Daily Photos

< March 2010 >

March 1, 2010
The lights were off, I pointed the camera at a mirror and pressed the button, so I was surprised this was in focus. Another flash photo in a dark room. You guessed it, it was almost midnight. An unintentional homage to Jane Reece. I should have it printed on tissue paper. I dunno what it is, I just feel safe when I cover myself in bubble wrap. Really, I did a `professional` photo shoot today, for which I was paid, but I can`t show those pictures here. Instead, you get more spinning in the living room at 11:57pm.

March 2, 2010
A flat tire AND a parking ticket. Maybe it`s out of gas, too. I took a picture of someone taking a picture of a picture. Why does progress mean that trees have to be cut down? This work is being done during spring break, otherwise there may have been tree-hugging students throwing themselves in front of the bulldozers to stop it. I can`t blame him, but wonder about those who hired him.

March 3, 2010
Presume not on thy heart when mine is slain; Thou gavest me thine, not to give back again. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Taken from a safe distance. Somewhere there`s a very dedicated runner with a sore right foot. Our daily bread. My prediction: I won`t need it again this season.

March 4, 2010
Jazz is virtuosic. Jazz is percussive. Jazz is rhythmic. Jazz is collaborative. Jazz is improvisational.

March 5, 2010
Jazz is uptempo. Jazz is mellow. Jazz is organic. Jazz is underpaid. Jazz is caffeinated.

March 6, 2010
Jazz is nocturnal. Jazz is loud. Jazz is quiet. Jazz is youthful. Jazz is spontaneous.

March 7, 2010
All of today`s photos were taken within a ten foot area. Hark! The sound of silence. People had better places to be today. Pro patria.

March 8, 2010
This cardinal sang a happy spring song, and was alone. Another cardinal sang a fierce territorial song, and had a mate. So the lesson we learn is nice guys finish last. In retreat. Squirrelville. Shadowlands.

March 9, 2010
Whatever happened to trust? By the time the captain of the Titanic saw the iceberg, it was too late. A double dose of me in a downtown drinking fountain. Now serving 32. I did my taxes tonight. I don`t want to talk about it.

March 10, 2010
Today`s buildings don`t have useless stuff on them. Sundown, you`d better take care. Oregon District shrubbery. Veteran opera singer helps freshman music major find out where his solar plexus is. Veteran opera singer encourages freshman music major to sing louder.

March 11, 2010
I was on campus later than normal this evening. Sights I`m familiar with during the day look more interesting at night. A large sculpture by artist Joseph Daun. Because it`s in an art gallery, people tend to just stand and stare at it. However, Joe Daun says, `The work does not function until someone interacts with it.` A few daring people did. I bought a red toy ball today to use in a photography workshop that I`m teaching this weekend. You`ll see . . .

March 12, 2010
I happen to LIKE fish, so I don`t see why it`s treated as a poor substitute for meat on Fridays during Lent. Hanging around Fifth Street. Spring suffered a relapse into winter today. I hope that the cold won`t cause these crocuses to croak. The Banana Bandit has struck again.

March 13, 2010
The ball is in focus, the background is blurry. The ball is in focus, the background is clear. The ball is moving and blurry. The ball is moving and clear. She`s very dramatic when she sings. And when she walks down the street. And when she chews gum. And breathes.

March 14, 2010
After interviewing him for a newspaper article, I definitely wanted to see `internation jazz artist` Greg Abate play in concert, even though I had to pay a `$5 cove.` It was a good show, though Greg was unhappy that his luggage was somewhere in another state. Everyone looks a bit like Mephistopheles because of the red stage lighting. During a break, the bass player told me this was only his third show this year. `And I used to play six nights a week,` he said. I hear the same thing from other musicians. Greg Abate: a great saxophonist, and a really nice guy.

March 15, 2010
Returning geese are fighting over territory on campus. Atop the library would be an ideal location, except they will eventually have to WALK their goslings to water. There`s a bikeway under all that water and mud. There`s a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar under all that water and mud. Have you noticed, since the weather has turned warmer, how the worms are crawling up out of the ground? For Jenna: health and healing.

March 16, 2010
It`s a shame you don`t hear much music for trombone and giant bamboo contraption anymore. No matter what language or century it is, sticking a guy in a big sack and whacking him with a paddle will always please the audience. Music box dancer. The University of Dayton jazz band can beat up your jazz band. The first and best musical instrument is inside you.

