weird, sad news. johnny schou from tickle me pink, the band i had the opportunity to shoot a few months back, was found dead last week. i don’t think any details were released as to the cause. it’s just crazy. the band was in town to celebrate the release of their debut album and then this.

it’s weird. i’ve met these guys. i saw them perform and got my first photo pass to shoot the show. when there was a mixup getting my pass, johnny was the one that actually signed me in.

very sad.

a quick post tonight, but i wanted to at least write something to keep with last nights post. i’m headed to bed early, for tomorrow i shall rise and get on an early flight to texas. i’ve actually never been there before, so it’s a new place to see, even if just for a short trip. i think i’ve gotten to used to not traveling in the past 3 weeks that i haven’t had to go anywhere, speaking of routines. it should be alright, though. we’ll be meeting a vendor that i’ve needed an “in” to for awhile, and i get to see some colleagues from the east coast that i don’t get to see much anymore. oh, and i started learning a new song. all in all, a crazy busy day, a short, early evening, and tomorrow is a whole different animal (i’m flying frontier!).

i was going to post something longer tonight, but i ran out of time. i did, however, manage to get a few new pictures up which should display over the next few days, and i updated our wedding site.

as much as i obsess over patterns, i think i also need routines. i need to make things a part of my routine, and then it gets easier to do. working out was is a great example. before my surgery last year, i worked out three to four times a week, every week, for years. it was such a part of my routine that i would see the clock hit 5 or 5:30 and head downstairs to the gym at work. i don’t think it was just the surgically induced interruption that caused my downfall, though. i think i have other activities that have since become part of my routine and have taken over that time slot.

finding time to do all of the things i’m trying to do has become quite problematic…if it’s not part of my routine now, it takes so much effort to get there, which is why i think it’s so hard to get back to it. right now, working out is my main focus to get back, and photography is a close second. i’ve been doing more guitar lately, no writing to speak of, and a lot of work mixed with some wedding planning and social events. i wish i could build a better balance and get things spread out better. i’d like to feel like i’m getting better at photography as i do about my guitar playing.

where will the time come from, though? right now, the job is taking a lot of time. and there is wedding planning. the job may settle down and the wedding will eventually happen, but then there are kids some day, and that is a welcome chunk of time gone. i think it will be harder and harder to keep up with all of this stuff unless i make it a part of my routine now, which isn’t really that bad. it’s not like i have 100 things to choose from. i chose (or life chose for me) things that i’ve had to drop, or re-prioritize. and that’s not a bad thing. it’s life. we can always do everything we want to do all the time.

i think it’s about momentum. i need to do these things regularly for awhile to get them officially back in the routine, but i can’t seem to get enough momentum going to carry me through the uphill parts. i think if i could push this stone up at least once or twice, gravity would do the rest. i need to make the effort to do it more, to build that momentum, to let the weight of the stone pull me with it so that i can focus on not only just doing it more, but improving. feeling better physically. or sounding better musically. or writing better. or taking better pictures. or any of the thousands…millions of things that i feel i’m falling down on right now.

and here, i’ll stop. i think i’m rambling. i do that. i think that’s one of the things that i’ve done enough and is a part of my routine, so it comes effortlessly. so in hopes of replacing that part of my routing with something more constructive…

das ist alles.

(oh, did i mention that i’m relearning german? and trying to learn some french?)

the mrs. and i were talking about actors and actresses tonight…the batman preview came on, and she mentioned that christian bale was one of “those” actors of our generation. for some reason, christian bale to me is always american psycho, even thought i really liked batman begins. in case you were wondering, joaquin phoenix and adrien brody were the other ones i came up with.

when we were talking about actresses, she came up with cate blanchett (who, honestly, i couldn’t name 5 movies she was in), and we both agreed on kate winslet. i mentioned one of the first movies i saw kate in was jude, based on “jude the obscure” by thomas hardy. since everything is on youtube nowadays, i found a preview for the movie.

another reason to love google…authors at google.

ok, not really. but i’m sitting in my hotel room in PA, trying to finish up a few things so i can go to bed. but gladiator is on HBO (and a “behind the scenes magician show” talking about “catching a bullet in your teeth”). i’m not a russell crowe fan, but that movie is awesome and very distracting. ok, and now there is a reality show on the CW evidently entitled “farmer wants a wife”, which i watched for about 2 minutes until i looked up the title.

in any case, i wanted to write something, even if insignificant. it’s a good start for making it a part of my routine, i think. but we’ll see how long it lasts. still, i’m sitting all alone in a hotel room a thousand miles aware from where i want to be and who i want to be with, and i wanted a distraction that wouldn’t kill brain cells.

