Yet another great CNN poll  
Is the U.S. government doing enough to stop the violence in the Mideast?

What kind of a question is this? First off how many people who are in the US (who this poll is presumably aimed at) have even been to the middle east? So why would you ask them anyways? Dumb fucks. Second (I hate it when people who start with a "First off" and never have a "Second" or even worse just an "A" without any more letters not even a b) Second... What do you mean by "Doing Enough"? Enough of what? Are we dropping enough bombs or do you mean are we begging them to stop killing each other enough? Third (see right after "second") When exactly did it become the US (that's pronounced YOU ESSS) When did it become the US Government's responsibly to stop suicide bombers in Israel and then them driving tanks up to the PLA's front door? If we try to stop Israel that's a bit hypocritical don't ya think? You attack us and we come and drop a whole mess of shit on you and try and kill the leader. The PLA makes the same kind of attack, although on a smaller scale, why would try to stop Israel from doing exactly what we did? Fourth (I'm on a roll now) Is the question that we should also be dropping bombs on the PLA? I think Israel is doing OK on their own, they don't really need our help.

And so it is with great pleasure that I declare the CNN Poll of the day to be completely and utterly Moot. Try again boyz

Pool....  
I found my location. I need to refactor the light I had planned but thats no problem. I don't think I have room for the xtra large softbox over the table, but I may still try. I need to get some fresh supplies. I want some fresh chalk. Maybe a shaper... hard to say.

I really like the primary colors of the balls and the green of the cloth. The guy just put fresh cloth on it. I'm gonna try to shoot it next week like on thursday.

Today  
I'm doing some location scouting today for shots of pool balls.

I did some more airbrushing. It's actually really fun. It's like power coloring. I'm still only using black. I need to get some more masking material as my choice of using a cut up folder isn't working so well. It gets wet from all the paint and then starts to wrinkle. At that point it isn't flat with the artwork... It was fun though.

I'm creating 2 specials.

Spring headshot special. $99 for the sitting; Repro is 500 for $175 8x10 lithos that's .35 per piece.

The second is for businesses its 5000 post cards including one in studio photograph for $600.00 (not sure where to advertise this one, any ideas?)

Success is not when you get to where you're going. It's when you start moving towards it... --dunno

Airbrush  
Did some airbrushing today. I am able to hand paint custom backgrounds for shots. I just spent a bunch of time practicing.

I learned some things:

1. Paint that is too thick is way more awful than paint that is too thin. (I think that's part of Tao Te Ching, but I've re discovered it)
2. Overspray wipes off
3. water soluble paint is great. Much better than the old enamel used for models.
4. If you want an air brush to be smooth you have to take it apart to clean it. Period. No excuse.
5. When painting with black if you screw up, just rethink your picture. I started out with a nice gradient top to bottom I ended up with a nice arch.

Moving forward  
So it's all about keeping at it.

Under planning a day is worse than over planning a day...

Slice Cards  
I started the quick reference cards for my planning scheme. I like calling it a scheme because it sounds like I'm plotting something underhanded. I've got the basic layout done and I'm just filling in the text. I'm planning on having the first side done tomorrow. I'm just not sure what to put on the back side yet.

I can't sneeze  
We worked out saturday and today and I pushed it on the weights to try and get 12 reps on every single machine. Now I'm dying everytime I sneeze. It just hurts...

Cash Flow... Cash Flow... Cash Flow  
I think I can... The little train... He's saying "Cash Flow"

I need some ideas to generate some cash flow into the photography thing. So I'm moving more to fine art as exhibitions get you assingments. The Pool shots are an example. I'll be looking for poster publishers after I sell fine art limited series as photographic prints. Cash flow from such ventures can fund my assignment work as well as creating exhibitions.

Fine Art Pool  
This guy I used to work with a long time ago is big into pool. He wants to be an Olympic coach for pool. He saw my photographs and suggested High end pool photos to decorate people's houses.

I just thought of a set. Hit me. I'm sooo slow. At Microsoft I "own" a small share of a really nice table. They have good balls too. And no overhead light I think.... Excellent

I'm also going to check out a hall really close to here. But that would involve a rental and money. This will be a lot cheaper.

Trouble on a shot  
So I worked for a few days on a shot. I built sets which is cool because I learned some stuff. I even printed out a photo. It just isn't gelling. I'm concerned because this is the first "set" shot I've done. So I just asked myself: "What do you hate about these shots?" and I answered "shadows". So I want dark and moody but no big shadows. hmmm

I also don't like the composition that much either. I keep leaning towards too complicated. So if I remove some of the stuff... I think I'm trying to "sell" the wrong thing.

