IT'S GOOD TO BE IN D.C.

Long time, no posts

2007-12-30T00:59:00.000-05:00

It appears DC Hobbit has become an orphaned blog. Sad, I know. I'm mostly posting to my Sun blog these days. I thought about using this one for the more personal stuff, but I thought about the possibility of someone in Jamestown finding this one and it bugged me (Just google my name, guess what you find?).

So, yeah. Go read my Sun blog.

New Sun blog

2007-09-20T23:56:00.000-04:00

So I'm writing a blog for The Jamestown Sun now: www.areavoices.com/adams.

And I'm going to be on the road all day tomorrow.

God be with the Black Lions

2007-09-04T23:10:00.000-04:00

Last fall, I helped about two dozen soldiers with the 1st Battalion of the 28th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army train for dealing with field reporters. My job was to be as difficult as possible and help them prepare for combat.

They have since been deployed and have been in Iraq for several months. Here's a recent story about them.

And here are the pictures from their training exercise, some of my favorite work.

Godspeed, Black Lions.

Close encounter with Iron Oxide

2007-09-04T21:38:00.001-04:00

So I'm trying out Web video

2007-08-27T22:04:00.001-04:00

A tough week

2007-08-18T00:07:00.000-04:00

My boss took this last week off for a much-needed and much-deserved vacation. That left yours truly in charge of the paper. It was the most challenging week of this job I've faced yet. Now I'm sitting here listening to Tom Waits and thinking about it all.

I've been experiencing a regular dosage of solitude since I moved up here, and that has provided me with plenty of opportunity for serious, deep thinking and the chance to get a lot of things figured out.

I started trial accounts with eharmony.com and match.com to see about finding a date. I figured that at best I'd have a date, and at worst, fodder for a good column.

But it appears eharmony has found me the match of my life. Her name is Amanda, and she's involved in nursing. She loves kids and wants to have several. She sounds great for me.

Only she lives in Central Canada. Thanks for the encouragement, eharmony. Just what i needed.

And it could be yours for the low, low price...

2007-08-11T23:35:00.001-04:00

For Sale: one Wii game.

Worth Repeating

2007-08-10T00:11:00.000-04:00

"If I hadn't showered for a month, and gotten into this thing, it would only have smelled better."

-Overheard through the police scanner at 9:21 p.m. July 9 in Jamestown, North Dakota.

2007-08-08T22:26:00.001-04:00

Here is the Jamestown Fire Department spraying off a car that caught fire in front of my apartment building this morning around 1 am.

Be afraid, be very afraid

2007-08-02T22:58:00.000-04:00

I bought a new iPod (2GB refurbished Nano, it's nice). It shipped last week from Sacramento, Calif. Not long after it left, this happened.

Then, Wednesday afternoon, it was in St. Paul, Minn., the sister city to this.

If this trend continues, people in Bismarck, N.D., need to stay the hell away from bridges tomorrow.

"Golf is a good walk spoiled" --Mark Twain

2007-07-30T00:20:00.000-04:00

I came this * * close to getting arrested for battery yesterday at the driving range. There were about 5-6 golf carts parked nearby with about 10 or so people standing around, drinking, listening to loud music and shouting at each other, on a golf course.

The constant noise and interruption did not help my concentration, and my drives went pretty much anywhere but straight. It was not the fun, relaxing experience I seek on the golf course.

I was just getting ready to walk over with my sand wedge (said to be the best club for hitting someone because of its density) and ask them to knock it off when they all took off and left. I went back to my practice, thinking I finally had some peace.

Then a train went by on the tracks that are literally next to the course and not an inch more than 40 yards from the driving range.

I finished the bucket and left with a look on my face that I'll bet would have cleared a path through a mosh pit.

One month

2007-07-13T00:46:00.000-04:00

It's been 30 days since I last saw the Flint Hills, my family and friends.

One month in North Dakota. What a mindjob.

But it's good here. I like this place.

And, even better, tomorrow is payday.

Another typewriter

2007-07-08T22:57:00.000-04:00

So, I love my job. My apartment is great. And this town is really growing on me.

In other news, I went out to Valley City yesterday to do some more typewriter hunting. I made a real find in the back end of the basement of this giant freaking antique store: a 1917 Remington Standard typewriter. Here's one that someone else is selling: mine is much dustier than this one.

living

2007-06-29T17:32:00.000-04:00

Some of my famiyl came up to see me this week and deliver some much-needed things I had to leave behind. I'd been living on the bare minimum the past two weeks and now all of a sudden I have an apartment packed with my things. We also spent a lot of wonderful time together; I did more things with them in those 37 hours than we used to do in a while week.

The past two weeks have been something of a lesson in materialism for me. My kitchen was sparse, my living room was wide open and my den was a hole. I had none of the things we all think we have to have to survive in our homes, and I did all right. I wasn't living on a pond like Thoreau, but I was certainly "living deliberately," and I liked it.

But it's nice to have a television, a desk, a chair, a bookshelf, and some other things I've added to the place to make it more livable. It's good being able to sit in something besides a camping chair for once. I can only imagine that my family has much room back home now that most of my stuff is gone.

I miss them all, I really do. But this is the natural order of things. A boy grows up with his father, mother, sisters and brothers and becomes a man. He then leaves that home to venture out beyond the familiar to seek what the world has to offer him. At least, that's what I think it is.

There had been this belief that I'd find independence out here, but that's gone now. Independence is an illusion. Yeah, I have my own place, but could I afford it if not for the job I have? Yeah, I got up here, but I needed help both from my family and the U.S. Interstate Highway system to make the trip.

The fact is, I'm just as dependent as everyone else. It's just that others depend on me a whole lot more than they once did.

My Day off

2007-06-24T01:53:00.000-04:00

Today was a weird day. I had set aside this morning as a time to do some furniture and grocery shopping. I've been sleeping on an air mattress since I moved up here with the intent of buying a real bed at some point, and that point was supposed to come today.

I visited two furniture stores in downtown Jamestown. The first place irritated the hell out of me. The guy kept showing me expensive queen-sized beds and such because I'm tall, when the truth is all I really want is a twin bed. I always have trouble sleeping in anything bigger than that, all that room just makes me restless.

But hep kept showing me giant beds and never picking up the hint that I wasn't interested. The real humdinger was when he asked about my "wife or girlfriend," and how much room she'd want. I told him "my girlfriend doesn't take up any space at all, if you get my meaning." He didn't get my meaning, he thought that meant I shove her to the edge of the bed. Then when I left, he called out "Hey, you should come back again some time with your wife!"

I don't wear any rings. This man was an idiot. Our conversation left me with two burning questions:

1. Have I moved to a place where, like Mormon communities, all people are expected to be married young?
2. What kind of jackass would pick out a new bed without his wife?

At the second store, the saleswoman had the smarts to ask if I had a significant other before making suggestions about how I live my personal life. I tried out a few of their display beds but didn't really like any of them. Maybe I just felt awkward laying down in the store, even though she encouraged me to try them out, but none of the beds at either store really suited me. Hell, I really like the air mattress I'm using. It's worlds more comfortable than any bed I've had in the past year. So I decided to hold off.

I did spot a small upholstered rocker, the kind that's good for watching TV and gaming, in their clearance section that I liked. I picked that up quick. Lesson to people looking to sell things for a living: don't make bad assumptions of potential customers.

I also picked up a small side table kit at Wal-Mart (don't laugh) to turn into a charging station and place for me to keep the contents of my pockets when I'm at home (wallet, sunglasses, etc.). I put a surge protector/power strip inside with all the "brick" chargers and fed the wires up to the top. I also put my modem in it and my WiFi on it so I've gotten rid of a lot of loose wires in my den. Very spiffy, I must say.

My conversation with that dumbass furniture dealer got me thinking about things, though. Relationships. Materialism. Desire. Needs. That sort of stuff.

