daines'n around

As chosen by me and presented in no particular order.

-- Noble Beast - Andrew Bird
-- Merriweather Post Pavillion - Animal Collective
-- There is no Enemy - Built to Spill or Blood Bank EP - Bon Iver
-- Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk
-- Veckatimest - Grizzly Bear
-- xx - The xx
-- Grand - Matt & Kim
-- Hold Time - M Ward
-- Because I was In Love - Sharon Von Etten
-- Here We Go Magic - Here We Go Magic

Special bonus 2009 release worth hearing:
-- Beatles collection in Mono - The Beatles

I finally got around to revamping my photo blog, and it has sparked an interest in sharing my photography once again. I'm sharing new and old photographs -- one per day -- over at staticantics.com.

In addition to the photographic work I'm doing, I have been tutoring students from Bakersfield College with Photography, InDesign and Photoshop. My students have been very complimentary towards my teaching and tutoring style. There are definite beenfits to one-on-one study time with complex subjects like these.

Next week, the National Novel Writing Month starts off again. This year will be my fourth year participating, with two of the previous three years failures at reaching the 50,000 words in 30 days goal.

I think about plots, characters, outlines and story arcs and think that I really just need to write more than anything.

But writing can be so difficult sometimes.

If you are thinking about joining, or are already participating, please let me know and we can be buddies if you click on my NaNoWriMo profile.

After about two months I've finally collected photos from 8 different guests and our professionally hired photographer and arranged them all in flash slide show.

The song included is the one Katie and I first danced to. You can turn it off in the bottom right hand corner of the slide show if it bothers you. Just click on the photo below.

I love plants. Katie said her favorite flower was the Hibiscus. Off I went discovering hibiscus flowers do well in hot climates as long as their soil stays damp.

Today we had six flowers in bloom, the most yet from Hibby who has probably grown a foot since we planted her in our patio garden two months ago.

If only our bougainvillea, Bougy, would flower again it would make the garden even more beautiful. For now it is content with grown large and producing elaborately large green leaves.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor has open, free statistics to anyone who wants to check out unemployment anywhere in the United States. As I continue my job search in Bakersfield, I wanted to determine what the job market is like here. The results? Not great.

The trend looks to be headed down, but look at the jump. It will take along time to recover.

Unemployment was as high as 16 percent in March, and has seen ups and downs since then but has maintained a level above 14 percent for well over 6 months.

I haven't applied for unemployment yet, so I'm not counted in that number, and I wonder how many others have not bothered to apply for unemployment and therefore aren't counted in these statistics?

It isn't often that someone confides in me to photograph their wedding. I don't advertise and the only way to find out I even photograph weddings is to happen upon this Web site or to know me or one of my friends.

This makes wedding photography more interesting because I know the people who choose to pay for my services really want me to be their photographer and aren't just looking for the cheapest or easiest.

Usually, it turns out very well and I try to make people feel as comfortable as possible. The results from the Sipe wedding are now ready for your consideration.

In case you didn't know:

• Katie and I were married on July 13 at Avila Beach (pictures coming soon.)
  
• I moved to Bakersfield.
  
• We traveled to 6 states and visited family and friends for two months this summer.
  
• I am unemployed - or shall we say self-employed since I've had a few paying gigs this summer.
  
• You are welcome to come visit anytime.
  

The blues festival was a blast.