So once again I blow off the dust here and scramble up some words for the Google bots to parse. So without further adieu here we go...

It was over 5 years ago that I wrote this:

http://popeyescorner.blogspot.com/2009/06/years-worth-of-cycling.html

And for the most part it held true, but then the following March I fell off the wagon, quite literally when I crashed the bike (not seriously in the least) and took a hiatus until March of 2013. I had sold the LeMond to a co-worker and was without a proper road bike for a while so I found a vintage French marque to ply the roads on:

 

A late 80's Vitus, bonded aluminum frame, downtube shifters with 7 speeds, no waiting. It was great to be riding again, rode all around the place, made some mods and then decided to get a nicer bike. One reason is that the bonded frames tend to fail after time/fatigue and although this particular one had not I found a spot that the joint looked suspect (even though it was a non-critical area). So I started looking at titanium frames, which of course don't always come cheap. Merlin, Litespeed, Moots, Seven, Lynksy, Serotta... Hmmm Serotta. Ah yes here's one, late 90's Legend Ti dinged top tube, that always scares the punters away! 

Before

After

 A complete tear-down and rebuild with new parts yielded a fine bike. I've changed the bars and stem since this was taken but it's been a faithful steed that has weathered several thousand miles and 2 crashes without much incident other than a trashed wheel and then a gaffed shifter that took a while to sort. 

But naturally the eye wanders here at SMF...

and now there's the other woman. French in origin and carbon in design. No pictures as yet, she's still a clandestine lover, but in due course I suppose. Meanwhile I'll just have to spread the love around like a flower child at a Dead concert.

Voodoo Chile (...A Slight Return)

  It's been awhile, but then as is typical few come by this way to know, care or comment so I guess it matters not. This then is my "Been a goddamned long time" post and while nothing may occur within these margins the attempt is made to restart the flow of mental dross that sometimes reads well, sometimes falls flat. Mostly it allows me to take a load off and just have a laugh at no one's expense.

  To update then it's been close to two years now and little Elliot is coming along just fine, he's a little slow on vocalizing though but by all accounts he's just not ready to speak. All the other metrics seem fine and he communicates and understands typical for his age. The challenge of being middle age and having a toddler though is at times tough, for keeping up with younguns is a younger person's sport as my joints don't respond as well as they used to and my brain isn't as plastic as it once was but I will get through this and make it to retirement... I should hope anyways.

Twitter is only worth 140 characters, but a picture is worth thousands...

First off I don't have a Twitter account, it was suggested to me once but I wasn't interested in another social feed at the time to read and keep fed, Facebook was enough along with the various personal interest forums plus the rare and random blog entry I might post. But then came Instagram, John Gruber sung it's praises and he being a smart guy I decided to have a look and signed up. What a difference an image makes to my psyche, and the stream of images floating in from all around the globe was a wonderful kick in the creative pants. So I trudged off and began filling my own tributary with images and before long I had followers, comments and a river of stuff online.

To be sure, Twitter does have image sharing but since the focus is more on text and the art of txtng with an occasional image link thrown in, blathering is all too easy to accomplish and I want to speak volumes and find it easiest to do with images. And like MySpace/FaceBook/Twitter, Instagram is filled with cutesy pet images, sexy images from Asian girls, general adolescent falderall and faux artiness that all quickly becomes redundant but in between the cat pics and shots of leggy feet are some truly brilliant images from creative minds world wide. It's a giant goddamn collective photo exhibit and my shit is in there too!

Hell yes!

Now no space to find and organize, no materials to shell out for and hope the printer gets it right, no hanging pieces and getting that right! No invites to send or parties to coordinate. And more importantly no fooling one's self that you'll ever make a bleeding dime or receive critical praise from someone other than a lover, family or friend. It's great! Getting feedback or a follow from someone whose images you respect and have never met yields plenty of satisfaction given the time and effort put into content creation which is almost effortless and the results worth far more than the cost of being in the community (nothing). It's like an Easy-Bake Oven! It does have it's limitations though and I find myself fighting cliches (unless purposeful) and overt imitation (unless one is directing the nod to the inspiration).

The downside I've found is the level of addiction is greater than the internet itself (for me at least) because I feel free to express my self with imagery in a fashion I have not had before. Sure I can share images on Facebook or MySpace but the layers one has to get through to do so burns through my time and there are other distractions there, besides one can cross post via IG to almost any social network site, even Flickr! And since IG is really about the image commenting is secondary, though some blather on as elsewhere. The other downsides are it is currently an iPhone only app and there is no web based content linked to the inner being so you have to do it all on the phone, and as such I go through battery life quickly...

In short it's both a liberating experience and an addiction, but I will take the pleasure with my pain for now and have fun with content creation, because my phone is always with me and it's become my de facto camera and processing center as I am not chained to a desk and computer so I can roam, shoot and post at will. Nice!

