I have been conversing with some old and new friends who, it turns out are rather gifted photographers.  Photography was my first hobby when I was a kid and I have always loved it.  I did it professionally for awhile but found that the stress of not missing the shot took away the Zen of getting the shot.  If you are a photog. you know what I'm getting at.  If not then I suggest picking up a camera and discovering for yourself what it's like.   Anywho, I also started resenting the fact that I was witnessing once-in-a-lifetime events through a tiny viewfinder. Suddenly my passion and something I loved wasn't fun anymore. Now as I look back I realize that it didn't mean I wasn't still witnessing the events just participating in a different capacity.  I refused to have my wedding videotaped even though I worked in video for a living. I am sure I felt passionate about the reason why back then, but can’t remember it now.  After that my life got busy and I found I had no time to take pictures anymore, especially if they weren't bringing in income to feed my family.  How in good conscience could I justify that?

 

So, back to my friends.  I have been re-inspired by their work to start clicking my own shutter again.  Not just stills but video too.  I absolutely loved shooting and editing.  Next to my love for my family, that is it.  I loved working in television for the news.  Well, let me rephrase that a bit, I loved the pace and actual work involved, I hated the news-sensationalism that went with it.  Also, I got shafted by my supervisor at the time.  (a tip for all you up-and-coming directors out there, don’t out perform the people who can get you promoted and/or fired.)

 

I tried running my own video production company based here in Addison, Maine.  Addison is about as rural as you can get, so my potential customer base was way too small to support video productions.  I did post production for a show that aired on The Outdoor Channel for about a year, but when the company that produced the show relocated to Florida that was it.  I put too many eggs in one basket.  That was 2005. 

 

After that I chucked most every reminder of those days into the trash and never looked back, but like an old flame, the excitement has slowly begun to blaze within me anew. 

 

I a have a website: www.thedarkeagle.com  That I have begun to re-do.  It’s not fully functional yet but will be up again soon.  I’m thinking of adding a full-fledged, members type photo-gallery.  Free to join, I’m looking for kindred spirits, not dollars and cents.  (Well, that’s not true, I mean to say I wouldn’t charge you guys to join and start your own galleries)  Let me know if you would be interested.  Well, that’s enough soul pouring for today I guess. 

 

Thanks PolarB for being one of the legs that kicked me in the arse.

Drillbit

 

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"Anthropomorphism” is the attribution of human characteristics to animals, plants, objects, etc. My wife anthropomorphizes our animals all the time. An example of this behavior occurred just the other day. Our dog, Tabatha, had to go outside so she started pacing back and forth from my seat at the couch and the front door. Typically, I will ignore this for about 5 minutes to 8 hours, depending on what’s on the television, or more recently, what’s going on in the Twitter universe, oh and Facebook too. Anyway, my wife said in her drippy girl voice that lets me know that I’m supposed to find this astoundingly cute, “Looooook, she’s saying, “Chris, I need to go out.” Then she giggled.
Maybe it’s a guy thing, or maybe I’m just a cynical jerk (OK, I’ll give you the last one), but I just don’t think the dog was thinking anything close to that. Personally, I think she was thinking something like “Duhhh”
Like the other day when our horse Sassy came over to us and started scratching the ground with her hoof in anticipation of getting a treat, my wife said “she knows she’s going to get a treat.” Sassy chose that instant to coincidentally stop what she was doing and look my wife in the eye, prompting my wife to gush “She’s saying “yes please, I’ll be good.” Then she giggled. (My wife not the horse) Now again I’m guessing Sassy was saying “A-duhhh”
One more example just so I’m sure you understand my plight. Yesterday my nine year old daughter was staring into space and tapping her fingers on the table. My wife whispered to me, “Do you think she is nervous about her test? She looks like she is thinking “Oh no, I hate tests.” Once again, I’m going with “Duhh” I know what you’re thinking and yes, kids are animals. I know I was.

This behavior, while somewhat annoying is at least tolerable, unlike people who, when talking to their animals, refer to themselves as “mommy” and/or “daddy”. The Inuits have a great custom for dealing with the old and infirm. They put them in retirement communities or “icebergs”. My mother has begun this disturbing behavior. She was shaving the horse’s face the other day, I swear I’m not making that up, when she accidentally nicked him on the muzzle. (relax horse lovers, I’m taking poetic license here, don’t call the ASPCA you knee jerk reactionary do-gooder.) Her response was not that of a grown woman, instead she said, “Ooooh, mommy’s sorry”. Then she made kissy noises.  I must admit it made me throw up a little in my mouth. So at the age of 36 I found myself having to call around and see if there were any openings at the local retirement homes. Maybe I’m jumping the gun. Perhaps it was a one time lapse in judgment. I’m giving her till next winter when the Ice forms again to see if this atrocious behavior ends of its own accord. If not then what can I say, it’s not like she is giving me much of a choice here.

