Occupation of Independence

The other day my dog was patiently waiting for me to finish in the coffee shop. She amused herself by collecting one human scalp after another. Her last victim was a girl of age 8. How that little girl glowed as she petted the dog! I couldn't take my eyes off of both of them. Although I will probably have a clear memory of this moment the rest of my life, it would have been great to photograph. But how?  The glass window was in the way, and if I had gone outside, wouldn't the mere presence of a camera have provoked self-consciousness in the girl, and therefore ruined the moment? People who are good at 'magic moment' photographs involving people and animals must have quite a bag of tricks. The only trick I can think of is to have a telephoto lens which lets you move away to a safe, non-intrusive distance. Obviously you must not talk to the subjects and try to coax them into a fake pose. Actually the charm is not all in the subject. Much of it resides in the invis

If you spend any time surfing the travel blogo/vlogosphere on the internet, you will notice the frequent use of the word 'adventure.' Too frequent, I am afraid. Do these people think they are the equivalent of, say, Ferdinand Magellan, as he probed for a route around the southern tip of South America? from Stratfor The modern 'adventurer' travels in bourgeois comfort, luxury, and security, to a degree unimaginable to travelers of 50 years ago. They use the internet to spoonfeed 'how to' advice to newbies on the tiniest challenges of travel. Soon the newbie has found a (linkbait oriented) website that tells them where to camp, how many solar panels they need, and how and where to poop. On and on it goes. And yet, they keep using the word 'adventure' to describe what they are doing.  Of course some of the blabbermouths on the internet are not doing it for linkbait income. They genuinely believe they are being nice guys in helping other peopl

Most people have had a terrible experience like this several times in their lives: they decide to 'let the professional do it' and look forward to a relaxing experience, albeit an expensive one; things start slowing down to a crawl; the professionals don't even communicate with the customer so the delay seems open-ended. The customer would be patient if they knew it was going go take a certain number more days. But they aren't being told that. The sheer indeterminacy of the project starts driving the customer crazy. I had that happen to me lately in getting a hitch installed on my new tow vehicle, a van. It was humbling to realize that all of the books I've read in my life didn't seem to help at all. Theology, philosophy, history...what good is any of it!  from Grammar Zone Instead, I fell back on old adages like, 'A watched pot never boils,' and 'If you want something done right, do it yourself.' So I kept looking for more ways to st

I almost started with an apology to the reader for writing about a topic addressed a couple weeks ago, despite it being a wonderful topic: why don't some pleasures and enjoyments wear out? I concluded that it was their recurring nature, after a suitable rest, that ensured their long life. And it happened again! The damp sky of the last couple days cracked open. What deserves the most praise? The fractured drama of a partly cloudy sky? Or cool, dry air? Or the crispness of renewed blue sky, set behind rugged mountains with a fresh smattering of snow?  But let's be clear: it is not static prettiness that I am praising here. It is the disappearance, contrast, temporary loss, and glorious restoration that are being praised. So I come to the same conclusion as the earlier post, and what is so bad about that? Why should this blog be in the novelty-chasing business, like the rest of the electronic media?