Why should I fill my apartment with things I don't want, let alone need?
Why should I keep trying to date again when I know I really don't want a girlfriend?
Why should I seek out friends in a town I have yet to really know?

Truth is, I shouldn't. I'm going to enjoy the bed that cost me $40 but is better on my back than any $500 bed has ever been. I'm going to make friends if I meet people
I'd like to be my friends. If I meet a girl worth dating, I'll ask her out.

Maybe I'm just grumpy from the weather turning hot, maybe this is just crap that's been bugging me for a long time. I don't know.

I hope you like it

2007-06-18T21:36:00.000-04:00

This is what a thunderstorm looks like in North Dakota.

Here I am

2007-06-18T21:10:00.000-04:00

I've got a bunch of good news for today's post:

First, my boss said it's cool if I keep this personal blog going while I'm working at the Jamestown Sun, as long as I don't do anything stupid like violate the company's policy about personal blogs. So my blog shall live on to rant another day.

Second, You should all listen to Jon Troast. Right now. You don't have to buy anything, just use his Web site's player thingamabob to play a few songs. I recommend "Family" and "Was it ever really mine?"

Third, I get Internet and Cable Wednesday morning, and even though I don't have a TV yet I'm sure it will be very nice.

Finally, there was a really cool thunderstorm last night that totally nailed this region in general. I went out to get some shots of it. I'll try to post a lightning shot later. You should be grateful for it, I braved an onslaught of evil, cooperating mosquitoes to get this picture.

And that stuff they say about the horrible, nasty mosquitoes up here? It's True!

5th Avenue Heartache (Think "The Wallflowers")

2007-06-16T13:01:00.000-04:00

Well, I am here in North Dakota.

Moving up was fun, I stayed in a cheap hotel Tuesday night then moved into a big 1-bedroom apartment on Wednesday. I installed a window A/C unit on Thursday, hurting my back in the process, and the past two days have seen me doing plenty of stuff but doing it while moving ever-so-carefully.

I have my cell if you want to talk, and you can mail me letters at this address:

Logan C. Adams
805 5th Ave NE, Apt. 22
Jamestown, ND 58401

I start work on Monday at noon, and I'm really excited about that. The cable guy is coming on Wednesday next week to give me Internet and TV, although my actual TV set won't be arriving for a couple weeks. I'll gladly take the internet, though.

Well, that's all the news I have for now. Until next time, take care.

Employment!

2007-06-04T19:34:00.000-04:00

Things are certainly looking up. It's official now, I am the next Assistant Editor of the Jamestown Sun in Southeast North Dakota. Now I just have to move there.

On the road again

2007-05-31T09:10:00.001-04:00

I'm just about to check out of my hotel. It looks like I'm going to
have a strong headwind for much of the trip. So much for making it
back early.

Here I am

2007-05-30T17:42:00.001-04:00

Most of the interviews are done with. I'm sitting in my hotel room
thinking about my day and the trip home tomorrow. It's 720 miles from
here to CG, and thanks to road work and other delays it took me 12
hours to get here yesterday. I think I'll be able to shave some time
off tomorrow by NOT getting lost in Beatrice and avoiding other common
roadtrip errors. We'll see how that goes.

Overall, I'm glad I came out here. It's beautiful country and I just
might love it here. I won't share anymore than that, though.

This close to Canada

2007-05-29T23:20:00.000-04:00

So I'm in Jamestown, N.D. to see about a job. It was a fun 12-hour drive up here (no thanks to the city of Beatrice, Neb.) and now I'm dog-tired. My interview tomorrow is looking to be fun, though.

Mobile blogging

2007-05-26T16:46:00.001-04:00

I bought myself a new Palm PDA that I like very much so far. The model
is a Tungsten C, which has Wi-Fi and a thumb keyboard built in. This
means I can surf the net, use AOL instant messaging or blog from
anywhere I please. This message is to test my new blog out. Let's see
if it works.

Hello, potential employers!

2007-05-21T16:26:00.000-04:00

Seeing as I'm now getting calls back from people who are thinking of hiring me, it is entirely possible that they will find this blog. It does show up on Google searches for my name, after all.

I thought about deleting this sucker out of fear that it might make a potential employer think badly of me, but the people I've spoken with so far sound like they have much more sense than that. So instead I will leave this note for them:

This blog has always been written with the knowledge and approval of my employers. It's just for my family and friends, but if you don't like it then it would stop once I started working for you.

It is done,

2007-05-13T21:07:00.000-04:00

So, yeah. I graduated.

It's my birthday

2007-05-09T20:33:00.000-04:00

This is what it's like to have your birthday in the middle of Finals Week:

Friend: Happy Birthday, Logan!

Me: You want to come help me celebrate tonight?

Friend: Uh, I'm really sorry, man, but I have a final in the morning. Maybe next year.

Me: But I graduate next week and will never see you again.

Friend: Well, um, goodbye!

And then...

Friend2: Happy Birthday, Logan!

Me: You want to come help me celebrate tonight?

Friend2: Uh, I'm really sorry, Logan, but I have a paper due in the morning. Maybe next year.

Me: But I graduate next week and will never see you again.

Friend2: Well, um, goodbye!

And so on. And so on.

A perfect moment

2007-05-09T00:45:00.000-04:00

Jeopardy was interesting today.

They were having a finalists game with three of the nerdiest-looking men I've ever seen. These guys made me look like a jock, easy. To go along with their nerdy contestants, the categories were also geeky-as-hell.

"Still living with 'mom' and 'dad.'"

"Action figures"

You get the point.

But the ultimate hilarity came thanks to two categories, one where the contestant had to name the sci-fi or fantasy show alluded to by the answer, and another about celestial bodies that are inhospitable to living things.

Here was the dialogue:

Contestant: "What is Star Trek?"

Alex Trebek: "Correct"

Contestant: "I'll take 'You have no life' for $200."

It is finished

2007-05-04T22:53:00.000-04:00

My last daily issue of the Collegian ran today. I come to the verge of tears when I think back to all the weeks of this semester. The conflicts, the challenges, the triumphs, the failures. All of it, an incredible time.

I still have trouble believing it all. Hell, I often thought I'd never make it this far. But then, there were times when I was in high school when I thought I wouldn't live long enough to see college, and I was wrong then, too. I'm glad I was wrong.

The Collegian staff is meeting up in a few minutes for one last Hurrah down in Aggieville. I'm not going to get drunk, just have some fun in general and toast everyone with a Guiness. I graduate in a little over a week, I just have to make it through that week alive, first.

Here goes something.

Buy this!

2007-04-29T16:31:00.000-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I give you the new must-have for all true K-State Fans: Buy it here

2007-04-22T22:17:00.000-04:00

A little bit of cuteness from my family's back yard.

A late-night creative burst

2007-04-20T01:49:00.000-04:00

I got in one of those ruts I get into some nights, where I just put my mind to something and I can't sleep until I finish. I designed my story Earbud Evil into a book. Give it a look here.

The End of "A Wildcat Romance"

2007-04-19T10:54:00.001-04:00

Read it here.

Even More of "A Wildcat Romance"

2007-04-18T11:50:00.001-04:00

Chapter 8

A Wildcat Romance

2007-04-16T20:56:00.000-04:00

Chapter 7

A Wildcat Romance: Chapter 6

2007-04-13T19:19:00.000-04:00

Read it Here

More of "A Wildcat Romance"

2007-04-12T15:28:00.000-04:00

Chapter 5

A Wildcat Romance: #4

2007-04-11T22:36:00.000-04:00

Number 4

More Chapters of "A Wildcat Romance"

2007-04-08T22:15:00.000-04:00

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Another Fiction Project

2007-04-03T13:19:00.000-04:00

A Wildcat Romance #1

I'm doing a romance story.

Don't start laughing until you're reading it.

