danconnortown

There's almost no way to really explain it. I mean, there was a time when I would sit and type, and say something every day. I'd take pictures and post them every day. Then there came a time when I took the pictures, but I didn't post them, and I wouldn't say anything about them either. Eventually, I didn't do anything at all.

One day, I started taking pictures again, and posting them, but to the tumblr. Something easier, something I could do on the fly, and that didn't seem so bad. I didn't find myself wanting to punch a hole through the screen of my ever aging G5 every time I opened a photograph. It had become so easy, there was really no need for words. But there was always this moth-balled old site still just sitting here, and it came with the expectation that there would be some words here and there on this little blog attached to the splash page.

Meh, I got a new camera, I got a new computer, I got a new printer, I got new lenses, new software, anything else I could possibly need, and -

-the thing is, I'm just in a period of non-blogging. Thich Nat Hahn would call it a period of non-work, but really, what's the difference? 1 post in July, 1 post in August, another in October, and now this. That's not really blogging, that's more like an apartment that I had once, where I would just stop by once a month to pay the rent.

Hell, come to think of it, that's happened a few times in this ol' life. So it's kind of like that. Maybe one day I'll come back here and move in, dust off the ol' book shelves and have something to say about the adventures, but for now, I'm just doing the adventures.

Check back any ol' time. There'll always be a light on, and hell... the archives are at least as good as the void. Enjoy -

Good times,

dTown - listening to Duke Ellington - it's 50˚ and a little cloudy.

So, what happened was, I got caught up with work and things like that, for what feels like a couple of years. I was looking through some stuff on the ol' computer here recently, and discovered that I hadn't even updated my archives since December of 2008. I mean, obviously something was creating a distraction. The only constant since then has been work. But now, I don't really have that problem, and I find myself with time to revisit the things I like to do.

I also got one of those new iPhones, and the great thing about an iPhone is, it takes me back to the simplicity of my "pinnercam" days. Just a tiny little camera that's in your pocket. No fancy settings to worry about, and it takes pretty good pictures. I also discovered this thing called a tumblr, which I had only been using for reposting other links, or things that I found on the web, or what have you, for a few years now, but when I got the iPhone, I found it was a way for me to post pix without having to deal with any html, or dreamweaver, or slow internet speeds at home, or even having to sit down in front of a computer at all, and THAT knowledge kind of changed things a little.

So for a little while now, I've just been posting to the tumblr and telling myself that when I have time I'll revisit the coding and posting to the scrollers on the regular site. But the thing is, it turned out the tumblr was too easy. It left me with time to do other things, like GO PLACES and see people, and stuff like that. I can just upload anytime of the day from anywhere I happen to be. It turned out that I preferred to go places and see people vs. sitting in front of a "few year old" G5 iMac and haggle with it over whether it wanted to edit my pictures with me, or futz with Comcast on the phone for days on end to decide whether or not they were going to give me a satisfying internet speed.

And so that's kind of what I've been doing. Just tumblin' along. Definitely check it out, because for now, that's my new home away from home.

I hope you'll understand.

You may also be happy to know that I did fire up the ol' DW application yesterday, and made a few (very few) minor tweaks to the original site, with an eye on addressing a real update of some kind, but you and I both know i've been saying that for about 4 years now.

Thing is, now I've got the time, and I'm beginning to get the inclination, so be sure to check back here and again.

Good times,

dTown - 8:50am - listening to the wirrrrr of my trusty (if slow) G5.

What's happened is, I've had to do a full erase / install on my mac. Not a big deal, but just big enough that there has been some impact in my life. Not the kind of impact that cannot be recovered from, but just enough impact that it rattles my cage. In the end, I think it's all going to be okay, but in the short term it's a bit of a crap-sandwich. (Which, as you know, is not always my favorite sandwich to eat, though there is no shortage of them to be had).

So in short, after the update / reinstall i'm missing a few of my tools. The version of Dream weaver that I was most comfortable with, and the preferences therein. Again, it's not the end of the world, but after taking 9 months of not even touching a site, starting off with the possibility of having to start from scratch is not so much daunting as simply "off-putting". I'd rather go drive around by the beach and upload to like a twitter or tumblr account than fuss over a website that is by all accounts a dinosaur...

What i've done in the meantime while I decide if I want to spend 6 to 10 hours at a crack sorting out the issue with the files and so on, is just dumped a link to my Tumblr page which is infinitely easier to update. I don't even have to be home... But of course I will come back to this and rework the site the way I like and get it all tuned in and so on. It's going to be fine, but what i've learned is, as I grow older, I find I have less and less time for technical shenanigans. I'm not up all night drinking tequila and smoking cigarettes and giving two shits about whether or not I'll have to pay for it in the morning.

These days, I drink water and eat fruit & absolutely give a hoot whether I'm going to have to pay for it in the morning. It doesn't make me a better or a worser person, just an older person. As an older person, I have come to realize how much time has been spent sitting in front of this little iMac G5, the eMac G4 before it, and the old MacClone before that, all in the interest of getting a few photos out there to the world, and I begin to question the need to type until my tendons ache, fuss over code until a jpeg appears, and stress over the speed of my processors when managing and editing images, all for the sake of making them just appear on a little website of no major significance.

But it is my little baby I guess. And I suspect I will completely reconfigure it and get it all working nicely again and have the correct software and preferences and settings to make everything work smoothly and effectively and over time it will (never) be like the olden days, and it will be a source of pride and salvation for me after a long day working at The Mall.

Sure. Times have changed a little. But I'm (kind of) still the same guy (basically). Now instead of using the cheapest digital camera I could find, i've gone up the ladder, and was using more and more expensive little point & shoots, and then more expensive DSLR's, and today? I use an iPhone. I really enjoy using the iPhone because it gives me no guff. I click "send" and it's on the internet. It makes keeping it real, even easier than it's ever been, and i'm grateful to have the opportunity to post pictures as quickly as I can make them.

So, for now, I hope you'll enjoy the Tumblr, check back often, because it won't (or shouldn't) be long until we've got his site tuned, honed and throttled to the floor with something worth coming home to.

Good times old buddy,
good times.

dTown | listening to the new aluminum keyboard and the whirr of a G5 fan | 73˚ and Sunny out there.

Well SURE a lot of folks would have given up by now. Who the hell could blame 'em? But really, I gave up too. I have no excuse other than I simply didn't FEEL like it. I mean, sometimes I felt like it, but then i'd sit down in front of the computer and it would like, go to sleep, or just give me the beach ball of LOVE or whatever else can get in the way, and i was like, "Naaaaa...." (thanks though. I'm going to take a pass) and then it was like that with the cameras too. I was somewhere and i dropped that ol' A640, and by now it's got like missing bolts, stuff is bent, etc. and I was just bored with pressing the power button, and then nothing happening. And how many "pretty" pictures of Northern California can a person look at before they say, "okay okay. I get it. It's nice looking right? And you drive a convertible? And the sun's out all the time?! Got it. Thanks."

Because one thing that's different about being here than being there (New York City specifically) is that, it's easy to get lazy. It's easy to get caught up in stuff like, sitting on your ass in the sand. Walking through some woods. Driving up to napa with the top down and jumping in a hot spring.

But if you throw in the curve ball, like say, you meet someone special, and well... Things change. I'll go ahead and let you know. Things changed. I got me one of them curve balls. Nice one. Didn't see it comin' but I tell you I ain't complainin. Sometimes you get a curve ball that's got the right kinda curves if you catch my drift.

