Thursday, September 06, 2007

seven days late

today is the day that i was supposed to leave for Copenhagen.

but i missed my flight...

by a week.

how could this happen? i’ve been asking myself all morning. i’m a NOONAN! airline schedules run in our bloodline! i was probably conceived on an airplane!

i’m so embarrassed.

granted, when i bought the ticket over a month ago, there was a lot going on. i had a lot on my mind and i was a little confused over what was going on during which week and so forth. so my ticket was for last Thursday... but i did somehow manage to take leave on the right days.

i woke up this morning at 5am so that i’d have time to pack and get some food in me before running a slew of errands on the way to the airport. at approximately 0615, i decided to check my email really quick while i was making coffee to see if there were any last minute notes from my cousin Elijah, who i’m going to meet up there.

Lo and behold, there were... she was asking me to look at the dates of the itinerary that i had emailed her to make sure they were correct... she was making sure that i hadn’t bought my plane tickets for the week prior, when i was most clearly NOT in copenhagen.

silly cousin, of course i bought them for last week.

shit.

the airline and cheaptickets.com were not very sympathetic. to them, i was case number AP270301XZQJ2UJN. they had all the sympathy of an insurance adjuster who was working on saturday.

it was 6:30 in the morning and i already wanted to fall in a heap on the floor. a moaning heap with no bones.

well, what’s 350 bucks among friends really?... besides two (small) starbucks coffees (no milk or anything) a week for a year. or two months of gasoline in italy. or a flight to copenhagen. i’ll just see if there is another ticket available last minute... oh, here we go...

only 800 pounds sterling... nope, that’s not gonna work.

finally, at about 3pm, i came across a fare that was roughly similar to the original price and i said, ‘what the hell, i want to see elijah.’

now, thanks to mastercard, i’ll be departing venice at o’dark thirty tomorrow morning for the great nation of denmark.

AND i have a whole free day to do whatever i need around the house... like... laundry.

i’m so excited.




Wednesday, September 05, 2007

SCAD

so it arrived today...

the Savannah College of Art and Design catalog...

i requested one on a whim. i’ll probably look around at other schools as well, we shall see. i’m not sure how much graduate school fits into my grown up life, but it’s a nice idea anyway, and one that is fun to entertain.

the idea of an M.F.A. is kind of scary after having a ‘career’ now for a few years now. i’ve gotten used to a regular paycheck and the feeling that i can afford whatever kinds of groceries i might desire... instead of top ramen and chili-mac again.

the whole idea is at least six years away (minimum), but it’s a nice idea. another way that it is scary is the whole idea of a body of work. of a focus. of a definitive direction to my photography:

oh there's patrick, he's that (fill in the blank) photographer...

it’s kind of intimidating. for the time being, i just shoot, and whatever comes out is what i have. sometimes it’s landscape... sometimes people. sometimes formal, sometimes informal. that’s all fine if one is an extremely prolific photographer, but i only take between 400-1100 pictures a month.

these are the things that are intimidating:
going ‘incomeless’ for about three years
student loans
leaving behind a possibly lucrative career that might afford me the time to accomplish the same thing without an M.F.A.

these are the things that are attractive:
unabashed focus on the craft
the opportunity to surround myself with artist and art-minded people once again
the opportunity to find that focus and that definitive direction
the fact that i have the GI bill that would pay for the brunt of it

it sounds like a risk of course. but what is life if not risk and reward? what is a life passion if you risk none of your life for it? what good is a bucketful of what-ifs on your deathbed?

perhaps it is even more than six years away... i’ve got sixteen (minimum) until the GI bill runs out. perhaps i could find that direction ahead of time (with enough hard work and motivation) and then i could use those three years to refine it, instead of searching for it.

today, a pleasant daydream... tomorrow... who knows? certainly not me, although i have some sneaky suspicions.

sweet dreams love

Sunday, September 02, 2007

all things oktober

oktoberfest '06

it's about that time again... oktoberfest.

this was from last year, at the end of the night. the three of us drove up on a thursday night and camped in a soccer stadium.

i don't know how the hell i managed to take this picture. i had already lost my favorite sunglasses. i'm surprised i still had my camera with me. i sat down on the ground, totally wasted, told them to stand still and took a three second handheld exposure on Bulb... since my camera only goes to 1 sec.

better lucky than good, i suppose.

anyways. this picture is to restimulate the mood of oktoberfest. may everyone go at least once.

mmm, makes me want to grab a beer... mmmm

Saturday, September 01, 2007

you should know these people:

dear reader, may i introduce you to Nico and Fairlight:

Fair n Nico

fantastic people they are. truly wonderful. favorites even. back when this picture was taken, there were but two of them, but they have since multiplied... and there is now zoe.

i have known fairlight for many moons. since the days of santa cruz. since the days of baskin art studios. she is artist and mother of zoe. when she isn't creating stained glass masterpieces or honing her photography, she contemplates the nature of the universe and goes on walks in the woods above her home, or on the beach by the bay, or she flies off to canada or mexico or countries-near-florida-with-whom-we-have-trade-embargoes.

burritos and beers are the standard reunion custom. it harks back to the days when i was a sleepless student in the art department at santa cruz. she would find my miserably hungry existence in the darkroom or painting studio after some inhumanely long period of time that most likely began the day before, and we'd roll down to mission st and grab a burrito and a beer and catch up on life.

she most likely saved my life... otherwise i might still be up there... developing just one more roll... toning just one more print.

you never can tell.