Well, I'm not sure whether the students liked the way the critique was done last night, but I sure thought it went well. It seemed to me that most of the students were actively engaged with the work and that some fine conversations were taking place. I kind of wanted to point out to them that a critique doesn't have to be a boring affair where someone works their way down the line finding every flaw. For me, it was a nice way to go out with a bunch of kids I am very happy to have called my students!

I getting ready to meet with some of the seniors for their "graduation lunch". We're going to have Thai food. Yummers!

After that, I'll go grade the basic students' final projects and get their grades posted. Then I'm off to Adams Elementary to watch Tricia finish er after school class by doing a cyanotype mural. I hope the weather holds. Right now it's partially cloudy (which will work) but it's supposed to start snowing! And that won't do at all.

Today the "Holga Class" is having their Final. It's at my house & I have kind of been cleaning up the hovel. I have a great way of doing the Final that I want to try. (Thanks D. for your input). It should be relaxed, fun and informative.

I also picked up a couple of b-ball games with Dave tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll have women's league and not prep league. I do know this: there's no way I'll be as shitty as I was last week. I don't know what the deal was but I had a poor night of officiating.

Okay, off to buy some coffee and get cleaning.

Today is Final #1... the Basic Students. I expect most of the work will be pretty well done for a Photo I class. I'm picking up cinnamon rolls (the kids will have to pick out the raisins & nuts!) from The Old Grist Mill and some of the other students... the "A" students... are contributing items for our critique/breakfast. It should be an interesting critique.

Got some of my home cleaned up yesterday. Most importantly, I broke down the shitload of cardboard boxes that have been sitting on the back porch all winter. And I went to El Toro with D.. She had her usual and I had the chicken mole. Afterwards, we grabbed Fang (and a couple of sweatshirts) and walked the trail up to Second Dam.


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Yesterday's football game was pretty fun. The final score was 13 to 6, with the Strappling Warriors winning. I got leg-whipped in the first half and my shin is all swollen and bloody. That's just something that goes with the position I work. Small price for the best seat in the house. Afterwards we went to the A&W in Smithfield.

So I stumbled upon these old pinhole images. They're scans from the "throw away" negative. They usually look pretty bad but sometimes you can fix them up a bit. They're usually solarized and every bit of dust sticks to them until they are dry. I've got some really good ones somewhere but they aren't with this group.

I've got to clean up around the house today. The advanced students are coming over with their Holga work on Tuesday for our Final Critique and potluck. It'll be sad for me. But at least I leave knowing that the students are better Photographers than when I came in.


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Today I have a football game in the RMFL between the Logan Stampede and the Strippling Warriors. Rumor has it that the majority of the players for the Warriors are on probation! Both of the teams have beaten the crap out of a common opponent, so it might be a good, if not sloppy, game. Kick-off is at 5PM.

Last night was the BFA Opening. There was some great work and not coincidentally by a few of my students. I think the Photographers showed some damned-fine work and I am proud of the all!

Bekah has her opening tonight of some gum prints she made using her own blood. They are fascinating to look at and deal with family and blood ties. I wish I could make the opening but my football game is in the way.

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Good morning. Today is the last day of classes before Finals. I'm expecting the sweet smell of selenium and tea to be wafting from the lab this fine, if not freezing, morning. I'm also imagining that there will be a few sheets of mat board and dry mount tissue handed out.

I was waiting for a call from Tricia last night to sensitize some sheets in cyanotype chemistry. Apparently the lab must have been pretty busy because I never received the call. She's going to be making some life-sized mural with her after-school class.

I got quite a bit accomplished on the home-front yesterday. Mostly, I was able to re-organize my working space. I got my prints and negatives stored in the same place and moved my camera gear. I put away my Photo History books and framed some images by Dan Smith and Mary Peck. I also got an image from an A.L. Coburn portfolio put safely into a frame and hung on the wall.