A lot has happened since last I was typing here. But nothing too terribly exciting to anyone else. I mean, there was a group show in our gallery here. That was fun. It was the first time i've laid out any actual prints since I moved out here a couple some three years ago. Felt good to see some pictures on paper for a change. There was also the entire season of Spring. (which I enjoyed) Paid off the car, that was great. Oh it got run into and repaired too. I mean, lots of little meaningless things, but altogether, they have meaning, and that's what I wanted to say tonight.


Even if my computer is sputtering on its (faking) last breath, I just wanted to let you know i'm still here. I haven't been here, but i AM here tonight. And Todd C, where ever you are, this post is for you. And of course, i'll be looking forward to you getting out here and getting married and me taking pictures when i'm around it and all of that too. Now let me dig up some photos to post.

I'm pretty sure i won't be doing anything with the actual "site" tonight, but hey. Here's ya' bone. Six lil' pikchaz shot somewhere between January and Today...

Good times,

dTown

This is really just a quickie. Eleven little frames so that I don't find myself immersed in the 200 or 300 that happen when I let the eleven turn into 20, and the 20 turns into 60, and then one week turns into one month, and so on before I get an update in place. They aren't much to report about, I mean, I went to the beach and I drove around a little. I saw some turkeys, but OH. There is one thing in there. You'll see my couch. I tell you, I bought that couch out of a garage in Novato. I can't remember if it was free or if it was $75, or if it was free, and I paid $75 to buy some wine to convince the guy to help me pick it up with his truck, but either way, I bought the couch back when I first moved here, and I'd been dreading cleaning it since I got it, not only because it was white, but also because you know, I sometimes have terrible luck with that sort of thing.

I can pay the premium and get the covers professionally cleaned, but hey, the couch is a craigslist find. And besides, whenever I pay the premium, I tend to find myself disappointed. They stain my stuff, or shrink it, or whatever, something happens. It always does, and that's why I always just do things myself. And even then, there's no guarantees i'm going to be happy with it, as is evidenced by the photo of my couch. I can tell you i'm quite UNHAPPY with the result. See what happened is, I washed the covers. I did it all on delicate cold and low, but somewhere in there, I began to get frustrated with the expense of my time. I felt like it was quite an investment of my time, and the sun was out and though it wasn't warm, it sure as hell wasn't like being inside a store at a mall all day, and I wanted to get the hell out and enjoy it.

So what I did was, I kicked the dryer up to "normal" for about 20 minutes to kind of hasten the project.
Well. You don't have to tell me it was a dumb idea, because god damn it, the next thing I know, i've lost about 4 inches of connectivity on my couch. DONE.

Sure, I can rewash them, and stretch the covers when they're wet, but likely I'll wait another year or two before I get around to it. I mean, it took me almost 2 years to get around to cleaning them in the first place, and it's not like they really came out that much cleaner anyway, and on top of that, I somehow broke a plate. I don't remember HOW I broke the plate, but I do remember looking in the sink and saying to the plate in pieces, "oh. So it's like THAT is it?" and again, they were just a thrift store find, but now the set is one place down. I can only have 3 guests with matching plates. Or maybe I can have 4. I don't remember if it was a set of 5 plates? was it 6? The hell if I remember, but I remember when I bought those plates, I was thinking they'd look cute somewhere sometime, and in the end, i've got a smashed one in my sink with an empty can of salmon on top. Go figure. What's cute about that?!

Well anyways. That's the latest.
Any of you cats wanna throw me a 5D MkII, let me know and i'll email you my address. Otherwise, just stay tuned, i'm sure there's more pictures coming on. I can feel 'em in the wings.

Good times,

dTown | 2:06am | Listening to the fans again | 45˚ and sippin' a chelada.

Well, you never know how it's going to start. I mean, one minute i'm sitting there staring at the computer and listening to it hum along and I'm thinking to myself, "Baaaa... I don't want to spend the time on this." But then, something happens. I begin the editing process, I bang out a few words, kind of a warning shot, a flare off the bow, and then I'm just going along with it. The photos are making their way to the folder, the folder is making its way to Bridge, Bridge is taking care of the dirty work, photoshop has the actions to handle the resizing, and before I know it an hour has passed, and then another, and then another, and lo & behold an update is taking shape. So, there we are.

It's just after 5:30 in the morning, and no, i'm not a fan of pulling the all nighters like that, especially without my traditional study aids, (tequila, tobacco, & punk rock) but when the mood strikes, I never like to put it off. I don't know what you call that. But it's how I work, and I don't have anybody telling me I should be doing something else at the moment, so I'll take it when I can get it.

The real thing that got me moving today on this was I couldn't just leave the site in this eternal limbo in the wake of the wholly catastrophic previous 5 months. Sure, there were some good times in there, but I would be lying to myself, as well as to you, if I didn't acknowledge that letting those last updates just hang for eternity, was the chapter I wanted to kick off the lights in. (I was trying to think of something like, when Cheers ended all those years ago, and as they were walking out, Sam kicked off the lights, but I really couldn't think of anything fast enough, because my fingers were already typing, and they really do have minds of their own when it comes to this sort of thing.) Now, Brad & Melissa's wedding was great. The New York thing was great. The summertime with Sheila was absolutely not without its charm, but here we are stomping at the steps of Christmas, and well, things are all different now.

So, todays pix pretty much pick up where we last left off, the last update was posted after the wedding in October, and then I suppose we had the rest of October, all of November, the front of December, and that of course brings us to today. The last image was taken earlier today on my machine here at home, I was chatting with a friend of mine in Paris, who also went ahead and sent me a funny video, which I always appreciate. (good times wiessla!) He wouldn't have HAD TO (send me a video) if iChat worked nicely between here and France, but alas, it never has. Sure. We could use Skype. We could use probably a hundred different things, but that's not the point.

You'll see that I still exist, I still move around, and I still make photographs when the mood strikes me.

I haven't got anything witty to say about The Government, Technology, or The Weather. I really don't have any funny stories just champing at the bit to get around the track here this morning, and I think that has a little to do with the snapping and crackling and popping that my brain does when I run strong till the next day's sun is brushing the fur off its teeth and making its way across the desert. (Hell Bent on burning some fog off the coast as soon as the Mission Bells ring)

One thing the east coasters will notice is that the leaves are turning here, and in a lot of places they're already fallen from the trees, but mostly due to the rains we've had over the past few days. (Rain is a reasonable contrast to Massive Ice Storms, which I prefer to have no part of.)

I guess I'll wrap it up because i'm not even really saying anything, just rambling away and burning up the cartilage or whatever it is in the knuckles, that you use up by typing all the time, and causes a fella to feel OLD before his time.

You all take care of yourselves out there, and oh, I updated the archives too. I'm not sure if everything is in there, and i'm sure it's not all labeled correctly, but poke around in there and you can find the stuff you've been getting bored of over the past few weeks/months.

Sending love from my little apartment to yours,

Good times,

dTown | 5:51am | Still 50˚ and Moist | Listening to nothing but the fans on my PPC G5 iMac.

Yeah, I've still been taking the pix, but somehow they're not getting to the webs. It's a funny type of stagnation when you find yourself with the camera, though the niggling fact that it rarely feels your index finger on the button is what really matters... I could blame it on any of a thousand different things. I blame work. I blame the economy. I blame the home-life. I blame the weather. I blame the administration. I blame the local police, the state police, and the secret police.

I mean, it's easy to point fingers, but really it's that I haven't been pointing the camera. For example, tonight i'm kind of lolly-gagging through an edit here, and it's got like 150 images in it, and that's what i've got to show for nearly three months of shooting. I mean, sure. There's some nuggets in there, but i'm actually surprised at myself too.

