Greetings Citizens. I am happy to report that there were none.... Zero!... melt-downs in class today! O! Sweet Happiness! Everyone was in good spirits and Natalie brought the makings for hot fudge sundies for treats. She might be flunking the class but she brought the best treats this quarter. She just edged out Jessalyn and her ham sandwiches. On another note, the kids really seem to be putting together some excellent projects. They also got to evaluate me today. I had some of the kids tell me they enjoyed the class to my face! All-in-all a good day at Camp Camera.

When I got home I grilled a couple of burgers and watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Greetings Citizens. First off, thanks to James for the 1/4 ounce of Spotone. Under normal circumstances, it would be enough to last years. But at PCC life expectancy could be shortened substantially. Going to pick the stuff up was the highlight of the day. That and my Tuesday cider run. The weather was horribly wet and cold. It was conducive to laundry and napping. I talked to Tim Whelan today about getting some books. He has some of the best photo books you can get your hands on and at reasonable prices to boot! We gossiped for a bit before he went home. Lisa is going to Mexico tomorrow for a few weeks and they needed to spend some time together. He'll meet up with her in mid-December. I guess my mentor, Brenton Hamilton, is doing well. He's as giddy as a school girl because his wife is expecting soon, his print sales are steadily improving and he has begun to tutor students outside the MPW with great success.

Greetings Citizens. An odd day today at the lab. Kids crying, breaking down, seeing the inevitable F. It was all going on today. One of my kids wants to join some weird circus troupe and they're leaving on Friday. So this gal is in a mad dash to do a quarters worth of work in two weeks. Today two rolls of film she processed was underexposed. So after kicking the lockers for a minute, she melts down. Now, I ask you gentle readers, what am I supposed to do? Give her a good grade because she's leaving to join the circus? Console her, then flunk her? Oh the drama of it all. She should just take a "W" and move on with her life, if you ask me. But she'll have none of that. So instead she has placed these unreasonable demands on herself and is stressed beyond the breaking point. Then, later in the day, a woman tells me she isn't working on a print anymore because she's over budget on photo supplies. What grade would I give the print? I tell her a "C" because she knows it can be made better but doesn't want to put in the effort to make it better. So, again, it's my fault. I tell her that she asked and I told her. I also told her it is only one print of many and to crunch the numbers. Does she think her grades is riding on one print of many? If all the work she has turned in has shown improvement, does she actually think it will be a major penalty to not have one print made as good as she can possibly make it. Here, the tears are wiped away and some semblance of a smile appears on her face. It's wacked! As the quarter winds down everyone is trying to get something for nothing or are so grade crazy that they can't see the forest from the trees. I swear to God the only ones who know what are going on are a couple of "A" students and a gal who is flunking and knows it. And the whole thing comes down to this: if they just did their work they would have absolutely nothing to worry about. It is truly an eye-opener to see how differently community college students handle themselves compare to university students. It's apples and oranges. All that said, there are some great kids in my class making some nice work... and more importantly trying some new ideas.

I dropped off the prints for the raffle today. Lori wasn't there to accept the work but she sent an email to say the work was "absolutely fabulous" and I should stop by and introduce myself. Well, since she's the head of the visual communications department, I might just have to do that.

Greetings Citizens. The quest for Spotone continues. I think my buddy Mark N. is going to clutch up for me and give a two ounce bottle of the liquid gold.

I matted a couple of images for Chemeketa CC's raffle next week. If we donated something we were supposed to add a blurb about what we do for the college. I was going to write something like this: Pinholeman teaches the digital non-credit classes at the Senior Center. He's good enough to teach anything but since he doesn't use studio lighting in any of his own images is unable to get a credit class. I decided to say nothing.

Okay, that's it for now.

Oh yeah this is funny: link. But don't watch if you are a proper God-fearing individual.

Greetings Citizens. A good day today. It looks like I've found an apartment in Lake Oswego. The price is right and the location is ideal. It is close to PCC and not too far from Portland. Ah, sweet suburbs! At last I return. I won't be able to move in until mid-January, which is fine. I'll just start hauling stuff up when I have classes and bounce back & forth between the two for a month.