Home @ last!

Yesterday concluded Elliot's stay in the nursery, the doctor had cleared his discharge earlier in the day. So at 7pm at the shift change we all bugged out of the SCN for the last time. We said some good byes to the staff and made our way to the parking lot to install the car seat base.

I forgot what a pain they are to install and get right. Note to the manufacturers of these things: Make installation videos and either toss a DVD in the box or post in the support area of your site or both. Reading manuals for these things is a pain in the ass, because so much of it is feel mixed with random odd geometries due to variations of car interiors.

This just in...

Elliot was moved out of the SCN/NICU and into the regular nursery today and has been doing well with his feeding although a little pokey at times. This may just get him home by the week's end. Go Baby Elliot!

The home stretch

Tonight I learned that Elliot's feeding tube was removed overnight and since he has been taking the bottle pretty well all milestones are pointing homeward. His nursery mates Matthew, who left on Sunday night and Georgina, who is destined to head to Barcelona on Thursday (SAN->ATL->BCN, ohhh Mr Toad's wild ride!) have come a long way in the time they spent in the special care nursery. Others have come along now and entered life with a short layover in the SCN often beginning with the incubator stay, IV, monitor lines and photo therapy as the first stop. Next stop is the clear acrylic bassinet and feeding tube as nature begins to wake and take its course within the snugly wrapped burgeoning souls.

I think we have been fortunate in witnessing mostly favorable outcomes while we've been visiting as there are several testimonials indicating otherwise, one a framed remembrance to a 4 day old the other a plaque on a donated rocking chair in the name of a lost child. I forget what the mortality rate is for preemies in the sub 30 week category, but I'm glad we won't really need to know that stat. Survival to term for them is a struggle even in the best of circumstances and the effects of such an early birth can carry well into adulthood or be a permanent part of their life. Again I feel we may not have as great as many concerns in this regard, but time will only tell.

So here's to the final stretch and another day beginning...

New member of the family

(I penned this on the 6th but am just now getting back to adding to, and posting it...)

So Saturday was a bit of a tease, because Sunday brought my son into the world. I had no idea that was going to be the day, I was under the false impression that we might go 3-5 more days. Had I known this would be happening I wouldn't have burned the midnight oil hanging out with some friends and watching them play at a local restaurant.

Of course once it was known that Laurie would be having a c-section we had to wait further because she had been given food at 7:30, so the procedure would take place 8 hours from that point. Well it so happened there were 2 other c-sections ahead of us so by the time she was prepped and moved into the OR it was 5:00, I joined a little later after the OR was prepped for the surgery. I sat warily behind the drape with her and only took a few short peeks at the procedure, not being down with blood and guts. I took a few grab shots as they doctors were going about their business out of a morbid curiosity in surgical technique.

So at 5:38 he was officially delivered into the world 6 weeks early. His breathing was induced and he gave out a few short cries and wiggled about on the warming tray. Had he not peed first thing, he might have tipped the scales at 4 lbs, but the call was just a half an ounce shy of that figure.

So now it has been 2.5 weeks and baby boy Doyle is still in the NICU, he at least has a name (Elliot Owens Doyle) and a car seat to ride home in. He is doing well with little to no issues other than feeding which is common among preemies. But he is getting the hang of suck and swallow as well as latching on and once they remove the feeding tube he'll be in the home stretch.

Very soon

Drained I am, and a new world stands before me yet I am not ready for it's impulse. Awakening and not prepared to exit but yet it must, forces beg it's yielding marrow until it's cry forth a beckoning call of innocence and need. I stand alone in my being not sure of my ability to meet the challenge or standard. A new voice is ready to be heard and I am certain it will be nigh upon me. I hope I am ready to meet it's demand.

Oh brother...

There's something afoot and it's forming now in the belly of my spouse. I can't believe that this is possible but alas I've seen the images and it is for certain. We've long known she was past her sell by date and hadn't given much thought to impossibilities during our intimacies (few and far between...).

But now we will see the fruits of that logic and if the future redeems us and should our libidos meet up I will come prepared for that outcome, as my boys can swim like Phelps and hit their target like Robin Hood so I guess they will need to be held back in a secure manner.

Up 2 date...

The Leica M8 is in the house and I have been making sure I get my money's worth in what spare time I have. What a different paradigm having a CCD sensor behind the lens instead of film. The possibilities are endless and yet one must learn to stop and smell the roses now and again. Film does make one work differently that is for sure and I need to approach digital in a similar fashion if I am going to succeed in making viable images. And one more thing, Adobe Lightroom 3 beta 2 has shown itself to be the best thing since sliced bread as well. To hell with Flash guys, Lightroom rocks! Examples to follow...

It does infrared pretty well...