I'm not especially worried about it, I mean, I'm working on them and I am still and forever thinking of some new fancy update but really I sit down and start into it and just completely lose interest. It's not to say that making photographs no longer interests me, it's the spending time making them small and putting them into this little box.

I do like it when I do it with consistency, and I hunt down interesting links, and there are interesting stories to tell, but lately, I feel like it's been kind of hum-drummy. I mean, i'm not getting 35,000 spams a week. I'm warm in the apartment. Maybe it was that really bright moon?

I don't know precisely, other than to say there's something missing. And that something needs to find its way back to my daily routine. (if it ever was a routine)

But this is just a little note to let you know i'm here, and i'm lurking in the background.

Good Times,

dTown | Listening to Kate Nash | about 50˚ and clearing skies.

So I rolled upstate for a couple of days to check out SBJFOUR's big wedding day. The plane ride out was fun because every single passenger was watching the Sarah Palin - Joe Biden debates on their little monitors. I kept thinking how Sarah Palin looked like Max Headroom when she spoke, but to be honest, i really loved the way she did it. Don't get me wrong, i'm not voting for her, (and it's none of your business if i did anyway, but I ain't) but i loved listening to her talk and do her thing. On the ground at JFK was a really good time with a few funny moments that reminded me of the glory of New York... For example, when I got off the plane, it was immediately a mad-dash for the carousels, and the thing is, I didn't have any checked luggage, so I just wanted to get to the Airtrain and get myself a rental car so I could get on up to Poughkeepsie.

Now, it's like 1 in the morning, and there's nobody on queue at the rental place, but as i'm approaching the shop, this swishy british yachtsman comes bumping past me, fairly well pushing me out of the way to get onto the escalator right in front of me. Once he's shoved past, he just stops right in front of me, and I immediately found myself wanting to take one step backwards, up a step so I could have a little leverage, and then just KICK him down the escalator. (Amazing how a simple, "Excuse me." might have prevented those thoughts, but there I was, and thinking to myself, "wow. I'm here 4 minutes and already i'm wanting to kick a guy down a flight of stairs..." (- Welcome to New York mutherfucka where we don't play... )

•EDITOR NOTE: Man, that's hard to find a version of a song without the naughty words in it these days.

So anyway, I get down the escalator, and he pulls off to adjust his luggage, and I b-line straight for the rentals, and get in there, work my way through the stanchions and finally i'm at the front of the line. I'm next. I'm gonna get my car and roll.

Son of a bitch if the little yachtsman doesn't come right up to the front of the line, set his bag down just about on my FEET, and step in front of me, and pull right up to the lady at the counter! (my god, i thought I might snap, but figured "well, he's probably got all the ducks in a row, he'll be like 2 minutes..." ) but no. International traveler with all the BS that happens, so he's 40 minutes at the counter. I'm losing my mind.

Finally he's out and it takes him a few more trips back and forth before he figures out how to get to his car and leave, and after a little chatter, it turns out that the car I had reserved isn't available, but the lady thinks my haircut is cute, so she gives me a towncar. (Now I feel like i'm in NY), but that Towncar was broken, so they had to get me another one. Finally i'm on the road, it's about 2 in the morning and i'm on my way.

I get up to the neighborhood of Poughkeepsie, and i'm starving. I don't know how long it's gonna be till I get to the hotel, so i'm trying to find an open ANYTHING to get a snack, and finally I find a 24 Hour McDonald's drive through. Certainly not my first pick, but it's something, and i pull in for a burger and a coke. The woman is saying on the speaker, "we're closed, we're closed..." i'm like, "what? I can't hear you." she says, "i've got a cold, i've got a cold" i'm like, "lady, i'm sorry i really can't hear you." she speaks into the microphone this time, "can you please HOLD?" I say, "sure, why don't i just pull up to the window?" she hesitates, but guesses that would be okay.

So I pull up, and start fiddling with the stereo. I get bored of it, but still no one has come to the window. I fiddle around with the GPS, still no activity in the Restaurant, so i'm like, "man... what's going ON in there?!" so I figure I'll light a cigarette, you know? Kill a little time.

So i'm smoking and still no one, and of course, there's no little microphone by the window for me to start asking questions, so i'm resigned to my fate. Eventually I finish the cigarette, and still no one comes. I can't believe it.

Finally the girl comes, and she opens the windows, and I can see that it looks like she's stuck her hand in the fryolator or something, and she sees me see her hand, and quickly hides it below the counter, "what would i like to order?" I say, "thanks for your patience, it took me a while to decide. I'd like a Quarter Pounder with Cheese (lovin' it!) and a medium coke please." and she looks at me funny for a second, waiting a beat, and then says, "would you like anything else?" and I say, "well, if it's not too much trouble, I'd love to get some fries too. I mean, whatever's easy. I don't need them, but they do taste good." and she says "no problem" and disappears.

A few minutes later she comes back and hands me the coke. I gratefully straw it up, and take a long pull followed by a short bicarbonate hiccup. She disappears back into the restaurant.

Finally she returns and hands me the bag of goodies and begins to close the window. I'm holding out a 10, and start to say something, and she pulls the windows back open, and I say, "The total?" and she mumbles something, "sshumvidsibbida?" and I say "WHAT?" and she does the universal 2 finger victory sign to the lips, "You got a cigarette?"

!!!

"Sure. I say. I've got a cigarette." I tip the pack and slide out 2 of them, and hand them to her through the window. She says, "Thanks, you have a good night now..." and closes the window.

So it was like that.

Little surprises like that along the way, and easily one of the coolest weddings i've been to in all my days. (And I don't need to remind you, I was a weekend wedding DJ when I was a teenager, so i've been to some weddings son. Beautiful location, beautiful gardens, beautiful ceremony, plenty to drink, plenty to eat, I mean, it was just a rock solid stem to stern romantic and rollicking time. I wrestled a little with the idea that things hadn't worked out with my summertime girlie and she wasn't there to see it too, but you know, there's always going to be something. It's the job of the world to keep you from being completely 100% satisfied on all fronts, otherwise I guess you just fall apart or something, and nobody wants to fall apart at a wedding in upstate New York. Think about it.

I wasn't able to make it into the city at all, it was really a "down to the wire, coming and going" kind of trip. Got to the airport with just enough time to pick up a new book and eat a little Sbarro baked ziti.

On the plane, (flying Virgin, god bless it) the RED media system was being all Janky. I had the choice of CNN or PAY FOR STUFF. So I paid for stuff, (i picked IRON MAN) and it cut out on me twice, they had to restart the movie, and i had to manually fast forward to the scene I got cut off on twice, so by the time everything was working fine, we hit the tarmac, and i missed the ending. I suppose it was fun to watch.

Back on the ground, I got to the whip, top down and immersed in the midnight scent of California Eucalyptus and warm night air.

Delicious.

And now it's time to shower it up and go to work.

Good Times,

dTown | Listening to Jim Noir | It's sunny out there. Maybe high 60's, maybe low 70's.

I just had two days off, and although it was in a lot of ways what I would call relaxing, you know, you go to the beach, you lay down. You hike through some forest, you discover another beach, you lay down. You feel the earth beneath your spine, you read a book, you eat a sandwich, you look around... Solitude. Serenity. The beauty of Northern California. Sure. It's good. Good for you. Good for Ye Olde Soul.

