this page intentionally left blank

Klinko is so amazing. The David Bowie "Man of the Year" series with the wolves is unreal. Damn. I need some riches to buy a hugemongous studio and do nothing but shoot.

Since the topic of the week seems to be my recent dabbling in the technical challenges of glamour photogaphy, I thought this NPR story was appropriately cute.

Crosslighting... Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don't. This morning, my head feels like a nut in a nutcracker. I have a list of shit to do a mile long and I am really tired of some of the antics around here. There is this one guy... we'll just call him Doofus to protect his identity... every time he needs me to help him troubleshoot a problem he will type an email to me, press the send button, and walk directly to my office to discuss the email he sent me. I often have not received it and almost certainly haven't read it if I had. He expects me to drop everything to cater to his issue. His foolish assumptions regarding our business relationship are only hurting his service level. Some people need a whiffle bat to the head. Another guy this morning actually called me last night in a panic. Shits not working. I tell him that I'll help him and he pulls out the stops. Every correspondence is CC:'d to gaggles of management teams and high profile folks and he calls meetings and raises attention to his problem. Once I get a clear understanding of what his urgent, obviously life threatening issue is, I explain that the access he says isn't there actually is as part of our standard security policy and that it, in fact, should work for him. He tries again and *poof*... magic... it works. Call off the cavalry. Mr. Man shot a wad of flares into the corporate political sky over a fat finger that fell from his glove. I am at the bottom of my cup of coffee and lunch is still too far away. I was running late this morning. I didn't get into the office until quarter after eight. I didn't sleep well last night. I think I have big, purple bags under my eyes... like Grimace. Grimace is sleeping under my eyes. So, yeah... about the photo. Low key. The effect of low key cross lighting is really dramatic, but I goofed and should have had the model a tad more perpendicular to the backlight. I used a 40 degree snap in grid on the 48" softbox from the rear and the a standard 48" softbox (both the slim flavor) for the front. I wanted to do some high key shots as well for high contrast black and white, but the lighting setup would have taken too long and we were on a schedule. Maybe I can talk EL into helping me experiment with that once I get the studio finished at home? I am so so sleepy. I just want to sleep. It is the theme of my day now. Sleep. The irony is bittersweet. I get home and am wide awake. I'm sure there is a psychological factor at play here. I need to snap out of it.

Chiaroscuro... So is it better to post something quick and vague or not to post at all? I find myself short on time these days and often just blurt some stupid shit out that really could be left unsaid and the world would be exactly the same. Let me catch up a little. Friday afternoon I went to the dealership with my car and got an appraisal for trade in. I hated that car. I drove a truck for about 11 years before getting a Toyota Land Cruiser. The ex talked me into getting a sedan because the land Cruiser was "too big" and "scary to drive"... not to mention the horrible gas mileage. I've wanted another four wheel drive for a long time now and have just been putting off the purchase. I have always wanted a Jeep... not the SUV flavor, but the original jeepy-Jeep. In my younger years, I probably would have just said fuggit and purchased a Jeep for the fun factor. The reality is however, another truck would prove more useful in the long run for its utility. I had narrowed my selection to the full size Toyota Tundra, but had not decided on access-cab or double-cab. After spending some time with both, it because clear the access-cab was only designed for small children, hamsters, ferrets, and tree frogs. I don't think I know an adult alive that could sit in there comfortably (except maybe my first wife, but she shopped in the children's section to find clothes that fit, so she doesn't fully count). Even with the front seats in the farthest forward position, the space for knees and ankles and all that lower extremity stuff did just not exist. So, after much research and whittling, my decision was the D-cab. I picked up one with the advanced TRD suspension. I love it. By the time I finished all the paperwork on Friday and made it home, I was exhausted. I didn't get to bed until after midnight and my alarm was set for 3:00 to get on the road for San Antonio. I was running late because it took a little more effort than planned to get my ass out of bed. I spent all day Saturday and Sunday in a rented studio near the airport that was packed with tens of thousands of dollars worth of lighting equipment. I was so exhausted Saturday evening that I drove straight to Greg's after dinner, showered, and collapsed. My exhaustion carried into Sunday and effected my shooting performance somewhat, but the real kicker was having to drive the 3 and half hours back to Houston after we wrapped. I got home, dumped CF, checked my mail, mitigated the thousands (yes, thousands) of blog comment spam that had trickled in over the weekend. Spammers are the lowest scum. By the time I found sleep, it was about 1:00 aye emm. Monday morning in the office was only begun after waiting at the park and ride lot for about 15 minutes with no bus only to end up driving because METRO dropped the ball. Urs was quite a ways back in the commuter line, so I asked him to tag along so we could HOV. I need more coffee and a nap. I still have to run a few errands today that require trodding out in the misty, humid, muck. The weather is perfect for sleeping... or snuggling up in front of the fireplace. Work is no where on that list. Ugg. I hope you are having a better morning that me.

Long story. I bought a new truck on Friday. I love it. I spent the weekend in the studio. I'll post more as I have time to look at them, but right now I just want sleep...

I bought it.

I ate something that didn't agree with me. I'm hurting in a bad way this morning and was up most of the night. Ugg. I am not looking forward to the drive mañana, but it will be fun to shoot in a varied studio environment all weekend. A friend of mine is letting me grab a piece of couch Saturday night, so I won't have to give the hotel any ducats. I decided to go car shopping again. I have been looking off and on for over a year. I have narrowed my selection to a very few models and now it's just time to drive my trade in and see what they'll give me. I hate the whole car purchasing experience. I want so desperately to give my business to my brother Rob, but I don't want a Ford and that's what he sells. Anyhoo, wish me luck. I need to prep myself to be patient.

LMAO.

"Dublin makes five or six principal versions of Guinness, in a total of 19 variations, and exports around 40 percent of its output." Mmmmn.

I said woo. Frost on the windows this morning as temp at mi casa dipped to the high 30's... winter. I love it. I passed my FNCNE exam with flying colors. I missed 2 questions specifically because I needed a calculator and one was not avaialble. It happens. Anyhoo, I am excited by the weather and looking forward to a decadent luncheon with some colleagues at either Post Oak or Massas. Either way it plays out, I'm down with the grub. Many scotches into the Rockets ass whoopin' courtesy of Detroit last night, I ran into a coworker on the club level that gave me the skinny on the Red & White Wine Bistro next door. Apparently, you can call ahead and (for a moderate $85/person) arrange dinner at their buffet and watch the game from your martini-comfi seats. I am not a big basketball fan, but it's good info just in-case. I had to get up early for the test this morning and my head was still swimming in aged single malt. I need more coffee... and another round of sleep. Make that a double.