Winter

headphones

A problem with wearing headphones, besides talking loudly, is all the other loud sounds one might make. For example: the person sitting across from me, when he sips his water, finishes with a loud kissing sound. He also keeps sighing – loudly. And he is muttering curse words from time to time – presumably louder than he thanks he is. He is listening to David Bowie.

Adventure

Someday I would like to sail across an ocean with a parrot. I would probably start with a small ocean like Lake Michigan.

Bills

Paying bills feels good. I like knowing that at least that one chore is taken care of. The one bill that feels best of course is the last one. I'm glad to have something to look forward to in the year 2039.

Altman

Two nights ago, in anticipation of Robert Altman’s looming death, I watched Brewster Mcloud with my roommate and another friend. The movie is riddled with references to birds and photography. Without giving away plot, there is a raven that flies around setting caged birds free. That alone should be enough to make you seek out this hard to find film.

“A cult is not enough people to make a minority.”
Robert Altman
February 20 1920 - November 20 2006

Lights, Camera, Etc.

I am looking for more songs about photography. It turns out, if a rap group has a song with the word “camera” in it, the phrase will most likely be, “Lights, camera, action.” An exception is the EPMD song, “It’s Going Down,” where the line is “No lights, no camera, no action.”

Washington D.C.

I took this photo of the President's dog while I was in town lecturing at the Phillips Collection.

Two Years Ago Today

Moths

It kind of looks like the Big Dipper.

What's on Eddy Merckx's iPod?

Lance Armstrong won the Tour De France like 50 times. That and the fact that he did it after a bad case of the cancer is enough. But he shouldn’t talk. He shouldn’t have a celebrity iTunes list. And what is it with people who, when they like a rap song, have to qualify it by first saying, “I don’t like rap but…?” It reminds me of people who start sentences with, “I’m not prejudice but…”