Thing is, if you're mind is on something else, it's difficult to get all MINDFUL. And to make matters more complicated, as fate would have it, The Book I was just getting started on just happens to have a main character who shares the name of the person I'm trying not to think about. (Thank you Fate. You're Awesome) So there I am, on the beach, on the trail, on the couch, on the pot, it doesn't matter where I am, and every so many moments, BOOM. "Hi! Just wanted you to think about this, in case you'd forgotten. I'll make it easy for you by making it a nice bold font for you. I'll make the font a color you happen to like, and I'll just float the word on a blanket of white, so that it doesn't get lost amongst all the other words on the page..."

So NICE.

I mean, it's good. It's good for me. Good lesson. You know, you are forever signing up for things. You "put it out there" and the world finds a way to manifest your dream. It comes back to you in spades. You just have to be good and grounded, and I promise you that without fail, the world will conspire to "help" you find your way.

So I went out to Limantour Beach, and I gotta tell you. That place never bores me. Talk about a nice drive. A nice forest. A nice beach. I mean, you're out there by yourself, it's 75, 80˚ and the breeze is welcome, the waves are serene, the colors are punching you in the face, and if you're anything like me, you've got a fucking DELICIOUS sandwich in your backpack, and all is right with the world. In my case, I was indecisive at Sandwich Time, so I brought 2. I brought a Meatloaf & Brie sandwich on sliced sour dough, and a Roast Beef & Provolone sandwich on wheat nut. I ate a half of each, and they were like I said earlier. Fucking Delicious™.

The next day, I went out to Heart's Desire beach on the bay. I was on my way to McClure's to maybe chill with some elk, but it turned out as I started climbing the hill there, I could see the fog out on the coast, and decided I would bank to the east and pull on down to Tomales Bay. EXCEPTIONAL choice. Man, that place is like a mystical magical indian fairy tale. It was awesome. Really. So I hiked on out to this one beach, you have to go through the forest to get there, and it's like you're in that movie Labyrinth, or The Never Ending Story, or Pocahontas, or something. Anyway, I got out there and posted up on this beach, similar to Limantour in that it's all you. You're on the beach and maybe there's some pelicans around, or some seagulls, but aside from that it's you and some sand, & some beauty.

So I'm laying there in the sand reading my book and there's this seagull that comes along. Beautiful bird right? I mean, if seagulls had models, this one was a Giorgia Palmas or whatever. Great looking bird. So I say, "Here's a good looking bird. Maybe she'd like some popped corn..." I mean, if I were a bird, you can bet your ass I'd like me some popped corn. Walking around the beach, not much else to do, except maybe look for some food, and here comes some cool guy with a sack of popped corn? I mean, it's a no brainer.

So I shell out some kernels, and the bird is getting pretty into it. Getting all BRAVE, you know, coming closer. Looking at me all sideways, and I think, "Hey, maybe I can get this bird to model for me." I mean, call me lonely. Call me depressed. Call me what you want, but at the time it seemed like something to DO. So, I reach for my camera, and in that very moment, this OTHER bird comes on down from the sky. A seagull, sure, but not as hot. Kind of like, I don't know. I don't know the names of any ugly models. I mean, I won't say this bird was UGLY, but it wasn't a seagull super model. It wasn't all perfect. I mean, okay. Maybe it was perfect. Who's ever heard of a seagull that wasn't perfect? But it wasn't as you know, Flawless as that first one.

So anyways, this 2nd bird comes down, and he scares the pretty one away, and then he's all, "I'll be your fuckin' model. Where's the popped corn?! Ha?! Gimme the popped corn, and i'll be your little seagull model. I'll be your little monkey, dancing around getting all GULLY for it. Whatever you want. Just gimme the corn (dawg)!" - I mean, he wasn't talking. It was all in the walk.

Fine. So i give him some popped corn. He's into it. I say, "look to the left." he looks to the left. I say, "Look to the right." he looks to the right. (meanwhile, the pretty bird is sort of skulking off in the distance, all pissed about the popped corn) and I say, "okay bird. Now just look at me. Put your beak right here. (pointing to the lens)" and son of a bitch, the bird is a natural. So there I am on the proverbial TARMAC, and I got this bird doing his little fashion shoot. I say, "Okay bird, make like an American Bald Eagle." He throws me a profile. I say, "Not your good side bird, show me your OTHER American Bald Eagle." He flips to the other side. And i think to myself, "what have i become? I'm a god damned middle aged man working a glorified pigeon for some shots in exchange for some organic hippy flavored popped corn on a god forsaken beach in the middle of nowhere." This is what it all comes down to.

So I lay up the camera, and tell the bird to scraminos (el prontimenté like).


About this time, the fog comes in, right on down the bay, and it's gorgeous right? The air is still warm, but the fog is really socking it in. It's beautiful, and i'm there alone on the beach thinking about this girl, and my book is making it easy. And then here comes the pretty bird. So i say to the bird, "you know what pretty bird? You're a pretty bird. You got pretty little seagull knees. If I were a seagull, I'd wanna look just like you. You're perfect. Probably the best looking seagull i've seen all day."

And I shit you not, the seagull comes right over to me, I mean, close enough I could reach out and ring its little seagull neck, and just plunks down in the sand next to my blanket. Just lays there and watches me reading my book. I watch her for a while, and I say, "You're a pretty cool little bird. Don't worry. I'm not gonna hurt you, or take advantage of you, or whatever it is that OTHER people do to seagulls when i'm not around, so you just rest easy. We can both just lie here and watch the fog roll in, and it'll be a nice little afternoon." The bird seems okay with this and takes a little siesta.

And so do I.
No pictures. No chatter. Just Me, The Bird, The Fog, and The Bay.
Good Times.

After a while, I decide I should start thinking about hiking back, in case it gets all dark and there I am tripping through poison oak or something trying to find my way back to the car. I pick up my camera, and the she-bird gets up and takes a few steps, you know, precautionary style, away from me. And I say, "Hey bird. Don't worry man. We've had a nice afternoon. I ain't gonna hurt ya. Let me just take a picture so folks will know I wasn't full of crap, how pretty you are."

And okay. I don't think she understood, but I took a picture anyway. So you'll see some picks of a so-so bird, and then you'll see one frame at the end, with the pretty one I've been telling you about.

And you'll of course see the pix of every chapter that came up to remind me, so you can be reminded too, about how the world works in ways that are just meant to "help" you. To keep things fresh. To mix it up and give you what you really need when you're looking for some answers.

And that's all i've really got for you today. It's a fist full of pictures of my two days off. I didn't go to Indian Springs, though maybe I was supposed to. But I did go to Indian Beach, which if you think about it, is kind of the same thing. Just a little more private. And either way, Indian Springs, Indian Beach, it's semantics. I was right where the world meant me to be.

Oh plus I found this very mysterious hand made wooden box, hidden way up in a tree overhanging the water, which I won't go into. But I discovered it. I tried to comprehend it. And then I put it right back up in that tree.

Good Times,

dTown, listening to Lyrics Born. 52˚, clear as night, and I'm finally finished that book.

Ironic you know? Tonight I log in to do the little update, put some some words in there, and it turns out there's 267 posts in the history, and it happens that i'm putting up 267 photos on tonight's update. What does it mean?! Hey. I'm no numerologist, but i'm sure it means something. two and six is eight and seven is fifteen and that comes back to six, you do the math. Let's just call it balanced. (apparently though, if you WERE into numerology, Six is the number that is owned by Venus, and well. You probably know about Venus, (the chick planet) all about Love, Harmony, The Arts, and Beauty... Call it a coincidence if you want to, but I'm just letting you know what happened when I logged in to update.

So, yeah. I've been busy with some stuff. I had a summer in my absence from the internet, and therein was a girl. Nobody could tell me different.

