Have you ever had a day where, by the end of it, you were almost experiencing sensory overload? I have. It was Saturday. A day filled with color, sights and sounds. It started at the Pride Festival at Memorial Park in Rapid City. I felt a little bit like an outsider, and I suppose that's what I was. But I also felt welcome. Everyone seemed friendly and happy. Probably because they were. I also met up with a good friend there, whose company I enjoy very much. Sort of like icing on the cake.
What's Your Road?
"What's your road, man? --holyboy road, madman road, rainbow road, guppy road, any road. It's an anywhere road for anybody anyhow." -Jack Kerouac, On the Road
Sunday, June 30, 2024
Diversity Day - Pride, A Pow Wow, and Live Music
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Losing Our Cool (Thanks A Lot Apple)
Allow me to begin by stating I am not just another old guy who is anti-technology. I embrace it. Use it every day. In fact, I am quite profieceint with my MacBook Pro. I use it for editing my photography and creating advertising and marketing ideas and promotions for the business I work for in specifically that capacity...part time (I'm still retired the rest of the time). I also know how to use an iPad and iPhone. We have Apple TV and subscribe to Apple+. I've been an Apple person since the Commodore 64. But now, well, now they've gone too far. Not necessarily with the product, but with the way they are promoting it. This is a link to the commercial they're running to promote the new iPad Pro.
https://youtu.be/ntjkwIXWtrc?si=vgHMHzKC39C5XcSK
In it they show how it can do digitally, and by using AI, everything we used to do "hands on" by crushing everything that can now be created-written-composed-illustrated-taught manually or by using simpler technology. I looked closely at what is crushed...cameras (including a Polaroid), vinyl record albums and a turntable to play them, paint and paint brushes (art can now be created by key strokes instead of brush strokes), a clay sculpture, musical instruments (now you don't actually need to know how to play piano to be able to play piano), and even books! It appeared they were journals that were flattened and destroyed, but they had pages so they were still books.
I'm sure the benefit to this newest Apple product is intended to be a more efficient and faster way to do business...including your personal business. But it eliminates the need for all those cool things that, in the video, have been smashed flat as a pancake. Or should I say flat as an iPad Pro?
I guess my point in all this is that we are losing our cool. Is it cool to make a photograph entirely by using artificial intelligence? Or to to create a watercolor style "painting" without actually using paint? Or to keep a journal without pen and paper? I understand all of those things may not be considered cool by someone under the age of 40. And those are the ones creating all this new technology. But, please, for the love of all things holy, can you just take a single solitary moment to dig yourself?
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Life Is A Highway
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
The Cathedral and Woyatan ... A Photo Essay
I went to church the other day. It wasn't Sunday and no services were being held. I had taken notice some time before of the contrast between the large wealthy churches and smaller, more common ones. My plan was to post the pictures with some brief social commentary. It turned into a much more moving experience.
My first stop was the Catholic Cathedral. I was a bit overwhelmed.
Friday, February 2, 2024
Saved For Later (Bits and Pieces)
This one is mostly for me, but feel free to follow along if you are so inclined.
I've been saving some photos, downloads and random items on my laptop and phone that I thought I might post on social media at some point but never quite got around to it. Not wanting to flood my social media feed, or yours, I decided to gather up some things I have hanging out there and put them here. That way I won't lose track of something I may want to revisit later at some point. Sort of like the Memories page on Facebook.
For instance, this picture I took recently at the Spearfish Fish Hatchery -
Sunday, December 31, 2023
The Year In Pictures
It has been a mostly uneventful year. As Jeff Lebowski said, "you know, strikes and gutters, ups and downs." I'm happy to say that for me it's been mostly ups.
Nothing much happened in January. In February we traveled from our home in the Black Hills of South Dakota to meet up with our son and daughter-in-law in Las Vegas during Super Bowl weekend. They live in Connecticut so we don't get to see them all that often. It was a fun, but I have to say that all the glitter and bright lights are not quite as appealing as they once were. Kind of cool to look at, but the vibe has seemed to change once you get inside. Just not as exciting as it used to be.