last week with a medium format film SLR freezing on me. Literally, the shutter froze while I was taken a picture and didn't close. I had to go re-shoot with a digital, and work from there. I'm also having a little difficulty leaving myself appropriate cropping room. Chris, any suggestions? I trained myself in college to focus on the frame edge because what I saw is what I printed. Not the case here because I have to crop the pics down to an 8 x 10, and this usually cuts a lot off of the sides of the picture. If I focus on the crop space, I leave too much above and below the subject; if I focus on the vertical above and below the subject, I don't leave enough room to crop. I feel like a piss-poor photographer because of this. I've got a new lens to work with now, a 12-24mm, which speeds up the whole process but doesn't provide the means for a solution. *Grumble*

Christmas is coming soon, and I'm blanking on what to get my brother Bob, my parents, and Shari. I've requested lists, but everyone seems to think it's some kind of formality this time of year. So, when I ask what you want for x-mas, I want to know.

I will try to update more often here, guys.

Joe

Volume!!!

2005-10-26T02:25:25Z

Yeah. Life's taking me in some interesting twists and turns. Work worries me, mostly because I haven't broughten in any new business on my end of it. I wish I was more successful in that regard, but I'm fighting against lazy project managers and technological advancements. These guys carry their own camera, and since printing at the local Wal-Mart is cheaper than my service, my intentions are left sailing on the wind. Duane, my superior, believes I need to meet with these people in person, show them a portfolio and really get them interested in what we can offer. I predict these kind of encounters will be uncomfortable for myself, but they are ineveitable. I can be afraid, or I can buck up and think about what I'm doing. I love working. Driving to a site, shooting, printing, hell even packaging. I'm a geek like that, and I get it. *sigh* I can bitch all I like, but it won't get me anywhere. Subject change then.

I feel I need to clarify a few things about my last entry. First, I didn't actually break my hand in the bone-destroying sense, more metaphorical. However, I believe I fractured something during my battle with the chimney. Small side note, walls don't make very good opponents. All they teach you is how to get angrier. Secondly, things aren't terrible in my life. I just have a few gripes about what's happening. Mostly, the traffic commute, and the before mentioned lack of business. Shari and I find the time for one another, though we wish we had more. But we're dealing with our situation like pros. Her kids misbehave, and it doesn't follow her home like it did. I just need to pull out the thick skin again and do the same about my work.

It rained all day today. I never thought I'd see that happen, but the east coast is not without its gloomy days. In some ways, I am refreshed almost comforted because I know things aren't always bright and cheery weatherwise. That there are bad days around me, that I"m not the only thing contributing to the way my day is going.

A strange thought just occurred to me. I have no idea how many people read my journal. Would it be too much for me to ask that everyone reading this entry send a reply, just to give me an idea? I'm not afraid of posting my thoughts either way, I'd just like to have a heads up about who already knows this stuff when next I see you. I keep feeling like there's some hundreds of you on the other end of this entry, like we're some intercontinental self-help group all reassuring ourselves that we're doing fine, and in truth there's only some 4 of you reading this stuff. No real matter. Just a curiosity.

I'm learning some interesting techniques for photography. Mostly in the editing sense, a few things I did know, others that I hadn't. The most aggrivating was a face I had to redo completely do to a nasty fingerprint covering a woman's face. I struggled for weeks with that face, nudging one thing here, another there, and on the screen it never looked right. However, when I printed the pic, it came out just fine. I feel like I wasted a lot of sweat and worry over nothing, that I could have let it go awhile ago. Grrrrrr. I have also learned techniques for color correcting which is finally starting to become 2nd nature to me. My only hangup so far has been pictures looking a bit flat. Jesus, most of you guys won't get this, so Chris, any suggestions? Sorry to pick you out like that.

Anyway, I"m mostly rambling and not bringing much to the table here. Next time I'll have some juicey stuff. I'm going to a wastewater plant next week, so there'll be plenty for me to gripe about. Til then, l8ter.