You know, this morning I woke up laughing at myself when the clock sounded that now age-old ocean waves sound that it makes. I could never describe it like I saw it, but let me tell you, it rocked my little planet... So there I was. It was me, and Sheila, and of all people, Vince Vaughn. But not your regular old Vince Vaughn, it was the Vince Vaughn from that movie Clay Pigeons, where he plays this guy, Lester Long. But it wasn't really Lester Long either, it was a sort of faux-faux Lester Long, but sure as shootin' it was Vince Vaughn, Me and Sheila sitting at a table in a diner somewhere. And the thing is, we were trading places, this guy Lester Long and me, and I was giving it up. Letting go of Sheila, something about a business card, a number, something, I couldn't tell you what exactly it was, because I already told you, I can't pull up a way to explain it to you like I saw it, but somewhere in that moment, the three of us sitting at a table in the diner, Vince across from the two of us sitting side by side, the whole damned thing turned into a sort of Disney animation, and Sheila and I became these kind of stylized cartoon versions of ourselves, and Vince remained all human, like that movie with Don Knotts where he becomes a fish or something, and I looked over at Sheila, and she was just as beautiful as ever, but just smoothed out like a cartoon would do. Everything all tuned up for you, and even her voice got more feminine (if you could even imagine such a thing) and all the details and color and even the light splashing through the windows was just perfect across the table, and well there it was, I'd handed him the card or whatever, and she flipped her hair one way, and she looked completely heart broken, and her voice kicked up about 4 octaves, and her eyes got even more cartoony as she looked at me, and was saying something like, "I never thought you'd do that to me, I never thought you'd leave like this hunny..." or something like that, and it was totally heart wrenching, and I was looking at her, and there she was with the beautiful blonde hair, and her doe eyes looking at me, and the light just perfect, and she had on this cartoony trench coat, not too much unlike the one she wears all the time in real life, and suddenly it's over. It's ending. I turn into this lug-headed baboon for not realizing that she didn't think i'd really go, like, honestly believed I might just keep taking it, whatever it was in the dream, and so now i'm an ape, and the scene is closing with this funny shape, like when you look through a keyhole in a movie from the late sixties, and you see the shape of a skeleton-key-hole in silhouette around the couple in the room or whatever, except in this case, it's a big stylized fedora, like Sheila wears all the time, and it's zooming in on us... she as beautiful as Jessica Rabbit, times ten, and me a big baboon, and Vince completely blowing out of the picture all High-Key, and it's morphing, this fedora frame, into the kind of Feather Font I saw the other day on Notcot, but still it's the fedora, but all feminine, french, candy stripe-mod style, and it's closing in tighter and tighter on us, and she's so beautiful it's even better than a cartoon can do it, and as it gets smaller and smaller and all i'm seeing is this fedora, the words "the end" start writing themselves in that famous Merry Melodies font from back in the day across the middle of the fedora, and suddenly my alarm clock is making that Ocean Sound that I wake up to every day, and I say to myself outloud, "And... Good Morning!" and suddenly there I am lying in my bed alone here on 4th street laughing out loud at myself to the sound of the ocean, because man, you couldn't have made it more real, more ironic, more painful if you were Saul Zaentz, and you really wanted to prove a point.

Just intense. Perfect.

And pal?

That's really like a 4 second preview. Because I already told you. I could never explain it in a way you would understand it. It's a real "You Had to BE THERE" kind of thing.

The good news?

I was there. And for the most part, there was a camera around.

So the pictures, well. I'll be honest with you, I didn't put them all up. I probably left out a cool HUNDRED or so that I didn't think would be appropriate, but trust me, they're good ones. And another thing that kept getting in my way is, since it didn't end the way either of us wanted it to, I was having a really really hard time even editing them. So for those of you who've seen my pictures over the years, i'll let you in on a little secret.

The pictures that LOOK like I took a second to work on? I did. I did them while Sheila was right here on the couch behind me. She was sitting not more than 10 feet from where I'm typing right now. All the rest? The ones where the color don't seem like dTown color? Where they seem like maybe they're straight out of the camera, or maybe even worse? Well. I just couldn't bring myself to even look at them without her here. ( Get used to it. ) I tried man. I promise I did. I sat in front of this computer for days saying I'd do them justice. I'd make the pictures the best pictures ever. I'd sit right here and tune each one of them however long it took to make them absolutely fucking perfect. Frame after frame was going to just blow you away. Put you there in the driver's seat with me and really take you on home.

The thing is... I couldn't. I simply couldn't stand to look at them knowing what I know. (cut me a little slack. I mean, in the cartoon, she's the hotter than a blonde Jessica Rabbit, and i'm a god damned baboon.) So what I decided tonight was, I would come home from work, (got out around you know, 11) muscle through the photos, and then just get 'em up there. Whatever shape they're in, just GET THEM UP onto the internet, and then I'd make some silly promise about how i'll come back and fix the ones I really want to fix some other time.

But i'll tell you right now. I'm not going to. I'm never going to. They are what they are. They are what my camera saw, and then what i thought I could safely put in front of you without getting too much grief on the backside. They are my entire summer. For whatever it's worth to you. Stem to Stern. Sky to Land. Dust to Dust.

In the series of photos, you can see so many things. So many moments. A whirlwind in the life. I parked my car the closest i've ever parked my car to another car. I saw my father. I went to Yosemite. A friend blew his head off, and I went to the beach. I got dumped. I got back together. I got dumped again. I swam in a lake. I worked. I relaxed at the spa. I went to the beach some more. I mean, everything's there man. It's all right there for you.

It all started with me and a girl named Sheila, and it ends with me and a girl named Sheila.

And in the wake? well. Who knows how it all pans out? I sure as hell can't tell you. But i'm hoping the pictures will tell you something.

They explain where I've been. Why I haven't been on the internet. Why I don't really even take pictures anymore, (truth be told, I still take them, but really I don't.)

I imagined i'd go on about all the different stories. All the things we did together. Down to the purchase of the nice smooth brown sheets. The Cheladas, the 555's, Napa, Lake Berryessa, North Beach, Arcata, all of it. But here I am thinking, Baaaa.

I would go on about the other stuff too, like the release of that new Canon 5d (*SEND ONE TO ME PLEASE), the new iPods, the new Chuck Palahniuk movie, so much new stuff, but they have other blogs for everything, and since I don't even log in any more, what the hell am I going to tell you about that you haven't already read about?

I thought I'd tell you about all the books I read over the summer, what my take was on them, and how I finally started giving ol' Yahoo! the boot for filling my mailbox with over 37,000 spams in the past month alone, but no. I just don't have the juice. It's all there. It's in the pictures.

And just like life. When something bad happens, you look back, and all you see is the good. I look at the pictures, and I gotta tell you, I'm hard pressed to understand why it is that i'm just sitting here banging away on a clickity old keyboard in my apartment and there isn't a Sheila on my couch.

But hey.

It happens to all of us.
Each and every one.

Get your nose out of the water, and your chin off the floor.

Look at some pix, and think to yourself, "well son of a bitch if even when he's down, it still looks like a damn good time in danconnortown."



And Sheila? This post and these pix are dedicated to you.


Good times,

dTown | Listening to Deathcab, 3:00am | 63˚ and this post was "made on a Mac."

