Getting Somewhere, and Four Weeks of Photos.

You know that feeling you get when it seems like nothing is going on, and then suddenly everything happens? Like... it's like you're pedaling an exercise bike, spinning your wheels getting nowhere, and you space out for a little bit and then realize (much to your confusion) that you're rolling down the road with the wind in your face?

This week I had that feeling again. I was starting to get frustrated with how The Great Job Hunt has not yet resulted in lucrative employment, and frustrated with the inertia that results from really, really enjoying not having a job. And then BAM! something amazing popped up when I least expected it. It isn't definite, so I don't want to describe it yet, and it isn't full-time, so it doesn't resolve the whole income issue. And it won't be simple or straightforward, and it's a tiny bit risky... but today I realized that those are things I especially like about it.

So now I'm gripping the handlebars for dear life, but also grinning a huge wide bug-catching grin: wheeeee!

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The photo-a-day project isn't even a month old yet, but it has already been my most successful collaboration with Ashley since People In My Neighborhood (link to the original by Baldwin and Gregory; our version isn't online, but it was kinda like that, only better).

Years of crappy cameras, together with the irritations of paying someone else to develop my film, made me a reluctant photographer. But I love to look at good photography, and I always sorta wanted to learn how to use a camera well, or at least not so clumsily.

I'm kind of a penny-pincher (when I'm not buying food), so when I got a low-end digital camera last year, that was a big deal for me. I was glad to have it to capture my sailing adventure, but I didn't want a fancy gadget like that to start collecting dust when I got back home. I didn't want to take it for granted. I wanted to learn how to use it better, and I figured the only practical way to do that was to use it more.

So now I'm taking more photos. Lots more photos. Since I got back from New Mexico, I've taken an average of 24 photos a day. And in doing so, I'm learning what my camera is good at and not-so-good at, gradually getting a grasp on what makes a shot work, learning to trust my gut and to take chances. I'm also learning how much I still have to learn.

Even better than learning to use my camera, though, has been learning to use my eyes: to see the world in a new way, to notice things I wouldn't have, to pay attention. Light means so much more to me now. And I realize almost daily now how amazing my eyes are, all the things they can deal with (low light, motion, obstructions, depth of field) without any conscious input on my part.

I'm also learning that if you go out looking for an interesting photo, sometimes interesting things happen to you. Yesterday I met Mr. Beet of Beet's Auto Body, which is kind of a landmark around here. On MLK Day a bricklayer told me the wall he was building was the last of 25 years' worth of projects in Portland. I thought for a few thrilling moments that I might get to meet a resident of The Scary House... but it was only a neighbor. Pointing a camera at stuff, I've learned, makes people want to talk to you. Sometimes all they want to say is "Can I help you?" which is of course code for "What do you think you're doing pointing your camera at my car/house/merchandise?" But even one question and one answer is still dialogue, and more than I usually share with strangers.

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Friday is Hourly Comic Day. I've always been more than a little intimidated by 24 Hour Comic Day, but this I think I can maybe handle, if I'm not working (and possibly even if I am). Join me?

The Mystery Solved.

The mystery bone introduced in this post has been identified by an anonymous commenter as the pelvic bone of an ostrich. All the images of skeletal ostriches I could find seem to confirm this. I compared it with an emu, and it's definitely a better match for the ostrich.

The complete, unbroken bone is actually even more fantastical than what we saw:
Check out that crazy curly bit on the lower left: it actually connects in the middle, just like your pelvis. But different. (Image from this site, where you can buy an ostrich pelvis of your very own.)

There used to be ostrich farms in the area our Mystery Bone was discovered, so this find isn't as bizarre as it may seem.

Nice work, Anonymous (you know who you are).

Progress Report: A Report on Progress.

Look, I changed my header! The image width still isn't right, and I may not ultimately use that image at all, and I'm still missing one of those whaddyacallems, uh, titles? But it's progress, and I'm into celebrating progress these days.