Me.

storkeyes @ 2005-10-19T21:11:00

2005-10-20T02:00:30Z

It's strange how these thoughts come so randomly. Phasing in and out, seasons without rhythm. I don't think of it often anymore; something forgotten, not forgiven. I realized today that I was angry, not sad, when it happened. I began a bad habit of hunting out a antagonist, looking for my hunter even in the shadows and air. My fists found the pavement in the attic, shattering my wrist. I can't draw because of that. I wanted to swing until my shoulders burned, til my hands were numb, til I didn't feel that hate anymore. I wanted to blame her, say that she lured me into that trap, but I willingly walked into those jaws. I still can't find the reason for it all. I cling to it because it is a mystery. Lust works against all reason, as does anger, but the two work hand and hand. Odd that they ended up taking my hand away. I should be more honest. I couldn't draw to begin with, but my sparring matches against my phantom didn't help any.

I'm no longer standing on the threshold shouting at the top of my lungs for answers, but slowly walking the corridors of my mind. These mysteries are probably better left unknown, but it's my only mystery. I can reason all of the rest but this. There's a strange cycle to it all. I loved her, who loved the humanities, I betrayed her, and now I am permanently attached to those same arts. Would I still have had that attachment without her love or without my unfaithfulness? Truthfully, I don't know if I would.

Strange how this comes to me at times. Not depressing this time, just real, present. This is not over. I don't know how or why I feel that way, but it is going to take me in a new direction.

I started believing again. Hard to imagine, but the world we live in has too many supicious moments not to have some kind of cycle. I can't prove how I feel in the slightest, I can only believe. I still believe that I have been here before, seen these same faces and done these same things. Everything is too familiar. Nothing comes naturally, like I'm living for the first time. A beginning behind a canvas often delays. That's how I feel. An amateur trying to find the right move to make, feeling every choice out carefully, slowly. I nitpick in everything, making my writing off-putting and my art incomplete.

If I had made another decision, just one, how different would my life be? If Stacey had been my choice initially, how would it all be different? I'm questioning my current existence. Am I unhappy, or just confused?

Bah. Gigi bahaki. Brother. Joeybear. Haystack. All terms of endearment meant to tell me what, that I'm interesting? I feel like I should be on something to be writing like this. I"m incoherent, all over the place.

Distance keeps growing. It scares me a bit. Spending time in my own corner, her in hers, doing our own things instead of finding adventures for ourselves. We miss home too much. We want to be in a place that we know, that we can call home. This distance bothers me. I know how quickly it can become a chasm, and what that could do to us. I love her, and she me, but we aren't growing. We are suffering, psychologically and physically. The strain's becoming too much for us. Serenity gave us something to share, but it's fading. I miss our roads being open between one another.

I also fear not using my education to it's limits. I know so much about art history, but it's beginning to slip away. It dawned on me while I was shooting today. I was holding the camera, looking at waterproofing for a school, and I realized that I know about Caravaggio, Carracci, da Vinci, Polluck, Rothko, men and women who have shaped our way of looking at the world, and I'm not applying it. Nor am I contributing to it. That is where I feel the most useless. I know that post-modernism is our game these days, and that photography is brining us back to realism while photoshop and graphic design will pull the other way. One isn't right over the other, I just want to be there in the fray when the change happens. I want to try it, play with it, get it wrong a thousand times and be satisfied when it comes out right.

Strange how my life follows the same circles around itself. I'm using my philosophical thinking from martial arts in terms of art creation and criticism, the same place where I first fell in love, the same place that I feel that I've desecrated by abandoning its practice, finding love again, trying to be that man again only to fall short. I stopped practicing my martial arts, then my horn, and finally my love. I lost all contact to what I had known, and I have grown back again, wobbling but on my feet. I'm uncertain about so much. Do I step back? Get my bearings by studying those ancient codes, or do I embrace where I have been educated, relying on myself for my own preservation? So many questions. I'm back again. Standing on that threshold I told myself I wasn't on. Looking down into the void that is too familiar, calling out words that aren't making sense. Reaching up and reaching out I'm reaching for the random more, whatever will be willed of me whatever will be willed of me. Too much sensation, not enough thought. Spirals. Da Vinci found something universal in those. How long has this pit existed? I remember it when I was very young, a place I didn't go to, a place that found me somehow. It's ever changing yet always unwelcome and frightening. Random, like my thinking. A comparison that frightens me. I drew it once, and was so overwhelmed by it that I couldn't move. She saw it and me. Never asked a question, just held me. Never knew what it was, only knew that it frightened me. I want to be away from it sometimes.