So, I'm spending the day trying to sort out crap in a couple of rooms in my house. Most of my time has been in my computer room (where most of my camera stuff & photographs are located). It's a gawd-awful mess but is getting better. I keep being distracted by loose images I find along the way... like this one. It's my work study group from the MPW shot in the summer of 1997. My mentor, Brenton Hamilton, is the guy squatting second from the left. I can't remember who made the shot but it was made on my first Holga... in fact, the negative is 6x4.5 because I didn't know you could take the damned thing out.

I think David is coming over today to see if we can't get the Falcon up & running. The falcon is in the mire! I worked b-ball with him last night. I think I did a pretty shitty job. I don't know why but I couldn't get my head into the games.


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This image is from a fuel tank in Longbeach, Washington (which is also home to Paul Bunyan's frying pan). I love the painting style.

Yesterday I let the students of my Photo History class off the hook... no more class, no final & let them give themselves the grade they wanted. No "B"'s, "C"'s, "D"'s or "F"'s will be recorded. Odd.


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Today I'm getting my last lesson in Photo History ready. I'm going to show some photographers I like.

Last night I drove down to Ogden and made a few pictures with my Lomo LC-A. It's a great little 35mm camera that my brother picked up for me one Christmas. It is small & light and works great as a travel camera. The lens is slightly wide-angle and pretty sharp.

I'm listening to Jim Rome who is cracking me up with his take on how the Democrats are chasing the pro wrestling vote. Too funny. "You can't take the White House without the wrestling vote." Who needs the AFL/CIO when you have the WWE?

Well, the kids are back from from their field trip. I've seen a few images from Woody's MySpace page. The weather looked pleasant & everyone was making images. Good for them.

Today starts the last week of school before finals. Some of my basic kids have just decided on their projects last week. What they were doing the other two weeks is beyond me. The Holga class is making nice work though. I'm looking forward to their projects!


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There are Muffler Men all across the country. I've seen my fair share of them. This one is outside a burger joint in Illinois.

As you can see, I've added some sites of places I enjoy. Simply Recipes has a great recipe for meatloaf that I may try cooking up tonight. The best part of meatloaf is meatloaf sandwiches the next day... on nice, soft white bread with mustard.

I've got to fold laundry today. I'll probably find a nice baseball game on MLB.com and fold, fold away!



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This is one of my favorite images I've ever made. I made it in high school. I went back to it many times to try and make a better image but I wasn't able to do it.

Went and watched a semi-pro football game today. Wow! It was like Pee Wee Football but the kids were in their 20's, 30's & 40's! The game lasted forever too. Afterwards, I joined the officiating crew for a burger at Big J's (made famous by Napolean Dynamite). They had fresh strawberry shakes! Yummy!

Back to the Jazz game.

Well, HR has 131 jobs listed on their employment board... including the Photo position where I wasn't offered an interview. I think the staff there will be able to help me find something and with Fang as my sympathy card I should be able to get a position somewhere within the university. I just want a 'joe job" where I can hang onto my benefits.

It's a laundry day today.


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Dear God, Please let the people I'm visiting in HR today have some kind of job for me next year so I can stay in Your Precious Valley. Amen


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Gave my "job interview presentation" a while ago. There were more people there than I had expected. Of course the department head wasn't among those in attendance... neither was the guy who's going to replace me, even though he was on campus.

Told the group that if you are a Photographer, it your destiny to make at least one Barbie picture... here's mine.

Kristie Bezold is showing ambrotypes for here Senior Show. They are in a word stunning! Far and away her work is better than any other of the students' work I've seen to date. When I first got here everyone belittled the work she made. But she persevered and now her work trumps all of the crap her fellow seniors are producing. Congratulations, Bezold!!!


