Alls quiet

All is quiet this morning and I really do not have much too say. My parents will be here this afternoon and we are going to out for dinner. I think we will go to Smokey Bones. A national BBQ chain. Hopefully I can get some good Q. One thing I have learned since living here is that Carolina style bbq is not my favorite. In my opinion vinegar style bbq lacks the flavor that most of the other southern style q has. It really does not seem like bbq in my opinion.

So next year there will be no mail on Saturdays. Really it is a good thing and something that sound have been done years ago. All this means is get your important stuff out early. Do not wait with bills and now they can be really late. Especially your credit cards.

Adios

Oh yeah, I need a fan for my computer. Again.

Storm Front

We got hammered with some major thunderstorms last night. Tornado warnings all night long and some touched down just southwest of here. We had 4 inches of rain in Greensboro. Temps will be in the low 80's this weekend. Spring is here, leaves are popping out, lawns are getting mowed for the first time. Hooray.

Yesterday I stopped at the big state farmers market and it is still fairly quiet. I did by some homemade bread and then some farmer fresh eggs. I talked to a guy from the farm for a bit.
Here is the link the their website, http://www.petersonrealfood.com/ . They have a Facebook page and a Flickr site. I think I am going to go back and talk with the guy and see if they will let me do some photography of the farm. Maybe we can work out some type of deal and I can get some free food.

My parents will be here tomorrow night. Then they head back home. Quick little visit.

Neko Case---Don't Forget Me

Simply beautiful version of this song.

Lets Kill American Education

Now I am all for unions. However I really think the NEA, National Education Association, is the main force behind the disturbing spiral downward in American education. They wield lots of political power and shape the education system in the United States.

However it seems to me that as a union the really only care about keeping teachers employed and not educating students. They continually resist any attempts at reform. Maybe they need to step back a bit and look at what is going on with the kids they profess to love. Grades are poor across the country, we are being outshined by many other nations and they resist change. They need to realize there are many poor teachers and those teachers need to go away. Kids want to learn and they need teachers to engage them. I really believe that many teachers have no idea how to connect with kids.

Teachers, like students, need to held accountable for grades. How is it acceptable that teachers can have students fail or do poorly on a continual basis and they still keep their job. While there are many factors that play into this the ultimate measure is grades. A good teacher will have students that get good grades no matter how poor the school is.

The union needs to work on finding some programs that help eliminate bad teachers or else local governments will step up the firing of teachers at a whole school like they are starting to do. If this trend continues the union will itself in a continual spiral downwards and become just another weak and powerless force.

Trash or Treasure

So last Saturday I went to the North Carolina State fairgrounds in Raleigh and looked for a couple cheap things to put on a display shelf in the living room. There were lots of neat things and I did get a couple things. The guy selling these cameras had a couple boxes of cameras. They were all $5.00 a piece. Some were in pretty decent shape and many were in poor shape. There were some fairly neat cameras. If I was really still doing the Ebay thing i would have made an offer for all of them. I know there was money to be made by selling them on Ebay. I was tempted, but really I thought. Is this something I need to do. No was the final answer.

I found out today my health insurance will not start until May 1st. Shit. I would like to go soon and get things checked out. Thankfully my blood pressure meds will last until then. Hope I do.

Holy crap are the Republicans pissed or what. Fuck 'em I say. While the healthcare plan is about 90% less than perfect at least it is a start. Those fuckwads would rather have us die in the street before they actually decided to give a shit about most Americans. So I say fuck you. You and your president went to war with Iraq for no reason and got thousands of Americans killed, most likely tens of thousands of Iraqi's, wasted trillions of dollars and you did not give two shits about what most Americans thought. Of course most of the ones fighting are the ones whose families would not get any care if you had your way.

CK & KEY VICE

Last night I got to see William Christenberry, see last post for my review, and if I ever needed confirmation for my work that was it.

This photo was taken in downtown Greensboro, on one of the side streets. I need to back and shoot this again. Not completely happy with the results. But I like that places like this even exist in downtown. I like these old style storefronts. Much of downtown is really not in great shape. Like a lot of downtowns what you see on the main road is a facade really. I think much of the buildings are empty above street level. A place like this would make a great gallery.