March 17, 2010
This fellow would be glad to know that the new National Leprechaun Museum opened last week in Dublin, Ireland. Galloping through downtown Dayton. Barrelling through downtown Dayton. March comes in like a lion. While filling out the form, I learned that being Hispanic doesn`t count as a race.

March 18, 2010
Hopefully I wasn`t photographing somebody`s bathroom window in order to capture these reflections. Yesterday`s news. A video installation by a trio of South American artists known as Los Dialoguistas. Part of another display by Los Dialoguistas. On this white paper, the black design was created using candle smoke. Some doubter evidently smudged it with their finger. Los Dialoguistas are Fernando Calderon, Graciela Busto and Bertha Cohen.

March 19, 2010
Players from the Ohio School for the Invisible cut down the net after a recent tournament victory. It`s very hard to play defense against the Ohio School for the Invisible. On top of the world. It`s happening! It`s happening all around. This is what I endured winter for. A nice color combination. At the foot of The Armory.

March 20, 2010
Weekend fixer-upper project. Contrasts. Looking round. Spring has begun: time for a new outfit. (See March 17 above) When tulips decide to sprout, they don`t let anything get in their way.

March 21, 2010
At toe-level in Oakwood. These insects were bugged that their tree was cut. Give them books. Get them away from electronic devices. Some species of woodpeckers drill holes into trees and store acorns there for the winter . . . . . . but when spring comes, they go back to eating bugs.

March 22, 2010
I attend master classes in voice and many different musical instruments and learn a lot from each one. Mozart. Bach. Bach. Moravec.

March 23, 2010
In years to come, this new sitting wall will be the site of countless conversations between college couples. There`s a high pollen count in the dining room. These were close to where I photographed another bunch of pipes, but they were not as colorful (see July 2, 2009). Calling all bees. I didn`t finish the Flannery O`Connor biography in time for her birthday (see February 22, 2010).

March 24, 2010
This is what today felt like. As far as my bee-on-flower pictures go, this one is mediocre, but I consider myself to be in spring training. Rarely do I previsualize my photos, but as I climbed up on top of the rickety park bench, I saw this in my head. Such a lovely . . . swamp? Swamp thing.

March 25, 2010
View from the thirteeth floor. Unfortunately I had to leave the thirteenth floor and go out into the rain. Monsoon season started today. I was hired by the theatre department to photograph this play, but the actors had not been informed . . . . . . so one of them scolded me from the stage: `NO CAMERAS!` but she stayed in character while doing it. I ended up with only a small number of photos.

March 26, 2010
Why paint with a brush when you have a perfectly good nose? Sibling rivalry. Play with clay. A painting by Charmaine Griffith inspired by Sonnet 116 by Shakespeare, that goes `love is not love which alters when it alteration finds.` (See July 12, 2007) Another painting by Charmaine Griffith, with crazy people spinning in front of it.

March 27, 2010
I hope their marriage lasted longer than the proposal (see March 19, 2009). Chimes and crystals and Catholicism. March comes in like a lion and goes out like a bird. How much wood would a wood shop hold if a wood shop could hold wood? Many mini Marys.

March 28, 2010
Yesterday I told a bunch of students in a photography workshop not to put a subject in the middle of a picture. Above my head, thousands of tons of traffic moved ponderously along the interstate. Beware of anger. Not at all cowardly. I spy a family.

March 29, 2010
It is most important to take chances in photography, push the limits of the camera and learn what it can do; and yes, make lots of mistakes. I didn`t have enough credits to graduate, so I just went to New York and started calling myself a photographer. Digital has made things so easy, an orangutan with a camera would get a result. And blown up large enough it might sell very well. With all the photographs that are being made daily, it may seem almost impossible to make something that stands out, but you have to do it! The real reason I photograph is to surprise and delight myself.

March 30, 2010
Diagonal dogwood. Diagonal daffodils. My first butterfly picture of the season is typically a cabbage white. This was taken from about 12 feet away. At ankle-level in Oakwood. The University of Connecticut pep band can afford to look goofy, since their women`s basketball team hasn`t lost a game in the past two seasons.

March 31, 2010
There are two spoons missing from my silverware drawer. It`s a shame you don`t hear much music for glockenspiel and cuatro anymore. Don`t even ask me what that one is called. Rhythm section. Soprano at rest.

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