Tagged

Gosh, zeebah tagged me! Okay, I'll play.

Rules:
1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

So... here goes. 8 random facts about me:

• My favorite meal would be old cheddar with Jacob's cream crackers, pickled onions, and a diet coke chaser.


• It takes me about a second to fall in love. Must be the Scorpio thing. I make up my mind straight away... It's the same way with my friends - I know right away how I feel.


• If they made a perfume that smelled like fixer (a darkroom chemical for you non-photo folks)... I'd buy it!


• I'm totally math-phobic. I'm really smart, but I panic when I have to add or subtract, and forget about percentages. One year I paid $3000 too much to the IRS because I totally messed up the math. I had to apply to get the $$ back at a later date.


• My favourite photos are the ones that make me hold my breath. My other favourites are the ones that make me laugh.


• I'm a twin. My sister is the person I love most in this world.


• The thing I value most in other people is kindness.


• I was a librarian for 10 years, which in 'catherine-years' was like 75 years. I became a librarian because I believed in the power of information to empower and transform individuals and communities. The reality is that librarians play all the usual power-games and libraries are desperately tied to the past. I'm still a little sad about that.

OK, I tag surlyspice, brooklyn bachelor, kate & jenny, shelly, deweydecimal...

Mwahh hah hah....

Ladies and gentlemen, the camera has landed. Yes, the camera has landed. My digital camera is back from the repair shop! Too bad I wasn't home when it was delivered because I most definitely would have kissed the delivery guy (or gal... 'cos you know I'm like that). Yay!!!!

Coney Island

This is a scanned version of a Coney Island shot I printed up when I was in Paris.
The scan really doesn't do it justice. The original is much moodier and way more contrasty.

NYPL launches new outreach video. [Not.]

Umm. NSFW, at all! Satire? Insulting? I thought it hilarious.

Versailles

This and That...

It's nice to start the day with a happy story: "A sports car enthusiast who suffered a mini stroke while restoring a Lotus Esprit was amazed when online friends finished the work for him in secret."

On other fronts, I was finally accepted to shutterstock. I've sold as many photos there in 4 days as I've sold in 4 months at istockphoto. Hooray! Over at crestock, all 31 of my latest submissions were rejected. No worries, you get a tough skin quick at this game.

After 3 months at the repair shop (things move very slowly here in Ireland) my Canon should be home within the next 2 weeks. And then I can start shooting some new things for upload. First thing: Christmas and New Year's.

PS Wouldn't you like to tour the world in a chocolate-colored Daimler?

Delirious

My current crush (sorry JN) has this quote from photographer Bernard Plossu:

To take photographs one has to be like a monk, to achieve a maximum degree of concentration, like with meditation, and at the same time possess a delirious disposition. This is why I say that photographing is a meeting place for that sort of delirium and absolute peace. Photography is made up of those two moments. They combine to create dynamite.

I have to agree. For me the concentration happens when I shoot. Lately, it must be solo, for all sorts of reasons. I need time to get over my nerves. Then I must have a little internal conversation about what I'm seeing. Something made me stop. A feeling? A memory? A funny moment? Lately, on the road, it's been the latter. Then I ask myself whether what I feel can actually be captured on film, and take a quick assessment of the environment. What is the light doing? Is there a tree growing out of someone's head? Where should I meter? Then... click... the photo.

The delirious part happens in the darkroom. When I print, I am entirely physically and emotionally tied to the process. I play music, I dance, I laugh, I cry, I jump up and down. All the time I'm moving paper in and out of the trays. There's really no feeling like it.