He found a universal element in us all, and I know one exists surrounding my life. Maybe we aren't always meant to find that thing, but I will not let this pass me by. The sun's setting behind the hill. Your skin is shining like gold.

I'm losing it. I need to get going.

Me.

A general concern for everyone's lower midsection.

2005-10-18T02:15:48Z

PUT ON SOME DAMN PANTS!!

YOU'RE SCARRING THE CAT!

storkeyes @ 2005-10-16T18:49:00

2005-10-16T22:58:27Z

Yeah, interesting weekend. I went to DC on Saturday morning for a pre-construction shoot. Nothing too fancy or anything, just a good way to get a lot of money for the studio and some experience. Basically, I'm shooting pics in the interest of protecting the construction company legally, so no one can blame them for damages done. While shooting, Shari was wandering in DC "feeling out of place" because of the Million Man March going on there. We were going to PA after the shoot was done, and I didn't know if I could bring her with or not. Next time, I'll lie and say she's my assistant. It was kind of fun though. I could hear all those supporting equal rights from more than a mile away from myself. Not just the speakers, but the crowd and the music. I was fascinated with that. Also, I was parked about 2 blocks south of our nations capital, which is stunningly beautiful. After all of that, PA was fun. A long drive, and we weren't there long. Just a day.

I don't really know much else. City of Villains is coming soon, and I'm excited about that.

Anyway, gonna run.

Me

P.S. For those of you who don't know, Jack Thompson is a bastard. Look on Penny-arcade.com to see what I mean.

Breaking ribs.

2005-10-07T02:52:43Z

I saw this:
http://www.superdickery.com/dick/145.html
This site is disturbing as hell, but damnit it's funny. I realized something while going through this guys archives; as a society, we have certain aspects of ourselves and thinking reflected in these images. For instance, the continuous bondage joke he uses reveals more to me that we (men especially) want to control the wiley, sexy woman (with big boobs). And the on-going gay jokes and undertones... I'm not really sure what the hell that means. It's certainly funny, but why have the suggestion. No real purpose for this post. Meh.

Me

P.S. How the hell do I post the URL without needing to actually write out all that http:// crap?

WARNING: Stream of consciousnous writing.

2005-09-30T00:52:24Z

Days seem so much shorter than I remember back home. Work goes quickly, and the commute seems long no matter what route I'm taking. I like coming home to Shari waiting for me. Normally we work on dinner together, though I have not been coming up with original ideas for food lately. I love her so very much. I held her when she had a nightmare last night, and all day today it was the only thing I could think about; how worried I was about her, and realized exactly how much I cared. I would sacrifice an entire weeks sleep to make her feel better. I want to spend the rest of my days with her, wherever the two of us end up. I miss Nebraska terribly, mostly because I could commute from one end of town to the other in less than 20 minutes. Over an hour to just get to work seems a bit ridiculous. I'm afraid of losing my job. I haven't broughten any new jobs to our plate even though I am doing everything imaginable to do so. My boss doesn't give me any pressure, but I think one of the other photographers is a bit disapointed in me. I'd like to say that I don't care, but the prospect of shooting pictures for a site that I worked hard at getting does sound somehow appealing. I'm beggining to see the holes in my art education. I never grasped the business end of our artistic community, simply assuming having the ability was enough, that those who would want your services would be banging on your doors just to have you. But I do not work the most esteemed part of my proffession. Progress photography is considered as one man put it, the "dirty side of this house." He couldn't be more right, figuratively or literally. I enjoy the techniques I'm learning in photoshop, but I want to be behind a camera more. I don't trust myself behind a medium format digital yet, and only experience can be my ultimate teacher. I'm hearing "Bodacia" by Enya right now, and it makes me remember that December in college. I had just finished Hoff's final exam for Greek Ahis 301, and I was proud of myself, for I knew everything that was on that test. Every identification, essay, unknown, vocabulary, everything. That was when I decided that my mind was meant for art history, and I often long for that environment. To sit in the dark and watch as generations of ways to express our own existence flash by me like some movie produced for those who don't and do understand. I often think that I should have been a professor, but then second guess myself when I remember that I have to stand in front of students all day. I'm too nice of a guy. Students would use that, and not get educated. Hoff was a nice guy, but his exams were frightening. I remember spending hours studying for his, always overdoing it just in case; that, and I enjoyed feeling educated, that I understood a culture to it's complete capacity. I miss writing about the archaic and orientalizing and geometric periods, the classical and baroque, the Etruscans, the early Roman empire, the republic, Byzantium, Justinian and Constantine. Figures in our history who shaped their worlds around them, feeling awed by their wars, art, projects, ideals, religions, and philosophy. I can't help but wonder who will control the direction next? Who is our next Leonardo, Carracci, Monet, Picaso, Polluck? What is to come of art in an age where the visual has become inseperable from the business world? Should it be considred bad or good that it is there? When should it move? Who will move it out, and why? Who are our visual leaders, men and women whose style we admire not as a small local group, but as a nation? Who is THE American artist to be the one to bring us out of the post-labeling system we've somehow locked ourselves into? Will artists reclaim their rights as individuals, or are we to afraid to stand alone? Are we too afraid to try our hands alone on the canvas, to step back and see what we've created? Photography and graphic design are the newest artforms, blending and lending each to the other, but that does not mean we must rely on the business world, does it? Too many frightening questions without answers, and most of us would like to just say that the future is not easily followed, but I feel otherwise. Art history has always been easy to follow; transitions from 1st style painting to 2nd and 3rd and 4th in ancient Rome, though the word "style" was used very loosely there, were easily understood as chronological in nature. You could expect what would come next because of the artisitic trend. What is our trend? What aspect of our art seperates us from earlier generations? Are we a world without distinction? Has the copy become so prominent that any influence, any school of thought, any inspiration is enough? I would not like to believe so. Perhaps I am looking too closely at all of this, not stepping back to see how these tones blend to make form. I do that in everything from research to drawing and photography. I think too much. That's why we have what we have here.

