12.02.2008   the victoria snaps

the victoria snaps are up. only took 1.25 years. (try lo-res for slow connections.)

ferry ride

11.04.2008   election day: cell phone snaps

policewoman

my vote:

(yes, the hands are cold, dry & brittle from standing outside for an hour. be kind.) see a few more. quality? it's a cell phone camera.

10.31.2008   reprieve!?

I finished! I finished my degree. And I finished editing the Vancouver pics (if not yet Victoria). I'd hoped to rest this semester and get an idea of what I want next, which for me requires a bit of quiet and reflection.

But I took on more teaching, so am still too busy to reflect this semester. Still somewhat trapped in must-do-more-than-healthy mode required of grad school (&c.). Why so hard to quit playing by someone else's rules? Oh, but I will. Slowly but surely.

The Vancouver pics (taken last summer when I met up with Alys, while she was shooting the Time Out Vancouver Guide) are finally posted. Hope you enjoy.

Instead of getting straight to the old projects when I finished my thesis, I was sucked out of my media-free vacuum. I've spent blissfully little time in the past, oh, seven years (since leaving the photo world, really) with the news media. Given that my experience in the world has so little semblance to the way it's portrayed in the papers (radio, online, etc), I stopped plugging in. It was delightful. But with the sudden lack of schoolwork, the financial crisis, and the election commotion, I was simply sucked in. I read all the hilarious, depressing news about Palin and corporate corruption, watched Tina Fey time and again, and shared links with friends ad nauseum. Finally I reigned myself in and limited myself, which wasn't difficult because I became so sick of it all, over and over.

My mother has been campaigning door-to-door for Obama in Ohio. Not an easy task, to be sure. (I'm quite proud of her because, unlike her children, she's not especially assertive or vocal.) Her Obama sign was stolen from her yard, along with all the others in the neighborhood. When she reported it, she was told it had happened all over Akron. Gross. I insisted she make the effort (and another, and another if necessary) to get another sign. Don't let the culprits win! At the very least, keep them busy. Happily, she did.

Oh, good heavens. I pray that he wins.

Much love,
A