been a while...    2005-08-08 19:02:50 ET
first, thanks to all who offered photo editing program advice. i was able to get a copy of photoshop 7.0 today. i installed it and started to play only to be overwhelmed immediately. this will be a fun challenge!

i took a nice little trip sunday morning to keller home place, a plantation in hahnville, la, about 30 minutes from new orleans. it was built in 1790 and surely has had work done but not in a very long time. it's dilapadated, peeling paint and wallpaper, filth, weak floors, old furnature left in places, has a broken down barn and an extremely broken down pigeon house, a well, and the bottom was wine cellars but i could not go in that part. it was wonderful!

the photographer had shot there often so he was able to offer some insight into the place. when i walked in i immediately imagined ghosts but he said this was one of the few plantations that there were no records of hauntings or ghost sightings for. i was disappointed!

he told me a story that i'm not sure i buy, but i'll pass it on. he said a friend of him a while back was shooting at another plantation with a girl. they were the only two there. when the photos were developed there was another girl in the picture in the background...wearing full plantation garb...and she had no face. the facelessness chilled me regardless of the veracity. maybe when i get good at this editing thing i'll made a piece of digital art that represents that.

 photo editing programs?    2005-07-22 17:13:13 ET
I spent the last 3.5 hours editing photos for my modeling portfolio. I really don't know what the hell I'm doing, but if I don't do it, a lot of times no one does. (Why the fuck would you fly somewhere to shoot someone, pay them money, and never use the images for anything?) All I have is PhotoImpression by ArcSoft. I thought about getting Photoshop Elements 2.0 because it's pretty cheap used on Amazon.com but after reading some reviews I don't see much of a difference in the two programs. I sure as hell can't afford the real Photoshop.

Does anyone have any tips on PhotoImpression...does anyone even use PhotoImpression? Anyone think buying Elements is worthwhile?

[Anyone want to give me feedback on my editing? I can't tell if it looks like crap or not, honestly. Personal opinions count...even if you know jack about these sort of things. The images have to appeal to a wide audience, right? The link is picturetrail.com/suigenerisc and the ones that I edited are indicated above the picture where I give credits.]

7 comments

 brief drive through the swamp    2005-07-22 07:07:52 ET
I had a nice moment on Wednesdsay. I was on the road to Baton Rouge, which is about an hour north of New Orleans. There is a long bridge over nothing but swampland which begins under two curving overpasses. I don't believe I noticed them before; they're very futuristic and odd amidst the dead tree trunks and algae. Ahead I could see mist and after a mile or so I drove right into torrential rain, out of nowhere. I left my windows down and got wet and laughed.
4 comments

 everyone was arrogant last night.    2005-07-17 02:15:46 ET
Out at about 7 AM last "night" I got into a conversation about art with a stranger for lack of anything better to do. I would assume he was drunk, although I never actually saw him drink anything. I stopped listening quickly, as the conversation was one of those where the other person doesn't realize you're mocking him, his arrogance, and the fact that he never lets you get a word in--(don't get me wrong--this can be very entertaining, but nothing was much fun last night). Something about his art being his own, fuck everyone else, blah blah blah. Of course, when he heard snips of a gay marriage debate he said, "Two men fucking each other up the ass? That's fucking disgusting, man." In my eyes, that statement contradicts his previous one, which is about him wanting enough respect from others to be able to live his life and do what he loves. Eventually I closed my eyes and ignored him; I had one of those headaches brought on by misplaced compulsive cocaine use brought on by lack of enjoyment and distaste for your company, and the fact that you're wasting perfectly good cocaine on a bad night.



6 comments

 99 rooms and Stephen Kishel    2005-07-14 20:30:38 ET
I did not see much of beauty in the course of my day, which was dominated by life-force-sucking flourescent lights, napping, and fast food.

I did however look for some things online. I will soon be undertaking metal sculpture and I fully aspire to be like this artist: http://www.stephenkishel.com/Gallery.asp
My favorite of his sculptures:

In my long day at "work" Tuesday I came across the most beautiful project: http://99rooms.com/
You should certainly visit this page. It's an interactive mixed media wonder done by a team of German artists. I can't get enough of this surreality. Please tell me what you think of this.
My favorite rooms: 54 and 56

[On an annoying technical note--can anyone tell me how to resize the file size of a picture? For instance, if a picture is 400K, how can I make it 100K so that SK will allow an upload?]
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