How can I sell. Photography of Antiques. Instead of "Kodak". I'll think on that. Meanwhile

I really want to work on Pool Shots.

ok no quite as healthy as I would have liked  
I'm 50 points high on total colesterol. I'm 8 points high on bad. and I'm good on "good colesterol". Who the fuck came up with that term "good colesterol". I know I know, It's good for you and it's colesterol it's like a standard 3rd grade compound word, only it isn't because it's two words.

Come to think of it shouldn't "Compound Word" be "Compoundword". I'm all in favor of a selfreferential universe.

Anyway it sounds like "good handgrenade" Now there's a compound word. Handgrenade. Or is that hyphenated? I don't know either way you blow up dead.

It's go this self contriction going on. I don't mean to the degree of oxymoron. I predict that everyone just thought the phrase "army intelligence" or even said it aloud. Can't we make up a new word for the good kind of fatty substance cruising through my veins? Maybe we should have a poll. Ya that'll solve it.

Like cnn.com something in the news, lets have a damn poll. Lets see what todays is...

"Should the Catholic Church end its celibacy requirement for priests?" Yes or No.

So what does some jack shit non catholic atheist mutherfucker such as myself have any say wether or not priests can get their dicks wet? It seems to me that they each vow not to get their dick wet. I wonder how many browsers from the parishes around the country are going to weigh in on this cnn poll. OK so we got a problem with some priests going after kids. So thats bad. Real bad. But do you really think getting them laid will help? I don't. But the poll is very american its very black/white yes/no no time to think, just click. No way to say. Well the problem here is not gay or straight or laid or not laid. Its preditor or not. It's criminal or not criminal. How about we stop sweeping these complaints under the rug and moving them to another state kinda things.

So a better poll might be this:

Should we enable a one strike you die by hanging in the park policy for crimes against children? Yes or No.

I believe I have digressed.

Introduction is published  
I know it took a long time.

I just published the first power point presentation about slice management. You need a ballvase username/password so email me if you want to check it out.

I'd like to hear any comments/questions so I can incorporate the changes into the presentation. If you have powerpoint let me know in your email I'll give you the direct link so you can download the presentation, other wise you have to view the web version and its a bit slow and kinda fucks up the animations because it's so slow.

Photography the main thing  
I've lost a word. By my chosen vocation I gave up a word for general use. It suddenly became a pun. I no longer "focus" on things. I focus a camera. If I focus in the general sense its a pun.

You can see the re-launch of my site moving me to full time photographer here!

Be sure to click on the "see more" for more photos. I'd like to hear about it. Good bad or ugly. Whatever just drop me an email.

Healthy Note  
I should be getting my healthy note because they didn't call...

I'm shrinking.....  
So I had my physical today. I was dreading it. I wasn't afraid of the glove because I believed at 33 they woulnd't do that to me. Of course I was afraid that when I got there and was sitting naked on the exam table I was looking straight at the gloves hanging on the wall.

He asked me a bunch of questions (whilst I was still in my levi's) and at the end he said. "OK that's Great" and I said "Can I go now?" He laughed. I mean he thought that was funny. He laughed, I didn't. He left the room with instructions on what not to be wearing when he got back. NO gown, just me on the table in my drawers. I negotiated for the socks. He let me keep them.

They didn't even make me fill the cup. I did have to have a blood test 1.5 vials worth. It still hurts even now. Whatever, nobody stuck a finger up my ass thats what's key. Also I found out if your Dr. is doing that, its probably for his own pleasure as my Doc said there have been studies that the blood tests for these things are much much more accurate than the old latex finger. They just don't do it any more at all.

He did check out the old home region for testicular growths and I did have to cough. But it was quick and painless and when that was over he said, "thats it" blood test. He said peeing in a cup would only look for diabetes and since they were going for blood anyway, there was no point to it.

He'll call if i'm fucked, otherwise the nurse said, "you'll get a 'healthy' note in the mail". What is a healthy note? A very well put together piece of paper sent through the postal system. I'm guessing "healthy" also includes no anthrax on it. I assume if a note has been tainted with Anthrax it can't be considered "healthy".

So I'm really hungry now, so I'm going to eat.

Motion  
Jump Start Your Business Brain by Doug Hall has set me in motion. I'm hard core for product/commercial photography. Hell I even learned how to spell commercial! (Is there an acronym in there somewhere?)

How you ask? By giving me information that I wish I would have had in High School I suddenly understand what makes a business probable of success. Please note the word "probable". This has also caused me to ante up and stop being so damn ambiguous with my business. I'm a photographer now. Did you hear me? I'm a professional photographer now. Wait perhaps I wasn't clear. I'm a successful professional photographer now. I own the commercial photography studio "CustomIllusions"; We work with businesses to create images that they need for their marketing/reporting materials.

