Two years on...

Valya - 121510

This blog is a toddler.  It is starting to walk on its own and speak simple thoughts.  Since December 15, 2008, this blog has:

• been reborn not once, but twice and been renamed three or four times.
• 371 published posts still accessible
• 60 published posts deleted due to self censorship, poor writing, culling, and other issues
• 123 draft posts that were never published
• 15,070 visits
• 50,558 pages visited
• an average reader spending 2 minutes and 33 seconds per visit.
• visitors from 114 countries
• one evil offspring/brother blog, Hear Me Roar. - A stuttering attempt at validating, defending, and defining masculinity.
• are you bored yet with the "greatness"stats???  I am.

I read last years post, One year on and got bored in the first few paragraphs.  I wrote last year about all the changes in substance, style, yada yada yada.    I am not as sentimental about this blog now as I was a year ago. 

Moi, but I've changed since then

My art has changed in the past year.  I've given up the notion that I want to be another Edward Weston, Ruth Bernhard, or Imogen Cunningham.  You can read more about that here.  I am more interested in mixing it up with a sprinkle of those giants, a bit of Robert Frank, a dash of Bob Guccione (RIP) and lots of my own psyche.  I am less into celebrating the aesthetic art of the form and more into what the context of the moment means.

My two highlights for the year were trips to Rome and New York City.  In Rome I found my spirit.  In New York I found my soul.  Both changed me forever.

Over the years I've made friends along the way, interviewed a few of them, and savored the comments they shared.  Thanks to Carla, Joe, Terrell, Valya, Alex, Z,  and many others.

So, enough rambles.  Here are my favorite photos of 2010.  You may disagree, but all of these are personal, beautiful, and somehow changed me.  Some more than others, but they were important.  Thanks to locations for being open to me.  Thanks to the models for opening themselves to me.

Hit the Road Jack - 

Rome 

 

Wells, Nevada

 Joshua Tree National Park

 New York City

 

 

Las Vegas, NV

California Delta and Foothills 

Models, muses, beauty, and truth

Valya

Moon

Candace Nirvana

Mollee

Andrea

Courtney

 

Happy Birthday WWST

She will understand - Happy Birthday WWST

What We Saw Today turns three today.  In bloggie world that is... 247 years old.  Congrats to UL for keeping the quality high, the beauty ever present, and the sensual sensibilities celebrated.  Thanks also for being a friend.  It means a lot.

You can learn more about Unbearable Lightness (also known as Dr. Lightness or Dr. L) here.  This is an interview with her.  She is brilliant. 

Getting to know you... um... I mean me.

 41

To paraphrase the Beatles, "I heard it was my birthday."  41.  It is a quiet birthday filled with warm wishes from many friends.  Thanks to all in blog world and Facebook who sent birthday messages.  I also want to thank UL from What We Saw Today for her birthday wishes on that fine blog.

Candace - 030910

A birthday gift to me with this photo... I love it

In honor of me, (feels kind of selfish, but its my birthday so I don't feel too bad)  here are my answers to my questionnaire. 

1. What is your favorite word? Sensual
2. What is your least favorite word? Hopeless
3. What turns you on? Getting to use all five senses.
4. What turns you off? Arrogance - nobody is that good.
5. What sound or noise do you love? A romantic moan or the wind rushing through trees. They are equal. Interesting how both involve the movement of air in a special way.
6. What sound or noise do you hate? Mosquito buzzing by my ear while trying to sleep in my tent.
7. What is your favorite curse word? Ah fuck me...
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Photography teacher
9. What profession would you not like to do? Crime scene clean up.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? "Surprised?"
11. What is your idea of perfect happiness? A simple trip (anywhere in the world) with a sensual beauty who loves being on both sides of a camera.
12. What is your greatest fear? Not doing what I need to do in this life.
13. Which historical figure do you most identify with? The composer Percy Granger. Everybody thought one thing about him based on his public life, but he lived a completely separate one in private.
14. Which living person do you most admire? Virgin empire founder, Richard Branson. He has grabbed life by the balls and is living a rich life that is pretty damn responsible as well.
15. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Starting too many things and not finishing enough of them.
16. What is the trait you most deplore in others? People who only see complex issues in black and white or right and wrong.
17. What is your greatest extravagance? Cameras, a Hasselblad and a Nikon D700 and all their peripheral equipment are my latest ones, but I do use them heavily.
18. On what occasion do you lie? When it would spare someone's feelings or when the lie will not hurt anyone and is more expedient than dealing with the truth.
19. What do you dislike most about your appearance? I am not fixated on it too much, maybe a little less weight, a little more hair... actually I would like a better wardrobe.
20. When and where were you happiest? Watching the aurora borealis outside of my Billings, MT home when I was a kid. They usually appeared early on the coldest mornings. My mom would wake everyone up to go see them. The silence of them dancing in the northern sky with their green shimmers still gives me peace.
21. If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be? I'd be a bit more determined on the harder things.
22. If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be? Instilling the desire to go for it and to appreciate that desire in others.
23. What do you consider your greatest achievement? Haven't created it yet and don't give a damn if I do. Once you have created that, what else is there to do with life.
24. If you died and came back as a person or thing what do you think it would be? As either a woman or a tree in a park. Both would give me enlightenment on what life means.
25. What is your most treasured possession? My senses.
26. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Hopelessness induced by other humans.
27. Who are your heroes in real life? Dr. L, Z, Mrs, Joe, Beth, Terrell, my wife, and Renee.
28. What is it that you most dislike? Having to entertain large groups that I don't really have an interest in for multiple days.
29. How would you like to die? Without knowing it happened.
30. What is your motto? Heh... how about that. (As a statement, not a questions). NOTE I typed this a few weeks ago. Since that time, my new motto is, "In 100 years there will be all new people." We need to live our lives with keeping that in mind.

