You know that story about how some monasteries require applicants to stand outside and wait for three days before they can enter? After a semester of teaching a bunch of kids who are just there to fill in a blank on their degree rubric, I understand that now. So many people aren’t in college to learn, they’re there to buy a piece of paper. And when you expect them to do more than sit there in class and stare at the wall, they balk. Sometimes there’s one or two good students, but they’re the exception. It would be nice if we could limit our students to those who wanted to learn. <br /><br /><span class=”caption” >Dinner on no diet day. Gotta love it.</span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/i_hate_grading/1191/grill.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><br />Oh well. I’ll never be an ancient sage of anything, either, and I’m not taking another teaching job, unless it’s teaching photography as art. I’ll never forget the blank faces I got after showing my students “La Jetee.” It wasn’t that they didn’t understand the film, they had just ignored it. Anyway, the sun is shining, the outside is gorgeous, and I’m off.
Posted by matt on 2009-05-06T00:00:00Z GMT
from <a href=”http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/05/an_expectation.html”>Schneier</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>… Twenty years ago, if someone wanted to look through your correspondence, he had to break into your house. Now, he can just break into your ISP. Ten years ago, your voicemail was on an answering machine in your office; now it’s on a computer owned by a telephone company. Your financial accounts are on remote websites protected only by passwords; your credit history is collected, stored, and sold by companies you don’t even know exist.<br /><br />And more data is being generated. Lists of books you buy, as well as the books you look at, are stored in the computers of online booksellers. Your affinity card tells your supermarket what foods you like. What were cash transactions are now credit card transactions. What used to be an anonymous coin tossed into a toll booth is now an EZ Pass record of which highway you were on, and when. What used to be a face-to-face chat is now an e-mail, IM, or SMS conversation – or maybe a conversation inside Facebook.</blockquote>
Posted by matt on 2009-05-05T00:00:00Z GMT
I spent a lot of last week in bed, although not in a good way. I was laid low by some upper respiratory virus, most likely a cold, but maybe the flu. No swollen glands or soreness, though, and no high fever, so probably not. Wednesday I was fine, Thursday I woke up and had a sore throat and slept all day and then felt fine, Friday I felt like shit all day so I stayed in and out of the rain, and then came Saturday. <br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/and_then_came_saturday…/1195/0001.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><br />Saturday, I was supposed to meet up with a certain lady to hang out. So I text her around 6:30, she says she’s still at work, so I tell her to just let me know when she gets free, and we can coordinate then. 10:30 rolls around, no news, so I decide to head out on my own. I still haven’t heard back from her. Can’t win ‘em all. <br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/and_then_came_saturday…/1195/0002.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><br />I went to Sauced for a few good beers and then Blue note for a few less good beers, and then Cyrus texts me and says he’s at a party around the corner. So I say I’ll be there in a hot minute and head out. Side note: Paying in cash means you can leave whenever you want to. <br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/and_then_came_saturday…/1195/0003.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><br />So I get to the party and no Cyrus. There were a bunch of people I didn’t know and one that I did; it was Melissa’s going away party. So, I turned my gregariousness up to 11 and met a bunch of new people, although I’m afraid by that time I was more fueled by booze than by social graces. Then there was more beer and more hard liquor and a lot of blurry moments. Cyrus got back maybe 15 minutes after I’d arrived, with more beer. <br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/and_then_came_saturday…/1195/0004.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><br />Later, after more beer and some whiskey, I extracted myself from the party, wandered around a bit, decided I should park the car, got on my bike, wandered a bit more and ended up crashing on Cyrus’ couch. I realized this morning that that particular party was the kind where you have a really good time while there and then only later realize you were making a complete fool out of yourself. <br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/and_then_came_saturday…/1195/0005.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><br />Today was a typical sunday: Jeff’s for brunch, video games, movies, pizza, bar, home. I’ve got to get a job, and an apartment, and a motorcycle. In that order. Ah, goals. It’s nice to have those again.
Posted by matt on 2009-05-04T00:00:00Z GMT
Sorry for the hiatus. I’ve been stupid and self-doubting or maybe smart and self doubting. And I’ve been sick. Anyway, while my hard drive is restoring from backup, I thought I’d share a few of the week’s lesser failures. Actually, looking at the pix, they’re not that bad. Lighting in clubs is just impossible unless you bring your own. <br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/hiatus/1194/0001.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><br />I shot these all last wednesday, at Kamp’s deli. It turns into the latest and greatest OKC dance club on wednesday nights. It might be there more often, but I really don’t know. It was actually really fun, there was a good spread of music and a good spread of people. Lots of photographers, although I was the only one not using flash. <br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/hiatus/1194/0002.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><br />I’m not leaving out the captions out of laziness or unremembered details, but I really think these don’t need anything to explain them.<br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/hiatus/1194/0003.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/hiatus/1194/0004.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/hiatus/1194/0005.jpg” alt=”Photos” />
Posted by matt on 2009-05-04T00:00:00Z GMT
I took my camera to the grocery store. I have an idea: to make interesting pictures when nothing is happening. It’s a weird personal barrier I have, a switch that is either on or off in my head; if it doesn’t seem to me like anything is happening, then nothing is. Of course, something is always happening, “the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock.” (james baldwin) <br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/just_to_prove_that_i_don’t_just_shoot_parties…/1193/0001.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/just_to_prove_that_i_don’t_just_shoot_parties…/1193/0002.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/just_to_prove_that_i_don’t_just_shoot_parties…/1193/0003.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/just_to_prove_that_i_don’t_just_shoot_parties…/1193/0004.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><br /><span class=”caption” ></span><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/just_to_prove_that_i_don’t_just_shoot_parties…/1193/0005.jpg” alt=”Photos” />
Posted by matt on 2009-05-04T00:00:00Z GMT