We're fast. How fast? This fast: We bring the whole studio to you. I don't mean we bring all the cameras and lights, I mean we pack up the computers, the scanners, the lights, the set pieces. We bring the studio to you. We set it up, we show you the lights, we take some digital samples. You either like it or you don't. If not we change it right then and there if you do then we commit the same image to film. We run it out to a nearby lab and have it back on the light table right there in your place of business in a few hours. We scan them edit them burn them on CD right there in front of your very eyes and put them in your hands. That's fast.

So we have a steak in the ground and wow we're building fast. Today we worked on our own marketing material using exactly the process we will use for customers. We sampled from our stock images, and created a 4x6 post card of the images. We'll be having this professionally printed soon.

Motion with out direction is speed.

Motion with direction is velocity!

Tip Tap with Mouth-Breathing Whack Jobs  
First lets start with a big shout out to Tammy for absorbing each and every one of these lessons since my last post about them. Much appreciated. Especially today.

To get a tone on things, Lets just say there was one small part where I thought it would be more fun to be at a physcial.

The bench. There is one place to sit at the window that looks into the studio. It's a old pew that I'm sure they boosted out of the back of some under funded church. I don't really know what it's like to sit on... Besides the time I went with Tammy to watch her class I've hardly seen it, let alone been aloud to sit on it.

I get there early. You know I don't expect to be able to sit on it, but hey its a free country. I'd at least like to offer the seat to someone, but I don't get the chance. Why? Because there are two people on it. It seats probalby about 5. They have all their shit including baby carries up on it. I look and think, no wonder Tammy never gets a seat I mean come on. Then I get it. As friends filter in late (seafood lady) I hear, "oh let me move all this" and bam her skinny ass is livin' large on the bench. Does she sit there long? No

Oh one woman brought a damn camp chair (a good idea for sure) and set that muther up and plopped on down. I was like "good for you sister, fuck their click". Well not out loud. But I admired her for the chair, I didn't however appreciate all the pine needles. I don't think the studio will either. Seems we don't know how to clean things off when we get back from Mt. Rainer.

Man Bashing
Yes ladies and gentlemen the husbands aren't important this week, they are pigs. Seems all these moms are "single" moms becaus hubby works late every single day last week. SeaFood (to protect people I rename them so their real names aren't up here. for example the woman I call SeaFood is because another week she was talking about how she puked up some seafood on her neighbor's lawn. I also don't *know* their names so it helps me out too.)

"I have to do make dinner, get the kids ready for bed, get his dinner, do his dishes. Did I mention I do dishes twice?" Well thats pretty smart there sweety. I guess we need to nominate for a nobel piece prize. "I do dishes twice". Oh shit. NO! There are so many responses to this its not funny. But a thought entered my mind. "Thank you Tammy for never doing that shit for me, because it would have made me into an A hole like these ladies have created". "And the last two weekends I haven't seen him 'cause he's working on the deck so I've had to be with the kids the entire weekend too!" Let the fucker get his own dinner. Do his own dishes. Come ON! And while you're at it, bitch, you build the deck...

She was tired because she had to make cup cakes. Tammy will bake muffins, substitute teach, drive a kid to a class and still find time to take a college course for credit. On a fucked up thyroid level. Course I do my own damn dishes. (mostly)

Then it was kid bashing time. Good thing some of them were out there with us. They actually were talking about hitting their kids in public. We don't believe in hitting them in private let alone public. I know that made the one lady (not seafood) uncomfortable. Me too. They were talking about the mouthes on the older kids and how it was OK to hit back, but be aware you might be the one to get into trouble. fucked.

The cake topper? She spoke to me. Now let me interject that near the end I was doing fine. I had decided to only speak to sam and the teacher. I was holding true on that and my contempt level was quite high so I was feeling pretty good. And then... She spoke to me. I wasn't even sure it was to me. She asked me how old Sam is. I couldn't even think. I was in my head going "holy fuck she spoke to me". I managed to get the answer out, but I'm sure she's writing in a blog somewhere about the dumb ass subway paying unemployed lazy good for nothing stays home while his wife works to buy him an Xbox idiot who has trouble answering a simple question.

Right after that her friend came back so I was gone again. Good. I feel pretty good. I can easily do this again. I finally found a good use for contempt.

Next time... I'm bringing my damn folding camp love seat and I'm putting my damn cooler full of ice cold coke on the other half with the pine needles so none of those "women" can sit on it.

So There!

