Coming Out of the Closet

Well, it’s time. I’ve been in the closet too long. I just got to get this out there… public opinion be damned.

It’s hard though, you know. I’ve lived this double life for so long. I just don’t know what it will be like to be out in the open. It’s a scary step, however, a necessary one. There is no doubt about it. I can’t keep lying to myself and to those I love.

OK, here it goes…

I do Yoga.

Yup, I know. How could this happen. I played lots of different sports in highschool. I lifted weights. I’m a normal, heteroathletic guy. Or, at least I appeared to be.

I’ve known since I was 12. It was awkward when I first discovered how I was. I felt like I was wrong somehow. I mean “Yoga”? Who the hell does Yoga? Especially in North Idaho.

At that early age I was unaware of the implications of freely admitting my ‘alternate lifestyle’. Once, when talking to a young classmate, I told him I do Yoga. He said “Oh, my mom says talking to dead people is bad.” This made me nervous. I didn’t think I was talking to dead people… but who knows… maybe I was.

I don’t mean to complain. My family is very supportive. I knew, from the beginning that I could tell them. That they would love me unconditionally. That they would support me no matter how I chose to move my body.

But, their acceptance didn’t help me in the wider world of Northern Idaho. Friends would say, “Hey, lets go shoot hoops” and I would be forced to accept, when in fact all I wanted to do was touch my toes.

I don’t just do Yoga recreationally. No, it’s moved beyond that. It’s turned into something very serious. It’s turned into a pursuit that takes up a considerable amount of my time and energy.

So, next time you ask me, “Hey, lets drink so much vodka that we throw up all over each other,” remember this post. When I say, “Nah, I just washed my pants…” understand that what I’m really saying is “Nah, I would rather go twist my body into awkward positions and drink rice milk.”

Ah, I feel better already.

Snow

So, it's snowed finally. Although I'm not crazy about this particular incarnation of precipitation it sure is pretty...


... photo from the front porch of my house...

... a guy running on the beach...

... Lake Coeur d'Alene.

Pumpin Iron... Again

A long long time ago, in a very far off land, I wrote a blog about lifting weights with very nice, yet condescending Indian men (click here).

Things have changed. I'm no longer in the same life circumstance, but I find myself frequenting gyms... still... you would have thought I would be cured by now.

No such luck.

So, now I'm going to American gyms. The place I currently have a membership at is called the Kroc center. It's a mega building. Inside this modest behemoth of a shelter lies two swimming pools (a competition pool and a “fun” pool), an indoor track, a climbing wall, a weight room, an aerobic room, various fitness studios, a giant auditorium, a church and three basketball courts (I'm sure I'm missing things... oh yes there is a coffee shop too).

Currently, I would like to focus on the basketball courts. They are great. I played basketball in high school and following graduation was pretty sure I would never partake in the game again. I was tired of it. I moved on to other, better things. Like Bike Riding, swimming, needle work etc.

But, like an ill advised love affair with a rich golfer, I just couldn't give up basketball. So, after two months of longingly glancing at the Kroc's basketball courts I took the plunge. I went to shoot hoops.

It was a steep 'remembering' curve. I was rusty, but luckily it comes back pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I was never that skilled to begin with, so there just wasn't a whole lot to come back.

But I did remember how much I loved the sport. And something else changed. I wasn't competitive about it anymore. Sure, I love to win. And I work hard to beat whatever team I'm playing against. But I don't care. I don't have anything invested. My team wins... great. We lose... great.

This is new. In high school I cared. Deeply. I was intense. I was competitive. I once got in a fight during a game.

Now, when people talk shit to me I don't really care. I'll do my best, and we will see how it works out.

And there is a lot of shit talking.

In sharp contrast to my experience in the Indian gym, most men at the Kroc aren't interested in talking to you, or helping you. This doesn't mean they are unfriendly. I've met some great guys there. But something happens when us males begin lifting weights, or playing basketball. Some switch is turned. We take one step closer to being just pure animals, fighting over a slab of mammoth or something.

Of course, it's all nicely contained. It's all based around this game called “basketball”. People don't completely lose it and rip each others throats out. It's still civilized. But you can see the darker side of it. The pure aggression and ferocity.

And you know what? That is part of the reason I love going. It's a chance to just run all of that out of myself. To get all that latent aggression out in a safe, socially acceptable manner. As opposed to a dangerous, socially acceptable manner, like free climbing, or the running of the bulls.

