An Insolent Southern Man

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.

 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.

One of the most commonly asked questions I get about backpacking is "Where do you sleep?" For me personally, about 80% of the time, I sleep in shelters which have wooden sleeping platforms. The rest of the time, I'm in a tent. I have been known to bivy out on the open ground once and a while, but that's really a rare thing with me these days.

First of all, I hope everyone had a good Christmas. I know I did. Second, we got a new griddle, but I didn't make French toast over the weekend when it snowed. (If that doesn't make any sense, then you need to go back and read here.)

Okay, I know it doesn't sound all that grand, but she said that all she wanted was an under-the-cabinet mounted can opener. She told me this a week before Christmas. I've been to 38 stores in 3 cities in two separate states. I've called about a dozen more. Even the Black & Decker outlet store doesn't have them. What am I to do? I hate giving gift cards. To me, giving someone a gift card is like saying, "Hey. Merry Christmas and all that. Here's how much you're worth to me." If the gift isn't called for or expected, then a gift card will suffice. I don't think you should give your mom a gift card as a primary gift for Christmas. If you disagree, then that's fine. I just don't feel like it's something I could do.

I guess this is my official review of it. I honestly hate the back end of Blogger. Yeah, it's simple and clean, easy to understand and navigate, but it's boring and bland. I hate having to hit "preview" to see what my post will look like. I've tried coming around with it, but as of late, I was writing posts in MS Word and then copying and pasting them into the oh-so-boring Blogger UI. That really didn't solve any problems or help me get over my annoyances, but it I did it anyway.

Recently, I've noticed that all I seem to do is hang out on Facebook. It's to the point that I think it's become a real problem for me. So, in order to take back my life via self discipline, I've decided to opt out of it for a while. To explain myself, I kind of went through the whole thought process as if I were interviewing myself. It's kind of kooky, but it works.

I read a blog every day posted by the caretakers at the lodge on top of Mt LeConte in the Smokies. During the warmer months, the lodge is open to the public. They take reservations for people that wish to hike up and spend the night there. I think a shared bunkhouse that will sleep four will set you back about $100 or so, but good luck getting a spot. From what I understand, it's in such demand, that a lottery is how they decide who gets to stay.

Before you get knee deep in this post, I do realize that I just posted yesterday about an app on the iPhone that makes taking photos easy and fun, and that today's post somewhat contradicts that. But the difference is that there aren't people taking events, weddings, and portrait sessions away from hard working professionals by rushing out and buying the Hipstamatic app for the iPhone. (At least none that I know of...)

Take a look at this exceptionally misleading commercial:


More and more people are rushing out to their local Best Buy stores and buying SLR cameras, only to be using them in full automatic mode, with plastic kit lenses, and of course... not having a clue how to use them. Worse yet, they're buying higher end cameras like the 5D Mark II. All because of commercials like these and sales floor people that don't know the products their selling, combined with the American need to have the newest product available. No matter what - we gotta beat them Joneses!

I know of a couple of people that within the last year, just jumped out and bought high end cameras without any knowledge about photography at all. They just simply like taking bar or beach photos with their point and shoots, and they thought that an SLR would take them to that next level. A few weeks later, they're calling around to their friends with real experience, looking for the Richard Avedon button. Problem is, there isn't one. Learning how to use an SLR takes a lot of time, especially if you're just getting started. Aperture, shutter speed, white balance, ISO, all of these things are important in good photography. No auto mode is going to get you there without a LOT of luck.

What's worse is when you take someone like this and get them into Photoshop. Then things can get down right funny. It almost always happens too. They'll go out, buy and expensive camera, and when the photos don't turn out like they thought they would, they immediately assume it needs to be run through the gauntlet in Photoshop. Before long, the masterpiece is a haloed, over-saturated, over-sharpened piece of HDR crap that they'll post on Flickr, and a hundred other idiots that also don't know any better will ooh and ah over until our budding photographer is convinced that they're doing the right thing.

I've got more opinions about Flickr. I have a love/hate relationship with that site. I'll save that for another day.

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 Well, here I am. Let me throw out a disclaimer here first: This blog will have profanity in it. As I intend to complain a lot, and sometimes I get a little heated. This blog will name names. I don't care who you are. This blog will be upfront and honest as I can be about whatever it is I may talk about. With that being said, I'm not an expert, scientist, psychologist, social expert, or anything else for that matter... I'm just a man with opinions. Some count, some (most) don't. I like to think that my ideas and opinions are facts, but we both know that that's not always true...

 Now, without further ado, here's my first post. Enjoy!

 I'm not gonna joke around with you. This blog has been on my mind for months. Hell, I might have even thought of it last year. I can't remember. I do remember posting some garbage on Facebook about it after a day of mowing the grass here at the house.

 I have an 18" Cub Cadet push mower, and it takes me a long time to cut my yard. Therefore, I have lots of time to think about things. Seems like I have some of the best ideas while I'm out there sweating and pushing. I guess mindless work has that effect. Why do I push mow my lawn? Because the riding mower broke a long time ago, and I don't have the time or the inclination to fix it.

 Anyway, mindless work seems to have that effect on me. I could remember standing in front of the CNC machine at work, watching it and thinking about something completely unrelated. Over the last couple of years, I've been working part time at a local grocery store, and I'd have days where I'd come up with some of the best ideas while I was stocking the shelves.

 The worst part was forgetting the idea by the time I got home. I'm not talking about coming home and trying to remember what it was that I thought of in the first place, I'm talking about NEVER thinking about it again. Like, it never happened, gone...

 I thought I had cured that stigma when I got an iPhone. I signed up and downloaded Evernote, but the problem there is that the app is so damn sketchy, and it takes too long to do anything in it. I often found myself on an aisle in the store, fiddling with my phone, trying desperately to record a thought, only to have a customer walk by and ask me where the sour cream or the Ziploc bags were. By then, the thought or idea was gone. Or, if it wasn't, then it would be by the time I got my phone back out and waited on Evernote's slow user interface to wake up and work for me. Worse, I'd be caught by a manger messing with the phone while I was supposed to be working.

 So why are our minds like this? Why is it that I can sit around this house with a broken leg, all the free time in the world, and can't come up with a decent idea like I could if I were engaged in a mindless task? If you know the answer, or this happens to you, feel free to explain or share your thoughts in the comments section.

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