Fin.

:P

Me

Teh black deth.

2005-09-25T20:10:19Z

Yes, it's true, the black death has found it's way off of the slimy sewers of europe and onto teh internet. For you WoW (World of Warcraft) players out there, this one's for you. Apparently, the game designers created a monster capable of infecting high level characters with an affliction that heavily reduced their hit points, one that also had quite some staying power. So much so, that when these higher level characters came back into town, they still were being affected by it. I'm guessing you can figure it out from here. The most amusing part of this whole "plague" is it was never intended to become and epidemic. Game developers created the contagious nature of the "disease" in the hopes of raising the bar of difficulty for the whole group. They had not considered the consequences of what might happen if one or more of the party members actually ran away, or that a player could live long enough to get back into town. I've read that it's quite devastating, killing lower level characters almoste immediately, and it's been the punchline to a comic on one of my favorite websites ( pvponline.com ).

What suprises me about this is not many of the players seem to be upset about this "epidemic," and are in fact using it in-game to further their entertaiment. I'm sure it's much more of someone approaching you, asking for help or directions or whatever, and then laughing at you as your skin changes colors and you bleed from the ankles. I'm imagining a grotesque version of tag, where being "it" is most lethal, and the only thing to do is to bring more of them motherfuckers with ya. Hell, if something like that happened it City of Heroes, I'd do it.

That's the word for now. Hope you were entertained.

Joe

The quiz.

