Escape

Years ago, when I still lived in Baltimore, I had a chance to go back and visit the ol' homestate of Florida. In fact, I got to go back to Tampa and visit old friends again. My friend G. took me to a concert in St. Pete-she'd gone to school with the lead singer and here they were playing locally! Cool.

As many singers do, he told a few stories about this and that. I remember in particular his story of an Offspring song that started with "La-la-lalala" (btw-if anyone can remember what the name of that song was, please tell me because I know it but right now I can't effing remember anything except for the La-la-lalala part. And now I'm starting to doubt whether it's even the Offspring. Is it? I think so. How the hell could I forget which song the lala comes from?) and how he would sing that to himself anytime he was upset about something. In his head, he would just sing "La-la-lalala" over and over and it would help him get over it.

At the time, we all laughed because how fun (and funny) is that? Little did I know that man passed on a gem. I actually put it to use very soon afterwards. In fact, I used it on the flight back to Baltimore. You see, as we took off (and everything was cool), I leaned back into my seat, enjoying the takeoff, tired after a good weekend visiting people I actually liked. There was a bit of turbulence, but hell, this is Florida and a few clouds are no big deal. Until the flash of light that is. And the deafening thunderclap that shook the airplane. And the exploding lights on board. Yeah, not too cool. We flew on for a bit, everyone on board wondering, "WTF just happened?"

The pilot's calm voice projected over the speakers..."Ladies and gentlemen. It seems that we've been struck by lightning. (gee! ya think?) We've run some preliminary tests and everything seems to be running normally. Although we could keep on flying, we'd rather not take any chances so we're turning around and heading back to the airport."

Of course, once we landed, they found that they needed to find us another plane (here, let me check my pockets really quick. And where the hell is captain caveman when you need him to pull out an extra plane out of his pocket?) because the one we'd been on was no longer suitable to fly. Lovely. So, we all stood around for a couple of hours while the airline snagged us another airplane to take us happily home.

As we boarded the next plane and I settled into my new seat, everything that had just happened and the possible implications washed over me and I found myself less than calm (not that anybody nearby would have been able to tell, but inside I was freaking the F* out.) And all of a sudden, a little voice in my head started "La-la-lalala. La-la-lalala, La-la-lalalaLa-la-lalala."

And you know? It worked! It did help me calm down. I wasn't totally cool yet so then I started trying to take deep long breaths. Because that is supposed to calm you down, right? Right. Well, it's hard to calm down when your breath refuses to be long and deep and, instead, insists on short and shallow. Hyperventilation anyone? Yeah, that's all I needed right then.

That's when the image popped into my head. I closed my eyes. A lovely tropical island, a few palm trees and sandy beach in the middle of a clear turquoise ocean. And these little waves washing up on shore-slowly building up and then swooshing down and up on the sand. And I started breathing with the waves. Inhaling as the wave slowly built up, and exhaling as it swooshed down and up on the sand, until the next wave started. The image in my mind is close to the one below (different angle, slightly bigger waves but I think you get it, yes?) And it was the perfect mental escape for me then.

The rest of the flight went off without a hitch, but I still remember the song and island. Even today, I find myself sometimes singing "La-la-lalala" to myself and then going to my tropical island and breathing with the waves. I now pass it on. If it works for you in any way, great. After all, couldn't we all use a little escape now and then?

*

Did you all remember to change your clocks? Yep, it's that time of year once again. Though the extra hour of sleep is nice, I prefer springing forward, when the days are getting longer and summer is near. Falling back is, well, just that-falling back. Back into short days. Less daylight. Darkness. Can you tell I'm less than thrilled with this arrangement? Even so, it doesn't change the way things are. Daylight Saving Time is over for this year. So, if you haven't done so yet, set your clocks back one hour. Until March 14 next year.

playing around with HDR photo in B&W

I took these photos on my way back home to Florida. After three years in Cali with many days of cloudless skies, I'm now partially obsessed with clouds-they add a certain flair to images and it's never the same thing twice. I'm also playing with some HDR (high dynamic range) photography-I'm probably doing it wrong but what the hell, I like it. Enjoy.

Slacking? Maybe, maybe not

Well...I've not been posting much at all lately. Apart from looking stuff up on youtube, I've been retreating from cyberland because, fact is, I just haven't felt like putting my energy towards that direction. There are other things to be done, ideas and projects to think about and develop, not to mention just getting off my big fat behind and away from the computer to enjoy life a bit.

The good news is that I've actually got some work right now, which is great! I'm actually working! In my field! And learning as I go along. It's temporary (freelance) and I've got to keep searching the horizon for more after this one is done. That sort of goes with the territory. I've got a few leads and we'll see where things go.

I'll be around, just much less frequently.

tales of driving woes

I've been back in Florida for just over a month now and, as with anything, I realize I had blocked out some of the bad things, but now? Now, I've had some definite refreshments to the memory. Oh yes. Much that I can think of right now has to do with drivers/driving. Seriously, are you at all surprised (especially considering it was in the title and all)?