It’s time to get some work done in the barn and I think my dog is telling me to go f##k myself. -Drillbit
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I love gardening. It’s great. There are lots of benefits. It’s a great learning experience for kids and a fun way to spend some quality family time. There is a beginning, middle and end (usually a tasty end to boot). In fact I love it so much I’m going to double the size of the garden this year. I hope to grow enough that I can set up at the local farmer's market, which brings me to the point of this article, bringing back the Victory Garden.

In 1943 (WWII for my non-history peeps) the United States government encouraged citizens to grow their own veggies and fruits. Since there were rations on sugar, coffee, flour etc., it made a lot of sense (cents too for that matter). I think the same reasoning applies to today’s economic situation, not to mention shrinking our individual carbon foot prints. What a great way to save a little scratch, get some exercise, enjoy the outdoors, live better, blah, blah, blah.

I hear you ask, “But Chris, I live in the city and have no place to plant a garden, how can a conscience pseudo-green wannabe like me plant my own victory garden?” You can’t idiot. Plants don’t root in concrete and asphalt. Don’t lose heart Marvin Milktoast you can still support your local farmers at the farmer’s market (see above if you have ADHD) or your can join a local Community Supported Agriculture(CSA). Buying locally grown produce helps your community and your neighbors directly. So stop being a callus, self-centered ass and help your fellow man.

All kidding aside, if we are going to pull our country up by its bootstraps we are going to have to start helping our neighbors, just like we (OK not technically, we but the collective we) did in 1943. If you would like to learn more about victory gardens here is a great site. So spread the word, dig in and help your fellow man. Praise God and pass the locally grown produce, or something like that.

Organically yours
Drillbit

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So today I found out I have something called hypothyroidism. I don't really know what that means other than I have to take a pill everyday. To tell you the truth I'm thrilled to find out. I have been dog-tired for the past year or more. I have no energy, my muscles ache constantly and I have no desire to do anything. If all that goes away and I turn back into my old self in a couple of weeks because I finally got around to getting a physical yesterday then good. (yes that was the Olivia Newton John reference on facebook and twitter yesterday). I think I'll indulge in some celebratory cheese and crackers.

Sluggishly yours,
Drillbit
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It seems to me that the best way to fight the system nowadays is to not go green. This may even be the shortest route to world peace. Follow my logic here. If we all started leaving are lights on, cranking the heat up and driving as big a vehicle as we can afford then together we could deplete the world’s oil supply, thereby forcing clean energy into the forefront. Aren’t we fighting a war for oil now, or was it terrorism? I can’t remember, never mind. We can’t fight over something that isn’t there. Current protest strategies by individuals, small interest groups and grassroots efforts will never change big oil. There is simply too much money in the oil business to care about popular opinion. So let’s beat them at their own game. Consume the product so voraciously that it just goes away. It’s a finite thing, it will run out.

Having said all that I think the key to this radical action is the continued increase of our nation’s recycling efforts. Plastic is after all a petroleum derivative. We can’t very well decimate the world’s oil supply without a plan in place to keep the plastic we have already developed. Also, many of the larger waste management companies are developing methane gas reclamation power plants. We need that sort of forward thinking. We are always going to generate waste and methane so why not put it to good use. Perhaps the electricity generated by those plants can power the re-manufacturing process for recycled plastic, sort of a perpetual motion of industries if you will.

Aright, calm down. I know I’m over simplifying this and yes, I know just about everything in our modern world including agriculture, food manufacturing, medicine, the economy etc, etc, is based on oil. I also know it’s not feasible for us to burn all the oil that’s left on the planet just by driving more and turning up the heat. Can’t you people recognize satire for crying out loud? OK, you’re breathing normally again? Want a cookie? Let’s continue. There are a lot of interesting articles floating around the internet concerning peak oil.  Most of them are alarmist and probably run by a bunch of tree hugging hippies. You know the type, they mean well but are so impassioned about their ideology, you just want to stuff their esophagus with granola bars to shut them up for ten seconds. My point is this: I’m green because I hate you. Not you specifically, but you collectively, the lemming like society that we have become. You know it and I know it, we just can’t come to accept it. You know as well as I do that it’s not money that moves us but inconvenience. Until it is a real pain in the ass for us we won’t demand any sort of changes. “Experts” say it won’t be a pain in the ass for us for about 50 years so screw it. We’ll just bury our heads in the oil soaked sand and wait it out. What ever, I can’t figure it all out today. I meant what I said about recycling though. That is important.

Subversively yours,
Drillbit
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