The Director

My friend, Chris, does photography workshops for aspiring artists. I would link his webpage, but off the top of my head I don't know it. Anyway, during his workshops one of the topics which is apparently discussed is how to use an Adobe software product called Lightroom. Supposedly, this is "the best thing out there" for managing catalogs that include thousands of images. Having spent an afternoon clicking "Next, next, next" through a list of 1500 vacation photos from August, I easily believe that Lightroom provides a lot of added value for its users.

That said, according to Chris, there aren't many options for photographers who want to get the most out of Lightroom. Sure, they can sign-up for Chris' workshop and get the day long immersion, but that isn't economically sound for everybody. Another option is a series of videos that are available here. I watched about half an hour of these with Chris last week and they are *boring*. Plus, the full collection is like 8 hours long. Often, the presenters is these videos are rambling. Seldom, they are engaging. In sum, if you have 8 hours to spend learning Adobe Lightroom, you may as well just spend that time digging into the product and figuring it out on your own. There is simply no value in highlighting every button, menu, or toolbar in the product.

Thus, I met with Chris last week to brainstorm ideas on how to make a quick, engaging video that educates users on the different uses of Adobe Lightroom. I'm going to be the director and the cameraman. He's going to write, edit, and star in it. His photography workshop partner Aaron is going to co-star in it. We'll all be producers, I suppose. The plan is to start filming in Boston in the beginning of November and finish by the end December. I recall editing of my movie took months, but this should be a lot easier because their will be a much easier flow to piece together.

And I leave you with semi-meaningful statistics:

Current RBCDD Score: 27
Commissioned Artwork in October: 3
Ideas: GTC, LE, 2076, CPFP, CBLRP

My Travels

I found a link on ESR's page to a service that provides a convenient way to link an image that illustrates a person's travels and for posterity I have decided to post the map of places where I've been. Do note, my only journeys outside of our country's borders have been to St. Catherine Street, but I think this map helps show that I know how to get around.



A major trip which I will eventually take is to Alaska. For travel information to Alaska, I have found the online resource Romancing Alaska. It's very low-tech but it has great information and excellent recommendations.

Evolutionary Thought

There are quite a few things that I would like to discuss in the future, so I will leave this as a springboard to remind myself about those. Right now there are quite a few things that are occupying my time and if I can find the time it is my goal to eventually elaborate. Unfortunately, without access to the internet at home it is problematic for me to find the time to keep up with this online tomfoolery. But on the plus side, do you know how many fewer hours I spend on Facebook per week? I estimate between 3 and 5.

The first point of discussion comes from the "Something Old" category. I joined the MIT Gym and have been running lately. It is good to workout several times a week, but I've limited myself to the treadmills, which means the return of the Running Beer Diet. Though, in the latest incarnation the torture is enhanced (version 2.0) so that it's now the Running Beer Coffee and Dessert Diet. If you want an explanation of how the diet work, ask me. I invented it.

The second point of discussion is the my APAS proposal has gained some legs inside of my organization and I've met with leaders from the Space Programs Division. In connection with this, today I ordered Human Spaceflight by Larson to gain more information on this topic.

The third point of discussion is that I am being artsy. I commissioned a local printer to produce a number of images from the trip to South Dakota and Wyoming that I took. They look marvelous. This coming Saturday, I am going to meet with a framer who will teach me what I need to know to make the overall presentation look really nice. When all is said and done, the goal is to decorate my apartment with fine art.

The fourth point is that it has occurred to me recently to setup a financial consulting services business to help middle class individuals who need to make big financial decisions. My theory is that recent economic indicators highlight the fact that America, as a culture, is not geared towards making responsible economic decisions.

The final point of today's post is that editing on my novel is going really slowly and I wish I had more time for it.