A Slice  
I finally got the first draft of the presentation with the *new* forms. This is the kick. I'm going to have Tammy look it over for those really stupid mistakes I make and then it should be live on the site tomorrow. If you do not have an ID/Password from the ballvase you will need one to see this presentation.

It was one of those problems that the thing itself is designed to solve. I just needed to replan it and then get it back going. Finding just exactly what was blocking me internally would have gotten this out a lot faster. Talk about eating one's own dogfood...

Portfolio Consulting  
I had an initial phone conversation with PortAuthority from Boston. The lady talked to me about building a "book" of my work. They take images and edit the portfolio to the tune of $250/hour. The initial "consult" with my images is a flat fee of $400. From that $400 they look at my images and tell me what I need to do and how much its going to cost me.

I get the feeling from it that it's a like uh "you wanna be a model?" Well you need to give me $500 now for the sitting and we'll make you a portfolio so I can market you. Only I guess this is diffrent because they don't help me place my "book" they just help me develop my book.

Do I really need that much help? Does everyone? Maybe if I need that much help I should go back to school?

I got this feeling that they do the whole "art" scene and they are looking for people who want to break into that. I'm not looking for that. I'm looking to make High Quality customer driven images. Edit and deliver them as fast as humanly possible at a reasonable cost for both of us.

I'm not looking to go to parties and get into someone's circle.

Survey says? Crock.

It seems like one of those times where you sorta see an "easy" way out. Like a diet pill. But really what I need to do are crunches. By that I mean taking pictures for people, advertising and working. Otherwise it would be finding a product type photographer to assist for. Hmmmm...

I really don't know.

Template Changes  
I updated the template to better reflect my concentration on photography. The old introduction was a little out dated.

One other thing. If you're reading this and I don't know you drop me an email... I know some folks read this. But i'd get a kick out of knowing that someone I don't know (yet) is reading this. Just click here

Play Group  
I'll ask it again?

Why is it you get a bunch of moms (three even) they have to talk about reproducing??? Damn I mean all the kids are school age or almost. Can we move on now? I mean ya they talk about the kids, got no problem with that. Birth was a long time ago. Maybe it's cause they passed something 50 times the size of themselves out that it kinda "sticks" in their mind. I dunno. Next time I'll go play pool even if its by myself!

Kick  
It's so stupid.

I mean really.

What am I thinking?

I need to finish the slice paper... duh.

Shout Outs  
I'd like to shout out

to Aye Jaye for a call to my mom.

to Kurt and Marie for feeding my pathetic self last night. As well as an ironic discussion. DO NOT DROP

Bunches of other people who do cool stuff for and with me...

Dog days  
So we keep rescueing stray dogs from the street. It's begining to drive me nuts. It's like "oop theres another one"... Then we have to track down the owner. Today the little mutt didn't have a tag, but he had a collar and smelled just like puppy chow. We were able to drop him at the vets.

Tip when trying to foist a dog off on the vet. The receptionist is made of iron. Tell the story but expect her to say something on the order of "What do you want us to do about it?". To which you deftly respond "Do you have a microchip scanner?" ahhh now we have a medical assistant or better the vet her(him)self. Now tell the story, tell it big. Dog was running down the double yellow and you dodged 3 cars and stopped a garbage truck to save it. Then they will ask you if you want it.

Sneeze. This is key. I don't mean a little "hachu". I mean a ijustwalkedoutofthemovietheaterandsawthesunkindamassive sneeze. I happen to be alergic to cut grass and the neighbor cut yesterday so this was easy. Follow it up with, "he won't fit in our house, at all". You're in. They'll take it and make sure it finds it's home... And the dog won't get iced right away.

No good deed goes unpunished ie. the back of my car is quite muddy.

I think I'm going to buy a couple of leashes and put them in the cars for just such an occasion.

Funny Call...  

So I'm sitting here and a guy calls me and says, "I need to speak to who's in charge of the website". I go "Which one?" He says Astrowonders.com. I say "Speaking"

He goes: "I'm calling from Microsoft's bCentral services". I couldn't stop laughing.

That was funny. Why? I spent 6 Horrible months on a team known as Commerce Server. I was on a sub team working on a project called Hydrogen. Hydrogen was what was to become bCentral.

I let the guy off easy...

ahhh Monday  
When I worked in an office, Monday sucked. I mean really. I hated it. In fact so did mornings. I hated the phrase "good morning" I always responded with "Hello". Why? Because I didn't want anyone reminding me that it was still the morning. I wanted to be out of there.

Now I look forward to Monday a little bit. I mean it's a clean slate. I have a whole fresh week ahead of me. I can make something of it.

And so down on my list today is "weekly planning". I will evaluate all of my slices. Decide which actions can be done this week to move them towards completion.

"Whats on for your week?"