I've made a lot of progress lately, actually. I've kept up with the daily photo challenge. I found an alarm clock that I actually don't hate. I rebuilt my resume from the ground up. I installed my Shiny New Printer (thanks, Santa!) so I could print it. I am currently in the process of applying to: a bakery, a company that does something-or-other with music licensing, and a sailmaker's loft (yes, there's one in Portland!). I have a list of about 10 other jobs I still want to apply to before I start calling temp agencies. But since I already have plans to go away for the summer, temp is probably where I'll end up.

I also got rid of a lot of stuff: I recycled an old phone and printer. I found new homes for bags and bags of clothing. I whittled the feeds in my reader down to a mere 1740 unviewed posts. I dumped a lot of MP3s that I never liked anyway. (Don't worry, I still have 2283 of them!)

Now the excess stuff in my room is mostly down to Projects, about which Decisions must be made. For example:

Q: Here is a computer I built in 1998. It has a 3.5" floppy drive and a keyboard that doesn't really work anymore. It also houses some really important files. What should I do with it?
A: Obtain hardware that will allow you to eat its brains. By which I mean pull the hard drive, suck out the good stuff, and erase the rest. Then, because you love it, set it free. Let it lope unfettered on the technological veldt. That's what FreeGeek is for.

Q: What shall I do about all these papers that need to be filed, but the mere thought of filing them is incredibly painful?
A: Get yourself a decent filing cabinet, for crying out loud: one that opens and closes easily and doesn't leave your files all bendy. Look into the hanging folder thing, which is Probably Worth It.

Q: Here is a paper model of a castle which I almost finished circa 1990, but then got frustrated with and abandoned. And yet somehow it has followed me ever since, without getting crushed. What should I do with it?
A: Dust it off and inspect it. Discover that it is Awesome. Consider how your dexterity and problem-solving skills have evolved in the past umpteen years, and set it aside for completion (for reals this time).

And so on. It's amazing how much easier it is to figure this stuff out than it was seven months ago. Hooray for progress!

Archæology and Paelæontology.

So I haven't fixed the template yet, even though it makes me cringe. Nor have I chosen a new title, which also makes me cringe a little (I have yet to come up with one that doesn't). But other things have kept me occupied since I got home from my visit to New Mexico.

The past couple of days I've primarily been settling back into my own space. This endeavor is complicated by the disarray I left behind when I got on a boat last summer. My room is piled with abandoned projects and objects which have yet to find a home, all visibly dusty. I am not the kind of person who can just throw armloads of things in the garbage, shrug, and move on. No, I pick the debris apart and dust off each piece carefully, like an archaeologist, reconstructing the life of the room's previous tenant. I interpret the clutter as a series of messages passed through time from her to me, from past-Lindsey to present-Lindsey: "Help! I can't deal with this!" And I feel a maternal sort of compassion toward her, because I remember how it felt to be so discouraged that even simple problem-solving tasks, like figuring out where to put things, seemed impossible.

And I also kind of hate her, because she left me this freakin' mess to clean up. But I'm itching to get it under control, because as soon as I do, I get to go to Ikea. I've never been there -- was out of town when the new store opened up -- but I've been studying the catalog, and some of their stuff looks like it might be just what I need to make my home more attractive and orderly and awesome.

(Having Ikea in town is humbling, because it squashes my delusions about not being an overly materialistic person. I feel like a character in the Sims, that game in which the secret to happiness is buying new stuff. Would you like this couch or that couch, or how about a moose head? Watch me jump up and down and clap my hands and burble some pseudo-language.)

Today also marks the beginning of The Great Job Hunt. At this stage I'm very optimistic (perhaps inappropriately, given how much luck some of my friends have had finding jobs in Portland). But man, there's some interesting stuff they'll pay you to do out there. And also, there are about a bazillion temp agencies. I have spent quite a bit of time today exploring possibilities online, and am at this very moment procrastinating on my resume. Yeah, I should really finish that. But before I go, I'll leave you with a link and a riddle.

The link is to my newest Fun Internet Project, which I was hesitant to jinx by exposing too early in its infancy. It's two weeks old now, though, so here: the new photo-a-day blog, a joint project with Ashley. Props to Jason for giving me part of the idea, and to 3191 for giving Ashley the other part.

And here's the riddle: What kind of bone is this?
It was found in the New Mexico desert. Clicky-click to zoomy-zoom.

I do not know the answer to this riddle.