I so enjoyed preparing the voyeur gallery posted yesterday, more, more, more is my mood. So, assuming I won’t forget and misstep later on, today starts the first of 365 Creative Commons-licensed photos picked from […]
Category: People
‘Mine’ Flickr Voyeur
For the last post, I searched Flickr for “mine”, hoping to uncover an appropriate Creative Commons-licensed pic. Instead, I fell into a voyeur spell. This gallery is a sampling of the fantastic photos, many of […]
What the Hell is a Biter?
Not long ago, I considered myself still tapped into popular vernacular. I am a people and culture junkie, after all. But today, three barbers showed how clueless and out of touch is this 55 year-old man. I’m not sure which depresses more, the realization or confessing it.
My barber personalizes his workspace with Jack Daniels jars and other signature items described but I couldn’t see. Hey, he takes off my glasses to cut what little hair I have, and my vision blows without them. His coworker in the next chair complained about another guy who comes in to buy hair-cutting supplies and selfies in front of my barber’s chair space. The evidence is on Instagram.
A Storyteller Returns (Or So I Hope)
One of my favorite bloggers is photographer Carl Rytterfalk, whose voice silenced several years ago. But in a post overnight (in my time zone) he asks: “Am I back?” That’s a good question, which answer is complicated.
“In February 2013 my life changed dramatically with the early birth of my son who was born with the rare and somewhat difficult chromosome disorder named Trisomy 9 mosaic”, he writes about his absence. “Since William was born I’ve been using Facebook instead of rytterfalk.com and I think it should be the other way around. So I’m trying to convince myself that it’s ok for a while to post more from life and when ready—about photography, too”.
The Best Content is Original
A dozen or so times a day, I figuratively puke all over my iPad Air, out of disgust when reading stories that are plagiarism aggregated, rumors that source nothing more original than some blog or would-be news site, or an echo chamber of repetition—news posts repeating the same, unsourced or poorly-sourced allegations. But occasionally, original content shines through, like Josh Lowensohn’s “I used Apple’s AirDrop to troll strangers with photos of space sloths (And it’s been going on for months)” for The Verge.
Josh doesn’t recap another blogger’s experience, by aggregating something original into a shallow repeat. He produces something enthralling, a story told with vigor, drawn from experience. It’s a confessional. About something sneaky. Invasive. Maybe even illegal. But fun, and activity the reader might wish he or she had been clever enough to have imagined or fearless enough to have done.
A Veteran’s Day Story
I took my father-in-law to IKEA for lunch today. He prefers to eat there, but never on Sunday because the store is so busy. The eatery is by far the most hectic area, with little kids running round and little seating to pick from. He had asked me to choose where to dine, and I decided to challenge the masses. The man also likes a good deal, and the retailer advertised free food for Veterans from November 9 to 11. But we got something better: A cashier’s thoughtfulness.
My father-in-law was 18 years-old when Germany invaded Poland and set World War II in motion. The young man started his active military career in 1943; he already was a reservist because of ROTC. Seventy-one years later, the elder gent is reluctant to discuss his service—and he is no fan of war movies.
O Canada, What Say You?
What do two forts share in common? Kaci Hickox, the 33 year-old healthcare worker from Fort Worth, Texas, taking refuge in Fort Kent, Maine. Surely you know of the so-called Ebola nurse and the legal scuffle about quarantining her. As an Aroostook County native born about 70 kilometers (okay, I rounded up) southeast of FK and having traveled widely across the Lone Star State, I know something about the character of both regions. Think independent-mindedness times two, which equals “Don’t tell me what to do”.
The simple story: She volunteered in Sierra Leone, where the disease rages. She returned to the wrong state, New Jersey, which put her in isolation. She fled to one of the most rural and remote areas of the Northeast. Maine’s governor demanded voluntary quarantine. She defied it. A federal judge ruled against the Gov. News reporters who couldn’t find Fort Kent with a Google Map ruined the autumn tourist trade by filling up the only hotel. We all wait to see if she stays symptom free through November 10. Pass the popcorn. The suspense is thicker than a horror flick.
That’s One Big Cat
Today I started updating my profile photo with the one taken by my wife this morning. She used the Nokia Lumia Icon, which is a fantastic shooter. I edited and square-cropped (because that’s the profile […]
'Comic-Con Heroes' Play
My ebook Comic-Con Heroes: The Fans Who Make the Greatest Show on Earth is finally up on Google Play, after long delay (in part because of Kindle Store’s exclusive). Google Play cut the price to […]
It’s Not a Fad
“Selfie” may be Oxford Dictionaries Word the Year 2013, but is there anything really new about the practice? My wife, at age 21, from the glorious days of film photography. Photo Credit: Anne Wilcox
Le Soleil and Me
My cousin Dan emailed several old photos he recently obtained while vacationing in Maine. That’s me, probably age 11, but only a guess. The newspaper’s date isn’t visible. I don’t recall the photo or its taking but the shot must have been posed by either my father or uncle. I don’t read French. (Le Soleil was published out of Quebec City. This evening, a quick Web search left me wondering if the newspaper still exists.)