I went up to help the kids in the lab today. Imagine my surprise when I got there to find out the lab was closed! I'm a little upset. My kids have final projects to work on and need to use the lab. It would have been something else if the lab tech said he wasn't going to be there because of the holiday. But nobody notified us. I got there at 2:30 but the place was supposed to be open at noon. Still a few of my kids showed up but there was a note on the door from students who had shown up earlier. I don't think they were happy.

I met Jen and Aaron afterwards. We went for Thai food. I had Drunken Noodles (hot) and they were delicious! For dessert we hit Mia Gelato for some gelato (of course!).

Greetings Citizens. My niece, Katherine, is taking a visual communications class at her middle school. It includes a unit on Photography and she needs a 35mm camera. So I spent 3.5 hours at the storage shed looking for a camera for her. I finally found a Pentax K1000 for her to use. As a bonus, I also found my Nikon F and Norwood light meter that I use for making copy slides.

That's about it. Unless you include watching WWF wrestling and toning some Polaroid prints. Oh yeah, and eating a pizza.

Gobble, Gobble Citizens. I hope you all had a great Turkey Day. My Thanksgiving, alas, was pretty unspectacular. Yes, the jambalaya was good and the second NFL game on TV was good too. But it was a lonely holiday. I am thankful for my teaching position and the opportunities I am receiving to share my art. But I want more, dammit! Namely, I want a hottie by my side to share life with... the good and the bad. For that, I am willing to sacrifice half the bed.

Greetings Citizens. Today was a critique day for the kids. They were asked to make visual poems (dypthics), contact sheets as final images, photograms and cliche verres. I think that all-in-all they did a very good job. They only had to do three of the four and it is always interesting to see which ones certain students choose not to do. There was some good work and that led to good discussion. The quality of the discussion was helpful to them as they begin their final projects. Important issues (both technical and aesthetic) were addressed and it makes me excited to see what comes shining through in their work as we approach the end of the quarter.

Tomorrow is Turkey Day. I'm not having any. Football and
jambalaya is what is going to be on my plate.

Greetings Citizens. Today was a Porsche day. Got a garage to park it in then went cruising. Met Mark N. in Portland. We went and made some pics including today's lovely. As we were shooting a shop owner came out and asked us if the graffiti was ours. Ha! Like we'd own up to it if we had made it. He was upset at the vulgarity of some of the images the graffiti artists make. Can't say I blame him. I don't think he noticed this attached to his wall.

Part of the reason I went to Portland was to get some Spotone #3. Apparently, Spotone isn't made anymore... which is the shits. Marshall's make some spot toner but it is lame-o-rama. I think I found a place online that has some. I hope so.

Got home and made teriyaki pork and had some kim chee too.

Greetings Citizens. Here's a pinhole photo from Seattle. It's of the Cowboy Hat and Boots... a Jet City landmark from the 50's. This image was made while a preservation group was digging it up from its old site. You can see the skeleton of cowboy hat in the background. They removed the concrete before moving it. In the day it was a skater's dream to get up on it. You could actually see track mark where people had skated it. The boots were bathrooms. I think we're looking at the boy's room. Now they're safely ensconced in a park... gentrified for all to see.

I've been invited by the Pinhole Resource to contribute some images to an international pinhole gallery. I'd be a fool not to submit. They're looking for 10 images from 30-40 prominent pinhole photographers. This will be one of them. So nine more to find.

School was okay today. One of my kids, who hasn't been around for a couple of weeks, was back. I asked why she hadn't been around and her response was, "I was someplace I couldn't leave." Sounds like jail to me. Hmmmm. She was trying to get caught up but I don't think she can make it. Well, she probably can get everything done but getting a good grade too might be a problem.

I should have called Mark N. after class but I spaced out. Instead, I rode home before it got too cold out. When I got home I made supper and watched Minnesota defeat the Packers on MNF.

Greetings Citizens. Another old Polaroid. This one from the work of ET Wickham's work in Palmyra, Tennessee. This is one of the coolest places that I have ever photographed. One of these days I'm going to have to get the 8x20 negatives I shot at this place processed. For now, be content with this image made with an old glass lens on 4x5 film. I'd love to return there to see what changes have happened... if the place is more degenerated or if someone has stepped up and preserved the work of a vital artist.