Forgive me my eccentricities

2007-03-20T21:59:00.000-04:00

I was trolling the Web today and stumbled on this gem.

The man is Paddy Chayefsky, writer of the movies "The Hospital" and "Network," two of the greatest satires ever written. Next to him is a Royal 4-bank desktop typewriter, the same make and model I bought at a thrift shop a few weeks ago. How funny?

Living

2007-03-19T23:37:00.000-04:00

You ever watch a car accident happen?

I don't mean you hear a sound behind you and turn just in time to see the beginning of the aftermath or watch one of those shows on FOX about bizarre accidents.

I mean when you see two or more cars in motion and you realize that there is going to be an accident and there is nothing you can do about it? You watch time slow down and you try to keep them from colliding by sheer will of thought, but it doesn't matter. They hit, and you grit your teeth and pray everyone is Okay.

That is the best way I can describe how I feel about life right now as graduation approaches. I've got two months left and every day inches along painfully, but surely. I know that I am going to have to live a real life, and I want that, but it's just been impossible to shake this feeling that I'm going to be going full speed come graduation day and find the nearest brick wall.

Earbud Evil #15

2007-03-16T11:45:00.000-04:00

Read it here

Also Read the Acknowledgements Column

Earbud Evil #14

2007-03-15T12:42:00.000-04:00

Read it here

Earbud Evil #13

2007-03-14T11:42:00.000-04:00

Read it here

Earbud Evil 12

2007-03-13T11:02:00.000-04:00

Read it here

Earbud Evil 11

2007-03-12T23:36:00.000-04:00

Read it here

Earbud Evil 7-10

2007-03-09T21:15:00.000-05:00

Number 7

Number 8

Number 9

Number 10

Another typewriter

2007-03-07T00:52:00.000-05:00

This is sort of old news, but I bought another typewriter last week.

It was at this place just outside of Manhattan, Grandma's Old Trunk, I think. I go by there every month or so to see if they have anything new. This time, I got lucky.

It was buried deep inside a bunch of shelves, I almost missed it entirely. I saw the carriage poking out from some other junk and reached in. It was a heavy SOB and it took a bit of work to get it loose.

I had found a wide carriage 4-Row Royal Typewriter that I would later learn was made in 1955 (Just past halfway for a typewriter to be considered an antique). This thing was meant for one thing and one thing only: writing. The actions were all smooth and easy to run, but moving it is like trying to carry a human torso around.

It's still pretty dirty, it's going to take a while to clean all the bits of what looks like the stuff that comes from the ass end of a combine. But I got it for $10, and it types like a dream. I'll post pics when I have them.

Earbud Evil 6

2007-03-06T00:12:00.000-05:00

Read it here

Earbud Evil #5

2007-03-02T22:29:00.001-05:00

Read it here.

Earbud Evil 3 & 4

2007-03-01T11:35:00.000-05:00

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Earbud Evil, Chapter 2

2007-02-27T10:47:00.000-05:00

Read it here.

A new work of fiction

2007-02-26T12:10:00.000-05:00

Remember "Needing a Title Here"?

Today, we printed the first bit of Earbud Evil

My father's really looking great this week

2007-02-08T22:17:00.000-05:00

My dad is becoming cooler every minute these days

On Parenting

2007-02-06T12:27:00.000-05:00

Dad uses 100,000-volt stun gun on 18-month old baby

All of a sudden, my father seems like one hell of a nice guy.

Funniest. Thing. Ever.

2007-02-02T23:47:00.000-05:00

My mother just told me that one of my brothers thinks that because "I'm so smart, I must have gotten all A's in grade school."

I laughed hysterically for so long my dad thought I was having a nervous breakdown. I still have to resist the urge to laugh right now, 15 minutes later.

Google Analytics is cool

2007-02-01T18:26:00.000-05:00

I have this html embedded in my blog from Google Analytics that tells me all sorts of stuff about my readers. For instance, I've had five hits in the past week from a place called Huntsville that I believe is in Alabama but looks a bit too far West on the Map to be there. I've also had one from Australia and one from DC. Fun stuff.

2007-01-31T01:03:00.000-05:00

Well, so much for that hope.

The past few weeks

2007-01-28T22:11:00.000-05:00

The past few weeks rank among some of the most exciting ones of my entire life so far. Between work, class and a certain someone who entered my life -- more on her later -- I feel like I'm living life at a rate that defies the nature of time, like I fit more experience and existence into an hour than a human being is supposed to.

Oh, there are problems, yes, but the solutions have been within my grasp, most of the time. My life lately just seems so incredible, and it's great.

I went on a road trip yesterday with a lady I met a few months ago at a crosswalk near my house. This lady, whose name will be withheld to protect the innocent, recognized me from the Public Editor ads and we struck up a little conversation. We met for coffer two weeks ago. I took her out for ice cream a week later.

And we went on a road trip to Salina and Abilene yesterday to check out a bunch of historical spots and museums. Learned a ton and had the most fun I've had in a long time. It was undoubtedly the best day so far this month.

We agreed at the end of the day that we're still getting to know each other, which is good. I haven't had the most luck with relationships in my life, but I get this feeling of bizarre but vague optimism whenever I'm talking to her. I can't help but feel excited about wherever this may lead.

To close, the lyrics to a Ryan Adams song I've been playing off and on lately that expresses part of what's going on. Emphasis on "part of," though.

Ryan Adams, "Desire"
Two hearts fading, like a flower.
And all this waiting, for the power.
For some answer, to this fire.
Sinking slowly. The water's higher.
Desire
With no secrets. No obsession.
This time I'm speeding with no direction.
Without a reason. What is this fire?
Burning slowly. My one and only.
Desire.

You know me. You don't mind waiting.
You just can't show me, but God I'm praying,
That you'll find me, and that you'll see me,
That you run and never tire.
Desire


Yeah, I don't know what I'm talking about when I'm dealing with this stuff.
That's not a bad thing, though, even for a writer.

Finding a pace

2007-01-12T00:20:00.000-05:00

I've been at it a few days now, and I certainly don't regret it either, but boy being Metro Editor is a challenge.

I was afraid I'd get a little rusty taking last semester to be Public editor, and I am a bit rusty now. This job is a good thing, though, it'll have me sharpened up again just in time to join the professional world.

I had another one of my mini-epiphanies tonight: no decision takes longer than a second, or, at least in my experience they don't. The part that takes forever is working up the nerve to carry the decision out. This was the case a week ago tonight when the editor in chief asked me to be Metro editor. She'd asked me before, and I'd said no because I'd planned on doing photojournalism this semester. This time though, it was different. Everyone else had said no as well, and if i didn't do it, no one would.

I managed a "no" for the moment and left, arguing with myself. I knew I'd be taking the job, I wanted it and the staff needed me. The problem was working up the nerve to say I'd do it, and then do the job. It took me a day or so.

Maybe next time I'll just say yes the first chance I get and save myself the trouble.

Anyway, I'm building up momentum in the job, keeping more stories coming in each day. I'll be up to full speed in no time.

And then student elections will hit. Wish me luck.

A thought...

2007-01-10T11:31:00.000-05:00

I had an idea last night as we discussed war and politics and espionage. I started with the idea that War is the extension of Politics, by other means. I then thought about terrorism, and came up with this concept:

If War is the extension of politics, then terrorism is the extension of Public Relations.

Think about it. When political work can't make something happen, you send in the army and make it so. When you can't get a large number of people to care aobut what you have to say, or that you exist, blow up a bus and then, wow, everyone wants to know about you. Therefore:

Politics is to War as P.R. is to Terrorism.

Then, think about journalism. Journalism, when escalated enough, becomes espionage. That gives us:

Politics: War
as
Journalism: Espionage
as
PR: Terrorism.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

I have a new job

2007-01-07T21:43:00.000-05:00

Well, here's some surprise news: I'm the Collegian's new Metro Editor. I am responsible for the paper's coverage of all things in the City of Manhattan that do not happen on campus, along with anything having to do with the campus elections coming in about a month. I'm in charge of all that. Scary though, eh?

