Not much to post

Just this great video of a Nirvana cover:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsS811o21-k&mode=related&search=

This version is approximates how I am feeling today.

Where the Twain Shall Meet

Toe,
I love you, man. These reminiscences are very poignant. I do remember that story, but it is good to hear again. Man, I think you can polish that story up and publish it as a brief memoir, or make it a This American Life segment--there is something so lovely about spending 80% of your available fortune on a camera for your husband.

I understand your desire to master the film-photography camera. There are things you can do with them that, although they might be simulated in photoshop or whatever, are not really the same when done digitally. I don't know much about it, but I do know that much. You should take a photography class, once you are through with your degree.

I'm sorry to hear about El's grandfather. My condolences on his passing. It's good that she is able to fly home to be with the family. I can only imagine that international separation must be hard, for both of you.

I enjoyed seeing you last week. I had fun strolling CT Avenue and trash-talking during pool. We were so focused on trashing each other, when really, all we wanted to do was trash the right-leaning frat boys surrounding us. Ach.

My trip back to the American mid-section was good. Being home again, and working, is nice. Well, mostly. Work is driving me nuts, as usual, and I need to leave town again tomorrow for the day just to check up on a client's interests. (Phrasing it that way makes it sound 20 times more exciting and lucrative than it actually is. Flash to me driving a rented Impala at 15 mph behind a John Deere tractor on a flat, straight country road...)

It's back to work for me. Hope your new job is going well.
E-word

Starting a landslide in my ego

E-word,

It was great seeing you last week. Thanks for putting up with my weirdness, it's been a long couple of weeks what with school and work piling around my ears.

My parents owned a Canon F-1, and I remember this camera very fondly. There is a funny story that goes along with this camera, and I'm sure I've told it before, but I'll tell it again.

My father came to the US in 1969 to start grad school, and a year later my mother and older brother followed him out there. Richard Nixon didn't make it easy for foreigners back then. My mother was allowed to bring about 500 dollars into the states, and that was it, and my father was not allowed to have a job.

Anyway, my father asked my mother to buy a camera in the Tokyo airport on her way from Seoul to the US. At this time, Canon released a single lens reflex camera called the F-1 in Japan. It would be released in the US in 1971. Anyway, my mom bought this camera, spending nearly 400 dollars of the 500 she could bring to the US.

I think it freaked my dad out at first, but now it's a good story. Anyways, I loved that camera, and have been feeling very nostalgic for that camera today.

It's been a weird weekend. El's grandfather passed away two days ago, and El flew to Seoul yesterday. I got a new job, and I'm reminiscing about the beautiful photos my family took back in the old days. You know, I never think about filters and all the different effects that came with cameras back then, but I am now suddenly very interested. I want to get that old camera, and learn more about film photography. I think about having a family, and lugging a tripod around for family trips. I don't want to take photographs with a digital camera, I want to take the sometimes ridiculous effort to set up shots with a film camera.

I really feel nostalgic for that camera. My parents were first generation Americans, and growing up we really didn't have nice stuff sitting around the house. The exception was that beautiful old F-1. When taking photos, that camera made the most satisfying click ever. I remember the bristly sounding tick of the timer winding down, and the electric hum of the flash while it charged for another photo.

The camera also made me think of money, and as we got older, we use the money we make to capture those times. Maybe that's not wholly accurate, but we are using money to capture something.

Lots of thoughts today. For the last two years I haven't had time for hobbies really. I've become more interested in fashion, sure, but for the most part I've been totally absorbed by work and school.

And speaking of which, I probably should get back to doing school work. The semester is almost over. It's time to buckle down again.

Love,

Toe