ISO 2500 can yield decent results, contrary to popular opinion and processing skills

To someone I know but never met

Rest in peace Jim Marshall, I shall be toasting you tonight with some John Powers me thinks...

Done deal

It's taking over, and it's really all over except for the scanning. I've shot dozens of rolls of film that may never see the light of day. Some recently, some from the past. I wished I had the fortitude that others seem to possess to soup, make a contact sheet and then print this stuff. I just don't anymore, it's not so much the work but the time it takes to accomplish all the various tasks. If I did for a day job or I was an artist or even god forbid an actual photographer it would make more sense. And even if I don't print the stuff, scanning is an arduous task that I don't look forward to (thank you Nikonscan...) let alone provide disk space for it all.

So I am planning on selling off my Leica M6 body and returning to an all digital realm. I'll still have some film cameras one a toy (Holga) and the other very retro (old Leica) to fulfill any filmic desires I may still have buried deep within me. I should probably shoot those rolls of infrared film first though...

Film, I raise my glass to you and your friends who still have it in their heart to romance the emulsion, cheers!



------------
Postscript:
En route from Deutscheland today is an M8 to nuzzle up to all the M-mount lenses in the house and to help defray the cost the M6 must go next month along with some other things. It'll be worth it all in all. I still have a great film camera (even though it's pretty old school), so if the need arises I have an option.

Good God!

Has it been that long? I guess so, almost like ah er umm anyway so here's another one of those posts to keep the damn thing alive, to breath some life into it's flagging, wheezing corpse. For one thing it is a new year, so I should toast that I suppose.

So to the new year (2 months in...) and to new endeavors! There's the photo exhibit I'm working on, and the Unknowns gigs in June back in Georgia. Hmmmm what else? Stay tuned I guess.

Something/Nothing

I know I had something to say either last night or this morning, I know I did. I am sure that I did, but where did those thoughts go, and what did they contain/say? I wished I knew, I really do they felt so profound and resonant.

I think it was last night as I was parking the car or maybe late in the evening as I was scanning or retouching photos. It was groundbreaking, awe inspiring, left of center and right of far out. I know for sure it was all this and more, best thing since sliced bread, better than Ezra, the whole enchilada...

But all for naught, it's now been forgotten it seems. Oh well, so it goes...

Good night and good luck.

And in the end....

Much like myself I know some twentysomethings that try to do more than is physically possible for one person to do no matter what their abilities. Currently I am attempting to scan any number of rolls of film all the while I am juggling a family, a full time job including OT (which I have on a regular basis) and some things on the back burner oh and then I like to ride my bike. I frankly can't see how it's done without going slightly insane. I have so many rolls and I am hating Nikon right now for their poorly designed and maintained software.

So why do we do this to ourselves?

Are we afraid of something? Death, extinction, demise? What is it? I ask because I haven't yet determined what that unquantifiable element is as yet. If you possess a clue, please for god's sake pass it on to me!

It's been awhile since my last post, but like a certain person I feel no one reads this anyway, although she posts on a regular frequency and I applaud her for her commitment and tenacity regardless but I feel I reach next to no one, but she has more than a few followers and me thinks she gets some readership beyond the friendly nod. Oh well so it goes and now I must sleep so I can wake and start the work week extra bloody early.

Cheers...

popeye

The teeter totter mindset

>>The past few weeks my mind has been clouded by doubt, low self esteem and anxiety when concerning anything related to the arts and photography. Fear and loathing in Lost Wages. I am not a commercial, pro or freelance anything except human soldering station, so when it comes to photography my mind goes awry with worry about the who, why, what and how (the where is the easy part).

Recently after looking at a Yahoo group that concerns itself with DIY black and white imaging I began to feel a little more at ease with my self and loosened the grip I had on my psyche with regards to photography.

Will I succeed? That remains to be seen, but I need to plant my feet on the ground and start moving with confidence.<<

Well this was how I felt a week or so ago when I started this post, but now after looking through some old stuff the old again and trying to sort some things self doubt crops up again. Too much anxiety about things overall. Organization is beyond me, I falter just thinking about it but it's what needs to be done if I ever want to do anything besides collect butterflies. And then there's having a plan, harumpf I come up with these all the time only to find out they were premature in concept and short on follow through. I wished I could just push the whole thing off a cliff or crush it under a 10 ton truck.

MJ - aiding and abetting the downfall

Now that the dude is buried (more or less) let's throw off the sequined glove shall we?


I really feel this whole Michael Jackson thing is a farce and the MSM has blood on their hands along with his family, his hangers on, the industry and most of all MJ himself. OK so enough already with the kudos and memorials and teary eyed remembrances from friends, industry people and misguided fans.

He among other things molested children, and add to that he got them drunk in order to have his way. It is a documented and undisputed fact.