And so far, I haven't let it get personal. I get aggressive, I dive for the ball, I push people, but it's not personal. None of it. And I don't let it effect my feelings (so far). I don't associate the intensity of the situation with a person.

So many of the men there do. It's personal to them. Either they are blaming another player or they are blaming themselves. You can see it. And it gets heated. Fights have almost started. Elbows have been thrown (it's when you hit someone with your elbow, not actually throwing elbows at each other... that would be sick).

And I guess that is all part of it. So far I haven't gotten sucked in. I don't think I will. I'm going to keep it all in it's proper perspective.

Seeing this reality in American gyms and contrasting it with Indian gyms makes me wonder what causes this huge difference. The best explanation I can come up with is that as a culture we are more aggressive and driven to succeed. So, when us American men (I'm just focusing on men, because as of yet, I haven't been cussed out by a woman) go work out, we carry over this aggressive, success driven mentality.

Meanwhile, our Indian counterparts are saving dumb white kids from falling metal bars...

Winter Day

I spent the majority of yesterday studying. I'm taking this online logic class, which is great. It allows me to work whenever I want and I don't have to go to class.

The downside, to this upside, is that generally I wait until the last minute to do everything. And I mean Everything...

So, yesterday I studied for a good six hours. I basically went over a month's worth of work in one day. Last night, at 10 pm I took the test (the deadline was midnight). It all went well, but sometimes I find myself wondering if maybe it would be better for me to plan my time better. Maybe just do a little work each week.

Personally, I think it sounds like a bad idea.

Well, that being said, I did find some time to go for a great walk. Yesterday it was cold but very sunny here.

There is this hill in Coeur d'Alene called Tubbs Hill. It's a great 1.5 mile walk. The trail is on the lake. It's incredibly beautiful, and yesterday was no exception. None of these photos are mind blowing, but I think at least they begin to convey the beauty of this area.

This is the resort side of Tubbs Hill...

...many of the rocks down by the lake are covered in ice...

... this is the backside of Tubbs.

Issue 5

Issue Five









12 page special section.

The Sentine (Issue 4)

So here is Issue 4, finally.

Old Photos

I was looking through my photos and I found these from my India trip. Thought I'd post them.


Madurai...


... people watching a parade in Cochin...


...apartments in Cochin...


... a man taking photos of the parade.

Catch Up

So, it's been a while since I've written. I'll just do a quick recap of everything that has gone on.

The Sentinel

Issue 3 of The Sentinel came out on Nov. 16. It was a crazy issue. At 11:00 pm on Saturday night the server that all of the work is held on disappeared. We could no longer access the pages we had designed, the articles we had written etc.

I did what I could but it quickly became apparent there was nothing I could do. I called our emergency tech support guy and he told us that the server was down for routine maintenance. We weren't notified. He said that it may or may not be up and running by Sunday afternoon.

It sucked. So, after running around the NIC campus trying to find the guy who was (supposedly) doing all the work, I decided to send all the editors home and just come in early to see what could be worked out.

I left NIC at 1:30 am. I slept until 5:00 and then drove on back. The Server wasn't up, so I went to sleep for 30 minutes. Woke up, checked the Server. Still not there. Went back to sleep. This cycle continued for about 3 hours.

Finally, that little gray globe of hope popped up.

Almost immediately my tech support friend called telling me we had an hour to get everything we needed off the server.

Well, to make a long story short, the paper got done. It involved a lot of flash drives and a lot of waiting around for things to transfer.

Possibly the most frustrating thing about this all was that the server stayed up the whole time we were using the flash drives. Yet, I didn't dare use the server, for fear that it would disappear.

But the important thing was the the paper got out on time, with no major mistakes. There were some minor ones, unfortunately. It certainly won't win any design awards but at least it's respectable.

Arizona

So on Nov. 16 (Monday) I got on a plane headed for Prescott, Arizona. The trip was a combination Yoga adventure/friend visit. I did a Yoga workshop there and also got to spend some quality time with some good friends of mine. It was a great trip, full of sun and natural beauty.

I was planning on bringing my camera to document the trip, however, at the last minute I decided to forget. I have this thing about cameras. I love taking photos, I love looking at photos. Yet I hate taking photos and looking at them.

Yeah, confusing.

I think what it comes down to is that I find it hard to really concentrate on what is going on if I'm always trying to take a cool looking photo.

