An Insolent Southern Man

I've been in a funk since 2009...

Every year, around my birthday, I do a bit of introspection. I look at where I am now and where I've been over the last few years, and I always try to add in where I want to be in the next few years. This year, I found myself stuck in the same holding pattern that I've been in for the last couple of years. It seems like it's been a slow moving, downward spiral that was leading to a place that I wasn't sure I wanted to go. Yeah, I could have held on for a couple more years. Maybe my luck would have changed. Maybe not.

My wife and I made a five year plan when we got married. So far, none of what we planned on doing has happened. It's been all my fault too. I've been sitting back, waiting on a career in photography to take off. I've had the technical skills, all the gear needed, and I've had lots of practice. I've even had the endorsement of some pretty hefty names in the business. At the end of the day though, if you're not making money with it, you might as well have been bagging groceries the whole time.

So, after some thought, I decided to give it up. I've already sold the bulk of my gear, with what's left going up on e-bay very soon. I've decided to go back to work doing whatever will pay well, and will give me at least a 40 hour work week.

Does punching a clock and working for someone else suck? Yes. Does having a talent for photography and not making a dime suck even more? Yes. Yes, it does.

Along with these changes, I've decided to take back my life. I've decided to get outside more, and spend less time on social media. I bought a mountain bike, and I've decided to start riding more. I'm going to start eating right and getting in bed at a decent hour too. Baby steps... But at least it's a start.



Changes to this blog are coming as well. In fact, it's probably going away entirely. The whole idea of me being an insolent man was because I complained about so much for so long. Not anymore. I'd rather try and take back control and be in a much better mental as well as physical state than where I've been over the last few years.

As soon as I can, I'd like to get another, more inviting blog up. One that charts my progress and covers my hikes, travels, and rides... things that are far more important than me whining and complaining. As soon as it's up and running, I'll post a link here.

In the meantime. It's late. I'm going to bed. Work in the morning, riding in the afternoon/evening. Y'all take care.

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There are over 800 miles of trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Not all of them have a pretty waterfall, a high mountain vista, or even some historical reason to get out on them. But if you're going to hike all 800+ miles, then you have to hit all the trails - even when they don't present anything upfront. In all honesty, this was a pretty boring loop. If for some weird reason I should ever decide to walk it again, I’ll walk it in a clockwise direction instead of the direction we went. I’d highly recommend anyone interested in going on this loop do the same thing.  I also don’t recommend carrying trekking poles either – at least until trail crews clear out the big blow-down on Scott Mtn. Trail.

In almost every guidebook and park trail map, there’s a section that tells you to take a raincoat, no matter what the season. In cooler weather, I consider it a must. Getting wet and then being cold can lead to hypothermia, and that’s never good. For summer hikes though, I’ve left the jacket in the car a time or two; especially in the lower elevations during hot, muggy summer days. To be honest, I did have it with me for this hike, and I seriously doubt it would have done me a lot of good though. This was a cloudburst. I’ve been out in rain before, but this was ridiculous. I’ve taken showers and not gotten so wet.

I used to be the proud owner of a 2000 Honda Civic Ex coupe. My car was manufactured in September of 1999, and I bought it brand new in December. When I got it, it had something like 60 miles on it. I paid $16,000 for it.

I'm still here. I've had a lot of nothing going on, and I've been meaning to blog some, but I'm lazy and don't think about it until it seems like it's too late. Once I feel like things are too old to blog about, I just lose interest in posting about it. A buddy of mine told me that it's better to blog about old news and keep the blog going as opposed to not blogging and losing interest in it altogether.

 So, what I decided to do was to go ahead and write the posts anyway. So, you're probably going to get a ton of post here in the next week that are really catch up posts that should have been distributed over the last several weeks. Sorry for the long delay. Here's what some of the posts will be about:

We got a new car.
I sold my old car.
I've been on a couple of hikes.
We had a  Flickr meet in Athens.
I've jumped on to 500px and my landscape photos will soon be available there.
Oh, and I made some birdhouses out of plastic coffee containers.

If we're contacts on Twitter or Facebook, then you've probably already heard or seen what some of these will be about. Nonetheless, you'll get the full story here instead of 140 characters worth. =)

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Maybe you live in some other country where gas is already way more expensive than it is here in the US. Maybe you live in another part of the US where it's more expensive than it is here. If you're in one of those places, then you've probably already seen this happening, and hopefully, you've taken necessary steps to help protect yourself. I live in the southeastern US, and gas is close to $4.00 a gallon now. In a place where unemployment is sky high, and money is ridiculously tight, gas theft is becoming more and more rampant.

Alright photographers, (That is - if there's any left reading my blog after the junk from a week or so ago...)

Let me ask you a question:

Have you ever seen a contest where a photographer uses other photographers' works to promote their own business?

After mistaking the neighbor's donkey for a Tusken Raider's war cry tonight, I came to the following conclusion:

Tusken Raiders would make terrible neighbors.

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Okay, so the last post got some people good and pissed at me. Am I an a$$hole? Maybe.Yeah...okay. I am. So what? I'm just laying it out as I see it. It's only an opinion - my point of view. And since it's my gear at stake, it's the one that matters at this particular time. Calling me an a$$hole over an e-mail or text message really isn't going to remedy the situation, or help you with your dilemma of needing gear that you don't have.

 Borrowing a cup of sugar, a shovel, even my lawnmower is one thing... Borrowing my camera is another.

Lately there's been a rash of folks asking to borrow photography gear from me. Now before I go off sounding like an a$$hole, let me be upfront - I will loan out gear to friends in need. Heck, I've borrowed a few items from other photographers myself. But here lately, it's been getting out of hand. Add in the fact that money is really, REALLY  tight in my house right now, and you've got me feeling a little on the stingy side. So, I'm sorry if I come across as a douche when you ask to borrow a list of my expensive camera equipment that I barely had the money to buy in the first place, and I tell you "no."

I used to have a plan. It was only a couple of years ago, but it seems like it was forever ago. Nonetheless, I had a plan.

A couple of weekends ago, I did my first backpacking trip since last year’s broken leg. At first, Marcus and I were going to go to the Smokies, but the recent rise in gas prices had us looking for somewhere closer. We ended up going to the Panther Creek trail, which is in the Chattahoochee National Forest in Habersham County, GA. I’ve walked this trail a couple of times from each end, but it has been at least a decade since my last trip here. (When I realized this, I suddenly realized how old I’m getting to be.)

As many of you may already know, I broke my leg in September of 2010, and I was unable to walk up until just before Christmas. As soon as I was able to get up and about, I did as much as I could to get myself to the point where I could simply return to working at the grocery store again. It was only about three weeks ago that I returned to work, but I haven’t had too many problems so far. There are some days when there’s a little swelling in my lower leg, but not so much that I’m in pain or freaking out about it. The worst part is the dry patch of skin between the surgical incisions that itches like crazy from time to time. Also, I don’t have  full strength in my leg. In fact, there’s a noticeable difference in size between the good one and the weaker one.

Hey folks. I'm having a rough start to 2011. I won't be posting much over the coming weeks. If you pray, I could definitely use some prayers over the next month and a half or so.