I'm looking forward to what this semester will bring, although a bit nervous, I must admit. We'll see how it goes.

Bra stops Bullet

2007-01-06T20:58:00.000-05:00

I can see it now: Victoria's Secret fall lineup is the flackjacket collection.

Regarding Rep. Ellison

2006-12-21T23:16:00.000-05:00

Heard this: The first Muslim elected to Congress wants to swear in on the Qu'ran. "Oh no, absolutely not!" a few morons shout, and they hatch plans to stop him. The funny thing is: The Constitution has already weighed in on that.

From Article Six:

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, under the United States.

Put me on a milk carton

2006-12-08T15:15:00.000-05:00

I've been a very bad blogger, as of late. I've been rather busy and i just don't have the desire to share my personal writing like I used to. Classes have been stressful, work has been worrisome and, well, blogging doesn't pay the bills, so it naturally hasn't been a priority.

Here's what's happened in my life over the past couple months:

-I asked "the girl" out, finally. She said no. I moved on.

-I got a D in a course for the first time in my college career yesterday.

-I lose my job today. I'm actually happy about that one. Public Editor was fun and worthwhile, but I miss being just another one of the reporters so much. I've decided to become a staff photographer next spring

-I got rather inebriated at a Collegian Pub Crawl a few weeks ago. I take full responsiblity for what I did that night, which fortunately wasn't all that bad. Turns out I can be a helpful person when I'm under the influence. I wound up staying late to help clean up when the party ended and even cleaned up the mess after one partier puked all over the kitchen.

You see, alcohol kills my sense of smell entirely, so I wasn't even bothered by the smell of the girl's last meal while it made everyone else wretch. Bet you wish you hadn't read that. Also, in an act of bizarre chivalry, I carried one of the paper's female staffers across Aggieville. I think she said she was tired, so I did the work for her. It's sort of become an inside joke between us now.

-I have two finals Tuesday morning, one after the other. I swear, it must be a conspiracy.

A Limerick

2006-12-04T23:16:00.000-05:00

There once was a careless reporter,
whose notes got all out of order;
he mucked up the facts
in long, libelous tracts,
all because of a mislabeled folder.

Brazenly Shameless

2006-11-29T00:33:00.000-05:00

My B&H Wishlist

Cyanide and Happiness

2006-11-22T21:43:00.000-05:00

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

You can hear the convergence!

2006-11-10T16:07:00.000-05:00

Hey ya'll, be sure to listen to the Wildcat 91.9 Sunday at 3 pm. I'm going to be on "The World in G Clef" with Daniel Aguilar to discuss the Collegian, journalism, and other cool things.

You can listen to it live here.

Walking in the fog

2006-10-27T01:21:00.000-04:00

ST. LOUIS -- Most people will learn of the Cardinal's third World Series victory tonight either through television news or next morning's newspaper. A lucky few watched it in person.

I knew they won from the incredible noise made by all their fans' car horns that caught my attention as I wandered the waterfront of the Mississippi River near the Gateway Arch. I'm here in St. Louis until Sunday for a college news media convention that has been a blast.

I've been eating expensive meals courtesy of student publications and watching unreleased movies courtesy of a few companies that want to get in good with collegiate press. One representative admitted to me that their main hope is that we'll write reviews. We saw "Borat" and "Stranger than Fiction" tonight. The former was a raunchfest that burned several unpleasant images into my mind, the latter was excellent.

I went down to the river after the movies in search of something; a piece of my childhood, perhaps. I've been to St. Louis three times before, the most recent was about eight years ago. The place looks different now, I'm two feet taller, almost a decade wiser and the waterfront is much sparser. I remembered there being a lot more casinos and boats moored at the water's edge, now it was empty.

To the very edge of the river I went, stepping on loose stones slowly losing their uniform layout to the passage of time. A barge made its way upriver, a few tourists walked under the streetlamps and the two sides of the arch disappeared into the fog, their location marked by a big white blog made by the dozens of spotlights trained on it. The majesty of the scene overcame me.

I bent down and touched the Mighty Mississippi's surface, I let the great river coat my hand. I had been searching for that elusive soul that things develop over time. I'd found both the river's and the city's, and they were beautiful.

I walked downriver a ways in search of the floating McDonald's where I'd eaten breakfast so long ago. It was an unsuccessful effort, but there was a fun moment. About thirty yards ahead of me and on the other side of the street walked a nervous little mman who continually looked over his shoulder to make sure I wasn't getting eny closer.

He kept trying to walk quickly and keep away from me for about a hundred yards before walking square into a sign. It was then I decided to give up the search for fear I'd give this man a heart attack.

I remembered a trip with my brother Drew and sister Caitlin where our mother had us lean against one end of the Gateway Arch for a picture. I walked up the hill to the mighty monument while the sound of Cardinals fans' horns filled the air and made my way for the side of the arch where we'd taken the picture.

With no one but a cop standing guard to watch, I walked up to the shining surface and gazed into it. I stroked it with my hand, turned around and leaned backward. The arch caught me and I relaxed for a moment as I stared down a long gap in the trees. I imagined my siblings next to me and sighed.

You can never, ever truly go back. But you can come pretty darned close sometimes.

In other news, a travel columnist for the Miami Herald interviewed my father earlier this month and mentioned him in her column. You can read a copy of it here, or read the paragraph about him here:

"And at Adams Auto, the owner not only filled my tank and checked my oil, he stopped long enough to chat about my Florida tags and tell me about his son, away at the University of Kansas. His pride, and his time, made me feel that for once, I'd touched America on the shoulder, and it had grinned back."

Please note that she got the name of my father's business wrong, along with the fact that both his sons are at Kansas State University. Tsk Tsk.

2006-10-15T22:59:00.000-04:00

You'd think I'd be happy that my gut is about an inch or two smaller than it used to be. Logic would say that a man who is showing results in his plan to lose his excess weight and be healthy for the first time since he was a toddler would be glad to weigh 25 pounds less.

But I seem to be proving that wrong. I feel strange, odd and confused about it all.

I keep putting my hands over my stomach and remembering where how far it used to stick out, and noticing how different it is now. I still have some girth, just less.

It reminds me of what Garrison Keillor said of the obese middle-aged men in his fictional hometown of Lake Wobegon; how they never hid their bellies or tried to excercise them off. They just couldn't imagine being without their giant lumps of fat, like their guts were good friends they'd known all their lives.

I don't know what it's like to be skinny, or trim, or even close to what society considers "normal." Now that I'm determined to be fit and am actually getting there, I don't know how to deal with it and the prospect of it all actually scares me.

Being big has always been a part of my identity. For better or worse, I was the fat kid. I was teased, missed out on some activities and never really felt like I belonged with all the other kids. I keep wondering to myself: "If I lose this weight, will I still be myself? Or will I be someone different?"

The answer to both questions, though, is yes. I'll still be me, just a different sort. New & Improved, as they say.

But it still freaks me out. I was in the supermarket last month (five pounds ago) and looked at some packages of ground beef. I saw four five-pound parcels and thought "Gee, that's how much extra stuff I've been carrying around."

But what messes with my head the most is this: what will I look like? Seriously, I have no idea what my face will look like with all this extra stuff gone. My cheeks, my lips, my forehead and neck will all be different.

I guess I'll have to do a bunch more self-portraits, huh?

My iPod is dead. Long live the iPod.

2006-10-03T00:32:00.000-04:00

I'm unhappy with Apple.

First, they release iTunes 7, which royally screws up my iPod, ruining the hard disk. Now it makes loud grinding sounds whenever I hook it to my computer and it refuses to connect to iTunes, and all the data on it is gone.