I spent the weekend at Mom & Dad's house. I picked up my Porsche 356B which has been in pieces since 1987. It cost some substantial coin to fix. All of my house money is nearly gone but I have the car. It is so fun to drive! I nearly forgot. I scooted home cruising at 70MPH without a care. It was funny to have people slow down to admire it before accelerating forward.

Me and the folks watched my beloved Cougars pull out the victory against are arch-rivals the Huskies. Trandon Harvey, who had set himself up to be the goat by muffing a punt return, caught a screen pass with 1:30 left and sprinted 40 yards to redemption and Cougar glory. To say it was a Cinderella finish for the senior is an understatement. Our running back had over 200 yards rushing. And given the victory we avoided occupying the cellar alone. We're tied with the Dawgs for dead last but we beat them so they're the last team listed in the standings. Small compromise for a horrible season but at least we beat them!

Driving home, I thought of calling Leah, in the "Couv" but got cold feet. Later this evening, I got my nerve up and called. We had a nice chat and arranged to get together after the Turkey Day weekend. She's a sweet little thing and her kids are well-mannered and nice, too. I'm looking forward to seeing her again. It's been awhile.

Greeting Citizens. Going by the number of comments I have been receiving, I assume you have all abandoned me and have moved to Canada.

Tomorrow I am taking the train to Seattle. I'm going up to watch the Apple Cup with some friends. I am also heading up to get my car. It has been in pieces since 1987 but is now put back together... all shiny and new. I'm so happy I could fart quarters.

Sunday, I'm meeting Sabrina. She's a damned good photographer... a product of the Maine Photographic Workshops. Were going to get together for a photo safari and catch up on the state of affairs.

Next posting: Monday

Greetings Citizens. So I was mildly flattered by some of my students today. One of the kids went to find out if she could get credit for taking my class again next term. The answer was yes but she couldn't get credit for an intermediate class. So what does she do? She goes and has the other students sign a petition to have one of my classes into an intermediate class. Pretty cool. So Jim H. says okay after ten students signed on. They don't have to sign up for the class, it just shows that they think I'd do a good job at teaching the next level up. My hat size grew a bit. So there were only ten students in class today. I was a little nervous about that so when Jen H. showed up to made some copy slides I asked her about that and she said she wasn't surprised. I guess it's not uncommon for the kids to fall by the wayside. In that regard, community colleges are different from four-year schools. I guess the community college kids are more likely to bail out when the times are tough for them instead of sticking it out. It's too bad. I had a couple of good ones that just didn't have the discipline, I guess.

Greetings Citizens. I just finished another digi-class. The final one for the term is on Thursday. Today's image is one of mine but it is fixed up in the style that my students enjoy.

Meals-on-Wheels was pleasant today. And the cinnamon rolls were super good! So good, in fact, that I was compelled to eat two of them.

Checked into taking the train home for Turkey Day but the trains are all full. Just as well. I imagine I'll sit home and watch football. Maybe I'll get one of those little turkey roasts and a box of stuffing and call it good. Or perhaps I have a hamburger. You never know.

Greetings Citizens. Today was my evaluation day. Jim H., head of the art department, watched me do my thing for about 40 minutes. And I think it went well. There were a few people absent but there was still a good turn-out. They were making good work and asking smart questions. The kids made me look clever without even trying. Jim, I think, was surprised at the variety of work being made as well as the quality. So, the day went well. They are starting to panic about what they should be making for their final projects... which is good, they should be panicking!

Got home and finished up the soup I made yesterday as I watched a surprising victory by the Cowboys over the Eagles. Tried to call Donna but she must be working one of her 15 hour days.

I should tell you about this image. It's from an Indian school in Brigham City, Utah. They tore the thing down. I managed to sneak in a few times to make some images. This is a scene inside the front door of one of the main building. As you can see some good Mormon kids got into the place too. They managed to do a bit of damage to the place and defaced the painting by gouging the faces out before shooting the 'noble savages' with their paint ball guns.

