I bought myself an early Christmas present thinking that I'd take up photography. It's been a while since my digital artwork days. Drawing takes more time than I have available to dedicate towards it. So I thought photography would be an viable substitute.
And thus.. my Tumblr (http://sshu.tumblr.com/)! I'm still not sure why the thought of photography inspired me to sign up for Tumblr, but here we are. I'm thinking I'll periodically post my best photos. Hopefully it'll be a log that allows me to see progression in the years to come as I learn what all of these manual settings mean, composition, lighting, and all of that fun stuff. I've never taken a photography class so this is going to be a trial and error experiment. Perhaps I'll even post new lessons as I find them online. So far the Nikon Learn & Explore iPhone app has been a great starting point.
And here is my first Tumblr post. Redundant to have it here too, but I really love the lights my roommate and I put up. I thought I'd share it to get everyone more into the holiday mood.
Being a successful expert is half about knowing the material you're supposed to be an expert at and half about coming off as an expert. Every expert has moments where he doesn't know the material, but that doesn't make him any less of an expert.
The above lesson is a paraphrased version of two pieces of advice I received today. It's also a very difficult lesson for me to learn. There are definitely times when I'm certain I know my material and can easily answer any questions asked. I don't complain about those.
But I stumble when I'm not confident enough about the extent of my knowledge on a particular subject matter. This could mean anything, from something I barely glanced at to something I extensively researched. When I'm not confident, it's much more difficult for me to sound like an expert. And when I hear myself faltering, I can't help but stumble and stammer after every question asked. It becomes almost a self-fulfilling prophecy. The expectation that I will come off as a fool actually causes me to eventually come off as a fool.
The solution, logically, is to convince myself that I'm actually quite knowledgeable and will do fine in the spotlight. Of course this is always easier said than done. How often do people try and fail at convincing themselves of certain opinions? And then there's also the danger of succeeding too much and ending up with narcissism. I don't think narcissism is a problem for me, but that could also be the pride talking.
Yet I know it's possible to complete. I know this because I'm often the subject of my own psychological experiments. I have already tried to convince myself of several things, and in each case, by pretending to be something I thought I wasn't, I ended up being just what I wanted to be. For example, I used to believe I couldn't tell stories. But after telling myself to pretend to be a good story teller and fool the crowd into thinking I can actually tell stories, I ended up as a better storyteller than when I first started. The pretending actually made me better at something I wanted to improve.
At least there's still hope yet. I have plenty of time to pretend as if I'm good at something. I'll talk with a more authoritative voice. I won't shy away from eye contact. And from all this pretending, I'm hoping I'll actually turn into an expert, or at least fulfill the appearance half of coming off as an expert.
No one will ever say a New Yorker has no ability turning garbage into art.
NYC filled Times Square with lawn chairs. A whole bunch of fatasses broke said lawn chairs. Pioneering artist ties lawn chairs together with cable ties and calls it art.
The latest news is that I'm getting the keys to my new apartment today! Very excite.
It's a one bedroom, but my roommate and I are converting it to a two. Which means we went out and leased a wall. Did you know you could lease walls? Like people come in, construct a wall, and then take it down when you no longer want it anymore. This is still a novel idea for me.
This opens up a huge range of possibilities. Such as ditching the standard door and installing saloon doors for dramatic entrances every time. Or installing four walls for a small square room in the middle of the living room. Or requesting a garage door and playing Indiana Jones or Ali Baba every time you want to enter and exit the room.
Multiple people warned me of the impracticalities of straying from the standard wall/standard door combo, though, so I went with the boring and mundane choice. But that still allows me the option of decorating my wall. I haven't yet decided what I want to do with it. Wall decals seem all the rage, but I'm having trouble accepting the option of paying money for something I can paint myself. Perhaps I'll Tom Sawyer it and have a wall painting party and have people finger paint abstract pieces.
The New Yorkers and foodies will know just how wonderful a discovery I have made. My dad just bought a new grill, and I've learned that I can make Cuban grilled corn - a la Cafe Habana. Found the recipe online.
I made a couple of changes to the recipe. Instead of cayenne pepper powder/chili powder, I used Tobasco chipotle sauce (couple of dribbles before putting on the mayo and sour cream mixture). And because I didn't have Cotija cheese, I shredded some Monterey Jack and hoped for the best. But the best idea I had was adding some garlic powder to the sour cream and mayo concoction. Most other recipes called for garlic butter, so I decided to mix the two ideas for an even fattier (read: tastier) treat.
No pictures of the results, but you can bet the corn was effing delicious. Grilled until the husks burned off. Topped off with more lime juice than was necessary. Yum.
Burgers were involved too, but the corn definitely overshadowed the burgers. I'll have more time to experiment with different burger flavors in the future now that I've figured out I don't have to wait in line forever to get Cuban grilled corn.
I was surfing online, and I found a video on Youtube of Shel Silverstein's reading of The Giving Tree, a childhood classic. I've posted the video below for those of you who want to reminisce or for those who haven't read the book yet. It's really quite touching.
How appropriate that I stumble upon this video today of all days. The Giving Tree (notice that Shel referred to her with a feminine pronoun) is a lot like my mom. She's never asked for much from her children. Instead, she agreeably gives everything of hers away whenever we ask.
Over the years I've taken a lot from my mom. I like to think that I've given things back, but I know I haven't returned the favor often enough. I'm not talking about material goods. My family was never one for giving presents and having objects lying around. I mean that I don't often show the appreciation that I actually feel. I'm not one to express my feelings often (okay, ever), but I'm also not sure if even just saying things like "thank you" and "I love you" are enough.
I do know that despite my yearnings for independence, I'll continue depending on my mom forever. Even when I'm old and she's given away all that she's could, I'll still need her around even if just for the company. At first, the little boy in The Giving Tree seemed like such a selfish brat, draining the tree of all her assets without even offering to nurture her in any way. But as I go through the story again, I also see that he has forever depended on the tree. He leaves, but always comes back. And I guess what I'm trying to say is, even though it may seem like I'm going off and doing my own thing, I'll always want to come back for my mom.
