Weather:
We’re right in the heart of a typical midwest winter. No real complaints. It’ll be over sooner or later.
Please enjoy the autumn iteration of Signal.
A number of things I’ve enjoyed lately:
– The movie Good Time. I’m so glad I didn’t know too much about it before seeing it. All around great film work, editing, soundtrack, and acting, it really stuck with me afterwards.
– Ace Trucks
– Comb from the St Losers crew. Lots of spots with terrible ground.
– NYCTA Objects. This book is made for obsessives such as myself.
– Skate After School
– Crypto from Deep Dish and Snack
– The Grains Video
– Day Off Boys Promo Nater has a bunch of awesome stickers, shirts, and koozies available too.
– Jake Cook’s Dunky Sandwich.
– Andy Baxter’s Excuse Me
– Finally this phenomenal Chris Jones 365 part. Jacob Harris had an amazingly productive year with the SkatePal and Atlantic Drifts. His camera work and editing are an inspiration. Great stuff!
This has been going since 2006. That’s crazy.
After two issues of Work Song I decided to temporarily shelve the concept.
These are the photographs I took during the fall months.
Since this year started I’ve had a few different exchanges with people that made me think.
First off I am terrible at reading.
I used to read for pleasure all the time but at some point I started to lean on podcasts and newspaper articles and things on the web.
I recently started a book and found myself skimming ahead or skipping paragraphs completely instead of slowing down and trying to take in every word and sentence.
When I talked about this with a friend they pointed out that I was trying to read a novel like a wikipedia article instead of enjoying the reading.
So this year I’m trying to relearn to read.
I think there’s a lot of things like that. Drawing, interaction with other people, even just watching tv.
Sometimes you need to relearn and practice things to be more comfortable doing them.
Can I watch a show on tv and enjoy it for what it is without sketching or texting or instagramming?
Randomly my old roomate sent me an email with a photo I had mailed her a long time ago.
Usually I’m pretty critical of things I make and I can dismiss them or find tiny flaws but I really loved this image.
I don’t remember what camera I shot it with or when. I’m not sure where the negatives are or if I still have them.
Most of the time I put a lot of energy and focus into making things and then immediately move on to making other things.
I’m just not very good at the “selling” aspect of creative endeavors.
I’m also pretty terrible at organizing and archiving.
I briefly looked for a scan of the image but without success. It’s probably somewhere buried in the old posts.
It’s a photo of a plane in the sky and there’s also a flock birds and one of the birds mirrors the plane nicely.
That brings me to another conversation I had about practice.
Am I trying to take photographs for display, for a show, or just to put on the internet? Is there a goal?
If I didn’t get feedback would I still keep making things and posting them?
Should there be an instagram without likes?
Should likes influence what I post? What I make?
For a while I was trying to look at all the posts in my feed when I got home.
I was worried I might miss something a friend put up.
Unfortunately or maybe fortunately the algorthim has started mixing things up so I gave up being so strict about it.
Now I try and do my best to see what I can and then move on with it.
Don’t get me wrong I love all this information and content.
I’m not going to hate seeing new things or seeing things my friends have made or things that might spark ideas.
But as I get older I feel more stressed about time and time utilization.
Am I contributing enough? Doing enough? Making enough?
How long will my knees hold up?
Why did I take a nap this afternoon? Did I squander away an opportunity?
Am I not taking enough naps and wearing myself thin?
This yead I’m going to try and talk to more people about how they integrate creativity and art into their lives.
Maybe they have an idea I haven’t even considered.
If you have thoughts or ideas on the subject I’d love to hear them.
Mostly I’m going to try and be more open and aware and engaged and involved and immersed in the world.
I’m going to get a haircut and an eye exam this Saturday. 2018 is going to be the best!