"According to another European observer of America, Jean Baudrillard, part of the pleasure of travel is ‘to dive into places where others are compelled to live and come out unscathed, full of the malicious pleasure of abandoning them to their fate. Even their local happiness seems tuned to a secret resignation.’"
-Geoff Dyer, The Ongoing Moment





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Well well. Still not much new work here. Sorry about that. No Internet connection at home right now, and my time is more likely to be spent on other projects than on photo postprocessing right now. I'm gnawing away at a novel I've been working at off and on for the last few years, for one thing, and trying to put the final wraps on the "photos from Europe" project, which is darn near done.

Speaking of which, I'm looking for a replacement for the Picasa client. I'm happy with the Picasa web service, but the desktop client seems to think it knows better than I do which pictures should be in the albums, and it's overruled my decisions on several occasions. It's also constantly losing track of albums, and I've had to rebuild them from scratch several times. Can anyone recommend a replacement client for Picasa web albums (preferably Linux, but Windows is OK too), or a comparable web/client pair that provides similar storage and display capabilities? I'd be grateful.

There WILL eventually be new work, too.



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Sorry there's been so little new work lately. I'm only on the Internet at irregular intervals, and I've been working on other projects. Most notably, the mammoth "pictures from Europe" project is finally winding up ... all 50 rolls that were taken on the three trips in 2001, 2002, and 2004 have been developed, electronified, enhanced, cleaned up, organized, tagged, and collated with journal notes. (Because, you know, prints and negatives deteriorate, but data is forever if properly backed up.) Be-albuming can wait until I get a breather ... the pictures that were mounted years ago should be redone anyway, and that's going to be a whole other headache. But when it's done, it'll be done, FINALLY.

The last of the Europe photos will be on my Picasa photo shoebox sometime in the next week or two, and (of course) the better ones (disappointingly few, alas) will gradually transition over here. Alas, I took a cheap camera to Europe ... and my composition skills have improved greatly since then, it seems.

I'm really looking forward to my trip to the Philippines at the end of August. New sights! New people! New culture! New weird things going on! New situations! New inspiration!

I can't wait ...




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I just got a bunch of really old pictures back from the local photo-developing shack. Some of them were from rolls that I shot 8 years ago, when I was in Europe. There are photos from Germany, the Czech Republic, Ireland, England, and Scotland. I'm really excited. Some of the pictures turned out all right despite the excessive time.

Oh boy.

RULES:
1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question even if it doesn’t make sense. NO CHEATING!
4. Tag 5 people.
5. Bold the questions and with the answers, give your own comments on how it relates to the questions.

How are you feeling?
"Subterranean Homesick Alien" - Radiohead (How depressing.)

Will you get far in life?
"The Last Remaining Light" - Audioslave (There it is! Off in the distance! I see it!)

How do your friends see you?
"Proud Mary" - Creedence Clearwater Revival (What?)

Will you get married?
"The Grudge" - Tool (I guess that's a "yes.")

What is your best friend's theme tune?
"Derelict" - Beck (Hey wait, that's my theme tune.)

What is the story of your life?
"People As Places As People" - Modest Mouse (I guess I'm confused about a lot of things.)

What is high school like?
"Reptile" - Nine Inch Nails (Hey, that is kind of how I remember it.)

How can you get ahead in life?
"Every Day Is Exactly the Same" - Nine Inch Nails (That's what I was just saying!)

What is the best thing about your friends?
"Please Just Take These Photos From My Hands" - Snow Patrol (Oh, a song about my watchers. I get it.)

What is in store for this weekend?
"99 Luftballoonen" - Nena Hagen (This is the 80's song translated as "99 Red Balloons." I'd be surprised if that represents my weekend, but you never know.)

Describe your grandparents.
"Sober" - Tool (Most of the time, I guess.)

How is your life going?
"Rattlesnake" - Live (Peculiarly apt.)

What song will they play at your funeral?
"Where Is Everybody?" - Nine Inch Nails (Now *that's* creepy.)

Will you have a happy life?
"Anarchy" - KMFDM (Well, that pretty much sums it up.)

What do your friends really think of you?
"Non-Entity" - Nine Inch Nails (The truth hurts.)

Do people secretly lust after you?
"Tastes Like Wine" - Gov't Mule (So they say.)

How can I make myself happy?
"Over the Falls" - Primus (I don't think my iPod likes me.)

What should you do with your life?
"Mutineer" - Warren Zevon (People already say that about me.)

Will you ever have children?
"Help, I'm a Rock" - Frank Zappa (Is that a "no"?)



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