(in the future, find under -Archives/ fladeedle, 2008, September 25)

Well, i'm getting there little by little. I've got the edit at least into a folder, and many of the pix are close to ready to go, i've been so busy with all this other stuff man, it's just astounding to me how the time goes by when you grow. Today has been very productive so far, I've learned that when under even modest emotional duress, a fella can get things done by simply getting out of bed and driving hard to the hole. This morning I did things like, buy plane tickets, book hotel rooms, visit the cobbler shop, smoke cigarettes and drink coffee, read some book, write and read a few emails, take & make a few phone calls, make a plan to catch up with my ol' Roomy from Brooklyn, water the plant, organize the purchase of a new suit for my friend's wedding, and even managed to get a little walk in, plus spend some time with a neighbor talking about the state of our nation's economy.

And now it's 11am, and i've got a few more things on the list I'd like to hit before the 12 o'clock church bells ring. If I can get all the "Important Stuff" out of the way I hope to get back here by sundown, and hammer out the rest of these photos, try to resize them and get them up and on the ol' internet for ya'll to have a gander.

When they come, it will basically be "What I did on my Summer Vacation 2008" if you would call it a vacation, when you're working the whole time.

It's all about perspective. Maybe it's one of them Staycations™ i've been reading about in the New York Times.

Speaking of times,
It's good times.

danconnortown | 63˚ & listening only to the slow drip of the kitchen sink, mingled with the fans of this ol' G5.

It's really not that big of a deal when you think about it. I mean, i've been slinging cameras around like they were fucking donuts in a paper bag for about 20 years, so, from time to time, something's gonna break. I mean, I remember back in the days of you know, FILM, when i would huff the N90s around with 2x SB26 strobes, and so i'm at a party, and drop the camera, smash the strobe, get it fixed for a few hundred, go to hawaii and immediately drop the camera on the rocks, break the strobe again. (DAY 1) And even to this day, no. Wait. I did get that one fixed again, and it wasn't until I moved over to New York, and I was at a party uptown somewhere, in the days before semiprecious weapons existed as a band, and I think I accidentally threw my camera across the room. I mean, I don't remember why it was going so fast, but it totally got away from me. I don't know if I was trying to fling it and catch it, or, not really FLING it, but you know, juggling multiple things, and as will happen when you're dropping something precious, and you don't want to break it, you try to get your foot out there to slow it down, maybe let your toes take some of the pain, cushion the blow or what have you, and as will happen when you try to use your foot to catch something you don't really want to drop, you wind up just kicking the beloved thing across the room.

This is because your legs are typically much more powerful than your arms, and in the moment, you aren't thinking about restraint. You're thinking about you know, "Save the baby" or whatever. So I punted my camera across the room, and that had to be 3 years ago. Well, that strobe is still broken and parked in a bag somewhere.

Today's incident was similar. I was coming back from the lake. I had tossed my bag on the chair, put the groceries on the table, and was in the process of unslinging my camera from my shoulder to put on the coffee table, and well, it just got away from me.

BOOM.

I didn't fully grasp the severity of the incident for a moment, but my mind did register, "Wow. That was a pretty solid hit." And I flashed back to a time when I was just out of my teens and watching a criterium bicycle race in new hampshire, and this guy was switching lenses, he looked like he had a really nice kit, and he was there juggling the lenses, big ones you know? And one of them got away from him, and he, like me, tried to slow it down with his foot, and punted the lens across the pavement. It was bad, and at the time, I think I laughed right out loud. (I've always felt kind of bad about that ever since.)

So today, it was my turn. One of many turns I get to smash my stuff. But I didn't get my foot out for this one. It just happened so fast, it was just, I can't even explain it, it was just one of those things that was meant to happen from the moment I discovered Glide brand dental floss. It was already in the ether. This thing was going to happen before I knew I would even own a Nikon.

So I'm not upset about it, I mean, not in any real sense. It's just a camera on the table for now, and when I get around to it, i'll make more pictures with it, or whatever.

Point being, I was taking pictures with it over the past few days, and in fact the past few months. And though i've been slow to get them up on my site, it's nothing to worry about. It's on my list of things to do.

Last week sometime, I moved all my stuff to a new server, and now i'm just hoping to get the time to move everything else over there too, and get on with the new host and all that stuff.

So there's plenty going on.
I'm sorry I didn't get some more pix up there for you today, but when I saw this one, I just felt like I kind of had to.

It's good.

Good Times,

dTown - Listening to La Traviata, 54˚ and clear. I'll tell you though, 54 feels cool to me.

man i've gotta tell you, i've been wondering when it was gonna get warm around here. I mean, seriously. I remember a year ago, it seemed like it was on average about 20˚ warmer across the board, and finally, yesterday, it happened. So with that burst of heat, i said, "okay. Now i can do this friggin' update" because man, I don't like to be cold, and i don't like to think about why it's cold, and here we are. I'm back to normal. (thank you sun) today's update is probably going to hold for a little while because i'm not sure why because but because i feel like that's going to be it for a minute. It will be apparent to you that i still take the pictures, and eventually they make their way to the interweb.

the big news, which you will gather pretty quickly is that i sold Rusty. Sure. I miss him. It was sad to see him go, he served me well, and we had many many many great times together. There's a frame in there where Rusty is driving away to his new home, and it kind of breaks my heart a little bit each time i see it, but the thing is, you'll probably also notice the new whip in there, and the thing about the new whip is, it really makes it all okay. ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S WARM OUTSIDE.

but pretty much this is what i've been doing. Just driving around out along the coast and out through the countryside of northern california, soaking in the sun, and looking up at the trees. I've been reading books, and mostly books i've already read. I was going to make this particular update have all much larger photos, (like 700px tall) only because there's one photo where you can see the book i'm reading, and you can read all the words on all the pages, and i thought it was nice. I sent a big copy to my friend Silky Jr. and it was nice to share with her, and after i thought about it i thought it would be nice for all of you to get a sense of the day like that, but then, when it came time to resize everything, i was like, 'nnaaaaaaaaa, i'd rather take a nap.' and well. there you have it.

That said, being the first really nice warm night we've had, i'm actually more anxious to go out there and do something, like say (for instance) go play board games and smoke cigarettes with a new friend in Sausalito, than sit here and type about something just off the cuff. Here's my compromise.

I'll write something else soon, and even stick some pictures up there just to prove i still take 'em.

Good times,

dTown 9:13pm 82˚ and spring is in swing. Lovin' IT.

the new update is literally almost there man. I've got all the pix to spec, and the thing is it's you know, 3 in the morning, and you know how the ol' saying goes. "The ol' gray mare, she ain't what she used to be..." I mean, i could probably bang out a paragraph or two about it, and call it a night, but i wanted to say something, and the thing is that once i get to banging out paragraphs, well. it's one on top of the other and then it's 4am, and then i'm like, "oh man. Now what have i done?!" and then it's time for work, and i've gotta get my scene all in a bag and out to the shop, and well there you have it.

In the olden days, I wouldn't think twice about it. I'd just stay up right on through and still get it done. But the thing is, that's what makes a fella old. Or no, maybe it's what keeps you young. I haven't really figured that one out yet. But the point is, i'm not going to find out tonight. I'll hit the rest of the little details tomorrow and then you'll see what happens.

It's plain old good times.

In other news, Ye Olde SBJ4 sent me this link this morning, and I rather liked it. Concept, fit & finish. So maybe that will hold you over till i get my new stuff up here for you. Have a peek: A Photo Story.

good times,

dTown 3:18am Listening to The Exploding Hearts, and dudes? It's like 65˚ out there. FINALLY! (woohoo)

Now here's a guy I always liked. I don't know if he was built for the gig or not, but the thing I liked about a fella like Stanton is, he worked. He worked hard, he stayed late, and he did what it takes to get shit done. He was one of the good ones. I remember when he first came on board, and I wasn't sure what his skill set would be. How refined his knowledge of the digital world was. Didn't know much about him, other than we needed a guy, and the guy who was out had made some pretty big fuck ups and suffered from a little of the negativity in the work place, and so here comes a guy without a whole lot of drama, and actually did a great job.

