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News and what not

So I've been terrible at blogging lately, but here goes. On Saturday I intended to go to the Seattle YouTube gathering but I couldn't because I ended up working as a PA on a movie being shot in here. It was a lot of fun espcially since it's been a while since I've been on a proper film set. I'll be doing that for the next month or so every Saturday and it makes me wish I didn't have a job so I could do it everyday they're shooting. It's reinvigarated me to work on my scripts and focus on making videos myself.

The movie is called Judas Kiss and has some good actors in it, including some from the SyFy show Caprica which is pretty cool. I've only done it one day so far but everybody on set was really nice.

Dodge and Burn

Summer quarter is rolling along smoothly and I only took one class, but it has been an awesome one. I'm taking a black and white photography class and it's really interesting. I'm not sure when the last time I've taken actual film photos is but it must be about 6-7 years. It really takes a whole approach to photography I've forgotten about, getting it right the first time. Now I normally like to take my time on my digital camera, but I'm putting way more thought in to these especially since the camera is on full manual mode.

The other really fun part is developing and processing the film. It's really cool to really be in control of the entire process from beginning to end. I love dropping the paper in the developing fluid and watching the picture materialize. It's really cool and if you get a chance to take a photography class definitely go for, it's a lot of fun. I'll post some of my shots when I get a chance to scan them.

Good Medicine

So Saturday was an awesome and busy day for me. I got a bunch errands taken care of and then went to the CD release show/ party for my friends 20 Riverside new first album "Good Medicine." I've know these guy for years and they make some great music and put on a killer show. We met back in the high school band and it's great to see them releasing such high quality music.

Their hometown shows are always a a bit crazy, and have kind of a high school reunion vibe about them but without the pretension. They played from 9 o'clock until 1 o'clock and had everybody dancing the whole time. It was great to catch up with a bunch of people I haven't seen for a few years and just have a really good time. The coolest thing of the night though would have to be seeing my name in the thank you section on the CD case, it was pretty amazing.

If you want to check them out you can visit their reverbnation page and preview their whole album, and I believe it'll be available on itunes very soon. Or check out this video I took of them a few months ago.

Why I suck at dating

I'm really terrible at playing the "game" or whatever people are calling dating these days. Things like the "three day rule," kind of confuse me. How does it create any suspense if we both know I'll call in three days, or as my roommate tells me "go for four days now, it keeps them on their toes." Call me old fashioned but I'd rather be straightforward then play games to get a woman interested. I'm not talking about flirting and courtship, just the modern banal constructs we've forced on to them that makes it utterly predictable.

Any way, It's Friday night so I'm going to go out and enjoy it.

The road to someday leads to the town of nowhere

I am really great at procrastinating. It's a terrible habit, and it is also a really hard one to break. Whether it's hitting the snooze alarm repeatedly in the morning, or putting off projects, or even eating, I can always find a way to put something off, it's like I'm perpetually stuck in the planning stage. I don't want to be that guy, the guy whose "casually late" for his life. So, I've decided to change.

Obviously there isn't just some switch you can flip and not be a procrastinator (which kinda sucks,) so I've been looking up different strategies and different approaches and from what I can tell they all amount to the same self-explanatory thing, "just do it". Easier said then done right? So now is the time for action if I'm going to change my habits and stick with it. To help me along I've started adding all my stuff to iCal on my computer with reminder alarms to help keep the stuff in my mind and keep me motivated. I think a trackable system where I can check tasks off as I do them will be really helpful. I was never one for day planners, but I need to be.

You better start calling me Nike, because I'll "just do it!"

Who are you as an analog person?

So this evening I had the pleasure to see and meet the author Gary Shtenyngart. He was giving a reading from is latest book Super Sad True Love Story. The book is hard to classify, it's kind of an Orwellian romantic comedy. While it is a good book, what I actually want to talk about is something else entirely.

When Shtenyngart, a self-confessed iPhone addict, was asked about his gadget he mentioned something I hadn't really considered in a long time. He said it wouldn't be a problem much longer because he was planning on moving to upstate New York, where he won't have good cell phone coverage and he would be able to reconnect to his "analog self." It was that phrase, "analog self" that got me thinking. It's so easy for us to get caught up in our online/techie stuff that we can ignore our analog selves.

As a child of the late 80's, I've been using computer my whole life. I still remember vividly the first computer game I ever played (The Manhole) on our Macintosh SE, so the idea of an analog self is a bit foreign to me. So much of who I am is rooted in digital. My Job, 8 hours a day, is entirely computer based, combined with the time spent at home I'm probably using computers/ my iPhone 10-12 hours a day. Now don't get me wrong I can unplug from technology. I do read actual paper books regularly, I go camping for the weekend, but I'm genuinely not sure sure how I would spend my days if I had to unplug permanently.

It's an interesting thought that I can't seem to shake or answer, "Who am I as an analog person?"

BEDA: Blog Everyday in August

That's right, all this month I'll be blogging. I'm a day late in starting this little experiment, so I'll be doing a double blog post some time during the month.

I figured this would be a good way to get my writing on to a more consistent schedule, and hopefully improve it too. So stay tuned for a month filled with blogs from this guy.

All the best- Caleb