egypt in a month...

and I'm not nearly ready... so much to do... at least the blog is up and running. I hope it's not blacklisted when I get there. hrm. need to work on setting up a proxy for myself. or at least TOR. Chelsea



Clouds:

more ringlight

  

Agents of the Fisc...

"
The piers are pummelled by the waves;
In a lonely field the rain
Lashes an abandoned train;
Outlaws fill the mountain caves.

Fantastic grow the evening gowns;
Agents of the Fisc pursue
Absconding tax-defaulters through
The sewers of provincial towns.

Private rites of magic send
The temple prostitutes to sleep;
All the literati keep
An imaginary friend.

Cerebrotonic Cato may
Extol the Ancient Disciplines,
But the muscle-bound Marines
Mutiny for food and pay.

Caesar’s double-bed is warm
As an unimportant clerk
Writes I DO NOT LIKE MY WORK
On a pink official form.

Unendowed with wealth or pity,
Little birds with scarlet legs,
Sitting on their speckled eggs,
Eye each flu-infected city.

Altogether elsewhere, vast
Herds of reindeer move across
Miles and miles of golden moss,
Silently and very fast.

"
—

ALSO I NEED TO READ MORE AUDEN.

W. H. Auden (via theraddest)

about shooting film

So these are the last images from that night of the blues saloon, the night of the party, only a couple nights before I would decide it was time for a detox.

It’s funny, but my camera has been away at the service facility in El Segundo, CA, and I’ve been using a film camera to get my fix. The shooting is very different. A lot of people will talk about the different qualities of the images, the grain structure, all of that, but something I really like is how few pictures there are on a roll. You get to be way more critical of what you’re shooting, what you see; instead of hitting the button and then looking to see what I can do better, I find myself making those checks (frame edges, composition, etc.) before I click the shutter.

Another thing: developing film is the closest thing to magic us mere mortals can do. Roll the film onto the developing reels in the dark, then put on the lid, turn on the lights, and run it through the developer (FG-7, if you care), the stop bath, and the fixer, and then you can pull out the negatives and see all of your pictures at once. It’s the most boring regular process ever, but at the end you have these perfect little jewels, full of potential. Anyway, look for some shots from film here soonish.