Then their support turned out to be worthless, and their repair service downright ridiculous. They said they'd charge me $275 to fix an iPod I bought for $250 and could replace for a brand new, video-playing one for the same. They also suggested I just buy a new one, but since when do I reward a company for screwing me over?

Instead, I fled to eBay, where I found another iPod just like with a 30-day warranty that it would work perfectly. End price? $86.

And now I have a spare iPod that would work if only it had a new hard drive. I might turn it into a news story. We'll see.

The Prodigal Column

2006-09-28T01:18:00.000-04:00

This column didn't originally appear online, but I finally found it today. Give it a read.

Number 3

Column Numba Five!

2006-09-15T12:00:00.000-04:00

For anyone who remembers that song from God knows how long ago, here's something Lou Bega could sing to get his career back.

Read up, read down, and move it all around.
Put the paper to the air, put the paper to the ground.
Turn one page left, and one page right
You start on the front and you jump to inside
Fold it up once then unfold it twice
And if it reads like this then we're doing it right.

A little bit a...

A toast to the Army

2006-09-12T01:03:00.000-04:00

I spent the afternoon today on Fort Riley observing some training and interviewing soldiers so they can learn how to deal with journalists, and to evaluate that ability for their commanding officer. (Don't worry, I won't name names).

It was a really great time, and the soldiers were plenty of fun to hang out with and watch in action. The wildest part of the day was standing 20 feet from a trench manned my enemy soldiers as they raided it. I brought my camera and took pictures all day, here's the work from the trench-breaching exercise.

Public Editor Column #4

2006-09-10T18:12:00.000-04:00

Read it here.

Don't ask me what happened to #3.

Another PubEd Column

2006-08-26T12:57:00.000-04:00

My second.

Hooray for Insurance

2006-08-25T19:07:00.000-04:00

Excerpt from my new liability insurance agreement that made me laugh:

"'We' do not pay for 'bodily injury', 'property damage', 'personal injury', or 'advertising injury' which results from war. (This includes undeclared war, civil war, insurrection, rebellion, revolution, warlike act by a military force or military personnel, or destruction, seizure, or use of property for a military purpose. Discharge of a Nuclear weapon is deemed a warlike act even if accidental.)"

Investment Capital...

2006-08-22T23:36:00.000-04:00

It's a nice thing.

Public Editor, Baby!

2006-08-21T13:52:00.000-04:00

My first column ran today. Read it here.

The rest will be on Fridays, starting with the one this week.

That Darned Cat

2006-08-09T17:53:00.000-04:00

The feline pictured above has been routinely visiting our house to beg for treats and try to sneak inside. The dogs bark at it but they're cowards and never actually fight it. I shot it a few times today (chill, cat lovers, just with the camera) and it's sitting outside right now.

Anyway, here's a song he reminds me of: "The Cat Came Back."

It's official...

2006-08-07T23:34:00.000-04:00

Logan C. Adams Photography is really a business. I filed for and received my Sales Tax number last night, and I now have my own sole proprietorship.

The grand opening will be August 15.

I took a long trip to Manhattan and Topeka today to make some purchases for my portable studio (is that a contradiction of terms?). First off, I picked up a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS2 at K-State. I was using Photoshop Elements, and let me tell you, it's like comparing a shovel to a bulldozer. So many more tools at my disposal -- which will take a while to learn -- and I know this will give me more avenues to improve my images.

After that I drove to Topeka to make some purchases at Wolfe's Camera, the only camera store I know of withing 100 miles of here. I only buy from them on occasion, most of my equipment purchases are done online through B&H and other retailers. Some tell me I should spend more in-state to keep the local guys in business, but such persons must never have gone to Wolfe's.

When I shop there, my chances are 50/50 between good service and being treated like garbage. Wolfe's good service is awesome, but their bad service makes online shopping seem friendly and social.

I got good service this trip, so next time I think I'll just walk in, read a price and run before getting the third degree from one of the camera clowns.

I bought a pair of umbrella for that Photogenic I bought, but they can be used on any strobe. In fact, I'm thinking of selling the Photogenic so I can buy a full kit brand new where everything fits everything else. Plus, a warrantee would be nice.

So, Anyone want to buy a strobe?

Dreamblogging

2006-08-03T23:39:00.000-04:00

I had a dream last night that I can't get out of my mind. It was one of those dreams that carried some sort of message with it, but I'm tired of carrying it in my head so I'm putting it here.

This dream had me at the wedding of a good friend of mine from Washington. It was in a giant church (the size of McCain Auditorium) with golden/tan walls and a high ceiling, at least 60 feet high. The place was packed.

He was getting married to a mutual friend of ours who is also in DC now and, naturally, I was taking pictures. I couldn't really tell if I was the official photographer or not, my camera was weird as hell. It was on the end of a four-foot rod that was bent at different angles, and I never hit the shutter or adjusted any controls. I just moved it around and it took a shot whenever I wanted it to. Weird.

But what really was strange to me the bride, a mutual friend of mine and the groom's, and they're a couple I sort of would expect to see together. I don't want to get into too many details.

After that was over, I had another: a recurring nightmare I've been having about getting trapped in a giant Wal-Mart from the future, a place so big it takes weeks to cross it on foot and dead bodies of shopaholics are found every month.

Ok, get your pens and notepads out. Start analysis now!

New Fun things

2006-08-01T22:36:00.000-04:00

I bought another fun piece of photo gear today. A local photographer who'd closed her business last year let me know she still had some gear left for sale. I went by her house and found the Photogenic strobe she had left. For $65, she was mine.

It's a PowerLight 375, which means it's a light that uses 375 Watt-seconds of electrity when at full power. A watt-second is used in lighting to express how much light a unit puts out, which is insane to me considering it takes no account for how efficient or inefficient the thing is. Basically, a 400 WS light is a small one, an 800 is medium, and a 1600 is kinda powerful. They go up to 3200 and well beyond, though.

I took it home and let her rip a few times. The light works very well when fired as an optical slave (photo-speak for firing a flash by telling it to go when it sees another flash). The stand was rather unstable, so I replaced it with one I already had for holding reflectors.

All I need to make it the perfect addition to my kit is to replace the power cord (nicked in a few places) and buy an umbrella to soften the light. I plan on using it as a kicker light, again photo-speak, and put it off to the side to fill the shadows created by my main light, which I'm going to be purchasing in the near future. I still need to make some decisions on that.

Also, a teleconverter (TC) I'm renting will arrive in the mail tomorrow. I ordered it because I'm considering buying one, but I want to try one out first. A TC is a small lens that goes between the lens and the camera and the main lens and increases the its focal length (magnification) without much weight and not costing too much. The downside is that it sacrifices some light and some sharpness.

A new one costs $275, but it's $45 to rent it for three weeks. We'll see what happens.

A shot with the Photogenic

2006-08-01T22:31:00.000-04:00

A shot of a room with the Photogenic 375 in it. It's at it's lowest power setting (1/16 of full power) and my camera is set to ISO 100, f/4, 1/100sec. I triggered it with my 580EX from atop my camera set at 1/128 so it would have much effect on exposure.

What the Duck?

2006-07-28T00:29:00.000-04:00

The name says it all: My new favorite blog.

Closing time

2006-07-25T20:37:00.000-04:00

I'm shutting down my photography business.

Don't worry, it's not permanent. I'm closing it because I have a lot of things I need to change with my business and a lot of decisions to make regarding its future.

Why must I shut it down, you ask? It's like needing to replace the serpentine belt on your car. You don't just pop the hood while you're on the road and reach on in. You need to pull over and take your time so that things work better once you're back on the road.

Same thing here. I need to review all my finances and examine my past sales to figure out where I can go from here, and how best to get there. I can't do this while I'm still open because my bookkeeping has gotten out of control and I need to balance everything up, then make my decisions. I plan on being open again in one month. Hopefully, I'll be back in half that time.