Anyhow a dream for another day.

Have a good humpday.

Idols

Today I am leaving work early to go over to Winston-Salem. William Christenberry, who is having a show at Reynolda House is giving a speech tonight. I was able to get caught up at work and am going to hear him speak. It should be very interesting and a great learning experience.

The show is in the auditorium. Then I will have to go back and actually see the show. Maybe I'll get to meet him and not know what too say.

This past weekend I found some leads on places I may be able to show my work and also found a camera club near here. Things are looking up on that front.

The new camera needs to come soon.

Meet William Christenberry

Another of my photographic heros. He is good friends with that other William guy......

There is a show of his work in Winston-Salem. I am going to go this coming Saturday.
For me this is a not to be missed event.

William Eggleston Obervations and conversations

A couple of great clips here from William Eggleston and his son Winston.
I love his work and these are pretty interesting clips. Pay attention and see if you can learn anything. I know you will enjoy these.

Spring

Oh yeah, spring is here. It is going to be in the 70's here for the next couple days. I can actually were shorts again. Sweet.

The trees are budding and you can see changes every day. Pretty soon green will be bursting out all over the place and the world will look a little happier.

I think tomorrow I may head up to Boone and visit the mountains and just hang out a little bit.
I am going to bring aspirin as I have been getting headaches in some form everyday this week.
As long as I can keep the headache away all will be fine. I suspect that there will be a whole bunch of people out and about enjoying the weather. Should be a good picture day.

Enjoy your first day of spring. Take your Claritin and go outside.

Do You?

Well I really am not the most confident person by any means. However I am very confident that I am a good photographer. It is very likely the thing I am most confident about. I am a good photographer. The funny thing is since I am not good at the social game I get penalized.

How you ask. Well one example is that I am one of the least popular photographers on Megashot. I know this is because I do not spend endless amounts of time sitting at my desk looking at and commenting on countless pictures hour after hour. Since my pictures are so different than 99% of what is on Megashot at this time I would think that would warrant views. Guess I am wrong.

I just feel that commenting on picture after picture, when so many are the same picture, amounts to mindless drivel.

Being different is a burden sometimes. :)

As for my confidence that is another whole story for another time.

Peace my friends.

Treasures and Junk

On the History Channel there is a show called "American Pickers" about two guys who have an antique business in Iowa. They travel the country looking for junk and treasures at peoples homes for the most part. They come across some very interesting characters in the show and find some pretty cool things.

This would be the perfect job for me. It involves antiques, collectibles and traveling the road. For me it would also involve photography. Some of the places they go too are just the kind of places that would be like heaven for me as a photographer.

Maybe someday down the road I can open a little store that involves photography and some type of antiques, mostly small collectible type of items.

The name of the business "Fading America Photography and Collectibles"

46 and still dreaming of what can be.

Picture is from Asheville, NC.

http://www.history.com/shows/american-pickers

Good Monday

The time has changed and now the night will not seem so long. Now I am going to look for a place near here where I can ride my bike. Time to get back in shape after the winter. The roads around here have no shoulder and do not seem like they would be so safe for bike riding.

Did my income taxes this weekend and will be getting a good refund. Will use most of the money to pay off debt incurred while unemployed and expenses incurred from moving. I think I may treat myself to a new camera. I will check out the new Olympus E-PL1. It seems to fit my criteria. Small enough to just carry around and not be cumbersome and it has the ability to add lenses. I have been waiting for a camera like this for some time.

Looks like Megashot is completely down. The domain registration page came up this morning when I went there. Very odd.

Going to get some some plant starter and plant some peppers and sunflowers this week. Going to make my little porch as homey as possible. If I could put my hammock out there it would be perfect.

Have a good Monday my friends.

Guardians of Light

Guardians of Light, silent sentinels guarding my night
Watching over me, nary a sound
Standing in shadows as I stake my ground

Guardians of Light, protecting my dreams
Ever so silent these protectors of me
A trio of a faithful society

Guardians of Light, saviors of me
Guiding my destiny so silently
Ever so vigilant friends of thee

Mom and Dad's

This my dads picture. He took this after the big snow storm just before Christmas. This is also the house I grew up in. My parents bought this house in 1964 and had a mortgage of $60 a month. My dad has done tons of work on this house over the years and it is vastly different now.
My dad should have been a carpenter/home builder like his dad. I know he wishes he had done that but when you have a family sometimes things are dictated by finances, not dreams.

