video from last night

Posted by matt on 2009-02-12T00:00:00Z GMT

Oh noes! Tornadoes!

<br />So, i kind of wasn’t going to blog this, it being old news and all, but I wanted to at least share the pictures. Funny story: for the pictures of everybody crouded together in the bathroom, that was for the second cell that passed over us, the one that wasn’t really anything to worry about.<br /><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/oh_noes!_tornadoes!/1247/0002.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br />My first day in the office was actually good. Doing sysadin-like duties already, although I don’t really think I qualify for the title yet. Or at least I was doing them until the power went out. Point for twitter- I found out about the storm a little ahead of everyone else on twitter. Then I sat there for twenty minutes trying to find decent radar coverage (not really possible on the internet, unless you get a live feed from the tv stations, which is easier to get from, say, a TV).<br /><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/oh_noes!_tornadoes!/1247/0003.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/oh_noes!_tornadoes!/1247/0004.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br /><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/oh_noes!_tornadoes!/1247/0005.jpg” alt=”Photos” />

Posted by matt on 2009-02-11T00:00:00Z GMT

a weekend in kentucky

So I started my new job for reals last weekend, and it was strange, like everything else in my life. The traveling was some of the easiest I’ve done. Nothing went wrong (in an unfixable way, at least). Like I said, the things that are usually difficult, like morning coffee or lunch, were handled with ease. For those not in the know: my new job is taking pictures of dance competitions. to the tune of 20k images a weekend.<br /><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/a_weekend_in_kentucky/1249/0001.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br />The hard part wasn’t really taking the photos, either, although I can tell already that my timing and camera handling is going to get a lot better (this coming from someone who didn’t think that was possible). This is a good thing.<br /><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/a_weekend_in_kentucky/1249/0002.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br />(There was some bs here that I cut out, because some shit shouldn’t see the light of day. not while it’s half baked at least. suffice to say that dance competitions are hard to fit into my worldview; they are, in a word, problematic). <br /><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/a_weekend_in_kentucky/1249/0003.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br />At the end of the day, the girls probably mostly have a great time dancing, and enjoy having quality pictures of what they love doing. I can dig on that. Thinking of it that way, it’s hard to hold onto my objections. At the end of the day, I’m a professional. I do the job, nobody gets hurt because of it, maybe some people enjoy what I produce even. That’s fine with me.

Posted by matt on 2009-02-10T00:00:00Z GMT

The abbreviated quest for coffee

So I woke up at about 4:30 this morning, local time. I sat around for a little bit, then decided to get my ass in gear and shower and clean off two days of road dirt and sleep. Every time I needed something, there it was in my bag. Even Q-tips, even my phone charger. <br /><br />So, fresh, dressed, I pulled out my laptop and read a bunch of feeds, all the usual blogs. At this point I thought I’d try to go and find coffee, usually an exercise frought with difficulty not least because of my level of awareness. <br /><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/the_abbreviated_quest_for_coffee/1250/0010.jpg” alt=”Photos”/><br />Out the room door and down the stairs of the convenient downtown hotel. and into the lobby. I already knew that the continental breakfast didn’t start until 7am on saturday (seriously, the majority of travel is business and on the weekend; some people have to be out the door earlier). I had little hope, then, of finding coffee in the lobby. I found the usual breakfast nook empty, per expectations, but as I was snapping a photo of it, the desk clerk came around the corner and I asked her: Where can I get coffee?<br /><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/the_abbreviated_quest_for_coffee/1250/0011.jpg” alt=”Photos”/><br />That angel, that wonderful woman, told me that she was making it right then, that it would be out momentarily. F’ing amazing. So I stood around for a minute or two, then she came back with an airpot. Awesome. <br /><br />That’s this trip so far in a nutshell. I’m a professional working with professionals. Everybody’s doing their job, there haven’t been any disasters yet. (As I type that I knock the wood of the desk). And today, I get to the best part; for six or eight hours, I’m going to sit in a chair and take pictures. <br /><br />It’s not enough; I’m still gonna have to push my own work, keep making my own pictures, but it’s a start. I think I’m gonna like this job.

Posted by matt on 2009-02-07T00:00:00Z GMT

posting before I dash off to the office, to ride to kentucky...

This is where I want to live when I grow up:<br /><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/posting_before_i_dash_off_to_the_office,_to_ride_to_kentucky…/1252/0002.jpg” alt=”Photos” /><br />This will be my corner store. Wait, are those apartments above that store? Can I change my mind about the house thing? Awesome. <br /><img src=”https://images.matt.pictures/posting_before_i_dash_off_to_the_office,_to_ride_to_kentucky…/1252/0001.jpg” alt=”Photos” />

Posted by matt on 2009-02-05T00:00:00Z GMT