Lorem Ipsum – A Tradition of Bullshit

This evening I was working on a new website that I plan to release soon, it is for my art. I have been trying to develop the website without doing any of the actual writing that is required (including my present nemesis: the artist’s statement). As a placeholder I have been using Lorem Ipsum text. Originally I thought that Lorem Ipsum was a new invention of absolute giberish, but it seems to actually have a long heritage. Check it out: http://www.lipsum.com/

Art Instructor

I was contemplating careers tonight as I was driving home, I am adding Art Instructor to the list. Seems to fit what I like.

Stupid Privacy Policy Laws

I am never amazed at the stupidity of some people and organizations. Google has been in violation of a California law requiring commercial websites hosted in the state to have a privacy policy linked from their homepage for 5 years. Google has their policy available from their About page (one click from Home), but the people bitching about this say it isn’t good enough. Why is this such a problem? I don’t really get it. First of all, if you don’t see a policy listed, go the fuck away from the site. Second, this is Google, privacy is irrelevant, they collect data on everyone and store it for some unknown future project. Google could move its offices to Russia and then blackmail every person in the United States and we would all be fucked, so its already too late for all of us. Third, Google doesn’t require or even really encourage registration (except iGoogle), so all they can know and store is what you search for and your IP address and then where you go.
If you are afraid of what Google might be doing with information about you, it might be time to check yourself into a different Internet.

What is my purpose?

I have been a college student for almost 5 years now (since August 2003) and I still don’t know what I want to do. I am a Software and Information Systems student by major designation, but anyone who meets me (that didn’t know me when I was a computer dork) doesn’t seem to believe that. Honestly, I don’t know that I believe it anymore. I like computers and know a reasonable amount about them, but there seems to be more to me than that. In my Digital Photography class I have already (3 weeks into the class) been designated as the go-to guy for technical or artistic questions. What is it about me that makes my knowledge so versatile? In some ways I feel like I should be some sort of engineer. Engineers are technical, but also have so much of an artistic influence on things. I can’t seem to find what it is that I am supposed to do. So many of my friends know their place so easily it seems. Jeff has graduated with his economics degree and is moving on to a PhD in Economics… that’s dedication to the field. I find it often quite funny that there is no doctoral degree available in the arts, but then I remind myself, that it is because at that level it technically changes fields. If you put enough thought into art to obtain a PhD, it is no longer art, it is a branch of Philosophy (Aesthetics). Not that it matters much to me, since I can’t seem to pick a field long enough to want to pursue an advanced degree like that.
I feel like I am lacking guidance, and like there is something wrong with me. When does that little buzzer in my head get to go off and tell me that I have found something that I should be doing for my life? I have a good feeling about Art, but its not something I can see myself doing for my entire life, primarily because I don’t feel that Art is something that can be commercialized without sucking its intrinsic value from it. Art is personal, Art is love. When you put a price on Art you are putting a price on the soul of its creator.
There are days when I wake up and I can think of nothing but writing, and there are days when I wake up and can think of nothing but some form of art (changes seasonally) and then there are days when I wake up and I can think of nothing but source code (then there are the days when my cock wakes me up, and we are not going there in this blog). Does this mean my career has a multiple personality disorder (I know thats not the name for it anymore, but its prettier than Dissociative Identity Disorder)?
I wish I could just wake up and know what my purpose is. Everyone else is in their lives already, I’m just sitting here, and I’m pissed at myself.

Have A Cookie


Out of a burst of craving and a bit of bordem I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies last night. It is an odd thing that the cookies you make yourself don’t taste quite the same as those you remember from your childhood when someone else made them, even if the same recipe is followed exact. My attempt (aided by Chris) satisfied my craving for chocolate chip cookies, but there was still something missing, some element I was expecting was not present.

Lack of Motion

The problem with living where I do is that everything is calm. The most disturbing thing around is the wind moving flowers and leaves about. Normally this would be a relaxing environment that is pleasant to photo…but this week I need things in motion to make my photography assignment work.
The most dynamic and moving thing in my life is Chris, and I have already had him running and posing for me for so many shots for motion I would feel guilty asking him to pose in motion for me, or make other things move again. I live near a highway, but nothing really interesting happens there either… my best shot would be to find a fast moving train, and even those are rare and come without warning.
I have to capture motion in situations where I stop motion, blur motion (background is stable), pan (foreground is stable, background blurs) and perform a long exposure at night. The blur motion is easy when you figure out where to look and the instructions to give your guinea pig. Pan is a little harder… getting the camera and the object moving at the same time is a challenge. The long exposure at night is easy… I just have to find something interesting to go for the long exposure on.. preferably something that emits light. Stop motion will be simple as well, once I find the right thing in motion that I want to stop… I could stop motion on anything… but not just anything will show the absence of the motion but still allow for the knowledge that it is in motion.
I have to turn in my shots tomorrow night at midnight… I think I will be ready… as long as it doesn’t rain tomorrow I should be able to make it work (tornado would be good though… lots of things suspended in air to capture the stop motion on).

Missing What Is In Front of Me

I have been waiting for a package to arrive from Orion for the past 8 days, today it arrived. From another place, Adorama, I ordered a part as well, it arrived on Tuesday. I ordered both parts on the same day, believing that the parts were compatible parts that needed each other to function. The desired function in this case is to mount my 55mm camera to my telescope’s T-mount (the lens insertion function). The part from Adorama is a 55mm to “standard” adapter. The Orion part is a “standard” to telescope adapter… considered to be a universal part. When the Orion part arrived today I tried to put it together with the Adorama part, as I thought they should fit… they didn’t fit. I became immediately irritated and almost gave up on the whole project.. until I noticed that both adapters seemed to have a common end… a female thread component. I went to my telescope with the Adorama part, lined up the threads and screwed it on… it fit. So… apparently “standard” isn’t really standard… it ended up being that the Adorama “standard” was the standard for telescope lens connections, and the Orion standard is the SLR camera standard…. oops. Either way, I now have a reliable way to connect my camera to my telescope… and apparently I have had that ability for several days.