Folks, it appears that my Apple account has been hacked. IF YOU RECEIVE ANY MESSAGES PURPORTING TO BE FROM ME USING MY .ME ADDRESS, PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND! Please let me know at my gmail address or by leaving a contact here.
Thanks.
I recently learned about an interesting new web community called creativeLIVE that is offering a creative approach to creative training seminars. While I’ve yet to “attend” one of their offerings due to scheduling conflicts, the folks they’ve been attracting to lead these virtual retreats are pretty impressive — Rick Sammon, Bambi Cantrell and Zack Arias are among the photographers involved — and there are “courses” on all manner of creative pursuits, although photographers have been the most prolific thus far.
creativeLIVE
About creativeLIVE (from creativelive.com):
creativeLIVE is about providing the best free, live creative education on the web. From our studio in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood, we offer free online workshops in photography, video, web and graphic design, app development and a wide array of other creative topics.
All of our live creative workshops are available to watch for free in realtime. Once a live workshop is over, we edit the best of this content into easily downloadable files available for purchase through our online store. It’s that simple.
At our core, we’re a dedicated group of creative-minded individuals. Our aim is to work with the very best instructors who want to share their knowledge and creative expertise with the world.
On Music…
I mentioned, after returning from Kimberton, how much fun I had making some really simple music with the CBG. And, that’s been poking at my mind as I become further involved with a relatively large band (7 pieces and growing); the question of “just how hard do I want to make this?” keeps coming into my head. Add to that, bassist and friend Scott Bohandy’s recent departure from Ivy Mike and his renewed interest in a relatively simple blues/rock originals project, and I’m really thinking that I’m not that into another big cover band scenario.
Musically, I’d much rather do something simple; possibly blues-based (if I remember correctly, I actually decided that almost a year ago!). Simple keyboard rig (possibly just the PS60)! And, the CBG. Add some drums, bass, guitar, blues harp and vocals and that’s all I want.
On Photography, Video and Art…
melaniejane of Purgatory Hill. Image made from an iPhone picture, a shot from the SX110is, a snapshot of a block print and a couple of textures.
I presently have three still image cameras — a very nice Canon T1i D-SLR, a really nice Canon SX110is compact digital camera, and my iPhone 3Gs. In looking back over my most recent photography (such as it has been), I’ve noticed that more often than not, I’ve been using the iPhone or the SX110is. Simple and fun have become my mantra again where photography is concerned.
I’ve also recently rediscovered simple Linoleum block printing. My mind has been turning over possibilities of how to combine block prints with other visual art forms — including, of course, photography.
The image at left is an example of several simple things combined using simple software. The image of melaniejane was made with the SX110is, the brick texture was shot with the iPhone, as was the snapshot of the block print. And, I threw in a couple of gritty textures. Everything was blended together in Pixelmator.
I took the picture of melaniejane a year or so ago, and made the block print a couple of weeks back. I was originally going to cut out most of the stuff in the middle of the block print for this, but thought it wass pretty cool how the curve through the print followed the curve of her body. Purely by accident. So, I only erased the block printed parts where they’d interfere with her face and the microphone.
And, even straight from the camera, the results from both the little Canon and the iPhone can be pretty satisfying…
Reading and Writing…
I’m also looking at eBook readers, and will probably pick up one of the Nook readers at some point. The biggest reasons for the Nook over most of the others is that it’s well priced and uses the ePub standard. The latest, color Nook is really a customized Android tablet for a bargain price. And yes, I thought about an iPad (and it’s still under serious consideration). But, an iPad is twice the price of the Nook Color, and almost four times the price of the Nook 1st Edition. Sure, it would net me a slightly bigger, cooler touch screen and the availability of more apps. But, I have a nice little MacBook; do I really need the additional functionality of the iPad? Maybe if Byword were available for iPad, that decision would be easier…
So, that’s some of what’s been rattling around the empty corners of my mind lately…
I’ve been meaning to put this up for a few months now. I wrote it back in November, after a poetry reading night at Birdies in town. This was my impression, written mostly in about forty minutes after we got home.
Pretty girl in the red coat
And the black stockings
And the Audrey Hepburn black hat –
Donna makes a reference
To Breakfast at Tiffany’s
I don’t quite understand.Tales of New York
Told from Grandpa’s letters
And photographs on the roof.
Manhattan is not a mountain top;
It never will be.
She’s too good for that.The girl in the red coat
Is here with friends
They chatter for a while
In the back room
Before getting a table
By the radiator.
Her friend with the beard
Wears an interesting coat.What’s that policeman doing
Out in the street?
I think I parked legally
For what it’s worth.JK (or JC? No, it’s RJ) spits poetry
The partner in crime says,
Speaking briefly of [trying hard to remember … nope]
And now Cliff’s on his way to
Six months in Afghanistan.A woman reads from her laptop
Muttering vaguely about technology
Everyone else has papers
or books
Loses her place
When she tries to scroll too fast;
Mutters a vague “oh, sh..”
Under her breath
As she finds
Her place
And continues reading.An older man speaks
Of thinning the buffalo herd,
And all I can think is that
You can’t roller skate there (in the buffalo herd),
And so I missed his point
Altogether.
But he won’t do Haiku
Unless he can do it in Japanese, too.Homeless man walks by
Outside the window –
Or maybe he’s just some guy
traveling through –
A hiker or something –
He’s got a pretty decent pack
and shoes
and supplies
For a homeless man.Le Hinton.
Black on most days,
I chuckle
Because I think I get it –
Reminds me of Elliott.
Le closes his book
In the key of G-minor.
My favorite key.Now, there is music.
The man in the red shirt
Smiling his way across the street
I see through the window
Comes in very late –
The night is almost over.The man in the red shirt
Sits at the table next to the girl
In the red coat
And the black stockings
And the Audrey Hepburn hat
There with friends.
What’s he drinking?And now,
The lovely lady singing
About the weather
Has a cold behind;
Shouldn’t there be a song about tuning?
Why didn’t she dress in Layers?Dream a Little Dream of Me
Brings childhood memories:
WBAL used to play records,
And sometimes you could hear them
As far south as Georgia.
We all sing along
With the chorus
Because it’s the only part
Most of us remember.Driving home –
Shoot.
Is that my turn?
How long have I lived here now?
We laugh about it,
But is scares me sometimes.
Thank goodness for Maggie.
That’s pretty much my total impression of an entire evening. I remembered only the scattered details I wrote about, but there was a lot more to the night. It makes me believe I have A.A.D.D., and have probably had it for most of my life. Which explains a lot…
Go ahead and do what you really love to do! Do nothing else! You have so little time. How can you think of wasting a moment doing something for a LIVING you don’t like to do? What kind of a living is THAT? That is not a living, that is a DYING!
- God, per ND Walsch