2005-09-18T02:43:10Z

Click here.
Take the quiz.
Post your results.
1) Is viciousx67 in a relationship? Well, "relationship" is a rather bendy term. I mean, he's "related" to his parents, and his "relationship" with some I know is friendship...
2) What is narrator_radio1's biggest flaw? Not enough x-box.
3) Would you set up narrator_radio1 and l337cort? Maybe. If I wouldn't get hurt.
4) Which president would l337cort be likely to idolize? In 30 years, the president for the hair club for men.
5) Does narrator_radio1 do drugs? No, I don't think so. Well, alcohol. That's a drug. According to the commercials.
6) What is narrator_radio1's favorite movie? Too many choices...
7) l337cort's eye color? Eyes?
8) Could you see viciousx67 and narrator_radio1 together? If they're in the same room as me.
9) Where was narrator_radio1 born? Same city as me.
10) How long would narrator_radio1 dating viciousx67 last? 1.5mm. (Metric system rules!)
11) Is viciousx67 a college student? Yup.
12) Is viciousx67 your best friend? One of my closest.
13) What is narrator_radio1's favorite game? Hockey. No wait, what?
14) Would viciousx67 and l337cort look good together? As a comprehensive whole, maybe, but standing alone both are pretty pugly. :P
15) What animal does viciousx67 remind you of? A badger. Seriously.
16) What song/movie would you recommend to viciousx67? "Roanry" by Hans Brinx.
17) If narrator_radio1 and l337cort were spliced together, what would it be like? Painful. Splicing is pretty rough.
18) Are l337cort and viciousx67 going out? If they are, the sun will shirley burn they into vampiric ashes.
19) Which of your friends should viciousx67 go out with? That one.
20) What is viciousx67's shoe size? 9, I think.
21) Is narrator_radio1 related to you? No. But might as well be.
22) Is l337cort an emo? No idea.
23) If viciousx67 were hanging off a cliff, what would l337cort do? Pluck off each finger individually, quoting Tweety bird's "peetys" game.
24) What animal should narrator_radio1 be combined with? An exotic bird.
25) What is narrator_radio1 allergic to? Bad movies.
26) Thoughts on viciousx67? Pretty. Nice. Er, pretty nice.
27) Does narrator_radio1 know l337cort? Yes.
28) l337cort's hair color? Blue. No wait yellooooooooooooooooow...
29) Do l337cort and viciousx67 go to the same school? Once.
30) Where did you first meet narrator_radio1? In my house.
31) What would viciousx67 do differently in your shoes? Probably tie the shoe laces after putting them on.
32) What flavor of jello would viciousx67 be? The squiggly kind.
33) Would narrator_radio1 be a better ninja or pirate? Pirate.
34) How long have you known l337cort? Five some odd years.
35) What do you agree with narrator_radio1 about? Everything involving pop culture.
36) What comic book character would l337cort be? The Tick, if he could.
37) Does viciousx67 drink? Just like the rest of us.
38) Is viciousx67 friends with narrator_radio1? Sorta.
39) How many monkeys could viciousx67 fight at once and win against? 12. I think he's got a bone to pick with Brad Pitt.
40) Has viciousx67 been to your house/dorm? Many many times.
41) What mental disorder does l337cort remind you of? Compulsive starving artist disorder.
42) What would l337cort give narrator_radio1 for his/her birthday? A good book. If he were wise. That, or a stripper to jump out of a cake. But that wouldn't go over very well.
43) Are narrator_radio1 and viciousx67 married? To each other? Not that I'm aware of.
44) Does l337cort smoke? Only when set aflame.
45) What is narrator_radio1's favorite color? Blue, I think.
46) When did you last call l337cort? Recently
47) If viciousx67 was a superhero, who would be his/her archnemesis? Himself, only wearing more black.
48) Does viciousx67 go to your school? Yup.
49) If viciousx67 and l337cort were spliced together, what would be its name? Hardtopronounce.
50) Would narrator_radio1 go out with viciousx67? Maybe. Who knows.
51) If viciousx67 took over the world, who would be happy? Him. The rest of us would be fucked.
52) Does l337cort have a dog? No.
53) What languages does viciousx67 speak? English, Chinese, Japanese, and some Vietnamese.
54) If viciousx67 and narrator_radio1 were siamese twins, where would they be joined? No, they would be twins.
55) Where would narrator_radio1 most like to visit? VA, I hope.
56) Is l337cort athletic? Runs. Fast.
57) What exotic animal would narrator_radio1 like as a pet? A llama. Not sure.
58) Is narrator_radio1 a nerd? Aren't we all?
59) Is l337cort 1337? No. Self-proclaimed 1337ness does not make one 1337.
60) Has l337cort dyed their hair? Yes.
61) Is viciousx67 popular? With me, yes.
62) What video game does narrator_radio1 remind you of? Monkeys.
63) What rank would viciousx67 have in a giant robot army? Repairman/pilot.
64) Does viciousx67 travel a lot? Yup, but should travel some more.
65) How tall is narrator_radio1? About as tall as me.
66) Would l337cort and narrator_radio1 make a good couple? Maybe. Again, I'd rather not speculate on what I can't really see.
67) If viciousx67 took over the world, who would suffer? Everyone but Zim. Maybe GIR.
68) What do you disagree with l337cort about? Which way to wear pants.
69) If viciousx67 had a superpower, what would it be? Super-weaving.
70) Is l337cort related to viciousx67? Nope.
71) What would l337cort think of viciousx67? He's pretty cool.
72) What word best describes viciousx67? Searching.
73) What would you do if viciousx67 died? Run. I know he's the only one who knew the code to stop the bomb.
74) If l337cort commanded an army, who would be his/her followers? The Catholics. Wait, they're already taken...
75) Is viciousx67 single? Well, he's an entity of one.
76) What is narrator_radio1's favorite band/artist? Woooo. Right now, I think Soundgarden
77) Is l337cort a high school student? Once.
78) Are l337cort and narrator_radio1 going steady? Not really. They're more rocky.
79) What planet should l337cort be from? Ur...no that one's done to much. So, here we go. Assworld.
80) What color should narrator_radio1 dye their hair? There's more than one? Well, "they" should dye their hair bright flaming red. It'd be hot.
81) How would viciousx67 conquer the world? One robot at a time...
82) Where was l337cort born? In my state.
83) Does narrator_radio1 have a crush on l337cort? Don't think so.
84) Does l337cort have a big secret? Nope. Only little and medium sized ones. The big ones are too expensive.
85) Do you have narrator_radio1's screenname? That just hurts. Please, make it stop.
86) Is viciousx67 introverted or extroverted? inextroverted.
87) What is l337cort's favorite food? Chicken.
88) How would l337cort kill narrator_radio1? With an explosive aimed at all of us.

