something depressing

Here’s something depressing:

I just got up a little bit ago from a too-long nap, so I’m feeling very blah, very grumpy, very down, you know? I had a little coffee, and I’m watching netflix. I tried to find something that wouldn’t be even more depressing. No Christmas movies, no romantic comedies, none of that stuff. So, I decided on some stand-up comedy.

Well, the comedian is talking about how long he went without having sex. Of course, the depressing thing is that I, of course, paused to figure out how long it’s been since I had sex.

A little over 8 years.

No sex…you know, with another person.

Yep. Depressing.

Okay, there were a couple of people I sort of fooled around with a couple of times in the past 8 years, but no real sex. No real “consummation”. And I haven’t even fooled around with anyone in a little over 3 years.

Whew. Happy Holidays. So much to be thankful for, and celebrate, and whatever. 

Yeah, I’m not even trying. There seems no point. 

(hashtag-I-hate-my-life)

X-mas day plans

I was thinking that if I can go to bed (and actually go to sleep) at a decent hour tonight, and get up in the morning, have a little coffee and get myself going (and not feel like crap the way I often do in the mornings), maybe I’ll go out and take some pictures of streets &/or buildings.

It’ll be Christmas day, so there’ll be less people out there going to work or school or whatever. They’ll be inside their homes with their families enjoying the big group orgasm at the end of the month-long orgy of commercialism which is “the holiday season”. (Yes, yes…call me “Grinch” or “Scrooge” or whatever. I am. Though, also, it is morning and I’m in one of those crappy moods I mentioned. Otherwise I might be more generous or polite in my description of Christmas.)

Maybe I’ll end up with some interesting photos. I’m just not entirely sure where to go for this idea. Downtown Greensboro? Or someplace that (I assume) will have empty parking lots? If you have a suggestion, please make it.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

Oh, I guess my other plan tomorrow will to be open the box of gifts my mom sent. It’s usually mostly various grocery items—nuts, candy, some kind of flavored rice mix, “instant” muffin mix (just add water and bake), stuff like that—each wrapped in Christmas paper. Also, this year, there was a set of 2 skillets. I know this because they were not wrapped, and I had told my mom instead of the normal kinds of stuff she sends, a new pan was something I could actually use. Since they weren’t wrapped, and since I needed them, I’ve been using them since the day after the annual Christmas care package arrived. Not that being wrapped would necessarily stop me. Usually I open everything pretty-much right away or just whenever I felt bored. For some reason this year I didn’t feel like unwrapping all that stuff…so far. Maybe I’ll do it tonight.

Anyway…

Bah. And humbug. And make suggestions as to where I might go to take pictures tomorrow morning. 

That resolution I made

I just got in from a 45-minute walk around my neighborhood with my camera. I didn't see anything that I wanted to photograph. Maybe there's just not much here. Or maybe it's the fact that I've walked around enough that I'm bored with what IS here. Or, maybe it's something to do with the dull brown-ness of everything, and the overcast, grey, winter-ish light making everything look uninteresting. Or maybe it's something to do with my just being tired today. I foolishly stayed up ‘til 5AM watching stuff on the Netflix, then got up about 4½ hours later.  

Anyway, I haven't taken a picture of anything yet today. So far, since I posted a little over a week ago about my “resolution” to try to take an interesting or different or at least decent picture every day, I have succeeded in taking pictures every day.

I’m not sure what to photo this evening. Maybe I’ll end up doing some of my sort of standard, moody, nude self-portraits. But that’s not different and probably not interesting, considering I’ve done probably a few hundred pictures like that in the past few years. 

Maybe I just need a little nap, then I’ll wake up refreshed and ready to create some art here in my apartment tonight. Though if I do nap, I’ll likely either not really sleep at all or sleep for about 2 hours and wants to sleep more, then finally get up and feel crappy ‘til midnight or so, just when I “get my second wind” and want to stay up ‘til 5AM again. 

Yet another blog?

So, I’m thinking maybe I should start another blog with just people. (Yes, that’s right, yet another blog.) This would be just models I’ve photographed, and MAYBE a few of my better self-portraits. 

My general photography blog (my-photog-blog.blogspot.com) would still be buildings and trees and whatever other stuff, but I guess maybe not people(?). I already removed the nudes from that blog, so people could view it without worrying that they might see a bare breast or genitalia (oh no!!!!). But, my naked blog (my-naked-blog.blogspot.com) is overwhelmingly pictures of me. And, of course, some folk find that problematic (see: “So, what happened with City Arts?”and “So what happened to Mississippi?”) 

Maybe this is just my tendency to want things to be organized. But, basically, I’m thinking it would be good to have a place I can direct people—potential models—to see a bunch of pictures I’ve taken of people without having to wade through all the other stuff (and all the self-portraits). 

Anybody got a suggestion for what I should call this new blog? Maybe it should go a long with the names I’ve used for my other blogs: “My Photog Blog”; “My Naked Blog”; “My Blog o’ Rants”. “My Model Blog” sounds wrong—more like it’s the blog of a model. And “My People Blog” seems just not right. Maybe I should just go simpler, like “My Models”? So, please, if you have a suggestion, make it right away, ‘cause I’ll probably do this later today. Or at least I’ll get started on it. 

Ronnie Landfield (artist)

So, I just did this on the facebook:

This is a game to keep art alive. “Like” this status, and I will assign you an artist. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know their work; just Google them and choose an image which you like most by the artist, and post it on your wall with this message.

I got Ronnie Landfield. I was not familiar with him, so I looked him up.

Ronnie Landfield (b.1947, the Bronx, NY) 

Here’s his website: ronnielandfield.com

It was sort of tricky, as I do not like much of anything by this painter.

He started out briefly in a Picasso-esque vein, then shifted into minimalism (lines and rectangles, very geometric). By the late 60s, he was pretty firmly into the style he’s been working for the past 40+ years. It’s a style I just do not care for: messy blocks or areas of moody colors; sometimes looking like strangely-colored landscapes with no details, sometimes more like a sort of thermal imaging of some geographical area; and sometimes it look more like someone spilled a couple of different colored waters onto a canvas.

I’m not trying to be mean, just trying to describe his work. Anyway, I don’t care for it. Obviously it’s a case of what I prefer more than the artistic merit of his work. I’m generally not all that into strictly non-representational work.

The picture I posted is one of a few early representational works that I thought were alright.

Here’s a sampler of Ronnie Landfield’s work:

Nude Woman in Park (1962)

(This is the one I picked for the facebook.)

Face of Man (1962)

Crayon on Paper (1964)

Bob's Gap (1966)

The Howl of Terror (1967)

Nashville (1969)

Magician's Breath (1971)

Wizard of August (1978)

Night of Tears (1985)

Going to Montana (1989)

At Daybreak (1992)

High Country (2000)

Angels in the Morning (2002)

Spirit Past Spirit Present (2009)

I resolve...?

I’m not really a New Years’ Resolution sort of guy. But, I’m thinking next year I may try this: take a different picture every day. Or maybe try to capture at least one good picture that I really like every week.

Something like that.

I will be looking for ideas. Suggestions. These might be concepts or places or items. Or people—if anyone wants a decent picture of themselves, I’d be happy to try to take it.

Mainly, I just want ideas of things I’ve not photographed before, or maybe ideas of how to approach in a different way something (or someone) I have photographed. Not just the same stuff I’ve been doing. 

Actually, New Year’s is about 20 days away. Honestly, I’m more inclined to start tomorrow. So…send me your ideas. Or invite me to some location. Or come by my place and pose for me. Or all of the above.