And when I do come back, I intend to make it better than ever.

Getting old

2006-07-21T03:58:00.000-04:00

I was working on my computer today when I noticed something strange about the person I saw in the mirror on the wall. He didn't look familiar, even though he was me.

I don't know if it's the sleep deprivation or the stress of dealing with hundreds of whiny high school students, but for some reason today I simply cannot recognize my own reflection. I see a strange person in the mirror who moves as I move, but doesn't seem like me. Maybe I am too tired.

This week has been a bit of an eye-opener for me. I've been interacting with these secondary-schoolers the whole time and there have been some strange moments where I have found myself put in a position I've found unfamiliar. I can't really name it, but it's somewhere along the lines of a role model and teacher, but blurry.

This got really strong for me a couple days ago when I did an interview excercise with the class I'm assisting, Newspaper Writing & Design. I started out by interviewing the whole class, about 20 students, at once. I'd bounce from source to source, pulling facts and opinions out of the students and switching between different strategies of obtaining information. I was good, and the students were amazed at how calm I was as I went about with my interrogation. There were laughs and giggles at funny answers and consideration for thoughtful ones, but the students were much happier to hear I was turning the tables to let them interview me.

No holds barred.

One of the teachers suggested they try and get some dirt on me, which suited them well. They asked about all my misdeeds: had I ever done drugs? How many? How often do I get drunk now? What about when I was in High School? What was the worst thing I ever did to someone?

I answered each question in full. I never flinched, I needed to show I wasn't afraid of the truth. But by the end of the interview I thought about all these things they really wanted to know. I mean, the prospect of finding out the surly details of my past had them on the edge of their seats.

So I asked, what made it special to them to know about the time I got so drunk I had to cling to a fence to stand and spent more than an hour conversing with random people through yelling?

The unanimous answer: I'm an adult who's been through what they're going through, and they wanted to know how I dealt with it.

I was stunned. These kids sought my experience and maybe approval of the lifestyle many of them life or are pushed to live by their friends. I kept asking why they wanted that, because it seemed to me they were wanting to justify decisions they'd made or would make.

I set the straight on it all, in my own little way. I didn't tell them not to drink; rather, I told them to decide for themselves. I said that if they liked the taste of a cold beer or a sharp glass of rum, then go ahead. I knew there was nothing stopping them, but then I started naming other reasons. I said that if they were drinking to make themselves feel better or because they were told to by friends or because they think they're supposed to, then they need to reconsider. I stressed that it was their choice, and I wasn't going to make it that clean for them.

And I think it worked. They reacted respectfully to my comments and I think, I hope I got through to them all.

What's funny is, I haven't had more than a few beers in a single night since I turned 21. I guess just knowing I have the right is enough anymore.

It's strange being my age. I wasn't more than six years older than any of those students. Some not even four years. But I'd crossed the threshold to being 21, and it's one hell of a leap. Your mind changes when you start buying your own beer legally, although I'm not entirely certain that's absolute causality. There's other factors to this.

Like a few weeks ago when I saw a soldier on TV who'd just been killed in Iraq. He was 19, and it dawned on me that the ones out there fighting for my county and coming back in boxes are now younger than me. I was so much younger when this war started and I watched the older boys packing up and leaving. Since when did I get to be older than them?

Now I understand why older people get sad seeing "boys" dying in wars. As a teen, 18 and older was adulthood. Today, I see it was just a start.

I know I have my whole life ahead of me still (Well, 3/4 of it, when you consider statistics). It just seems from the point I'm at that maybe I moved a little too fast already. Maybe I missed something I should have payed some serious attention.

But it's too late now. Time is up for this moment. Now for whatever comes next.

Trapped at the Ramada

2006-07-17T23:14:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago I was asked by one of the teachers at K-State's J-School to help with a workshop they were putting on for a few hundred high school students. They said it was a week's work, I'd be paid $200 and would get free housing at the Ramada Plaza Hotel plus all meals. Neither of us had the time to discuss it in detail, but I said yes.

Now as I sit here on old carpet in a long hall with no wallpaper or air-conditioning, where I shall stay for at least another two hours, I am starting to wonder if I should reconsider that decision. You see, I'm on hall-watching duty, which is where I have to sit out in the hall and watch them come and go and make sure the students don't sneak out to go to Aggieville or do God knows what else. It is not a pleasant duty, but a necessary one.

Don't get me wrong, I want to make this workshop as good as I can, but it really gets boring at night.I'll probably be online till late, (I was up till one am last night) so if you want to talk, I'm not going anywhere.

MSN: firsthobbit
AOL: LgnAdams

Non-Photography Day

2006-07-14T23:42:00.000-04:00

Found this on The Digital Journalist:

"Non-Photography Day"

I think it's a giant pile of BS, and I intend to take lots of pictures on the 17th just to spite her, and I hope you do too.

A new plan for selling prints

2006-07-11T23:28:00.000-04:00

I upgraded my photoshelter Web site today by moving my entire ordering system online so people pay with their credit cards. It used to be that they'd hand me a check and a list of pictures they wanted and I would ship them, but this makes it all a lot more simple.

Check it out here, and buy something for once! :P

Rejected Advertisement

2006-07-08T00:20:00.000-04:00

I thought if using the following line in a newspaper ad for my youth sports photography, but I ultimately decided it would be taken the wrong way by too many people. So I shall only share it here:

"Has Logan Adams shot your children?"

Consider yourselves among the lucky few.

Back from Camp

2006-07-02T23:07:00.000-04:00

I'm back in civilization now after one hell of a time in the foothills if the Rocky Mountains.

I spent the last week sleeping on a cot and hiking for several hours each day at Camp Cris Dobbins at the Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch just south of Elbert, Colo. I'm still too tired after all of it to write it in a long story form, so instead I will deliver it in short vignettes, as follows:

-It's at about 7,000 feet elevation, has very little humidity and the temperature never went about 85 degrees the entire time I was there. Mosquitos were non-existent there due to the dryness, so the only bug-bites I got came from spiders, and those were but a handfull. It was really a lot better than it sounds here, but you wouldn't understand unless you spent a week at a Kansas camp and got so many bites you could find the constellations in them.

There were only the occasional drops of rain all week, never enough to get me to pull my rain poncho from my pack. I got a little moist once, but I was too stubborn to reach for it because I knew it would be a royal pain to stuff it back into that tiny plastic bag it comes in.

-The food was terrible. The meatloaf was a brick of ground beef covered in generic barbecue sauce. Breakfast was almost always lukewarm.

-The counselors were interesting people. There was a pair of high school students in the Crafts lodge who were fun to talk with, they were like the kids I hung out with way back when. One girl, Michelle I believe, made me laugh so hard I almost fell out of my chair. She told me about her brother, who is in the Army in military intelligence but volunteered to go to Iraq as a Humvee gunner this fall. What's funny is that she made him promise that, when he shoots his first Iraqi, he shouts "I'm liberating you."

Another interesting counselor was a college student who taught photography merit badge. Her name was Savannah and I enjoyed hanging out in the class as she taught the boys how to shoot, develop and print real black and white film. I've never been able to actually watch the process and it was so awesome to see real photography being done like that. Shame none of the scouts had really mastered exposure or compostion yet, they may just go straight to digital now without ever learning the joy of film.

The staff really enjoyed singing, and it was really moving sometimes when they'd pull off an great number. At the closing campfire Friday night, the program director took out his guitar and a few other staffers stood next to him and they sang "Georgetown" (a place in Colorado this time, not DC) and "Fire on the Mountain" (Marshall Tucker Band song about the gold rush). Their versions were soft, smooth and utterly glorious. I almost cried when they sang the words:

"We were diggin' and siftin' from five to five,
Sellin' everything we found just to stay alive.
Gold flowed free like the whiskey in the bars,
Sinnin' was the big thing, lord and Satan was his star.
And there's fire on the mountain, lightnin' in the air,
Gold in them hills and it's waitin' for me there."

