Archive for February, 2008
Test Post
Thursday, February 21st, 2008 | LiveJournal Archives | 1 Comment
This is the first test post to my new WordPress blog. If all has worked correctly, you should also be seeing this post on my LiveJournal as well.
Originally posted at K. Close III
You can comment at kclose3.com
Optical Phenomenon…
Thursday, February 21st, 2008 | LiveJournal Archives | No Comments
…in which I talk about my continuing saga with my glasses
So my lens came in last night and immediately after work we picked up Ansel and headed out to Eyemasters. When we got there, they initially couldn’t even find my lens, but the manager/technician found it right away and said it would only take twenty minutes to install the lens in my glasses (rather than the normal hour). Heather stayed with Ansel in the car to feed him while I read my book in the store. When they gave me my glasses back with the new lens, I felt like nothing had changed. There was a minimal improvement, but nothing that made me feel like I was going to avoid any long term eyestrain. I was actually able to talk to the manager for a bit and described the exact sensation I was suffering and he knew what aspect of the prescription would be to blame and he checked the prescription on the lens. It was spot on the prescription so he didn’t know exactly what the problem could be. I again insisted that the glasses I’ve been wearing for the previous year were perfect and that the new ones were exactly the same, but were causing me all kinds of problems. He finally asked if he could see my old glasses and he checked the prescription of the right lens on them. And here comes the rub. Turns out the prescription on my old glasses was actually wrong! When they made the lenses a year ago, they screwed up and typed a number in the order incorrectly and I’d been wearing the wrong prescription for almost a year. He said that variance in the old lens and the new lens would be entirely responsible for the eyestrain I’ve been suffering. Finally, vindication!
He said that he would not be able to order lenses to match my old ones, he could only go off of the prescription and since thats what I had, he couldn’t do anything about it. He said the only way to correct the problem was to go and get my eyes checked and to bring in a new prescription. Dreading the answer I asked him if I would then have to buy all new lenses to match the new prescription. He explained that their policy includes a sixty day window in which I can get a new eye exam in case the glasses aren’t helping me the way that they should. So now I get to make an eye appointment, get a new prescription that doesn’t cause eyestrain, and get new, new, new, new lenses. Soon, I may be able to see straight once again!
POTD2 #030
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 | LiveJournal Archives | 4 Comments
POTD2 #030
Originally uploaded by Kacey3.
I was able to watch it just up to the half way point before the clouds rolled in.
Yeeauh Booiee!
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 | LiveJournal Archives | 2 Comments
Yeeauh Booiee!
Originally uploaded by Kacey3.
I just can’t get enough of this picture!
POTD2 #029
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 | LiveJournal Archives | 1 Comment
POTD2 #029
Originally uploaded by Kacey3.
New seat at the table
(You better be sure to see all the new Ansel Pictures!)
POTD2 #028
Monday, February 18th, 2008 | LiveJournal Archives | No Comments
POTD2 #028
Originally uploaded by Kacey3.
I like the backs of buildings.
Movie this Friday
Monday, February 18th, 2008 | LiveJournal Archives | No Comments
Who Am I…
Monday, February 18th, 2008 | LiveJournal Archives | 6 Comments
…in which I speak about myself as an artist, a craftsman, and an individual.
I’ve reached the same frustrating plateau that I did with my last photography project, that point where it’s “really close;” that point where I just need to push it a little further and make it stand out. Its that point where the only solution is to shoot more and “play” more. It is that place where I finally got so frustrated and so “photo-blocked” that I couldn’t produce anything, and I’m afraid I’m hitting the same place again. Its the place where I begin to suspect that I am a craftsman more than an artist. I can take a damned fine photograph if I do say so myself, but I can’t seem to dig in and find the creative spark to go from a fine photograph to fine art. If I really wanted to, I could take perfect calendar photos (which make up the majority of the “best photographs” on flickr), but I can’t seem to push it to a place where it would catch a gallerist’s interest. I also don’t have much interest in making calendar photos.
This is the same place where I start to wonder if I really am cut out to be an artist. The one thing I always question, the one thing that always comes to mind at this point, is a quote I read not too long ago that says “An artist makes art because he must.” I’ve never, necessarily felt this way. I don’t know if its because I’m not an artist, or if its because I grew up to believe that there was nothing I “must do.” That I could do anything I wanted. I am not career oriented, I don’t have a driving desire to make a name for myself or to be implicitly successful. My only driving goal is to be happy, and my happiness comes quite simply. I would like a little bit more money, I would like a little bit more free time, but I don’t need a big house, or a convertible, or airline mies. Health, happiness, security; these are the things I need. So I ask myself again, am I an artist or a craftsman, and if I am the latter, do I have the dedication and desire to become more than just a craftsman.
Part of the problem is time and time management. Between Sleeping from I’m awake, on average, from 7am to 11pm each day, and on five of those days, I’m either getting ready for work, at work, or coming home from work from the time that I wake up until nearly 6pm. During that time after 6pm, Ansel is awake for only and hour or two, which puts me as being “busy” from 7am to 8pm. That leaves three hours between Ansel going to bed and my going to bed. Thats three hours of “me” time; or more importantly, “us” time for Heather and I. I am loathe to shed any of that away. I hate leaving the house after I’ve gotten home, and I hate to do any “work” after having already worked for the greatest majority of my day. Its so much easier just to say “I’ll work on Photo later,” but then I end up with a crit in 3 days and nothing prepared (which is a rapidly approaching inevitability, once again).
I love Photo, and I don’t want to quit, but my main goal in starting my MFA was to shake up my life. I was in a stagnant place. I hadn’t picked up a camera in years, I hadn’t done anything but work since I had graduated in ’99, and the idea of me doing anything academic had pretty much left me completely behind. Starting my MFA required me to rebuild my life. To once again become more creative, to think academically, to open myself up to new experiences, and to get out of the rut that had become a trench. Since then, however, I’ve started my photo of the day project (and as you know, am now on my second), I never go anywhere with out a camera, I am reading much more, I am trying to write more, and I am more critical of the things I do. And then, on top of all that, I now have my baby Ansel to shake everything up like a polaroid picture (yeah, that turn of phrase is about to die).
I just don’t know what I’m doing right now or where I’m going. All I know is I have stress and I can’t seem to shuffle it off like I used to. I need to push myself, but I don’t know if I’ll bend or break.
POTD2 #027
Sunday, February 17th, 2008 | LiveJournal Archives | No Comments
POTD2 #027
Originally uploaded by Kacey3.
26 Watts! Oh Noes!
POTD2 #026
Saturday, February 16th, 2008 | LiveJournal Archives | No Comments
POTD2 #026
Originally uploaded by Kacey3.
spooky hallway