I'm going to let him slide on the drugs and the material excess, as Elvis was not immune to those nor plenty of others before them both. But now concerning the pedophilia, that's a whole other matter. Funny thing is, is that the MSM and society VILIFY anyone resembling a molester, sexual predator or pervert. Period. And from all accounts he was all of these. So why does he get a pass? Or rather how...?

Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, that's how, I perceive. They put up the instant karma shield from retribution and malicious intent around the legacy that is "The King Of Pop" simply by putting themselves to work for the estate and giving the air of victim legitimacy they are so pro at, plus add to that the MSM seeing a golden opportunity to cash in and of course not wanting to bite the gloved hand that will be feeding them for some time, they decide to keep mum on the whole sordid mess concerning little boys, 'Jesus juice' and masturbation.

Now granted there can always be some gray area in terms of intent, consent etc that confuses things to some degree, but we're not talking about the average schlub or situation here, but someone who is almost godlike in his star status taking advantage of impressionable young boys by using that status to have his way with them. And then pays millions in lawyer's fees to achieve a settlement and in the process casts the shadow of pimps and small time hustlers over the parents of the boys to disguise his reprobate and highly manipulative nature.

Creep.

And so you paid them off, essentially got off scot free and went on to build up debt like the US of A and then make a comeback only to die before the opening show. Now you're a prince of peace, an angel, a dove heading toward heaven a, a, a freakin' con man of staggering proportions. And everyone around you was eager to please the King of Pop, to any extreme it seems.

Yes, you were extremely talented and willing to put your all into whatever you took on and it showed almost beyond compare. But you were also beset by demons that nothing you did could slough off no matter how hard you tried and frankly in the end it was your undoing because I don't think you put the same effort in ridding yourself of them as you did in creating/recreating yourself and spending money you didn't have. They killed you man, they had control of you and they flatlined your ass into the ER and you let them. Paid them in fact. You let them Michael, you alone, plain and simple.

And now I'm supposed to feel sorry for you? No, sorry man I'll have to leave that to those who had a vested interest in your love and affection and could see past your faults. Meanwhile let me try and get back some of that lost time I have from ingesting and digesting all that is MJ.

Today's pic of the day

A shot from the beach head at La Jolla, south of the cove. Rode from home to Pacific Beach, then up to La Jolla and over to Miramar and then back home via Kearney Villa Road. All in all a nice day with a 34 mile workout.

Observation for the day: Wealthy areas have as bad of roads or worse than the lesser areas... La Jolla, I'm talkin' to you!

A year's worth of cycling...

So it's been a year since I started riding as a consistent habit, granted at times it hasn't been very consistent. But let's see what I've achieved in the last year...

>I could hardly make it up Clairemont Mesa Bl, in either direction. Now it's nothing (provided
I'm warmed up...).

>I rode up Torrey Pines once on the Kona SS and thought I was going to kill myself doing so,
now I do it regularly on the LeMond. It still kicks my butt somewhat, but I'm huffing and
puffing less and gaining perseverance.

>I used to think that 15 mph and a 80 or 90 rpm cadence were impressive. OK I'm still not the
fastest thing on 2 wheels, but I can crank out 100 rpms and 25 mph for a bit without much
effort.

>10 miles was a major undertaking, but after I inadvertently rode a metric century (67 miles)
because I rode 15 plus miles to and from the 26 mile sponsored ride, 10 miles is nothing.

>I still haven't cracked 40 mph, but then I'm not in any hurry so 37 is the top measured speed so
far and I can average 30-33 down Torrey Pines without cinching up my butt too much.

>I have improved my pedal stroke, now I can feel a more consistent, smooth circular motion
when I keep focused on my job.

>I can fix a lot of the parts on the bike (except threaded head sets...) and feel comfortable tearing
into anything on it, tho I've yet to work on the derailleurs.

> My blood pressure is normal and my weight is down, I can also slip into a size 29!

Well that about sums it up on accomplishments over the past year. Now to the next year:

> I had planned on trying a full century (100 miles) this past year and several nice rides came
and went because of lack of planning and decent training for the ride. So I plan on doing one
this year, if not a full 100 miler, than a 67 metric on a moderately difficult course.

> Another bike, or maybe make over the LeMond with new paint and some new bars and stem. I
might even spring for a new chain...

> Keep on working on my pedaling to get smooth and powerful, not so much for racing or such,
but for endurance and efficiency.

So to the next 12 months! Cheers!

Hello World

Yup another one of those "Been awhile, I'm still alive as if you out there in the internets really even cared to ask.." posts.

Too much going on to find time to blog, and then there's Facebook that massive time stealer and all that that entails. I still ride the bike, still shoot photos and I still have a day job. I did move across the street and then immediately went on a vacation, just in case anyone wants to know... Oh yeah I still have a family as well and a car payment...