This was a barn at one time many many years ago and was moved here around 1900 or so and converted to a house. You would never know it was a barn. I guess it is about 150 years old or so. I can't remember exactly right now.

This was a massive storm. They had well over a foot.

Monsanto Free Garden

Oh the joy of the news I heard yesterday. On the way home from work yesterday I was listening "Marketplace" on NPR and heard a beautiful story. It seems the Justice Department is investigating Monsanto for anti-trust violations for its genetically immune Round-up soybean. They are holding a series of meetings and the first one was in Iowa last night. There are also a number of states investigating Monsanto for anti-trust violations. While this certainly will not end the dirty tricks and bullshit lawsuits that Monsanto files against farmers it may bring this corporation some very bad press and also bring too light the things that are doing to control the seed market throughout the world.

Monsanto has some very powerful connections in assorted positions throughout Washington and I suspect that there will be quite a bit of pressure brought down on the Justice Dept. to make this investigation go away.

Monsanto owns so much of the seed market and uses it sheer size to bully farmers through the courts to use their seeds or go out of business. Farmers who fight them do not have the financial resources to fight a corporation of this size and generally end up settling in fashion because if they do not they face total devastation.

A corporation should not be able to go and buy patent on seeds. Monsanto owns about 90% of the soybean market and 80% of the corn market. How can we justify a corporation owning such a large percentage of a market that is so important to the daily lives of citizens of the world.

There will be a series of meetings across the U.S. and I bet that Monsanto will feel the heat.

Time to turn the pressure up on this company and also time to get some laws changed on how the seed market works. There major implications for how and what we eat if things continue on this current trend.

This was my garden just before I moved.

Good Morning

I just learned that Greensboro is one of the worst, if not the worst, places for allergy's in the United States. Does that ever give me unending joy. I'll need some drugs for this adventure.

It looks like I'll have to fight with the State of Florida. They sent me a letter saying they overpaid me on my unemployment. Of course they do not say what week was overpaid. They just say I owe them. This ought to be fun.

I heard that a restaurant in New York has made cheese from his wife's breast milk. They are not selling it, yet. Bizarre.

If you have Netflix you need to rent the following HBO or Showtime series. They are all very well written and I highly recommend them. They are Dexter, Deadwood, Entourage, Big Love, Weeds, Californication, True Blood and Carnivale. They are much better than your standard tv show.

Time to run. Want to get to work early. My computer was totally messed up yesterday and there was not much I could do. A total pain in the ass.

Comfortable

You know how sometimes you do not want to get out of bed in the morning. This was one of those mornings. I was not tired, the bed was so darn comfortable. Oh well, such is life.

If you watch the news it is amazing to watch the Democratic Party coming apart. What a bunch of fools. Good way to show how you use your leadership to run the country. Idiots.

Congratulations to the UConn Huskies women's basketball team. They are simply amazing. There is one thing that can be learned from Geno and his teams. They play for a common goal and play as a team. Showboats and players who play for themselves either never make the team or if they do make the team they learn to play as a team player or collect splinters. The leaders of the country could learn a thing or two from this.

Want to listen or read some slightly radical left politics? Listen to Dave Marsh on Sirius on Sundays. His show is "Land of Hopes and Dreams" on Sunday from 2 to 5. Great thought provoking show. Pushes buttons and makes you think. He has a blog coming soon.

This is the same Dave Marsh who wrote about Bruce Springsteen back in the 70's. He know his politics and rock n roll.

Asheville Church on a little side street.

World in a shitter

Ok you get two posts here on Monday.

Mother Earth is pissed and sending a message. There was another earthquake. This one in Turkey. There have been a number of significant earthquakes in a very short period of time. Is California next, who knows. Something is going on and we should pay attention. These are warnings.