I know that really good photographers don't have this problem. They actually focus more and experience more. Me, I just get frustrated. I want to convey the beauty or whatever it is in a photo, yet I always find my photography lacking. So, often I simply won't take photos. Which, isn't the way that you get better at taking photos. It's a dilemma.

So, that is why there are no photos of my trip.

So, yup that basically recaps the last week or two. Right now it's thanksgiving. My grandma is here from LA.

Starting tomorrow I will begin working on the upcoming issue of The Sentinel. It's the last one of the semester and it's going to be a big one (and good). So I'm getting a jump on that.

Well, that about sums it up.

Have a great thanksgiving.

Approaching Arizona

Well, I've been very busy with The Sentinel and other commitments. I don't really have much to say in this post, except a new issue of The Sentinel is out (more on that later) and I'm going to Arizona for a week.

I'm going to visit some friends that live there and just generally have a nice time. It won't be significantly warmer there, however, I'm sure it will be milder than it has been around here lately (try 30 degrees, in the day).

So, I'm excited for that. I love traveling and seeing new places and people. I'm looking forward to it.

I will bring my camera, so hopefully I have some photos to share when I return. We will see.

ACP Best of Show

Well, I just found out today that the most recent edition of The Sentinel won Best of Show at the national Associated Collegiate Press convention in Austin, Texas (ACP).

It was pretty awesome to learn that we won that award. We've won it the last couple of years in a row, so I was glad to continue that tradition.

As happy as I am with that, I'm even happier knowing that we have so much to improve on. This last issue was by far the best issue we've produced this year, however, there is plenty to get better at. Jake Donahue (basically a media genius) critiqued our paper, right before it went to the convention, and I'm confident that our next issue will be even better than the last, due in large part to his merciless and brutally accurate observations (to put it nicely).

So, yahoo. We won. But we can do a lot better and I'm confident we will. We have the staff, the adviser and, most importantly, the desire.

Speaking of desire, as much as I love winning awards myself, the real reason that I feel driven to succeed at this job of journalism at NIC is because of the tradition of success. Recently The Sentinel featured an article entitled "Decades of Dominance" (it was about the wrestling team). Well, the same could be said for the newspaper. The Sentinel has been known to be one of the best college newspapers in the country for years. This is because of the incredible knowledge and dedication of Nils Rosdahl (the adviser).

As the managing editor I feel responsible for keeping this tradition alive. Like I said, personally I love winning shit (who doesn't?) but the main motivator is continuing the tradition.
And the truth is, I couldn't do it without the tradition. I'm good at what I do, but I'm not a maverick genius... I rely on the knowledge of those that have come before me... quite heavily in fact.

So, here is to continued success.

The Sentinel (Issue 3)

The newest Sentinel. Best one yet, but still plenty to work on.

The Sentinel (every week)

Yeah, I know it sounds too good to be true. The Sentinel traditionally only comes out every three weeks. That means you, the anxious reader, has to wait approximately 21 days. That means 21 days without news from the college by the lake. That means 21 days without finding out what is going on with ASNIC, the drama department so on and so forth.

Well, no more.

From now on the Sentinel website will be updated, weekly. Giving you, the anxious reader, your much needed fix.

So, stop whining and click here...

or...

Here.

Bourgeois (or Bushwa?) Suffering

This post is about suffering, and all the forms that it manifests in my daily life...
For instance, yesterday, I was biking to a coffee shop. I was going to meet my brother and just hang out and enjoy a nice cup of coffee.

I had this nice white long-sleeved tee-shirt on. It was really nice, really comfortable and really good looking. I felt happy to be wearing this shirt.

So, like I said I was biking. Going along, riding next to this beautiful lake, just enjoying it all.

And then, you know what happened?

These freaking bugs came out of now where. Literally thousand upon thousands of these dumb obnoxious worthless gnats.

And you know what they did?

They didn't get out of my way. They plastered themselves against my face, my hair, my nice white shirt, my pants, my eyes.

I could barely see, I could barely continue forward.

And that isn't even the worst part.

The worst part, was that when I finally reached my destination, I tried to brush them off, and they splattered all over my beautiful, pure white shirt. Leaving all these ugly yellow blood marks.

The nerve.

This is just one instance of the daily suffering that I'm forced to endure.
Another great example.

About a month ago I go a new computer. With the new computer came a new I-pod, which was part of the whole deal. Well, I decided to engrave something on the back of my I-pod. After thinking about it long and hard, I decided I wanted to write Bourgeois Suffering. Bourgeois is a french word that means middle-class. I figured that putting this on the back of my I-pod would be a good reminder to me and others about the daily hardships I'm forced to face living in North Idaho. See above.

