Chris

11/11 GHR Check-In

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This is the final month of the Groundhog Day Resolution system for 2019. This was the 11th annual attempt at creating life-long habits for myself. I’ve discovered that because of the after the end-of-year holidays I am not mentally or physically capable of sticking with resolutions for the upcoming new year. I need a break so I take the whole month of January off to reflect
and plan. The idea here was to check in every month from 2/2, 3/3, etc to 11/11- today!

So how’d I do this year?

Physical

  • The immediate goal is to drop 25 pounds quick. Besides the typical
    motto of  “Eat clean, train mean, get lean”, I’m throwing in some activities that should help. This was a fail. In fact, I have gained unhealthy weight.
  • Kickboxing/sparring with Tracy. Not one much thrown.
  • Dance lessons. Something fun like Swing? Sexy, like Bachata? We’ll figure it out. Not one lesson. We dance around the house and at the pub but that’s it.
  • Disc Golf. Time to get back into it. Less expensive than golf and I don’t have to wear baggy, plaid pants. We tossed the disk around a bit but nothing consistent. I made a brilliant 1/1000 shot though so yeah.
  • Yoga/Meditation. I had some moderate usage last year but not enough to form a habit. I did appreciate the quiet time to breathe, relax and focus on nothing. Again, not habit forming but I enjoy the process. Why can’t I make time for simple things?

Technical

  • Learn Python. Only one tech goal this year because I get scattered and end up not learning anything. No more. Time to learn and apply data science and machine learning applications. I wrote a few lines of code and then realized I don’t need to. I wasn’t interested. What was I going to do with it? Next year I may write Swift instead but only for the hell of it.

Artistical

  • Sketch/Draw/Doodle. I bought an iPad and pencil last year and I want to be more creative. Nope.
  • Learn Spanish with Tracy. Nope.
  • Learn Chinese. For myself. Nope.
  • Learn to play the ukulele. I grabbed one late last year but with the holidays in the way it took a back seat. Nope.
  • DAM- Digital Asset Management, or, where the hell are my photos from that shoot last month? They are all (almost) on to a new 10TB hard drive waiting on me. Progress.
  • Write short stories. I have a ton of ideas for these. Progress, but only this month of NANOWRIMO.
  • Write micro fiction. One hundred word stories. Nope. Change this for NANOWRIMO?
  • Work on that novel. Its been ten plus years and I still can’t get all of this out of my head. Progress, but only this month of NANOWRIMO.
  • 52 week photo challenge . 52 weeks in a year = 52 photos I think this died around week 9.

Financial

  • Order a credit report and start settling some debts for less. 2017 was not a good year and it hurt me financially so I am slowly recovering. This year will be dedicated to resolving this and restoring my good name. Progress! My credit scores dropped a bit at first but are slowly going up. Not fast enough for me though.
  • Build credit with a secured credit card. Doing this now.
  • Automate savings and track investments. Yes, there is an app for that and it is called Acorns. Nope.
  • Cryptocurrency. This year I will dip a toe into these unknown waters. Bitcoin? Ethereum? Research is crucial here. Nope. Not interested anymore.

Overall, I’d rate this year’s GHD Resolutions as failure. In fact, I am thinking of scrapping the whole concept in favor of focusing on one thing a month and practice. That should be habit forming, no? But knowing me, I tend to bounce from thing to thing randomly or as I get bored.

The portrait photography was big this year but as I’ve stated previously I am slowly pulling away from these types of shoots and want to try photographing something else with different methods. Still working these out. But the takeaway is that portrait photography was the culprit that a majority of these resolutions failed.

NANOBLOGMO

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As promised, I’ve been writing almost daily during National Novel Writing Month (NANOWRIMO). But to be honest, most of it seems to be for the website.

Photography: A New Hope

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A constant comment I hear among my photographer peers is that they feel like they’re in a creative pit. They’re bored and uninspired. And yes, let’s be honest, I have as well. Who hasn’t?
I’ve found a few cures for the ailing inspiration in the past and am looking forward to implementing new ones as well.

I’ve been too comfortable and lazy. In the past I would eliminate technical setbacks with gear and software. So, I’ve sold all of my equipment. And then I changed to a new system to see how the other half did it. But over time I was still unsatisfied. Lesson learned: equipment doesn’t matter.