The asshole politicians in Washington bicker and fight like little school kids while we the American public continue to get trampled on by insurance companies and other bastions of corporate greed. Do you wonder why it took so long for the gov't and Toyota to come forward. Then when Toyota does the gov't piles on one thing after another. Guess the bed they were sleeping in must have gotten cold. Gas prices go up and down like I am on a fucking roller coaster. You have assholes like Jim Bunning holding up unemployment compensation for millions. Where is the democracy in all of this.

If you want to get a look at democracy look at what happened in Iceland this weekend. They had a vote on repaying $4.3 billion dollars of debt incurred by the banks in Iceland back to England and the Netherlands. They voted 93% against the repayment and just 2% for repayment. Why did they vote this way. They did so because it would hurt the common citizen and they felt they were getting screwed. Any repayment plan will be voted on by the citizens. Hooray for Iceland.
This would never happen here, yet it should. It is still "We The People", I think.

Time is coming for a revolution. No matter what you believe on the left or right we all are sick and tired of the gov't not listening to us and you are listening to corporate America.

Fuck You Washington. It is about time you listen or we will make thing the changes for you.
We are not happy.

Warming up

We have made the turn towards spring. The weather was beautiful this weekend. Sun and a little bit of cloud cover were just perfect. The only bummer this weekend was another migraine or whatever my headaches are. Another one Saturday afternoon. I took a nap at about five or so and that was it. I woke up at 8:47 had a bowl of cereal and went back to sleep. Did not get up again until after midnight. Then back to sleep until 5:00 a.m. Lovely.

I did get out and get some good shots of the area. So all was not lost and I did find some neat places that I will head back too in the near future.

I posted a picture of Asheville on Megashot and Flickr this weekend that I like a whole bunch. I think I am going to enter it into a photo contest the "Our State" magazine is having. The magazine is about North Carolina and is actually a pretty good magazine. It will give some great ideas of places to go and see on future roadtrips. Anyhow I think the picture is pretty darn good and may win. However it is not "pretty" in the standard sense and that may hurt it.

These are two pottery kilns in Seagrove, NC. There are kilns all over the place and most are full and getting to be opened to show hidden treasures. Some of the potters actually make these big events. Kind of cool.

Spring

It is going to be in the 60's this weekend. Looks like it will be spent outside doing something. It will be nice to be able to open up the place and let some fresh air circulate through my apt.
Maybe I'll head downtown to the Saturday morning market and see what is going on there and go picture hunting. Outside of that nothing really planned. I'll look for things that are free and cheap.

That all for now.

Picture is from Asheville, NC.

Busy

Work has been very busy. I have been very busy finding and winning a bunch of bids for us over the last couple weeks. It is all new business for us. we have been very aggressive in getting this new business and getting our name back out there again. The good thing I see is that everybody seems to happy and working well together. It has been a long time since I have been in that situation. Seems odd really.

When my parents were here my mom suggested that I find a little storefront somewhere around here and open a little store on the weekends a sell my photos. It is not something I cam afford right now but the idea intrigues me. I am sure that in some of the smaller towns that have some tourist trade that I could find a store front in an old building at a decent rate.

It is something I need to look into and see what the cost would actually be. A gaol for the future.

Picture is looking up into the sky of Key West.

Mom and Dad

So the quick visit with my parents ended yesterday morning as they headed south to sunny Florida for a month. On Sunday we headed down to Seagrove, the pottery capital of America, and went to a few pottery stores and a few potters own shops. Most of the places are closed on Sundays but there were still a fair amount of places open. My mom bought some things that she is going to be giving out as Christmas gifts. I also bought a large vase that had some minor glaze problems. It was $45.00. Regular price on it was $90.00. I bet if most people looked at it they would not know there were any issues with the vase. I saw many things in the area that are photo worthy and will head down there again fairly soon for a photo safari.

It was good to have my parents here even though it was a short visit. You take what you can get.

Not sure if they are going to stop on the way home. I suspect they will but who knows. They may be able to be here for my birthday and that would be cool.

Looks like we will be getting our last blast of winter snow today. Anywhere from a dusting to 4 inches on the high side. Seems they really are having trouble predicting this one.