Well, not being French, and not understanding how to spell French words, I decided to Google and determine the most appropriate way to spell 'Bourgeois' (as you can see, I learned how to spell it correctly, alas too little too late).

Being hopelessly American I spelled it Bushwa (it makes sense, if you think about it).
So, I Googled it, just to double check.

That didn't help at all, all the dictionaries told me 'Bushwa' means nonsense or bullshit. Well, I decided that the online dictionaries didn't know what they were talking about. So I went ahead and got Bushwa Suffering engraved on my I-pod.
Now, you might say this is my fault.

It's not.

Let me explain how this is just another example of my daily suffering.

I live in North Idaho. Because I live here I know next to nothing about French. I took Spanish in school. Spanish isn't French. French words are different than Spanish words, and Spanish words are different than English words.

I'm a victim of ignorance.

Henry B. Adams said, “Nothing in education is so astonishing as the amount of ignorance it accumulates in the form of inert facts.”
I couldn't have said it better myself.

See, clearly I have been the victim of a faulty education.

So, don't be pointing your fingers at me saying that I'm full of Bushwa. It's just not the case. I am suffering. Deeply suffering, from a lack of knowledge, brought on by “inert facts.”

And yes, there are still bugs in my nose.

Note: Pema Chodron, a Tibetan Buddhist nun, coined the phrase Bourgeois Suffering. Obviously she doesn't have anything on me in the suffering department.

Institutionalized Blindness

I live in Northern Idaho. I love it here, it's beautiful and peaceful.
For me at least.
A few weeks ago, Rachel Dolezlal, an art teacher at the local college (North Idaho Community College) found a noose on here porch. Dolezal is mixed race and a human rights advocate. She is strong and not quite about her work here.
And she has become a target for hate groups. The community response here was typical, people were outraged. Angry that that kind of thing still happens in this area.
And its terrible. And people should be outraged.

But we are missing something. I couldn't put my finger on it for a long time. Everyone is supportive. Everyone is committed to driving hate and racism out of this area. But something felt wrong.

And then I went to the Action Against Hate benefit dinner (through Gonzaga University). It was a great event, and, don't get me wrong, the organization behind it is doing good stuff.

But, it epitomized the problem, in my mind.

Every speaker, every person honored (minus one) was white. There were few colored people in the audience. There were none up on the stage. It was a bunch of well meaning white men(mostly men) talking about all the great work they had done.

And, yes admitting there was a lot more work to be done.

But, the irony was irresistible. And no one talked about it. No one brought it up. Not a single speaker recognized their innate inability to truly feel what someone of color feels.

I'm white. I don't know what it's like to be discriminated against (I'm also a man, so I've got a lot going for me). So, how can I, a white male, really 'get' what it's like to be black? Or native American? Or Asian? Or any of the other of a multitude of marginalized groups?

In my mind that is the problem currently. People are doing wonderful work. People are strongly against racism. Against hate. Discrimination. All of that. But, the institutions, the processes that surround the good work being done, are fundamentally flawed. They are fundamentally discriminatory. And people don't want to, or simply can't reflect on the institutions they are caught up in.

And, like I said, I'm white. So everything I observe, everything I think is colored (bad pun) by this. And quite possibly everything I've said isn't true, possibly I'm full of it and don't know what I'm talking about. Hopefully, however, I have the humility to recognize this and defer to the knowledge and life experience of someone who has actually been discriminated against, who has actually been hated for something as ridiculous as the color of their skin.

The NIC Sentinel (Issue 2)

This is the second issue of the Sentinel. It looks good. Photos printed well etc. It was a short one (only 16 pages) but overall I'm happy with it.

The next one, which comes out on Oct. 26, is going to be much longer (24 pages, and possibly a tab section). So we really don't have that much turn around time. I'm excited though.

I love my job right now. It feels so good to be part of a paper. I love seeing it go from rough (or no) ideas to a reality that you can hold in your hand. Really a unique and wonderful experience.

Anyways, comments are always welcome.

Again, these are just the pages I designed.


The front page...

... just an inside opinion page, nothing special, although the art work is good...

.. again inside page...

... the volleyball page. As you can see they are currently ranked No. 1 in the nation...

... this is quite possibly my favorite page ever. It all worked out, and despite my fears it printed great.