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Okay, one more. So, after I shot Mary Ellen Mark (see yesterday), one of my friends comes around the corner and says that Arnold Newman is eating his lunch & maybe I should ask him to sit in the chair. It sounded like a good idea so I went to ask him. I catch up to him and ask how his lunch was and he says he didn't like it (it was pork & he's Jewish). I ask to make a portrait of him and some MPW lady tells me he's too busy. After a pause though she say's he's got a few moments while she runs an errand. So he let's me make a portrait of him. He was extremely nice and told me some funny stories. I was able to make three images with my Lubitel before the woman returned to sweep him off to his next engagement. I sent him and image back up to his studio in NYC and he sent a thank-you letter back. It said, "Thank you for an interesting portrait." [Italics mine].

Here's the same image processed through some wacky Japanese website. You select your image from the browse box and click on the blue button underneath. And there you have it... instant old-time photo.

I'm off to meet my nutritionist now.


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Last night I heard the wonderful news that the university as decided to hire Kathy P. as the Printmaker. They couldn't have made a finer choice. She's a fantastic artist and educator. The students will be well-served by her.

Here's another image from my "Chair" series... an unexpected bonus. I had set up to shoot a woman who worked in the kitchen at the MPW. I was all set up when Mary Ellen Mark walked by me. I asked her if she'd pose in my chair. Her response was that she was too busy and continued to walk on. I thought to myself, "She's pretty much a bitch! How does she get all the great portraits she makes"? About that time she comes back around a corner and asks if I'm ready. I tell her I am and she sort of slunk into the chair. Luckily, I had just made a light reading and after asking if she was ready, *clicked* off this one shot. She immediately got up and went about her business.

All 13 of us in the work-study program traded lots of images over our seven-week stint as slave-labor for the MPW. This was my #1 trader.

I go to the doctor today. I have to tell him I am losing my job and my benefits. That, and he has three months to cure all that ails me. (Good luck with that Dr. B.)!


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I'm reading a new book.

And for those of you that swing the other way, I've included this other picture from my "Chair" series.

I spent some time up at the lab last night. Students were working on their projects and I stopped in to help a little... plus I wanted to show off Fang's new haircut.

I also visited the neighbor's across the street from me. I gave them an image (not this one!) of my work. I felt I owed them a print for taking the snow blower to my driveway when it was snowing like a mo-fo. It was a nice chat.

Ta-da! Blatant frontal nudity has arrived on my blog. This is from my "Chair" series that I did as a work-study student at the Maine Photographic Workshops (now called the Maine Media Workshops). Up until this point, I had no idea photographers worked in series. I just thought they snapped images as they pleased with no thought as to why? they were *clicking* the shutter. At first, I couldn't get anyone to cooperate with me on the series. But as the images began to manifest themselves, people came out of the woodwork to have an image made of them.

I'm planning on giving a presentation of my work very soon. I'm glad I found these so that I can include them.


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Lookie, lookie... another teepee. You'd think that I have some kind of strange fascination for such things....

Drove the Datsun over the Sardine yesterday. It needs to go back to the shop. The rig has zero power... and still stalls out. I'm sure it needs to be re-jetted.

I'd like to go for a motorcycle ride today... it's lovely outside today! Maybe ride over to Bear Lake and then cross over back into Preston.


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Good Afternoon. I was going to shoot in SLC today but remembered that I needed to do my Utah State Tax Return. *YAWN*

So, now that I've dilly-dallied around most of the morning working on pictures and drinking Cuban coffees, I'm ready to address the task at hand... except there's a football game going on down at LHS that I want to watch. Maybe me & Fang will ride down on Heidi and watch a little.

Me and David weren't able to get the Falcon running yesterday because the parts shop sold me the wrong part. Bastards!

Okay, off to watch some football. The Hell with taxes!


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A pinhole image of one of the country's many Paul Bunyans... most are in Minnesota.

My iTunes player seems to be unable to play UPR anymore. I'm bummed. It plays a stupid one second intro then goes to a song instead of the radio stream. Stupid computers!

Not much going on today. Class, then maybe a movie tonight. Who knows. Maybe I'll just stay in (not unlikely) and scan old negs.