Meh.

2005-09-13T23:56:14Z

Weird, everything electronic thinks today is Monday. Certainly FELT like one, doing 8 hours or so of photo restoration. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job quite a bit, but restoring photos that people didn't give enough care for in the first place to be in good condition makes me question my reason for restoring them. I shouldn't bitch; I just spent too much time on too few images. Yes, too few. I completed 2 today, one of which I had started yesterday afternoon. Wasn't much fun. Most restorations would be easy enough, if they hadn't been horribly abused somehow through the years. Like, smearing it with chocolate cake. That's not a specific, but it might as fucking well be.

The work was educational. It gave me the opportunity to see how well I can use a stylus (which in turn has given me better feelings about drawing; now if I can only find the time to draw.) Got to talk with my boss, Lisa, most of the day. She's pretty cool. A few years older than me, married, and a former dancer. How the step to running a photography studio happened is a story I haven't quite gotten out of her yet, but we've only known each other for a month. Maurice is pretty cool too, though he wasn't in today. Not sure why. No call, nuthin'. He's a great guy to work with. Duane's downright amazing as a photographer and a business man, and does nothing but work. Seriously. He sits down at 10:00am, answers whatever calls are his, and works. The man's a machine, and full of useful insight to photography in the commercial, construction, and proffessional practice. I can't tell if he and I are gettting along. He's a bit stand-offish, and explosively angry when something he's working on doesn't go the way he wanted it to. But I've never seen him hopping mad at Maurice or myself. Sweet guy through it all. Reminds me a lot of my dad if he'd gone military.

Anyway, about to watch some NCIS. Good show. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Later.

Joe.

Less than 36 hours til monday morning... less than 36 hours til monday moring... less than 36 hours

2005-08-21T02:11:44Z

For those of you who don't know, yes, I have become a part of the ranks among the employed. I'm working as a construction photographer for a studio in Springfield called Sisson Studios. You know how construction sites have to have monthly evidence of their progress as well as examples of safety features of their work (probably more the former than the latter), well, I'm gonna be the guy that TAKES those pictures (not to mention, upload, edit, print, and mail them off in a timely manner) twice each month. Not glorious work by any means, but I couldn't think of anything more exciting to do with the skills that I have. I'm a bit nervous, considering that I will be on my own pretty soon and there is a grand total of 4 photographers in this studio, all involved in other aspects involving our photographic services. But on the upside, I'm gonna be one of two that can ride on a helicopter. Yes, that's right, hanging my ass out of a small rental 1,000 feet in the air, praying that I'm not too nervous to have the presence of mind to shoot a picture. Anyway, I'll be off, and I'll update soon.

P.S. Traffic sucks.

Joe