Fumes : Administration
Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 01:30PM FUMES
I've just placed my shoes in a drawer in my office. This is apparently an act of containment; the cheap shoes from Penneys in Ireland ("EVERYONE shops there," said my sister when I came back with two paper sacks full) are emitting so many fumes that I've begun to lose my voice from exposure. I'm debating my next line of assault: talcum powder? Febreeze? A plastic bag and a dumpster?
I offer this information as a means of producing a metaphor later on. I'll get there.
I've been writing in airy bursts. I have reams of thoughts on my computer at home, thoughts on Scarlett Thomas's amazing Our Tragic Universe and the roles we play in our own narrative, thoughts on Cincinnati writer C.E. Morgan and the fact that we share the exact same birthday, and how this made me feel even more compelled to read her work ("Twins," published in last month's fiction issue of the New Yorker, was great, and I'm hoping All The Living will be just as good. I've heard good things.).
But these are all incomplete thoughts. I start out writing them, trying to make the thoughts bold and significant, about BOOKS and THOUGHT and METAPHOR and HOME and they become bloated with fumes (there it is), too broad and vainglorious. So I tuck them away in a drawer and ponder my next steps with them.
For now, I find it easier to focus on music and images. I've been listening to the new Sun Kil Moon album on repeat and devouring other people's photographs with deep exhaulted breaths, thinking to myself if I could only do THAT. These are things best not to be tucked into a drawer, but aired out big and beautiful for the rest of the world to see, hung in a row like sheets on a line. My own personal gallery of favorites.
I found Katie Spence's photographs through Sarah's Tumblr, and I've found myself trying to mimic her style on more than one occasion.
Natalie Kucken and Laura Vancane are two young photographers—one from Michigan, the other from Latvia—whose eyes I wouldn't mind borrowing for a week.
I met Jeremy Blakeslee at an art show curated by my cousin and his girlfriend a few years back where he was showing some test Polaroids of his work. Even the tests were impactful.
Cincinnati native portrait photographer Michael Wilson makes me wish I'd spent a little more time capturing Lyle Lovett.
There's been some photographic inspiration of the vintage sort with the Library of Congress collection of photos in color, 1939 - 1943, and there are always my old favorites: Jim Griffioen has added new work to his portfolio, some of his best yet, and Chris Glass's photographs remain a constant tug at my heart and my eye.
If there's a photographer you think I'd enjoy, please leave a note with a link in the comments. I think right now I need to spend less time with a computer on my lap, inhaling the fumes, and a little more time with my camera.
ADMINISTRATION
Two years ago, out of some insatiable desire to be in a room full of people who might have some idea of what it felt like to write your thoughts out loud on the internet, I attended BlogHer. While I don't plan on attending the actual conference this year, it's coming to this coast and bringing with it many of my favorite women I met in San Francisco back in 2008, and we've all decided to meet at a bar next Saturday and invite anyone else who wants to come hang out with us to do so. No badges, no sponsors; just us, a few drinks, our cameras, and probably quite a few tubes of lipstick. Come say hello; details here.
photography
Reader Comments (4)
You're continually too kind! Thank ya.
My thoughts are too fragmented these days for extended posts.
I'm enjoying marking the days with photos though.
Glad you enjoy them too!
Sidenote: I met Katie Spence by sheer luck at SXSW this year.
She's neato, like her photos, in real life.
I don't give compliments just for the sake of it; I'm sincere in my enjoyment of what you do, and glad to hear that I'm not the only one whose thoughts are fragmented these days. I'm also glad to hear that Katie is as neat as her photos!
Oh boy oh boy, how did I miss that there's a new Scarlett Thomas out? I like having her blow my mind occasionally. I will be reading this, forthwith. We should have a book club!
AND! I will be there on Saturday. You, Helen Jane, Maggie, Karen, Holly ... I am powerless to resist some of my favorite Internet Ladies. Damn, now this means I need two BlogHer outfits.
I've had the pleasure of working with Michael on several occasions and his photos always hit the mark! Highly recommended!