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Here's an old image of a building near Henefer. I remember making this image and thinking to myself, "Self, this bad boy is going to collapse. So if you don't take a picture now, you ain't going to get no picture." So I made the photo. And Lo! And behold, the next time I went by it, it was down to the ground.

Yesterday, I got called to work basketball at the rec center. Luckily (for me) it was women's league and not prep ball. Both the games were easy to work.

My Datsun is fixed. It just needed to be re-timed. I'm thinking of riding my bicycle down to get it. It's on the other side of town but it'll be a nice ride, especially with the weather improving like it is.

After class today, I'm helping Amy B. cut window mats for some of her Holga work. She's submitting the work for a scholarship. She's a star and I hope the committee realizes it when they see her work.

I had to walk home last night because I couldn't get Heidi to start up. So, of course, it's snowing today. It serves her right that she'll have to sit in the snow all day today.


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Darren will recognize this sign... and know its location. Me and my Dad used to go fishing in Eastern Washington every year. And every year we'd past this sign. I've probably got a dozen different photos of this thing! I've been scanning old negs and found variation #13... which ain't much different from the other twelve.

Fang seems to be a bit under the weather today. Not even listening to Alice's Restaurant could bring him out of it. Maybe a nice nap will do the trick.

I had originally planned on going to SLC to photograph anti-graffiti today but my plans changed. Instead, I slept in late, drank coffee and cleaned my kitchen.

Later, I rode out of town and got some plants for a Lumen print. I doubt it will turn out worth a damned but I needed to make one just to see how it works. I got plans for others when I understand the technique better.

After that, I went to Dave's to change the alternator in the Falcon. We changed it but the generator light remained on! Dammit! Tomorrow his mechanic is going to look at it and see if he can solve the riddle.

My new favorite cartoon is Garfield Minus Garfield. It's so much funnier without him!

Last night was the gallery walk. I saw some nice work. Particularly some nice Photography by Adam P.. It was also great to see the work that Trisha H.'s students created. Some very nice work indeed. (By both the students & the teacher)! Fang enjoyed touring the galleries as well. He saw a toy poodle in heat but she was too stuck-up to let him have his way with her.

Now it's time to get ready to work a football game. Afterward, I'll head over to Hubba's to watch the NCAA games.

Hmmmm.... Teepees/Wigwams seem to be a theme of late.

Me and my good friend, Hubba, have a softball game today in Logan. It should be pretty fun. I, personally, am trying to get enough games in to recoup my dues and all. Most of the games are played on Tuesday/Thursday and I have Photo History at the same time.

This morning, my kids are doing their toner test. It's two hours of controlled anarchy. I have to get up to school a bit earlier than usual to set everything up.

When I get done, I'm going home and taking a nap... after I pay my bills.


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So my softball game yesterday went like candy. Just as I had expected, it was just like riding a bicycle.

I'm finding myself losing my ambition for my students and for teaching my classes. There's no thrill in watching them succeed, no trill in watching them learn the greats of Photography and showing them images by those same great Photographers. It sucks. I never should have left Portland.

So, I'm thinking I'll look for a 'joe job' for a while and if I don't like living in Cache Valley (becauseI won't have anything to do with the college), I'll sell my house and move again. Probably back East to Maine or Vermont.

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Ah, the good ol' days. Traveling around with no money & no cares. Could be happening again.

Here's another older image I made years ago. I remember trying to print this photo with little success but through the power of Photoshop and a nice scanner I've had a little better luck this go-round. I also played around with the duotone feature and turned it into this tritone photograph.

I listening to the M's game... it's 1:1 right now. I could really go to bed but the game is a gem and I don't want to miss the end of it. Both the M's and the Rangers have had their chances but both defenses have been big along with clutch pitching.

Tomorrow I'm working a fastpitch game for the first time in ten years. I can't say I'm excited. Mostly, I need the money. The guy I'm working with is new so it should be exciting.

{Texas has just gone ahead 2:1}

Okay, enough for now.