Issue # 97 - September 2009
  Back to School, Part 2

By the time I post this I will have started on my way towards my Masters in library science. The last four days have been filled with introductions to the new program, as well as trying to work out the bugs. If all goes according to plan, come June of 2011 I shall be getting my Masters.

Anyway, on to the updates. Vista Drive is now updated nearly daily at this point. So if you haven't visited that part of the site then you're really missing a lot. I also made a decision to "weed out" some of the older pictures in favor of some newer pictures. I'm doing this because it really is time for a change. Some of the pictures posted have been up for over five years. While that might not sound like a lot, I think it's a good idea to keep things fresh. Also, I think that my technique has improved since I took many of those pictures. Enjoy.
 

Afterthoughts : This Past Month

It's funny, I write the introduction to this last, because it's meant to summarize the entire month. Suffice to say this has been a month filled with a lot of significant events. The two biggest events were not getting the promotion at work that I sought, and starting my way towards my Masters degree. But, if you read on I'll tell you the details.


Downtown daytrip

Aug 1 - I needed to get out on my day off, and I needed to take some pictures. So, I went downtown to get something to eat at Clifton's, and walk around. Thankfully the multi-cam app was working on my iPhone again, after not being compatible with the latest update. It was hot out, but I walked from the 7th and metro station to Little Tokyo, and then back up to the Music Center. Suffice to say I took a lot of pictures, and was super tired when I got home.

Finally Sold, Moving On
Aug 6 - The house my Father gave me when he died finally sold, quite literally for pennies on the dollar. Fucking shit bastard. If we had sold the damn house three years ago I'd be on easy street right now. But, as it was my Father wanted to wait. Well, the selling of this house represents the LAST tie I have to that man. That last bit of business has been hanging on like a stubborn cobweb that gets stuck and no matter how much you try it won't let go. I didn't like that man. Now I can go on with my life and never give him another thought. The story of our relationship is the story of my life... misdirected affection. My Mother used to remind how he went and started another family and left us to fend for ourselves. Story of my life.


No Promotion

Aug 19 - Approximately a month ago I went into dropped off my application for a job at the library I work at for the position of library assistant. Today I got the news that I didn't get the job of library assistant. Oh well. I'm not going to sit here and say that everything is fine. I really wanted that job, but not because I'm so passionate about cataloging. Rather I wanted to make a few more bucks. But, it wasn't meant to be. And now that I think about it, school is starting and I might not have the time to devote to a new job anyway. That's how I'm justifying it at least.


Between Work Disneyland Trip

Aug 26 - Once a month I'm forced to endure the staff meeting at the San Marino public library. I say endure because, despite it being only an hour long it actually involves many more hours for me. Living as far as I do from work a trip back home after the meeting and then back to work in the evening means having to drive an extra 50 miles. This time I finally figured the solution for the hours I end up having to kill between the end of the meeting at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. when I start work.. go to Disneyland. I think I'm going to make this a regular thing now. Whenever I have my morning meeting I'll just jet over to Disneyland for a few hours and then jet back to work. Nice!


Back To School

Aug 28 - I've gone back to school after a two and a half year absence in order to get my Masters in Library Science. Suffice to say I am both excited and nervous. This is only another year and a half and then I'm done with school for good. So I say, but I know that I might be back. In the back of my head I have toyed with the idea of getting my MFA in photography or English. I'm getting WAY ahead of myself here. It's only the first day of this and I'm already thinking of my next Masters.
 

Editorial : Missing the Point

The following picture showed up on page 194 of the September 2009 issue of Glamour magazine. It gained fame because many people applauded it for showing a "real" woman. But once again everyone misses the point in all this. Americans are the fattest people on Earth, and we continually find ways to celebrate that fact. We have eating contests, sell bigger and bigger burgers, and deep fry Twinkies. We are also schizophrenic in that every ad, every TV show, is filled with uber thin people, that in contrast makes us all look that much fatter. We know that being thin is associated with health, which is why we have 1,000 new diet books on our shelves, calorie free food, and lose weight while you sleep pills.

It's probably programed at an early age, but woman are the worst when it comes to criticizing another woman's appearance and weight. I've heard it, don't tell me you don't offer up that such and such is fat, and has a spare tire. And let's stop using the euphemism "real" to mean curvy, fat, or normal. Normal is a relative term, one that no one really fits. Women come in all shapes and sizes. What the picture does celebrate is one woman's confidence in herself. What you all missed is that she is still thin and healthy. The focus should be on being healthy for one's body shape, not worship some arbitrary thin shape that is a over-exaggeration of the truth. Ads are meant to sell you stuff, not to be real.

If McDonald's could get away with having a 400 pound woman be their spokesperson they'd do it. What women have to do is not be sheep lead by corporate dream makers that promise eternal happiness though pills, diamonds, and a pair of heels. But what we all as Americans have to stop doing is justifying our overweight society by saying that being thinner isn't realistic. We used to be thin as a society, now we're the most gluttonous society on Earth. And we're paying for it with higher rates of diabetes and heart disease.
 

Etcetera : Stuck Shopping Carts

One thing never changes at Costco. The people remain idiots. Case in point the shopping carts, and how people handle a couple of carts when they're stuck together. The picture above is of a typical moment with a pair of stuck shopping carts. The gentleman in the picture tugged and tugged at the two carts in order to get them apart. It wasn't until a few minutes later when someone that thinks a little outside the box came up and pressed the two carts together, releasing the two from their tight grip, did the two carts finally come apart. Everyone always thinks to pull them apart, like something isn't PREVENTING that. Many times these shopping carts are like Chinese finger puzzles, the harder you try to pull them apart the harder they are to actually get apart. But, after watching a half dozen people try to pry them apart, it was refreshing to finally see someone think different and push them closer together to split them up. No one said anyone smart shopped at Costco.
 

Shoppe : Vista Drive book

I decided to create a book with some of my favorite images off Vista Drive.  To buy a copy click on the link.


 
Read previous installments in the Elsewhere archive