-Shooting sports was freaking great. On Thursday night they have the Scoutmaster shootoff, where they blatantly suck up to the adult leaders so they'll come back to the camp next year. They let the leaders drop the energetic scouts off at a part of camp where they have lots of entertainment and learning stations set up. Staff members keep them under control, and the leaders have the evening off to go down to the shotgun, rifle and archery ranges and shoot all they want for two hours or so.

Camp Cris Dobbins literally has one of the best shotgun ranges in the country, it was donated by a multi-millionaire with the last name of Travis who heard they lacked a place to teach Shotgun shooting. It has luxurious ranges for both skeet and trap shooting, just like the one Mr. Travis has on his private island, they say. To top that off, he had his friend Pete Coors donate some guns for the facility.

The gun I shot was a stainless-steel-barreled, single-shot beauty -- made by Browning, I believe -- they said was worth $1800. I believe them, in my arms it felt like I held a masterpiece of a firearm. It was all I could do not to giggle from how nice it felt up against my shoulder.

I shot with three other men. We each got ten clay pigeons in sets of two. I was the only one who didn't shoot like a pansy and hold the gun at my shoulder before saying pull. I did it the proper way, with the butt off my shoulder and the barrel at a 45 degree angle to the ground. I got seven out of ten targets, and the range instructor was amazed at how far out from the thrower I was able to pick them off.

I also did rifle, .22s all around, which I did rather well in. Then the real fun came when I went to the Archery range. Bows and arrows werent' as popular that night, so instead of carefully doling out arrows the staffers in charge just handed me and the other guy a handful apiece and let us fill whatever targets we wanted.

There was the standard bull's eye, a bear, a deer, and elk, a bighorn sheep, some turkeys, and quail. I pumped each of them full of arrows. Especially the bear, he was looking at me funny.

Then I asked about a beat-up poster on the right of the targets that had been shredded to hell. The staffer showed me an unused copy of the poster: it was a dolphin with bull's eye over his chest, just between his pectoral fins. I laughed hard when I saw it. I knew what target I would be going after next.

It was a hard target to get, I'll tell you, the bull's eye itself was only 6-7 inches across; it was really a rifle target. That didn't stop me from trying though. I wound up missing the rings entirely, but I got two arrows in his beak, where I was aiming, and one in his tail. South Park fans will be glad to know that just before I made my first shot at flipper, I called out "It's coming right for us!"

-Hiking is great excercise. I've had several people remark how much thinner I look since getting back. With all that hiking, I'd better be a bit closer to skinny, damn it!

-I taught a lot of lessons, but learned a few, too. On Monday, for example, I taught about two or three dozen young Scouts several knots they needed to learn. The were in "Eagle Bound," a class for young scouts who need to fulfill requirements to make it through the lower ranks. I am known in my troop for my proficiency in the art of manipulating rope, and the other leaders suggested I do the class.

There was the square knot, the sheet bend, the timber hitch, the two half-hitches and the tautline hitch, and before I was done every scout knew them all. I made sure of it.

Some of the scouts were a challenge to teach. They liked to get up and jump about or use their ropes for whipping each other instead of practicing the knots. One Scout was expecially difficult to teach, but it was really an honor instead of a problem to have worked with him. His name was Derek, and he was blind. To teach him the knot, one of the counselors or I would slowly tie the knot in front of him, stopping at on each step to let him reach out and touch each part of the rope and discover where it went, and why.

And, by gum, he kept trying until he learned them all. I was so proud.

-The excitement didn't stop even after I got home. Two afters after my return I stepped out of the shower and got a phone call: there was a fire at a restaurant downtown. I dressed, grabbed my camera and went on down to shoot it, a week's facial hair growth still on my face. It was more than an hour of some of the most intense shooting I've ever done. Here's the gallery.

Goodbye Modern World!

2006-06-24T10:07:00.000-04:00

I'm leaving for camp soon and I'm about to put my computer away. This is my last post before I go off into the wilderness, and I promise I'll write about what happens out there when I get back.

So I shall bid you all farewell in Arabic: Mah' a' salamey!

Camping: It's in-tents!

2006-06-23T00:03:00.000-04:00

Forgive the atrocious pun.

I'm leaving around noon on Saturday on a trip to Colorado. I'm an assistant scoutmaster with Boy Scout Troop 65 of Council Grove, Kan., and we're going for our annual summer camp trip. This year we're going to Peaceful Valley, a fairly-large camping reservation outside Elbert, Colo.

I've been to Peaceful Valley before, it's a swell place in the foothills of the Rockies. Great facilities, solid tents and wonderful weather. It's up rather high so the humidity stays down, so even when it's 100 out it doesn't get to you. Kansans aren't so lucky.

I'm bringing Matilda (the typewriter, remember her?) and I intend to use my time there to add many chapters to the finished file. I really want to finish this work, and get it published. It'd be so awesome to see my name on the spine of a finished tome.

I won't have internet out there, probably not even cellphone reception, and I like that. I need to spend some time disconnected from the net. To unwire, you could say. And I need to, because my photo business is starting to catch on a little too strong lately and I need to get free before it sucks the life out of me. That's why the whole digital kit is staying behind. I am, however, bringing my prized Canon AE-1P along, but with only one lens: my venerable, trustworthy, loveable 5omm 1.8. And no others. We need some quality time, me and my fifty. (Non-SLR shooters won't get what I'm talking about here.)

Speaking of a fifty, I bought a new lens for my digital kit last week, but didn't get to use it until yesterday due to all the moving hubbub. It's a 50mm f1.4, I paid $275 for it, shipped. On my digital it's like a 75mm lens; slightly telephoto. That makes it a killer portraits lens, especially because it's curse-word-inducingly sharp and blows backgrounds of cluttered garbage away into soft, smooth baths of color. (To understand what I'm talking about, read about "Depth-of-Field" in a photography book.) I (heart) this lens.

To prevent confusion, my film and digital kits have different lens mounts, the film kit is entirely manual focus while the digital supports aut0focus. This is because they were made more than two decades apart. I'm only bringing the manual focus camera and lens on the camping trip. They cost less than 1/10th of their corresponding digital gear.

Nudge

2006-06-22T00:53:00.000-04:00

Back in DC, I read the words of an experienced newswriter talking about his favorite kind of story, the kind that people would tell others to read because it's just so enthralling and interesting and downright good that it would be a crime for them to miss it. He called this kind of story a "Bus Nudger" because it would prompt strangers riding on the bus to tell those sitting next to them to read the story.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you a fine example of a bus nudger.

A crazy little week

2006-06-18T21:18:00.000-04:00

Just as I thought it was going all right,
I find out I'm wrong, when I thought I was right.
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all.
-Genesis

A week ago today, I visited a girl with whom I believed I was developing a relationship. I'd thought she wanted me to be more affectionate and romantic to her, so I tried to be. She didn't want it at all, and now she's only interested in being friends when she had previously talked about some thing more in the future.

Maybe. Kind of. It's all one continuous bath of grey to me anymore. The bottom line is this: we're not really going to be together any more from now on. I'm over it.

Then I got one hell of a shocker on Tuesday. The relatives I was staying with in Manhattan told me they wanted me to move out. Right away. Two months earlier they'd asked me to stay another year, but things change. I don't want to talk about them anymore.

I was on the road to Topeka at the time, but turned around because it seemed foolish to do shopping when I had an imminent relocation to deal with. Luckily, the constant moving I went through in the past two years gave me a nomadic mentality and within a few hours had checked out one potential place to stay packed my car as full as I could with my things.