One Year On

It Started with Leila

December 15, 2008 Mission and Vision of the blog

I am pulled to simple messages, photos, images, sounds, and art. Sometimes the simplest things say the most things. The sensual world around us is so sweet and simple, yet will mess with our mind for days and make us wonder "what the fuck was that?" Those are the delicious moments I live for.

I am going to post my writings, photos, thoughts, moods, or whatever is needed for the time. My spelling is nominal, my grammar is almost acceptable. That will not be my point. I will also share works of others (and of course cite them) that I find important for the moment. This will not always be a daily blog, but I hope to contribute things that took some time to create or find and not just post something to show I posted.

What it was and what it became:
I was searching for clarity about what I wanted and desired in my art, creativity, sensual needs, and tried to create an outlet for all of these. I wrote some half-baked, long, sort-of haikus, sort-of poems, and rambled on about being randy. Now it feels like it focuses more on art and less on other life stuff. It has kind of reversed over the year.

I look back to the early days and see an edginess that I really like and kind of miss. It was much more raw. My writing had a yearning to express things I had never shared in my life. I also was trying to find my writer's voice. I dabbled in everything, especially sex and art. I am not sure if I regret the evolution of this blog to where it is now. I miss the old reckless abandon of the early posts though. I wonder if these changes reflect my efforts to avoid alienating readers with unpopular topics and imagery or just said all the wild things I needed to say?

Some of my most personal blogs shared a story of a friend's suicide, my bi-sexual curiosities, and a certain erotic story from Galicia, Spain. I still feel a bit raw when I read them and wonder of their value.

One of my favorite series of posts came from a comment someone left disparaging Katie's beautiful abundance of underarm hair. Dr. L wrote some great posts about it and that issue kept creeping back a couple of times. I hope some good came out of that discourse. My preference for women and body hair, if you are happy with it shaved or fully grown, then I am too. Both are sexy because the woman hopefully feels sexy with or without it.

I noticed many posts were inspired by reading others' blogs. Some of these bleed-over topics included censorship, sex, artist's anguish, and erotic imagery. I want to thank those who helped me carry on a conversation they started. I hope my additions pushed the topics further or in new directions.

Thanks to this blog and the many appreciated comments, I am starting to understand my artistic voice. I am not sure what the future of this blog holds. I appreciate the outlet and the many readers I've learned from. You kindred spirits are very important to me.

Resting

By the numbers:
Posts: 308 started, 281 published
6,258 visits from 85 countries
Country with most visits - USA - 3,797 visits
Country with fewest visits - Lesotho - 1 visit
Average time on site: 2 minutes 46 seconds
Average pages per visit: 3.66
Unique keyword search terms: 381
Most used categories:

1. Photos (135)
2. Chatter (46)
3. Censorship (33)
4. Candace (32)
5. Nostalgia is a dangerous thing (32)

First photo of mine uploaded: 1/25/09 Leila and Hana (Ying and Yang)


Date of first comment: 1/24/09 Chris St. James Also first follower!
Date of last comment: 12/10/09 Dr. L.
Followers: 20

Holding the Precious

Happy Birthday to UL and Joe!

"Away"
Photo by SB

First, if you have not visited "What We Saw Today," go now.

Second, Happy Birthday to WWST.

I discovered WWST early this year and try to follow it religiously. Trying to sum up Joe and UL's work is like describing the color blue to a blind person. You just need to visit it. I will share a few observations.

Joe's photography and writing is very inspirational for my artistic growth. His photos have a quiet sense of solitude and peace, even when they are taken in a jazz club in New Orleans. Of course I appreciate the nudes, but his photos of New Orleans, Detroit, and his sailboat are poetic beauty. Sometimes the poetic beauty is sad, but it is still beautiful. Joe's writing perfectly compliments the narrative of his photos. I hope he writes a book someday.

UL is a force of nature and spirit. She is a true renaissance woman. She embraces exploration and sensual pleasures she discovers along her path. She is smart, intelligent and wise, which very few people have all three. On top of all that, she is sexy. Her sexiness is not just her physical beauty, but her zest for the erotic sensual pleasures from simple to grand.

One of my life goals is traveling to meet these two. Until then, I will visit them in their corner of the blog world.