Now I am off to bed to do some reading before drifting of into la-la land.

Greetings Citizens. The weather proved unfruitful for image-making today. So instead I resorted to watching football and baking an apple pie.

Also, I continued scanning Polaroids. Today's image is a pinhole photograph I made yesterday. It is a mock grave. Made by a homeless person (I assume). No doubt another graduate with a MFA unable to find a job to support himself.

I made some scans of some 3-D ultrasounds I got in the mail from a friend of Stephanie B.. They are trippy! I really do need to get working on making some cyanotypes from these things. First though, I need to get some UV lights. I have the unit to put them in but I need four or five bulbs to get it up to full intensity.

So I made an apple pie today. The crust was pretty good. I didn't quite make enough and the pie juice bubbled out. Luckily, I remembered to put a baking pan underneath. I made some Cougar Gold Potato Soup too. It's easy to make, if not a bit on the rich side. Perfect for a rainy day.

Tomorrow I am being evaluated by one of the faculty members at PCC. We were originally slated to have a critique of work. But my dear kids are a little off pace so tomorrow we'll be working in the lab. Hopefully, the kids will all be there.... working hard.

Greetings Citizens. Yet again my beloved Cougars have found a way to lose. This time to the Oregon Ducks 34-31. Silly mistakes, even sillier penalties and one more field goal bouncing off the uprights cost us the game. Next week is the Apple Cup against our arch-rivals the Dawgs.

I went to PCC today to grade the portrait assignments and see who would be working in the lab. Not many. I guess it is foolish of me to imagine my students might be interested in the medium and focus on making quality work. There are a few and those few were the ones in the lab. Maybe I expect too much.

Met Newton afterwards for a burger at the Belmont Tavern. I had the Pub Burger which included a fried egg. It was pretty tasty and moved forward my upcoming heart attack by a few years.

Greetings Citizens. Spent the day making scans of some Polaroid images I have laying around the house. I have some Type 55 positives (some of them over five years old) and I wait for them to deteriorate before coating them. Well, since it was pouring down rain today, I figured I'd scan some of them while they're still uncoated. This one is from a shed out on the north end of the Great Salt Lake near Locomotive Springs. As I remember a storm was brewing and it began to rain like crazy moments after I shot this image. You can see how the wind is ripping at a piece of the metal roofing. Me and Donna B. were out there making images and we sat out a big storm before we continued shooting. Afterwards, we went to Stinky Springs for a long soak.

I watched Mysterious Skin tonight. What a sad and painful movie to watch.

Greetings Citizens. Ah, the amazing power of sleep... and Sudafed. I feel much better today. I still have the sniffles but I'm not as plugged up as I was yesterday. I even went for a nice motorcycle ride with my open-faced helmet. The weather was actually warm at noon (an hour after I woke up)! So i went to Daum's for my apple cider. Apparently, I'm on the short list now because he's promised to save me two gallons every Tuesday from here on out. That means i am getting the juice until Christmas. If I didn't have so much film and paper in my freezer, I'd freeze a gallon or two for a later date.

I need to get out and make some work. I have an urge to create some new images, so I'll probably head up to Portland on Saturday to shoot anti-graffiti and on Sunday i might have to sneak out to the sheet metal place for some metalscapes.

There were only six students tonight at my digi-class. I wouldn't be surprised if they're sick. It seems to be a trend. We had fun working on stuff. The one guy in the class said that he's really enjoys the class... and my patience. He doesn't have any computer experience at all. He's struggled at times but he is learning and, more importantly, having fun.

Greetings Citizens. Man, am I sick. It seems to be going around. My kids were gentle on me today. They got me water, feed me medicine and were sympathetic.

It was a critique day today. I expected the worst and was pleasantly surprised to see that many of the images they produce were very nice for the level they are working at. I am pretty confident that they will not take over as the worst class ever.

I'd ramble more.... if I had the energy. I feel that I can use a 12 hour snooze.