Unlike Santa Barbara, where most of the self-centered drivers drove the most expensive cars, here it seems to work in reverse-the crappier the car, the more you have to watch out for them as, obviously, the fact that they can't afford a decent car therefore entitles them to act as if they own the streets (and it's painted bright purple just in case you didn't know they were road royalty.) Take for example, the genius that wanted to turn right at the red light. Now, this is normally not a big deal. If there is no oncoming traffic, you can calmly make a turn, from the right hand lane, into the right hand lane. It's not rocket science folks. However, this buttmunch wanted to turn from the right lane into the left lane. Really, it's not that big of a deal, as long as there are no cars (even though the driver's manual will tell you it's a big no-no.) But this guy? What better way to do this than to drive forward across the incoming right lane- and then stop--successfully blocking oncoming traffic. "Oh, hey look! They stopped for me. That must mean I can go!" Seriously, I think back on the scene from Fried Green Tomatoes in which she rams the young girls car a few times and I can't help but think that will be me someday.

Then, there is the perpetual tourist (and it's not even tourist season yet) who has no clue where he/she is going. They break at every street. Stop at anything that seems interesting (I remember them stopping to stare at the golf course when I was in high school.) Nevermind that there are cars behind. No. This does not matter because they seem to have a built in oblivious chip-rendering them oblivious to anyone else that might be on the road. I actually really like when, then, they get all pissy because the chip malfunctions and all of a sudden, they realize they have a line of irritated drivers behind them.

(on a more serious note, this chip seems to be more of a virus-invading more and more people. Since returning, I've heard of at least 3-4 stories of people on foot or on their bikes getting hit by drivers. Many of these are hit and run. Niiiice. 3-4!! In one month!! I actually was at the scene of such an accident once-a drunk woman hit this guy on his bike going 75mph. He never stood a chance.)

Oh, then the next two are somewhat related. The first seems to be a pandemic-unrestricted to geographic location. Why do some people insist on driving in the left lane when their car can barely make the speed limit? Here in PB, there are usually 4 lanes to choose from on the highway, but these folks have got to get in the left hand lanes at any cost! And they don't move either! No, you have got to go around them. Many countries have specific laws against passing on the right but, here, unless you want to drive the rest of the way going 40MPH (and seriously, can you imagine driving down to Miami (80miles away) at 40MPH?), you pass on the right. It's a wild world out there.

Leading to my next gripe, those that pass on the right even though there are two lanes open on the left and little or no traffic on the left. WTF is that? Seriously, I have had people come up behind me when I am toward the right hand lanes, cruising along at my fuddy-duddy 65-70, and they get right up on my bumper. I look and there is plenty of room for them to just go ahead and pass me on the left, but noOoooo!! They have to tailgate me for a few minutes before swerving madly to the right and passing me as if I have soooo inconvenienced them. Oh, yes, I'm so impressed you're an asshole driver (insert exasperated eye roll here. You can't see it, but it's there.)

So, the saga of bad driving continues. I have to admit though, it's good to be home.

Back Home

Three years, 6,000+ miles from just the trip alone and many stories later, I'm back in Florida. 

I arrived yesterday afternoon and I'm getting settled in. The trip will require some re-telling, but for now, I have a ton of things to get done as I sort through all the stuff I've brought with me.  

Here's a little clip from the late and great George Carlin talking about stuff. Enjoy.

Dream I hope doesn't come true

I don't use drugs, my dreams are frightening enough.

M. C. Escher

In the dream, I was somewhere (you know how dreams are-you find yourself somewhere that in real life you have no clue but in the dream it's totally normal that you find yourself in this strange place) and I got out of the car to go and look around. I walked on this little path and came to a beachy area. I saw a photographer doing some testing and measuring. It wasn't a big production, he might have been a student fulfilling an assignment, working alone. Smiling to myself, remembering what that was like, I kept walking.

As I got closer to the water, I looked around. We were at a flat beachy area, but further down, there was almost a cliff-like area and there, I saw people practicing yoga. The sun was shining on them but the black storm clouds behind them really made the scene-contrasting with the sun and their colorful clothes. I ran back to my car to grab my camera and tripod-could't find my camera, or the battery was dead or something weird like that. AAAACK!! Eventually, I got a camera (don't ask, I have no idea how but somehow I got a camera) and grabbed the tripod and ran back to the spot.

That's when I noticed the tripod head was missing. ARGH!! (why I didn't just shoot it hand-held, I don't know, but apparently that wasn't the point of the dream, was it?)

When eventually I got set up to take the picture, I set it all up and the sun was overpowering those storm clouds-my contrast was gone. Sigh. Let down. As soon as I put my camera away, the light changed again and it was what it needed to be. oh, frustrating. It was almost as if it were teasing me (bastard.)

I don't remember whether I ever got the shot or not, what really stuck with me was everything going wrong and that feeling of losing the moment. Grrrr. Who knows, maybe it's a warning for my road trip-make sure everything is ready!