I liked how when he would type an email out to someone, he'd open his mail window the full way across his 23 inch display, just a huge sea of white, and there he'd be typing away in 11 point font, the words just kind of inching their way across that great big screen. I've never seen anyone else do that. I mean, It's like, if all the words you just read, took up only 1 line on a page. And it's a very big page. Plenty of more room for plenty of more lines. I can think of at least a few hundred nights, well past midnight when I would come out of the equipment room, and there he'd be typing a letter to a client, listening to System of a Down and just really burning the midnight oil for that company, no complaints, just getting it done, because in New York, that's what you do.

*NOTE: Even though that's Misho at Scott's desk, you get the idea. It's a guy. Sitting at the desk, and there's a big screen. And it's all white. (in this case because the screen is overexposed) So you know, it's like a photo illustration.

Well. You know how it goes when you're one of the good ones. It's simple. In business, there's no such thing as friends. You can say it over and over in your head until you think you understand it, but until someone you thought was a friend proves it to you, you just don't get it.

Kind of like that episode of The Family Guy, where Brian finds out he's got a kid. And he goes on that whole thing that parents will sometimes do, where they say, "Until you HAVE a kid, you don't KNOW." It's a life lesson. Not like saying to a kid, who can't seem to keep his hands away from the stove, "hey, those blue things moving around, kind of flickering under the pan, well. Those things are HOT." I suppose until you touch the blue flickering things, you don't really know. You THOUGHT you knew, but really get a much better sense of it when you touch 'em.

So anyway. Now he knows. That's how it goes. That's what happens. That's what you get.

For me, I was thinking about it again this morning. My lesson about that one. I was tossing a Q-Tip™ into the waste basket under the sink in my bathroom, and having another of my morning dialogues with Kevin Bacon about it, how you know, there's probably a hundred better ways to do a friend, if the guy's really your friend, and that ain't one of 'em. I wasn't thinking about Scott, I was thinking about me. I mean, sure. I'm different now. I do things very differently, and anyone who's out here and around me would not even know the me from NY I guess. They'd say, "Naaaa. not dan. he's not like that. I mean, maybe i can picture it, if i think about it, but naaaaa. He's too laid back. No way."

The thing is, it's one of those lessons that changes you. Because once you understand that there's "no such thing as friends in business", it's kind of like that thing that September 11 thing. You just, well. You just feel different. You think different. You ARE different.

Now most of you know I don't get too involved with the whole 911 thing anymore, mostly because nobody really gives a shit. And by the time people get around to actually giving a shit and doing something about it, it won't matter. It's already too late. The damage is done. It keeps getting done. It's getting more and more done every day. So there's no point in even thinking about it. It's out of your hands. Just buy yourself a hummer or a ski boat and go play. There's people much bigger than you and me moving the pieces on the board, and quite frankly, we're not invited to the table.

That's how it is with Ol' Stanton. I heard he learned about friends & business, and my immediate reaction was, "Of course! Why not?!" and then, my next thought was, "Well that's what you GET." And of course those thoughts were all laced with my trademark sarcasm, but really. It is what you get. That IS what happens. And in the end, someone else decides it's time for you to go somewhere else. You just pack up your little box and do the walk.

You work hard, you trade years of your life, you dedicate yourself to something or somebody else, and then you're expendable, and you are out, and that's life, so grow up. (How's it taste?)

Well I'll tell you what. It doesn't make me happy. And I feel bad about it. But now we have at least one more thing in common. We both KNOW. And for that, we're both a little wiser.

My hat's off to you Scott. I believe in you man. For all the nights we worked later than anyone else we knew, and for all the times we believed we were making a difference, I want you to know, in some small way, I appreciated your dedication, your commitment, and easy smile even when it wasn't always "smiling times", I'm glad to have been a part of it all while you were there too. Here's a picture that you might recognize. It's probably an expression you saw on my face more than once over the years, back when I didn't know any better either. Good Times.

Thank you for being a friend.

dTown | 12:07pm 63˚ and clear, nothing playing on the stereo.

So it's been a long minute, and i'm not saying it hasn't. Thing is I don't have the same pull to put the things I see up there on the ol' Fridge of the internet that I used to. So tonight I was sitting in my chair and thinking about that, and thinking well, what is it about it, this thing where I don't just show a little discipline and put the pictures out there? What is it that makes me think, "baaa. Who cares? BIG deal?!"

And really, I got nuthin. Maybe i'm just growing into something else. Numerous times i've thought to just take the site down, or at least migrate it to some other place, something. Anything to mix it up, I mean, Yahoo! (the guys hosting my site) aren't that cool. I can't say that they don't at least HOST the site, but really, there's nothing great about them as a host.

The pictures? Well sure. I still take some, but they aren't really something i've been too passionate about lately. Ok, i'll admit, there's some that i've shot that i'm into, but that was never the point. The point was always to just take some pictures and then put them on the internet, and then take some more, lather - rinse - repeat.

So tonight, that's my loose plan. I'm going to just start an edit and see where I land. I'm not going to bust my hump over it, but really, if some of my other friends can manage to get a picture a week up onto their site, and it makes ME happy to see those, well then, there's not really any reason I can't at least do something like that.



I don't mean LIKE that, but i mean, just do something before i forget how to even work with my site at all.

So i'll be back.

Just wanted to let you know that I was thinking about it.

One thing I can say is that, ONE thing that has had an impact on my whole, "let's do a website" thing, is a few months ago, I went with a couple of friends into the city for a party. I was the designated driver, and the prize was that one of my friends let me drive her car down there. It was a convertible.

Now, you all KNOW how much I love a convertible. So the thing is, it reminded me, how much I love to drive a convertible. And the smile that gets onto my face when i'm driving one, is something I really enjoy to have.

You may recall the photo in this particular post from my last update back in March. Well. It was a moment in my life when I made a decision to do something about it. In that frame, I am driving along in SF on Lombard Street, heading toward Filmore, but only just past Lyon Street coming from The Bridge. I still remember it very clearly.

good times,

dTown

of things have happened over the past few months. None the least of which was the part where I went ahead and purchased some faster internet for my place. Now to many of you the glory of fast internet may already be a distant memory, but I can tell you that it makes a very big difference when you are uploading a lot of photos to your site. Having the slower internet was actually one of the main reasons you haven't seen me at ol' danconnortown "the website" for the last little while. It just got to be so frustrating trying to do a simple update that i decided it wasn't worth my time. Now, i'll admit there have been consequences. Now i guess i see about 20 hits a week on the site, but hey. If i wanted hits, i'd make a site about naked chicks and people wrecking on their skateboards. (not a bad idea)

The pictures in today's little update go all the way back to the end of November when I had just returned from NYC, and you'll notice that there's only about 170 images in today's update, which if you do the quick math, 170÷ Late November + (December + January + February) + The Front of March = you noticing i've slowed down a bit on the clickity clackity of photographs in general. Not to worry. It's just a Period of Non-Work.

Things you won't see in this update:

• That time we got into that street fight with that one guy.
• Many trips to the local watering holes.
• Lots of other things.

Things you will see in this update:

• A photograph of my car.
• A trip back to New Hampshire.
• My Thanksgiving Dinner plate.
• My Christmas Dinner plate.
• My Birthday Cake.
• My cool new keyboard.
• Many trips to the local watering holes.
• Lots of other things.