Photos

Here are three pictures. These photos were shot for the annual Race for the Cure. It's a fundraiser to help 'fight' breast cancer. It starts at the NIC campus and then works it's way around Coeur d'Alene. Quite a lot of people were there this year.

A few things

Well I don't really have any one coherent theme for this post. So here are just some random topics (well not just random, how about just unrelated to one another).

Weather

The weather is changing. I love summer and each year I look toward the changing of the seasons with a something bordering on dread. I don't want to be cold, locked up inside etc.

And then the weather changes... and well it's great. Today was the first 'real' fall day in Couer d'Alene and I loved it. I biked a lot (to get to various places) and it was wonderful to be outside in the cold and just feel the crispness of the air.

I think my deep rooted dislike of colder weather goes back to my high school days. I liked high school, actually I think it would be fair to say I loved it (well parts of it). However, it prevented me from doing quite a lot of things. Instead of being out side I was forced to be inside, sitting at a desk. So, I never really got to enjoy the nuances of the colder seasons.

Now that I'm emancipated things are changing. Yes, technically I'm in school, but college is a different beast (well at least for me). I have more free time. I can actually go outside and enjoy the cold weather. So, I'm all ready for the Northwest Winter. It's going to be a good one.

Biking

The last week or so has been an excellent bike week. Unlike today the weather has been warm (actually hot) and the sun has been shining. I've been putting in a lot of miles, going on 40 mile rides every other day or so.

There is something about road biking that is so amazing for me. It's so peaceful, so quite. I'm able to go places and see the natural beauty of this area in way that I never would be able to, if it weren't for my bike.

Plus it is such a clean way of moving. I don't mean environmentally clean (although it is), I mean just clean feeling. It's just you, the bike and the road. If you have a bike that is efficient and tuned up... oh boy, what a great feeling.

The Sentinel

And finally, and definitely not least, the Sentinel. It's production week, so starting yesterday I've been working fairly non-stop. It's a shorter issue, so not as much to do. However, there is still plenty of things going on. I think I said it in my last post but putting out a paper is a pretty amazing process. It's just this huge outburst of energy. When you finish you feel drained, but so good.

And I really love it. Honestly, all the work and frustration aside I love working on the paper.

Well, that is it. I think I'll post a few photos I took last weekend for some college events. I'll throw up the PDF's of the Sentinel when it's all done Sunday at noon. And until then, adios.

The NIC Sentinel (Issue One)

Well, it has happened. The first issue of the Sentinel is coming out tomorrow morning. It was a long weekend, but overall things went pretty well. There are a lot of things to improve on (no doubt there) but I think that the staff is willing and capable of stepping up to that challenge.

I'm heartened.

Personally I love production weekends. These weekends are such a high of creativity, energy and chaos. I feel like I disappear for two or three days. I don't think about anything but the paper.

All that being said, Oh my god I'm glad it's over. This one was stressful, I'm not going to lie. My first time ever as the Managing Editor. It was all of the editors (mostly) first time designing or doing anything like that. So, there was a lot of stress and last minute decisions/designs.

Anyways here are some selected PDFs of the paper. Selected meaning the pages I designed.


Front page, A1...

...second opinion page...

... back page of A section...

...and the back page of the B section. This is possibly the only whitewater rafting page ever created with no (that's right) no actual rafting photos. But it looks OK, other than that huge problem.

Guest Writer

Well hey, like I just said in my last post I haven't been writing much. So I decided to introduce a 'guest writer'. His name is Leo Francovich (no relation) and he is an up-and-coming writer. Check it out, it's worth your time.

Procrasti-nahilldoitlater

This will be shoddy.

It is 11:24 PM on a Monday night. I have just returned from working at Rogers Ice Cream and Burgers. While there, I scoop ice cream, and flip (guess it) burgers. I have just realized that I have an article due for the Illuminati Wednesday. P.S. for anyone who can write, you can do this too. But wait, the article is due Wednesday and I am writing it Monday night. Now, what would you call that? That is called motivation, but that is, fortunately, not what this article is about. This article is about procrastination, my other skill. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am very good at what I do, and procrastination is one of the things I do. So, have no qualms about my qualifications in this subject, but before I get sidetracked, let’s dive in.

