A Family View

So, just for the sake of the name of the blog being photographically referenced, I figured it was time for a quick peek at the previous work that was generated while I was in college. These here are some 4x5 digital imacon scans that I created while working with my beloved view camera. There really wasn't much applied here as far as tilts, swings, vertical shifts, or horizontal shifts, but there was an appreciation for the high resolution and tonal range which the camera provides. Using the strobes and getting amazing results was the best part of the whole project. This project didn't really represent the bulk of what I worked on, but that's fine. It was a fun project, and I learned a lot from it. Just click to enlarge for better viewing purposes and feel free to let me know what you think!

99u Is My Support System

"As creative thinkers, we want to make progress, and we want to move big ideas forward. So, it's no surprise that the best motivator is being empowered to take action."

It sounds inspirational right, like something out of a story book: People wanting to work for work sake? *sigh*

I'm always discouraged, and frankly rather annoyed whenever I've heard coworkers over the years complain about their job as their doing it. It brings my mood down, it makes me hate working with them in times when I usually like to, and it truly ruins the rest of my working day. "Oh this doesn't work," or "God, when is this going to be done," or "I don't get paid enough to do this!"

In this article from 99u.com the author talks about how the creative differs from this, while also explaining that the dangling carrot is slowly becoming a lesser reason for better performance as the individual themselves becomes more of the reason and origin of advanced job performance. Self motivated people making things work is all that's really going on here.

P.S. Tonight is the night that I essentially rip apart my old blog, bring it's four total posts over here, and finally eliminate it. I'm starting a new chapter in my life, if you couldn't tell, and part of synchronizing with the new and learned me has everything to do with shuttering off the dead parts. BAM!!! And yes, I do know that I can set for blog posts to post themselves on a later date, but I choose not to.

Creating Consistency

Alright, I will be posting about said books mentioned in the previous post soon, but for now I'll supply you with an explanation as to why exactly this would even be a part of this blog.

My wonderful significant other has been on this great journey in the past few months. Initially everything started when he began tearing himself apart at an accelerated rate about how he didn't know how to attack his long term aspiration to become a writer. He read books about how to get started, how to deal with editors, and so forth, but still struggled putting pen to paper without killing himself over it. Eventually, a published friend of ours, who went to Pitt and majored in English, mentioned this annual November writing self challenge called NaNo WriMo (National Novel Writers Month). In this, he has made a serious push to keep up with his dream of becoming a successful novelist, writing 1,667 words a day, leveling out to the 50,000 word goal by the end of the month. He's got a cute little plastic trophy, about two inches in height sitting below his iMac, reminding him to write as much as possible, and to keep up with his long term novel writing goals. It's a small reminder, but that cheap plastic trophy is a true treasure won. Also, as to further motivate himself, he has gone further and now meets up with the Philly NaNo WriMo group when he can. Even a step further than that, he has also created a local chapter in the area which he attends to as religiously as a true Catholic to mass, going at least once a week. 

This makes me proud, but still I'm unsure of my goals. Back to the point of the blog, I'm finding what I want in life, and this is part of the journey. Well, to start something off, and keep my literacy continuous, I'm again taking the advice of that same friend from Pitt. Being a person with long term goals, she's made an effort to read one new book every week. Now, most of this is to give her mind a break from her extreme work schedule, coupled with the ever present need to keep up with the times and remain as educated/competitive as possible. This sounds pretty crazy, but hey, why not. I'll have a long term goal sometime, so might as well start now. I'll be trying to post on the topic of a new book once a week, with the exception, of course, which may arise with a heavy work schedule or crazy, long book. 

Wish me luck, and stay tuned.

P.S. If there is anyone out there who dares to comment, a sad rarity in todays blogging culture, please feel free to suggest any good books out there which you'd like to hear a review on before you read. The review could take about two weeks, and will obviously be subject to my own bias.