Broken Glass

After three days of little sleep...

2008-03-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

I have emerged from the weekend with a new tattoo and a new found respect for Patrick Swayze.
After a good solid 12 hours of Patrick Swayze movies I can say that this weekend was a success.

Even more importantly, the woman from the art gallery finally viewed my photos and I was told she really liked my work; specifically my shopping cart photos. She also liked my graveyard and statue photos, though she thinks they are "kind of a downer." But, like my friend said, her art work is insanely bright and cheery, so I can see why she thinks this. At least she assessed the artistic quality instead of the content.

They are looking into how to set up an exhibit for young (poor) artists an it seems that she is interested in showing my stuff. This is excellent, however I still run into the same issue: tourists probably won't buy "downer" photos. This said about my photos from a fellow artist who can look past subject matter to the actual quality, tourists who love the beach scenes won't particularly enjoy my photos. So, I must continue to search out some subject matter that isn't depressing.

I also started on a new painting today. Well, new as in started over on an old painting from a few years ago that I abandoned. I originally started painting in acrylic, but I decided to work with oils this time. I am kind of stuck as to where to proceed. This is the same dilemma that I ran into last time and why I abandoned it. I like parts of it, but other parts are annoying me and I don't know what to do about them.

Hopefully I will get out and take more photos this week. As long as I don't have too much work to do. The weather is supposed to be nice, so I should have some good times to shoot. I also plan on building a site to display/sell my photos and art, so I need to get on that too. Anyone interested in seeing my work, just let me know.

Private Propety. No Trespassing.

2008-03-26T20:27:00.001-07:00

In an attempt to get out of the house on the first nice day in a while, I decided to try to get some photos to add to my collection that may be hanging in the gallery this summer. Since the crowd I will be selling my photos to will be Cape Cod tourist with no taste, I have been looking to find some cheesy oceany stuff to photograph that they will enjoy and I won't desperately hate.

Unfortunately, the crap that sells are photos of flowers, lighthouses and standard beach scenes. I know I can make flowers look good, but tourists want standard photos of colorful, centered flower pots and that's just not something I can do and feel good about. It takes absolutely no talent to take a photo of a planter full of geraniums. Pretty much anyone with hands and opposable thumbs can produce the same talentless snapshot. The same goes for beaches. There is nothing I hate more than someone taking a snap shot and attempting to pass it off as artistic because it's in black and white.

Anyway, I was not too thrilled with anything I took today. I knew from the outset that they weren't going to impress me since it got very cloudy right when I started photographing so the light was just all off. This is one of the photos that has potential...it just isn't right yet. It would have been better, but there was a giant puddle preventing me from getting the angle I wanted. I was trying to avoid getting soaked and dirty, but it turns out I should have just stood in the middle of the puddle since about two minutes later I managed to slip and fall in the mud. So much for keeping myself clean...

Packing Peanuts

2008-03-24T13:10:00.001-07:00

After pondering the term for some time today, I have decided that "packing peanuts" sounds like a term of endearment (either that or a really awesome euphemism). So, my wandering mind decided to look on Wikipedia for any information about packing peanuts. This is all I found:

Packing peanuts "are a common loose-fill packing material which is also used to prevent damage to fragile objects during shipping. They were introduced circa 1965. They are roughly the size and shape of a peanut (in its shell) and usually made of polystyrene. They are shaped to interlock when compressed and free flow when not compressed.

In the early-1990s, a more environmentally friendly starch-based alternative was developed. One of the first brands of biodegradable peanuts, Biofoam, is made from the grain sorghum; other brands are made from corn starch. Biodegradable foam peanuts have no electrostatic charge, another benefit over polystyrene. Being biodegradable and nontoxic, they are also edible. Two of their main drawbacks are a lesser resilience and higher weight relative to polystyrene.

Starch-based peanuts are soluble in water, and polystyrene peanuts are soluble in acetone, but not vice versa. Because polystyrene peanuts are non-soluble in water, they are also used as a light-weight aggregate in hydroponics."

Now that you have been enlightened with this useless piece of trivia, here is a video I found of an office prank involving a cubicle and a whole lot of packing peanuts.

All Roads Lead to Guggies...

2008-03-23T18:02:00.001-07:00

When driving in the Boston area, there are a few landmarks that save me when lost; Guggies is one of them. Whenever I drive into Boston, I take a route that may not be the most direct, but I know it well and I don't have to deal with 93 or the Mass Pike (neither of which I particularly enjoy). Guggies is located near the corner of route 9 and Cypress St, so I pass it quite frequently as I turn onto Cypress. It has become a minor joke between my friend and I because there have been many times that we were lost and somehow happened back at Guggies.

I never really paid any attention to what Guggies actually was, but recently I was perusing the web and I came across an inquiry about Guggies from a mother looking to take her toddler there. Now, the sign says it's an arts and crafts place, but it was always closed when I drove by, so I assumed it sold art supplies. Apparently, it is daycare of sorts that specializes in art activities for children.

According to Urban Dictionary, guggies is "[a] game that apparently consists of two underaged boys making out with each other." I now find it very funny that the landmark I have used many times to reorient myself while driving through the city is a activity place for children named after a homoerotic game played between little boys.

I wonder if the mothers who take their children to Guggies know what they're actually doing...
Hmm...

...A Public Service Announcement From Your Local Broadcasting System...

2008-03-02T19:10:00.001-08:00

Attention. Attention. This is only a test. Mobile device synchronizing...

The Beginning...

2008-01-22T08:10:00.000-08:00

This blog will serve the purpose of documenting my travels and journeys through writing and photographs.