To better describe the complex and vast field that is procrastination, I will examine its affect on my own life, starting in fourth grade. Now, as you all know, fourth grade was a great time for me, I would consider it my peak. I had straight A’s, a scooter, lots of fourth grade friends, and a bowl cut. Now, you may ask, “What happened?” I’ll tell you what happened, I ate the fruit of knowledge. I did not eat this fruit in fifth or sixth grade; I merely eyed it warily, wondering how it got into my life and when it would leave. However, in seventh grade, after years of curiosity and confusion, I sank my teeth deep into the fruit and discovered my lack of purpose. What I discovered is a simple cause for procrastination: There are so many better things to be doing than homework. You have no idea.

After I ate the fruit of knowledge I started to devote myself to my new faith, missing some deadlines and barely scraping by others. I had started down the path. Perhaps this was the reason for my straight D average I achieved that year, or perhaps, as I suspect, I was simply wronged. Either way, I had stopped turning things in on time, and I was consistently coming up short of expectations. Now, many of my well-adjusted, mature, seventh grade colleagues decided that they would postpone gratification. If they wanted to do something, they would do their homework first. Favorite TV show? How about some English? Local rodeo? Let’s see if you can buck that pre-algebra! Mother in hospital? That is just the science of life, my friend. I could not achieve this academic foresight, however, and I lived a life of instant gratification. Once I started I could not stop.

This brings me to my next point: procrastination is like freight train, a late one, but more importantly, something that does not stop easily. Once you lose one assignment, you lose them all, and you find yourself pushing a vacuum for Carl. If I remembered anything from my math classes, I would tell you that it builds exponentially, but I don’t think I read that chapter. The beginning of each school year for the last six years started the same for me, I would try to work hard for about a week or so, I’d lose steam and stop turning things in, and then I’d be fighting an uphill battle, which is not something you want to be doing.

So, forgive me for growing up a little, but this article is here to warn you against procrastinating, which is probably what several worried teachers (the ones that aren’t from Indiana) reading this article are waiting for me to say. Control the freight train, do your homework, and visit your mother in the ER later, there will always be another accident. Don’t do it for glory, for GPA, or even for God, do your homework for self-respect and a dedication to education. Do all of this and do it on time, and you will become whatever you want to be: an accountant, an ornithologist, or a gladiator. Hopefully the latter.

P.S. If you were wondering what sort of fruit it was, the fruit of knowledge I mentioned earlier. It wasn’t an apple or anything like that. It was a kiwi.

More Photos

Well, I've been doing a lot of photo posts. I like these, but I think it's important to write too. So, hopefully I get back to that. But honestly photo posts are quite a bit quicker to do, so for now this is what I'm going with...

... here is a photo of Heidi Groover (I took this almost a year ago)...

... and here is the same photo that I posted a few days ago, but in color. I didn't really realize that it worked in color too, so that is kind of neat.

Yoga Photo

Hey, well I've been taking some photos for my mother of her yoga classes. I've taken a lot, and some have turned out, while others haven't (as usual, thank god for digital). Anyways, this is one of my favorites.

Stealing. An effective way of making change.

Well, I've done it. For a long time I've lusted after this program. It's the premier photo editing program. It gives you the power to do anything, more or less. But it also comes at a hefty price. 1,000 dollars a pop is kind of a lot of money.

And then I discovered the student edition. It's the same program. As far as I know. And it only cost 200 dollars. Quite a deal, if you ask me.

I'm not a hundred percent sure why Adobe would offer their software at an 80 percent discount. I was thinking about it and I decided that it probably had to do with stealing. I imagine that students are the primary 'stealers' of programs (like Photoshop). So, I guess it would make sense for Adobe to try and incite us students to go through the proper channels.

Basically, I think that the rampant downloading of programs from sites like BitTorrent, encouraged Adobe to lower their prices, for some. So, stealing can be a form of protest, yes? I think these kind of programs are worth a lot of money, but asking a college kid to spend 1,000 dollars is kind of ridiculous. So, keep stealing, maybe the price will go down even farther. Or listen to your conscience and let others do the stealing for you.

Some good old color replacement.

I know color replacement is kind of old hat if you will, however, I still think it's one of the coolest things you can do. So, I took this photo of two 'bucket drummers' that I took while in Chicago, and messed with its color...

... so here is the original...

... and here it is with a B&W mask on it...

... and here is the good old replaced color.

NIC Soccer

Here are some photos I took from a recent NIC soccer game. I've never shot soccer before, I thought it was pretty fun. It's hard though. I can imagine what an amazing shot would look like, however, actually taking that shot is a different story. Anyways here they are.