Tonight it was interesting for me to realize how long it had been since an update, I mean, seeing the trees when their leaves were only beginning to change, and then the leaves were falling, and then the leaves were gone, and then the rains came, and then the sun came, and now the trees are already budding again. That's technically a stretch between updates.

You'll notice also that i'm still using the same host for my site and have not engaged in the work of a complete redesign for the new year or anything like that. That's okay. It doesn't mean i'm not thinking about it. It doesn't mean I won't get to it eventually. It only means that i'm spending time on other things lately. That i'm shifting the way I do things. That i'm growing into something different.

I'm not positive that this website is high on my list of things to worry about, but it doesn't mean I don't want you to see more pictures from my cameras. I'm sure something is going to come of all this rest and moderation. In the meantime, enjoy. I'm sure i'll come up with something to write about in the next little while, and it will be funny or witty or charming.

Have yourselves a nice day, and I tell you what. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

good times,

dTown

ps. special thanks to those of you who stuck with me over that dry spell, and the shout outs to get the site updated. I really appreciate it, particularly from the likes of my good friends Brad and Todd C you guys are great, and I just want to say thanks.

listening to Robyn Hitchcock | 48˚ and clear out there, but dark.

so you're all like, "what the fucksup dTown? how come you don't just update your site?!" and i'm like, "yeah yeah, sounds great. Let's do lunch."

ha. but so here's what's been going on. Not a whole lot of taking pictures in the way I used to be taking them all the time anyway, but i mean, i still take 'em. I've just somehow got myself busy again, and with other things I guess. But that's fine. It's an ebb and flow kind of thing. My heart is still in the right place. (nestled within the ol' rib cage) but I haven't been worrying about making sure the batteries in the camera were charged or even if the camera comes out of the bag. it's not a negative thing, it's just a "period of non-work" or rather, maybe it's a period of "working on something else". I say that only because when i finally sat down to work on an edit tonight, and was thinking of the last time i'd done that, i guess mentally i was prepared to see myself with a 300 or 400 image update on my hands, but that wasn't the case. Maybe i'm slowing down. Maybe i've seen what i need to see. I can't really be sure.

Here's what I'll say, there's some new york in there, there's some california in there. On the day where you see the fog, you know from the windshield of my car? that's the day that that dude crashed that boat into that bridge and dumped all the fuel oil into the bay. I don't think it makes the news really, so maybe you didn't hear about it, but a guy drove a pretty big boat into a bridge out here, and tore a whole in his boat, and then dumped like 60,000 gallons of fuel oil into the bay, and it's causing quite a ruckus. Last I heard, they were going to get The Department of Homeland Security on it. ( you know, because they're so effective. I mean, when's the last time you got on a plane without having to take off your shoes? How about the last time you brought a tube of toothpaste on a plane? ) So you can see, it's the right thing to do.

What else. A retired baseball player got on the front page.

And my friend chris got married. That's actually big news, but I didn't want to make an update all about you know, "wedding photos" because that's not what's really going on twentyfourseven. It's just a moment in there, which I will admit was a pretty good moment. Ha, i tell you what, there were a few good moments in there.

If i didn't see you when I was in New York, don't worry. You're not alone. I was in and out of there, and to be honest glad to be back here where it's sunny and warm. I mean, don't get me wrong. It was great to see the city, but i can say i wasn't yearning for it when it came time to leave.

What else? Oh i don't know. Maybe even the blog needs a shift in gears. it's just like yak yak yak, but for what?

ah, the good times.

_dTown

So now i'm back, and the pix from today's update are all about where I was, and what I was up too. You'll see some new friends in there, and some good times along the way. It's a little less "beachy" and a little more "chico" ha ha! I'm back and i'm working the full time job being the McGenius, and still coming up to speed on what exactly that means. It is good times, Rusty Brown continues to run fine, I continue to read books and listen to rock and roll. Sometimes I smoke cigarettes, sometimes I don't.

The weather is stretching into a NorCal Autumn, we're seeing some rain here and there, some clouds, and some cool nights. It's a nice place to be. I'm growing a little older and finding pleasure in my naps, and getting to bed at a regular time and rising like a regular cat. I'm curious how that's going to impact the pix we make in the coming days. I mean, I go into the archives and I see the mellow vibe of it, and i look at today's update and I see the rip-snortin' good times of it, and I think i'm going to be okay when it comes time to find the balance, split the two in the middle then throw me smack dab in the center!

Good times,

dtown | listening to Ween (La Cucaracha) | 60˚ and moon bright

This week i've been mostly studying for the Mac exams, to prep ma'seff for 2 weeks at The Mothership in Cupertino. I didn't take many pictures, and really spent most of my time sitting right here at the computer reading and learning and testing and reading and learning and testing. I did get outside from time to time and was conscious of the pictures I wasn't taking, a few times thought I would really like to take a picture, but had deliberately left my camera at home. I don't know if that made me feel like I was "resetting" my defaults or not, but it was interesting to not just whip out a camera all day long. I don't prefer to not take pictures, but wanted to see how I would get along if I didn't.

It was okay. I lived. Tomorrow I head to Cupertino for two weeks of training at the Apple Headquarters, and I'm hoping I'll have the opportunity to take a few pictures while i'm down there, but i'm pretty sure most of my time and energy will be devoted to passing the tests and learning what I need to know.

Just wanted to drop in and let you know that I'm still here, just have some other things on the front burners for a minute. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but recently I went through the archives looking for broken links and missing scrollers, etc. and I did find a few, so i've fixed most (hopefully all) of those, and welcome you to poke around in the archives for old time's sake. When I get back from the southbay, or if I have an opportunity to update from down there, I'll get the latest pix up here, and i'm looking forward to getting some new stuff up there for ya'll.

Until the next time,

be good to each other, play nice, and wish me luck!

good times,

dTown | listening to the wurr of my PPC G5 | overcast and warm

You know I thought about it more and more as the days unfolded and I just couldn't bring myself to sit and type about the things I thought I wanted to type about the other day, the reason being, what's the point? I can think about it, write about it, make a movie about it, it's not going to change anything. A perfect example of something like this was like what I was talking about on September 11. All those people flew to New York this year to really raise awareness, and try to get their message heard. (You remember that kooky idea about how you know, the "official story" has some holes in it) Anyway, the hope was to finally get some mainstream press coverage. Thousands of people gathered in cities all over the country to make this happen, and well. I never saw anything about it on the mainstream media at all. I mean, there was some thing about Ass Face Rivera and his show about sexy dressing stewardesses on some airline, and him telling the 911 truthers to "get a life". That's not news, and Giraldo does nothing to help the cause. People aren't like, "Oh! Giraldo said something to them wacky conspiracy theorists?! Oh my. We better take a look at this!" So, I figured the same thing. If you ignore it long enough maybe it will just go away.

What I decided to do instead, which is something I've been doing a lot of lately, is just drive on out to the beach. This time I went out to North Beach, which is also out there on the Point Reyes National Seashore, and it was great too. The water was nice etc. and I got it in my mind that sometimes, since where I live now doesn't have as much graffiti and trash and stuff all over the place, that with the landscape photos and everything being so good looking, the scrollers can feel a little jumpy with the images from edge to edge, so this post has a lot of stitched together panoramics which I hope you will enjoy as much as I do. It really never stops amazing me the contrast between my digs in ol' east flatbush brooklyn, and well. Life out here.

There's also some nice pix from the road out there through Inverness, along Tomales Bay, and of course you'll see good ol' Rusty Brown once or twice. Such a great car.

Anyway. That's all for now. More next time.

danconnortown | listening to Pavement | probably like 60˚ & clear out there.