The place I looked at is at the corner of Laramie and 17th Street in Manhattan. It's a single room in the home of this friendly retired couple who rent 3-5 of them out every school year. It's $275 a month, utilities paid.

My parents were happy to take me in, my mom had quite the list of chores in her head when I got home with my first load Tuesday. 48 hours after I left Manhattan that evening I had already emptied my room and put a deposit down on the room. There is no kitchen, but I can have a dorm fridge and a small microwave to use in my room. I'm cool with that. I'm taking six classes this fall, along with being Public Editor, so I doubt I really need anything more than a simple room where I can eat the occasional simple meal. The funny thing is, it's nextdoor to the apartment building in which I lived two years ago.

One of those chores my mom had was done tonight: We disassembled the old family swingset in our yard. I helped my father put that thing together years ago. It had since rusted and broken in many places, and it was unsafe for children. So Drew and I took it apart and loaded the pieces in our father's truck to go to the dump. We celebrated the end of father's day with a game of kickball in our backyard, with the diamond larger than before since the swingset was no more.

Drew and I went together on our dad's Father's Day gift: a big bottle of one of his favorite whiskeys. I lbelieve being 21 makes shopping for dads so much easier.

Pardon my dust...

2006-06-10T23:27:00.000-04:00

I'm on a bit of a mission this summer: I want to be a new person when classes resume this fall.

I've altered my diet (no soda, no deep-fried foods, no ice cream, no pizza, and generally less of everything) and started excercising regularly. After a few weeks, I'm liking it.

I tried a can of soda one week ago to see what it was like after two weeks abstinence. I couldn't finish it, it was nasty. I used to have up to two, sometimes three, bottles of that crap every day and I liked it, but after keeping away from it for long enough my sense of taste has reset itself.

Now that my taste buds aren't being maxed out on Pepsi and Mountain Dew every day, everything else tastes better. Sandwiches. Fruit. Even Tap Water. They all seem to have finally shown their hidden flavors I'd been missing thanks to that carbonated garbage. I may never consume the stuff on a regular basis, and I like that. It feels like having one less thing have control over my decisions.

There are other changes I'm bringing into my life. I bought a pair of hiking boots a few weeks ago, and I intend to use them to go hike some pastures around here. They're owned by a farmer who wants photos of his land, and I figure it'll be a chance to have some real solitude and practice my craft. For now, my feet bear the marks that come from breaking in a pair of new leather boots.

I'm tempted to liken it to taming a wild animal. You have this creature that has never known human touch but must become used to it on a permanent basis. The blisters and callouses are the marks of the fight.

It has been harder on my left foot than my right, though. I recently discovered that my right foot has a taller arch than my left and thus it is half an inch shorter. It scared the hell out of me when I noticed that, but it certainly explained the nasty broken blister on the back of my left heel. I'm thinking of taking it to a shoe shop in Aggieville where they can stretch shoes. Might get just enough to make it fit perfectly. Then no hill shall stop me.

I've also purchased a new hiking backpack and some water bottles, thanks to a gift certificate to the Pathfinder I got for my birthday. I can carry enough water, film, and gear in there to last me a whole day in the field.

Work on the novel will continue this week now that I've finished my summer course, MC 510: Germany and the Cinema of War. I have no idea when I'll get my grade. I plan on filling the time between work on chapters with excercise and such. Also, stories for the Collegian and photography. On that note, I made an order this morning for 1,000 new business cards since I'd run out of the ones I've had since last year.

I want to do a lot more bike riding now as well. I have a bike, but it's always been a piece of junk. The seat is ripped, the tires, tubes, brakes and handles need replaced, and the gears are cheap. I could fix it up, but I imagine it'll only be as bad as when I first had it, which wasn't that good. So I'm thinking of buying a new one. Wal-Mart has some decent ones for $100-$140 I'm thinking about, so we'll see.

CAS rears its ugly head...

2006-06-05T22:18:00.000-04:00

I've been reading a lot of used equipment listings looking for used equipment in good condition that I could use to bolster my gear and be better prepared for my next job. I've been looking at all sorts of things and I've gotten some ideas on what I want to buy.

Highest priority: Flash Bracket.
This bit of gear allows me to rotate either my lens or flash to keep it directly over the lens with a bit extra height to improve lighting and to keep shadows behind people and out of sight. Shadows to the right or left of people look nasty, and I need to eliminate them, so I'll have to spend about $100-$250 in this department for the bracket and cord.

Just below that: Second digital body, 24-70mm 2.8L and backup flash.
No one should ever professionally shoot a wedding with a single camera. You simply must have a backup. I've been Ok because my 20D is extremely reliable and I have my old film kit which I keep at the wedding with many rolls of film, ready to go.

But the fact remains I need a second digital body, and for that I'm looking to get a Canon Digital Rebel XT, which is slightly smaller physically than my 20D and gets a little bit less frames per second and doesn't go to as high of a "film" speed, but would work perfectly as my backup plan. I will, however, still keep my film kit because the only thing better than a backup plan is two backup plans. I could get a good used one, with additional vertical grip and batteries, for <$600.

The 24-70 (linked in earlier post) would fill the focal length gap that exists between my 70-200 and my 17-35. I've missed a few important shots and done less as good as I could have in the past because I was either too wide or too tight, and this sucker would fill that gap. Even more, with two digital bodies I could walk around with two working cameras at parties, switching as needed. It would be badass. I could get a good used one for about $900.

For the backup flash, I'll probably get a Canon 420EX, a recently-discontinued flash that works well with digital and can also work as a wireless slave controlled by the 580EX flash I already own. It should cost me less than $150.

And then there are some of the things I've been dreaming about: On-site printing, a supertelephoto, and STROBES!
To do on-site printing, I'd need to buy this $425 Canon monstrosity that uses eight ink tanks which cost $11 each to replace, or $85 as a set. On the upside, i could sell 13x19 posters at tournaments and such for about $35 a pop (the average going rate.) Considering the paper and extra ink I'd need, it'd be a $700 initial investment.

I also still want a really long lens, either a 300mm or 400mm 2.8L. These cost thousands of dollars. As in $7,000 for the 400 brand new.

Finally, I've been looking at Alien Bees strobes for a new portable lighting source for portraits or even lighting indoor sporting events. This would require anywhere between $400 and $2,000 depending on just how much stuff I'd buy. Probably this one to start with, and they do give a 10 percent student discount.

I've been learning a lot about gear resale value, and one thing is clear: invest in glass, expense on bodies and flashes. Lenses keep most of their value after even years of use, usually keeping 80 t0 90 percent of it. Bodies, flashes and other more disposable things can lose 40 percent of their value in a year, easily. I bought my Canon 20d for $1,500 brand new just under a year ago now (anniversary coming up the 16th). Today it would likely only fetch $800 or so.

A toast to capitalism.

2006-06-05T20:27:00.000-04:00

I got some good news today: Sony is going to be announcing their new line of digital SLRS.

They've got a new body and several new lenses, the most interesting of which, to me, is their 300mm 2.8 telephoto. There are no confirmed prices yet, but I don't care so much about what they're charging, just that they're selling these products.

I'm not going to be buying any of their stuff, I just hope this gives Canon enough cause to drop their prices on some of their lenses so I can afford them. Right now there are two big-time Japanese Camera Companies, Canon and Nikon. Minolta used to be big too, but they didn't adapt quickly enough to the digital age and were left behind Sony bought Konica Minolta's camera line earlier this year (they'd merged, if memory serves, in 2003).

But now Sony is looking for a piece of the pie, so Canon and Nikon will have a third camera line to compete with. Competition fosters better products at lower prices, and the consumer (read: me) winds up winning.

I would like to buy a Canon 300mm 2.8L IS USM and a 24-70 2.8L USM to improve my kit, but they aren't cheap. Hopefully this news will get Canon to offer me a better deal.

Cheers to you Sony, I hope you sell tons of your cameras. Just not to me.