Good day! I'm listening to the Mariners right now. They jumped out to a big lead with Randy Winn hitting a "Grand Salami" (Get out the rye bread and mustard grandma)! But now they're trying to give the game back.

I talked to my friend Tim W., who lives in Maine, today. We talked about photo books and gossiped for awhile. He was telling me the first session of work-study ended and the images the students made were crap. I guess more than one person commented that the work my students made last year was vastly superior to what they saw last weekend. People kept saying, "Isn't this the class Mark taught last summer? The work looks like it's from a week long workshop." Well, thanks for all the great comments but that and $4 gets you a quad mocha at Starbucks. It's flattering to know that people know that I am capable of getting the best out of people... photographically speaking of course. But it becomes all the more frustrating knowing that no one is willing to gamble on me as a full time teacher. I got my quirks (no doubt about that!) but I know what I'm doing when it comes to teaching people how to be a photographer. I just missed getting a job in Boston last Fall and I was a close second for a position at PCC. Still everyone seems to be just a little bit better than me... at least on paper. I get my results in the classroom but few people realize it.

There's a job being offered in Ellensburg, Washington for next Fall. I want to apply for it and probably will but I KNOW it's a waste of time. I'm fairly certain that they know who they want for the position. (You, gentle readers know who it is too). They just have to go through the motions to make everything all correct and proper. It's fucking annoying. If they want to hire someone they should just hire them instead of putting people through this ridiculous charade. But what's a boy to do? Give up? Did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor....? So I'll send my packet in. And collect one more letter...."There were many qualified candidates. Unfortunately, you weren't one of them. Maybe you should try getting a job flipping burgers!" I'd rather jump off a bridge. I didn't get a MFA to flip burgers. I got it so I could teach photography and I'll be damned if it ain't going to happen... one of these days.