writing definitely beats a reality show about a farmer that wants a new wife. and gladiator might possibly be the best movie ever.

go to them.

sometimes i feel like i have two distinct, completely separate lives.

one life revolves around my work life. i get up, go to work, spend my day doing the best that i can to make a difference. indeed, an ant can’t move a rubber tree plant.

my other life outside of work is a series of hobbies, events, and eternal exhaustion. i try to cram so much stuff in to my free time that i never feel like i accomplish anything but, at the same time, i get to do some amazing stuff. last night, i had the distinct pleasure of shooting a concert for The Happy Headlines. they interviewed Tickle Me Pink, a band out of fort collins. the band was great, and very gracious for giving the interview and allowing me to shoot some pictures of their set. it was all very surreal, but i got some good shots, i think. we hung out after their set to watch the headline group Sick Puppies, too. the bass player was, as the kids would say, indeed sick. her technique was insane, and her right hand moved at ludicrous speed!

this post was going to be more deep and meaningful, but i started it days ago and have since lost the momentum. not on my other life, of course, just on the post. my other life is what, i think, will keep my work life from driving me insane.

i’m sitting in my hotel room in lovely exton, pennsylvania, watching australia’s next top model.

have no fear, i’ve also got the nhl playoffs going on in the background. the hotel i stay at here has the nhl package available on demand. <whew> still straight.

i’ve been getting more serious with the photography lately. i’m in the nyip course, and i also signed up for a class at wwa. kerri made a suggestion about watching america’s next top model, because they do a photo shoot each episode. i wasn’t too sure, but then a day later, one of the podcasts i listen to mentioned the same thing. not, of course, that i needed additional validation of the idea (i did), but it helped.

i set the dvr to find and record next top model. evidently, there is a new season on the cw, but the dvr recorded some repeats on mtv that were a few seasons old. i wound up watching every episode that were recorded; unfortunately, i think it did not record the final two episodes of the season, so i still don’t know who won.  i’m hoping that those two remaining episodes will be recorded when i get back home. not that i’m addicted. i’m in it for the photography.

for this trip, i only had access to australia’s next top model. i don’t know what season it is. for some reason, i think it’s the first season, but i don’t want to look it up until after i finish the season so i don’t ruin who wins. not that it matters. i’m in it for the photography.

hang on…

ok, i’m back. evidently, the australian version can show nudity or “pink bits”, as one of the girl called them. they swear a lot, and have for most of the season. and i thought i saw a nipple a few episodes back, but brushed it off. the second to last episode of the season, the remaining girls had to do a nude shoot.  it almost makes sitting through and watching the reality drama crap worth it. almost.

the australian version was interesting. the girls seemed to be from a variety of different areas of australia. there were some girls from the gold coast (the rich, obnoxious ones), an aboriginal girl, a sudanese girl, and the rest. the american version seemed to have what i would consider to be middle to upper middle class girls. the australian version seemed to have some lower to upper middle class girls, and interestingly it seemed like the class differences were more apparent and maybe more relevant to what was going on. fasinating.

in this one episode…

wait…

the photography. the reason i watch it, of course!

i want to focus on it, but i’m at the end of the second to last episode that’s playing in the background while i write this. oh, yeah, and there is hockey on, too, i think. who cares? it’s about…um…the…oh, yeah, the photography.

it’s actually a pretty good show to see fashion photography. on the american version of the show, the guy that gives the direction during the photography shoot is great, and seems to be able to get the girls in to at least a reasonable position. in both versions of the show, i can see some of the basic lighting and camera set ups, and then seeing the end pictures is fantastic.

the judges are making their decision! after this, only the finale remains!

i still don’t know what i want to do with my photography. i’m pretty stoked for the classes i’ve signed up for, because i’ll get exposure to some of the various disciplines. portraits and abstract, i think, are still my favorites.

they just rid of the the girl with the most experience from the gold coast. she was pretty fake the whole way, but i think a lot of the things the other girl picked on her for would actually suit a girl in the career. i just started the final episode. only 3 girls remain!

something about photography. um, yeah. it’s not going to happen tonight. i’ve got to give the last, um, photo session my undivided attention.

the ultimate fighting championship was in broomfield last night, and some friends and i were in attendance. i posted a few pictures on flickr . the fights were great, and one of my highlights was getting my picture taken with forrest griffin! the fighters and really a lot of people in the organization were very fan friendly, and many of them were walking through the crowd.