For now, I am exploring and re-learning analog. Don’t misunderstand, I still enjoy my DSLR but I’ll be using it less and may even sell that as well eventually. But when I allow my brain to go manual and take control over automatic this or that is when I like it best. I get creative. I have to think and plan. It isn’t easy. I don’t want it easy anymore. There are constraints and limitations with film photography that are different from digital. If going analog gets too complacent then I’ll try an instant camera or a toy camera.

What’s Next?

I’m questioning everything lately. Do I need my photography website? Do I need a place to show galleries and portfolios? Who will see it?
I’m not offering anything unique then the next photographer. I may have some great work displayed there but so will she and he. What can I do that will set my website apart from them? Why should you follow me in the future?

I’ve been enjoying the idea of real, honest to God, tangible products that you can touch. I’ve embraced the physical portfolios and it all started with the art show in September when I offered prints for sale. I had prints leftover and so they went into an album and it thrills me in a way that photography hasn’t in such a long time. I had prints made from some of my recent road trips and those too went into an album. Magical. Now that I’m shooting 35mm and instant, they have their own albums/journals.

When I get my shit together and organized, I’ll even self-publish photo books and zines. I had. A few printed off in the past but that was back when the self-publishing industry was getting started. The offerings have improved and I’m honestly looking forward to this. Again, if I can get it together.

Perhaps these ideas will help distinguish myself from the bored, uninspired photographer. Perhaps these ideas will help me get out of those negative, bored places as well. The visitors to my website may appreciate the distinction from a bored photographer shooting the same thing as the other 12 million people fighting for attention. By making tangible products, I’ll be happier. Even if it is for myself.

Waiting for a muse is just not realistic. She isn’t real. I’ve realized that inspiration rarely comes to you but instead it is something to pursue. Doing the work itself can be inspiring. Planning the projects, cultivating my ideas, projects and products can be very beneficial.

Creativity is difficult to obtain and maybe this is why so many people are bored and uninspired.

Airplane Mode

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I experimented today by going radio silent. No calls, texts or distractions. I even put my phone in my coat pocket and forgot about it.

No regrets.

Count The Costs

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“Most failures are one-time costs. Most regrets are recurring costs. The pain of inaction stings longer than the pain of incorrect action” – James Clear

Disciplines

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Obvious habits and disciplines that will generate huge returns but are somehow difficult:

  • Meditate/pray
  • Journal
  • Read
  • Sleep at least 6-8 hours
  • Drink water
  • Walk
  • Workout 3 times a week
  • Airplane mode during at least 4 of these bullet points
  • Save at least 10% for yourself

This Is Going To Suck

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I brought the old Polaroid One Step camera out of the storage box and decided to clean it up and put it to use now that Polaroid/Impossible Project/Polaroid Originals is creating a consistent, reliable supply of compatible 600 film.

Bringing an old toy out to play again is very exciting

I counted on the first few sheets or hell, even the whole box to learn and adjust to and I wasn’t wrong. Polaroid films prefer excellent lighting and shooting indoors without it is…challenging.

So the best way is to make these mistakes earlier so I can move on and produce the thoughtful, deliberate shots I want to.

I also charged up the Fujifilm Instax Mini 90, loaded it with some newly purchased film and it’s good to go as well.

I have this thing for monochrome, okay?

Next up is the Canon 35mm Sureshot point and shoot camera. I loaded up some some Fuji ASA 200 film and took a few shots yesterday to test it out.

I want to get back into the sure joy of analog photography and to have these physical reminders of my learning and developing. It’ll suck at first and that is okay by me.

I Want My Hour Back

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There is no benefit to Daylight Savings Time going back when Missadventures wakes up at 3am to go on a road trip to Texas and you cannot go back to sleep.

Writing Something/Anything

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November is the time of year for three things.

  1. Thanksgiving
  2. No-Shave November
  3. Novel writing
  1. I’ll be giving thanks on the road this year.
  2. I did the no-shave thing in October until it got irritating and out of control
  3. I suppose there is only one of these left to do, right?

The focus will be writing on a few short stories and even trying to post something here daily. Posts will be in the form of thoughts, quotes, photos, reviews, anything.

Ulysses vs IA Writer

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I love how both apps are compatible with Mac/iOS and sync with iCloud.

However, as of now, I cannot post to WordPress from the Ulysses app. I think it is being blocked by my web server. But how is IA Writer able to do publish to my website??

Also, Ulysses is an annual subscription at $50. Writer has one time purchases of $30 for the Mac and $5 for iOS.

Hmm.