Greetings Citizens. O, the disappointment! I went to Daum's today for my fix of apple cider. He had just sold the last gallon minutes before I arrived. Utter despair filled my heart as I rode away. But a new batch will be ready on Thursday. I'm already jonesing for 16 ounces of the sweet stuff, yo.

So I continued my ride out to Albany to get some winter gloves. I've been using my summer gloves with some wool liners but it doesn't quite do the job. So I had to lay down the coin for a warm (and waterproof) pair of gloves. They are nice. I also picked up a full-face head mask to help keep my face and neck warm. After wearing them I wonder why I waited so long to buy them.

My digi-class went fine tonight. The needy ones were needy and the self-directed ones self directed themselves. At the end of the night, I showed them how to prepare their lovelies for the web and email. It was a good evening.

Now if I can only shake this cold I've caught....

More fun with Babel Fish Translation:

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Greetings Citizens. Well the kids were a little distraught today when they got their tests back. I told to do some extra credit if they were worried about their score. We'll see if anyone does that. I doubt it. They were working on their portrait assignments and, I must admit, some of them looked pretty good. So maybe they won't be the worse class ever. Gawd, I hope not.

Greetings Citizens. A pleasant day today. Watched football on TV while I cleaned my apartment up. I was amazed at the piles of junk I had accumulated! It's all in the trash now. Later, Jeff G. stopped by for a visit. He's into Triumph motorcycles and needed to use my computer to do some eBay bidding. Then I got a phone call from Bethany, who I haven't heard from in a while. She got a promotion at her job and is seeing a new boy-toy. I also talked with Sarah F. who lives in NYC right now but is really a rural Vermont girl. She told me our mutual friend, Ivan, had a hernia operation. Not fun. One of my students called to find out when the assignment is due and to find out about how big the prints need to be. At least she showed some concern.

Greetings Citizens. Had a late night last night. Worked the final game of the season. It was a blow-out... again! This wasn't a good season for close games but that's the way it goes. I don't see myself getting any post-season games. I'm too new to the association and you have to pay your dues if you know what I mean. After the game was the usual pizza party. When they finished kicking us out, me and Rich continued to talk football and politics out in the parking lot.

Earlier in the day, I rode Heidi up to PCC to see how the kids were doing and to do some grading. They had horrible scores! They obviously weren't paying too close attention to my lectures. I know everything was covered because a couple of the kids did very well. So, no excuses from them on Monday. It sort of makes me nervous because I have to be evaluated. I'm sure they will destroy me.

Greetings Citizens. So my digi-class went well tonight. Finally, I feel I am getting on pace for what they want to learn and what can be taught in the time frame we have to work with. It's funny, too, to see how the class dynamic works as far as how far a group can go. My "real" class at PCC has a weird class dynamic and I fear as a group they aren't going to produce the level of work they are capable of making. Conversely, this non-credit group I have to night will embrace some ideas and go on to make better images than they thought they were capable of producing. And so it goes for a teacher, it seems.

Greeting Citizens. Sometimes I wonder where students think they don't have to do any work and still get a good grade. High school maybe? And why do they think is appropriate to beg for later and later due dates. Do they do that in their math class. Maybe it has more to do with the student population that community colleges serve. I am hearing from my students that they work full-time, are single parent moms, and are taking 18 credit hours. So what. That's a choice you made,not me. I chose to take out student loans so that I could apply myself to my studies. As it stands I will pay $325 a month until I am 70 years old. And you know what? I have absolutely no problem with that. And I can honestly say this: I never bitch about having to make that payment. Now if you chose another direction that's fine. But stop whining to me about how hard it is. Quit the job, get a loan or quit school but stop your belly-aching.

Greetings Citizens. Saw Steve P. today. He checked out my BMW and made sure everything was in order. It was.

Had my digi-class tonight. It went okay but I had to reel the students back in after they sort of got away from me. I began to show them how to do some simple color corrections. A couple of the students got lost. And while I'm getting them back on board the others go playing around with filters and other silly tools that I am not comfortable with and unable to get them back to where they need to be. It was sort of a mess. But, in spite of all that, they do seem to be enjoying the class and learning something too. Just not the way I had it all planned out for them. Which is fine, really.